Chapter 2: Bonfire Night

[Nathaniel]

I took the photo down and looked at it in detail. 

It was a long shot photo, taken from the side, mainly silhouettes due to the low light. Definitely from the bonfire night. A semi-circle of campers, cheering in front of two people standing on a log. Clara and me. 

The photo looked normal at first glance, but I knew exactly what happened that day. And it was obvious if someone were to look closely enough. 

Clara was looking at the crowd. But not me. My head was slightly tilted up, attention definitely not on the campers right in front of me, but somewhere further behind. 

And the photo captured clearly where I was looking. 

Another silhouette figure, standing away from the crowd, nearer to the bonfire. 

My fingers tighten on the photo, making crumpled edges at the sides.

‘What is this all about? Did someone know?’

I opened my locker door and was about to toss the photo inside when I noticed something on the back. 

I flipped it over. There was writing. Small, faint and easy to miss. I held it closer to make it out.

‘I know who you are looking at.’

Cold spread through me. I almost dropped the photo.

My head snapped up, turning left and right. 

The school hallway was still its normal hustle and bustle. 

Random groups of students were staring and observing me. Whispering amongst themselves.

It has to be about the announcement earlier.

Not this. I pushed it down with the announcement. It can’t be this. 

No one knows…

But… 

Someone does. 

Someone had been watching, took this photo, printed it and pinned it to my locker door. 

They saw it. 

They know.

They know exactly who I was looking at.

***

- 3 weeks ago -

Bonfire nights at summer camps are usually a mess of campers on sugar high, roughhousing, forming a big circle around the bonfire, and dancing. 

I sat on a log near the bonfire. Clara sat beside me with her own plate of food, laughing at some funny campers. 

I turned to look at her. Her laugh was so melodious, and she was laughing so brightly. 

Like that someone in my distant memory. 

I shoved the thought away before it could pull me in.

Putting on a smile, I poked a roast potato from my plate and placed it in front of Clara. 

It surprised her. But she quickly opened her mouth and took the potato.

It also made her bolder. She shifted herself closer to me, our knees touching. Then, her head leaned on my shoulder, and her arms hooked around my elbows. 

“That’s a nice move, Nate.”

I tensed up a little, but quickly forced myself to relax and let her do what she wanted. 

“I want the grilled meat next.”

She pointed at my plate. I nodded and started poking the meat. 

“OH MY GOD! Are you two together?!!” Someone shrieked.

A pause button seemed to be pressed as the whole camp turned towards the voice. It was Payton Synfield, Clara’s best friend. 

The whole camp followed her gaze, directed towards Clara and I on the log. Her head was still on my shoulder. And me, holding a piece of grilled meat, halfway towards her. 

“Oops.” There was a tinge of excitement from being outed in Clara’s voice. “Seems like the cat is out of the bag!”

I sat on the log, shocked and uncomfortable with all the attention. On the other end, ever confident Clara beamed proudly. She interlaced her fingers with mine and stood up from where we were sitting, pulling me up together. 

“As of this evening, we are!” She announced and raised our interlaced fingers high up into the air.

Campers started crowding us, and the whole camp cheered loudly. 

I tried my very best to put a smile on my face, looking happy in front of everyone. 

Scanning the cheering crowd, my eyes caught something. 

Someone. 

A figure standing beyond the crowd, nearer to the bonfire, where a few other campers were lingering. It was a glimpse from the bonfire light dancing across his face. Our eyes met.

I almost fell off the log I was standing on as I felt an electric current course through my body. 

That short second of light was enough.

A face that I will never forget. A face that I dream about every once in a while, in the darkest nights.

And that face was painted in disbelief, staring at Clara and I. 

“Kiss!” Someone in the crowd instigated.

The next moment, the whole camp was chanting.

My attention snapped back to the crowd in front of me.

Oh god, this is getting out of hand. 

“Clara, it’s a little too early for this…” I muttered to her. 

“Guys!” Clara calmed the crowd down with her loud cheerleader voice. “We just got together! Still holding hands only!”

“Boo!” Someone jeered. 

“BUT! I have a surprise for my new boyfriend!” 

The next moment, she turned and planted a kiss on my cheek. 

The crowd hollered. 

I was paralysed. 

And when I finally got back to my senses and turned my attention back to the figure near the bonfire, he was gone. 

***

The sight and sound of the classroom slowly came into focus as I felt a light nudge on my left. 

“Nate!” Jasper Harvey, my best buddy, hissed. “You look like you are miles away from here!”

He pointed at my notebook. I looked down, horrified to see circles all over the page. 

“Choose a better class to daydream, mate!”

I nodded and thanked him, adjusting myself in my seat.

Right. 

The photo on my locker. 

It didn’t feel random. 

Someone saw and knew something. 

But how could they?

Glancing up at Mr Hicks to ensure his attention was not on me, I quickly fished out my phone and hid it under the desk.

Keeping one eye on Mr Hicks, I unlocked my phone and pulled out the photos from the bonfire. 

I scrolled through them. Looking at every photo in detail. 

One after another. Different angles. Different moments. My smile was a little awkward in some photos, but nothing out of the ordinary. 

None of them was the photo pinned on my locker door. 

My fingers stopped scrolling.

One photo. 

My chest tightened.

I took the phone closer to my face, trying to zoom in on the photo. 

My heart sank, and my stomach clenched. 

This angle. 

It’s similar to that printed photo.

The difference in tilt angle of Clara's and my head was obvious in this close-up photo.

Could anyone else have noticed? 

“Nathaniel Cladwell!”