No, no, she told him to stay away. Why did he insist on…why did he have to… Unsure of what to do now, Terra remained frozen to the spot. When he put an arm around her she flinched, wishing that she could stop crying. No, she didn’t think it was going to be okay. What she had done wasn’t normal, not at all. It was weird, it was unnatural, and she wanted it to go away. She pushed a hand over her face, wishing he had never seen.

“I—” Her voice cracked as she spoke, standing quickly. The sudden change put her slightly off balance, but she didn’t care. “I should g-get this out of my eye.” She was still crying even as she started to run. Terra had no idea what direction she was even moving in, only that she needed to go. Unfortunately for her, she was headed straight toward the water. The sound of her sneakers splashing in the water seemed to startle her, and she tumbled backward into the water.

Maybe he wouldn’t follow her again. At this point, she was so upset that she didn’t care anymore. Terra stayed exactly where she was in the water, pulling her knees up to her chest. At least if her face was wet it was harder to tell that she was crying.