The two boys spent a while talking, until eventually a friend of Aaron's joined them. She said her name was Fred, or at least that's what it sounded like. Gabriel zoned out of the conversation, trying his best to smile and laugh at the right moment. He couldn't help but feel left out. Snap out of it, Gabriel. Of course he has other friends. You just met him, for heaven's sake.
Someone had turned the music on louder, and there seemed to be a lot more people now than there had been a few moments before. There was a strong smell in the air. Alcohol. Someone was handing out canned beers. He felt one being pushed into his hands and he dropped it, stumbling backwards, into the crowd.
Gabriel suddenly felt suffocated, there were too many people, not enough air. His eyes were fogged up, and all he could hear was a low hum. He needed to get away. Now. He pushed his way through the crowd, a window, he needed a window. He thought he heard someone shout at him as he pushed harder, and he should have looked at them, he should have apologized, but his throat was getting tighter and tighter, and he honestly couldn't care less about the others right now. Finally, he reached a window.
His lungs seemed to fill with fresh air as he forced it open, he felt drunk with the feeling, almost. Outside, it was dark, only the outline of the forest could be seen, and the moon, bright and round and oh-so-familiar and reassuring. Unlike these people.
Then, a voice. "Gabi! Come back! Where are you going?" No. He couldn't do this right now. He turned towards the voice, then looked right, and left. There was no way out. He climbed onto the windowsill, measuring in his mind the distance between him and the ground, deciding it wasn't such a great fall, he could definitely get away without a scratch. He looked back at Aaron, whose face seemed genuinely confused and concerned, turned back towards the moon, and jumped into the obscurity.
———————————————————————————————————————————
Gabriel fell with a loud thud, right into a bed of flowers. He winced as he stood up, brushing the bristles and leaves off his worn out jeans. Outside, it was eerily quiet, all that could be heard was the muffled music coming from the walls behind him. He looked back up at the second floor window he had just jumped out from, and sighed with relief when he saw someone had closed it. He winced again at the thought of Aaron's confused face. He shrugged the thought off, and walked away towards the front gate. "He probably forgot already anyways", he whispered to himself.
As he closed the gate behind him, shooting one last look towards the party music, he felt as if he was being watched. He spun around, but no one was to be seen. Nothing but an empty road and trees in the distance. And the moon. She seemed exceptionally big and round, now that he really thought about it. He couldn't take his eyes off her. Something felt off. He felt himself walking in her direction, as if he could reach her, and although he knew that was a stupid thought, he couldn't seem to stop his feet. It was as if he were in a trance, he wasn't himself anymore.
He realized only too late that he had walked right into the forest, and was now in the middle of a clearing. Nothing but trees around him. He couldn't remember walking in this far. It was as if his mind had been in a haze. That's weird. As he retraced his steps, following the trail of shoe prints he had left, he checked the time on his phone. 11:53. Huh. I thought I had left the party much earlier than this. He quickened his pace. He cursed and started running as he realized that there was no way he would make it home in time.
His parents were going to kill him.
Comments (0)
See all