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“We’ve come this far,” she says, adding dismissively, “You go back if you want.”

Frustration makes me forget myself. “Do you have to make everything a competition?” I snap.

“Coming from you? That’s rich.”

Setting my jaw, I demand, “What does that even mean?”

“Nova, you are the competition.”

Oh, this girl is going to make my dentist so pissed. I can practically feel my molars grinding into dust.

“If I let myself like you,” she says, “I’ll forget that. So. You see our impasse.”

“I do not,” I hiss. “It doesn’t have to be like that, Tayla. We don’t have to fight over a girl. Kiara will pick who she’ll pick. Honestly, we both know who it will be.”

She scoffs and eyes me with something like venom. “Yeah, we do.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Forget it. If you’re going to play naive, there’s no point.”

On longer legs, her strides quicken until I’m forced into an awkward hop just to keep pace. Is she seriously implying that Kiara likes me more than her? Yeah, there’s no way.

“Would you just come to your damn senses and talk to me like an actual person, please?” I ask.

“I will not come to my damn senses.”

“Do you even hear yourself?” I’m about to open my mouth to insist she elaborate when muffled voices wind their way back to us. Tayla and I freeze.

“I’m telling you, I heard it,” a girl insists, sounding breathless.

“You hear something every day.” This second speaker is a boy with a deep timbre that doesn’t eclipse his mirth. “After all this time, you’re still scared of the fauna out here. Remember how you ran from that wild turkey?” His chuckle echoes throughout the forest.

“Shut up, Brian. That was literally forever ago. You know it’s not the wildlife I’m afraid of.”

“Yeah.” A long exhale. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m just…tired of this.”

The girl doesn’t reply right away, and when she does, she ignores the apology and doggedly continues. “It was a girl’s scream. We should find her. Before anything else does. It’s been ages since we’ve come across anyone. We need to.”

“Emily, it’s probably nothing. Some first-time hiker saw a snake or something. Even if you did hear someone, it was just the one scream, right? So they’re fine. They’re already on their way.”

“Why are you trying to dissuade me?”

“Did you ever stop to think that maybe I don’t like—”

Brian’s words dwindle into nothing as they come face-to-face with me and Tayla. “Hey,” he says slowly, blinking at us both like he’s not sure we’re real.

Emily sizes us up. “Did one of you scream about an hour ago?”

The fuck? Tayla and I exchange wary glances. We were way off. It’s only been an hour? Can’t be. It feels like it’s almost been a full day. We should be close to sunset. But why would they lie?

“Was it seriously only an hour ago?” Tayla asks.

“Yup,” says Emily. She smiles slyly. “We’ve gotten pretty good at telling the time.”

“You don’t have a phone or a watch?” Tayla presses.

“Oh yes,” Brian says. “We have the new iPhone.”

Emily smiles brightly. “The fifteen.”

“That’s…not the newest model,” says Tayla.

“Oh, that’s right.” Emily laughs.

Up close, neither Brian nor Emily look how I expected.

I’d imagined them as adults who thought it’d be a fun date to go on a couple’s hike and swiftly realized they weren’t cut out for it.

Cue the grumpiness and arguments. Emily still looks like she’s gearing up for one, but in a yappy terrier kind of way.

Her skin is pale white, almost chalky, making the shadows under her wide eyes look even darker.

I scan her up and down. Thin, overplucked eyebrows, jeans with an unfashionably low waist, and a silver metallic scarf threaded through the loops.

The scarf is dingy and wrinkled, the ends damp, like she just dunked it in a stream and wrung it out hard.

Belly button pierced with a pink cubic zirconia stud.

She’s petite, maybe just a couple inches over five feet, and looks like she’s our age.

Brian is a bit older, maybe a high school senior.

Brown skin, luxuriously thick hair with bangs that fall in his eyes.

His voice is hoarse and deep, and there’s no stubble on his face.

He wears a Vanderbilt University sweatshirt, collar and sleeves a bit frayed.

It’s lumpy, a size too big, giving him the impression of having borrowed his dad’s old college duds.

It hangs off him, looking like it hasn’t been washed in days.

He’s handsome but seems utterly unaware of it, which usually makes someone sexier to me, but not this time.

I rake my eyes over both of them. How long have they been out here?

