Wasting no time, I sweep the area with sharp eyes, my senses heightened, searching for any threat.
Passing Marley the knife, I throw on my jeans first, then my socks and boots, not even bothering to lace them up. The clapping grows louder; whoever it is, they are getting closer. I just cannot pinpoint the direction it is coming from. At the same time, Marley sticks the knife between her lips and hastily puts on her socks and shoes, visibly frightened.
Plucking the knife from her mouth, I hang onto it at my side, and with my other hand, I push her behind me.
“Who’s there? You can come out now!” I shout, anger laced in my tone.
The clapping continues, and it’s all I can hear now besides the blood rushing through my ears. There’s a slight hill northeast of us, and I see the flash of movement.
A figure that appears to be a man pops out from behind a tree with a devilish smirk on his face, still clapping but slowing it down as he lazily lets his wrists flop open and closed.
Immediately, I take in every detail of him, from head to toe, checking for any type of weapon he could be carrying. He seems to be over six feet tall and is wearing black jeans, a black loose-looking sweater, and black boots that aren’t meant for hiking. Both sides of his head are shaved, with longer, light blond hair on top, swooped to the side, with a few strands hanging over hiseyes. He has small gauges in his ears, a hoop ring in the middle of his bottom lip, and a cigarette between his fingers with the red glow brightening as he brings it to his mouth and takes a deep drag from it.
Removing the cigarette, a deliberate, unexpected whistle springs from his lips as he saunters over to us, taking another drag of his cigarette. I observe that he is undeniably younger than us, not just his looks, but his demeanor that radiates off of him like ‘I don’t give a fuck’.
“I sure as shit wasn’t expecting that kind of performance.” He eyes Marley hungrily, winking at her.
At some point, she had moved from behind me to beside me, scowling at the guy. Looking dumbfounded at the interference, I’m at a loss for words, but not Marley.
“Well, we sure as shit weren’t expecting an audience, but lo and behold, here you are,” she snaps at him, holding her chin up.
He holds out his hands in a gesture as if to stop her from getting the wrong impression of him. “Whoa, sweetheart, no disrespect. There just isn’t anything to do out here, especially with no service, and it’s not like you were quiet,” he says, raising his eyebrows as if daring her to contradict him.
Marley turns red and bites her lip, dipping her head away. Broadening my chest, I clench my jaw. “Look, man, we’ll just be heading back to our campsite. Enjoy the rest of your stay,” I state, waving him off.
Snaking my hand around Marley’s elbow, I guide her behind me, steering her back the way we came.
“Wait, hold on, guys; we just met and evidently got off on the wrong foot.” He chuckles. “I’m AJ, and I’m with a few friends from college for winter break. I’m sorry if I came off as offensive. I don’t really know what you say or do after stumbling upon this kind of situation,” he admits, shrugging at us.
He walks over so that he’s only a couple of feet in front of us and holds out his hand to me, wanting me to shake it, as though he’s reintroducing himself to us. Hesitating, I clutch it tightly, bringing him into my personal space. “I’m Ryan, and this is my girlfriend, Marley,” I introduce us with a somewhat threatening tone.
At least the guy can pick up on social cues; He gives Marley a friendly wave, and she gives him a small, confused wave back.
AJ uses his thumb to point behind him over his shoulder. “We are grilling some hamburgers if you guys want to come get a bite to eat,” he kindly offers.
“How many people are with you?” asks Marley inquisitively.
“Oh, yeah, there are four of us, me, my girlfriend Georgia, my best friend Jared, and his girlfriend Cora,” he says nonchalantly.
Marley’s shoulders loosen, the tension in her breath finally releases, and I find myself letting mine go, too.
Relief fills me. I was thinking that we had stumbled upon a lone wolf camper about to give us a hard time.
“Well, come on, there’s plenty of food, and what else is there to do with the sun already down?” AJ signals for us to follow him, doing a quick turn as he leads the way.
Marley looks over at me and coolly gestures,Why not? Indicating with my hand that she could go first, I follow.
What could be the harm in eating some burgers with other neighborly campers?
CHAPTER
FIVE
We follow AJ, who leads us down a newer path, but I can still make out the Blackwater River alongside us. He and his friends are just a little north of where our campsite is, about half a mile away. Calling our setup a campsite is generous, considering it’s only our Ford truck with a Sportz tent in the truck bed and a full-size blow-up mattress in it.
Ryan and AJ are just making small talk about fishing, the weather this upcoming week, and their knowledge of the park.
I zone out, feeling tremendously bored with the conversation while I try to keep up behind them. Instead, I decide to examine AJ’s mannerisms. He comes off as ordinary and good-natured, but something seems off, like he’s overly friendly. Skepticism of people’s intentions has just been ingrained in me, likely due to being cheated on by my first boyfriend in high school.
