Stuck

Unexpected

Hazel was now far away from the trail but she knew her way back.

Suddenly she heard a noise and turned around to see him. He was standing there, his jet black hair gleaming in the sunlight that trickled in through the gaps in between the leaves, revealing the soft dark brown highlights​ of his hair. He looked incredibly precious in it, and for the first time she knew he was a beautiful being.

He was astonished, he didn't expect her to be there but she was, and she looked so simple, yet she was captivating in a lot of ways. Her dark brown wasn't styled in fabulous ways, she had naturally wavy hair reaching up to her shoulders and it made her look so good. Her hazel eyes sparkled in the sunlight, like galaxies full of bright shining stars.

"I didn't expect you to be here."

Ethan said, finding it strange to see Hazel in midst of the lush green forest. It seemed as she knew where she was, and he wanted to know more about that.

"I am always here, although I haven't had the chance to be here for a long time but, what about you? Why are you here? I have never seen you around here before."

Ethan looked as if he realized something and his expression immediately changed to something very unsettling.

"You don't need to know. Go your own way and don't ever tell anyone you saw me here."

Hazel was surprised, Ethan was usually a very fun guy, but she was quite frankly scared of him at the moment.

Not knowing how to react to what he just said, she nodded and turned around just when they heard rustling from the nearby bushes. Hazel was scared, she sensed something wrong and she didn't have a good feeling about it. Ethan was standing there, still looking scary and for the first time Hazel felt scared being with him.
Soon the rustling grew louder and they began to hear voices and foot steps. Hazel instinctively grabbed Ethan's arm and as soon as she did he felt protective towards her. She was a very simple girl, and all of this was a strange experience for her.
Looking to his left, he saw how her eyes were full of fear, and she looked up to him that very moment he looked at her. Her eyes searched for his reassurance, and he understood what she meant.

He was reminded of when they met for the first time in Grade 1, when she used to be much quieter than she is now. They didn't talk to each other before Grade 8 when they were paired up together to organize the primary school fare. They talked to each other more everyday, although it was more about the fare than about themselves. However, it was Grade 9 when they interacted more, because they had three same classes, and the teacher made Ethan sit with Hazel, because she was good influence for him. He was an average student and he wasn't very popular with girls either, but he had a little fanclub that he didn't know about.

Suddenly, Hazel stood frozen in her spot and Ethan noticed it. He looked where her eyes fixed, and he grabbed her hand and ran. She kept up with him, and she was starting to feel safe with him again. The voices faded away but they were sure that the people, whoever they were, had noticed that they were there.
They stopped behind a uprooted tree, which had rocks surrounding it, giving them a perfect hideout.

"I want to get out of here."

Hazel said, being clear and sure of what she wanted. He looked at her in disbelief, trying to tell her to be realistic.

"You seriously have issues. Didn't you just see who we were running from?! Can't you hear their voices?!"

Hazel was hurt by his words, but she kept quiet. She didn't want to push his boundaries any further.

"I'm sorry. I should have thought more rationally about the situation but, I think it's best for both of us to get out of here before they find us."

"Don't worry about me, I have done this before. And you should think more rationally, because you are annoying me right now."

Ethan knew he was being rude and indifferent to Hazel, but his actions were justifiable because he was saying things that hurt her intentionally, so she would not come back to the forest. Hazel on the other hand, was terrified to hear him talk to her like that and she was trying to find a way out of there. Ethan focused his gaze on the trail, to figure out where the voices where coming from.

Suddenly she remembered that Noah could still be by the lake, and she decided to head to it, so she could go away from Ethan.

Without a word, Hazel started walking away and Ethan didn't notice her as he was still focused on the voices.

Hazel started to run away from Ethan when he finally noticed and called out her name several times telling her to stop but she ignored him. She headed to the lake and then walked along the shore to finally see Noah who was starting to head back to their neighborhood.

"Noah...wait...I'm coming-"

"I thought you headed back to the house- what happened? Why are you so tired?!"

Noah noticed how Hazel was breathing heavily and how scared and terrified she looked.

"We have to head back- Now."

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