A Walk In The Park

The view was nice, from the top of this small rise in the land. You couldn't see particularly far what with the density of the trees all around, but what you could see was pleasant.

The landscape of littered needles that lay at the base of the mighty pines around you paired with the bubbling stream that enjoyed treading the line between a creek and a river depending on the time of the season made this one of your favorite locations to visit. Especially when you were feeling contemplative.

An oasis of calm in the sea of anxiety and stress that was senior year of high school.

"And to think I found it on a whim", You smile inwardly at the thought.

Having finally reached it after the nearly forty minute walk it took to get here you step off the dirt path and sit yourself down at the base of a large tree trunk. Having made sure to wipe the needles away so as not to poke yourself, you sit comfortably atop the soft soil of the earth and look out with a content gaze at the world before you.

The winter months were cold yes, but there was a beauty in them seldom matched in other times of the year and nowhere else was that more prevalent then this patch of land.

You are John Doe, a senior in high school. Life at this point had become nothing more than a series of tests and assignments followed by a few shifts of work a week at the local burger joint. Then the fact that your social life was all but nonexistent didn't help much either, you had always enjoyed spending time by yourself more but sometimes you did wish that your past self had put himself out there a bit more. No cliques or friend groups meant that there wasn't all that much to look forward to at the end of your days.

That was until a few weeks ago when you found this spot.

Feeling restless one of the many late work nights, with the weight of your own future on your mind, you decided rather uncharacteristically to take a walk. Nothing special, just a simple bout of activity to clear your head and get some fresh air, but it had led you for whatever reason into the park where you found this exact location.

So more often then not you found yourself wandering back here when you weren't busy, to the one spot that eased your head, relaxed your shoulders and allowed you to just enjoy the present. Something that wasn't easy to do with so many people, family and teachers, chiding in your ears about grades and college all day.

Here though, in the moment, with the overcast skies slowly moving along there was no stress, no anxiety, just a splendid and enjoyable isolation.

Yes you were romanticizing it to a great degree, but why not? It was quiet and you could let your imagination run wild, the sounds of nature were wonderful on ears that had only really heard the clamor of human activity.

Every once in a while on the walk you would encounter an older fellow who liked to fish along the shoreline of the stream, you exchanged words once but that was it. Most of the time the only other souls you saw were passersby and the most interaction you had with them was usually a nod of acknowledgement or a simple greeting.

So here you lie, once again in your own personal getaway, far from it all.

You smile to yourself, folding one leg over the other and leaning back against the bark of the tree. Watching the water below as your eyes slowly glaze over as you let your mind wander...

School was rough, classes weren't hard per say but the amount of work, it was all consuming. Homework packets, tests, studying, quizzes, group projects, it felt like a mountain that kept growing the higher you climbed it.

Then there was this constant nagging from everybody, "What do you want to do with your life?", "What college are you going to?", "Will that career make enough money?"

So letting your mind flair to life, all of these troubles are sent away as the questions to be pondered, answers to be interpreted and situations to play out begin. No you were not a philosopher and neither did you want to be one but you could see the value in sitting down and just thinking.

Then, without any sort of grandeur or flair or a dramatically insane event, which you would come to know was usually her style, a person came into your life who would change it forever.

~

You aren't sure how much time passed, perhaps ten minutes, maybe an hour. A small blur of movement entered your vision and your glazed eyes instinctively focused in on it, bringing you out of your trance.

Down below, on the lower end of the land by the stream, coming towards you on the path was a girl.

Not just any girl though, but one you recognized from school. Even from here you could tell who it was, the long hair and pale skin stood out among the darkened landscape like a beacon. You didn’t know her name or all that much about here but you knew she was popular among your peers.

She was a cheerleader, you know that much and was often involved with rallies as an organizer or on student council stuff. She had a highly publicized relationship with one of the big football stars for your school too, always brining it up or hanging off of him in the hallways like a display. Kinda like a celebrity relationship if you read it right, he was pretty popular too you think.

Her popularity was fairly understandable, you had to admit she was fairly attractive. With piercing green eyes, perfectly smooth pale skin, sculpted cheekbones and the body of an athlete the brunette had a lot going for herself. Then, being so naturally outgoing in her personality it must have been the perfect mix for her to climb the social ladder with ease.

There’s also the fact she had a generous rack and an absolutely amazing ass. Not that you were a pervert but you were a boy in high school and a few subtle glances in passing at her perfectly curved and or sized body wasn’t going to hurt.

Seriously, her boobs were huge and her ass… you’d even dreamed about her a few times.

