The Woods (Original)

We're Going Too Fast, Fast Save Us

When I woke up the next morning the rain had finally ceased. I went in the living room to check on Petra, she was just waking up herself. This time I made sure I had my shirt on.
"Want some breakfast?" I asked.
"Uh, sure," she replied.
Before I started preparing the pancakes I decided to check my mom's room. She wasn't in there so my suspicions were confirmed, she must be at a guy's house she met at the bar.
I went into the bathroom and ruffled my hair, trying to get all the tangles out. I took the gel I bought at the hair salon and put some on my fingers, smothering it through my hair. After that I decided to brush my teeth to get rid of my morning breath.
   Finally I made my way into the kitchen and prepared us some pancakes for breakfast.
   "So this is my life now," I thought as we were eating. "Petra is a part of my life, this is how I live. Everything is so new so suddenly... But I love it. I love her..."
   "Whatcha thinkin' Jones?" She asked. I guess I dazed off quite noticeably.
   "Just about life," I said honestly.
   "Oh?" She said with a raised eyebrow.
   "Yeah, I mean, my life has changed so suddenly so quickly. It's scary to think how quickly things can change... How quickly you can become part of someone's life... Or how quickly someone can leave..." I said with a sigh at that last part.
   "Are you happy with your life?" She asked.
   I looked up at her and answered as honestly as possible, "Every since I met you, life isn't so terrible anymore."
   She smiled and got the slightest bit of pink tint in her cheeks.
   "By the way," I started, "did you know you talk in your sleep?"
   "Really? What did I say?" She asked, not seeming too surprised so I guess it has happened before.
   "Oh, just about how you gonna kick Krampus's butt," I joked, covering a lie.
   She got a kick out of that, and we both laughed.
   "Wanna go to the lake?" She asked.
   "Yeah, sure," I said as I put our empty plates in the sink.
   I went into my room to get dressed before we left. I decided to wear a new dark grey flannel striped with black and red, regular distressed skinny jeans, and the burgundy Vans I bought. I made sure to put on the dog tags Petra gave me, they were a part of me now.
   The sun was shining brightly today, not a trace of the storm from last night to be found.
   Before we went to the lake we stopped by Petra's house so she could freshen up. She wore a sleeveless brown shirt with a black denim jacket, it's own sleeves ending at the shoulders with stray threads. Her usual combat boots and bandana present, along with the single fingerless glove on one hand, a sleeve on the other. Finally, denim short shorts that's were frayed at the ends. Her beauty never ceased to amaze me.
   As we sat in the grassy field, the same spot as the night we met, I got out my phone and pulled up the camera app.
   "Hey Petra," I said as she looked up. "Smile." We both smiled for the picture, I pulled her closer by putting my arm around her. Snap. I captured the moment. We then posed for a silly picture, she had her eyes crossed and lips pouted, I had one eye closed and my tongue out as we heard the tell-tell snap of a memory being made.
   "Oh, that's a beauty," I said as she playfully slapped my arm.
   "Send those to me," she said as I set the silly picture as her contact picture, the other as my lock screen.
   I looked over at her and the woods in the background. They were really intriguing. "Have you ever been in the moors?" I asked.
   "A time or two, wanna go?" She asked.
   "Even more interesting, let's race," I challenged her.
   "Oh, think you can beat me, eh?" She said as we both stood up.
   "Let's find out," I said as I got in a running position. "Ready-set-go!" I said unfairly fast as I took off.
   "Hey!" She called out as she ran after me.
   Each stroke of my leg filled me with satisfaction. The wind in my hair gave me a cool sensation as we entered the woods. Dodging rocks, jumping logs, all the while I was surprisingly ahead of Petra. Running gave me an amazing feeling. I could blow off steam and calm down.
   We came upon a decline of land and I looked back with a huge, goofy smile on my face as I saw Petra diving for me, tackling me to the ground. We rolled down the hill laughing, getting crisp leaves in our hair. When we finally stopped Petra was on top of me, us both still laughing.
