The Woods (Original)

Don't Leave Me Alone

"Don't leave me alone."
   "I promise," she said as she stood up and extended her hand towards mine to help me get up. I took it, and she smiled at me as we made our way inside.
She slid open the glass door of the house and stepped into the sea of people, I followed not far behind her so I wouldn't get lost, using her body as a shield.
"Hey!" I heard as I felt something grab my shoulder. It was a boy who went to my school, but I didn't know who it was. My eyes widened in fear, like a deer looking into headlights.
"Try this, man!" He said as he forced a drink into my hands. Already I could smell the alcohol in the drink.
"N-no thanks," I said as I tried to put the cup back in his hands. He shoved it back towards me.
"Come on, you wussy!" He practically shouted and I could hear a crowd of people start to chant "wussy, wussy."
"Hey!" A huge wave of relief came over my body as I saw her silhouette stand in front of me. "He said no, now leave him alone! Do I need to repeat myself?!" She said sternly.
The group of boys began to retreat, and Petra turned around and smiled at me.
"Thank you," I said appreciatively as I discarded my cup.
"Hey, that's what friends are for," she said with a smile.
A friend.
Petra made her way towards a table with a lot of desserts and beverages. "Ok, this is all I wanted," she said holding a cup in her hand. "Here, it's non-alcoholic," she said, handing me a red fruit-punch drink. "Aiden has the decency to at least serve one alcohol-free drink," she said as I took it from her and smiled. We made our way back outside and sat back in the bark haven that was simply a hallowed out tree, but yet provided so much safety. We sat there with our drinks in hand, taking a few sips here and there.
   "I've never been to a party before," I admitted.
   "I can kinda tell... They aren't really my thing either. I just don't want to hurt Aiden's feelings."
   "I doubt he would notice. If you usually just come out here what difference does it make if you're here or not? Plus, if he's always getting drunk out of his wits, he really wouldn't notice," I said.
   Petra took what I said and fondled it a bit. Finally she managed to say, "Hmmm... I guess you're right. But I would still feel bad. I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't want to waste a fourth of my life doing nothing at his parties or anything, but he just kind of expects his friends to be here," she looked over at me. "I'm glad you showed up though," she smiled.
   I looked up from my drink and smiled. Where did all this social skill come from? Maybe Petra was just easy to talk to, but my nerves were no longer tense, my heartbeat was normal, and I didn't have the Pacific Ocean pouring through my 36 layers of deodorant. "Me too," I said. I felt so comfortable around her.
   Petra yawned and leaned onto me, "Besides, you make a great pillow," we both laughed and I leaned my body onto her too.
   I tapped my fingers on my red solo cup, "I've never been more comfortable around anyone in my life... Should I... Should I tell her...? Would it be weird?"
I contemplated what I should say next.
   "I've never felt so comfortable around anyone in my entire life..." I cringed as I said that.
   She turned around and looked at me, "Not even Axel or Olivia?"
   "Well..." I scratched at the dirt, "I love them and all... But I've never told them about..."
   "About what?"
   I took in a deep breath. "Should I tell her? I've gone this far into it..."
   "I don't normally tell anyone this because, well, some people just use this as an excuse for everything but... I have terrible social anxiety," I said as Petra got a worried look on her face, but I continued, "I don't- I don't know what it is about you but I just feel like I can be myself. I mean I'm actually talking- speaking words right now to you and I'm not breaking out in a sweat with my heart thumping in my throat." Everything just came out at once.
   "So Axel and Olivia don't know?" She asked.
   "No, not- not really," I admitted as I looked down.
   "Well, why not?"
   "They know I get nervous sometimes, but they don't understand what it's like to live like this. That's why I freaked out when Axel left me. He didn't even think anything of it! He broke his promise..."
   "I'm really sorry Jesse... Hey, if you ever need anything, you can just give me a call or text. Hand me your phone," she said and I did so. She began to type her number in, "There," she said as she handed back my phone.
   I looked at it and chuckled, "The Coolest Girl in Town" I read out loud.
   "Hey, it's true," she said and we both chuckled.
   "Ok, give me your phone," I said deviously.
   "Oh boy, what are you gonna do?" She said as she handed me it.
   "Oh, nothing," I said as I took the phone from her and typed in my number, then my name, and handed it back to her.
   "The Coolest Boy in School," she read and we both laughed. "Mine is better," she joked.
Petra checked the time on her phone, "Ugh, it's only 8:47, and Aiden's parties always go on throughout the night," she began to stand up and I looked at her from the tree, "Let's bail," she said.
   I stood up with her, "Ok, I'm game," I looked around. "How will we get out of here?" I questioned.
   "Follow me," she said with a smirk.
We walked around to the front of Aiden's house and we rounded a corner to reveal a chopper motorcycle. My jaw dropped, "Is that yours?"
   She hopped on the metallic beast, "Sure is. C'mon, let's go," I looked at her. "Well, come on! Hop on," she said as she patted the back seat of her motorcycle. I smiled and shook my head in disbelief as I made my way over to her and plopped myself on the back of her bike. Never would I imagine waking up on a normal day and ending up in this situation, getting on a motorcycle to who knows where. "Hang on, this could be a bumpy ride!"
   "Wait, hang on to what-!" I said as she took off, and seeing nothing else to grab onto, I wrapped my arms around her waist as she let out a whoop.
"Woo hooooooooo!" She called out.
   We were off into the night.