Running through the endless trees, her breath became rapid and uncontrollable. She grabbed her chest, feeling it tighten. She slowed her pace and actually took in her surroundings. She was alone. That was the one thing that she wanted. It was a humid night and tomorrow would be just as hot as today, she suspected. Her maxi dress wrapped around her legs as she ran. She wore gladiator sandals and she tried not to trip as she made her way deeper into the woods.
The trees were tall, and at the tops, the moon shone silver, illuminating the area where she walked. She felt as though she was in a scene from Twilight, running through the forest away from the bad guys. She felt a gust of wind send her red curls flying everywhere. This caused her to stop running as she came to a clearing. She stopped suddenly. She was surrounded by trees, but in the center was a well. She glanced up at the stars beaming down. She wiped her face. She couldn’t cry at all, She actually felt numb. She had been running for what felt like hours.
A simple argument with her boyfriend had caused this. She had only been with him for eight months, but in that time, he had come to mean a lot to her. She thought she had loved him. He was tall, dark, and was her ideal boy, captain of the football team, and he had treated her like a princess. Four months in, the rumors had begun. Cal had a threesome with Rebecca and some other girl. He had watched Lauren, his ex, finger herself on webcam. He had told Hannah that she was the best sex he'd ever had. Remembering the night her friends had told her, she had gone home, downed a bottle of cheap wine, and smoked a pack of cigarettes before throwing up in the kitchen sink. She hated herself for thinking he loved her and that she was the only girl in his life. She had tried to forgive and forget, but four months of denial had killed her and shattered her self-confidence as she lived in fear of hearing more stories of hidden antics. Of course, he had told her that she was the most beautiful thing and that he loved her more than she knew, but she was a shadow of her former self. She had once looked in the mirror and admired what she saw. Her pale skin was so different from the fake bitches she was at school with, smothered in fake tan looking like an orange peel. Her eyes had shone with happiness and she had felt genuinely pretty. Now she felt fat, ugly, disgusting, and had returned to the same bulimic ways she had had as a fifteen-year-old girl after yet another ego-shattering relationship. She had ended her relationship with Cal just an hour ago. He had cried, but she wondered if he was actually hurt or if she had just damaged his ego by being the only girl to ever dump him. She felt like a huge weight had lifted from her body and that she was ready to move on with life. Facing him would be hard, but she had a job as a hostess at TGI Fridays, and hoped to go to college to get a job in travel.
Coming back to the present, she realized she had never been here before. She felt like she was all alone. She walked as quickly as she could, her feet killing her. She placed both of her trembling hands on the side of the well. She felt unsteady, looking into the blackness below. She wondered how long ago it had ceased use.
Closing her eyes, memories of when she and Cal had first met came to her. It had been at her ex's birthday party three years before. She had always liked him, but it wasn't so simple. She had broken off with her ex to be with him eventually, after he had coaxed her for weeks to meet up for a drink.
She heard cracking twigs behind her. Quickly, she turned her head and gasped. She wasn't alone. A young man stepped from the trees, wearing blue ripped jeans and a white tank top. His hair was blond, or so it looked. His eyes twinkled with curiosity, his body was built up, and she saw his muscles. She gasped. Wow! He was like the perfect guy. Suddenly, she broke away from the daydream and remembered that she was alone in the woods with the guy. In a weird way, she felt safe.
"Hey, what you doing out here all alone?" he asked softly.
She raised her eyebrows. He was rather blunt, and in a way, she found him to be rather rude. "I had a fight with my boyfriend…well, ex-boyfriend."
He nodded, reaching into his pants’ pocket and pulling out a cigarette. She leaned against the well, watching as he walked around her, smoking his cigarette. She looked at the way he was dressed, like someone from a boy band.
"May I ask why?"
For some reason, she had no trouble telling this guy her problem. It felt like he genuinely cared. "He couldn’t keep his trousers on. He had everything mapped out, and it was everything I didn’t want."
He remained quiet for a few seconds before hooking his fingers through his belt loops. He really was something. He almost took her breath away, and in those few seconds, she forgot she had just broken up with Cal.
"I know what you want," he told her, so sure of himself.
She laughed, biting her lip. She lowered her lashes before glancing back up at him, seeing that his face was deadly serious.
"Okay, mysterious stranger. What do I want?" she asked in a mocking tone.
"You want an all-consuming love, with passion and maybe even little danger. That’s why you're out here," he said softly.
She felt tears come to her eyes. It was true. She wanted to feel as though she would be completely loved. Cal had only given half of his love, and she couldn’t be in a relationship with no trust. That had been broken early on. She steadied her breathing, trying not to cry, thinking about the past now. She knew she could get through this, but was it the easy option? Just leaving Cal? Could he give her the love she so badly craved if she held out? When he had told her he loved her, she had only truly felt it a handful of times. It was like he didn’t mean it or was saying it to someone else.
"So, what do you want?" he asked again. He was almost like therapy, and in a strange way, she knew that this was the beginning of the healing process. Yes, she had been heartbroken, but now she should get on with her life. Maybe even date.
She hesitated in her reply. She didn’t know how to admit to a stranger than he knew her better than her own boyfriend did.
"Whatever you want, go and get it," he said. He dropped his cigarette and stamped it out. She watched how perfect he was. So tall and masculine, but yet he appeared so innocent with the way his hair fell into his eyes. "I have to go." He turned to walk away, and in that moment, her heart sank. She panicked for a moment. She needed to think of a way for him to stay, or at least to see him again. He was so mysterious.
"Wait!" she called after him. She tried not to trip over her dress as she reached into her bag with trembling hands. Her bag held everything, and suddenly she lost use of her hands as she frantically searched for a pen, but instead she pulled out some eyeliner. That will work, she thought, tearing some paper up and scribbling on it. "Here's my number," she told him. She looked him straight in the eye. She tried to hide her nerves and not stutter. He took the paper from her, their hands touching for the briefest moment. "Call me sometime, maybe."
"Oh I will." He winked at her.
A small smile came across her face. She watched as he turned to walk away. Was he another heartbreaker? He seemed so cocksure of himself, but a side of him appeared gentle. She shook her head. She had just met him and didn’t even know his name. They may have had a brief conversation, but she knew he wouldn’t leave her mind for a long time.
Four Weeks Later
Rose frantically emptied the contents of her bag. Her Rihanna ringtone blared out as her phone rang, but she couldn’t remember where she had put it. Finally, after forever, she answered, huffing and puffing.
"Hello?" She put her phone into the crook of her neck as she began to stuff everything back into her bag. She was already late for meeting a friend.
"Hey," a voice came.
She stopped, frowning. "Who is this?" She looked at the number on the screen. It wasn’t a number that was saved in her contacts.
"It’s…um…Jack...the guy you met in the woods the other week."
A smile came across her face.
"Oh, hey, I forgot all about you," she lied, trying to calm her beating heart. The truth was that she had flirted with other guys, maybe even kissed one or two in the last few weeks, but all the boys who chased her were nothing on this Jack.
"Well, all I did was think about you."
The line went quiet. She pulled the phone from her ear. She could swear he could hear just how fast her heart was beating.
"Well, you took your time to call," she pointed out.
"I've been busy, and it wasn’t right to call to arrange something when I was only half paying attention."
Her smile widened. Jeez, he really was something.
"So, how’s the broken heart?" She could hear him laughing as he spoke. She forgot all about the fact that she had to meet a friend and settled herself on the edge of her bed.
"It’s about mended," she told him, smiling.
"So, can I take you out sometime, then?"
She felt butterflies in her stomach as she lay on her bed. "I thought you'd never ask."
The End.