I snap back to reality.
We head back to camp, the smell of campfire smoke and s’mores swirling on the night air, mixing with the wildflowers in the field and the scent of Sadie’s shampoo. In the darkness, she darts to her pack for a change of clothes before anyone else sees she’s come back wearing nothing but my shirt.
When she rejoins the group, wearing a fresh pair of pajamas that haven’t spent quality time with the bathroom tile, no one but me knows where we’ve been.
It didn’t start as a secret, but it sure feels like one now.
“S’more?” I say, handing her a perfectly charred marshmallow with a special square of melted dark chocolate I picked out just for her, the kind with raspberries I told her about on one of our first nights. I know she’ll love it.
She grins and takes it, stars and firelight dancing in her eyes.
I am so far in over my head.
VIDEOS > FAVORITES > VLOG FOOTAGE
In the glow of the campfire, two silhouettes sit in shadow, the beam of a flashlight illuminating the trees overhead and not much else.
SADIE: Emma, can you adjust the flashlight—there, okay, yes. Better.
The camera flips around and Sadie’s face, dim but visible, fills the screen.
SADIE: Hi, everyone. Today was pretty intense, but we made it. Well, most of us did—
ZOE [offscreen]: When you say it like that, it sounds like someonedied.
SADIE: No one died. But yeah, like I said, it was pretty intense.
EMMA [offscreen]: Can we record a message for Brittany?
SADIE: Oh, yeah, of course! Hang on…
The flashlight beam overwhelms the screen when Sadie flips the camera around to face it, but only for a split second before Emma trains it on herself. Parker leans in to catch some of the light, too.
EMMA: Brittany, we miss you so much already! It’s not the same without you!
PARKER: Rest up so you cankillit next season, okay? Our team needs you!
EMMA: You’ll probably still be the fastest person on court even after an ankle injury, honestly.
ZOE [offscreen]: Is that shampoo I smell, Sadie? Did you wash your hair? Is there anactual shower here?
The video abruptly cuts off.
DAY SIX
Wild Gate Campsite to Moonbow Falls at Alexandria Flat
Seasoned hikers will want to pay attention to the lunar phases when timing a visit to Moonbow Falls. A full moon is best for optimal moonbow visibility—the more light refracting from the mist of the falls, the stronger the phenomenon will be. For hikers visiting during a new moon, however, the stargazing at Alexandria Flat is second to none. Time your visit accordingly, but rest assured: you cannot go wrong with either option.
—Henry Herrington,Backpacking the Sierras: A Beginner’s Handbook(Fourth Edition)
20SADIE
I wake with a pounding headache, intensified by the bright morning light. I really wish I’d remembered to wear my sleep mask.
Thorn never made it to my tent last night. Matteo pulled him aside after s’mores, and I waited as long as I could without it being totally obvious that I was waitingfor him. But then everyone eventually split off for bed, and they were still out talking somewhere, so I headed to bed, too.
I thought for sure Thorn would make his way back to me at some point, especially after I explicitly told him he was welcome—and after the shower incident, which I still can’t get out of my head. I replayed it over and over again before falling asleep: the lizard, the terror, the slick floor, the shower curtain.
