by Destiny Webb
Tasha had her hands on the sides of Sean’s face. Her eyes were closed and Sean had his hands on her arms. My stomach dropped and I felt like I was going to be sick. My knees felt weak as everything started spinning. I must have gasped or something, because at the same time they both looked over at me. Sean quickly pushed Tasha away from him.
“Sean, you told me she wasn’t going to be around anymore. You said you were done with her.”
The “what she are you talking about?” statement ran through my head and fell into place, making sense. My body iced over. I glared at Tasha and she smirked at me, knowing she had won.
“Sam, it’s not what it looks like. I swear.”
“Whatever Sean,” I bit off. “Save it.”
I turned on my heel and started to storm off. His footsteps followed me. I clenched my jaw as I tried to not cry.
“Sammy,” he called out. “Wait!”
Hearing him call me Sammy triggered something inside me and I turned around to face him, angry.
“Sammy, please, it wasn’t how it looked!”
I slapped him across the face, turned back around, and started to walk off, and he grabbed my arm.
“Sammy, stop.”
“Stop calling me that,” I warned through my gritted teeth as I yanked my arm from his grip.
“Sam, she came on to me,” he rushed out. “She told me that she had some of my things. She was going to give them back to me. And then she just…she kissed me. Sam, please. You have to believe me.”
“I don’t have to do anything Sean,” I disagreed. “You know Sean, I thought you were different. I thought that you actually cared about me. I thought that you wanted to be with me and that we would be such a great couple. That we were going to go off to college together and everything was going to be great. But you don’t care at all. You just manipulated me to fill a void in your life for the summer while she was off with other guys. So, save your stories, Sean, for someone who will actually believe them. I’m done.”
I turned around and headed towards the woods once more.
“Sam, please, don’t!” His voice broke and I heard him start to follow me again. I glanced back at him, pain stabbing through my heart.
“Don’t what, Sean?” My voiced wavered. “Don’t go? Or don’t leave you alone? Because you’re afraid of that, aren’t you? That’s why you have me as a backup. So the second she leaves you, you know I’m here, waiting. Well, Sean, not anymore. I’m done being in love with you and waiting for you to realize that you love me too and that I’m actually here. I’m done. So, Sean, please…quit following me and just let me go.”
My anger had steamed down and I just felt empty staring at him. Broken. Everything around us was quiet. I could see the tears lining his eyes. I looked away and made my way to the woods. I was almost to the edge of the trees when his voice reached me.
“You’re gonna get lost if you go into the woods Sammy.” He tried to reason with me one last time. Hesitating, I considered the possibility of getting lost in the woods. What was my alternative, though? Sticking around and chatting with Sean? Not going to happen.
“I’m already lost,” I murmured loud enough for him to hear before giving over to the tears and running into the woods.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I really hated to admit it, but Sean was right.
I had run until I couldn’t run anymore. Sobbing, I ran until the pain was overbearing. I ran until the recurring thunder was nearby and it was roaring every few minutes. When I couldn’t run anymore, I found a rock flat enough to sit on and put my head between my knees, feeling sick to my stomach. Without a doubt, I should have realized it would come to this, that he would go back to her. They had been together for so long. It wouldn’t be as easy as just saying, “We’re done.”
My tears finally ran dry and I wasn’t so nauseous. Sitting up, I realized it was a lot later than I had thought. The sun must have already set, since it was growing darker by the minute. With trees surrounding my view, I couldn’t see the horizon anywhere. I started to walk, but soon became aware that I had no idea where I was going. Everything looked so similar.
I didn’t have my phone, so I couldn’t even call anyone if I had reception. The thunder roared again and I had to admit that I was lost. Panic arose in my chest as I remembered when I got lost all those years ago and how no one found me for two days. My heart started racing and I felt like I was hyperventilating. If I hadn’t known any better, I would have sworn that I was thirteen again.
The thunder crackled again and I felt a drop of water on my arm, then another. I looked up to the sky and felt another drop on my face.
“Oh. You have got to be kidding me!” I yelled to the sky.
I started walking again in search of some kind of shelter. I wouldn’t wander around aimlessly all night again, hopeless. As the rain got heavier and the night started to settle, I came across a campsite. Visibility was low, but it looked like every other campsite around…nothing stood out. I couldn’t figure out which site it was. Either way, I decided to camp out there for the night, hoping that in the morning I would be able to figure out which site it was, or find a trail leading out of it to civilization.
There was a fire pit with log seats and a big grass area with a picnic table. It looked a lot like the site that Sean had brought me to…it could have been the same one. I quickly pushed that thought from my mind as I tried to keep my sanity.
I headed for the table and sat down gingerly under one of the sides, sheltering myself from the rain that had pretty much already soaked me. I appreciated the benefit of being small, as I fit perfectly under the table. Bringing my knees to my chest and resting my head on my knees, I regretted not eating dinner. My stomach was growling and I was shivering. I closed my eyes, which were sore from crying, and chanted to myself. “It’s alright. In the morning, you’ll wake up and there will be a trail leading home. And you won’t be lost anymore. It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay.”
