Chapter 5 Love Stinks #3
We went to the entrance when I spotted Henry and a few familiar faces.
Ashley, Felix, Daisy, Eden, and, of course, Summer.
They were huddled together, laughing and talking at the far edge of the field that housed the maze.
The women wore jeans and leather jackets, while the men had settled on thick sweatshirts, the unofficial uniform of the corn maze.
Nothing had changed. They all held plastic cups, which I knew were filled with either beer or hard cider.
Nobody in that group, who likely all knew the maze like the back of their hand, would do this activity sober.
For years, while locked away, I’d pictured them doing exactly what they were right now: enjoying life without me.
“Oh, I didn’t realize your friends would be here.” Lily looked at me, clearly trying to gauge my response.
Henry probably hadn’t invited me to keep the peace.
From now on, gatherings would involve one of us, not both.
I sighed and shook my head. “Yeah, let’s leave them to it.”
“Surprised you and Henry didn’t come together.” She peered at me.
“I’ve seen Henry plenty of times,” I said, desperately trying to steer my sister toward the maze and away from them.
“Is there a problem?” she asked, confusion in her tone. I obviously hadn’t kept my voice as casual as I’d intended.
“Oh,” she added a moment later. Realization spread across her face. “Summer. They’re sitting on the fence, not taking sides.”
I nodded.
A sympathetic smile broke out on her face. “Have you spoken to Summer since you got back?”
I hadn’t kept my sister up to date with all my accidental meetings, but I decided it was easier to tell the truth. “Yes. We’ve bumped into each other a few times. She’s not made her hatred of me a secret.”
Red patches stained my sister’s cheeks, and her eyes darkened. “She has some nerve.” She shook her head and placed her hands on her hips; the very picture of our mother. “Her damn father killed our mother. She isn’t the only one who lost somebody.”
Hooking my arm in hers, I pulled her away. She had a vicious streak in her. She wasn’t one to back down from a fight. If she thought I was being treated unfairly, God help the guilty party.
I found a vendor selling spiked cider and my all-time favorite apple cider donuts. For that pastry alone, I’d love if Halloween stuck around more than just thirty-one days.
We had a few drinks, ate some donuts, and I felt myself relaxing. I couldn’t see my friends from where we sat, so I assumed they couldn’t see me either. After one too many cups of alcoholic cider, Lily and I set out to do what we planned to: we entered the maze.
“Let’s make it a challenge,” Lily said once we’d stepped inside the tall stalks.
I grinned. “How?”
“Let’s split up. I’ll go this way, and we’ll see who finds their way out first.”
The alcohol clouding my judgment made that seem like a great idea.
“See you at the end!” She kissed me on the cheek and turned to the left.
I took the route to the right.
Soon, tall, dried stalks surrounded me. They were maybe seven- or eight-feet high.
They blocked out the late afternoon light in a way that didn’t seem possible.
It was quiet in the maze. Most adults had already brought their children during the daytime, or those without kids had come to drink and spent very little time in the maze itself.
I decided to let Lily win. There was no way I’d run around the maze like an idiot.
My feet made crunching strides. I went straight ahead until I came to a fork in the road.
I vaguely remembered something about always turning the same direction in order to escape a maze, but where was the fun in that?
Choices. Choices. Left. Why not?
I continued on my way, occasionally bumping into other solo travelers or groups of people eager to make their way to the finish line.
I was drunk. Beer goggles had descended over my eyes.
I felt unsteady but happy. I was once a capable drinker.
I could drink the best of them under the table, but years of forced sobriety had ruined my alcohol tolerance. At least I wasn’t falling-down drunk.
I lost track of where I’d already explored. Each turn was a blur.
At this rate, Lily was probably already on the outside, waiting impatiently to brag about winning. Shaking my head, I hurried along; a few steps, then a turn right. A couple more steps, then left.
Ouch.
“Can’t you watch where you’re going?”
Time stood still as my stomach churned.
What were the odds?
My muscles stiffened. I would recognize that voice anywhere. The one laced in venom, that caused my ear to ring and my insides to curl.
“Summer, if you were watching where you were going, we wouldn’t have run into each other.”
She growled something under her breath before saying, “Typical of you to blame someone else. Yeah, of course this is my fault and not yours.”
Damn, was she always this annoying, or did she learn this in the last ten years? “I don’t have time for this, my sister is waiting.”
She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Fine. I don’t have time either.”
This was childish. “Were you always so immature? Thank God we never got married.”
Drunk or not, I could see the flicker of anger in her eyes. Maybe I’d gone too far, though I was just being honest. A lifetime married to Summer had once felt like something that would be the greatest honor, and now it seemed a fate worse than death. Still.
“Fuck you.”
Her hand collided with my cheek. A sudden rush of pain washed over me. I felt a storm growing inside. If I hit her back, everyone would think I was an even bigger monster than the town expected. I would not hit a fucking woman.
Glaring at Summer, I noticed a slight tremble in her hand, as if it had suddenly occurred to her she should’ve been worried about what my reaction might be.
I couldn’t understand her. Every time I saw her, there was a new problem.
Why did she have this burning need to act like she was the only person in the entire world who was suffering?
A group of teenagers rounded the corner, laughing. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw us. They recognized me. How could they not? I was famous.
They put their heads down and continued on their way, whispering under their breath.
Regaining my composure, I took a deep breath. “Don’t let that shit happen again. If you can’t control your temper, take your childish self back to therapy.”
A flicker of recognition. Probably wondering how I guessed she went to therapy. Not in any mood to explain further, I sidestepped her and marched away.
The slap had sobered me up enough to know it was time to walk away.
I marched through the rest of the maze, deep in thought.
How fucking dare she? The first time she’d touched me in years, and it was a slap.
I desperately tried to convince myself that the heat growing on my cheek was from the pain and not something else.