Never Again

chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

            English class was just like yesterday. Tyler worked on the warm up with me and we talked and laughed until Mrs. Stone told us to be quiet. It was really nice to talk to someone for a change. We were working on some partner work for our projects and the first person to ask me was Tyler, of course.

            He scooted his desk over next to mine and we worked side by side. The project was to write a poem, short story or essay on the feelings we go through and the meaning of life. We read a poem on life and had to basically evaluate it into our lives. We had to ask each other questions about what makes us happy and other emotions. I was first for the questions.

            “I can’t believe you actually would choose me to be your partner.” I said.

            “Well why not?” Tyler asked.

            “We only met yesterday and I’m not the first choice of many people.” I replied.

            “Well you were mine,” he said.

I looked at him perplexed. He stared back at me. Then he grinned and then I grinned. We then just both started to laugh. Tyler then crossed his legs and put his hands on his knee. He gave me a really silly, therapeutic look.

            “So tell me Elsie,” he said airily. “What makes you happy in life?”

I rested my chin on my hand as if in deep thought. Tyler sat there staring right back at me.

            “Books, friends, Netflix, shopping, shoes, music, techn---“Tyler cut me off.

            “No. no. no. no. not that kind of happy! What truly, and I mean truly makes you happy?” he asked.

            “Well in that case I don’t really know,” I said. “I’ve never really thought about it.”

            “Are you sure?” Tyler asked. “Try this, okay.”

He grabbed my hands and held them up to my eyes. I quickly pulled them away.

            “What are you doing?” I asked.

            “Just trust me. Now, put your hands to your eyes and close them.”

I reluctantly obeyed.

            “Good! Now, I want you to imagine that you’re in a forest. It’s beautiful, bright and warm. I want you to imagine yourself running through the tall grass and smelling the wild flowers. Can you do that?”

I nodded.

            “Great. Now, this will be your happy place. I want you now to picture that there are three caves. Inside each one of these caves is something that makes you happy. I want you to go inside each cave one by one and tell me what you see.”

I pictured myself going in to all three caves. At first I only saw blackness but then as I allowed my mind to clear I saw three of my favorite things.

            “What do you see?” Tyler asked.

            “In the first cave I see a cobblestone road. There are trees on either side of it and it’s in the fall. There is nothing else but those trees and road. It’s mainly just a mixture of red, orange, and yellow.”

Tyler wrote everything down.

            “In the second cave I see a bench, I can’t tell where it is but it’s a park bench. I also see long hair and short hair. There are arms wrapped around each other on the bench. It’s…” I stopped. I got a nervous feeling in my throat and gulped.