Two - Ladybug

It was a tall boy with dark hair and eyes a color that matched the trees surrounding us, his lips a healthy pink. His cheeks were flushed with a peach color and his eyes narrowed as he focused on the ladybug poised on my hand.

"That's a beauty," he said, a slight rasp to his voice. "Look at that red color on the dorsal area. Do you mind if I collect it?"

"What for?" I asked, scooting slightly away from him. I had no idea where he had appeared. It was strange. I was puzzled.

"Observation," he answered evenly. "It's the first Coccinellidae I've seen in this forest. Don't worry, I'm going to set it free once I'm done."

I stared at him as he reached into the bag slung over his shoulder and retrieved a tiny jar with holes poked into the top of it, screwing the top off and holding it out to me.

Hesitantly I moved my hand towards him, holding it over the jar until the little ladybug dropped into it, scuttling around confusedly as soon as it was trapped inside.

"Let me give it a bit of soil, make it feel like home," the boy mused, scooping up some dirt from the ground and carefully putting it in the jar. He screwed the top on after that, holding the jar up to his face to look at the bug.

I was completely baffled at this point, watching the boy rise to his full height before me, tucking the jar back into his bag. In one of his hands he held a brown journal and a folded piece of paper, and a pen was hooked onto the pocket of his coat. He wore black jeans and battered looking brown boots, along with a black jacket. He was definitely good looking, there was no doubt about that.

But there was something else about him—the way he held himself. His shoulders were back and relaxed, and he stood with an air of calm steadiness that was rare to see. I couldn't quite pinpoint exactly what it was, but it was there.

"I apologize if I startled you," he said, adjusting the strap of his bag and shifting his gaze back to mine.

"I didn't want the ladybug to fly away."

I slowly pushed myself to my feet, nodding. "It's alright."

He ran a hand through his hair, his lips turning up in a half smile.  "What is your name?" He asked.

I looked up at him from my stance at the foot of the tree, and even from here I could tell he was at least half a foot taller than me. He looked at me patiently.

"Luna," I answered.

"Interesting," he murmured. "Luna, meaning moon."

"Yes," I said. "That's right."

"I'm Eric," he said with a slight nod.

"Nice to meet you."

"What are you doing out here alone?" He asked. The question didn't sound odd or creepy in any way-it simply sounded curious.

For some reason, I decided right then, after only knowing his name for mere seconds, that I trusted him. Looking back on it, I had made the right decision.  One of the only right decisions.

"I came out here to clear my mind," I replied to him.

"I see," he said. "And did it work?"

"For a few minutes, yes," I said. "What are you doing out here alone?"

"I'm an environmentalist," he explained. "I'm studying the ecosystem and inhabitants of this forest, due to it being relatively untouched by human urbanization and expansion. I've been mapping the forest for the past few days, see." He unfolded the piece of paper in his hand and turned it towards me.

On the paper were lines and words scrawled in seemingly random places, with little rocks, trees, or flowers drawn here and there. A messy legend was penned in the bottom right corner, and the map only extended to about one third of the page, clearly unfinished.

"You do know you can get a map of the forest from City Hall in Madison," I said as Eric refolded the paper.

"Yes, I know," he said. "But I figured I wanted to get to know the place better by making my own map. Besides, the ones that City Hall gives out don't tell you much about anything that's off the path." 

"Oh. Well, that's interesting. It must be difficult to start your own map from scratch."

He half smiled again. "Cartography isn't so hard if you know how to do it right." He shifted his weight, tilting his head to the side, as if observing me. "So…What were you really running from?"

I crossed my arms over my chest. "I can't just run for the sake of running?"

"There's no such thing. Running has to do with moving from point A to point B. What was your point B?"

I sighed. "Well…today's my birthday, and no one in my family remembered. They're all too busy."

"Birthday," he said, raising an eyebrow. "And how old are you today, Luna?"

"Nineteen."

"Hmm," he said. "I've only got two years on you. Happy birthday."

"Thank you." I smiled slightly.

"And what," Eric said, letting out a sigh as he sat himself down on the forest floor, "exactly is your family so busy that they forgot your birthday?"

I sat down too. "My father…." I exhaled. "My father's the mayor of Madison, and he's running for reelection so everyone's busy with his campaign."

"Ah, so I'm in the company of the mayor's daughter," he said, leaning back and resting his weight on his palms. "I wouldn't have known. I only moved here about a week and a half ago."

"From where?"

"Seaside. I'm getting my degree in environmental science there. I'm going to be here for a while, though, doing some field studies."

"That sounds interesting," I said. "I go to college next year. I've taken a year off between graduation and university."

Eric nodded in understanding, a pleasant smile on his face. We had only just met, and here we were sitting on the forest floor, having a conversation.  

He could have been a fugitive, for all I knew, or a killer or a criminal.

He could have been lying about everything he said to me, but something about him immediately cancelled those options out. I couldn't quite understand what it was. From merely speaking to him for ten minutes, at most, I could tell he was an honest person.

This didn't occur to me because I am particularly good at reading people, or because I'm good at spotting liars, because I'm just as good at doing those things as the next person; but it occurred to me just from the way he held himself, and the way he talked.

Calm, steady, sure of himself.

I was instantly intrigued by him.

There was a placid silence between us.

Eric's eyes scanned the treetops, his head tilted back."So," I said, my voice causing him to look back at me. "How much of the forest have you mapped? I know it didn't look like a whole lot on the paper you showed me, but the map is clearly not to scale."

"Yes, you're right, it isn't to scale. I've kind of invented my own map scale as I've gone along, I suppose. But to answer your question, l estimated I've mapped only just under a fourth of the forest. This is actually the farthest I've ever ventured."

"It's the farthest I ever have, too."

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you lost?"

I looked at my hands in my lap. "Yes. I ran off the path and wasn't paying attention to how far I'd come."

"Well, it's your lucky day, then," Eric said, pushing himself to his feet and unfolding his map. "I've got the forest mapped from Madison to here. It won't take but twenty minutes to get back."

I stood too. "Thank you. I'm sorry for sidetracking you from your work."

"No worries. Because of you, I have a lovely Coccinellidae specimen to study." A smile graced his lips. 

"A Coccinellidae is a-?"

"Ladybug," he said, shaking his head slightly.

"Coccinellidae is the scientific name for the species. Sorry." He let out a light laugh, smoothing out his map and looking down at it. "Anyways. Madison is due southeast from here…right. This way." He pointed in the direction behind me and walked past me, careful to step around the small shrubs that adorned the forest floor.