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The First Signs

"When you trip over love, it is easy to get up. But when you fall in love, it is impossible to stand up."

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A few months passed by. 

When our supplies got low, we went to the same mini mart and re-stocked. It was almost as though we had a secret agreement between the old man, for some reason I trusted he wouldn't tell on us. Meanwhile, me and Sky's friendship only increased as the days went by. I was happily trapped in a perfect world with just her. Our moods were always bright and upbeat. Never did we fight, it was all fun. I treasured every moment I spent with her. My world wouldn't be right without her in it. 

There was this certain spot that we just couldn't abandon. It was an ideal place for camp; it had what we needed and more. The ground was basically padded dirt, and even though that sounds gross, it was excellent for sleeping on when we had no mattress. There was even a semi-large thorn bush that covered most of the clearing to protect us from wild animals. Just because we hadn't seen any so far, didn't mean they weren’t out there.

Everything was so green and cheerful, with wildflowers growing everywhere and plenty of berries for Sky to eat. Thankfully, the worst of winter had passed. It had been almost unbearably cold. Some nights we almost froze to death, no lie. No matter how many pairs of socks or clothes or blankets we have on, I still felt like I was losing my body to hypothermia. I can recall a specific night when her and I cuddled up so close together that it felt like our bodies were molded into each other. 

But those cold nights were no longer present, and I missed them. 

Sure, they were really cold. But honestly, I loved the feeling of her skin pressed up against mine. I liked having a reason to be that close to her. 

So now I took up every opportunity to stare at her while I could. Her radiant smile never failed to make me happy inside, and her touch never ceased to make my skin tingle. Even just her hand accidentally brushing up against my own caused butterflies to form in my stomach, and there was nothing I could do to prevent them. 

Let me just say that I have never been in love before. Third grade does not count. Before, I never would've though of Sky as more than a friend. But to me, every little movement she did amazed me, even if it was just a mere flip of her hair (and even if her hair was oily, who cared because mine was too). All I wanted was to be around her as much as I could be. 

And now we're here, six months later. 

I can go on and on about the adventures we encountered or the memories we made, but that would take all day. What I can say is that somehow we survived for this long on our own, in the wilderness, with nothing but ourselves for comfort. Sometimes there were bad days, where all I could do is hold her while she cried, but what mattered were the good days. They were my everything. She became my everything. At this point I was completely infatuated by her. 

She was my best friend, but she was more than that in my mind. 

I knew she had her issues, and her doubts, but all I wanted to do was help her through them to make them go away. When she was truly happy, so was I. Her laughter was contagious. She was contagious. 

I savored every precious moment I had with her, the beautiful girl with the long legs and beat up converse sneakers. I genuinely saw her as the most jubilant person I knew.

Until the day came when I walked into our clearing to find her dead on the soft ground, blood pouring from her slit wrists. 

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