Mysterious boy

11.

"Wake up! Wake up, now!"

Still half asleep, I try to make sense out of what is happening right now. Jun's face is uncomfortably close to mine, his hands are on my shoulders, shaking me, and his voice is quietly but aggressively telling me to wake up.

"What...?" is the only word my mouth can produce in this state.

"Chan, you need to wake up now," Jun speaks slowly. "Grab your things, we're leaving."

"My things? Jun, what...? Why? What is going on?" I rub my eyes, but Jun grabs my hands and moves them away from my face, forcing me to look at him.

"Chan, listen to me. We have to leave this house, now!"

I take a look at my alarm clock. "It is two in the morning."

And there it is again; that look in his eyes that just rips anybody's soul apart. "Chan, I'm not going to repeat myself again. Go grab your stuff, or I will grab them for you."

I guess he does not tolerate any contradiction, so I get up, grab myself my backpack and start packing; My favorite hoody, one of my favorite books, my passport and other important paperware and last but not least my dear stuffed animal. I put on my jacket and am just about to unlock my bedroom door, when Jun stops me.

"We're not leaving through the front door," he speaks.

I don't understand, until he tilts his head into the direction of my bedroom window.

"No way," I shake my head.

"I'm sorry, Chan," Jun says as he unlocks the window and opens it up.

This is just mad! I look at Jun as he sits on my windowsill, waiting for me to give in to his crazy plan. Suddenly, it gets to me how delusional this whole situation is. What is going on? Why do we need to sneak out so urgent? And why via the window and not via the front door?

"Are you coming or not?" It is not a question. I can hear the compulsion is his voice and the look in his eyes is telling me that I have no choice.

I've never had a choice. Not when my parents divorced, not when my dad decided to marry another woman, not when my stepbrother moved in with us, not when my mom took her sweet time until she finally decided that we had to leave this city. I never get to choose my own path, it has always been someone else's choices and never my own.

And that's why I tell Jun that I'm not coming with him.

"Chan," I've never seen such frustration in this boy's eyes. "I don't want to use force, but I'm getting you out of here tonight whether you like it or not."

He is compelling me. Jun is sitting on my windowsill and compelling me to join him into climbing out of my father's house. He probably thought I would give in easily, as I usually would do. But I don't want to be such a pushover anymore, I want to set my boundaries!

"No, not until you tell me what is going on," I demand him.

Jun sighs, looks outside the window, then back at me. "I promise I'll explain later, but you really need to listen to me now."

He is trying to compromise, but I still don't want to give in.

When I don't move a single muscle, his eyes darken and the look in his eyes almost hypnotizes me as he speaks, word for word: "We. Need. To. Leave. Now."

And just as I had set my boundaries, I get pushed over again. Somehow, those words make me obey and take a step forward, towards Jun, towards the opened window. How does he have such power over me?

Jun smiles, pleased with my submission. It makes me sick, but none the less I take his hand. Something inside me wants to listen to him, follow his lead, disregarding the possible consequences this action may have. For how long will we be gone? What will my dad think when he'll find out we've left the house in the morning?

In silence, we climb out the window. Luckily, my bedroom window is just above the kitchen which is expended a few years ago. We land on the lower roof, carefully make our way towards the brick fence that surrounds my dad's property, and jump off. My landing was not that elegant and I might have hurt my ankle in the process, but I try not show as Jun already briskly continues his way, away from the house.

"Where are we going?" I ask him.

No response.

"You promised me you would explain!" I cry out.

He doesn't answer, uses his well-known behavior of ignoring me, leaving me just restricted to follow him and to accept this crazy situation.

I can't go back now. Well, I could, but no way I would be able climb back into my bedroom without some help, that fence is way too high for me.

It does scare me when we enter the woods. Where on earth is Jun taking me? Is he going to kill me? SHIT, what if he is going to kill me for real?! Sorry for the bad word, but I'm feeling so frightened. That safe feeling I had in Jun's presence last night is completely gone now.

I look at Jun's back, at the leather jacket he is wearing, the sweatpants he borrowed from me, the normally heavily hairsprayed hair he's put in a messy low bun. And for me, I'm also in sweatpants, wearing the T-shirt I've slept in underneath my hoody and jacket, messy hair peaking underneath my beanie, old and damaged sneakers on my feet. What would people even think if they'd see us walking through the woods like this right now? Probably the same thing I'm thinking; I'm about to get killed.

I decide it's time to leave and quietly turn around, hoping Jun won't notice I'm not submissively following him anymore.

But when I do turn around, I get the biggest scare of my entire life...