Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Having weekend plans gave me something to look forward to, but it also made the week feel like it was crawling by. School tested my patience more than usual.
Thankfully, I had books to distract me and give me a reason to stop by Sam’s house on Thursday. We talked about the ones I’d read until I started to shiver. I would have stayed longer, but I knew Mom was probably already watching from the window.
Friday, Mirae walked home with me. It was the first time I’d ever had anyone over. She liked the pumpkin I’d carved and was equally impressed by my book collection.
We were still talking about books when Mom came home. Thankfully, she was completely her normal self with Mirae and even suggested takeout pizza before we left. I agreed, hoping it wouldn’t make us late. It didn’t.
With ten minutes to spare, we pulled into the pumpkin farm’s parking lot. The field was packed with cars, and people were everywhere, so it took me longer than I would have liked to find a spot.
“The group said that they’d meet us by the barn,” Mirae said as we started walking that direction. “Where is your friend waiting?”
“By the barn, too.”
A car turned down our row, and we moved over to give them room to pass. I glanced at the driver and saw the goth girl from the ice cream parlor. Her gaze locked with mine for a second before she passed us.
Glancing over my shoulder, I watched her car turn onto the main aisle and head toward the exit. I didn’t blame her. Peak hours were the worst time to try to talk to someone about a job.
When Mirae and I reached the barn, we spotted our classmates.
Although I knew their names, I’d never really taken the time to talk to any of them. Especially Lennon, or Len as his friends called him. He’d been one of my first crushes when I’d moved here. He played every sport the school offered and did well in all of them.
“Hey, Clarity,” he said, surprising me.
“Hey.”
“I didn’t think you came to stuff like this.”
“I usually don’t.”
“Well, I’m glad you made an exception this time. We were talking about splitting up into teams and doing the corn maze before the haunted house. Bragging rights to the team that gets through it first. Want to be my partner?”
What in the parallel universe was happening? He and I hadn’t ever actually talked that I could remember. And my crush had been pretty brief, ending once he’d started dating a girl a grade ahead of us.
Confused, I glanced at the other six members of our group. They were grinning and watching us. Was this a setup? A trick.
“We should split into groups of three so no one’s left out,” I said.
“Three?” Len asked.
“Clarity’s friend is meeting her here,” Mirae said. “So there will be nine of us.”
“No problem. I can group with you and your friend,” Len said. “What’s her name?”
“Clarity.”
The sound of Sam’s voice calling my name covered Mirae’s soft snort. She knew Sam wasn’t a “she.” I’d already told her about him, and Mom’s rule about not being alone with him, even though I was pretty sure he was gay.
I looked over my shoulder at Sam and smiled as he joined us.
“You’re just in time,” I said. “We’re going to split into groups and do the corn maze first.”
“Sounds good.” His friendly gaze shifted from me to the group.
“This is Sam, my neighbor. He moved here a few weeks ago.”
He nodded in greeting as I introduced everyone.
“Haven’t seen you in school,” Len said. “Are you homeschooled?”
“Already graduated,” Sam said.
“Oh. That’s too bad.” Len looked at me. “Ready?”
I glanced at Sam for confirmation.
“Ready when you are,” he said.
We divided into three teams as we walked toward the corn maze.
Sam, Len, and I were a team, and rather than thinking about how bizarre that was, I focused on the maze.
Three portable stadium lights shone down on the field, creating pockets of brightness and darkness. The speakers attached to the most central pole played creepy sound effects at a low enough volume that we could still hear occasional screams coming from the maze.
“We should stagger when we go in,” Eli said. “Five minutes should be enough, I think. Which group wants to go in first?”
Mirae’s group volunteered.
“How will we know which team gets through the fastest?” Mirae asked.
“I have an idea,” Sam said.
He let out a piercing whistle. A minute later, a familiar auburn-haired boy came running toward us, smiling from ear to ear.
“Mum said to tell you, if you ask for trouble, it’s your responsibility.”
Sam reached out and ruffled his hair. “Gladly. I need your help. My friends want to have a race through the corn maze. Do you think you can time us?”
“Ya.” He held up a fist, showing the watch on his wrist.
“Perfect,” Sam said. “Tell us the time when we go in, and we’ll check the time when we come out.” He looked at the rest.
Everyone agreed. Mirae’s group went first.
“Has anyone gone through this year’s maze already?” Eli asked. “I guess I should have asked that before we started.”
“I haven’t,” I said when he looked at me.
“I have!” the little boy said.
