A Guide on How to Love Jules Everett

Chapter Ten

The Test of Courage

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"WHEN YOU'RE INSIDE, be sure to stick close to each other. In the case whereby you're split from your partner and unable to find the next checkpoint, send up this flare and stay put. We'll come and get you," the teacher instructed. He handed us a flare each, quickly moving on to check the next on his list. "Don't dilly-dally, but also don't run or rush. You might trip and end up injured, or even worse, dead. There are cliffs and random drops here and you might plummet to your death if you veer off-course. Be careful."

Both of us nodded, lips pursed. I took a quick glance at the woods, nibbling on my bottom lip at the same time.

"Take care of each other. Now off you go."

Just like that, we were sent off into the dark.

There weren't lights provided so we improvised, using the torchlight from our phones to help us find our way. The map was in Xavier's hands, long fingers curled around the paper as he confidently led us through one checkpoint to another. He only had a small sling-bag across his body, just enough to hold his handphone, a small lighter, and his emergency flare.

The night around us was a dark veil. No moonlight could squeeze its way through the thick canopy above our heads. Every few seconds, an owl's hoot would echo through the trees from the skies above our heads. The only thing in my mind was how this was the perfect scene for a horror movie. The sheer idea of dying in a cold and dark forest with my corpse left as breakfast for the beasts sent shivers down my spine.

"Aiko?"

I spun my head around to look at Xavier, running my hands up and down my arms to rub the cold away from my skin.

"W-what?"

"Are you scared?" He had a single eyebrow quirked up but there was no laughter on his face. Instead, Xavier looked genuinely curious.

"N-no! Of course not. W-why would I b-be scared? What is t-there to be scared of?" My denial was a little over the top, filled with flinging hands and insincere laughter.

I tried my best to wave the idea off but Xavier only got curiouser and curiouser.

"You're a horrible liar, Aiko," he said pointedly.

"I'm actually a great liar! It's just... sometimes somethings can't be hidden." I stuck out my tongue childishly at Xavier, sticking my nose high into the sky.

Xavier shrugged. "If it helps you to sleep at night."

Our conversation died there, returning us into the eerie silence of the night. While the world around us held no words to spare, it offered the hum of crickets and the rustle of leaves. At first, I thought it was the only sound I would have to deal with for the night but I was soon proven wrong.

A crackle hit the heavens, splitting the skies with a deafening roar of thunder. Even through the thick gathering of the tree leaves above our heads, I could make out the distinct silver of lightning.

I smelled the rain before the first drop even hit my face. The salty breeze of summer's first dew carried no hints of floral delights with it. Instead, it brought along whiffs of the sea, dragging the ocean's breeze along with it to rain over our heads.

The raindrops hit the top of my head once, then twice, then it became a constant light drizzle. The rain and the wind moved the woods around, falling in a melody that went sha-la-la.

Xavier stopped in his tracks, forcing me to turn back. What I saw was him with a hand outstretched, his palm facing the skies as he looked up. A single raindrop landed on both the center of his palm and on his right cheek at the same time.