Page 78 of Faking Forever 1
“She’ll be fine. I drew a circle that’s closer for her to find her way back.” she shrugs.
“Come again?”
A circle? What is she on about now?
“I saw that Paisley drew a circle to mark the spot she was at so she could find her way back. It was in a stupid place, so I scribbled it out and drew her a new one closer to the site.”
Her eyes twinkle as she twists side to side, innocently smiling at me.
“Darcy she’s gonna get lost now, what’s your problem?!” I cover my face, taking the deepest breath that I can inhale.
I’m starting to unfortunately learn why Paisley’s hatred for Darcy is so strong.
“I was trying to help! She knows the woods, so I thought it would make it easier!” She battled my aggression.
“Get out of my way—now.”
I lightly shove her to the side, unhooking my flashlight from my bag to turn it on. Now, I have to consider the worst possible outcome. The bullshit out here would tear her to shreds. Bears, hunters—you name it. Nothing that she’d ever be able to 183
FAKING FOREVER
compete with on her own. Today would not be the day she’d get introduced to those dangers either.
The deeper I got into the woods, the daylight faded into night, more and more, and even calling her name was useless.
I’d been yelling for the entire walk and hadn’t gotten a scream, noise, or even a possible phone call. Internally, I was having a full-blown panic attack—turning my insides into the barrel of a washing machine. All of the things that could go wrong, I was trying to avoid checking off my mental list of unhinged crises.
The connection was terribly bad. Not one place in my vicinity could get a single bar, so I know that wherever Paisley is, she has no service or worse—no power. Meaning she couldn’t even find me if she were trying. It’s going to be pitch dark out soon, and only her flashlight can save her from that.
I know she’s shaking in her little boots, thinking about how dark it is.
I could feel a vibration, then a glow of light beaming from my phone in my pocket, causing me to fumble with my flashlight, trying to retrieve it from my pocket. Once I do, I don’t even think to check the number, just to answer, praying it’s who I want it to be.
“Paisley?!”
“Josh—I need—the dirt—I’m stuck—”
The line continues to break up, and the sound of static replaces her voice, ringing my ears. It was her voice, I’m more than sure.
“Paisley!’ I yell into the phone, inevitably losing connection completely.
Great. Fucking fantastic.
184
ROUGH TERRAIN
Suddenly, I lose my footing, tripping and flying into a nearby tree, bum-rushing it with my shoulder.
“What the hell?” I grunt, shaking my leg out as I look back to find what it was that almost took me out.
It was a bright purple flashlight with Lisa Frank stickers all over it—Paisley’s flashlight. It could only mean she wasn’t that far, hopefully.
I pick up the pace, calling out for her name louder than the previous times, echoing through the silence of the woods.
Only the sound of the leaves crunching under my boots answered me. The branches of towering trees reached out at me like skeletal fingers, casting long shadows that seemed to dance and taunt me as I looked around for her. Panic continued to threaten to consume me, but the desperation to find still overpowered it.
Each thought is more terrifying than the other. What if she was seriously hurt or stumbled across something and got caught? She could have even been taken by whatever is in this unknown darkness. Every rock, every shadow, I made sure to look at as if it were holding some unknown information on her whereabouts. It was going on about nine o’clock now and getting a bittooquiet.
