Camp NaNoWriMo: A Walk Alone

Konichiwa~

Sup guys? It's been forever since I've written an entry on here, but that doesn't mean my writing has stopped! Actually, it's the complete opposite. I've been writing my butt off! Especially with Camp NaNoWriMo this month. I thought it would be good if I posted one of the short stories from the NaNoWriMo collection, so here you go! Enjoy!

Without wax,
lonewriter7

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A Walk Alone

 

Bernice ducked her head down as she walked past the familiar worn down fence that lined her end of the road. Dead leaves crunched beneath her feet, a light scent of pine filling the air around her. Her surroundings whispered peacefulness right into her ear, though she was anything but at peace. Her mind whirred, her stomach anxious.

His blonde hair and ocean blue eyes were forever imprinted in her mind, haunting her days spent away from him. It had been two years since they had last spoken, and every day after “the incident”, she had been dreading seeing his face, or any other part of his body for that matter, as she had memorized them all. She could picture his hands, rough yet gentle, and the way they would slide through the strands of her hair like silk. She could remember perfectly his silhouette, and how it straightened its back slightly as it mimicked his confident strides along the sidewalk.

Needless to say, they were the best of friends for all of six months. The first time they met, it was an instant click. They fit together perfectly, like two pieces in a puzzle. The only problem was, although they fit, the images didn’t match. She had loved reading, and so had he. He had loved music, and so had she. They could go on for hours talking about hypothetical situations surrounding the speed of light. He was striving for something, and so was she. And they both had a secret to hide.

Her hair blew into her face, but she didn’t care to move it, allowing the curtain of darkness to cast shadows across her cheek. The only thing on her mind was keeping her head low and unrecognizable from the house she was passing. Her sneakers made scuffling noises on the sidewalk, kicking up leaves as a bird flew overhead. She only saw its shadow on the ground in front of her. In her imagination, it was a raven, high in the sky, looking over her tattered heart.

He had been seeing a girl at the time of their acquaintance. She remembered her clearly. Fake blonde hair, cherry red lipstick and a plastic grin plastered onto her spray tanned skin. She was nice - no, that wasn’t the right word. She was polite. Most especially to her boyfriend, but it seemed everyone saw it except him. He had such an innocent image of her. He had such an incorrect innocent image of her. Bernice cringed as she remembered seeing the girl, with her own two eyes, turn against him. Then the next day, she pulled him into her arms as if nothing had happened. As if the kiss had never taken place.

She walked faster now, swinging her arms from side to side aggressively as she made her way to nowhere in particular. The wind hitting the back of her neck was enough to keep her from tipping over the edge of sanity. Yes, her sanity was always in question when “the incident” was mentioned. The mere thought of it already evoked a mixing bowl of confusion, anger and disgust.

He had made her feel like she was the world. To him, she was the entire Earth, to be cared for, protected... like a brother. She could never be his girlfriend, he had said once. “That would be incest,” he had joked. Of course, a chorus of laughter followed. With his confident grin and nonchalant aura seemingly seeping from his pores, no one would ever notice the hurt on her face. If she was completely honest with herself, she would admit to having listened to Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” too many times to count. He was oblivious to this though. Well, that’s how it seemed to Bernice at least.

The wind blew her hair around and she took a glance back at the painfully cheerful house, carrying many of her happiest memories. Some of the paint had begun to peel off the sides, but it was just how she remembered it to be. The door was still the same maroon color that both of them had despised. The old birch tree was still the same as ever, its leaves drooping down in the autumn weather, a cluster of them collected at its roots. The house hadn’t changed, just as she hadn’t changed. It had taken all her effort to continue believing that he hadn’t changed either, but maybe that wasn’t true.

She turned her head back to the road in front of her. The world was silent, other than the sound of wind and the flutter of leaves. Around the next corner was the place she dreaded passing most. Back when they were close, he would take her there and they’d sing their hearts out, laughing and joking all the while.

He had an amazing voice. It was one of the many things that she had fallen in love with. When he sang, it was like an angel had descended from the heavens, letting their voice ring out into the world, bringing joy into the hearts of mankind. Well, that was most likely Bernice’s take on it, and no one elses.

As she rounded the corner, the wind picked up, and she knew what was coming. She could feel his presence. She stared down hard at her laces as she stopped walking, right in the middle of the sidewalk. They were neon orange, wrapped tightly around her shoes. The aglets had come loose, the tips of the string frayed and worn down.

“Bernice?” His voice made her skin tingle.

“H-Hey,” she muttered under her breath, keeping her gaze steadily on her shoes. It had always been the way she coped with uncomfortable situations, and this was no exception. “I need to... uhmm... go to... yeah, I have to g-go.” She turned to walk past him, but his hand caught her own.

“Hey, we haven’t talked in a while,” he whispered softly, biting his lip as his eyes met with hers. “Could we possibly... I don’t know, catch up sometime?”