Evol

chapter thirty-four

hi bbies,

how are you holding up?? ;))
this is trash. enjoy!!

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Wednesday 26th June, 2019

I pulled up on the outskirts of the wood.

This was where Carter wanted me to meet him - in the wood on the corner of Beech Boulevard. Sighing, I pushed back the darkness in my mind, checked my trainers were tied up properly, and took out my phone to text Carter.

Since Monday, I'd been convincing myself I wasn't that girl. The girl who let the dark crush her. The girl who wallowed in sorrow and self-pity because she fell in love with a dick who didn't care about her. I wasn't that girl. But it still hurt.

This time, it was easier to ignore him, because when I slipped up and gave in, seeing him tore me up inside, and all I saw were his eyes, watching me like I was a piece of meat on Monday morning. It made me want to run and hide with the pain in my chest.

Memories of when they looked at me with soft care were lurking in the back of my mind, locked away.

Because he'd really done it this time.

I got a text from Carter telling me he was already there, and I clambered out of the car. I would have felt nervous, meeting with a boy I barely knew in an empty woodland, if it wasn't for the fact I was slowly going numb. A defence from the pain.

My leggings were tight on my legs, highlighting the less-than-lean shape of them. I wore a baggy hoodie, my hair tied back in a short ponytail. I wasn't even embarrassed - I didn't care what Carter thought about the way I looked. He was a friend.

"Hey," I heard his voice after five minutes of fighting through branches and stepping over damp logs.

It was a small clearing of mud, trees surrounding the circle. Carter stood up from sitting on a log, his blond hair swept back from his face.

"Hi!" I tried to be enthusiastic, smiling.

His blue eyes glittered. "You look ready to go," he said, unsmiling.

He wasn't really a smiley person. "All ready!" I said.

"Are you nervous?" He asked when I was closer.

"We're only doing the basics today. . . Right?"

Carter nodded, amused. "That's right. First, a warm-up."

"Warm-up?"

"A run," he explained, bouncing on his feet. Carter was dressed in similar stuff - with joggers instead of leggings.

My mouth dried. "A run?"

"Yep," he beckoned me to follow him. "Get going!"

I watched, already regretting this, as Carter legged off into the woods. Sighing, I sprinted to catch up to him. I grinned when I saw him waiting around a tree.

Carter snickered at my slow pace, managing to match it, diving around trees and jumping - or, in my case, stumbling - over logs. The cramping pain in my muscles was a temporary distraction from that bastard, and before I knew it, he was completely out of my mind. Finally.

I was gasping after five minutes, and leant heavily on a tree. "I'm. . . A bit. . .Out of practice."

Carter halted, turning. I caught the humoured smile on his face before it disappeared. "You're slow as it is!" He teased. "And red now, too."

I groaned. "Lovely."

"Don't worry about it." Carter said quickly. "Are you ready to carry on?"

I nodded, and peeled myself off the tree to join him. Soon, we found ourselves back at the small clearing. I collapsed on the log, sweaty.