Beyond Reason

Chapter 15½: Just a little

I follow his lead until we wind up outside the tree zone and in a completely different area, populated by hills so high, I can't see anything ahead of us. I want to ask how he knows this place, but he starts moving around the feeble plants at the base so I follow suit, moving behind him.

A few cars are packed side by side, including an old truck that sits behind a beautiful rock. The rock is covered in multiple colours of graffiti of stick figures, initials and dates. There's a poem scratched into the side of it, but there's not enough time for me to read all the lyrics before moving after Keenan.

We nod our heads at a group of hiking-geared teens a few ways up a slope. They greet us back and I feel their eyes on us as we keep moving. I don't blame them, they're probably wondering why two people would go hiking while dressed like they just rolled out of bed. I wonder the same thing, but the silly, adventure craving idiot in me is okay with it, so I slip my hands into the soft pockets of my hoodie and charge on, ignoring the cold biting at my legs.

Keenan and I halt at the end of the path were on. It extends into an area, bordered by boulders and hills, with edges that resemble a staircase. A long, sharp staircase, daring whoever's bold enough to climb it. That is clearly not me with bare knees tonight.

"Are we climbing that?"

"I didn't expect it to be this high," he says with a small chuckle that means he agrees with me. "I heard up here leads to a spot you can see the whole town from, but..." his eyes trail down my body to my knees.

I awkwardly nod. "Yeah, not the best idea."

"Next time, maybe?" He asks, his voice barely audible, like he's half hoping I don't hear him.

"Definitely next time." I smile at him as we begin trailing back the way we came.

He smiles back and lightly bumps my shoulder with his. "Okay."

The cars at the bottom roars to life and depart with their headlights moving in the distance, which means their old spot is now open game. Like a pattern, Keenan and I hasten our footsteps till were on the other side of the more climbable hills, overlooking a large body of what looks like sparkling water.

"Wow."

"Better than the city," I mumble.

He sits down on the dirt and crosses his legs in front of him. He pats the spot beside him and I promptly take a seat, feeling a slight tingling at the fact that our legs are almost touching.

I pull the sleeves of my hoodie over my fingers, happy to have it because up here is chillier than I expected. Beside me, Keenan is staring blankly at the water below us. I envy him for having on sweatpants while I don't, but I also feel kind of bad because I have a hoodie while he's wearing a sleeveless vest.

"Have you done this before?" I ask as a conversation starter.

He shrugs as a light breeze wind blows through his hair. "No, but I passed by here on that stroll the guys and I took."

"I really like it."

He doesn't say anything to that, but the look on his face is enough to convey how much he likes the view too. He seems awfully relaxed, unlike every other time I've watched him.

"All this to avoid a party, huh, Joey."

I'm laughing before I even realise it. "I could say the same for you. This was your idea."

"I needed a better place to keep answering your questions," he says. My laugh diminishes like an old lightbulb and he notices. It brings back the air of our previous conversation, which I understand is the reason we're here in the first place.