The Scary Outdoors

One

Agoraphobia- an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no easy way to get away. These situations can include open spaces, public transit, shopping centres, or simply being outside their home. Being in these situations may result in a panic attack. The symptoms occur nearly every time the situation is encountered and last for more than six months. Those affected will go to great lengths to avoid these situations. In severe cases people may become completely unable to leave their homes.

A/N: If you want to find out more about agoraphobia I found this in Wikipedia!

***

I look out my window, as I always do at this time of the day -Sunset- it's beautiful. I wonder how it would feel to have the sun's warm heat on my skin... Then I shiver.

I'll never go out. Ever again.

I'm happy with watching it from my window every afternoon. I bring my hands to my lips, the warm fabric of my sweater caressing my face. It was a beautiful sight.

I lived in a really nice neighborhood in Galena, Illinois. I could see all of the big houses in front of me and the sun hiding behind the mountains beyond.

What I loved about the sun is that it seemed so close, yet so far away at the same time. Kind of like me. I feel unreachable.

Through my window I see a moving truck. I sigh and get up, closing the blinds of my other window -the one that I can see into the empty neighbor house. Well, it seems it won't be empty anymore.

There goes my privacy.

I go back to my front window. I see a woman that seems to be in her mid-fourties get out of the passenger seat. She has her blond hair, streaked with gray into a messy ponytail and has brown eyes. She looks friendly.

Oh, that's bad news for me!

As if she senses someone watching her, she looks up at me and smiles whilst waving. I can feel my heartbeat in my fingertips.

I quickly shut the blinds.

I sigh in relief. I didn't want to seem rude but I don't know how to act in these kind of situations. I walk to my bed and lay in it, facing the ceiling. At least she seems like she was alone. That can't be bad, right?

Wrong.

***

I hear someone open my door, instinctively I reach for my night stand and open the first drawer getting out my pocket knife and pepper spray.

"Athena, sweetie it's only me" my mother, Serena says softly.

"Oh" I say, putting the knife and pepper spray back in the drawer.

"We have new neighbors. The Walsh's. They came to introduce themselves. Do you feel okay to come down and say hi?" She explains.

The lady from earlier... isn't alone after all? I feel my pulse quickening. This could be really bad.

"N-not really" i stutter. I didn't trust the Walsh's now. And I don't think I ever would. Trust makes you weak, and people take advantage of that weakness.

"Okay, sweetie. I'm sure Elizabeth will come back another day with her lovely family" she said. "I bet you'd like them!" She added.

"Mom" I warned.

She sighed in defeat. "Fine honey. Maybe next time, have a good night"

"You too"

***

I woke up early, as always. My internal clock seemed to be set for 7:00 a.m every morning. I got up and opened the blinds of my windows, letting the warm sunshine in. And even pulling them up as I felt good enough to do it today.

I went to my bathroom and changed into some black leggings and an oversized pastel pink T-shirt. I pulled my brown hair out of my usual night braid and into a messy bun. After all, I was staying home.

I always do.

I went downstairs and grabbed and apple and a bottle of water, then headed as quickly as possible back to my room.

I bit the apple, tasting it's sweet juice on my tongue. I threw my water bottle in my window seat and put the apple on my desk as I made my bed.

After I was done I grabbed a book from my bookshelf and decided to sit and read it by my window seat in the warm Saturday sunshine. I grabbed my apple and bit it again heading toward my seat.

I froze mid-bite as I saw something unexpected. It was a boy about my age, he was blond and had piercing blue eyes. He was standing in the window parallel to mine.

And he was shirtless.

I felt heat rise up from my neck to my cheeks. Stupid, Athena! Why did you pull up those blinds! I hurried to the window and was about to close the blinds when the boy noticed me.

He smiled.

He waved "hello" with his hand. I felt my ears ring. 'You are okay. You are confident' I told myself. I smiled slightly in return and started to close the blinds. He started waving like crazy and was so surprised that I stopped.

He was opening and closing his hands. Fingers together. I gulped.

He wanted to talk?

He pointed to my window. Oh, dear he wanted to talk! What do I do? I should've closed the blinds. Never opened them in the first place!

Stupid, Athena!

I signaled to his torso. He should at least have the decency to put a shirt on. He nodded and held up one finger. He quickly returned with a navy blue t-shirt on and signaled again to my window.

I hesitated,but opened it. He did the same thing. For a second I stood there awkwardly, apple in hand, book in armpit.

"Hello"

***

A/N: Hello! That was the first chapter. Hope you liked it!

Italian-blossom