You didn’t know her personally though and didn’t particularly care in the end, you’d always focused more on the work before yourself and kept your head down in school, avoiding clubs and the like. So it was only natural you two would have next to no real interaction.

You raise a single eyebrow and for a moment wonder what she was doing all the way out here when most cheerleaders were still in practice, then shrug it off. It was a public park after all and who knows, she might have just not gone to practice for whatever reason.

Pulling your attention away you reach down and quickly check your phone for the time, then place it back after confirming it wasn’t too late.

With a sigh you crack your knuckles and look back out at the water, the soft wind in the trees around pulling a small smile from your face and your mind back into its previous state…

“Hey, do I know you?”

With slight annoyance you look over and meet her gaze. Standing before you, slightly off the paved ground is of course, the girl.

Her head is cocked, eyes slightly squinted and hands clasped behind her back, “Yeah, yeah you go to Strammer High too right?”

You give a polite smile despite being slightly peeved, “Yep.”

Her lips curl upwards, “I see you some times in the hallway.” She lifts a hand and snaps her fingers, “I think we had a science class together!”

You give a small nod before looking back out at the scenery, hoping she catches the hint. She in fact does not, you know this as she steps towards you.

“So what are you doing all the way out here?”

You give a light shrug, “Nothing really, just admiring the view.”

“Ahhhh I see… do you mind if I join you?”

Lowering your brow at the odd request you turn towards her again, now closer you can see the details of her face much clearer and honestly she doesn’t look too great. Her eyes are puffy, cheeks streaked with tears, hair mussed up.

Your features adopt a softer angle as her current state becomes apparent to you, you don’t know why but you feel sort of bad. Swallowing lightly you give your consent, “S-Sure, that would be okay.”

She nods and makes her way over to the trunk, sweeping the pine needles away from the spot next to you she sits down.

An awkward silence falls as the two of you look out, you can feel your anti social demeanor kicking into high gear and can’t think of anything or even muster the power to say something to her. So you simply keep your eyes away and wait.

Luckily she speaks first.

“This is a really pretty spot, I like it. Do you come here a lot?” You look to see her leaned forward, knees brought up together, her green eyes on you.

In that second you can’t help but realize, she has really pretty eyes. Almost mesmerizing as you look into them, they even seem to sparkle as they peered into your own.

Your breath catches in your throat for a moment as you find yourself staring back into them, “I do actually. It helps me relax you know.”

She smiles at you, perfect teeth revealing themselves, “I can see why.”

Feeling an odd sort of happiness at her reaction a smile of your own grows as you continue, “It’s nice after a test at school or when asshole customers come in at work. Calm, far away.” You look back out, “There’s not many places that have the same effect on me.”

She stays quiet for a moment, before shifting her weight slightly, “I’m… sorry if I’m intruding on you. It’s just been a bad day for me and this is nice.”

“No no it’s okay, you’re not intruding on anything really. I don’t mind the company.” You assure her despite having been apprehensive at first.

She nods, a smile appearing before quickly disappearing as her head sinks back to rest on her knees.

There’s a pregnant pause before she says, “Listen um, I know we don’t really know each other that well but…” Her brow furrows and her arms wrap around her knees, “Do you mind if I tell about what happened today?”

Once again caught off guard you take a second to respond. You can’t help but ask yourself, “What the hell is happening?”, this is bizarre by all means, this beautiful girl who you barely know is out here all alone sitting next to you and asking if she can tell you about her bad day?

It’s like a badly written story or a godawful soap opera episode.

Not sure what to do you agree, “I don’t mind.”

She gives a single halfhearted nod before a little laugh comes out, “God, I’m sorry for being so weird and asking you to do this. It’s just, I don’t really have anyone to talk too right now and well this whole thing here is like a movie setup you know.” Another laugh, “Going into the woods and talking to a stranger about stuff and things…” She trails off.

Clearing her throat she resumes, “A-Anyway, so yesterday I um broke up with my boyfriend.” She stops, eyes beginning to water as she takes a breath, “We’d been together for a long time, like two and a half years…” Her soft voice dies away.

You honestly aren’t entirely sure how to respond to this whole thing, you can tell she’s upset and you think she’s just trying to get it out to someone so it’s not so hard for her to deal with on her own. You’ve been in a similar place before too.

After a few seconds of inner debate you mentally throw your hands up and just embrace the odd situation.

Tears are now starting to fall from the corners of her eyes as she pulls in on herself appearing smaller.

“I’m sorry to hear that, what happened between the two of you that ended the whole thing?”

