I felt distant. Everything was in vague colors and my head was dizzy. Nothing made sense. I tried desperately to connect the dots, but it was all for nothing. It didn’t matter how hard I tried because the problem was that I didn’t understand. I didn’t understand what had just happened or how it happened or if it even happened.
“Are you all right?” Olivia asked me and I looked up at her instantly.
It was nice to see someone I knew from the inside and out, someone that wouldn’t lie or keep things away from me.
My first instinct was to tell her what had happened, but I stopped myself. I wanted to tell her, and I would, but I had to figure out what I was going to tell her first. Saying I think something weird is happening but I have no idea what it is wouldn’t make the situation better. I had to talk to Noah first, try to gain some understanding.
“I’m fine” I said and felt a hand on my shoulder.
I looked back and saw Noah standing there, and the red-shirt-guy from earlier was a few feet behind him.
“Wh-“ I started but Noah put his hand over my mouth.
“I will explain” he said slowly, watching me carefully to see my reaction. “But for now, nobody can now I am here” he continued and stepped back.
“Uhm” Olivia coughed and caught my attention. “Do you, eh, I mean, are you sure that you’re okay?” she asked sincerely and looked worried.
“Yeah, yeah” I said and nodded, almost hysterically, to convince her. “I just have something I need to take care of right now” I gave her a quick hug and hurried away.
Olivia raised one eyebrow and looked confused, but kept walking towards her next class.
“I need answers” I said and turned around to Noah and the other guy.
“Uhm” Noah wasn’t the one to answer me, it was Cole who stood there as a question mark. This was the second time Noah and the other guy had just magically disappeared right into empty space.
“I’m just, you know, practicing on, eh, Romeo and Juliet” I said and smiled quickly before walking towards the door that leads to the parking lot. Cole was one of the few persons I couldn’t lie to and he would notice if I continued lying. He probably already knew I wasn’t telling the truth.
“Where are you going?!” Cole shouted after me, but I didn’t answer.
My head was a big, confused mess. Nothing made sense. The only logical and believable answer would be me being insane. I’ve always had a good imagination, a mind always seeking for adventure and something more than the ordinary, but this wasn’t what I’d had in mind. I felt insane; I didn’t trust myself anymore.
I went to a bench outside school to sit down and try to think everything through, but it only took a few seconds before another person sat down next to me on my left side.
“I need to know that I can trust you” Noah said and looked right into my eyes.
“You can,” I said through gritted teeth, I wasn’t in the mood for proving myself to someone I barely knew.
Minutes passed as we sat there in complete silence. I wanted to know what he was thinking, if he had any questions for me. I had some for him, that’s for sure.
“Are you going to say something?” I asked and looked down at my hands. Noah made me feel unsure of myself, like I had to prove myself to him. I didn’t recognize the feeling; I had never felt that way before. He made me feel so weak.
“His name is Isaac” Noah said and looked at me.
He didn’t say anything else, just kept looking at me as minutes passed by.
A name meant nothing, it didn’t tell me anything about this Isaac. I considered two options in my head, either getting mad and yelling at Noah or just walking away. Both were very immature and that’s the only reason I stopped myself from doing either of them.
I took my head in my hands and sighed loudly. Nothing made sense and I was about to loose my mind any second if I didn’t figure out what was going on.
“A name isn’t an explanation” I said and looked at him until he was forced to look back at me.
My heart skipped a beat when his eyes locked mine again.
“I never said I was giving you an explanation right away” he said quietly but kept looking at me.
I was, honestly, offended by the lack of faith he had in me.
I looked Noah right into his black eyes and breathed out slowly before speaking.
“I can handle it” I said and stood up. “But if you don’t want to tell me, I can find out myself” I continued and started walking towards town. It’s a good thing the school is located locally in town so there’s no need for a car, since I don’t have one. Or a car license.
“Good luck!” Noah shouted behind me, and when I looked back at him a sarcastic grin was covering his face.
“Thanks” I muttered to myself and walked towards town.
I didn’t know what I was looking for or why I had went here in the first place. It was an action out of desperation and anger, an action that I hadn’t really thought through. Walking is a good way to clear your head though, so I decided to just walk until I could come up with a plan of some sort.