***
Crack. Boom.
I sat up straight, hitting my head on the table as the thunder woke me. A few short seconds after, lightening sparked, illuminating the empty campsite. My heart began to slow. While the rain was still steady, it had stopped pouring so hard. Laying my head back down on my knees and rubbing the spot I’d hit, I tried to relax enough to sleep again.
“Sam.”
I jerked my head up, almost hitting it again. Did someone really just call my name? Or was I imagining it? I listened for something. When I didn’t hear anything, I told myself it was just the wind and rested my head again.
“Sam!”
Someone was calling my name. A light was starting to peek through the trees and I lifted my head slowly. Squinting, I couldn’t make out the figure behind it as it came into the clearing. I watched as the light searched all over the campsite. While trying to call out to the figure, I discovered my voice was gone from shock. Finally, the light landed on the spot where I was huddled, blinding me. I squinted into it, trying to see.
“Oh, Samantha,” he paused. “I found her,” he informed someone waiting on another walkie talkie. He walked over to me, crouching down, putting his hand out for me to take. “Come on, Sammy. Let’s get you out of the rain.”
I could barely see Sean’s face, but I had a feeling it was showing some kind of pity. I hated that he was seeing me weak like this. I made no move for his hand, no move to leave. I wasn’t looking for him to save me.
“You aren’t too happy about me finding you, are you?”
I thought about it. “No, not particularly.”
“And I’m going to guess you don’t want to go with me.”
“Nope, not really,” I admitted.
He seemed to consider that for a minute before reaching into his pocket and pulling something out. He sat his flashlight down and cracked it, setting a blue light aglow.
“Alright, I’ll go, but take this.” He handed the blue glow stick to me, picked up his flashlight, and started to walk away. I
looked down at the glow stick; it was like the one he had tied to the trees on my birthday, so I wouldn’t get lost. As something clicked in my head, I called out to stop him.
“Sean!”
“Yeah Sam?” He sounded weary.
His voice was closer than I thought it should be. When I looked up, the flashlight was still in the campsite, but it was on the ground. I looked up from it to where it should have been and saw another glow stick being lit up.
“What are you doing?” I asked him confused.
“I’m tying glow sticks to the trees in case you change your mind and want to get out.”
My heart thudded.
“Why?”
“I think that is slightly obvious, Sam.”
“I mean why did you come out here?” I rephrased.
“With the storm, the rangers are short staffed and wouldn’t put out all staff until you were missing for twenty four hours. I wasn’t going to sit around while two rangers looked for you when I knew you’d be scared.”
There was silence between us as the thunder rumbled again. He picked up his flashlight and moved closer.
“Whether or not you believe it Samantha, I care about you. It’s true. I’ve had feelings for you since we were kids, and I’ve been in love with you since the summer before high school. But then we were in two different worlds, and I got so caught up in high school and Tasha and being popular that I forgot about you, and how amazing you are. I forgot how much I loved being around you. And then I graduated and went to college, and realized that I wasn’t in love with Tasha, and I didn’t know if I ever really had been. And now, here I am.”
I crawled out from under my table. The rain was pouring again. I walked, glow stick in hand, until I was only a few inches from him.
“And here you are,” I repeated.
“I am so sorry Sammy. I swear to you, she kissed me. I don’t have any feelings for her anymore. I don’t want anything to do with her ever again. I won’t ever forget you again, I promise.”
I put my fingers on his lips so he would stop talking. Beaming, I slid my hand to his neck and tugged him gently. He leaned in willingly and I stretched up on my toes to kiss his lips. He seemed perplexed about my sudden belief in his words, but he kissed me back. Quite frankly, I was perplexed too. But hearing him say he loved me washed away any doubts.
When I pulled away from the kiss, he was reluctant to let me go.
“You believe me?”
“I trust you,” I told him, kissing him again softly. “Say it again,” I told him, barely louder than a whisper.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated.
“No, not that.” I moved my hand to his cheek, stroking it softly.
“Which part Sammy, because that was a lot and I don’t think I remember it all.” He trailed off, thinking.
“The part where you told me you love me.”
“Samantha Renee Armstrong,” he said seriously, realizing what I meant. “I love you. I’ve always loved you. Everything about you is amazing and pure. You’re not fake, or concerned with your ‘image.’ I love that about you. I love everything about you.”
A smile spread across my face. I didn’t know whether or not he could see it, but it was there. “I love you too, Sean.”
Picking me up in his arms, he leaned down and kissed me. I could feel him smiling against my lips as he squeezed his arms around me. To me, it was certainly an award-winning kiss: one that would definitely give Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams a run for their money. He was my shiny star, making all my wishes come true.
We continued like that, me in his arms, kissing in the pouring rain, until I was shivering so hard I could barely stay still.
“Come on Sammy.” He cradled me in his arms, putting the flashlight in my lap. “Let’s get you home and out of this rain.”
I settled against his chest, pointing the light so he could see. I was suddenly really sleepy in my blissful happiness. I was thinking about what Sean had said before I ran into the woods when something didn’t add up.
“Why did you tell Cassie to have me meet you at the dock?”
