THE SIGN READS:Closed After Dark.
It’s a good thing Hope and Levi didn’t make the trek for nothing. Daisy and Celi are missing too.
Only nine of us wasted our time.
“Alright, guys, so I know it says closed.” Josie steps in front of everyone, cloaked in black from head to toe, a hood drawn low over her head. “But, drumroll please.”
Dean taps a rapid drumroll on his thighs.
Josie smiles proudly. “We’re sneaking in.” She pulls the strings of her hood, tightening the material around her face.
Why am I not surprised?
The first tell-tale sign should’ve been when Josie snuck us into the fairground through the side gate instead of the main entrance.
Everything is shut down for the night. Only light comes from the pale moon above, casting long shadows over the dry, stacked bales of hay. The maze is dark and silent, its entrance swallowed by the night.
“What? No.” Hannah is the first to object. “Are you serious, Josie? We’re adults. It’s dark. It’s closed. We’re not doing this.”
She crosses her arms, straightening her posture, and shaking her head, slipping into her best “mama” stance.
I’m with her.
This is a terrible idea.
Josie swings the flashlight around in her hand. The light stops at Hannah.
“It’s not like we’re going to vandalize anything. We’re just having a little fun.” Josie zigzags the light over Hannah’s body.
“Fun until we’re arrested and charged.” Hannah picks up a crumpled flyer from the ground and tosses it in a nearby garbage can.
“And I’ve already spent the night in jail this month.” Hart stuffs his hands in his pockets, as if he’s afraid that if he takes them out, they’ll be all over me.
Now, that sounds like fun.
Josie rolls her eyes, pulling the strings of her hood. “Dramatic much. We’re not robbing a bank.”
“Sneaking into a closed maze does seem kinda sketchy.” Natalie tried to stay at the RV and finish her book, but Josie wasn’t hearing it.
“Oh, please. It’s just a hay maze. Worst case, we get a ‘please leave’. So worth it.”
“I’m in.” Harper steps beside my sister.
“Hell yes.” Dean wraps his arm around her and pulls her close. “That’s my girl.” He kisses her, and Bronx punches his shoulder. “Would you believe that before I found her she would never break a rule?”
Josie flashes the light at him. “Would you believe that before she never broke a rule, she broke all the rules?”
Josie and Harper were best friends before Harper’s rock star dad passed away, and she retreated into herself. Dean brought that spark back to her, just like Hart brought my spark back to me.
“I’m in, but I’m not going with those two.” Bronx steps across an invisible barrier between the “in” and “out” crowd. “They can’t keep their hands off each other.”
“We gotta get this bucket list done,” Dean grunts in a deep voice.
“We’ll split up. Half of us will go through the entrance. Half will sneak through the exit. The first group to finish the maze wins. Think of it like a midnight challenge.” Josie flashes the light at the entrance, then the exit twenty feet down.
“Not everyone has agreed.” Hannah fidgets with the sleeve of her jacket.
Josie looks at me. “Jade? Hart? You coming? It’s your guys’ bucket list.” She leans her head back and groans. “Why are we all so dramatic tonight? If we weren’t standing out here arguing, we’d already be halfway finished.”