   "I win," she said between breaths.
   "I'm not so sure about that," I said as I rolled us over, pinning her down. "I think I win," I added with a devilish smile. She giggled as we both got up.
   We walked over to a tree and climbed in it, sitting on one of its sturdy branches. We sat there for a while, talking about our favorite things, our hopes and dreams, what we wanted to be when we grew up, our fears. The list goes on.
   Suddenly in the distance we saw a wolf- no scratch that- two wolves! One was red, the other brown. They both walked up to each other and nuzzled into the neck fur of the other. It was beautiful, and I loved wolves which made it all the more exciting.
   I looked over and Petra who was already looking at me. "Nature at its finest," she said.
   "Yeah..." I trailed off. I was lost, so lost in her brown velvet seas of irises. She grabbed my hand and interlocked her fingers with mine. I looked down at them wondering, what does it mean? Does this mean something to her? I mean, mean something to her, deep down inside her. Does this feeling of us touching give her a tingly sensation like it does me? I looked back up and met her gaze. She moved her body close to mine, so close our noses were touching.
"Hey Jones..." she said.
"Yeah?"
"You remember asking what I wished for at the mall...?"
"Yeah...?" I said, my heart thudding against my chest.
"Still wanna know?" She asked, her face turning slightly sideways.
I gulped. "I- I guess," I said feebly, my heart pumping faster and faster with each second. My chest started to ache with nervousness.
"This."
With one swift motion she pressed her lips onto mine. An electric shock jolted around in my chest cavity and exploded in a huge firework. My eyes were the size of the moon and my eyebrows higher than a private jet. "Is this really happening?!" I thought as I eventually relaxed and closed my eyes, kissing her back. She rest her other hand on my shoulder, pulling us closer. I slid my free hand onto her hip as our lips molded together. I felt like I would fall off the branch at any second but I didn't care. Nothing else mattered. This, this was all that mattered. She was all I cared about. I was on top of the world.
When we pulled away from each other I was speechless. She rest her forehead on my chin, and I wrapped my arms around her. I didn't know what to say. What could I say? And why... Why did she do it exactly? Is it because she loves me...? My brain was as scrambled as I was speechless. What does this mean for us?
   We climbed down from the tree after a few minutes. It felt like it lasted forever but it was over too soon all the same. Petra neared the trunk of the tree and pulled her pocket knife out. She carved her name into the tree and handed me the knife, indicating I do the same. I took the knife in hand, a blue dragon on the blade, and carved my name under hers.
   I handed the knife back and she smiled widely at me. "Race ya back!" She shouted as she gave my chest a playful shove.
   I tore after her, pumping my legs faster and faster with each strike of the ground, feeling the adrenaline course through my veins. I got closer and closer to her and when we entered the clearing I had finally caught up all the way. I wrapped my arms around her and we rolled onto the ground, laughing hysterically. I felt at home.
We laid there and caught our breath, and finally when our gazes met we spoke.
"You're pretty fast Jones," she said.
"Thanks..." I said trailing off. I wanted so badly to ask what this meant, what it meant we were. I was scared she didn't think of it like I did and I would get shot down faster than a war plane.
"Ok Jones, what's on your mind?" She said, seeing right through me.
"How do I tell her? I can't lie and say it's nothing... I couldn't lie to her even if I wanted to. Even if I did she would still make me tell her eventually..."
"Petra... What does this mean?" I said quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"This. Us. What are we?" I asked.
"What do you want us to be?" She countered.
"I... I'm scared you don't want what I want," I said as I sat up and turned away in embarrassment. I could feel the tears of fear and rejection forming.
She turned my head so I would face her. "Do you really think you mean nothing to me?" She asked honestly.
"Well... I would hope not," I said with a chuckle. "Petra I... I-" I cut myself off with a sigh. "I lo-"
I was cut off by her lips. "I love you too."