Page 44 of It Started at the Lake

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.

CHAPTER 20

Camille

He scowls at me. “Millie?”

“I’m so sorry!” I blurt, mortified I attempted to hurt Bennett. “Incredibly sorry. I got scared and just reacted. I didn’t think.” My hands hover over his body. “Did I hurt you with the lantern? Oh my heck, I’m so sorry and incredibly embarrassed. I can’t believe it was you!” Suddenly, I smack his arms off my shoulders. “Why didn’t you say anything when I screamed? And where is your flashlight?”

He pulls tiny headphones from his ears. Music—base—thumps in a fast beat from the pods. “I’m listening to music and didn’t hear you. And the moon is bright enough that I don't need a flashlight.”

“And you didn’t see me dart into the trees?” I stab in the direction where I hid.

“No. I was keeping an eye on the ground for exposed tree roots.”

I turn away from him, wrapping my arms around my torso. “Oh.” What else can I say? He scared the crap out of me but hadn’t meant to. My heart pounds so hard, my entire body reverberates with each thump. “I’ll grab my stuff and head out.” Picking up the lantern, I click it on. Relief floods through me when the light shines as brightly as before.

Either I suck at hitting, or this lantern is made of steel.

“I’m sorry I frightened you. Are you okay?” he asks.

Besides my pulse racing? “Yeah. I’m fine.” I take a step, leaving for the safety of my room.

“Wait—”

I glance at Bennett, who’s staring out across the lake. Is he purposely refusing to look my way? Can’t say I blame him. I smacked him with a hard object, then jumped on him. “Yeah?” This is his spot to be alone. I can give him his space back.

“You don’t have to leave.”

I’m torn. I’m not ready to leave, but being here with Bennett isn’t a good idea. He’s making it really hard to stick to my promise of staying away from guys. Especially him.

I’m undecided, not leaving, but not sitting down again when Bennett says, “Dancing was awful.” He runs a hand across the back of his neck. “The dating scene—” He blows out a breath. “How do you do it?”

How, as in ways to go about it, or how, as in it’s horrible and why do we put ourselves through it? “That’s why I don’t.”

He inhales like what I said is the missing piece to an equation he’s solving. “That’s it!” He turns, looking at me. The darkness conceals his features, but his voice is hopeful. “Millie?”

“Yeah?”

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