I know campfires can shoot out sparks that singe clothing, but there’s no reason the arms of his sweatshirt should look as grayish and unwashed as they do.

“No,” I say, finding my voice first. I glance between Brian and Emily. “That wasn’t us, it was our friend. She…well, we don’t really know what happened.”

Mentioning the roots Evan thought they saw sounds…well, I wouldn’t believe me, either.

Brian looks discomfited, but Emily lets out a bark of laughter. “Sounds about right,” she says. “I’m sure she’ll run into someone.”

“Where are you coming from?” I ask.

“Oh, we were camping back there.” She juts her thumb over her shoulder. “It’s nice to meet you girls. We haven’t seen anyone in ages.” She grins at Brian. “I was starting to doubt we’d see any signs of life!”

He makes a noncommittal sound. “You should find your friend before it’s too late.”

Tayla arches a brow and readjusts the straps on her backpack. “You mean before it gets too dark?”

“Isn’t that what I said?” he says in a tight voice. “Em, c’mon, we should—”

She cuts him off. “We’ll help you look.”

The obvious thing to do is thank them and accept their offer, but Tayla hesitates.

“Where are your backpacks?” I ask, suddenly realizing what’s wrong with their appearance.

Emily sighs. “You know how treacherous it is in here. We lost ours yesterday in a fall.”

Being out here is scary enough, but not having any food or equipment is even worse. Yet other than Brian’s obvious discomfort, neither seems overly worried. “Shit. That sucks,” I say sympathetically.

“And you didn’t go back for your stuff?” Tayla sounds skeptical.

“We tried. It was too dangerous.”

“Em.” Brian’s voice is impatient. “Let them go.”

“Do you need any provisions?” I ask, hooking my thumbs under my backpack straps.

Then I remember that our friends aren’t too far away and could spare more than we can.

Maybe even loan a tent. But something makes me hesitate.

It’s nothing they’ve said or done, but…something about Emily’s story doesn’t ring true.

Tayla’s eyes flash to mine like she knows exactly what I am thinking.

“No, we’re good. We know our way around. Thanks, though,” he says quickly.

“Hey, wait a second.” Tayla gives them an apologetic smile. “I can’t believe we forgot to mention this, but there was some bear activity the way we came.”

I stiffen but say nothing.

“Thanks for the heads-up.” Brian tugs at his girlfriend until she budges. “I hope you find your friend.”

“Mm-hmm,” I say. “Safe travels.”

Emily smiles. “You, too.”

Brian catches me staring. “Good luck.” Biting his lip, he adds, “And be careful.”

“Same,” Tayla says. “Keep an eye out for that bear activity.”

Her ability to lie so glibly, so cheerfully, makes my stomach tighten. What game is she playing?

“Will do.” He looks like he wants to say something else, but his obvious desire to leave wins out, and the two of them disappear down a different path, this one even more unwelcoming than the one plagued by crows we trekked earlier.

I wait until I’m positive they’re out of earshot before rounding on Tayla. “What did you do that for? We haven’t seen a single bear. Freaky crows, check. Weirdo butterflies, check. Why didn’t you ask them if they’d seen those things?”

“Me? You were about to offer up our limited resources, and you almost sent them straight to the others.” Her glower rubs me the wrong way, like I’m the untrustworthy one.

My mouth falls open. I stare at her in disbelief. “So you decided to get them lost instead?”

“You heard Brian. They didn’t need our help.”

Her ability to justify her actions is truly something. “But—”

“Look, they creeped me out, okay?” When I don’t push back, a satisfied smile curls her lips. “If you felt so strongly about my little lie, you could have spoken up. Why didn’t you?”

Her question lands like a sledgehammer. “You just made me responsible for what happens to them!”

“No.” Tayla towers over me, a scowl marring her pretty face. “ I told you ,” she says, each word punching with emphasis. “No distractions. The only person you’re responsible for is Kiara.”

Responsible for Kiara. Her words knot in my belly, pulled tight enough to cramp. There’s no way she can know…right?

“Like I told you when we set out,” says Tayla, “you can go back if you want.”

As she strides off, it strikes me: if this is a competition to her, then it’s obvious that she wants to come out the winner for Kiara’s heart.

The only question is…do I?