Crimson Leaf

The crimson leaves scattered across the ground stayed frozen under the snow like they didn’t belong there. Every step the three boys took cracked through the silence—boots crunching ice, snow, and dead leaves together.

Jason walked ahead, 6’2, wrapped in an insulated coat with thick mittens and a scarf tight around his neck. Behind him, Braden—6’0, broad and confident—walked with an easy smirk. Milo trailed between them, quieter than usual.

Jason laughed first. “Bruh, you remember Ashley? You tried asking her out and she rejected you the worst way.”

Braden chuckled. “Man, she really did you dirty.”

Milo stared at the ground. That memory still sat in him like something rotting under the skin.

“Dude,” he said flatly, “she was a bitch. End of discussion.”

He didn’t want to go back there.

But Braden tilted his head. “Sure you want it ended? Since she embarrassed you in front of the whole school yard?”

Milo didn’t answer.

Snow kept falling.

Their boots kept moving.

Then Milo stepped on something different.

A single crimson leaf.

It shattered under his foot like glass.

The sound didn’t match.

For half a second, everything stopped.

The wind cut out.

The crunch of snow disappeared.

Even his breath felt wrong.

Then—

The world snapped.

Milo was standing somewhere else.

No snow.

No forest path.

Just concrete.

A school courtyard.

Three weeks earlier.

His stomach dropped instantly.

No… no, this isn’t real.

Ashley stood in front of him, surrounded by her friends and a small crowd that always orbited her like she was something important.

Blonde hair, perfectly styled. 5’8. Beautiful in a way that made the air feel sharper around her.

She looked at him like he was nothing.

“Loser,” she said immediately. “Why the fuck did you call me out here?”

Milo froze.

His mind screamed that this wasn’t possible, but everything felt solid. Real. Loud.

What the fuck…

His eyes flicked around the courtyard. People were watching. Waiting.

Then something inside him snapped—not logic, not reason, just everything he had swallowed for weeks.

All of it came up at once.

“I called you here,” he said, voice shaking but rising, “to say you’re a bitch. And a hoe.”

Silence dropped instantly.

Not laughter first—silence.

Then the crowd reacted all at once, voices overlapping in shock.

Ashley’s face changed. Not sadness. Anger.

Behind her, a jock stepped forward, shoulders rolling back.

That’s when Milo felt it.

Oh shit.

He didn’t wait.

He turned and ran.

Footsteps exploded behind him.

“Get him!”

Voices. Chairs scraping. Movement everywhere.

Milo sprinted across the courtyard, heart hammering so hard it drowned out everything else.

He didn’t think.

He just ran.

But as he ran, one thought kept repeating in his head:

That leaf wasn’t just a leaf.

And whatever just happened—

Wasn’t finished with him yet.