Falling

38

Carson Hughes

Canceling on Dana was impossible.

That was how I ended up walking through a corn maze that night with Dana, Logan, and Vinny. What I really didn't expect was to be walking with Logan while Dana and Vinny walked ahead of us, each holding a hot cocoa in their hands.

Apparently it was the last weekend for the haunted corn maze since Halloween had just passed, and Dana was mad that she and Logan hadn't gone at all this year. However, I could tell that wasn't the only thing Dana was mad about.

"I don't know, man, she's been acting weird," Logan said when I asked him about it. "We've been fighting more than usual."

The fact that the two were fighting at all was jarring. They had always been so good together and it was strange to think that was changing.

"About what?" I asked, glancing over at him and away from our significant others walking ahead.

"Stupid stuff," he said with a frustrated sigh. "I don't pay enough attention to her, but we also spend too much time together, we have sex too much, but not enough. It's weird."

I wished my problems with Vinny were as mundane as that.

"I love her and I want to stay with her," Logan continued as the two walked further and further ahead of us. "But I don't know if she... maybe she doesn't love me anymore? I don't know. I hate talking about this."

Part of me felt like a bad friend for not knowing what to say to Logan. He was the one experienced in relationships, not me. My relationship was barely staying afloat while his had been steady for three years.

"I honestly think part of it is because of Hadley and Darren," Logan told me in a low tone, not that the others ahead would be able to hear us.

"Why?"

"They're in their honeymoon phase," Logan said, a sharp breath leaving his mouth and causing a cloud to form in front of us. "He does whatever she wants. Literally, Darren follows Hadley around like a puppy and their relationship is new and exciting."

"I think you're just speculating," I told him after his words trailed off into silence.

"Maybe," he said. "But if she dumps me, be prepared to see me mope like you've never seen before."

I let out a laugh, tucking my hands into my pockets. "We might be in the same boat."

"No, we won't," he instantly replied. "He may be mad now, but the fact that he didn't dump you on the spot is saying something."

I had tried convincing myself of that, but it didn't seem to be the case. If Vinny eventually decided he couldn't move on from what I did, then he would end up dumping me. This was just a trial period, seeing if we could move on from this bump in the road, but only time would tell.

We had eventually walked far enough into the maze that we were at the actual scary part. Dana and Vinny stopped to wait for us before entering the darker part of the maze where screams of joy, or terror, could be heard.

Dana caught Logan's hand in hers when we caught up to them. I wanted nothing more than to reach for Vinny's, but I didn't. He had to be the one to initiate those things because if I tried to, it might only push him away.

Vinny walked silently beside me as we entered the "haunted" part of this maze.

I had been here before with my friends a few times. There was one time Archie got so scared he jumped on top of Isaac and Isaac basically had to carry him out of there. Of course, Archie always denied this. He tried to convince everyone that he got light headed and thought he was going to pass out, but no one believed him. Especially not after seeing the way he jumped and screamed after being scared by some guy with a fake chainsaw.