I imagined the conversation. Probably one of the most important conversations a person could have with someone. No matter the circumstances, muttering the words I’m pregnant changed everything.

I put a hand to my stomach, and I turned away from the refrigerated glass case where roses and some bunches of flowers were held to keep them extra fresh.

I tried really hard to envision it.

Just two words.

The conversation that would follow.

The shock. Then the fear. There had to be fear, right? Whatever you’re doing at the exact moment will never be the same for you again. Then after fear…excitement? Of course, that depended on the circumstances.

Shock. Fear. Excitement.

My fingers spread across my stomach.

“Lara, are you okay?”

I turned and took my hand off my flat belly. I threw a smile across my face.

“I’m fine,” I said.

“Look what I found in storage,” Kim said as she showed me a sleeping bag rolled up tight. “So now you have no excuse not to go with us.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said.

“There’s going to be guys there…you know Alex has a thing for you.”

“Stop,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “Go finish packing up. Are you sure we’re okay to leave?”

“Yeah. Percy is closing up for us.”

Percy was Kim’s brother. Her parents owned the local flower shop. And I was lucky enough to have a job there.

“I’ll meet you outside,” I said.

Kim walked away.

I turned and looked at myself in the reflection of the glass.

My belly was flat. And it would never grow. There was no baby inside me. That was for absolute certain. Yet I had been on the end of a pregnancy confession…

And it wasn’t shock, fear, excitement.

It was shock, fear, anger.

I forgave him once, and now I’d never forget what he had done.

I had no desire to go to a party in the woods to celebrate Megan’s engagement to Josh. I felt too old for that kind of crap, but Megan and Josh met in the woods at a party. He proposed to her in the woods. And allegedly, there was a really sweet spot to party.

There was only one reason I agreed to go.

To hide from my embarrassing reality.

* * *

I was in the passenger seat of Kim’s SUV. She had her phone connected to the car, and music from when we were in high school blasted through the speakers. She sang at the top of her lungs, missing ten notes for every one she actually hit. What she didn’t understand was that he was my entire high school life. And beyond that. From the last week of eighth grade when Thad looked at me after finals in science class, all the way to graduating high school, he had been everything. We were far too serious, far too young, but it didn’t matter.

He was everything.

And now he had to become nothing. A memory. A lasting memory. One that would fade. But I was dumb enough to really let it get me down. To the point where I lost my finance job working with investments and almost had to give up my apartment and car. Luckily for me, Kim and her parents saved my butt by letting me work at their florist shop.

The goal now was to piece it all together again. One thing at a time. It took a lot more to make me give up in life. But the thing was this…when I touched my stomach and knew it was empty, I felt angry. Because any talk of having a family was gone forever because we weren’t ready.

He may not have been ready when he slept with someone else, but science happened, just like we learned about in eighth grade. All the parts, definitions, and pictures that made us all giggle, who would have thought it would come back almost twenty years later to crush my heart?

Kim turned down the music. She looked at her phone. “Shit.”

“What…wait,” I said. I grabbed for her phone, but she kept it from me. “No texting and driving.”

“Oh, yeah, because the roads up here are so busy.”

“Funny. What’s the shit for?”

“Rachel’s lost.”

“Oh, big shock there,” I said. “She gets lost going to the bathroom in her own house.”

Kim laughed. “I know. I’m going to pull over and let her catch up. Or at least call Megan. Josh can give her directions. I’m not good at it.”

“Oh, why not? Your directions are always sound. Count four trees, two rose bushes, one dead deer, and then take a slight left at the tree with the broken branch…”

“Yeah, yeah, pick on me,” Kim said. “I never get anyone lost. And I never get lost. And…oh, shit, now Rachel’s calling me.” Kim took the call. “Where the hell are you? We’re supposed to meet…”

I looked out the window. The trees were tall. Really tall. And they were on both sides of the narrow road. I felt hidden. That was good and bad at the same time. I was up there not necessarily against my will, but not in the mood for whatever they all had planned. To Kim and everyone else, it had been long enough. I should have been back on the mend. And maybe so. But I just wasn’t ready.

