Northern Lights

2. Cielo

Gaping at the truck as it crested the next hill before disappearing from sight, I finally managed an indignant huff. It wasn’t quite the rebuttal I would have hoped for, but it was the best I could drum up at the moment.

“He’s kidding, right?” I asked myself.

Since I’d been forced to hitchhike, I had been expecting a barely literate local to drive by and give me a lift. My suspicions had seemed all but confirmed when I’d first heard, then seen the rusty pickup come into view. What I hadn’t expected had been the incredibly gorgeous looking man behind the wheel, ogling me like a sideshow act.

It was only by the grace of the truck’s interior overhead light that I had seen the man’s hair had been simply a deep brown, rather than black. It was the pale blue eyes, furrowed in confusion, which had caught my initial attention. They looked as if they were peering into my thoughts, and I thought they seemed to be looking for something, though what, I didn’t know.

It might have been simple to tell myself I was allowing my artistic soul to make my decisions for me. That was, until I saw the shape of the man under his light jacket. I had seen the general bulk of him, but found my thoughts stuttering when the dome light in the cab illuminated the interior properly. My ride turned out to have the sort of body gym bunnies strived for but would never find.

I had barely been paying attention to the conversation as I’d sat less than a foot from Dominic. The man had smelled like the autumn air, with the slight zing of what I thought was apple. I had felt shorter than usual beside him, and I was amazed I’d managed to get through the conversation. Dominic’s voice, despite dripping with doubt and edged with sarcasm, had been deep and soothing. The daze I had felt locked into had fallen away the moment he had mentioned bears, however.

“Why are all the hot ones assholes?” I asked.

Well, I for one wasn’t planning on getting eaten or mauled by any bears. I wasn’t totally sure if bears ate people, but I was going to be a little more cautious, just to be sure. I tapped the rucksack flung over my shoulders absently at the thought. The tent I’d dragged all the way from New York wasn’t exactly light, and I wasn’t totally sure it would be any real defense against bears either. My original hope was that it would be enough to keep me and the others safe from the elements, and perhaps the occasional stray animal, but I hadn’t considered bears.

“An evil asshole,” I amended as I turned away from the road.

Thankfully, despite feeling horribly out of my element, I had no problem finding the place marked on the map for our campsite. I’d never used a paper map before, but the lack of signal out in the middle of nowhere had forced me to. Yet, we’d chosen a site that wasn’t far off the road, and I was relieved I only had to walk through the darkening woods for a few minutes.

My tension bled away as the forest opened up into a broad meadow. Sure, it was surrounded by the oppressive wood, but it was open enough that the sunlight still filtered in over the trees. It was more than enough space for me to set up the tent and have plenty of room for my group of friends to relax and hang out. When the rest showed up, they’d be bringing the chairs and hopefully some entertainment with them. I was all for the experience of the outdoors, but I wasn’t so sure I wanted to hang around without even music to pass the time.

Without thinking about it, I pulled my phone from my pocket to check the notifications. It took a moment before I remembered I was in the middle of nowhere, and that even a single bar of service would probably be a godsend. Still, I had at least expected to hear from my friends while I’d been in town. Yet all I’d received was a short reply to my message, which was meant to confirm the group would be coming.