Chapter 16

The night is chilly and my light denim jacket is not cutting it. I am also not wearing the right shoes to walk in mud. The constant drizzle of autumn is falling upon us and my white Chucks are hating me for it.

"Why are we walking so far out?" I ask as I move a branch out of my face. I hold it back until Nate has passed by as well. We have been walking through what is known by the public as Lover's Land, an open grassy field that is surrounded by forest which can easily hide the canoodling bodies that inhabit it on Friday nights. I've never considered it a creepy place until tonight.

The moon is only a sliver in the sky, casting a shadow over the black painted scenery that is soon going to launch a homemade matchstick rocket. My stomach is in knots from the what-ifs of endless scenarios. I arrived to Nate's extra early to drive him here and watched carefully as they assembled it. Nothing seemed to be ammiss. I know what to look for.

"You don't want to start a forest fire, do you?"