Hazel's Hitchhiker

44: Leaf Man

Joey

The night was late. Phillip and Amber were sleeping and I walked with Hazel around campus. The two of us were alone enjoying each other's company. I could only hope the two of us would have a similar experience at our school in Austin. While we walked, the wind began blowing and it blew against her hair. A leaf fell onto her hair and laid there. She couldn't help but laugh. Taking it off, she jokingly licked it and tried to place it on my forehead in hopes it would stick. It did for about ten seconds before falling off.

"So much for you being the leaf man," she claimed.

In return, I put my saliva against my thumb and placed it on her chin. In disgust, the girl giggled and tried tickling me, but she failed. She failed so much, that she fell on the dirt next to us where a tree laid. Kneeling down, my hand was offered to help her up. Her eyes laid on my hand and she did nothing. Being myself, I did nothing as well. Our eyes were connected. We couldn't stop glaring at each other.  Finally, her palm reached my chest and moved up to my shoulder. Nobody said anything. Nobody needed to. With a gulp in my throat, a nervous laugh came out of my mouth which allowed a nervous and shy laugh for Hazel.

Seconds later, we both stood up with our bodies leaving no space. Our heads also had no space creating heat between us. Touching her chin, I made the bold and daring move to place my lips on hers and gave her a kiss. The favor was returned. We couldn't keep our lips off of each other. And even though we were outside in the empty open, Hazel couldn't resist putting her fingers underneath my shirt and began rubbing against my skin. Shit, what the hell was this girl doing?

"Am I too late to the party?" asked a voice that caught the two of us by surprise. Our lips took a break and immediately in our sight was none other than Ryan.

"Shit, what the hell are you doing here dude?" My stomach began to feel sick.

"You honestly didn't think I would let you, Hazel, or even Phillip escape from Sheep City?" In a split moment, a gun was pulled out of his pocket. "Both of you put your hands up."

We had no choice and did just that. "Put the gun down dude."

"Shut the hell up and stop calling me dude!" For the next few seconds, a silence laid between us. "It didn't have to be like this. If only you have left my dad alone in Vegas, you wouldn't have to die and it would've just been Phillip. But no, that little bitch had to teach you to play poker."

My eyes were closed with my hands up in the air. The beat of my heart began to beat faster and faster. Sweat began leaving my skin. My stomach was tied in a knot. It was just a moment ago that I was kissing Hazel. She was kissing me. But how things change. We both stood there about to die. The man who was once a good friend began counting down to ten. Was he actually about to shoot us? My ears must've missed the part where he instructed Hazel to take the money out of her pocket. When the money laid on the floor, he laughed.

"Now I don't have to search for the money once I kill you both."

BOOM!

"Oh shit!" my voice whispered when I awoke from the floor. My entire body was in a sweat and it took a couple of minutes to recapture my breath. Looking around the room, Phillip and Amber were in the same bed and snuggled up. Hazel laid on another bed. It took a moment to remember that I agreed to sleep on the floor. With the relief of this all being a dream, my body fell back to the floor and stayed in my blanket. Shivers went down my bones and sleeping became impossible. There would be no sleeping the rest of the night and it was only four in the morning. In response, my mind was made up and my feet took a step outside with a beer from my suitcase. The next hour was spent drinking the Corona at the table outside.

"Everything alright dude?" asked Phillip who showed up with a beer.

"I had a bad dream. Ryan showed up and shot me and Hazel."

"Hey, don't worry too much about him. If there's anyone he's after, it would be me."

"Yeah, but it doesn't help that I wiped his daddy's ass at poker in Vegas. No thanks to you."

"True," Phillip began laughing while taking a sip of his beer. "I must've taught you well for you to win that much money. How much did you win again? Wasn't it like fifty grand?"

"No, I actually won twenty-five thousand. Hazel was the bold one to steal a grand from Ryan after he won a shot-taking contest. To be honest, Hazel is the one he should be after."

Taking another sip, he began scratching the hair on his head. "Shit, did she really do that?"

"She did. She wore this hot dress and all that shit. He took her up to his hotel room and boom. She took the money and ran. Damn, we literally almost died that night. And now it's only a matter of time before he shows up to our school in Austin to kill us both."

"He's not going to do that." Was Phillip really that confident? Once that statement was made, the rest of his beer was chugged. "As far as the guys know, you lost your scholarship after getting a DUI. There's also talk of Hazel taking a semester off. The dude is most likely to come here after me."

"What do you mean there's talk that I lost my scholarship?"

"Well, you know how you thought I got arrested for a DUI and how Frank prank called the drug cartel and got kidnapped for a week?" Who could forget that? "Obviously, I wasn't actually arrested for a DUI because it was Ryan's dad that booked me. And Frank never pranked called anybody. He actually pissed off Ryan. And shit, believe it not, he posed as Frank and canceled his scholarship. Frank is taking a gap year right now."

Somehow that was a relief. Why was there false information against us?

Yes, it was a dream. Nobody got shot. Much apologies to those rooting for Joey and Hazel. Thanks for reading! Remember to comment and vote!

Have you had any scary realistic dreams?

Do you think Ryan will actually come after anyone?