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The afternoon sun dipped behind the clouds as Sarah and Adrian walked home side by side. The silence between them wasn't awkward—it was… tired. After everything that had happened, Sarah just wanted a moment to breathe.
"Do you want to visit your mom today?" Adrian asked gently.
Sarah shook her head, a sigh slipping through her lips. "Not now. Maybe tomorrow. I just want to relax... from everything."
Adrian nodded, "Yeah, sure. Tomorrow then."
But when they reached the house, something felt off.
The curtains fluttered though the windows were closed. The air smelled faintly of straw.
Sarah frowned. "Did you leave the window open?"
Adrian's stomach twisted. A flash of last night's memory—
…the soft crunch of straw under his feet,
…the shadow that moved when it shouldn't have.
"Hey, um," Adrian began carefully, "about that scarecrow story your mom used to tell—"
Sarah's head snapped toward him. "What about it?"
"I just… was wondering if you ever thought maybe it could be real."
She stared at him like he'd just lost his mind. "Why are you bringing that up now, Adrian? I thought we agreed to forget about it."
Adrian swallowed. "It's just—last night, I heard something. A noise. Straw or something. I saw a shadow, but maybe I was just tired. I don't know."
Silence. Heavy, awkward, crawling up between them.
Then Adrian forced a small laugh. "Forget it. I'm probably just imagining things. You know how it is when you hear too many stories."
Sarah smiled faintly, pretending to agree. "Yeah… maybe that's it."
But deep down, her heart whispered otherwise.
She shook her head quickly, as if to erase the thought. "No. It can't be. That's impossible."
Adrian smirked suddenly, breaking the tension. "Anyway, since we're doing your birthday at your house, I guess I'll get to meet your famous scarecrow."
Sarah groaned. "You and your teasing again."
"Come on," he said, bumping her shoulder playfully. "You like it when I tease you. Don't act like you don't."
"Just stop, Adrian. It's not funny."
But her lips betrayed her—a tiny, secret smile tugged at them.
"Okay, okay," he said, hands up in surrender. "I'll stop… if you agree to be my girlfriend."
Sarah blinked, caught off guard. "In your dreams."
Adrian's grin faded into something serious. "I'm not joking."
And before she could reply, he turned and walked upstairs, leaving Sarah frozen at the bottom of the stairs—her heart pounding, her mind spinning.
Was that a confession… or a game?
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