"Why did I agree to this again?" Mia wheezed, struggling to make it up the hill leading toward the spot Drew pinned on the park map. I turned to face her, eyes scanning behind her to make sure Austin wasn't already here. I could still see the parking lot from this height, and just three cars were parked in the red sand.
"Because you said, and I quote, 'I will stalk that jerk to the end of the earth if it means taking him off his golden pedestal and ruining his life for the foreseeable future," I smiled, walking back down the hill a little to hand her my water bottle.
"Well, I guess I would've rather stalked him sitting in a car. I didn't realize he would pick a park that was only uphill in every direction just to cheat on his girlfriend," Mia grumbled, accepting the water with an appreciative smile.
I chuckled, "If you think about it, it's actually pretty smart. I highly doubt Brynn would ever randomly decide to hike these trails after school since it all but guarantees sweating and getting covered in sand," I pointed out.
"Yeah, I guess that's why he's never been caught yet. Smart douche," Mia begrudgingly agreed. "Thanks," she handed me the water bottle back, and we continued our trek up the hill.
I honestly had forgotten about this park and was sort of thankful to be exploring it again. Red Rock Canyon Open Space was where I started rock climbing as a kid, and nostalgia was hitting me hard. I remember coming here with my mom, exploring and climbing the small cliff sides with her at the bottom, ready to catch me and move the climbing mat to protect my fall.
"We should be almost there. The lake is right up around the corner," I thought out loud.
"Thank god," Mia exasperated.
"Do you think he will show up where Drew says he will?"
"Why do you ask?" Mia asked, out of breath.
"Drew hasn't been friends with Austin for a while now. What if he goes somewhere else now to do whatever he does," I trailed off.
"I guess we'll find out," Mia shrugged her shoulder. "At least I got my workout in for the rest of the month."
"The rest of the month?" I mused.
"Don't look at me like that. Not all of us are born to be athletic. Some of us are born to just be around athletic people, pretending we're one of them when really, we would just rather be sitting on a couch eating chips."
I chuckled, "We can do that later tonight. For now, let's keep moving and find a good hiding spot."
"I'm going to hold you to that," Mia pointed at me in a warning.
We passed the Open Air Pavilion and towards the Quarry, where Drew suggested we wait first. Hiking in pleasant silence, with nothing but the sounds of nature around us, we continued our trek. Arriving at the spot on the map, I surveyed the area to figure out where we could hide without being seen from the trail.
"If I were about to make out with a girl, where would I go," Mia tapped her chin in thought.
I shrugged my shoulders, "your guess is as good as mine."
"Let's go over there and maybe climb up that rock a little," Mia pointed to her left.
"It even has a shrub to hide behind," I noted.
"Exactly," Mia smiled.
A few minutes later, we were finally situated behind the shrub, laying on our stomachs on the blanket I had packed to protect our clothes from the red sand.
Mia was busy pushing around sand with a stick when I nudged her in the side with my elbow and whispered, "how are things with Paige going? Outside of what happened on Monday."
A blush I never thought I would see on Mia made its debut, "I'm completely smitten. I was really worried she was going to break up with me over what Austin did," Mia admitted.
"I'm sorry that happened to you guys. I should have done something rather than just sitting there like an idiot."
"Thanks, I just really hope Drew's plan works. I can't believe people just let him continue to get away with all the crap he does without any consequences," she muttered, knocking over her pile of sand just to begin the process of rebuilding it.
"I do too," I agreed.
"I mean, if we don't make him realize that how he acts, how he treats women, or hell, how he treats his friends is completely, horribly, wrong, then he's just going to graduate and go out into the world a tyrant. I can't stand the thought of that happening."
"I know. After what happened to you at lunch and the stunt he pulled at the competition, I'm really worried for the safety of any woman who comes across his path. I just wish I had more guts to stand up to him myself, rather than having to go through this extensive plan that could fall apart at any moment," I admitted.
"If it makes you feel better, I have never seen anyone stand up to him, so you're not alone there."
"Thanks," I smiled, giving her arm a gentle squeeze in affection.
A twig snapped off towards the left, and we ducked our heads down towards the ground. "Do you think that's him? Or a wild ram?" I whispered. The sounds of muffled voices confirmed that it wasn't a wild animal, at least.
