TAKE ME OVER | HENRY MILLS [1]

XLVIII. zero

Chapter Status: Edited.

One day.

Tahlia.

The last day is always the worst. Anticipation grows inside of me as each second ticks by. 5:43am my clock reads, I am tired, but I cannot sleep. I am terrified of what is to come, who knows what is going to happen to me, to Anna, to Henry, to everyone I love and care about. I turn my head to the right and see Anna sleeping peacefully, and I cannot help but sigh. I do not want to be the reason she is hurt, I am surprised she has stayed for so long. I slowly sit up, instantly shivering as the blanket falls off of me. I pull on a grey jumper and look back at Anna before shaking my head and heading out of the room.

I do not bother to grab my phone, just making sure I have my keys. I silently slip on shoes and leave the apartment.

"What are you doing up this early?" an old voice suddenly asks.

I jump and spin around to see a small old lady who cannot be any taller than 5 feet, standing in front of the apartment next to mine.

"Oh, I'm just going for a walk," I reply.

She looks me up and down, her brown eyes meeting mine again.

"No, you're not," she decides.

I frown, confused, "pardon?" I ask.

"You can't run away from your problems, dear," she says.

I open my mouth, but I cannot come up with words to speak.

"I hear you guys through the walls, when you're fighting," she clarifies.

"Oh," I mumble, looking down at the floor.

"Everyone fights, my dear, but just because life isn't going your way, that doesn't give you an excuse to run," she says.

"It's not that... it's just..."

I stop myself, why would I trust an old woman that I do not know when I can barely trust my best friends?

"Never mind," I shake my head.

I turn away, walking halfway down the hall before she speaks again.

"Your mind is playing tricks on you, my dear," she suddenly says.

I stop just as I reach the stairs and turn around to see the woman has left. She must have gone back inside, deciding it is nothing to think over, I jog down the stairs and walk outside. The cool breeze hits me, my disordered hair blows over my shoulder, some strands sticking to my cold skin. There is only one place I can truly go to at this point. It is the most cliché and obvious place to go, but it is the only place that makes me feel at peace. The cliff.

I walk through the dark forest, not being able to see much due to the low light. Once I am in the open, I sit at the very edge, my legs swinging in the open space. I sometimes wonder what it would feel like to fly. I'm sure I would feel free, the wind blowing in my hair as I look down at the beauty below. I would love to just be able to escape my problems, even just for an hour or so. Imagine how much thinking you'd get done or the amazing places you could visit or the sights you could see. It would be nice to just be able to fall and have the air grab me, as though I weigh nothing more than a feather.

Maybe living in Neverland would not be so bad after all. I would have a new life, doing the things I used to love and sometimes secretly wish I could do again. I might even be able to spend a lot of it with one of my closest childhood friends. It does not sound horrible, but then I would spend every day wishing I could see the people I love just one more time. That would be the bad part, the regret I would feel.