She sniffles, “T-The past few months happened. They were just fight after fight over so many different things. Some big some small. Like staying more in touch, being more open with each other, putting in effort even if it’s hard. And I was really trying to work with him, I thought maybe I could help him be better.” The tears slow to a stop and you can hear her breathing even out, “But this last one, oh god I forgave him for a lot, but this was too much.”

“What did he do?” Your voice comes out smooth and sympathetic, poor social skills not inhibiting you now that your becoming invested in her words.

Her eyes well up and she blinks away the tears, anger suddenly dripping into them and she looks back to you. Her green eyes becoming poison daggers, “He fucking cheated on me, with my best fucking friend.”

You can almost feel her sudden rage erupt from a few feet away, the pointed edge of her surprising words hitting their mark.

Venom drips from her voice and her hands ball up into fists, “That bitch.” Her fists shake as she wrenches them as tight as she possibly can before letting go, “Behind my back for the last two weeks, they had sex every time I wasn’t looking.”

“Fuck he even said they did it in my bed, that’s right my own goddamn bed, multiple times!” Her voice raises to a shout suddenly before immediately dropping back down as her arms collapse to the ground. Tears now flow like a river down her face as sobs come out from the base of her throat, “He said it to hurt me, he did so much to hurt me. I just… I just don’t get it.”

“Jesus Christ…” You mutter, eyes wide.

The idea of having someone so close betray with with another person you were close too sounded awful, hell worse than awful, you have no idea how to even respond.

“Thats… that’s a horrible story, I… I don’t really know what to say.” You shake your head and a look of disgust adorns your features, “But I do think, it’s a good thing you broke it off, cheating isn’t something you should ever forgive.”

“To do all that, only a piece of shit can do all that behind their girlfriend’s back, I’ll bet he sounded proud of cheating when you had that final confrontation right?” She nods wordlessly, “Yeah, real bastard, no loss to you to leave him I promise.”

“Same thing with your friend, she should be ashamed, what kind of an asshole goes along to cheat on their friend and knowingly betrays them?”

You sneer, “I am truly sorry to hear that happened to you.”

She gives a smile despite the tears and choked sobs, “T-Thank you, I-I appreciate hearing that, I’m really hurt but I think I did the right thing by ending it.” She wiped her nose with her forearm, “I slapped the shit out of the both of them too. I know I shouldn’t let it feel good but it does.”

You give your own little condoling smile, “Well look here I think you should feel good about it, anger is an emotion and is there for a reason, why not express it? It’s not like you maimed them or something, though I wouldn’t say anything if you did.” You add with a smile.

She gives a choked giggle, “Yeah, I’m crazy but not that sort of crazy.”

You smile and look back out towards the horizon, “Well I’m glad to hear you’re not a psycho because we’re all alone out here.” You hold out your arms gesturing to the trees, “Isolated and with nowhere to run, you’d definitely get away with it.”

“Hmmmm, you’re right you know. Could dump you down in that stream.” She lets out another giggle.

You nod, “Yes you could… but you know if I got to choose where to die this ain’t the worst place.”

“Hmmm no, it’s not.” She followed your gaze.

And with that a calm quiet followed, one that wasn’t awkward.

You both sat there for the next half hour, very few words passing between. Just quietly enjoying each other’s company in the cold of the day.

Before long though she finally starts to get up, with a rustle she pulls herself up by the tree and dusts off her t shirt. A smile upon her lips she looks down at you and you up at her.

“Well I’ve gotta get home, do some homework, but before I do it’s probably good if I tell you my name.” She giggles, reaching out she offers her hand, “I’m Rachel.”

Taking it and standing up with her help you nod and smile back, “And I’m John, it’s nice to meet you.”

Once again you can’t help being caught in her eyes, you catch yourself though and remove the dumb look from your face. Hurriedly you let her hand go and nervously laugh.

“I agree, I’m glad we talked John, I really appreciate what you said I… uh, needed to hear that you know.” You swear a slight blush touches her cheeks for a second, “Maybe, if you don’t have plans with friends tomorrow at school you’d like to sit with me and some of my friends at lunch?”

She looks to you questioningly the smile on her face growing wider.

You swallow instinctively in surprise, “S-Sure yeah, t-that sounds fun.”

“Great! We always sit in the cafeteria to eat, I’ll see you tomorrow John!”

“See you Rachel!” You call out as she turns and walks back to the trail, her entire demeanor feeling… lighter? Happier?

Stuffing your hands in your pockets you watch as she departs, unable to help noticing just how good her ass looks in her jeans as she walks. The denim stretching tight over each jiggling curved side with her quick steps.

A slight heat touches your cheeks and you lift up, your fingers graze the flesh and you can feel the blush you now wear through the skin.

You have a goddamn crush.

“Fuck.”