FicWad

I switched myself on autopilot after that. I didn’t want think about today, at least not until I had somewhere to lie down, think and shut down for a little bit. I wasn’t fully aware of my surroundings. I vaguely remember walking under the scattered city lights until there were none anymore. It was pitch black out but I kept walking, guided by the moonlight.

I found myself at a small lake, surrounded by a thick wooded area. I stared out onto the lake for awhile, just listening to the small amount of animals scurrying about and the lone owl off in the distance. I snapped out of my trance when I heard wolf howling and everything seemed to quiet.

It was eerie and peaceful all at once. I looked around in the dark for a place to lie down, hopefully comfortably. As a looked around I saw a medium-sized, warped tree the bent over and started growing on a boulder. It left a small area underneath the tree’s braches that I could lay down in.

I made my way over to the shelter, being careful not to trip over anything, and crawled in. It was a little damp, but still comfortable. It was odd, feeling so safe in this place. I was in the woods and I didn’t know how far from home but I felt no fear. I could stay here for awhile.

I let myself close my eyes and clear my mind. Soon enough, I was asleep.

~

When I woke up, the sun was bright and birds were chirping. I used the heel of my palms and dug into my eyes, rubbing the sleep away. For a second, I didn’t remember where I was or what day it was. I was just sleeping in the woods. I was oddly peaceful. I didn’t care that I didn’t know the exact location of where I was. All that mattered was that I was safe- well, at least I felt safe- and I got a good amount of sleep.

Now the only problem was that I didn’t know exactly where I was. I didn’t remember where I went after my little, run-in with Gerard. All I knew was that I went in the direction opposite from my house from the park. I stayed in my little shelter for a little while longer until I decided I should probably get going. I wasn’t sure where I was going to go, but it was a school day. Once I got out of the woods, I could head there.

Throwing on my backpack, I headed out of the woods. As I left my hide out I realized it was just a little way off of an old, overgrown path. I followed the path until it opened up onto a street I recognized as one I had passed on one of the many times I traveled to the hospital. I wasn’t that far from the school and decided the best decision right now was to walk to it.

I hadn’t gone as far as I thought I had but maybe I walked in a circle or something. I don’t have the best sense of direction, but most of the time I can get where I’m trying to go. I did my best to remember where I came from through the woods so I could return to it later.

It only took me about twenty minutes to arrive at school where I found teens scattered all around the outside. I figured it must be lunch. I hadn’t had the sense to check the time but the sun high in the sky and the kids outside was enough evidence for me.

I walked through the gates and straight inside the school. All the kids were giving me funny looks and whispering to each other. I supposed it was because I probably looked like I slept outside because, well, I did. I didn’t have anything to make myself look presentable and at this point, I didn’t really care. People could talk if they wanted, it didn’t mean I’d have to listen.

I got to my locker and absentmindedly turned the combination to open it. I tossed my backpack in alongside the one I had left in there yesterday. I decided it would be best just to spend the rest of the school day here so I searched for my schedule. I eventually found it in my back pocket. As I scanned for my next class, the bell went off.

I walked through the slowly emptying hallways, looking for my class. It wasn’t far from my locker so I quickly arrived. I took a deep breath and opened the door. The classroom immediately fell silent. That was the one thing I hated about walking into class late. Everyone stares at you like you just murdered someone in front of them. I didn’t understand why but it was something that happened every time.

The teacher looked nice enough. She was young and pretty, this was probably one of her first few years of teaching. I scanned the room and sure enough, the trio from the park was there in the back. I looked over the classroom one more time to look for a spot to sit. The small tables held a group of two and of course the only empty seat was by one of them. It was by the blonde one. I couldn’t remember his name, or if I had ever learned it.

As I walked toward the empty seat I noticed Gerard nudge the one next to him. This kid looked up with an impressive poker face, muttered something under his breath and looked back down. It looked like he was texting. I sat down and kept my gaze forward as class started.

As the young teacher dragged on the English lesson, I couldn’t help but feel eyes on me. I was getting irritated and hungry. I was tired despite my good nights sleep by the time the teacher said we could have the rest of the class period.

“What the fuck do you want?” I finally turned and asked the blonde culprit from making me feel uncomfortable.

“I’m Bob.” was all he said. I looked at him, waiting for an explanation of why he was staring at me. We stared at each other for another moment before he spoke again. “You look familiar.” That’s when I snapped. I don’t know why, or if I just had pent up anger and tension, but I cracked.

“Oh, maybe it’s because you were in a drunken haze last night. You don’t remember everything do you? Of course not. Next time you guys-” I made I small hand gesture aimed at Gerard and the other one. “-want to try and rape me, make sure you aren’t drunk as fuck or that we don’t go to the same school.” Bob’s eyes grew wider as I kept talking like he didn’t believe me or something.

“I thought that was a dream..” Bob almost whispered in disbelief. Then, he started frowning. I bit back a sharp retort and just raised my eyebrow in question. “You kissed Mikey.” I forced myself not to roll my eyes.

“Umm, sure. You do know you sound like you have a very low IQ right now, right?” He just blinked at me.

“You’re funny, kid. I like you.” Bob smiled at me. Now I was confused.

“So let me get this straight, first you try to rape me and then you want to be friends? Do you do that to everyone or am I just that special?” I don’t understand how, but I was actually making Bob my friend. We sat joking around a little bit longer until we only had five minutes let of class.

“So in all seriousness-” Bob started. “Why do you look like you fell in a bush or slept outside?” he reached over and pulled a small twig out of my hair for emphasis.

“Oh, I umm.. I did sleep outside.” I tried not to seem embarrassed or hesitant. I did still have to keep my front up. Bob sputtered some laughter but when I didn’t laugh with him, he stopped immediately.

“You’re serious?” I just nodded. “Dude, why? Don’t you have a home? Oh my God, you’re not homeless are you because that would suck. No, wait- you live with the wolves or some shit I bet. You look like someone who would totally be crazy like that.” I was getting some serious humor out of Bob’s rambling. The funniest part was that Bob looked completely serious about it.

“Dude, no. I’m not crazy or live with wolves and I’m not homeless.” Although I felt something squeezing at my insides at the memory at the fight with my mom, I still gave a pained smile.

“Well that’s good because my mom doesn’t like when I befriend homeless things.” And Bob spun off in a short story about the time he brought home a stray cat. Somehow, I think Bob knew I didn’t want to talk about my situation at the time. I respected him for that, I was glad he didn’t try to figure out why I was sleeping outside.

When the bell rung I quickly said goodbye to Bob and hurried out of the door to find my next class. I resisted the urge to hide in the corners along the way, but somehow, I was a little happy even through all the shit I’ve been through. Maybe it was because Bob was nice to me. That I realized not everyone is a complete and utter asshole in the world. At least, I hoped.


A/N: okay I’m sorry that this is bad and it took me such a long time to write it I’ve been having major writers block and blah blah blah, usual author’s excuses. I’ll really try to update sooner next time I promise.