A to Z

Chapter 11-The Big Bad Wolf, The Not-So-Bad-Boy And Me

Chapter 11- The Big Bad Wolf, The Not-So-Bad-Boy And Me




When I woke up, Aiden wasn't there.

I moved gingerly, my body aching from sleeping I such an uncomfortable position for such a long time. Squinting from the sun at its midday point, I stretched my limbs, groaning a little as my bones protested.

Despite the overbearing rays of the sun, there was a slight breeze wafting it's way into the car. I saw the window to my right was half open and I remembered groggily winding it down around dawn. I was glad I did. If I hadn't, Aiden and I would have practically been sleeping in an oven.

Feeling more refreshed and a lot more awake, I pondered as to where Aiden had disappeared to. In a moment of panic, I imagined him leaving me to fend for myself in the middle of nowhere. Him catching a lift with an old couple with a soft spot for obscure scenic views. Him inventing a teleportation device for one. The ideas became more and more ridiculous until common sense cropped up, cynically reassuring me that no such thing could happen. And with a sense of relief, I agreed of course, but where was he?


I slid towards the car door, unlocked it, and stepped out slowly, stretching my legs but as soon as I did, I heard a low 'plumph' from near my feet. Looking down, I saw Aiden's jacket.

I considered leaving it there for a moment, just to annoy Aiden, but the idea seemed silly, immature even. Now, basking in daylight, feeling optimistic and refreshed, staying angry wasn't much of a priority. Aiden and I were in this together and it wouldn't help if we were opposing each other. And looking down at the jacket, I remembered him throwing it to me with only the moon as witness. I realised it would be best to try and get along, regardless of biology books and GPS.

So I picked up his jacket and hooked it onto a rear-view mirror after closing the door.

Just then, Aiden walked out from the forest casually, zipping up his jeans. I averted my gaze away from his zipper and looked up to his face instead.

"So what are we going to do?" I spoke first. I was glad to hear I sounded less whiny than I had the night before.

He raised his hand to his head and rubbed it before answering.

"I don't know."

He didn't sound very panicked at all. In fact, he almost sounded bored.

He sighed loudly before brushing past me. He walked round to the door of the driver's seat and grabbed the handle to open the door.

It wouldn't open.

He tried again. And again. And again.

It still wouldn't open.

Even before he turned to me, I knew it would somehow be my fault, even if I didn't know how.

It didn't seem like such a nice day anymore.

"So you left the car with the keys still inside and then closed the door- when this car is all we have next to nowhere."

I sighed. So that was the angle this argument would take.

"You did just leave me in there but whatever, I'm sorry." I said, folding my arms defensively.

He stared at me and I could sense his anger growing.

"I didn't leave you! I went to take a piss!" He was still on the other side of the car, opposite me and with a jolt, I realised he could quite easily murder me here. Wherever here was, of course.

"I'm sorry, okay. And it's not like it's my fault we're stuck here." I muttered under my breath.

Aiden fired up suddenly again. "I knew you'd bring that up! One mistake, it was one mistake!"

"Yeah, the one mistake that got us here, dimwit!" I pointed out irritably.

It felt that we were always at ends with each other. There was never any middle ground. There never was just a conversation, just us arguing.

And I thought we could get along.

We were both glaring at each other until he started to move round the car, towards me.

"What are you doing?" My voice was sharp and full of warning. He wasn't really going to kill me, was he?

Before I could panic, he took his jacket off the mirror and shrugged it on before ordering me to move. I did so, stumbling a little while he tried to fit his arm into the car through the window. He managed to reach in until his elbow but couldn't reach any further down. He grunted for a while, obviously struggling to grab something when he sighed and pulled his arm out, giving up.

"You try." He said, motioning to the window.

"Try what?" I asked before thinking and he rolled his eyes, apparently annoyed.

"Stick your hand down the gap and try to wind the rest of the window down. Your arm should fit." He stepped back a bit.

I moved back towards the door and peered down, only to catch a glimpse of the little handle that would wind the window. I braced my arm against the dull edge of glass and lowered my arm down, easily reaching the little handle.

"I've got it."

Aiden looked almost hopeful but snapped at me, telling me to hurry up. I scowled and made a face but did so anyway.

I slowly moved the handle and the window shuddered underneath my arm, to start a slow, squeaky descent downwards. The window was stiff, as was the handle but it was moving and I almost cried with relief. We weren't stuck! We would get in the car and drive away, back, back home! Everything would be ok! We wouldn't die here! Of course we wouldn't. This would be one of the stories I would tell my grand kids and I'd laugh and they'd laugh.

I laughed out loud when the handle stopped simultaneously. The window wouldn't wind down anymore, and it hadn't even reached half way.

I struggled with the handle, rigorously tugging at it until there was a loud snap. Gingerly, I pulled my arm out from the car and dropped the broken handle into Aidens stiff hand.

He looked at me, his face expressionless and I smiled awkwardly, wiping my sweaty hand against my shorts.

"Sorry about that."

***

"I won't fit!"

"Push yourself in!"

"It's hurting! Stop please!"

"No! Just come on. A little bit further and it'll be done!"

"Please! I think my stomach is going to rip!"

"NO! Urgh, why are you so fat!?"

"I'M NOT FAT!"

"Well I'm the one trying to hold you up!"

"You're not doing a good job!"

"Because you're fat!"

"Shut up!"

"Could you stop?!"

"Stop what!?"

"Stop opening your legs like that!"

"SHUT UP AIDEN!"

Aiden was trying to shove me in through the small opening while holding my body up so it wouldn't compress itself on the dull edge of the window. My legs were flailing about, trying to somehow push myself further in using the air. Some part of Aiden was pressed against my bum and I was pretty sure it was his hand. I felt as if I would die of shame.

