TANGLED PLANS

51

Apparently, the phase of Max looking for me and wanting to talk to me lasted for a few days. The next day, I didn't see him anywhere. It's as if he had disappeared from everywhere I used to see him. In the hallway, he wasn't there. I tried to look for him at lunch, but I didn't see him either.

Maybe this is for the better. I hadn't wanted to grow attached to him without him explaining anything that happened during prom. It was good that I hadn't liked him too much again.

I pull on a pair of workout shorts and slip a shirt over my sports bra. With the last bit of warm weather still here, I wanted to continue doing something that made me feel good. I took up running during the middle of the summer and have been doing it consistently since. I felt that after I had run, I felt a little better.

After turning on my location and sharing it with my dad and Brayden, I head out of the house. Our neighborhood was safe, with kids all around and families coming out of the house to enjoy the evening weather. The sun is setting behind me as I run through the neighborhood and toward the track that leads right to the park.

I liked our neighborhood for that reason; I liked how safe it was. It was as if the air around here was positive with the laughter of children. I didn't need music when I ran around here; the background noise was enough to keep me content. I have a small smile as I wave at a few people who have seen me around. It had been hard for me to become confident enough to talk to some of these people, but now I do it all the time.

"Hey, Mrs. Pickle," I shout at the old lady that was sitting on the bench that I just passed. I'm not sure if her last name is actually a vegetable that is dried and marinated in vinegar, but that's what she went by. My legs take me deep into the tracks, where there are trees surrounding the whole place, an area secluded from the sound of children playing and laughing with their parents.

Even though I liked the noise of my neighborhood, I tend to enjoy the silence the area provides. My mind is utterly clear as I run past more and more trees. My eyes are wondering around the area, and my mind never gets tired of looking at the same thing over and over again. It's like being able to watch my favorite show over and over again and never grow tired. That was what running through a familiar path was.

My footsteps take me past a figure, but when my eyes catch on the familiar face, I can't help it when my steps go backward. I retrace my steps to find the guy I thought would be someone I talked to more regularly sitting at the base of a tree. There was an item in his hand; it looked to be a metal bottle.

"Max?" I asked the guy who was hunched back and leaning forward, his hand on his knee. His eyes flit up to me, and he smirks as his eyes slowly move up the length of my legs. It took him a while to get up to my face, where he simply said, "Daisy." His voice sounded different, deeper, and more hoarse. His smile was much larger, and his eyes were dazzling. I didn't know what it was, but it was different. More artistic about the teenager.

I pull down the hem of my shorts and say, "What are you doing here?"

"Enjoying nature," he says, and maybe it was the fact that he had only said my name that I hadn't noticed before. His voice carries a slow way of speaking, like the way he was speaking to me at the party just last weekend. I zero my eyes on the item in his hand, and with me grabbing attention to the metal bottle, he brings it up to his lips.

His eyes move off my face as he takes a large swig of the content inside and swallows it. I watch the base of his throat move in a captivating way, and then I see the slight flinch on his face as it goes down his throat. My eyes go back to the metal bottle, where I ask, "What are you drinking?"

"Just a nice drink," Max answers quickly as he smiles at me. I let my face fall and narrowed my eyes at him. Placing a hand under the material of my baggy t-shirt, I hold on to my hip. "Are you drinking alcohol, Max?"