Something then caught my eye. It looked like a faded piece of paper stuck to a tree.

Two words on the paper.

MISSING PERSON

I grabbed the handle and opened the door. I climbed out of the SUV and slipped on the first step. I almost went down and slammed my ass-bone on the open door of the SUV.

“Oh, Jesus, I have to go, Rachel,” Kim said. “Lara almost fell out of my car. No. Seriously.”

Rachel ended the call, and I looked back. “I’m fine.”

“Do you have to pee or something?”

“No,” I said.

“What are you doing?”

“I saw a sign.”

“A sign?”

“Look. On that tree. Missing person sign.”

“Oh, get back in here,” Kim said. “We need to get to the campsite.”

“Is Rachel…”

“She’s fine,” Kim said. “Come on. Let’s go. Don’t make me leave you on the side of the road.”

Kim laughed, but I wasn’t sure if she was joking or not.

I got back into my seat but didn’t look away from the sign.

Kim noticed and let out a sigh. She crept forward a little with the SUV and stopped again. “Lara, listen to me. We’re safe up here. Nothing is going to happen. There’s only a handful of cabins, and they’re all hidden. Tell me you don’t believe in monsters.”

“Stop,” I said. “But someone went missing…” I looked at Kim. “You’re sure about where we’re going?”

“You’re not going to get lost,” she said with a laugh. “We’re going to a campsite. Okay? We’re staying put. We all have cell phones with GPS built in? We have vehicles with chargers for our phones. This isn’t some cheesy eighties horror movie, Lara. And we’re not going hiking. We’re going to get drunk. And laugh. And party. And forget about everything bad in life for one damn night.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Right.”

“Plus, look at that sign. See how faded it is? That wasn’t put up a week ago. Or even a year ago. It’s old as anything. Hell, maybe someone put it there to scare people like us from partying in the woods.”

“Really?”

“Sure, why not?” Kim asked. “Come on, Lara. You can’t be scared of everything anymore. Stand up and fight back. Right now.”

“By drinking beer and rum in the woods?”

“It’s a start,” Kim said with a smile. “Right?”

I nodded. “Yeah. You’re right. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry for anything. Let’s just get there and have some fun. Don’t think I don’t know you’re thinking about Thad. And you have every right to think about him. Every day, for the rest of your life if you want. After what he did…”

“I don’t want to talk about that right now,” I said.

Kim kept quiet about it and focused on the road.

I glanced at the sign one more time. Maybe Kim was right. But it still made me nervous.

The SUV rolled onward, and something else caught my eye.

It was another sign.

This one very much new.

And it also had two words on it…

STILL MISSING.

* * *

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Matt said as he stood next to the fire. It was still light out, but the sun was creeping through the trees on its descent, and the temperatures were already starting to drop. “I would like to thank you for being here tonight. We are here to celebrate the unity of Josh and Megan. After years of beating his sorry ass to the ground, she finally got him on one knee. Sucker.” Matt coughed. We all laughed. “Now, we all know Megan was used to Josh being on his knees for other reasons…”

“Ohhhh,” Rachel called out.

“What?” Matt asked. “You think I meant begging for forgiveness?” Matt winked and then flicked his tongue a few times.

“Gross,” Megan said. “Why do you have to be like that?”

“Why are you blushing right now?” Matt threw back at Megan.

“Wait a second,” Josh said. He put his hands out, alcohol slurring his voice just a touch. “My tongue is the reason she said yes to the ring.”

“That’s a setup for a great marriage,” Kim said. “Seriously. Think about it, Megan. He pisses you off, just shove his head down between your legs. He can’t talk, and you get something out of it.”

“Ohmygod,” Megan said. “Is this seriously what we’re going to talk about?”

I laughed. I cradled a bottle of beer and had been for almost an hour.

Next to me was Alex. He nudged me with his elbow and gave a nod and a smile.

What was that supposed to mean?

“Back on topic,” Matt said. “We are here…to celebrate love. Friendship. Cold beer. Decent rum. This fire. These woods. I won’t get all hippie and spiritual on you guys. We can save that for later, because I brought some extracurricular activities for us…”

Ryan and Alex applauded.