The first step is to put all of the information together, look at it from different angles and try to understand it in another way. To begin with, Noah and Isaac probably knew each other and I could tell that by the way Isaac had greeted Noah earlier in the classroom. Something told me that they weren’t friends, but more like enemies. They didn’t seem to get a long very well and didn’t speak friendly to each other. Not that I had heard them talking very much but still. My guts were telling me that there was something more to their relationship than just friends or enemies. A conflict buried deep down which made them act this way.
I stopped and hit myself in the head with my palm. These conclusions weren’t even rational; I had no evidence to them at all. I had to come up with another plan, one where I didn’t have to use my analyzing skills. Because let’s be honest, they’re not skills.
Noah and Isaac knew each other, how and on what level was the question. Another question, which needs to be answered, is the one regarding their ability to disappear into thin air. Either that or they are quicker than light, which is not possible. It could be that I’m just not paying enough attention to them, that they might come and go in normal speed but I just don’t see them. That would a possible conclusion, if it wasn’t for them talking like I was the only one that could see them.
I realized it was black outside when I took up my phone from my pocket to look at the time. The screen lit up in the night and I could see that I had missed calls from my dad, Cole, Catherine and Olivia. It made sense, I hadn’t told anybody where I was going or when I was coming back. To make them all calm down I wrote a text and sent it to them all at once.
Needed to get a few things from town, I’ll be back soon. My phone was off so that’s why I didn’t answer earlier. See you soon.
Sophie
My brother was the quickest one to answer.
I’ll pick you up, headed home from practice in half an hour. Go to the west entrance of the park and I’ll be there.
Cole
I answered with a thank you and put my phone down so I could save the battery that was left on it. It wasn’t very cold outside, but not warm either. You could feel autumn was coming; however the air was still chilly and comfortable.
When walking towards the west entrance of the park I thought of absolutely nothing. My mind had done enough work for one night and I knew overthinking wouldn’t get me very far.
The dark shadows of trees and bushes made me wonder why the dark scares us so much, when it in reality is stunning. It’s mysterious, we don’t know what’s hiding in the darkness and I find it beautiful. The ability to just disappear into the dark and not have to think about reality for a while. If the shadows can escape for the night then so can we.
“It’s late” someone shouted behind me and I couldn’t help but make a small jump at the sudden noise.
A dark shadow soon became visible and I wanted to slap myself in the face for even stopping. It was Isaac.
“What would a vulnerable girl like you do out here in the middle of the night?” he grinned and blocked the way to the nearest exit of the park. I don’t think he did it for that matter, more to prove a point.
I just stared at him since I couldn’t come up with a suitable answer to bite back.
“Would you perhaps want some company?” he offered and smiled nicely. He didn’t look scary. His eyes were lighter than Noah’s and his smile was beautiful. Noah was taller than him, and by that also scarier. The fact that Noah never smiled out of happiness, always to provoke or just not to look angry, made him a lot scarier than Isaac as well. Apart from that they looked a lot alike.
“I’m fine” I said after a while and slowly began walking to meet my brother. It would take me at least twenty more minutes to get to the west entrance. Dammit.
“Well I am going to accompany you anyway” he said and was by my side in just seconds.
“Great” I sighed and began walking faster.
“So how do you know Noah?” Isaac asked, probably to fill the silence that was hanging over us like a cloud.
“I don’t”.
“I see” he said and watched me carefully.
I tried hard not to look back at him so I wouldn’t meet his eyes. Those light brown eyes…
“How do you know him?” I asked to stop myself from thinking about him in that way. What was it with him and Noah that made me lose myself so easily? God.
“Noah and I go way back” he grinned. “We played football together, we were the ultimate duo” he continued and laughed a little.
“I didn’t know he played football”.
“That makes sense since you don’t know him”.
That was not the answer I had expected.
“True” I caught myself smiling and stopped instantly.
Isaac reached for something in his pocket and put a cigarette between his lips a few seconds later. He picked up a lighter as well and lit his cigarette with me watching his every move.
“Oh I’m sorry, do you want one?” he asked and offered me a cigarette.
“No” I didn’t even think twice before answering.
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