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10

I tried to think of what Charlie and I could do, but it was no use. We were trapped in the middle of a corn maze with no way to get out. This is exactly what I was afraid of. Being alone in the dark.

An arm was wrapped protectively around my shoulder and I was being pulled closer to Charlie. I was so close to him I could feel the beating of his heart. In silence and darkness, you have nothing else to do except let your senses come alive. I continued to feel his heartbeat as I realized it matched with mine, like we were connected somehow.

I knew I was safe. Charlie would never let anything happen to me and he definitely proved that when he came over to my house last night.

With Charlie's arm wrapped securely around me, we began to walk through the maze in hopes of finding a way out.

After taking turn after turn, each path leading to a different destination, Charlie and I crashed into a group of guys who seemed to be around our age.

They all had their flashlights from their phones on as it made it easier to find their way around. As soon as their faces came into view, I immediately recognized them as some of the guys from the football team.

They all looked from Charlie to me with knowing smirks on their faces and at that moment I was glad it was dark out because no one could see how red my face was.

"Hey Charlie! What are you doing here?" I looked to the boy only to recognize him as the one from the football game that was talking to Charlie. He was the wide receiver. "I could ask you the same question, Nick. I didn't think you liked this sort of thing." Nick proceeded to roll his eyes and then laugh. "Yea I don't like this sort of thing and neither do the other guys but my girl wanted to go and so did their girls. We decided to try and at least have a little fun so we made it a competition, boys vs. girls on who could make it out of the corn maze faster. We were having fun until the power went out and we've been spending the last hour looking for them because no one is answering their phones." Charlie nodded his head and turned to me, thinking about the thought of losing me in the maze. Even in the dark I could tell when he was worried.

I felt a jolt of warmth suddenly run from my hand all the way to my shoulder as a hand was intertwined with mine. I smiled at the connection and leaned closer to Charlie. His head rested on top of mine as we stood with the guys from the football team as they tried to figure out what to do.

~

At some point we turned down enough paths that lead us in the direction of the way out of the maze. In that time during the maze, the guys finally found their girlfriends and no one felt the need to panic anymore. They just wanted to enjoy this crazy adventure together.

Charlie told me to head for the car while he went to grab something. A look of fear rose in my eyes as I was afraid of him being away from me considering what had happened in the maze. He assured me that he would be back quick but he just wanted to make sure he picked up something before we left.

I sat in the car for about five minutes with the window down, listening to the rustling of the leaves on trees and feeling the crisp breeze on my face. It was beautiful. It was Fall. I wish it would stay like this forever, but life has to move on. Things have to change, just like seasons.

In three weeks time, there would be no leaves on the trees and snow everywhere.
It would all be different, in more ways than one.

My thoughts were interrupted as Charlie slid into the car. He had two coffee cups in his hand but by the smell of it, I knew it wasn't coffee. It was hot apple cider.

I smiled as I took a sip, the warm liquid spreading throughout my body. Charlie was smiling back at me with a different look in his eyes, like the one he had the night we almost kissed.

I didn't understand why he was being like this. Why he was acting like he liked me in that way? I knew he didn't. I wasn't someone guys tended to like in that way.

The ride home was quiet. I didn't know what to talk about if all I kept thinking in my head was how he was giving off false emotions and I was falling for it.

Charlie seemed to notice my quietness and turned to me. "Hey are you mad at me all because I changed the radio station to something besides country?" I couldn't help but laugh at his comment. I shook my head, trying to rid my face of a smile but it was no use. Whenever I was with Charlie, I was almost always smiling. "No, I was just thinking about something." He nodded his head, knowing all too well that whatever I was thinking about was definitely bothering me.

"I'm not forcing you, but you know you could always tell me anything." Charlie's hand found mine for the third time that night and I couldn't help but get sad as I realized after this weekend was over, I would probably never get to hold his hand again.