I trek up the mountainside trying to ignore my annoying partner, Gideon. He just keeps talking, and talking, and talking. We’re almost halfway through, almost to the top. I tell him to shut up, again, as I take in the scenery. The lush green ferns, tall strong trees, bright blue sky, and fluffy clouds make for a perfect day. Except for said partner.

We finally reach the top, and I sign at the beautiful sight. The rolling hills stretch on for miles, and the flat area we landed in is barren and dry. We plan to stay up here for the night, hopefully my annoying ‘friend’ doesn’t decide to chicken out…

Now it’s sunset, and the sky is a watercolor of beautiful reds, oranges, pink, and blues. A few lonely clouds drift along the sky.We watch the sunset together, but trust me, it’s no start to an epic romance. Especially after he went out with my close friend, Hazel. He abused her verbally, and twice physically. I hate him. I only went on this hike to…. Well, we’ll get to that.

Now the sun has completely dipped behind the horizon, and the stars are coming out. We’re still sitting by the edge, dangle our legs and stargazing. And talking. Mostly him.

Now my chance.

“Why did you hurt Hazel?”

“What?” He looked at me startled and nervous.

“Why did you hurt Hazel?”

“I - I don’t know? Why are we talking about this now? Can we talk about something else?” He looks nervous, but not regretful. Not even a little bit.

I look back up at the growing collection of stars, the midnight blue sky a perfect background for it.

“No. I want an answer. Why would you do that to someone?”

“I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Stop the act Gideon. We both know, you did it because you are a selfish, greedy, thing you call a man.” I sit up, glaring at him hatefully.

“Excuse me?!”

“Oh, stop.” I’m getting annoyed now.

“I made a mistake. A few mistakes. She forgave me. And we all moved on. It’s been two months. Get over it.” He sits up now too.

“She didn’t forgive you, no one did. No one moved on, except you. Haven’t you noticed the dirty looks, the excuses to not be around you? The small lies, the little snippets of talking that stops when you enter the room. The only reason we haven’t all left you in the dirt, it because of Hazel. She takes pity on you, even now. That’s the only reason you’re not sitting in a hospital somewhere after one of us beat you to a pulp. So, I ask again. Why did you hurt Hazel?” I stand. So does he. As I was speaking, he looked conflicted and annoyed.

“I…” He struggled for an answer. I raise an eyebrow.

“Well?”

“I don’t know. There wasn’t any good reason for what I did.” He swallows, looks to the left, and quickly, as if spitting the words out says, “I will be haunted by what I did for the rest of my life. Trust me.”

“See, I don’t. I would never. You’re lying. You already moved on. Probably ready to do the same thing you did to her, to me, or some other poor innocent girl. And that’s why I invited you on this trip.” I tilt my head a little. He has no idea what’s coming for him. I look past him for a moment, staring at the wild forest. The night makes the cicadas come out, and the air is filled with a buzzing noise. A cool breeze drifts past me. Only then do I realize he’s been talking for the last minute.

“-and not only that but how the hell do you know I’m lying? That’s not true. You really think I’m psychotic enough to feel completely at ease with my previous… mistakes?” He looks at me, quite annoyed. I laugh. Cute.

“You want a full list? For one, when you, just now, said ‘mistakes’ you paused, and were trying to think of a word that would make me chill out, and a word that would make it seem like you actually cared. Second, when someone is lying, the visual cues are swallowing, blinking extra, looking to the left, which mean you’re constructing something rather than the right, which is when you’re remembering something. You swallowed, and looked the left. You kept hesitating with your words.