Wendy. (Wattys2015)

Four

I stand on the edge of the woods, and shove my hands into my pocket. The birds don't sing here. They are quiet, and if I look up into any trees I can see them staring back at me as if to say, "You are a fool. Dumbass."

I wouldn't believe in such a legend if I knew what to believe. Adelaide bumps my shoulder, trying to push me into the woods. My foot touches a leaf, and I feel as if i've already crossed part of some sort of unknown territory. The birds above me stay, though, as if I hadn't even made a move.

"Come on," she says, pulling my hand.

I follow her, but take my hand back and laugh. "Alright, alright. I was just wondering what we would find in there, you know. Hey Trev, how'd you get that truck?"

Trevor throws the last of our blankets in the trunk and wipes his forehead with the back of his hand. I watch him when he wipes his entire face with his shirt as Isobel comes up to him and runs a hand on his abs. He smiles and leans down to kiss her, pulling her closer. I sigh and shrug, walking towards the truck, fanning my face. Adelaide follows me.

"He got it from his dad. Finally realized we're not kids anymore and gave him his very own truck. She's a beauty, ey?"

"Um, sure it is. You know, with the busted side and everything, it's very handsome."

Adelaide laughs and peels off her sweater. "It may not be new, but we've got something to run away in if the legend in real. Do you think it's real?"

I pause at the trunk, staring intently at the ground beside me and ignoring the sound of Isobel and Trevor sucking each other's faces off. "Do I think it's real?" I repeat.

Like I said, I don't know what to believe anymore.

Before I can answer, I don't realize that the truck is being started until I hear the loud vroom vroom of the engine. Adelaide and I hop into the back with all our equipment needed for one night and relax as Trevor begins to drive.

........ ............. ........... ..........

It's dark by the time we reach the heart of the woods. We each have a blanket to sit on, and flashlight in our hands. After two unsuccessful hours of 'looking for the monster' but was more of a hide and seek game, we decided it was too hot to do anything. And now we sit in the dark, the fire we built illuminating our faces.

Adelaide and I sit mere inches apart. The face suckers across from us are busy whispering stuff to each other, but I keep my eyes on the fire, feeling tired and bored.

There is no legend. There never will be one. Never was one. Never.

As I sigh and run a hand through my hair, my other hand is suddenly touched by some thing, and I jump. Adelaide looks at me apologetically and I see her pulling her hand to her side.

"Oh, it was just you,"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"No it's fine, I-"

"But I-"

There is a silence between us and I wait. But for what?

"James, I've been thinking a lot. About us."

"Yeah?"

"Well," she starts, fidgeting, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear. In the fire it looks like an inferno waterfall, flowing around her shoulders in a halo. "I like you. And...I mean. I do. Like, for a while now I have."

"Mhmm."

"And I thought maybe if...you know, if you like me or something we could....oh I don't know it's crazy, forget it."

I raise my eyebrow at her, understanding what she means, but slightly reluctant to ask for the rest. There is something wrong. Everything seems wrong right now, like something weird is supposed to happen. "What is it?" I ask, but I'm not asking Adelaide.

She grins and bites her lip, moving her hand towards mine. "If you do...maybe we could go ou-"

But she doesn't finish before, like on the bus, her name is screamed.

This time out of fear.

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Omg I'm so sorry I haven't updated in forever! But I had so much schoolwork and just...uuuuuggghh. Sorry. Really. I missed you guys too. But enjoy this chapter because I will be posting the next chapter soon. Stay cool guys. Stay cool.