Chapter 4 – Chap 4

Spring in the midwestern United States is hit or miss. The days are either extremely sunny and warm or unbelievably rainy or cold for days on end. Granted, that’s the case in a large part of America. The temperatures of the midwest are what get to me. You’ll walk outside to a thirty-four degree morning and get out of school when it’s seventy-four degrees. By the time you’re going to bed that night it’ll be back down to forty-nine. This pattern extends beyond the individual days as well.

In just a week you can go from wearing shorts and a t-shirt one day and the next you’re bundled up in a coat and thermal underwear. Then, as always seems to happen, you’re right back in the t-shirt but you’re wearing jeans because you’re not quite brave enough to risk shorts again. I was always avid about checking the forecast but it was never really reliable. All these years later and the weatherman is still hardly able to accurately predict if it will rain or not.

Needless to say, the Friday night that we all met at Kas’ house I dressed accordingly in jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket. I dug out my old Pearl Jam shirt to wear in a vain attempt to fit in with Josh and his friends. It was a subconscious decision that I really only realize now looking back. Regardless of my efforts it didn’t work. None of them said a word about it.

Luckily, my outfit was good enough to keep me warm enough, so long as the weather permitted and stayed steady. Unluckily, that wasn’t the case. There was, of course, a breeze that night that kept me shivering in the driveway with my arms crossed while goosebumps rose along my limbs.

“What the hell is taking him so long?” Drevon blew hot breath into his closed hands.

“Eric just got railroaded, calm down,” Kas reassured him having received a text from Eric just minutes prior. Josh looked over to me. I said nothing which prompted him to smirk, clearly finding my discomfort amusing.

“I get that,” Drevon said, “But why are we outside when it’s 35 degrees?”

Kas let out a sigh. “My mom doesn’t want all of us inside of the house. You know how she gets.” I didn’t know a thing about Kas’ relationship with her mother, but that seemed good enough to stop Eric’s complaining.

After about three more minutes of shivering, Eric’s dirty Envoy rounded the corner and pulled into the driveway. Being the only one of the group that could drive, Eric would act as their chauffeur.

“C’mon guys,” he rolled down the driver side window, “Kas, you’re riding shotgun!” The heavy girl giggled as she ran up to the front passenger side door. Drevon and Josh let out a groan as she got into the car, leaving me to suspect that this favoritism was a common occurrence.

The three of us that remained filed into the back seats. Josh, I assume intentionally, slid into the unfavorable middle seat, leaving me behind Kas. I was thankful for Josh putting distance between Drevon and myself. Afterall, Drevon was the one I disliked the most in the group. His disposition towards me was hostile right out of the gate. He was quietly brooding as he looked out the window and stared at the landscape rolling by outside. What he saw in the darkness, I don’t know.

What I do know is that, while the backseat sat in silence, the duo in the front seat was the exact opposite.

Eric and Kas spoke loudly in the front about… something. Honestly, I don’t really remember what they talked about. Yet I do remember rolling my eyes at every “witty” or “sarcastic” remark Eric made that would be followed by Kas laughing like it was the funniest thing she had ever heard in her life. It was one of the most pathetic and uncomfortable attempts at flirting that I’d ever seen and still ranks high on that list to this day. However, to the boy’s credit, it did seem to be working for him.

It didn’t take long for me to copy what Drevon was doing and look out my own window. As the dark world soared away, I took notice of what I was seeing. The buildings were becoming fewer and farther between, slowly being completely replaced by the wildlife land untouched by man. I found it hypnotic to see what lay in the darkness. It was almost comforting being able to observe the landscape in its purest form. I badly wanted to be out between the trees and see what awaited us.

A sentiment that I no longer possess.

But the reality of what it was that we were really doing finally hit once I felt the car stop on a gravel parking area. I had been so zoned out on the way that I hadn’t even realized that we had arrived at our destination. Now that we were here I was hesitant to even unbuckle my own seatbelt. While the others around me whooped and laughed, racing out of the car, I remained seated.

This was wrong. The very reason that we were here was wrong.

But then, Josh tapped me on the shoulder, nudging me to go on. His smile was welcoming and pulled me to continue. So I did, regardless or not of how much it went against my value structure. My feet sunk slightly into the gravel as the car door creaked closed behind me. I took a moment to look around us. The “parking lot” was small with no real parking spots, only a long, continuous cement curb to pull your vehicle up to. Walking a few yards in either direction led to the few trails that were located in the park. Though the park was technically closed for the night, there was, unfortunately, no gate or barricade to keep people like us out.

Ultimately, it was the direction of trail number two that we headed in.