I rolled my eyes as Megan looked at me.

I was there to have a few drinks. But if the guys wanted to go smoke themselves silly and hump a tree, that was on them.

“Notice how Josh didn’t get excited there,” Matt said. “She’s got the chains on him already.”

“Fuck you,” Josh said. “I can’t do that tonight because I have an actual job. A career. And if I fail a piss test, I’m screwed.”

“Wow,” Matt said. “Chained to a desk and a woman, all in the same year. Bravo.”

“Says the guy who’s going to jerk off into a sock later,” Megan said.

We all bust out into a loud ooh! that echoed through the woods.

“Wait a second,” Matt said. “I don’t wear socks. It’ll probably be this shirt.”

“Gross,” Rachel said.

“He won’t have to worry about that,” Kim said. “He’s got me tonight. What happens in my tent stays there.”

Matt looked at Kim. “Okay then. Fuck this speech. Congrats to Megan and Josh. I hope you have a great wedding. A great life. And from now until morning, I’m going to be working this angle right here…” Matt pointed to Kim.

She laughed.

We all applauded and cheered for Megan and Josh.

They kissed, we cheered louder, and then Alex got the bottle of rum and a handful of shot glasses.

That’s where the rum began…

… and two hours later, I leaned against a tree, feeling a little woozy.

The fire had died, and everyone stood around it like they were looking at a murder scene.

“You got it lit before,” Kim said.

“Yeah,” Matt said. “But we didn’t bring enough wood.”

“Seriously?” Rachel asked. “We’re in the woods.”

“We didn’t bring an axe,” Josh said.

“You’re such an asshole,” Megan snapped.

“What?” Josh yelled. “I thought we had enough. But this moron stacked the wood the wrong way.” He pointed to Ryan.

“Me?” Ryan asked. “The fire was lit.”

“Yeah, it was,” Josh said. “You’re not supposed to…”

“Just break off some branches,” Kim said. “We can figure this out.”

“You need more than branches for a fire,” Matt said. “Branches are for kindling.”

“Okay,” Kim said. “So, what now? We just stand here in the dark and get chilly?”

Matt slipped an arm around Kim. “We can go warm up in my tent. Again.”

“Again?” Rachel asked. “You two couldn’t even wait…”

“Nope,” Kim said.

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Josh said. “It’s my engagement party. I didn’t even get laid yet!”

“If you don’t get this fire going again, you’re not getting laid at all,” Megan said.

“Oh, shit,” Alex said. “Laying down the law already.”

“Hey, I have a pocket knife,” Ryan said.

“Really?” I mumbled to myself. “Fucking moron.”

The rum was suddenly making me angry. I was normally a happy drunk, but not now. I wanted to fight someone. I wanted to punch Ryan. I wanted to fight Kim. Everyone there.

So, that’s why I was hanging back. So I didn’t do something stupid.

Speaking of something stupid…

Rachel grabbed a branch and ripped it off the tree. She threw it into the embers of the fire. A second later, the leaves caught fire.

“Look!” Rachel yelled triumphantly.

The fire lasted less than a minute.

“Fine,” Megan said. “All the guys stand here and keep throwing stuff into the fire pit. End of discussion. This is your fault.”

“Our fault?” Alex asked. “How the hell is it our fault?”

“We brought the booze,” Ryan said.

“But not enough firewood,” Megan said. “How smart.”

“Shut up, Megan.”

“Hey,” Josh said. “Don’t talk to her like that.”

“What are you doing to do?” Ryan asked.

“Really?” Josh asked.

The two had a little face-off before Alex split them up.

“Holy shit,” Alex said. “Everyone take a breather. We’ll figure this out. We’re smart. Worst case…we prop up a cellphone with one of those fire videos, right?”

Everyone laughed.

It eased the tension.

I silently threw them all the middle finger.

I wanted to go home.

So bad.

I looked into the woods.

An idea came to me.

The worst idea ever.

I was going to walk home…tonight.