Before You Leave Me Today

chapter six-juliet

It's been a good couple of months since my sister and my ex had started dating. I thought it would be hard for me to acknowledge them, let alone accept the fact that they're together, but surprisingly, it wasn't. I busied myself with working overtime at the cupcake store, I pushed myself to get higher grades, and I buried myself in books and spent all my free time in the library or in the park reading a book.

I just don't understand one thing though; why would I run away?

So what if Braden and Jess hangs out at our backyard whenever our parents are gone? Why do I feel the need to leave every time he comes over, and rush out to leave before he sees me? What is the matter with me? It's not like I have feelings for him anyways. Those feelings were long gone. Those feelings that I had for him left with him when he left me. 

I hugged my The North Face jacket tighter around me as I gazed around the park. As always, I'm sitting against an old oak tree with an opened book on my hands. It's colder than usual today, a good 58 degrees. I should've worn something warmer other than a pair of leggings and a thin sweatshirt but I know better next time.

There isn't a lot of people that visits this park. It almost looks vacant, if you ask me. Sometimes, there would be a few kids playing on the swing set, or couples holding hands, strolling around, but that's about it. Even though this park isn't legally mine, I like to call it mine because I'm really the only person who visits here often.  

I was about to get up and pack my things when I caught a glimpse of a sunset; and I was mesmerized and I swear it was one of the most beautiful things I've seen. I'm not a poetic describer but I can tell you that it's pink and purple blended in together as the sun peeks from behind. I snapped a picture of it and posted it on Snapchat before I leaned my head against the tree and closed my eyes.

It's only 6 o'clock anyways. There is a good chance that Braden is still exchanging saliva with my sister, that guy doesn't leave till 7 because that's when Mom comes home. I could stay here in another hour.

I could stay here forever if I could, just like the tree, with this beautiful view, forever.

***

Where am I again?

Why is it so cold and dark?

Like a bucket of ice has been poured on me, realization hits me like a brick. Unbelievable! How did I fall asleep here? I just closed my eyes to relax and feel the breeze on my face for a minute and the next thing I know, it's too dark to see anything.

My heartbeat quickens as fear runs through my body. It's too dark, as I've said, and it's so cold that my fingers are starting to have frostbites. The lively park, now looks like an isolated vacant lot like the ones in horror movies. Shit, I've got to stop watching horror movies because I'm pretty sure that my pulse is going a 180 BPM.

What if there's a serial clown roaming around?

I nearly peed with that thought.

With quivering legs, I stood up and slung my backpack over my shoulder which felt like a thousand pounds heavy. I tried to calm myself down my thinking happy thoughts but nothing is working. Every nerve in my body is alive and scared.

I was never a fan of darkness. That's the thing---we don't know what could be lurking. But then again, I don't think I would want to know if it's only going to scare the shit out of me.

I'm too young to die.

"Shit," I muttered, my heartbeat accelerating even more when I turned my phone on and it only has 1 percent left, and it even fucking died as soon as I was about to turn it on. Fucking amazing. I was going to call Mon or anyone in my contacts, screw my dignity and pride, I don't want to die here. I was also going to use the flashlight but my phone decided to be a bitch and died just when it's actually an emergency. Fucking great.

I turned around to look around me and to my relief, I almost wanted to cry in happiness. I saw a faint light of a street light half a mile from where I am. Maybe I was overreacting over nothing?

But hey, fear of the darkness is not a trivial matter. There literally could be any monster or ghost roaming around right now. It could even be next to me and I wouldn't know since I can't see it!

I leapt and sprinted as fast as I can, not caring about anything. I need to get home as fast as I can. Normally, it would take 20 minutes to walk to the park from our house since I don't have a car yet and I'm still saving up to buy it with my own money.

There is nobody on the streets anymore, even as I reached where the streetlights are, so I'm assuming it's pretty late.

I don't know how long I've been running. My sweatshirt is completely drenched from my hardcore sweating. My ponytail must've fallen off somewhere but I didn't stop to brush or fix the hair out of my face. Who the hell has the time to care what they look like in a time like this? It doesn't feel freezing anymore---in fact, it feels so hot that it makes me want to strip my clothes off but that's not my biggest worry right now. Obviously, getting home without being raped or murdered is my top priority in a crisis like this.

Thank God I didn't skip those PE mile runs, I said to myself mentally. Who knew that those would actually be beneficial in real life?

I nearly cried in relief as I got closer and I saw the familiar silhouette of our house and Jess' familiar car parked in the driveway...

What?

Why is Braden's new Volvo car still there?

Who the hell cares! 

With shaking hands, I fumbled for the keys on my pocket.

Finally.

I threw my backpack on I don't know where, and I peeled my soaking sweatshirt off me. Everything happened so fast. I feel like my head is spinning. I leaned my arm against the wall for support to prevent myself from fainting. My head is throbbing and it feels like it's about to explode. I'm still sweating like crazy, and the tank top that I'm wearing still feels hot against my skin.

My vision is spinning around, and my eyesight are getting blurry. I didn't stop, not even once to catch my breath, and my legs are sore. I brought my free hand to my face to wipe my forehead, and I nearly burned myself. Jesus, I'm so hot that I can fry an egg in there.

"Jules?" I hear Jess' worrying voice but I didn't have the energy to look up. My eyes stay glued to the ground to keep myself from fainting right there. "Oh my! What the hell happened to you? Why do you look like that---"

The last thing that I remember was falling to and a pair of muscular arms around my fragile body.

***

Hello, guys! Sorry for not updating for months! School got in the way and I didn't have the time or motivation to write anymore. I'll try to update as often as I can. Thank you for being patient. I apologize if this has grammar errors or whatsoever because I didn't proofread and I only edit later on.

Vote, comment, and follow for more stories by me in the future.

Much love,

Kyla

Goal for this chapter: Can we get to 10 votes and 5 comments? Haha.