Escape From Reality

The Knight

As I swung with the wind blowing through my hair, I ran through scenarios in my mind, trying to figure out the best way to approach Jacob. He was probably still at school, so I decided to tackle him at the school gate at the end of the school day. Better to get done as soon as possible before I could change my mind.

I grimaced at the thought of approaching him. After all, the last meeting had not gone so well. Hopefully this time will be better.

Finally when it was around noon, I got up from the swing sets as excited children started filling the playground, many of them immediately making a dash for the swings. Standing up from the swing seat as they rushed in, a cheeky young girl quickly bounced over to my place, overjoyed to have scored a seat on a precious swing. Her mother called for her to be careful as I walked away.

Given that the park was pretty close to school, I reached it soon enough, and quietly waited for the school bell to ring. What was I going to say once I approached him? Hey I kind of lied to you about not knowing you and I actually saw you in my dream? I could only imagine how that would go over. If I took the practical approach, it was to apologise to him and explain my reasons why I acted the way I did. Still, even after thinking this over for a few hours, I still had not come up with a good way to do it for some reason.

The school bell rang, pulling me from my thoughts. My head whipped up in anticipation, and before long, students began filing out by the hordes. Across the school yard, groups of students gathered together as they waited for other members to join them. It seemed like everyone here had someone to walk home with.

Except for a tuft of black hair.

Jacob.

Spotting him easily in the crowd, my eyes followed him as he walked alone, but unlike me, there was a hint of content with his easy grace. His eyes were glazed, the trace of a smile on his face, as if he was enjoying some private secret joke that no one else could understand. His arms dangled loosely by his side as he shuffled his way through the crowd, seemingly lost in his own beautiful world. I watched him with awe at the way he seemed so unbothered and unaffected by the external world, like there was a transparent shield around him that deflected all the hustle and bustle of the world away.

Looking at him now, my heartbeat accelerated, and the thought of approaching him suddenly seemed a lot more real and scary. Thoughts flooded my mind as I began to second guess my decision to come here to approach him. What if Jacob turns me away after what happened yesterday? Should I really do this? What if I was wrong about it all?

I found myself taking a step back and caught myself before I could take another one.

No. I couldn't just give up and run away from this.

I needed to get some answers. And he was my only lead.

I had to do this.

Taking a deep breath, I made my way towards him before I could chicken out.

The moment I inserted myself into the crowd, an excited energy seemed to buzz around, making me suddenly feel very meek and small as I pushed my way through it. The inevitable whispers passed around like wildfires at my sudden arrival and as the whispers clattered around in my ear, I felt myself growing more and more into myself with each passing word I heard.

"Didn't she get suspended?"

"What's that loser doing here?"

"Maybe she's here to see the principal about skipping school."

Clutching my arms around myself, I ducked my head, willing myself to ignore them.

Just ignore them Chloe, I thought. Just focus on getting to Jacob. I trained my eyes on the boy, and with a laser like focus, I pushed one feet after another, trying not let the words cut me down into a deeper hole, determined to not let it affect me, and so I looked towards the black haired boy and suddenly my initial fear of confronting him was gone, replaced by a need to just get out from this echo chamber of an incident I rather much forget forever, so I continued on, nervously pushing myself forward.