Begin Again (Again #1)(41)

No idea how long I walked. At some point, after I’d taken many turns and couldn’t make out a trodden path anymore, I took a break. The air had become cool.

Rested, I kept going. The waterfall must be somewhere to my right, it just had to be.

By the time I took my next break half an hour later, it was already pretty dark under the trees. Were those the eyes of animals reflecting back to me from the tangled brush? The fog was thickening.

I looked around, discouraged. My goal had been to hike up to the top of the mountain, to reclaim that feeling of freedom. I wanted to shout my frustration to the world, where no one would hear me. But now here I was, up to my ankles in mud.

Now, which direction had I come from? There was no way to tell. Nothing but leaves. Tree trunks. Thick brush. Everything looked the same in every direction.

The exercise was pointless.

My own tracks weren’t even visible. Now I thought of Kaden’s advice.

Less talking, more walking.

I let loose a scream, and it felt so good to release the pent-up energy, that I did it again.

It was all his fault!

I pulled my cell phone out of my pants pocket. Cursing myself for doing it, I scrolled through my contacts looking for Kaden’s number. If anyone knew how I could get out of here, he would. My lips pressed together, I held the phone to my ear and heard it ring.

The answering machine came on. I tried again, but he still didn’t pick up.

Terrific.

Good. Since Kaden wouldn’t be able to help me out of this mess, I opened the map app. But there was no connection to the Internet. Of course.

Frustrated, I stuffed the phone back in my pocket and kept going. At some point I would find my way out of here.

I started to hum. The noises around me were getting weirder. I hummed louder.

After a while, I couldn’t keep up the calm exterior. My pulse was racing, my breath fast and irregular. I was cold. I was covered in mud. And I was scared.

I was also on the verge of a nervous breakdown when my phone began to vibrate against my thigh. I pulled it out of my pocket so fast that I nearly dropped it.

“It’s about time!” I cried into the phone.

“What’s up?” asked Kaden.

“I’m lost,” I said much too fast. It felt like an eternity since I’d heard a human voice. “I was feeling shitty, I wanted to go home, and then … somehow I ended up at the mountain and wanted to take the same path that we always take, and now I don’t know where I am, everything looks the same, and I don’t know where my car is. It’s getting darker, and there are wild animals, Kaden, I don’t want them to think that I’m their dinner—”

“Allie,” he interrupted me. “Take a deep breath.”

“Sorry,” I murmured, and inhaled.

“Where did you go?” asked Kaden.

“First I followed the main trail,” I started again, this time slower. “And then I reached the fork where you always turn. The one that leads to our lookout platform.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. Did I just say “our lookout platform”? Up to now I’d only thought it, not said it. Thank goodness Kaden didn’t react.

“I needed about a year to figure out how to go off trail. We were usually in a group of three, and we marked our turns with paint.” His grim expression was palpable. “Actually, you deserve to spend a night outside.”

My legs wobbled. And I dropped to my knees. How could he say that! This was a matter of life and death! Asshole.

“I shouldn’t have called you. I’ll see if I can reach Spencer,” I blurted out.

On the other end of the line, I heard a door slam. “I’m already sitting in the car, Bubbles. Stay where you are.”

He hung up. I leaned against a tree trunk. I had to calm down.

Kaden took a while.

The sun had almost set by the time I heard a soft whistling. I turned to listen.

I heard the tune again. If that were a bird, then it must be familiar with contemporary rock. Because he was trilling a tune that was one of my absolute favorites, and whose text somehow had ended up tattooed on the underarm of my apartment mate. I stepped forward.

“Here I am!” I cried out toward the source of the tune. “Over here!”

Kaden emerged from between two trees and ducked under its thick branches. No, it wasn’t just my imagination. I fought off the urge to throw my arms around him.

“Thank God,” the words tumbled from my lips.

Kaden looked me up and down. Grinning, he untied the sweater from his waist and held it out to me. It was the one with the Deadpool mask that he’d lent me a few times before.

“Thanks,” I said, trembling.

“You dumbass,” Kaden said, shaking his head. He turned the brim of his baseball cap to the back, without taking his eyes off me.

I grumbled and buried my chin in the folds of the sweater. “Please just bring me home safe.”

His eyes danced with amusement. “You walked in circles, Allie. Just at least give me the chance to teach you something.”

“I did what?” I cried, stunned.

Now Kaden let out one of his deep, rough laughs. “You wanted to go to the overlook, but you didn’t go uphill; you just stayed on the same level the whole time. It’s not my fault that you’re lazy.”

I groaned in frustration. My sense of direction was bad, okay. But even I couldn’t be that clueless. Could I?