Forever Forest

Ch 1

"Come on Em! You just gotta say hi to him, it's not that hard!" Kali whined next to my locker door. I reached in and grabbed my geometry text book.
"It is that hard Kale. People don't notice me, let alone Sam. I'm not just gunna walk up and say hi." I closed my locker door and heard Kali huff next to me.
"You're such a scaredy cat." She sighed
"I am not. I am just perfectly content with admiring from afar." We walked to geometry together. We only have two classes together geometry and biology. And honestly I'm glad it's those two because I hate math and science. I would 100% take history or english any day. I wouldn't be able to get through geometry or biology without her there. As we walked, Kali was going on and on about something that happened on RuPaul's Drag Race and I just kinda ignored her, she could go on for hours about that show. We took our seats in class, all the way to the left next to the windows. Kali sat in the desk in front of me and pulled out her homework, all the while still talking about that show. The warning bell rang and other students started to pile in. I watched as Sam came in and took his seat in the back with his friends. The final bell rang and I swear it's the only thing that can shut Kali up. Mr Wiles came around and collected our homework then took his place at the front of the room. I tried my best to pay attention but Kali kept sliding notes to me along the windowsill. I sighed and grabbed one from the small pile she built up. I opened the folded paper to see her messily scrabbled note.

Sam's looking at you ;)

My cheeks burned a little and I almost snorted at the fact she drew out the emoticon. He wasn't looking at me she just liked to push my buttons, I'm sure of it. Besides he's sitting behind us how would she even know where he's looking. I crumpled up the paper and threw it at her back, she turned to glare at me and I stuck my tongue out at her. I swept the rest of the notes into my backpack and rested my head on my hand.
My eyes drifted out the window and my attention slowly faded until I could no longer hear Mr Wiles drone on about triangles.
I felt my eyes close and when they reopened I was standing at the edge of a forest, my forest. I guess I could stay for a little bit, what harm could it do? I walked forward along the path I knew so well. In between the giant twin oaks the path begins and it's only a very faint indentation in the weeds. I like to think of the twin oaks as a gateway, it's the way I travel between the two worlds. I walked slowly along the path, at this point I didn't really need to look at it to follow it I know it by heart. I came up on the big boulder and veered left to follow the river. The river is one of my favorite things here. When I have more time during my visits I like to swim in it, it can be very refreshing on a hot day. I came up on the little make shift bridge I built, it's just a bunch of fallen branches tied together and laid across the water and a particularly shallow section of the river, and debated whether or not I wanted to cross or continue on to the waterfall farther down the river. I crossed over the bridge, I don't think I have enough time to make it all the way to the waterfall. Once I passed through the over grown forget-me-nots to the field opening that houses the big clubhouse my speed picked up a little bit, I haven't been here in a while.
When I first came to the forest it took me a while to discover the house. I was so young I was just amazed in the fact I "magically travelled" to a forest I wasn't too observant of my surroundings.
The clubhouse is a little hard to explain, its more like a multi-floored cabin around a tree. I didn't build it I found it here, don't give me too much credit. There's a very large tree that grows in the middle of it but it's less of a treehouse and more of a house that was built around a tree. I walked in and immediately went up the stairs to the left. I rarely used the bottom floor, it was the barest of the four floors. There was a small couch tucked in the corner with an adjacent coffee table. I've never sat in it, it didn't look too comfy. There was also a small square dining room table with three wooden chairs set around it. The fourth side of the table being pushed up against the wall under a large window. There was no kitchen or bathroom, who would need to eat or excrete bodily fluids while day dreaming? The other three floors were covered in bedrooms and living areas, I never really understood why it was so big because I'm the only one here. I slipped through the open window in one of the fourth floor rooms and steadied myself on the large branch growing right under the window. I've climbed this tree a hundred times but I always managed to heighten my anxiety with every step. I slowly crawled up the branches, careful not to disturb the blue jay nest a few feet to the right. I pulled myself up to the highest branch that would support my weight, I bent my one leg into my chest and leaned against the trunk. I probably shouldn't be here, math class was more important, but I couldn't find myself to be bothered. When am I ever gunna need geometry anyways?
This was my favorite spot in the entire forest, I've probably spent the majority of my time here sitting on this branch. It has the best view, the field stretched out to meet the trees and the trees traveled as far as the eye can see, the only thing stopping them were the mountains far in the distance you could only see on a clear day. I've come to so many realizations in this seat. When my mom and I were having a particularly hard time after my dad left I could find sanctuary here. It was quiet and comforting, filling the hole he left. When my first heartbreak, if you could even call it that, happened I came here and realized he was a douchebag all along and I was way batter off without him. This very seat I realized my sexuality, I realized it was nothing to be scared or ashamed of. Im pretty sure I have more memories here than my own bedroom. I laughed to myself and leaned my head back, it can get lonely here though. The days I spend hours here I sometimes find myself wishing I could invite friends in. When I was young I tried for a week to create a friend that would greet me every time I visited. After trying everything I realized I would be the only one to experience the beauty of this place.
A squirrel came and sat by my foot, almost expecting something. It cocked its head to the side and chattered a little, then turned around and ran along the branch scattering into the distance. I sighed, knowing exactly what he wanted. The wildlife here have a way of telling me when it's time to leave. I guess they're a physical embodiment of my subconscious telling me I have to go. I took my time crawling down the tree, too terrified to move any faster. When I reached the front door I made sure to shut it behind me then I took off running towards where I knew the forget-me-nots would be. It wasn't a fast run more like a trot, but I needed to get back. I ran over the bridge, along the river, turning at the boulder, and stopping just short of the twin oaks. I didn't really want to go back to school, who would? But I had to. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes slowly walking forward. I heard the final class bell ring and my eyes snapped open.
"Alright we'll have a chapter 6 and 7 test next week so be prepared!" Mr. Wiles yelled after his students trying to bolt to their next class. Great, now I'll probably fail this test too. I noticed there was another little pile of notes on the windowsill and I swept them into my bag glaring at the Kali's back. I closed my blank notebook and followed Kale out of the classroom.

//

Is this short? I feel like it's too short. Idk. Sorry it took so long I'm lazy. Who knows when the next ch will be up lmao oops -Ash

Edit: I added a little bit more so I hope it isn't that short anymore