When I got home, I changed my clothes and watered the yard. The days were getting shorter and it would get dark sooner. I hurried and went on my run. I decided to run at the Reservoir today. I could make it home before it got dark if I ran faster.

There were other people still running and walking at the Reservoir when I got there. I saw a long haired blond man dressed in regular clothes walking on the path. He wore slacks and a dirty, short-sleeved dress shirt. He was talking to himself and I couldn’t tell if he was a vagrant or a businessman expressing his thoughts out loud.

A lady pushing a baby stroller ran past me in the opposite direction. The sky was a beautiful blue with hints of orange streaks where the sun was low in the sky. After a lap around the Reservoir, I felt a burst of energy and thought I could go another lap. I sprinted toward the tree tunnel, but slowed down as I got closer to it. The man and the lady with the stroller were gone. I didn’t see anyone else on the path in front of me. There was a guy far behind me, but by the time he reached the tree tunnel, I would be out the other side. No chance of us being in there alone together.

The tree tunnel was fairly short, so I decided I would run through it quickly and be on my way home. As I entered the tunnel, it was darker than I expected, so I slowed down to see. I turned my iPod off so I could hear, but I kept the earbuds in. I dodged in and out of the trees and listened to the crunching of the gravel beneath my feet.

A man darted out from behind a tree right in front of me. Going too fast to stop, I slammed right into him. We toppled to the ground. With the wind knocked out of me I couldn’t cry out. I sat up to catch my breath and saw the man getting back on his feet. When he looked at me, he became angry.

“You!” he said. The man was well-dressed and I realized it was the long-haired, blond man I saw on the path earlier.

“I’m sorry!” I choked out, trying to get up. “I didn’t see you!” My shoes slid on the gravel and I stumbled.

The man moved toward me. “You’re the one who stole my rose! Thief!”

“What?” I looked at him in surprise and thought of the rose garden at the end of the tree tunnel. That’s where I took the rose and put it behind my ear. I backed up and turned to run, but he grabbed me by the waist. I managed to scream. He pushed me to the ground and I kicked at him. Suddenly he was pulled backward and someone was punching him. He yelled out and doubled over. I saw Andreas with his fists raised as he watched the man fall. My phone had fallen out of my pocket and was lying near me. I crawled over to it and punched in 911.

Footsteps were heard from the end of the tree tunnel. Trey was running toward us. He saw the man lying on the ground and ran up to him.

“Dad! Dad, are you all right?” he said. “What happened?”

My jaw dropped. “He’s your dad?” I was still sitting on the ground.

I watched in confusion as an old man and woman ran up. The woman gasped in surprise and ran to the man on the ground. Trey and the old man helped him up.

Andreas walked over to me and held out his hand. “Are you okay?” I nodded as I took his hand. He pulled me up and I dusted myself off.

The man was babbling something unintelligible.

“H-he attacked me,” I said. “He jumped out from behind a tree and was yelling at me for taking a rose. I’m sorry. I did take the rose, but I thought it was trash.”

As soon as I mentioned the rose, the man became agitated again. The couple and Trey tried to calm him down.

I took a breath. “He threw me to the ground.” My voice started to quiver and my knees felt weak. Andreas put his arm around me for support.

To my surprise, the old man and woman apologized. The man was their son, Rusty Jacobs, who lived with them in the house at the end of the tree tunnel. They explained that he had a mental illness, but never attacked anyone before. Trey looked at me and Andreas with venom in his eyes.

“He takes care of the garden and is very attached to his roses,” said the old woman.

“Are you okay?” asked the old man. “Did he hurt you?”

I looked down at myself. “I-I’m okay.”

His eyes were sad. He looked at his wife. “He’s gotten worse.”

Her shoulders slumped and she looked down at the ground. Trey looked worried as he stared at them.

We heard sirens approaching.

The police arrived by motorcycle on the narrow dirt path and took our statements. By the time we were done, it was dark. I didn’t want to press charges, but Rusty was handcuffed and put in the back of a police car while the old couple spoke to the officers. They were still talking when one of the officers took us home.

I could’ve skipped school the next day, but didn’t. I texted Daisy briefly about the attack and told her not to say anything to anybody about it. When I got to Art class, she looked concerned and asked me questions. She tried to whisper as best she could, but we were overheard and I was bombarded with questions. I reluctantly told them what happened leaving out the part that the man was Trey’s dad. Paige listened to me quietly. I figured she knew enough about Trey to guess who the man was, but she kept quiet.

When everyone heard that Andreas had saved me, they turned to him with questions. He kept his answers short and also left out Trey’s name. We didn’t even have the chance to talk to each other and it dawned on me that I had forgotten to thank him.

In English, Millie wasn’t shy about asking for details of my attack.

“Andreas saved you?!” said Millie. “I can’t believe it!” She grinned, exposing her bucked teeth. Her red glasses slid further down her nose.

“Shhh!” I hissed. “Keep your voice down.”

“This has got to be your luckiest year ever!”

“I don’t think getting attacked is lucky.”

“I bet Marco is going to be so jealous when he hears.”

I frowned. “You think so?”

“Yes. Definitely.” Millie sighed loudly. “I wish I had your love life.”

I glared at her. She just didn’t know how to keep quiet. “Millie, I don’t have a love life.”

“That’s because you’re in total denial.”

Ms. Hansen began to write on the board.

“Denial about what? Or who?” I whispered. She waved me away and started to copy what was on the board. I frowned and wondered what she meant by that.

As soon as Marco walked into Biology, he put his books on his desk and stepped over to mine.

“I heard what happened,” he said quietly to me. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. How did you know?”

“Trey told me.”

“Oh. Is he mad?”

“Don’t worry about him right now. He’ll come around.”

“So, he’s mad.”

Marco made a face. “Well, kinda, but it’s not your fault.” He leaned over to whisper in my ear. “They’re putting his dad in a facility where he can get treated. Since you’re not pressing charges, he’s not going to jail.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

He smiled. “Yes, it is.”

Mr. Irwin began to hook his laptop to the projector and test it out. He asked for the lights to be turned off.

“Thanks for telling me all this,” I whispered to Marco.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” He touched my arm and went back to his seat. I looked at Daisy who I had forgotten about momentarily. She was staring at me with jealousy in her eyes.