Our Story

Chapter Eight

Willow

11:39 pm.

I stood across the street from my house, watching miserably out that one window.

That room had its thick curtains closed away from anyone to see, but I knew the lights were on. And I knew he had a woman in there, in the house, in his room, in bed. I knew he was drunk. It was his daily routine. And it was my daily routine to leave the house before things could get out of hand. But things getting out of hand can be an unpredictable statement. 

Dad was a mental maniac, only when we was drunk. And that was often. Too often.

It was dark and chilly and all I had on was a black sleeveless tank-top and some pants for bed.

I shivered as I slowly walked away from the house. I tugged on the red scarf that was wrapped around my neck for comfort. I found myself walking around that same spot I saw the boy that day.

He wasn’t there this time.

“You live around here?”, A voice suddenly whispered.

I look around alarmed, but saw no one.

“Over here!”, the voice whispered again.

I trail the person’s voice and looked up to see the boy again. He was on the roof and was about to jump off. I noticed the window open and realized he was escaping again.

I just stared up at him, unable to respond to him. I still had to register the fact that I was now seeing him everywhere now.

Let’s just say it was fate that brought you two together.

No.

The boy quietly closed his bedroom window and jumped off the roof with no problem as he landed. It looked skilled and as if he practiced this routine often.

He stands right in front me, looking nervously.

“Hey!”, The boy whispers to me, waving a hand in my face.

I blink a few times before finally acknowledging him.

“Are you running away from home as well?”, The boy asks me. He looks around for anyone and then looks back at me.

I nod my head and he smiles.

“Cool, wanna join me?”, He whispers, gesturing the opposite way.

I look where he points and realize he was talking about the place in the woods. That place where I had saved him.

My eyes widen a little and my hand starts to twitch.

I start to turn away from him, flat out rejecting his invitation.

“Hey!”, The boy raises his voice a little too loud, especially since we were right in front of his house. I turn sharply around to him in alarm.

“Sorry, but please. You owe me from the last time”, The boy adds on.

I stare at him, blankly.

Why couldn’t he just leave me alone?

He looks hesitant of saying something else at first.

“I-I...I promise that I’ll leave you alone, if you just come with me”, The boy looked serious and believable.

I step closer to him and as I got closer, I could see the nervousness creeping onto his face.

Should I believe what he proposed or should I just walk away?

I felt like either way, he would still get his way.

But if I wanted to remain alone again-

I step back a bit and nod. The boy’s nervousness washes away with a smile. The boy then holds out his hand towards me. I look down at his hand blankly. By the look on his face, I could tell he was embarrassed. He expected me to take it, but I rejected it. He shoves his hands in the pockets of his pajamas and awkwardly turns around to lead the way. When we finally enter the woods, he tries again.

“I’m not taking it”, I say to him knowingly.

He gives me a look of concern.

“You might get hurt.”, He says, still holding his hand out.

“I don’t need your help”, I mumble out.

Giving up, he slowly puts his hand down and starts walking ahead again.

‘You might get hurt.’

Oh, little did he know.

We stood in front of the house in silence, watching it. It looked more deserted from the last time I came here. But everything still seemed the same.

This time, the boy brings a flashlight with him. He turns it on and shines it over the things in front of him.

I stood next to him, cautious of the things around me. And then I felt a hand grab mine. I jerk my hand away and look in the boy’s direction, who stares at me nervously.

“You may get lost”, He insisted.

“Not if I’m following you.”, I shouted.

I eyed him rudely as he continued to walk forward.

We went up the stairs and walked to the room, I saw him in the last time. The boy walks ahead of me first without saying a word to me. I stop just in front of the doorway and look inside. It had enough light from the moonlight to show part of the room. And It looked surprisingly clean.

The window was still broken from the last time I been here.

It looked like it was once a children’s room, with a small dilapidated bed crept in one corner. The bed was broken down and all there was was a dusty looking mattress that no one has touched. There was a desk in the other corner that was the height of a little child with broken supplies scattered all over it. A chair sat in front of the desk, but it wasn’t broken or scratched up. The walls were painted a faded dark blue, but you wouldn’t see it in the dark.

I couldn’t make out any other objects scatter on the floor.

I finally look where the boy was located as he sits in the middle of the floor, watching me. He breaks eye contact when my eyes settled on him. I came to realize that this boy was a shy kid, very shy.

I walk slowly over to him and stand in front of him. He shyly looks up at me then looks away out the window.

“My name is Tyler”, He says, without looking over at me.

I continued to stare at him, not wanting to speak.

“Is this how you always are?”, Tyler then asks me. He sounded kind of hopeless.

He glances up at me, his eyes colored concern.

“I guess”, I respond back looking out the window, "life made me this way".