Nightfall ✓

Chapter 5

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At 5:00 (exact!) I stood on my porch with my backpack slung over my shoulder — which contained my ham sandwiches and lemonade — and waited for Liam to come. Our original plan was to meet at 4:00, but that was before the Spider Prank.

I had asked him to meet me outside my house because I had no idea where he lived (and he had said we'd know each other in a week. The only things I knew about him were that (a) his last name was Samuels and (b) he had a crush on Abigail and (c) he hated Luke and (d) he lost his temper easily, which caused his ears to turn red.)

Zack, Ash, and Liam came about five minutes later. Liam had a tiny bruise on his jaw where Luke had punched him.

Ashley and I had reached that point in our friendship where we could hug each other whenever we wanted.

"Hi, Haze," Ash said and hugged me. I liked hugging her. She always smelled of some expensive perfume.

We started walking towards wherever Liam was taking us. I walked with him, while Ash and Zack walked behind us.

"You didn't tell me that Ashley said yes," I mumbled so she couldn't hear.

He smiled. "Yeah, but when I told her today morning that I was going hiking with you and Zack, she wanted to come, too. She's like that. You invite her, she won't come, you tell her you're going without her, she'll want to come. She can't stand being left out."

We crossed the highway, then passed a few houses. We were nearing the forest now. It was dense, and it was definitely going to be pitch black in the middle of the forest, even in broad daylight.

When we reached the starting of the trail, Zack said, "I'm hungry."

"Let's walk a little first," Liam suggested. "We can stop somewhere and eat."

He continued walking, but Zack stopped, so Ashley stopped, so I stopped. Zack took out a camera from his backpack  — a big one, with zoom lens and all. He caught me looking and smiled. "I like photography." He put the strap around his neck.

"You guys coming?" Liam called from some distance. I hurried to catch up with him. He sighed when he saw Zack. "He will stop us a million times to take a million photographs. We'll have to keep an eye on him, otherwise, he'll run into the forest after a pretty bird to get a shot and we'll never hear from him again."

"Okay."

We walked silently for some time. I looked at Liam and saw the bruise on his jaw. "Does it hurt? The bruise?"

"Obviously it does. Today was the worst day ever. I mean, I'd thought today would be a pretty good day. We would have fun scaring Jessica, I would tell Abigail some silly joke and we'd laugh together, and then the hiking. Everything messed up. And I thought I'd be in a good mood. But I'm pissed, and this goddamn bruise keeps on hurting."

"Yeah, I know. What a strange world we live in...said Alice to the queen of Hearts."

He looked at me for a moment, then at the trail again. "You are an interesting person."

"And you're a crazy person."

He laughed. "A lot of people say that." Then, a little seriously: "Even Abigail used to say that." Then he shut his mouth like he'd said a little too much.

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He was gazing at a tree. He swallowed and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"It's not just a crush, is it? You really love her."

He didn't answer, and I didn't push him to. We just walked quietly for some time. Then he sighed. "We dated last year, when I was a junior. I'd never met a girl like her. She's amazing. She's the kind of girl every guy wants. And I fell in love with her. I thought she loved me, too. But a month after we started dating, she broke up with me. She said she really liked me, but she just couldn't love me back the way I did, so it was best to end it. So I let her go."