𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭

fifty-five

Driving off of the main highway, the busy LA traffic soon turned into only a few cars driving down the single-lane road. My phone read out the directions Anthony had attached. Each turn I got more and more butterflies in my stomach. I still had no idea what I wanted to happen between Anthony and myself.

Happy memories flooded into my mind as I continued the long drive to the field. The double date was a great day. Even though Tessa hasn't tried talking to me recently, at that time we were great friends and that contributed to the amazing memories that were made.

The navigator spoke, telling me to take the next right. Turning onto the gravel road, it instantly grew darker. Trees lined either side of the road, blocking out the bright light that was coming from the sun. Some managed to filter its way through, small stripes of light shining into the car.

"In 200 metres, turn left."

Following the directions, I turned on my signal, even though no cars were in sight. Turning the wheel, my car turned onto the narrow road. I didn't recognize it from that night, but it was possible that we took a different route. Perhaps it was because we were coming from different parts of the city.

I made more and more turns, each turn leading deeper into the trees. Eventually I had received a worried text from Anthony, who had already been at the field for 30 minutes. Giving up on my phone and the dumb directions, I drove over to the side of the road, putting it in park.

Taking my phone out from the stand holding it to the window, I exited out of the Maps app. Looking at the top left corner of the screen, I saw that I only had one bar of service, and I was running on 3G instead of LTE. How far into the forest was I?

I opened the phone app, clicking on Anthony's contact name. It rang up, instantly being picked up on the other lane. Tony's voice soon filled my ears, his tone filled with worry.

"Callie, where are you? Are you alright? You're still safe in one piece, right? Is it your mom, did she somehow come all the way from Ireland? Are you kidnapped? Did you decide not to come? Why does the Snap Map say you're in the middle of nowhere?" Anthony rambled, continuing on and on with more questions.

"Anthony, breathe. Don't worry about it, I just got lost. I'll head back home and we can meet some place else, alright?" I explained, running a hand through my short hair.

"Okay, I'll meet you at your apartment. See you soon, and stay safe, darling," Anthony said on the other line.

I said goodbye, hanging up the phone. Typing in my apartment's address so I wouldn't get lost on the way back, I made a U-turn, driving in the opposite direction I came from.

• • •

last chapter i said three more chapters but there will be three chapters after this one!

-dani