Don't Wander

Into the Forest

After my third hour history class was lunch and I quickly found where my friends were sitting and joined them. I had brought my lunch so I didn’t need to wait in line. Britt and Ben were the only two at the table when I sat down. “How’s your day been so far?” Ben asked politely.

“Eh, nothing special. What about yours?” I replied while I opened up my lunch bag.

“Pretty much the same. I like my biology teacher, he seems like he will be a blast.”

“Ben, only you would think a science teacher would be ‘a blast,’ ” Britt teased. Ben just rolled his eyes and started picking at his lunch. Britt abruptly turned to me and asked excitedly, “So did you see the hot new guy again? Ohmygod I have organic chemistry with him and I’m so gonna ask him to be my lab partner!” She was giddy and bouncing in her seat. It was a sight. I laughed at her, but didn’t comment.

“Are you talking about that new guy from this morning? He is really cute.. What?” Morgan looked at her boyfriend Jordan sheepishly as he narrowed his eyes at her accusingly before they joined us at the table. Jordan had shaggy sandy brown hair and played on the football team. Morgan had long dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. She was bubbly and outgoing.“A girl can still appreciate the finer things in life, even if she has a boyfriend,” Morgan stated matter-of-factly.

“And he is most definitely fine,” Britt added with a suggestive wiggle of her brows.

Kerry and her boyfriend Alan joined us at the table and began chatting about their day, successfully changing the topic. Kerry was a pretty freckled brunette who was shy and kind. She had been my friend longer than Britt actually. She and her boyfriend Alan had been together for almost three years. They were great together. Alan was a guy of average height and build, with curly brown hair and matching brown eyes. He was soft spoken, but more outgoing than Kerry. They complimented one another well. I sighed internally, wishing I had that too. Unfortunately my father was insanely strict when it came to dating, so I hadn't ever had a boyfriend or even a real first kiss. Second grade recess didn't count.

"You alright?" I was pulled out of my reverie by Kerry's soft voice. She must've sensed my thoughts or something.

"Hm? Oh yeah, sorry I was just thinking about homework," I quickly lied. I didn't want to sound jealous of one of my best friends.

"It's the first day, don't get in your own head so much," Kerry said gently, reaching over and giving my hand a squeeze. I smiled. The rest of lunch went by in a flurry of jokes and laughter. I had wonderful friends.

                     ***

As soon as I walked through the front door that afternoon, my mom ambushed me. She was a petite woman with fine blonde hair. She had small laugh lines around her eyes and mouth, but otherwise looked youthful. She was usually timid and nervous about everything. Her eyes were bright as she asked, “How was your first day sweetheart? How does it feel being a senior? Did you see all of your friends? Did you meet anyone new? How were your classes and teachers? Tell me all about your day.” She launched questions at me faster than I could begin to answer them.

“Mom, chill out. I’ve had lots of first days. This one wasn’t any different." I ansered most of her questions, but purposefully avoided the 'meeting anyone new' part. “I’ve got homework to do, and Britt is coming over later on, so I gotta get it over with. See you at dinner.”

“Homework on the first day?” I heard Mom say, but I was already up the stairs and headed to my room. I had a little bit of meaningless homework, like personality quizzes and junk, but nothing serious. I needed an excuse to get away from her endless questioning. I flopped down on my bed and hugged my pillow. My room was my only true sanctuary. Despite being in the forest, I was never really allowed out there, especially not without my dad. He always insisted that it was dangerous.

In one corner of the room was my desk that held my computer and tons of notebooks, stray papers, and so forth. On the opposite wall was my bed and between those two furnishings, on the far wall to the west, was a big bay window complete with a window bench. It was my favorite place in the entire house. Sometimes I would sit there and watch the sun set behind the trees. It was a great way to relieve stress. I also loved to read there while soaking up the sunlight.

On the other side of my room were my closet, purse and bag wrack, and the door. I had various shelves and posters around the entire room, and an old stereo at the foot of my bed. I had finally gotten my parents to let me paint my room when I turned fourteen. I had decided on a deep shade of purple, which blazed brilliantly as the sun went down. In the darkness however, it seemed to create shadows and creepiness.

