Falling Like Leaves (Bramble Falls, #1)(66)

“You have a point.” We come to a dead end, and she points to the right. “This way.”

“No. We’ve already been down there,” I tell her.

Asher glances to the right. “Really?”

I point to a lopsided cornstalk. “Yeah, that cornstalk is familiar.”

Sloane laughs. “You’re joking, right?”

“No?”

“Ellis, there are literally thousands of cornstalks out here.”

“Yeah, and I’ve been trying to memorize any weird ones so we know if we’re going in circles,” I explain.

Sloane throws her hands in the air. “But there’s probably more than one lopsided cornstalk!” She takes my hand and tries to pull me to the right. “Come on. We both already know you have no sense of direction.”

I tug my hand from her grip. “That’s true, but I’m sure of this. Let’s just go left.”

“That’s in the opposite direction that we need to go, though. That’ll just take us deeper into the maze.”

“Maybe, but sometimes you need to go deeper to take the right path out,” I argue.

She looks at Asher. “What do you think, Ash?”

His eyes flicker between the two of us as he rubs the back of his neck. “Uh… I’m not sure…. But sorry, Ellis, I think Sloane’s right on this.”

I scoff. “Okay, fine. You guys go that way, and I’ll go this way. We’ll make it a race to the end.”

Sloane shakes her head. “I’m not letting you walk around in a corn maze by yourself at dusk.”

“I have my phone flashlight if I need it,” I tell her. “But I won’t because you two will be the ones needing to use your map to get out of here once you realize you’re walking in circles.”

Sloane lifts her eyebrows and puts her hands on her hips. “Fine. We’ll race you. But only because I need to take you down a few pegs, Ms. Know-it-all.”

I smile. “Excellent. I’ll see you at the end—if you ever make it.”

She smirks. “See ya, cuz. Let’s go, Asher.”

They head right, and I turn left.

Then left again. Then right. Then left. And soon I’m pretty sure I’m the one walking in circles.

The sun is fading and above me, the sky is a mixture of deep oranges and dark clouds. I pass a few families wandering through, but for the most part, the maze is empty at this hour.

“Shoot,” I whisper to myself. I take my phone out. No reception. Holding it as high as I can, I walk around, hoping for some bars. But I get nothing.

I’m slipping my phone back into my pocket and turning the corner when I slam right into someone.

Cooper.

“Oh—um—hey—” I stammer.

He looks around. “Are you alone in here?”

“Yeah, I’m racing Sloane to the end.”

“How’s it going?”

“Okay,” I lie. “What are you doing?”

“My mom wouldn’t let me stay home, so I figured if I had to come, at least I could be alone in here.”

“Oh,” I say, shifting my weight uncomfortably. “In that case, I’ll leave you to it. Good luck…”

I step around him, but he calls out, “Wait.” I turn to face him. “I’m so lost. Care if I follow you?”

I pause, not really sure how to say no. And then there’s the annoying fact that I don’t really want to say no, even if being around him makes me sad. “Sure.”

I turn and resume walking aimlessly ahead, with the faux confidence of someone with a plan. Fake it till you make it.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Cooper clears his throat. “So, I heard you made the shirt Sloane’s wearing.”

After this past week, it feels impossible to have a casual conversation with him, but I did say I’d try, so…

“I did. Did you run into her or something?”

“Yeah, I passed them about twenty minutes ago, and—”

“Oh?” I say, cutting him off. “Were they using their map?”

Cooper chuckles at my competitive side rearing its ugly face. “No, and they looked incredibly lost.”

“Nice!” I say with a devilish grin.

He laughs and shakes his head. “Anyway, she was bragging about her shirt to Asher. I think it meant a lot to her.”

“That’s sweet, but it was as much for me as it was for her,” I tell him as we veer right.

“What do you mean?”

I shrug. “It’s just for fun, but I’ve been trying out different fabrics and designs here, so it was good practice. And it was sort of neat making something for someone other than myself. I’ve never done that before.”

“Yeah? Well, it was still cool of you.” Cooper kicks a corn husk lying on the dirt path and asks, “Have you ever considered doing it for more than fun?”

The question is so innocent, and yet I have to stop myself from laughing.

“No,” I say. “I’m going to be a journalist.”

“Because your dad is a journalist? I think that’s what you said years ago.”

I nod, both loving and hating how easy it is to fall back into being us.