The Woods | Harvey #1

Chapter 3

Ashton watched her leave through the window in his bedroom. He didn't hear her come in, and he was embarrassed that she caught him crying, even if he did hide it. It made him feel weak. Then he told her about his depression. He shook his head at himself.

Stupid. She didn't need to know.

He backed away from the window. She wasn't visible now, anyway. He walked into his living room and sat on the couch. The TV was out now that the story would likely be everywhere. He didn't have a DVD player or anything else for distraction. After a long time in silence, he put on a pair of shoes and went into the woods.

It was his getaway. Nature like this – at its purest – was what seemed to almost heal him. Out in the woods with all of this fresh air and animal sounds, he sat down to enjoy it more. Animals came near and watched him. He watched back, never disrupting them.

After what he assumed was an hour, he was beginning to feel a little stiff from not moving any at all. As he began to stretch some, he realized that the animals weren't scurrying away. In fact, they had somehow disappeared. He was alone. Or maybe not alone. If they'd run, it was for a reason. Every time this happened, he always felt like going away, himself. After all, animal instincts always seemed better than his own.

Bushes rustled near the hidden path he knew went into town. He stood. Trisha's head popped up. She had a leaf in her hair, but other than that, everything looked perfect. As always. He nearly sighed since he now knew why she always looked this way when she came to see him.

"Hi, Ash!" She gave a little wave which he didn't return.

"Hi, Trisha." He nearly smiled when he thought of how flat his voice must sound next to the squeak of her excited one.

"I was just checking on you to see how you were." She picked her way closer until she was next to him.

He shrugged. "I'm fine."

She narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure? You don't look 'fine' to me. You have that sad puppy look in your eyes."

He frowned. She always could tell when he was feeling down. "I'm fine."

She shook her head but didn't push it. "Well, I need to get back. I heard the news and wanted to check on you. Maybe hide your knives again."

He felt his face go totally red. On one day when things had been especially bad for him, Trisha had come by to check on him and found him about to slit his wrists. She immediately hid all his knives and wouldn't give them back until he seemed normal again. "I'm fine," he said again, more forcefully. She started to turn and walk away, but his mouth started speaking before he could stop himself. "I met a girl." Trisha turned back around to face him. He couldn't look her in the eye. "Her name is Nicole. We hung out last year, and now we're dating." He forced himself to look at her, both curious and dreading her reaction.

Her eyes were shiny, but she smiled. "That's great, Ash. I hope she works out." With that she turned and left.

Once she was gone, he heaved a heavy sigh and sank back down onto the log he'd been sitting on. He had to tell her, even though he knew how she felt. The previous summer she'd told him. He'd just met Nicole and stopped meeting her or seeking her out until the end of summer when it happened. Trisha had gotten him alone in his house. He was happy, not the slightest bit down. For the first time in a long time, he'd met someone different, someone that trusted him. She made him happy. He had started to tell Trisha about a girl he had met on the beach – not exactly how he had met Nicole, but he didn't want to tell her Nicole had been in his fridge before she met him – when she'd suddenly looked sad.

"What's the matter?" he had asked.

She'd wiped her eyes and told him she wanted to talk about them, not another girl.