Run.

Adrenaline.

"No sooner met but they looked; no sooner looked but they loved; no sooner loved but they sighed; no sooner sighed but they asked one another the reason; no sooner knew the reason, but they sought the remedy."

- William Shakespeare

Time's standing still. I can't believe what I see.

Ethan. Standing in front of me.

"Who's Ethan?", you may be asking. Ethan was my childhood friend. We just drifted apart, years later. No greetings, no conversations, no anything. We would pass each other in the halls, but nothing. No conversation.

Only a few times we would make eye contact. It would be awkward, and unusual, when we did.

When we do make eye contact, I can't fight the feeling that we're speaking words that have been left unsaid.

I can barely breathe.

I look around the hallway, because I feel that I need to, or else I'll freeze in time, staring into his eyes of swirling shades of brown.

Reni is staring at me from across the hall. I know for sure that it's not in a friendly way.

Her once hazel eyes, have now been changed to a deep and dreadful black. Her fists are clenched in such a way that I start to believe her hands can explode at any moment in this frozen time. To my surprise, she slowly walks backwards, her pressuring eyes still glued to my face.

She turns, and bolts to the nearest exit, without a glance back.

My mind is too cluttered at the moment, that I don't know what to do, or what to even think. My eyes slowly drift into a blank stare at the spot where Reni was standing.

I move my eyes back to Ethan's, contemplating what to do next.

It feels as though he holds the answer.

I turn away and look around the hallway to see if the students are still there.

They are.

The feeling of eyes being locked on me, makes me feel small. Makes me feel not of any matter, if that even makes sense.

I suddenly feel and hear the movement of a person's single footsteps. I turn to where I think it's coming from, and I see a figure coming towards me.

A police officer.

Any sight of authority, I feel like I have to run. Run from this, from everything.

Everything's still, except for the moving officer headed in my direction.

I feel like I have to run.

So I do.

My feet bolt to the opposite end of that hall. I feel everything rushing past me, like when I'm in a car, looking out the open window and seeing my life and history pass by. Seeing my old thoughts and feelings passing by, and just living in the moment.

It's funny how much you can think, or even feel, in such a short amount of time. It makes me want to laugh. Makes me want to scream.

I look back to see if the cop's still chasing me.

He's right on my tail.

I go faster, faster than I've ever gone before. I see an upcoming door that I'm about to meet in :

3...2... 1.

I shove the door open with my right arm, and I burst through, onto the scene.

There's stairs.

I burst through another door, shoving it open the same way I just did.

The stairs are right in front of me now.

Without any hesitation, I slide out onto the hand rail and land with my feet firmly onto the ground.

I pick up the pace, and do the same thing to the next few flights of stairs.

I don't think. I just do it.

I make it in a short matter of time to the first floor, and run down the hallway. I run straight ahead, and have my eyes glued in the same direction, with the vision of my hands pumping back and forth to the rhythm of my feet.

I don't know where I'm headed, and I don't know what I'm going to do. But I do know that I'm going to get the heck out of here.

I see a door straight ahead. It leads to the outside of the school. My goal is to make it there without getting caught.

I run as fast as my legs can carry me, inching toward the door every second.

I see someone. I automatically assume it's a security guard, or even a teacher. But the closer and closer I get, my vision starts to get clearer, and he's all I can see.

We make eye contact, and pure adrenaline starts running through my veins. I feel alive, and his eyes start pulsing with energy; with fire and lightening.

I run faster than I've ever run before.

He starts running too.

We both bolt towards the door, desperate for a way out of this maze.

With pure adrenaline and energy coursing through my veins, I kick the door open.

Isabela Galeano ★