"Mmm?" I murmured.
I felt like I was being shaken violently.
"Larry? Larry, wake up, we gotta go. We wanna know if you're coming."
My eyes shot open and I sat up immediately, blinking. My brain was foggy for a few seconds before the words I heard got registered into it.
"What?" I yawned, staring at a strange face looking down at me. Tanya.
The sky was a lighter shade of blue. I could see the trees, the fallen leaves, the weeds and bushes clearly now. The chirping of insects were gone and the air was still cold and damp. I looked down at my grey sweats which were now dirty then looked up, suddenly realising that I could see the faces of everyone so much better.
Since Tanya was already in front of me, she was the first person I noticed. She had dark brown hair that fell just a few centimetres past her shoulders in waves. She was pretty. That kind of simple, gentle pretty, with the faint freckles that ran across her pale face. But the kindness of her face clashed so much with the rest of her, the way she talked, moved, the clothes she wore and also the way she was staring down at me as I studied her. I was forced to look away.
"We're leaving," she said impatiently. "You coming?"
I got up immediately and grabbed my backpack. She walked off and started to follow the others behind.
"Wait, hold on, you know where we're going?" I asked and joined the trail.
"Yeah, I ho-I do," Peter started to explain for me from his position at the front of the line. He was tall, I noticed. But not as tall as I was. I could see his short red hair bouncing slightly as he trudged on. "And now that the place is illuminated enough for us to see where we're going, it's best if we start moving immediately. Tanya is upset with me and I'm terrified she'd kill me if I don't get us out of here sooner."
"You better know what you're doing," Tanya hissed at him.
"Where's Michelle?" I asked, suddenly remembering that she said she was going to "go back" tomorrow.
"Here," she chirped.
She was in the middle of Tanya and Peter, walking silently. I still couldn't see her until I bent slightly to the left, clutching my backpack tightly. My brows rose at the sight of her ragged dreads falling down and resting atop her shoulders. With her dirty faded jeans, washed out plain green t-shirt and worn out combat boots to complement the hair, she looked fierce.
If I saw her this way at first, I definitely wouldn't have been surprised when she pinned me down like that.
"Didn't you want to go back?"
"I do," she said. "But I wanna figure out if there's actually a way outta here."
"Michelle, what do you mean by that statement?" Peter asked. I felt my shoulders tense at her words.
She shrugged. "Don't mind me."
Thoughts of the day before came rushing back to my head as I trudged along with the others. I tried to not overthink it and focus on the present moment.
Where would I go if we found our way out of the forest? Would I really want to go back? I wasn't 18 yet so I couldn't live on my own. And I didn't really like the idea of living on the streets.
What did I get myself into?
We emerged into a path that was laden with fallen leaves. The trees around us had already shed half their leaves while a good percentage of the ones left on them had already changed their colours.
YOU ARE READING
Fall in San Diego
Adventure[Editing] Haunted by the death of his family that he caused, Larry cuts himself off from the world and relapses into depression, subconsciously craving anything that would make him happy. He finds himself lost in the woods after his swirling emotion...