“No giving anyone hints,” Sam warned him with a look of affection. “Makes it more fun when we’re wandering around lost in there.”
The boy laughed. “You never get lost.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” Sam said. “Ready for the next group?”
They went in, leaving the four of us.
“So how did you meet Clarity?” Len asked.
“I saw her raking and went out to introduce myself.” A smirk tugged at Sam’s mouth. “She immediately fell for me.”
I groaned and rolled my eyes. “I tripped on the rake.”
“You do have a way with memorable first impressions,” Len said.
“Really? I don’t remember tripping in front of you.”
Len grinned. “You didn’t. You went to take a drink out of your water bottle. The lid wasn’t on tight, and—”
Grimacing, I held up my hand. “I remember. You saw that? I thought I’d gotten away with it without witnesses.”
That had been the last time I wore that white “Leaving Reality, Entering Fiction” T-shirt.
After dumping the contents of my water bottle down my front, I’d discovered the font placement hadn’t saved me.
My nipples had been visible through two layers of wet material.
I’d hustled to my locker to grab my spring jacket to wear until it dried.
“Yeah, I saw and made sure no one went down the hallway until you had your jacket. I would have offered mine but figured you’d rather not have me that close.”
“Thank you,” I managed, feeling my cheeks flush. “You made the right choice.”
I felt a sudden surge of annoyance, which was weird because he really had made the best choice.
“My sister’s older than me by a few years,” he said. “I learned when to keep my mouth shut.”
Sam said something under his breath. It sounded like “Yeah, right,” but I knew that was just my overactive crush-obsessed mind attempting to create a jealousy scenario that didn’t exist since Sam’s expression was still friendly when I glanced at him.
“What’s she doing now?” I asked Len.
“She’s a beautician in Chicago. Good money, but the cost of living’s a lot higher there.
She’s looking for a bedroom sublet, but they’re hard to come by without personal referrals.
If she can’t find one soon, she might move back home for a while and look for work here.
” He looked at Sam. “What about you? What do you do for a living?”
“It’s time,” the boy said.
Sam ruffled his hair. “As soon as we’re in, head to the exit. Whistle if you need anything, all right?”
The boy nodded.
Len looked at me. “Ready?”
“Ready.” I glanced at Sam.
“You lead, and I’ll follow,” he said.
Len went first, and I followed closely on his heels, grateful Sam was behind me. As an avid reader, I had an above-average imagination and slightly below-average courage.
The cornstalks muffled sounds from the farm. The farther in we went, the quieter it got, except for the eerie sound effects. We came to the first split. One way led away from the nearest light pole, and the other angled closer to it.
“Which way, Clarity?” Len asked.
I pointed toward the darker path. The lit one was too safe and headed in the direction of the exit, and the last light pole was too far away for the maze to end this quickly.
Len glanced at the ground then at me. “Do you want to walk next to me? I don’t want you to trip.”
I grinned. “Nah, I’ll let you go first. There’s a reason for the screams.”
The words were barely out of my mouth when a scream came from the direction of the darker path. Len chuckled and started that way.
I glanced back at Sam. His expression looked a little dark as he stared after Len. However, when he moved closer to me, stepping into a pocket of light, he wasn’t scowling as I’d thought. Just a play of shadows and light.
Feeling safer, knowing he was there, I quickly hurried after Len.
At each split, they let me decide. I used the lights as a general guide. The path grew darker. I tried to walk as quietly as possible, hoping the workers hiding in the cornstalks wouldn’t notice us.
They noticed.
The first one who jumped out in front of me scared me so badly that I turned and crashed into Sam’s chest. Thankfully, he caught me on the rebound and lifted me just enough to run. Thinking of escape and not who was holding me, I immediately wrapped myself around him so that he could move faster.
Laughter rang out behind us.
“They stopped,” Len said.
Sam slowed, and the hand on the back of my head smoothed over my hair.
Realizing I’d buried my face against his neck, I quickly untangled myself. On my feet again, I backed away several steps.
“Sorry,” I whispered. “I’m a level two adventurer. Brave enough to enter and scared enough to climb the nearest person like a tree to escape danger.”
Len laughed and looked at Sam.
“Do you want to take the lead for a while?”
Sam’s expression seemed to darken briefly, and I glanced back at the nearest lightpole. I could just see it over the cornstalks where we were.
“Sure,” Sam said. “Ready, Clarity?”
