❝𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍s 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎
𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜
𝙼𝚎𝚎𝚝.❞

I backed away faster than Thanos snapped his fingers.

"Let's get moving then". Awkward was an understatement. Embarrassed.

"Come on kiddo". His hand held me back and I just waited to try to act normal even though I wasn't. I started looking around at the cave walls.
"Uh..", he swiftly turned us both around.

Oh! For the love of Peaches! Why me?

"What, what happened?" I panted. "Where, where is the little boy?" I just looked at his silhouette accusingly, "Didn't you have him?"

"Where did he go?" he murmured to himself. He started to wave our entwined hands as if to make a point. Get it through my head. Turning he said with disbelief, "He was just right here. I saw him. Like two seconds ago. Man this place is fiddling with my mind."

"You are not the only one," I muttered under my breath. Clutching onto his forearm I advised, "Come on we are going to be left behind and I don't want you to start spitting some conspiracy ghost theories."

"Oh please! I don't believe in those things. They are just stories. Besides, I think that boy might have found his family or friends and is with them now," he said walking with a bit more confidence than before. His mind really did get distracted or more like got him reeled up but either was fine as long as I didn't have to drag his ass out of the cave.

"Just a few, only a few more meters. I've ventured through this tunnel last year and it's absolutely amazing. I mean the view, not the cave. God! Can you believe that the cave had vines and a stinking odour in here? Anyways the lake is absolutely stunning. Bluewater, pretty skies but I'm pretty sure you would look gorgeous in that sunshine and radiance," another male voice said from behind us. A giggle erupted and the girl said, "Stop" in a way that screamed to not stop.

An oval-shaped, uneven entrance was present through which light was streaming in. My partner shuffled so he was beside me and we together hand-in-hand walked out of the cave into the sunlight. Pain coursed through my head looking at the sudden change of brightness. I tried to cover my eyes with my hands desperately before a shadow loomed over me.

"Better?" my partner asked. I first noticed his shirt. Plain white. Simple. Peering up at him with a few rays glinting around him creating a halo effect. Here I was in my high waist jeans and a black turtleneck, casually dressed looking up at an undeniably better-looking person than most of his species. I wasn't going to say he was good looking because then it wouldn't hold its value.

I had to strain my neck just to look at his face. My eyes widened, questioning myself if he was the same guy who was asking for my help.

Holy God of Coca-Colas, I wish I wore something good!

Umm...It wasn't me who thought that I swear.

The first thing that I noticed was how his Adam's apple bobbed when he uttered, "Thanks for helping me back there. I don't think I could've made it out without fainting. Would you help me on our way back?"

His eyebrows scrunched together arching downwards, looking at me intently with head tilted.

Someone teach me how to breathe, please.

I tried not to smile at my thoughts but I just couldn't, could I? So I just bit over my bottom lip to make it look like my dimple had formed because of biting and not due to me smiling to my embarrassing thoughts.

Oh! Holy God of Nutella, Why do I overthink so much?

"Your hand," I blurted out as I clutched onto it and dragged him to the pond. Lowering myself with his hand, I pulled him down with me. I rubbed off the blood from his hands and realised I avoided his question.

Oh! Holy God of Honeybees! Why do I do things and later regret? Why can't my brain process things 5 seconds faster than 5 seconds slower?

"Yeah, yeah I'll lead," was all I could say before a hand slapped down onto his back. The hand slapped over him with such momentum that I held his shoulder to prevent him and myself at the same time from toppling over into the pond.

"Are you hurt, kid?" our instructor said and I swear I saw spit flying onto my partners face.

Oh! Umm.. don't laugh. Just don't! Stop that wavering in your chest. It's all in your head. Think what the others around might judge you about. Stop. Okay, we're good now but his face damn!

I tried not to laugh and be grossed out at the same time.

His eyes closed instinctively and I had to stop smiling because it would be evident from my dimples. To distract myself I just looked over at the pond. The water was clear and I could see the bottom. It was littered by pebbles and small goldfish swimming in the water. Farther from us the water looked blue. The air had a musty, earthy odour as it had just rained but the soil around us wasn't too wet.

"No Sir, just a small scrape."
"We can't let something like that getaway, boy. We have to get you aid."
"You, go and fetch a band-aid and an antiseptic," he said pointing at me. Thankfully, nothing sprayed this time. I didn't want to be hit by a waterfall or a small bucket of the holy liquid of his mouth. I feel terrible for making jokes about him but I could not help it.

It wasn't even two seconds after the instructor left that my partner tried to be subtle at wiping his face. He just gave up, bent over the water and washed his face. I started laughing so hard. Man, the way his eyes closed when it fell. I mean it was a normal thing that happened but it was totally unexpected. I really like seeing people embarrassed instead of me.

He was rubbing his cheek over and over and suddenly hissed, "I pressed on the open cut."

"Careful. We don't want things to overflow again," I said looking at him. I really did try to will myself to stop but I just burst out laughing again.

He was as red as a tomato can get under the bright sun. Realising that I was probably making him uncomfortable and embarrassed, "Sorry, bud but it was kind of like a moment thing and.." I just pursued my lips to prevent saying anything.

"What's your name?", he suddenly asked out of the blue. Trying to ease the air a bit I cheekily asked, "Can I fake it?"
There was a glint of mischief in his eyes when his lips turned up a bit and he countered, "Do I get to ask why?".
Seeing that I don't know how to reply to that in a smart way I just said, "Probably not but anyway it's Zoe"

"Huh, what?"

"Gather 'round everyone, we've got to make a few announcements that should have been done at the starting but it's never too late, is it?", the instructors assistant said clapping to get everyone's attention.

Everyone shuffled towards them to hear what they had to tell them, "I would like to put these in three points.

First. The light tunnel is out of bounds for anyone who doesn't wish to die the most painful death just like the third-floor corridor at Hogwarts. Unlike there, here you won't be finding a vine to be present at the end but just the devil's mouth.

Second. This is related to the first.

So, 1A.

Don't throw rocks into the pit to test whatever theory your inner eight-year-old self conjured. There might still be bodies, and your actions would be deemed to be highly disrespectful. I mean you are hitting someone's corpse that hasn't been put to peace.

Finally the third one. Beware of theft. Yes, in these dark tunnels where people are scared out of their minds there are nasty little buggers knowns as kids of the nearby town who pass their time in vacation by stealing.

We have never been able to catch ahold of them because they are wicked fast and we, as a matter of fact, don't know if it's the near-by town kids but we have to believe what helps us sleep at night.

So beware of your surroundings and if you did get fooled already then I suggest you check for your valuables and be safer on the way back.

Have a nice evening".

By the end of it, I had gone rigid, as I would be if a snake was crawling up my arm. I turned my head just a little to see if it wasn't just me but was half-relieved when a pair of brown eyes were looking at me with probably the same pale, worry-stricken face but definitely with the same sense of realisation.

Do you like Zoe yet?
I know that not much has been revealed about her,
as her character is pretty vague during the beginning
but
hang around for the next chapter,
where a little more is revealed.
Thank you all for reading.
Rest well and
take care of yourselves 💕