I come over the ridge, and looking down on the lake, pausing for a moment to take a deep breath. I woke up this morning with a single thought in my mind, one that I’ve been chewing over all day.

What if I don’t have to run away? What if I’m strong enough that I don’t have to leave town, and what if I don’t have to hide any longer?

I mean, no matter where I go I’m going to get stares. And unless I decide to change my name, someone’s going to look me up from time to time, and when they do they’re going to find those smear articles. Even changing my name isn’t going to be for sure, I know in the modern world there’s too many ways to track someone down.

Besides, I like the name Daniel Benson.

So am I strong enough to face Lakeville and tell them to fuck off? More importantly, am I strong enough to be a real man and not throw a tantrum, but to just take it and turn the other cheek? To be truly strong and not some puffed shirt asshole?

If I am strong enough to be that man, maybe I’m strong enough to be the man Chrissy deserves. I at least owe it to her to find out if that kiss I saw Justin give her was for real or something else. If it was, I move on with my life, and choose what I want to do with a clear conscience. If it was a mistake and it wasn’t what I saw, then we try and build something together. I’ll be honest, and tell her how I feel.

That’s the scariest part, really. Life’s easy when you hide behind a wall of not letting people in. Lonely, but easy. And I know if I let Chrissy in, that means I’m going to have to let in other people. Her friends, for one. Hell, just knowing that Willow’s probably going to be spending a lot more time around the place makes me shiver. She’s not bad, I sort of like her, but she’s a lot to handle right up front, and she gives zero fucks what anyone thinks about that.

Maybe I should borrow a page or two from her.

I look up at the sky and see a dark smudge forming in the sky, and decide maybe it’s time to head back. That looks like a thunderstorm, and summer thunderstorms on the lake are no fucking joke. Cinching my backpack tight I head down the hill, hurrying as the sun starts to set and the sky grows darker and darker.

I find the road and head back towards Lakeville just as the first rumbles roll through the sky and I feel a raindrop hit my forehead. It’s like a faucet and suddenly I’m drenched, the dirt road I’m on turning into a brown line of sludge that sucks at my boots as I try to hurry.

I want to get under the trees, to try and get out of this rain, but I can hear the thunder getting louder and closer. I’m still two miles away from my house when the first bolt of lightning stabs across the sky, Zeus’ calling card sending chills down my spine and I pick it up into a slogging, exhausted jog. I’ve been camping in the woods for almost a week now, I’m soaked and already tired, and my stomach is rumbling. Oh, and I’m wearing a backpack, in soaked clothes, in a heavy, windy downpour. Excuse me if I don’t set world records for time.

“You’ve put yourself through worse,” I growl as I grit my teeth, knowing that I’m just trying to keep myself together. The rain is chilly with the wind, and my feet feel like they’re constantly on the verge of slipping out from under me. I know that back at the cabin, there’ll be fresh clothes, and after stripping naked the first thing I’m going to do is put a pot of coffee on before drying off. I think I’ll skip the warm shower to warm up, I’m getting pruney as it is.

I see my cabin up ahead, and just beyond it around the curve of the lakeshore is Chrissy’s cabin. She’s got a lot of lights blazing inside, and I form a new idea. I’ve got an umbrella somewhere in the cabin I’m sure, and after changing clothes I’m going to go over there and talk with Chrissy. An adult conversation, and if hard things get said, hard things get said. But I’m not going to hide anymore, because Chrissy deserves honesty at least. More importantly, I deserve to be honest.

Suddenly a bolt of lighting rips from the sky and hits the lake in our little cove and I jump, my eyes dazzled by photoflash afterimages. I stop, pressing my hands over my eyes as the thunderclap makes my head pound. Taking two deep breaths I open my eyes to hurry on, but before I’ve taken two steps, another bolt rips from the heavens and hits Chrissy’s house.

“Chrissy, no!” I scream as the cabin bursts into flame. These old cabins… if the lightning rod was loose by even a little bit, they’ll go up like a tinderbox. Ignoring everything, I drop my backpack, and start sprinting. The fire’s spreading quickly, and if I don’t get there…

I have to know if she’s okay.