Song: Follow My Feet by The Unlikely Candidates
"And the high road's steady and steep, and the low road's easy and deep. Guess I'll follow, follow, follow my feet"
Asher
I walk back to my front porch, Noelle's note in my hand, and sit on the first step. A part of me is screaming open it Ash, what have you got to loose? and the other part of me is whispering don't, she could be trouble. She just got out of a mental hospital for crying out loud. But the screaming overpowers the whispers and I start to unfold the crisp notebook paper.
Ash,
Meet me at the old creek at midnight, the place we used to always go. No questions, just come.
-A.N.C.
I bite the inside of my cheek and put the note into my back pocket and let out a deep breath. What the hell am I about to get myself into.
____
The clock on my desk ticks slowly, every minute lasting as if it were an hour. The minute hand seemingly frozen solid.
10:34
10:59
11:11
11:37
I haven't been to the creek in maybe two years, and the trees have probably overgrown my trail, so I take the one that leads back from Noelle's yard instead of mine. The walk only takes about 10 minutes, the only light being the moon shining through the branches of the trees above me. Once I arrive at the creek, my phone says it's only 11:50, but I see the outline of Noelle sitting by the running water.
"Aren't you a bit early? Very unlike you, I must say." I declare, walking up behind her.
"Holy shit, Asher! Don't scare me like that!!" She grabs her chest and turns to face me. She squints in my direction and takes a deep breath, her body settling back to normal, "Asher Montgomery.. Hmm." She looks me up and down. "You look.. good."
I sit down on the rock next to her, "You don't look half bad yourself." I smirk and toss a pebble into the water, afraid to make eye contact.
"How's school been?" She asks, copying my motion and throwing a rock into the water.
"Really? You're asking me about school? You just got home after being gone for the whole school year and you have nothing to say but to ask me about school?" I laugh, then silence. I clear my throat. "You know how I feel about school, so you already know the answer." I smile.
"I guess I'm just trying to make conversation." She sighs, "I guess I kinda forgot how to talk to you."
"I haven't changed, you can still talk to me the same." I take in a deep breath, remembering the real reason why I am sitting here tonight, "So..." I pull the note out of my back pocket, "The note?"
"Oh.. Right. The note." She sighs, "This place sucks doesn't it?"
"What? The creek?"
"No. This is probably the only place around here that doesn't suck... I meant Emerald Isle. I just feel trapped now that I am back." She falls silent for a moment, "I mean think about it... It is a trap. All of our parents grew up here, and so did their parents and they are still here. They haven't gone anywhere else. I don't know if they tried to get out, or if they just kind of got stuck, but I don't want to end up like that." She purses her lips and fiddles with her thumbs. "I want to be able to get out and make something of myself, you know?"
YOU ARE READING
The Road Less Traveled
Teen Fiction"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” On the 14th day of junior year, Noelle Chambers was checked into a mental hospital. On the last day of junior year, she was checked out. Li...
