I looked over to the edge of the water and saw Sabine in a canoe. The moon shone just enough that I could see the toothy grin on her face. She raised one arm and waved me over as she steadied the boat with the other. I panned the clearing one last time for signs of any lurkers before I dashed through the last stretch of shadows. The long, oversized wooden vessel made Sabine look much smaller. It was one of the counselors’ canoes, so it had space between the rows of seats for life jackets, bags,or whatever else they might need to transport across the lake. Tonight, there was only an extra life vest and her backpack.
“A moonlit paddle?” I whispered. “But won’t we be seen?”
“We’re heading that way,” Sabine whispered back, tipping her head toward the town end of the lake. “Into the swamp that leads through the dark forest.”
I wrinkled my nose at the word “swamp,” my mind conjuring images of old monster movies likeCreature from the Black Lagoon.
Sabine grinned. “Just trust me, okay? It’s not what you think.”
I relented, deciding she knew this place better than I did. I took the other paddle, and we stuck to the shadowed overhang of the trees until we were far from camp. The lake curved and narrowed, the edges undulating until we were paddling through tall reeds and around small islands that seemed to sprout up in the shallows.
The foliage grew spookier and more magical as we passed through a heavy shroud of mist: twisting, bare branches, spiky, black plants, dripping moss, and elaborate spiderwebs that stretched between them. It was something straight out of a horror film, but all I could think was how beautiful it was. This otherworldly, secret place—haunted or no—made my magic buzz. The forest seemed to speak to me as if welcoming me home. It was like my body knew this place, even if my mind didn’t.
“The haunted woods call to the paranormal,” Sabine whispered, and I jolted, so entranced with my surroundings that her voice took me by surprise.
“I feel it,” I whispered back. “I feel it tugging on me, wrapping me up like a warm blanket, secreting me away into the shadows.”
“It’s promising you that you will be safe here,” Sabine explained, her voice rising from a whisper as we moved fartherinto the shroud of mist. “It’s why Maple Hollow was founded around these haunted woods. It is a beacon to the paranormal, our very own safe haven, free from persecution.”
“It’s amazing.”
“If you can feel it,” she said a little gentler, “it means you belong here with us.”
I wasn’t an emotional person and had a hard shell of an exterior, but something about that statement made a tight knot lodge in my throat. Clearing the emotions away, I swallowed it back and simply nodded, afraid my voice might betray me.
We navigated through the swamp, the passage narrow, until we came upon the dangling branches of a weeping willow.
“Here,” Sabine said, pulling them back like a curtain.
Fireflies danced in the air all around us as Sabine rested her oar inside the canoe, and we finally came to a halt. My gaze tracked the insects lighting up our secret spot, hidden from the world outside.
My eyes suddenly welled with a surprise burst of emotion.
“You okay?” Sabine asked.
“You know, I always wanted to be Ariel, and this is like a real moment fromTheLittle Mermaidright now,” I said, my voice shaking.
“You are so adorable,” she said, taking my wrist and tugging me onto the seat beside her.
The boat wobbled as I moved. “I’m not adorable. I’m cool and tough.” I sniffed stubbornly.
“Those things too,” she said with a grin, smoothing a hand up my arm. “Here.”
She twisted and pulled out two blankets from her backpack, laying them in the bottom of the boat.
“Come watch the fireflies with me.” She tugged my wrist for me to lie down beside her, and damn if that wasn’t the most romantic request of my entire life.
Was this what it was like to be with women?
Boy requests usually just involved their favorite part of their anatomy. Brayden never said, “Come watch the fireflies with me.” I realized I hadn’t thought about him in weeks. I also knew that Sabine would be different. Whatever happened between us, I knew I’d be thinking about her every single day for a long, long time.
I molded into Sabine’s side, and she wrapped her arm around my shoulders as if I were still too far away. We lay in silence for a long moment, just watching the yellow-green lights float above our heads. It was so calm and soothing, something I’d never felt in the city. Not that there weren’t moments of peace to be had in the concrete jungle, like hideaways on rooftops that overlooked the glittering lights. But it was like a new life was clicking into place as Sabine and I were gently rocked by water lapping against the boat.
“I don’t know what this place is doing to me,” I finally said with a chuckle. “I have never been the emotional type.”
“You can be anything you want to be here, with me.” She rested her head on the top of mine. “You can be all the things.”
My eyes started to well up all over again. What the hell was happening? Was I getting my period?
