Dear Stanley [Watty's 2019. Completed]

Woods

Monday, March 18th

Dear Stanley,

I don't know what made me want to follow her. I felt my legs moving, felt adrenaline spike through me, the type of adrenaline I only got when I was with you, and before I knew it, I was getting lost in the stream of students getting to their 2nd period class, trying not to lose sight of her.

I don't know how I knew it, but I knew she was not going to go to her next class, I knew she was going somewhere else. I could tell in the way she was running with her head down, her backpack not even zipped. Her hair was flying behind her, and I think she was crying. It seemed to be the only sound that stood out to me, despite the deafening chatter of high schoolers. Each cry seemed to break my heart a little more. No one could even tell she was crying though, she was so soft, so delicate, the way she cried. Not at all like the way she laughed.

I ducked and weaved between the people, focused on catching up with Breeze, focused on where she was going. She looked like she was going to leave, she was headed towards the school entrance at the end of the hallway. I picked up my pace, wondering how'd she get pass the security officer. The hallway was beginning to quiet down as more and more people went into their classrooms.

We were getting closer to the doors leading to outside the school, and I slowed my pace. I wanted to watch where she was going. If she knew I was following her, it might make her change her mind, it might make her act differently.

I wanted to see how she was like when she was alone.

"Hey! Hey! You can't leave, hey wait!" A young security guard yelled as Breeze walked past him, completely ignoring what he was saying. Her strides were long and purposeful. I watched the security guard, he was the one who was there when I had my meeting with Principal Kinley a few days ago. His brow was furrowed and his brown eyes were unfocused, his phone was hanging from his hand. As Breeze continued to ignore him, he just shrugged and turned back to his phone, swiping up and down, presumably playing some game. A childish sort of glee overtook his face as Breeze exited the school, but he wasn't even paying attention to her anymore. He was completely absorbed with whatever he was playing on his phone.

I picked up my pace and as I brushed past the security guard, he looked at me. I looked back at him, waiting for him to say something - to stop me.

"Eh, they're high school kids, what can I do?" He muttered to himself under his breath, I stifled a smile and soon, was pushing the door open, letting the spring wind calm and soothe me.

Breeze was walking a few feet away to the left of the school. I was breathless and feeling exhilarated, wanting to see where she was going but wanting to stay unseen. I knew what I was doing was unbelievably creepy, but at that moment, it just seemed right. You have to believe me, Stanley. I never would've expected me to do something like this - especially without you being here, but in that moment nothing seemed to be the more obvious solution then following her.

I waited for her to walk a little farther and once I saw her turn the corner, I walked faster to catch up. The cool air felt nice on my skin, it seemed to soothe me from the hectic activity that happened earlier today.

Once I turned the corner I stopped abruptly. Breeze wasn't walking on the sidewalk anymore. Instead, she was traveling amongst the trees bordering the sidewalk, away from human activity. I saw her slip into the woods beside me and hesitated only for a second before going in after her.

This wooded area was thick with lush green trees. The ground was littered with leaves and twigs that crunched underneath my sneakers. I froze, hoping Breeze didn't hear it, but once I heard traveling deeper in the woods, I exhaled. She didn't hear me, and if she did, it didn't bother her. Maybe she thought it was an animal.