Free Falling for Hadie by Komal Kant Page B

confused too. Confused as to why I felt like I could be myself with Hadie; confused as to why she made me feel like my walls could come down around her.
    As the silence set in again, Hadie drove out of the town and further away from it.  Houses grew scarce as more trees popped up, until all we were surrounded by were forests for miles. It was total and complete isolation.
    “See this bridge we’re about to drive over?” Hadie asked, slowing down as we drove over a rickety wooden bridge that looked as though it might collapse at any given second. “Just a five minute walk through those trees is where the field party is on this weekend.”
    I looked out the window to where Hadie was gesturing towards a bunch of trees just past the bridge. “There’s a field in the forest?” The geography of Statlen was making no sense to me.
    “It’s not really a field; we just call it that,” Hadie said, speeding up as she continued down the road. “There was a fire a few years ago which burnt down a lot of trees. The ones closest to the road grew back, but the ones in the center of the forest never did.”
    “Don’t you get caught by the police when you throw the parties?” I asked as Hadie pulled over on the side of the road. “I mean, it’s pretty close to the road.”
    “Sometimes you do, but mostly you get away with them. The parties are usually a hit and miss.” Hadie turned her chestnut brown eyes onto me. “So, you up for a hike?”
    I frowned as she started to get out of the car. With all honesty, I wasn’t sure if I was. I’d gotten pretty out of shape ever since I’d dropped out of the football team in sophomore year. My body had remained the same because I’d continued training a couple days a week, but I was no longer in top physical form.
    “Where are we going?” I asked, following her through the trees.
    “Somewhere nice.” She glanced over her shoulder with promise in her eyes.

Chapter Eleven
     
    Hadie
     
    I had no intention of telling Lincoln where we were going. I wanted to surprise him because where I was taking him was a pretty special place. I wasn’t the only one who knew about this haven, but when your town was only populated by fifteen thousand people, you didn’t have to worry about sharing with a lot of people.
    Besides, I was struggling to find something to say that didn’t make me sound like a complete dork. After the moment we’d just shared, singing without inhibitions, it was hard to think of something to say. No one had ever made me feel like that or been able to make me come out of my shell so fast.
    Honestly, being stupid in that moment with Lincoln had made me forget about the jerk that’d broken my heart. I’d actually been happy . I don’t know what it was about Lincoln, but he wasn’t what I’d expected. He’d spent the entire week alone on the field and despite several attempts made by the “popular kids”, he still hadn’t joined their group.
    He was a complete mystery and he had me completely intrigued.
    There was a well-trodden path that led to where we were going, but even without it, I’d still know my way. I’d been here too many times, spent too many summers sitting beneath the trees with a book in my hand and getting lost within the pages.
    As I paused to brush aside a low-hanging branch, I heard Lincoln huffing from behind me. It was surprising that a guy like him couldn’t keep up with me—I was definitely not the athletic type—but I guess that city lifestyle had pampered him too much. Only the wealthy residents of Jackson Heights were used to that sort of living. The rest of us were usually lost in our simple existences.
    “You’re not taking me out here to murder me, are you?” Lincoln asked, sounding out of breath.
    I stopped. We had reached the edge of the forest on this side. I turned to grin at him. “Well, you might think that you died and went to Heaven.”
    I stepped through the last few trees and broke into the small clearing of the