Sadie wanted to stay at the dance longer than I did. I agreed, telling her I was gonna go for a drive and I’d pick her up in about an hour to drive home. So now I drove along, subconsciously driving to Angela’s house. I didn’t realize where I was going until I was there, and I pulled to a stop outside of her house, staring into the dimly lit house and somehow feeling that Angela wasn’t there. Not that I would have gone in even if she had been. I sighed and climbed out of the car, pulling my door shut behind me and tucking my keys into my jeans’ pocket. I stared at the house for a moment longer before turning and walking straight into her forest of a front yard. I walked until I saw the outline of what I was heading for, and then I ran.
I heard footsteps behind me just as my tears came to a stop. I wiped them away quickly but didn’t sit up. I figured it was either an animal- if it was a bear, it would be better that I lay quietly rather than get up and freak it out- or a tourist trying out the invisible trails. But then I heard the voice. And my heart stopped. “Angela?” It was Tyler’s voice, and it sounded beyond surprised. I didn’t know what to say. Why was he here? “Um. Yea.” And then he hoisted himself into the tree, and I turned my head to look at him, still not sitting up. His eyes caught me off guard. They were so beautiful, so blue, his black hair, tousled by the trees, brushing along his eyelashes. But more significant than the beauty of them was the emotion in them. Surprise, pain, guilt, and one more emotion that, before this night, would have excited me and set my heart speeding, but now seemed like so much of a lie that I couldn’t find pleasure in it. “Why are you here?” I asked.
She looked into my eyes and I saw more pain than I had ever seen in someone’s eyes. More than my mom when my dad had hinted that they should split. More than my reflection in the back window of my grandma’s car as I had watched myself drive farther and farther away from my parents. More than my sister as she watched the clock, minutes before midnight, waiting, waiting, for my parents to call before her birthday officially ended. She was still in her dress, though it didn’t seem as vibrant of a red under only the light of the stars, and her hair was sprayed wildly underneath her head. “Why are you here?” she asked. I swallowed, “Oh, um. I was...driving...and-uh- this...is just kind of where I ended up.” I saw a flash of something unrecognizable in Angela’s eyes before she quickly composed herself, like she always did, and said, “You ended up in the middle of the forest? I highly doubt that. Even four-wheel-drive can’t get through these trees.” I couldn’t help but smile at that. “Well, no. I ended up in front of your house. But, um...I walked here.” She narrowed her eyes, “Why?” I shrugged, “I just went where my feet took me.” Angela pursed her lips and I wanted to lean forward and kiss them. “Where’s your girlfriend?” she asked me. I swallowed, “She’s not my girlfriend. She’s just a friend.” Angela nodded, “Oh. A friend that you kiss.” I sighed and closed my eyes, “She kissed me. She wanted to be...more. Than friends. But, um, I told her...” I shook my head, “Anyway. So, what about your boyfriend? That Sean guy?” Angela stared at me for a second and then looked back up at the sky as she said, “He went home.” I rose an eyebrow. I had been hoping she would tell me he was just a friend, too. “And he’s not my boyfriend. He’s...” she hesitated, biting her lip and taking in a quick breath before saying, “my sister’s.” I rose an eyebrow, surprised, and said, “Oh.” I looked around, though I knew what I was looking for wouldn’t suddenly be in the forest, “Is your sister home?” Angela turned and looked at me. Her expression caught me off guard. She shook her head and looked back up at the stars. I furrowed my eyebrows, “Is something wrong?” Angela closed her eyes and sighed quietly, “She’s dead.” I blinked. What? “Who’s dead?” Angela took in another breath, but this time it was short and shaky, “My sister.”
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