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I hate math. Math is the absolute bane of my existence. I hope whoever invented the stupid subject is rotting in hell right now. What was the point of taking algebra 2 if I know for certain that I will never need to find x in my life? It’s a complete waste of my time.
As I sat bored in my math class, I stared at the window wondering if I could somehow jump out of it unnoticed. Before I could attempt it however my thoughts were rudely interrupted by my math teacher.
“Dylan, are you even trying to pay attention to the lesson?” Mr. Gordovan asked me.
His question caught me off guard. No why should I? Was my first reaction, but then I realized that I would probably get a detention for that and seeing as I was trying to get out of the place as soon as possible, staying an extra two hours for a few seconds of satisfaction didn’t really seem like a good trade off.
“Of course I am Mr. Gordovan!” I said with as much artificial enthusiasm as I could muster.
“Then I’m sure you would love to give us the solution to the problem on the board then!” He replied, knowing full well that I would not.
As I was about to accept defeat I looked up at the clock, praying for it to speed up.
And by some miracle my holy savior, the clock, struck 3 signaling that school was finally over and I could get of this hellish class.
“Oh look at the time! What a shame.” I said smirking.
As I made my grand escape, the teacher couldn’t do anything but look dumbfounded that he just got bested by a sophomore.
The look on his face was priceless.As I made my way out of the school, shoving my way through the tiny freshman and freakishly tall seniors ( there was no way that any of those guys were 18.) I noticed a girl outside, standing next to the woods, looking for something in a panicked state.
When I exited the school I decided, as gentlemen do, to go help her since I was in no particular hurry to do my math homework.
“Are you alright? Do you need help?” I said.
She turned to face me, tears dripping from her dark brown eyes. Her dress, which was probably some shade of green at some point, was now dirty and torn. Her dark curly hair rested at her shoulders, decorated with gold accessories and flowers. She had a dark complexion and lots of gold jewelry on, almost as if she was on her way to go somewhere before she got lost in the woods. She looked to be about my age, but I was pretty sure she did not go to my school. I would have definitely noticed a girl as beautiful as her.
When she made eye contact with me her expression turned cold as if I was the last person she wanted to see right now.
“I don’t need your help.” She hissed, talking down to me as if I were the one out of place.
“Well, seeing as you’re actively crying and look like you haven’t showered or slept in days, I beg to differ.”
“Just go away. Please? You’ll only make everything worse.” She said, wiping her tears.
As I stood there unsure if I should actually leave or not, she suddenly picked something off the ground and left, walking straight into the forest.
I stood there for a few seconds, juggling my desire to go home and do my homework, with my desire to find out who this girl was. I think we can all guess what the outcome of the decision was.
“Wait!” I shouted, as I ran after her.
She turned, and upon seeing my face, began to run faster.
“Go away!” She screamed back, making a sharp left turn to try to shake me off.
I persevered, determined to learn more about her or die trying. ( but I would like to note that at the time I did not have a death wish, contrary to popular belief.)
After many turns, log jumping, and tree branch dodging she
finally stopped, leaning against a tree to rest.
“You know, most people leave a person alone when they say go away.” She said, drinking from a water flask she grabbed from her bag.
“Well,” I struggled, barely able to breathe, "I’m not like most people.”
She rolled her eyes and offered me a sip of her water, obviously taking pity on me and my lack of stamina.
I gladly accepted it, chugging it down like I hadn’t had a drink all day. (Which knowing me, was probably not to far from the truth.)
“So, seeing as I came all this way, I think I should at least get to know your name.” I said hopefully.
“Avery. My names Avery. You?”
“Dylan.”
We sat for a moment in silence resting against the tree as the sun set above us. It was a peaceful moment, but little did I know it would probably be the last peaceful moment I would have for a while.
“Listen, let me at least drive you home. I did just chase you through the woods after all. It’s the least I can do.”
“Thanks but, I live pretty far away. If you really want to do me a favor you could just go back the way we came and pretend you never saw me.” she said.
I didn’t really like this idea, seeing as I had no idea where we came from and it was starting to get dark, but she seemed pretty serious about leaving her alone.
“Yeah sure.” I replied. Still hesitant about leaving her alone in the woods. “Just be safe. The woods can be pretty dangerous. “
“I’ll be fine. I hope you get home safe though.” She said, gathering up her stuff.
“I will.”
I turned around and started to walk away, the sun setting behind me, leaves blowing softly in the autumn breeze. I really was going to leave. I was going to respect her wishes, leave and go back
to my boring suburban life in good old Camilla, Georgia. I was going to go home, greet my parents and when my mom asked me, “What did you do today?” I would have said “Nothing much mom! How about you?” And moved on with my life, but I just couldn’t. I couldn’t shake the feeling of wanting more, wanting to learn exactly who Avery was, and why she was here if she lived so far away? What was she crying about? I just had to know. So fine.
Sue me if you want to, but I didn’t leave. I turned around, and followed her. And it was just about the dumbest decision I’ve ever made in my whole life.