Rose Petals

Chapter 14

After we left the park he wanted to go home alone. He said he had some stuff to do and it would take up a lot of time. He didn't want me to get tired waiting. So here I am walking down the dim sidewalk with my head racing with the events that took place probably a little less than an hour ago. The street lights turned on and made the sidewalk a little brighter.

I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach as the sky got darker. Although I was walking alone I felt like someone was watching me. Weird feeling, maybe but it didn't sit easy with me. I felt a pair of eyes burning holes in the back of my neck. My hands started sweating and I was starting to get nervous. I wanted to turn around and see what it was but what if there was actually someone there? I stopped walking but I didn't turn around. I still felt like someone was watching me. I heard a crash behind me and I quickly snapped my head back. I gazed around. All I saw was the buildings, the sidewalk lit up dimly and a little alleyway that I passed a few seconds before.

"Hello?!" I yelled. "Is anyone there?" No sound was made except the gasps of my scared ragged breathing. I continued my path home and I sped up my pace. I heard faint footsteps behind me and I then broke out in a sprint.

"Hey!" The person behind me yelled. I ran faster without looking back at that guy.

"Leave me alone!" I yelled behind me. My side started to hurt. Damn I'm out of shape. I have to work out more for times like this exactly. The world is a dangerous place. Who even is he? And why is he stalking and now chasing me?

I suddenly tripped and fell forward. I looked behind me to see a man in a black hood walking slowly towards me. He had his hands in his pocket. I couldn't see his face very well because he had his hood up and it was dark. By this time I was shaking in fear, I couldn't make a sound and I was honestly afraid to.

He leaned down towards me and lent out his hand. He got close enough to the light where I could see his face. "Are you okay? Do you need help getting up?" He said with a smile.

...Huh?! Wasn't he stalking me? And he was chasing me?! I think I took a little to long to reply and he spoke up again. "Dude you look a little pale. Are you good?" His eyes were a chocolate brown and they had a worried expression in them.

"Uhh I-I'm fine." I stammered and quickly got up without taking his hand. I heard him sigh in relief.

"I'm sorry I scared you. I just saw that you dropped your wallet when you were walking by a while back." He brought out a black wallet from his pocket. But my wallet isn't black, I left it at home today.

"I think you have the wrong person. My wallet is at home and it's definitely not black leather." I chuckled. His face got a little confused as he looked at the wallet.

"Oh... I could have sworn I saw you drop it." He chuckled as well. "Well, my name is Nova. I'm sorry I bothered you." He had a nervous expression as he held out his hand. I just smiled and took his hand in a firm shake.

"Nate." I said vaguely. Right then his expression went from really friendly to a smug smirk. He laughed silently and held onto my hand for a bit longer than comfortable.

"I think I'll see more of you around, Nate." He said in a suddenly chilling almost threatening voice. It gave me chills and a shiver went down my spine. He was so friendly just a second ago and after hearing my name he went back to that suspicious aura. Why did he change with the mention of my name? He let go of my hand after squeezing the shit out of it then turned around and walked away.

What the actual hell? I stood there for a few seconds, watching his figure disappear in the night. I quickly texted Ash and asked him something.

Nate: Do you know a kid named Nova?

He replied almost instantly.

Ashton: No.

He never replies that fast to any  text I send him.

Nate: Are you sure?

Ashton: Why are you so curious all of a sudden?

Nate: I ran into someone named Nova. They thought I dropped my wallet but it turns out it wasn't mine. I was just curious if you knew them.

He didn't reply after that and I put my phone back into my pocket. A few seconds after I did that it started ringing. I took it out again with a sigh and answered it without looking at the ID.

"Hello?"

"Hey, can you come over? I need to talk to you." Ash's voice came crackling through the phone.

"Uhh okay? I thought you wanted to go home alone today? You had stuff to do?"

"Yeah, well, I changed my mind. When can you get here?"

"I'm just a few minutes away."

We said our goodbyes and I turned around and started walking back.