The forest was always quiet around this time of year.

All Charlie could hear was the wind and an occasional bird chirping—that was it.

He liked taking his time walking home, using the long path through the forest. He could just walk straight through the city back home, but he had always preferred the feeling of nature, especially on days as hectic as today.

It seemed like his entire class had decided to have a bad day all at once; every single break, it would get loud and Charlie could only hear complaints.

Daniel talked about how the newest plot twist in a comic he was reading was bad. Behind him, a kid moaned about his mom not packing his lunch and how he was hungry. Lucy's boyfriend didn't get her flowers for their two-week anniversary, and Mattia decided to start yelling about a song that came out not being as good as the promotions making it out to be.

Charlie was taking extra long in the forest today, that was for sure.

He had always wanted to be more like Daniel, an extrovert. But all the noise and attention was something he couldn't stand. Daniel was like the coolest guy ever to him. He spoke his mind without caring who heard him. He was never rude to anyone though, just confident. And Charlie could feel himself hating it. His friend was like everything he couldn't be, and Charlie was the wierd kid who spent all his free time walking around in the woods.

It was fairly quiet but not silent, and to him it was perfect.

Just as he was picking up a shiny black rock he heard something weird cut close to him. There was rustling coming from some bushes. Of course his first thought was an animal. He didn't want to scare it so he took slow, quiet steps.

For a couple of days now, Charlie had heard reports of things being stolen all around Hicks, so he hesitated, unsure of himself. But then he heard someone who sounded distressed and now he couldn't just leave.

With an uneasy feeling in his stomach, he slowly approched the sound. He grabbed the twigs carefully, to avoid getting hurt by the thorns. Searching through the branches he found someone, a person lying on the ground.

It was a girl that seemed to be shorter than him, and as soon as she noticed Charlie she shot up from the dirt. Her hair was caught in the bushes and she tried to fight the plant and sounded like an animal caught in a trap.

"Hey...Are you okay?" Charlie hesitated, not sure if he should approach her with how scared she looked. Her head snapped towards him and the motion was so quick she almost stumbled over, Charlie caught her arm while the girl was flailing it around and helped her stand. His fingers could completly reach around her wrist and meet at the other side. Now that he took a closer look, he noticed some small bruises all over her. Her long hair was unkempt and knotted and her clothes looked old and torn. Some of the stains looked like old blood and Charlie suddenly felt like he might suffocate. 

The girl just stared at him with big eyes and her breathing was haggard and loud in Charlie's ears. Slowly he felt as though his skin was holding onto him too tight, as if it was being pulled into himself, trying to shrink him. Her stare was cold and scared, she was running from something but Charlie was scared to find out from what.

The girl slipped away from his grasp and nodded slowly.

The air stood still and neither seemed to know what to do next.

"Your name," Charlie tried "What's your name...?"

He could only muster a mumble. "If you got lost I can...I can help you find the way back..." he filled the heavy silence with poor ramblings and tripped over his words. He was told to always help people, but this wasn't something he had been taught about before. This girl wasn't being made fun of by classmates or trying to find her mom is a supermarket. She either ran away from home or got abandoned out in the woods.

The girl just shook her head.

This brought on the same confusing silence once again. Charlie thought about how his mother told him to be there for others, but she hadn't told him what to do next if someone didn't want his help. Just walking away was the last thing he wanted to do, so he cleared his throat and tried another time. "Ah...Do you...need some help though, uhm your hair is caught and the thorns.." he trailed off. He had some bandaids on him that he wanted to offer her but his voice failed.

She lowered her head.

"Doesn't...hurt" she croaked out, voice rough and quiet as though she hadn't spoken in a week. Her hands were fidgeting and Charlie was all out of ideas.

"Oh...uhm...Okay." he felt stupid. "I guess uhm..good luck then..." he mumbled, still staring at the scratches on her arms. He really shouldn't leave, he knew that. But he also wasn't sure what he was supposed to do instead.

Daniel would have known how to help her.

Thinking about him made Charlie feel even more stupid; He was just way smarter at these things. If Daniel had found the girl instead of him, things would be going way better.

The two strangers parted ways in the forrest.

The whole way home his mind was on that girl. Especially her eyes. She looked scared, but Charlie could tell that she would have never told him what she was scared off. 

Even when he woke up the next day, Charlie was still thinking about the strange girl in the woods.

The more he thought about it, the worse he felt for leaving her like that. He had rolled around in bed for quite a while before being able to sleep yesterday.

He was very determined to help her, but he had no idea how if at all, he could pull it off.

He came to the conclusion to search for her again today and try and ask why she was there. Maybe offer her some food.

"Hey Mom, could you pack me some more food today?" He didn't exactly know what to say about why he wanted more food. He could say he wanted to swap something with Daniel, but his brain blanked when thinking of what they would trade. If he mentioned any toys or comics, his mom would ask where they were, and Daniel never brought good food to school that could be compared to his mother's lunches either.

"Hm? Of course, it's good that you're eating more. You'll break your legs by walking if you keep eating like that."

Ah...why was he even worried?