Grave Rock: Cemetery Stones

What Happened That Night

That night I drifted back to that memory so many years ago. The night during junior year of high school in the graveyard. A stupid dare that would end in the drifting of our friendships. Like that night, the dream was foggy with a smooth mist coating the woods. Eerie and unsettling but I found comfort in my friends.

Tye and Missy were the only ones who had brought lanterns. The rest of us carried with us cheap flashlights that went out after the first hour. I can't remember exactly who accepted the dare but it only took one of us. We couldn't let one of our group spend the night in Elk Park Cemetery by themselves. No matter how brave both Benji and Renee claimed to be, we knew they wouldn't do it alone.

Marcia and Denny were that couple in high school everyone knew about. The one that would be voted king and queen for various dances, almost always winning. They had been dating just as long as Zoe and Eden. Benji's older brother said they had always been douchebags. Bolton as well. Though myself, Missy, and Benji had a thing for the tall lacrosse player.

We were young and dumb but he was even dumber. Missy had a few classes with him and I remember being jealous of her. He had thick bushy eyebrows and a big nose. Terence called him a muppet but we still found him so attractive at the time. Either way, sometime during one of our lunch periods our group of friends had been dared by theirs.

Bolton had told us we would probably be eaten by the coyotes before sunrise. I remember after school him howling at us from his car. Marcia had AP English with Eden and often teased her. I always thought she was racist but back then people saw it as girls teasing girls.

Either way we all ended up in that graveyard on a bizarrely foggy night. Marcia, Denny, Bolton and some other randoms were there to watch us enter. They told us they would stand guard near the entrance to the woods to make sure no one bothered us. We knew it was a way to make sure we didn't leave.

Bolton promised to check on us randomly to make sure we stayed put but he never did. We had to stay in the graveyard til sunrise. They were going to take our flashlights but Missy reminded them we would need the lights if security came. We weren't really allowed to be in the Elk Park Cemetery at night so if we needed to run we would need the flashlights to see.

They relented mostly because Marcia hated talking to us. After Denny broke one of the flashlights, the seniors left and we made our way to the middle of the cemetery. Missy and Benji went around reading some of the names on the graves. Tye messed around with a yo-yo while Eden rested her head in Zoe's lap. The first few moments were fine.

Our lights went out and soon the tension could be felt. I don't know if it had always been there but it suddenly swept over all of us like a toxin. Zoe and Eden were upset about something Renee had said. Eden went with Missy to talk while Renee and Zoe went to use the restroom. Or at least find a spot outside the graveyard to relieve themselves.

Tye and Benji had climbed this large tree near the back of the cemetery so they missed most of the sudden argument. Benji was growing bored and went to scare the girls. Tye warned him it was a bad idea but he had already leapt from the tree to go find Zoe and Renee.

The dream seems a bit off but I noticed Tye smiling at me and making a comment of it finally being just us two. I don't recall if he actually looked at me like that but in the dream it made my heart flutter. There was a comforting silence that cut through the excitement. I thought Bolton would come check on us after the two girls had yelled at one another.

No one came. It was just Tye and me under a strawberry moon. The dream-like memory felt so real I could almost swear I picked up the scent of his old cologne. Something he bought one day at the mall that he swore would get him all the ladies. I took a moment to wrap myself in that strong musk that reminded me of the ocean. In the dream he sat down next to me under the tree.