Focusing on the path, I nodded. As I had with Len, I left enough space between us so I could run away at the first hint of a scare trap. When we came to the next split, Sam turned toward me. He opened his mouth, but frowned, looking behind me.
My pulse spiked, and I bolted to him, wrapping my arms around his waist.
“It’s okay, Clarity,” he said quietly. “Where’s Len?”
I lifted my head and looked behind us. The path was empty.
“My adventurer level just downgraded,” I whispered.
Sam’s arm circled my waist, giving me a brief hug before his fingers tangled with mine.
“I think they separated us on purpose because we’re getting close to the exit. Do you want to keep going or go back and look for Len?”
“Level one adventurers live by the ‘every man for himself’ rule,” I said.
Sam chuckled. “Which way, adventurer?”
I nodded toward the darker path that veered around the last light pole. Sam didn’t comment on my death grip as he led the way. We encountered seven more jump scares before I saw the exit ahead.
Releasing Sam’s hand, I hustled toward safety, expecting to see the others waiting. However, only our timekeeper greeted us.
“I knew you wouldn’t get lost.” The boy high-fived Sam. “You never get lost.”
“I wasn’t the one in charge,” Sam said. “It was Clarity. What’s our time?”
“Twenty-three minutes,” the boy said.
“What about the rest?” I asked. “Where did they go?”
“You’re the first ones out,” the boy said.
I turned to look at the maze in surprise. Then, I grinned, feeling pretty proud.
“It might take them a while,” the boy said. “Da said the maze takes most people forty minutes.”
We probably would have done the same if Sam hadn’t run with me.
“Do you want to wait here or grab something to drink?” Sam asked. “I think I saw hot cider.”
“Hot cider,” I said immediately, since I’d budgeted for treats along with the ticket cost.
“I’ll take a caramel apple,” the boy said with an impish grin. “I’ll let your friends know where you are if they come out before you’re back.”
Sam chuckled and ruffled his hair again. “You’re going to turn into a caramel apple. Plain or with toppings.”
“Toppings.”
Sam nodded, and we made our way through the milling people to the food stands. The night options were pretty much the same as the daytime ones, yet it felt different. More festive. Sam got us both ciders and the apple he promised the boy.
By the time we returned, Mirae’s group was waiting, along with Len.
“What happened?” I asked him. “I thought you were behind me. You just disappeared.”
“Someone grabbed me from behind. The guy was big. He picked me up and ran with me. Then they shoved me into another path.”
“Right in front of us,” Mirae said, grinning. “Scared the pants off of Jene.”
Jene flashed us a sheepish grin. “I wasn’t expecting Len to come flying at me.”
The rest of their group and Len laughed.
“We can wait here for the others if you want to get something to drink,” I said.
They wandered off, but Len stayed with us.
“I’m glad they didn’t try taking you,” Len said.
“Same. I’m already questioning whether I’ll survive the haunted house. It’s supposed to be scarier than this.”
“You’ll be fine,” he said. “You won’t be alone.”
I felt another surge of annoyance, which was weird. His attention wasn’t really bothering me. But it was confusing the heck out of me. Was he subtly flirting with me, or was I reading into it too much? And if he was flirting, why now and not two years ago when I was interested?
“Sam won’t let anyone scare you too much,” the boy said, distracting my thought spiral. “Da let him take me through it earlier. It wasn’t bad. There’s a man with a chainsaw, cutting up a human body. I almost got splashed, but Sam blocked it.” He beamed at Sam in full hero-worship mode.
Sam winked at the kid.
Winked.
The effect was so devastating that I forgot how to drink and choked on my cider.
He immediately patted my back.
“I’m okay,” I rasped.
The final group emerged while I was still catching my breath. They congratulated us on placing first and laughed at Len’s kidnapping story.
“I need to deliver this one back to his parents,” Sam said.
“Clarity and I can get in line while you guys get the rest of the group,” Len said, then looked at the others. “They're by the cider.”
They agreed and walked off.
The little boy took Sam’s hand and looked up at him. I did too. Sam was watching me, and I immediately felt bad.
I’d come to hang out with him, but it also wasn’t fair to make Len hold the spot for eight people alone.
Giving Sam a small, apologetic smile, I looked at the boy.
“Thanks for keeping time.”
“You’re welcome.”
“You might want to wash your face before you go back. The caramel’s going to give you away.”
He grinned. “Thanks!”
Sam glanced from me to Len. “It won’t take long.”
“Take your time,” Len said. “Ready, Clarity?”
With a last glance at Sam, I left with Len.