THE WOODS (Book 1 of Wanna Play? Trilogy)

PROLOGUE: Mysterious Cabin

"Hey weirdo, are you sure this is the way to granpy's?"

C seems to not hear her, still busy checking up the map and the address from his phone.

E took a slow step and continued wandering around, carefully observing the place they've got themselves into and leaving behind C that is still fidgeting on his phone.

There were lots of trees surrounding them, but not too much like a forest, or the woods. Tall trees, fruit-bearing trees and shrubs are all around the place. It's been a while since she breathed a fresh breeze, a small smirk formed in her face.

"W-wait E! I think there's a little.."

She threw a quick but annoyed glance at C and continued walking.

"What now?!"

C started to walk behind her, raising his phone in different directions to find some signal.

"You know, uhh.." he said with a little bit of nervousness in his voice but won't admit it.

"this is just a thought but, I really do think that..." he continued, still trying to catch up on her.

She rolled her eyes and took a few steps faster.

They are not friends, she doesn't consider them friends because they never really hanged out together. C is just one of her annoying neighbor across their street. They go in the same school and they see each other almost everyday, but E doesn't care about it. She finds him weird and she hates weird people. She knows it, she's a brat.

She felt C stopped walking behind her. She turned her head to him. C's still trying to find some signal.

"Hell, say it already, you're annoying me. Where are we?"

E realized that he finally gave up with his awkward phone raising. He slid his phone in one of his jean's pocket.

"There's no signal here, b-but I'm pretty sure this is the place where the map's pointing." he explained, trying his best not to talk awkwardly.

She gave a blank stare at him.

Nah, he's not good at talking, he knows it. He tends to always search for words when in front of the people he's talking to. And now, he thinks they're lost but how can he tell this girl? She seems scary.

"Uhm, I think this is not the place... although it says on the phone it is, but I think that it is not. But I'm not saying we're lost but you know, somehow I also think--"

"Okay, stop."

E raised her hands to stop him.

"Calm down, weirdo. Stop with the fuss." She put her hands back on her jacket pockets and continued walking.

"S-so what do we do..?" he asked, confused.

"So find the way. I'm sure we're near to their house."

She took her steps faster, C's trying to catch up with her again.

"B-but how can we find the way? I mean, there's almost no signal here.."

E continued walking faster, he slowed his steps, realizing that he can't catch up on her. His legs feel heavy, he can even feel it throbbing. They have been walking for two straight hours. He knows it's not that much, but he barely exercise. The last time he ran, it was in PE class and he had sore his leg muscles he can't move it for days.

He decided to stop for a moment and sat beside a bush, he knows his legs need some rest. He removed his eyeglass and rubbed it with his shirt and wore it again. He watched E's back as she walked farther from him.