Mia poked her head up slowly and peeked around the shrub before quickly ducking her head back onto the ground. "It's him!" she whispered shouted.
"Quick, get out your phone," I whispered back, my heart rate picking up speed at the thought of getting caught by him.
Mia pulled out her phone from her back pocket and opened up her camera app. Sharing a determined look, we slowly rose from our hiding spot and collectively peered through the shrub and toward our target only a few yards away.
"Holy shit," Mia said under her breath, turning to me in surprise.
"That's Sarah," I stated, completely dumbfounded.
How messed up is it that Austin would bring Sarah to his make-out point? She was Brynn's best friend. Drew's little sister. There was so much twisted betrayal my mind was spinning a hundred miles a second.
We watched as Austin led Sarah over to a rock formation conveniently blocked from view from the trail but not from us. In a flash, what was considered PG quickly turned rated R as they broke into a full-blown make-out session.
Mia's hand shook as she hit record, moving her phone to get a better angle on the shot.
When they came up for air after at least 3 disgusting minutes, their once muffled voices drifted over towards us with unfortunate clarity. Unfortunately for them, I should say, because what they said next was the proverbial nail in their social status coffin.
"When are you going to break up with her?" Sarah whined, pulling her body closer to his.
Austin rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Why do you keep bringing this up? You know my answer already."
"But I don't care if you want to please your mom. She'll like me more than she does Brynn. I can promise you that," she sighed.
"I'm sure that's true, but baby, listen to me. I'm going to break up with her after I graduate. My mom won't let me keep the credit card if I can't keep the family image squeaky clean. And that means looking like I can be in a committed relationship. I can't just break up with Brynn now, after putting up with her this long. My mom would kill me," he stated coldly.
"But we could be together. You could still be committed to someone. What difference would it make?" she asked.
"Brynn's mom is best friends with my mom. That's the only difference. Other than that, you know I would rather have you on my arm at parties. You know how I feel about you," Austin ran his hand down her back, ending with a squeeze to her left butt cheek.
Mia turned to me and fake gagged before turning her attention back to her camera.
"But I want to be able to show the school that you're mine," she whined again.
"I don't belong to anyone, honey," he smirked, pulling her into a kiss before she could say something else.
Mia crouched back down towards me and whispered in my ear, "I think that should do it."
I nodded my head and began to quietly pack up our belongings back into my bag. It was so hard not to barf with every disgusting noise coming from the cheaters over the boulder.
"I'm going to throw up," Mia shuttered.
I brought my finger to my lips to try and hush her. If she were any louder, they would have heard her, and there was no way I was going to get caught now. Not when we were so close to getting away without being noticed.
I looked around on the ground to ensure we weren't leaving anything behind and noticed a decent-sized rock slightly buried in the sand. I picked up the rock with a coy smile and double-checked my aim before chucking it over the brush. A small yet noticeable noise came from the trail a few seconds later, and the moaning stopped abruptly.
"What was that?" Sarah asked.
"I don't know. Who cares?" He sighed without worry.
"What if it's someone from school?" she questioned.
"And if it is?"
"Brynn will kill me if she finds out about us," Sarah spat.
Mia turned to me and wiggled her eyebrows, clearly hoping that Brynn would do just that.
With a deep, frustrated sigh, "fine... let's go to the other spot."
Their voices slowly disappeared into the distance, and Mia stood up and cracked her neck. "That was brilliant," she beamed, hopping down to the ground. "Not only did we get what we needed, but you also threw that rock like a genius mastermind."
"Thanks," I laughed, "I'm just thankful we didn't have to witness anything more than kissing and groping."
"Oh, I know, right? What they were getting ready to do would have been illegal for me to have on my phone," Mia grimaced.
"Well, make sure that you only send it to me, and then delete it. Just because we don't like her doesn't mean Sarah deserves to have that posted online."
"I will send it to you when I get service again. But yeah, no girl should have something like that posted without their permission," Mia stashed her phone into her back pocket.
"One more thing," I stopped Mia from heading back towards the car.
"Yeah?"
"We can't tell Drew who Austin was with today," I instructed.
Mia nodded her head, "Agreed. We don't tell Drew."
We shook hands, sealing the secret between us, "now let's go tarnish his family's shiny image," Mia gleamed.