Let's Not Meet Again

All We Said Was "Hi"

My friends and I were walking through the woods on a Saturday afternoon, chatting about building some new forts made out of broken branches. We were a group of three average girls that weren't either intimidating or tough. I was the tallest out of the group, about 5' 8" in height while my other friends were both 5' 4".

We all stopped when we reached a good clearing to construct a fort and marked it with one of my friend's crummy jacket. We then set off to get some supplies.

As we reached a creek separating our neighborhood from the other neighborhood, one of my friends, a girl named Tristy, stopped dead in her tracks. My other friend (Katie) and I turned around and looked at her strangely.

"Why did you stop?"

"Shhh!" She hissed, looking around. "I think I heard something."

I tensed immediately. Even though we lived in a fairly safe neighborhood, there were gangs that occasionally lurked in-between the neighborhoods. I used to be in a gang, but I pissed them off once for refusing to beat up a rival gang, so I wasn't keen on meeting them again.

As we stood in silence, we could finally hear rustling coming from the opposite side of the creek as well muffled voices.

I, being the bravest of the group, crept forward and peeked between the tall grasses separating us from the creek and the neighborhood. There, I saw two little kids in their scooters, talking about some stolen bike.

I sighed in relief and signaled to my friends that it was just two children. We both came out of hiding and greeted them before turning around and starting to move the other way.

Suddenly, we heard a deep voice shout at us.

"Hey! You!"

We looked back and saw a large black teenager approach the creek with at least five other teenagers behind him.

"Are you talking to my brother?" The teen asked, anger twisting the features of his face into a sneer.

"Yeah," Tristy replied calmly.

"Don't you talk to him!" He shrieked all of a sudden, raising his fist in anger. Katie stepped back, obviously nervous.

"We only said 'hi'!" Tristy protested. After a couple seconds of silence, she shook her head and sighed.

"Let's go guys," she whispered to us. We retreated back into the woods, the teenagers staring silently as we walked away. After we took a couple of paces, we heard the teen speak.

"Get them."

We heard loud crunches as the group of teenagers jumped across the creek and started to chase after us. We all bolted and I took the lead, weaving around broken branches and fallen trees.

After running all the way to our houses, we stood panting, listening for signs of them still giving chase.

We didn't hear anything.

I giggled.

"Well, hah, that's another exercise for one week." My friends chuckled nervously, Katie's eyelids drooping in exhaustion. Even though our woods was tiny, it still had many obstacles to run and jump over.

Then, Tristy's eyes widened and she tugged on her shirt.

"Oh my god," she said," I left my jacket behind."

"So?" Katie asked. "It was a stupid coat. I ain't risking my life for a stupid coat."

"It had my phone in it. It cost my mom more than $600. If I don't get it, my mom's going to kill me!" We both mulled it over and decided to go back quickly and then run back.

Since I spent all of my energy running to our houses, I mostly walked as my friends bounded ahead of me and got the jacket. When my friends reached me, Tristy held her jacket in a vice-like grip and Katie held onto Tristy's phone.

"THERE THEY ARE!"

The teenager from earlier burst out of the brush and sprinted toward us, a mad expression on his face. Katie screeched in terror and leaped toward our houses. I felt adrenaline fill me as Tristy and I ran into the street and into Katie's backyard. We locked the gate behind us and stood right behind the gate, staring at the teen through the cracks of the fence.

He stood in the middle of the street, leering at where we took shelter. After five minutes, he walked back into the woods. After that, we all agreed never to go into the woods again.

So, insane teen, let's never meet again.