Since I was a lot smaller than Aiden, it seemed I was stuck with the burden of cramming myself through the small opening. Aiden had simply picked me up with my back flush against his front and my head stuck sideways through the gap in the window, and tried to push me in as if I was a ladder. Instantly, the glass had cut into my breasts and I had started to howl in pain. Aiden had had to reach his arm in and lever my body upwards so I could somehow manoeuvre them in. To say it was embarrassing would be the understatement of the century and I refused to acknowledge he had actually had to hold one of my boobs as my arms were trapped behind me.

I reached out to grab the keys that were lying on the dashboard but I still wasn't close enough. I was just a few painful centimetres away but I wouldn't be able to get closer. My full torso was in the car and the only thing that held my legs back was my bum, probably scarring Aidens eyes.

"Aiden, I can't get it! Pull me out!" I cried desperately, giving up.

He grunted before answering. "Come on! Just reach a bit further!"

"What part of 'I can't', can you not understand!? I physically CAN'T!"

Aiden dropped my body down suddenly and I instinctively sucked in my stomach and braced myself, leaning on the soft plush interior of his car when my hand fell against the forgotten copy of the A to Z. Managing to wriggle the rest of my body out and holding the ragged old book, I prepared to scream at Aiden for dropping me so unceremoniously on the edge of the window. But when I turned around, I saw he was walking away, into the forest.

"Where are you going?" I shouted after him.

He didn't answer or even turn to look at me.

"Oi!"

Again, he showed no indication as to whether he had heard me or not.

Without even taking a moment to think about it, I threw the A to Z at him, not unlike how I had with the biology book from weeks before. It whirled through the air, twisting and turning to hit a far off tree at least three metres to his left.

Only when I had actually intended to hit him on the head, did it not do so. I scowled, furious with myself as well as him and stomped over towards the tree to pick the stupid book up. When I retrieved the book and jammed it into my back pocket, I realised Aiden had actually disappeared off into the woods.

I panicked straight away, not caring about earlier, not caring about anything. There was no way I was letting him leave me. And I ran into the woods, after Aiden.

***

I found him straight away, just a few metres ahead of me. I jogged up to him and slowed down to a walk. We were both silent.

Me leaving the key inside his car and him dropping me seemed to neutralise our anger towards each other and so we were even. There was no need for an apology. We were both too stubborn to apologise anyway.

He stopped suddenly and sat down on a fallen log. I sat down next to him.

The forest was a proper forest with huge trees and unsightly weeds and thorns. The ground was uneven and lumpy, riddled with roots. The foliage was dense and dark, with not much light coming through and you could tell we were the first to walk into the forest for a very long time.

"What are we going to do?" This time, it was Aiden that asked and he sounded stressed and almost scared. I suddenly felt very selfish. How annoying and whiny I must have come across as. Only then did I realise that I wasn't the only one that was scared and angry. Aiden was too. Of course he was. He was only human. Just better at hiding his emotions.

I touched his arm gently and answered softly.

"It's ok Aiden. We'll be ok." I tried to sound as reassuring as I possibly could and I guess it worked because he looked up and stared straight ahead, at the dense clump of trees.

He froze suddenly.

"Zoe..." He trailed off, eyes wide, still staring at the clump of trees a little away from us.

"What?" I asked, more confused than scared. I looked ahead, searching wildly for something out of the ordinary but I found nothing. My hand slowly slid away from Aiden and I gripped the log I was sitting on.

"Aiden, what is it?" My tone was hushed but slightly out of breath. Already, my heart was beating wildly and my senses were escalating rapidly. But I still couldn't see anything.

"I think it's a wolf."

Suddenly, I heard something snap from behind the trees. I gasped loudly and immediately, I jumped to grab onto Aiden but my hands clutched onto thin air.

Aiden wasn't there. Aiden had gone. Had it taken him? Had he disappeared? I twisted around frantically and saw the tail of his jacket just whipping out of sight away from me. Aiden had scarpered, without making a noise, leaving me behind to face whatever was in the shadows.

I pushed up, off the log and fell on to the floor as my legs were too unsteady to hold me up. I scrabbled on the floor for too long and hastily crawled off the floor and back onto my feet. And then I was running. Even though Aiden had run off without me, I ran towards where I thought he had too. I needed him.

I was running and running but it didn't seem fast enough or far enough. I stumbled on roots and weeds and harsh plants attacked my kegs, leaving angry red scratches. But I kept running.

My hair wound around my neck, greasy and suffocating. My breaths were short and laboured. Still running blindly, I turned to look behind me, so sure I could hear its loud rasps and pounding paws, when I collided into a sturdy something.

I screamed loudly when a sweaty hand slapped my mouth, hard.

"Shut up!" Aiden hissed quietly. And he grabbed my hand and we ran again, faster and further away. I don't know when, but his hand left mine and we were running and panting next to each other. I wasn't even sure what I was running from. After all, I hadn't seen anything. But the fear I had instilled within myself told me to keep running and if I were to stop, the unthinkable would happen.

I finally stopped when I came to a clearing. It was even darker there but there were no overbearing trees for a few yards around a rough circle. I expected to see a red faced Aiden stagger out after me but he didn't. Aiden was nowhere to be seen. I was alone.

I didn't remember losing him. I couldn't remember. I was running too fast. I merely assumed he was drowned out by my panting and thudding. Not once did I glance to check he was there beside me. Because he had been there. I had been sure of it.

Alone.

And then my body froze. My heart started to beat faster again and every hair in my body stood to attention. My breathing stopped and my legs tensed. I didn't know why for a moment. My body seemed to be one step ahead of my brain.

And then I knew.

I guess I wasn't so alone after all.


***

Hey guys! I'm not really happy with this chapter but I still hope you like it. Tell me what you think!

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