He stopped, trying to make sense of what I asked him. “What are you talking about?”
“You said Tasha told you to meet her at the dock,” I explained. “Why did you tell Cassie to have me meet you there if you were already meeting Tasha?”
“I didn’t tell Cassie anything.”
“Then why…?” I trailed off, the pieces falling into place.
“Oh. I am going to kill my sister.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Despite the fact that it was all a set up to break Sean and me up, I was slightly happy that Cassie had sent me down to the dock to walk up on Sean and Tasha. Don’t get me wrong, I was thoroughly pissed…knowing that it was a set up verified my belief that Sean wasn’t lying though.
We broke through the woods into the familiar circle of the campfire area outside of the cabin. Sitting on the porch was my mom, Mrs. W, and Sarah, all wrapped up in blankets, a lantern sitting between them. All three of them jumped up when they saw us headed towards them.
“Why is it all dark?” I asked Sean softly. There were no lights on anywhere that I could see.
“Power’s out,” he muttered shortly. I just let him be. I knew he was really angry about the Cassie thing. Wrapping my arm up around him, I rubbed his neck lightly. He smiled slightly before kissing my forehead. I closed my eyes and he tightened his grip around me.
“Oh my God, Sean, you found her. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome Mrs. A. Can you get a fire started? She’s freezing.”
“Yes. Of course.”
I heard the screen click as she went inside.
“Sarah? Could you get her some dry clothes?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Another click of the door.
“What do you need me to do, honey?” Mrs. W asked.
“Where’s Cassie?”
“Inside, I think,” she told him, confused.
“I need to speak with her,” he bit off. “Could you find her and tell her to find me?”
I could tell he was speaking through his teeth, his anger seething. Mrs. W must have noticed as well; she sounded shocked at her son’s short demeanor.
“Yeah, sure.”
Sean must have realized the tone in his voice. He stopped in the doorway as she held the screen open for us and kissed her on the top of the head.
“Thanks Mom.”
Once inside, Sean and I both got changed. I curled up on the couch next to the fireplace, Sean with his arms wrapped around me. Eventually, everyone was in the family room except for Brian, who had just returned, and Cassie and Mrs. W.
I was finally starting to feel warm and Sean was rubbing my back, making me sleepy. I nestled my head into his chest and closed my eyes.
“Hey. What’s up? Mom said you wanted to talk?”
I left my eyes closed. I didn’t really want to see her. I hadn’t even heard her come in. Sean made an effort to move out from under my arm. When I tried to hold him there, he kissed my head.
“It’s alright Sammy. I’m not going anywhere.” Reluctantly, I let him go.
“Yeah Cassie.” He turned towards her. “As a matter of fact, I did.”
I wondered if she knew that he was about to rip into her.
“There’s something that I want to get straight.”
“Oh? And what’s that?” She sounded like she was bracing herself.
“My relationships are none of your business.”
I heard the door open and I guessed it was Brian. He moved across the room to sit at my feet. I cracked my eyes open and looked at him. He smiled at me briefly and patted my leg. Everyone was now there to witness the soon to erupt confrontation.
“I didn’t break it off with Tasha because of Samantha. I broke it off because of the countless times that she used me. Because of the countless times that she broke my heart. I broke it off because of the countless times that she cheate
d on me.”
Someone, my guess was Mrs. W, gasped.
“And I am pissed that you would doubt that about me, that you would choose her over me, your brother. I am ashamed that you would pick someone who tore me apart over me, because of some petty grudge that you have towards my girlfriend. So, let’s get this clear, Cassandra. Samantha is not something that you can play with. She is not something to try and destroy. Sending her down to the docks when you knew that Tasha was going to pounce on me is not okay.”
“You did what?” Mr. W asked.
“I…I…I didn’t,” she faltered. “I didn’t know.”
“Really?”
Her phone jingled and Sean must have grabbed for it.
“Really, Cassie? Your texts say different. Your texts say that you knew about the entire plan. And they also say that Sam getting lost in the woods was such a funny joke.”
Sean must have thrown down the phone; there was a loud cracking noise, probably meaning that he broke it. There was a long, tense silence before Sean spoke again, sounding calmer and more composed.
“It isn’t a joke. Terrorizing the girl that I’m in love with is not a joke. Don’t you get that?”
“I…I’m so sorry, Sean.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not the only one you owe an apology to. And since she’s asleep you might want to think of what you’re going to say so she doesn’t hate you forever.” He exhaled deeply and came back over to me, situating us so we were curled up like before. I sighed happily and snuggled up to him where I knew I was safe and warm, and fell asleep quickly.
***
Someone, probably Sean, had carried me to my bed at some point. The next morning, I was awoken by the familiar light shining across my eyes. I cracked my eyes open slightly to see if Cassie or Sarah were still around. Neither of them was, so, I felt it was safe to open my eyes and roll onto my back.
Last night was certainly something. The realization that Sean and I were actually an item hit me and I beamed to myself. My wish had finally come true. And to think, I fought against coming to the cabin at all. If I hadn’t, things between Sean and I would never have unfolded.