Seeking Him

Part 7

I skip down the hallway of the elementary school. Today was my first day in this school. I was in grade 2 and I was excited to meet new people. Mom just finished talking to the principal and so now the principal is showing me to my classroom. As she goes to open the door my smile falters as nervousness seeps into me. The classroom had so many kids that all turned at the disturbance that is happening in their classroom. I slowly follow the principal in, my smile almost non-existent at this point.

"Mrs. Paul, this is you new student, Diane," the principal says as she ushers me forward a bit. The brown haired lady kneels down in front of me.

"Hi Diane, I'm Mrs. Paul, it's nice to have you in my classroom," she said, her smile never leaving her face. I smile back.

"So you're going to go sit next to Simon, he's a bit shy, but I think you two will be great friends," she said with a smile before standing.

"Simon raise your hand," she said sweetly. Seconds later a hand hesitantly raises itself from the sea of kids. I look back at the teacher, but she smiles and urges me to go sit next to him. I slowly make my way through the crowd of desks, hoping I don't trip. Sadly, that did not go as planned since I end up tripping over a notebook someone had put on the floor. I fall to the floor and everyone laughs, but gets immediately cut off by the teacher. I quickly get up and sit down in my seat, tears filling my eyes, but not escaping.

"A-are you okay?" the blonde kid named Simon asks. I nod my head as I wiped the tears out of my eyes. I nod my head before I looked over.

"My names is Diane, hi," I said with a smile, the embarrassment leaving me already.

"Hi Diane, my name is Simon, want to be friends," he smiles. I nod my head.

I stare at the picture in the yearbook. Mom insisted to get me a yearbook since it was my first year. We looked so weird, but that's probably because I am used to how everyone looks now. I stare at Simons picture, which is circled in pink marker, an arrow pointing at it from where I wrote best friend. I also had taken black and crossed out Alya and her old friend squad. I smile at the memory. That was how me and Simon became friends, and surprisingly we have been friends since then, and were in 11th grade now. Josh came in 4th grade, he was the only one of us that had other friends from here before he befriended us in 5th grade. He gave up on his friends because they were constantly talking about people behind their back and he didn't think it was right.

I sigh as I set the yearbook down, ones from other years sprawled out. I randomly picked up another one, scrolling through until I find the section we are in and freeze. It was from this last school year. I had my platinum blonde hair with cotton candy blue tips. Simon had his silver hair. He had first dyed it two days prior to this picture. He dyed it days before he disappeared as well.

I slam the book shut and throw it across the room. I stand up quickly, and without thinking I walk out of the house, across the street and into the forest. I kept walking even as my feet begin to ache, my skin feeling chillier, and scratches appear on my bare arms. It wasn't until I saw an orange color to my left that I stopped. I looked over to see the sun had started setting in the distance.

"Shit," I said. I always hated when I walked randomly, seeming as though I am an insane person who is in a different dimension. I don't really control it, so that is another reason that people think I am weird, but the teachers always had to excuse me because I can't really control it. One time I even found a murder weapon because of it. So people also started believing I'm some psychic.

I look around, but I didn't recognize a thing. I turn around and hope that I just went straight into the woods and didn't take many turns. I heard a stick break making me jump, looking around frantically. I continue walking quickly through the forest, hearing more sticks break. It wasn't until I could barely see in front of me that I lean against a tree, sliding down into a sitting position. I wrap my arms around my legs, trying to stay warm as the night grows colder. I hear another tree crack and I lift my head up, looking around until I spot where it was coming from. I could barely see it, but I saw a small bit of white hair, or fur.

"S-Simon," I whisper as I slowly stand up, ready to run in case it was a wolf or something.

"Diane?" I hear his voice. My eyes widen a bit. I step forward, my arms forward. When I touch something I stop. It felt like time stopped.

"I-is it really you?" I ask as tears appear in my eyes.

"Yea it is," he said, and soon I am wrapped in the warmth and safety of his arms. The tears come falling out of my eyes and onto the hoodie he was wearing.

"You must be cold, here take this," he said as he grabbed another hoodie from his bag. I pulled it over my head. The warmth immediately warmed me up.

"What are you doing way out here?" he asks as he put a hand on my back, guiding me through the forest.

"I was unconsciously walking again," I said as I looked down, trying to see where to step.

"Oh," is all he says before I see a pale light. I look up to see a small hut with a small faint light coming from inside. I walk in to see a makeshift bed and kitchen.

"This is where you've been staying?" I ask as I walk in.

"Yeah, it's not the greatest, but it works," he said. I sit down on the bed and look up at him for the first time since I met him. He looked almost the same, but he had more muscle. He looked slightly dirty, his clothes covered in dirt, but he only looked older. My vision blurs and it only takes me a second to realize that I was crying. I look down at my lap as I wipe away my tears. I felt a hand on my back, rubbing circles on my back.

"I missed you so much," I said as I leaned against his shoulder. He doesn't say anything, but continues comforting me.

"I'm sorry," is all he says. The small shack was quiet as we sat next to each other. I didn't want to go to sleep as I didn't want to wake up in bed, afraid that this was all just a dream.

"You look tired, you need to sleep," he says all of a sudden. I shake my head to say no.

"Come on, you need to," he says as he stands. I look up at him, staring at him. I looked at every feature on his face. As I kept watching him, it seemed as if he was a stranger. Someone I didn't know. He looked that different, but yet familiar. I tore me apart.

"I'm afraid," I said finally as I looked forward.

"About what, the animals know to stay away from this shack since they are scared of humans," he said as he closes the door.

"Not of that, it's that when I wake up I will never see you again," I said as I lean back against the wall, hoping that it was sturdy enough to hold up. Simon seems to tense up when I said that.

"I promise that when you wake up, I'll be here," he says as he sits down next to me. I look over at him, staring at his eyes. I slowly nod before I lay down, using his lap as a pillow. I close my eyes slowly as he starts petting my hair back.

"Why red and black?" he asks quietly.

"Red is your favorite color, and black is a symbol of darkness, or depression," I said quietly as I curl up a bit.

"It looks nice on you," he says quietly. I smile.

"Good night, love ya," I said without thinking. I feel him tense, but I am already in that dream state, falling down into a deep sleep.