CHAPTER 19
Ditching out on dancing was easier than I anticipated. I thought Evie would beg until I agreed to come, especially since Eric was going and she’s dying for us to meet. I’m not even working like I told her. After they left, I snuck down to the front coat closet, snagged that same black hoodie that I’m ninety-nine percent positive is Bennett’s, and came to the rock with a lantern and my journal.
My butt tingles, going numb from sitting on the tree stump chair for over an hour. I stand, shaking out my legs. Stabbing pain radiates through my hamstrings and rear. The rock isn’t large enough to move too much, but I walk around as much as I can, letting the feeling painfully come back into my limbs.
When I work, or have classes all day, the thing I need most is time by myself. Recharging is how I keep going. Evie, I’m sure, is having the time of her life with Eric. I’m glad she has him to hang out with, since the plan when I agreed to come to Lake Lloyd was the two of us doing everything together. It’s silly to think being somewhere new would change how I regroup.
Stretching my back, I gaze up at the stars. I love how many are visible without the city lights. If only I knew more constellations than the Big Dipper, I might appreciate or understand the jumble of stars better. Regardless, there’s beauty surrounding me.
Trying to find the North Star, I jump when a shuffling noise comes from behind me. My heart thrashes around in my chest like a toddler being forced into a car seat. Picking up the lantern, I hold it aloft. “Hello?”
Bennett didn’t mention what wild animals frequent the area. Am I about to get eaten by a mountain lion? Should I have been more cautious this time and the last time I came to the rock when I heard Bennett talking to Jen? Searching the ground for a branch or anything I can use as a weapon is pointless. There are only pine needles and pine cones nearby. “Who’s there?” My voice shakes like an opera singer’s vibrato.
A tall, hulking form moves in the trees. Is that a bear!?! The lantern’s beam isn’t bright enough for me to see what’s approaching. Are we on Evie’s grandparents’ property still, or does this rock border someone else’s land? Is it possible it’s a human and not an animal? My hands shake and my lungs rattle with jagged breaths. “Stop!” I shout. “I’m armed. Don’t come any closer!”
The thing either doesn’t hear me or isn’t scared by my threat. “Stop!” I say again. Unwilling to stand here and get murdered by a person or animal, I turn off the lantern and dart into the thicket of trees straight ahead. Crouching behind a trunk, heart pounding, I wait until whatever it is passes by. When it’s closer, it’s easy to tell it’s a person, dressed in dark pants and a hoodie pulled over their head. Letting out a war cry (that sounds more like a deranged cat than a warrior to be afraid of), I run out from my hiding place and smack their back with the lantern. “Hi-yah!”
“Ow!” They stumble forward, but keep their balance.
They start turning and I jump onto their back, wrapping my arms around their neck, and my legs around their waist. I’ve never attacked someone before. Why didn’t I just run? What am I hoping to accomplish here?
“What the?” The person removes my arms from around their neck like I’m a cuddly teddy bear instead of a woman trying to injure an attacker. “Who are you, and what are you doing?”
A man’s voice.
He swings me down and flips me so I’m facing him, his hands pressing on my shoulders. I look into the face of the guy I attacked. My stomach jumps to my throat, lodging itself.
Bennett.