I went and sat at the window seat and looked out at the yard. The sun would be setting soon, and everything had that yellowish glow to it. I saw my mom pacing in the grass while talking on her cell phone. I noticed that she looked stressed and her forehead was creased with worry. I ran downstairs and went to the patio doors at the back of the house. They were opened slightly, and as I approached, I heard my mom talking quietly.

She pleaded, “I don’t care how dangerous it is Tony! You can’t just take off again!” I heard an angry voice on the other end, and my mom continued, “I’m sorry, but Rebekah is old enough to notice your absence from her life. You’ve missed so much of her growing up, how can you bear to miss more?” She paused to listen and I knew she was talking to my dad. I stood on the other side of the wall and kept listening. “You have duties to your family too! That project shouldn’t be more important to you than your own wife and daughter." In a hushed tone she added, "What if she starts asking questions? I can’t keep lying to her, Tony. Sooner or later she will find out, one way or another.”

What was she talking about? Project? Lies? Where was Dad going and what would I find out? Was she even talking about me when she said that? My mind was boggled and I didn’t know what to think. Before I could hear more, my cell rang. I raced back to my room and answered it. “Hello?”

I heard Britt’s cheery voice say, “Hey Bek! So I’m at the store right now, and I was wondering if you wanted me to pick up any snacks for tonight.”

Exasperated, I said, “I don’t care. Get whatever you want. Right now isn’t really a good time.”

“Is something wrong?” I could tell she was concerned.

“No. Yes. I don’t know. I’ll see you when you get here okay?”

There was a pause, and then I heard Britt respond, “Sure. Tell me everything then. Bye.” I hung up without another word. I went down to the kitchen and my mom was sitting in a chair, waiting for me.

“Were you listening in on my conversation out there?” She pointed to where she had been talking with my dad.

“No, I had just walked up to see if anything was wrong, because you looked upset from my window, when my phone rang. It was Britt.” I figured it was better to play innocent in this situation. I knew I wasn’t supposed to have heard what was said, and I wanted to keep the fact that I had heard to myself for the time being.

Mom looked at me for a minute and then said, “Well, everything’s fine. Your dad might be gone for a while though.”

“Gone again? Why? Where? I thought he was supposed to come home in a few days.”

“I know honey. It depends on whether or not he accepts the assignment, and I’m not sure where. I only know that it’s too far away for him to stay here.”

“Tell him not to accept the job!” I huffed.

“It’s not that easy Rebekah.”

“Why not? What is so important that he has to leave again for God knows how long?” I didn’t give her time to respond. I turned and stormed outside.

“Rebekah, where are you going? Let’s talk about this! Rebekah!” I ignored her calls to me and ran as fast as I could through the backyard into the treeline. I kept running until I couldn’t see my house from where I was. Panting, I slowed down to a walk, but continued onward. I wanted to get away from my life for just a few minutes. I didn’t understand how my dad could be so selfish. I couldn’t count how many birthdays and Christmases he had missed. He was always “working” doing things that he could never discuss with us or give any details about. I was always expected to be a mature, understanding daughter, but I wasn’t as a child and I didn't want to be now.

I sat down on a fallen log covered in moss and put my head in my hands. After a while, I surveyed my surroundings and was surprised by now much darker it was amongst the trees compared to everywhere else. I heard a twig snap behind me, and I swiveled to see what it was. There was nothing in sight, so I turned back around. Suddenly, I remembered that my dad had always told me never to go into the forest alone for any reason. I felt unreasonably jumpy because of this, and when I heard another twig snap, I jumped up and ran.

After going only a few yards, I tripped over a root and landed hard. I sat up and looked at my hands. They were all cut up from catching my fall, and they stung. I slowly stood and gingerly wiped some of the dirt and grime off on my jeans. I felt really stupid and began laughing at myself.

There was an abrupt shift in the air, causing the hair on the back of my neck raise and I got this intense feeling that I was being watched. I looked up from my hands and through the underbrush I caught a glimpse of glowing golden eyes. I gasped, blinking and they were gone. I must be losing it. Maybe I hit my head when I fell? I turned in circles looking for anything but there was no one there. At least that's what I tried to convince myself.