You Are the Shell to My Tortoise | ✓

55

I stood there, mouth agape, watching Nolan book it for the forest ... just like I always saw the bat did whenever we happened across it.

The whole thing had to be some kind of hallucination.

There was no way I just saw some bat turn into Nolan.

Although if that was true, why did he make a break for it the second I spoke?

Without even looking around to check for any witnesses, he went right for the wall. There was definitely something desperate about his carelessness.

My legs had already taken me halfway down the stairs by the time I realized that I was running.

Hallucination or not, I couldn't let him leave like this.

If he had nothing to hide, he wouldn't have fled. Apprehension swirled around in my gut as I sprinted down the stairs.

He chose to run instead of talking to me. I had a sinking feeling that if I didn't find him now, I might not be able to get ahold of him tomorrow. Maybe he'd avoid me forever. Nolan was an expert in shutting people out—I wouldn't stand a chance.

I was out of the dorm building before I knew it.

Of course, when I got there, Nolan was already out of sight.

I hesitated once I was standing before the old brick wall.

If I got caught, my parents would probably be called. They'd totally kill me. Still, I couldn't just stay here and hope for a chance to talk to Nolan tomorrow.

There weren't any students in the vicinity, but someone could easily spot me from their room window.

I took the risk anyway.

My winter gloves were a bit of a hindrance to my climbing, but I made it over the wall without too much trouble. All that effort I'd put into getting in better shape had paid off.

As I went further in, I turned on my phone's flashlight for easier navigation.

I'd been here so many times I knew which direction I needed to go in, even without Nolan here to guide me. The only thing I really needed his handholding for was to avoid tripping over stuff on the ground.

I headed straight for the clearing.

Even if he wasn't there, at least I had somewhere to start from.

"Nolan?" I called out, and then immediately cringed.

My voice was way too loud in the quietness of my surroundings. It was like the entire forest was asleep.

"Nolan!"

I continued calling his name the deeper into the forest I went, banking on the high likelihood that I was too far away from the school building for anyone to hear.

Finally, I reached my destination only to find that there was no one in the clearing.

I cupped my hands around my mouth and hollered, "Nolan! Where are you?"

The answering silence felt overwhelming.

Suddenly, it hit me that I'd been so caught up in finding Nolan that I hadn't even considered that I would be all alone in the forest. The realization turned my knees to jelly as I forced myself to walk along the edge of the clearing, shining the flashlight into the nearby trees to see if I could spot anything.

My voice cracked as I called out, "Seriously, where are you? Why did you just leave like that? Nolan!"

He had to be here somewhere.