“Are we lost?” I questioned, staring out the window at the large sign containing a picture of a grinning pig, winking and holding up a thumb in approval of something. The driver, who happened to be my date to prom, shook his head, but his sheepish grin made me roll my eyes.

“’Course not.” He assured me, turning the car onto a side road and preceding along it slowly, making his way away from town. It got darker as the street lamps no longer lined the road and he flicked on his brights. I glanced at the clock, noting with a small frown that it was a quarter to nine, which was the cut-off time for getting into the dance. My eyes flicked back to the boy next to me.

“Seriously, Devin, we are going to be locked out.” I said, feeling bad about being snappish but getting impatient. I had a feeling we were getting farther from the school.

Devin shook his head, his dark brown hair flopping across his eyes briefly.

“I know what I’m doing. You don’t need to worry.” He said in a reassuring voice, winking at me sideways. “I will get us where we need to go.” He flipped on the blinker and turned onto a dirt road, making my lips curl farther as a feeling of complete unfamiliarity filled me. This was definitely NOT somewhere I had been before.

Sealing my lips, I simply glanced at my date. Devin did not meet my eyes and I quickly gave up, turning my gaze back to the trees lining the road. Silence feel over us as the car bounced along.

We turned again, moving uphill now, the trees thinning around us. My dress was getting uncomfortable from sitting so long and I noticed Devin pulling at the collar of his tux. Neither one of us was big on dressing up, but it seemed inappropriate to show up to prom in jeans and kicks.

The car stopped. I glanced up, jerked out of my musings as Devin turned off the engine and opened his door. A quick look told me he had pulled the car over so it was slightly concealed by the brush. Thoroughly confused as to what was happening, I watched silently as the boy walked around the side of the car and opened my door. As if in a trance, I simply stared.

“Come on, Sara, I'm being all polite and opening your door.” The boy joked. I blinked at him, crossing my arms over my chest.
“What are you doing?” I questioned, feeling an odd mix of excitement and annoyance. Devin grinned at me, but said nothing as I stepped out of the car. The boy closed the door and took my hand, leading me away from the vehicle and up the still slopping road, although we hugged the trees lining it. Devin’s green eyes were focused straight ahead of us, pointedly avoiding my gaze despite my obvious searching for his.

The night was warm but a slight breeze swept through the trees, warding off any muggy feeling. Above us, the sky was still semi-covered in branches, but through them I could see glimpses of the sky, and I noticed that the light pollution was down.

We reached the end of the road and Devin moved off to the right, pulling me with him. We now walked across grass and I felt thankful that I had worn flats with my dress, instead of heels like my friends had insisted. The ground was surprisingly even and the vegetation sparse.

Finally, we broke through the trees, into a small clearing. I stopped abruptly, my breath catching in my throat and my heart fluttering. Before me, in the clearing, was a checkered blanket spread across the ground, upon which was a basket and a bouquet of flowers. The moon illuminated the whole space like it was specifically trying to help make the scene and the stars were so bright and beautiful that they looked like thousands of candles floating in the black lake which was the night sky. A chorus of animal noises, in perfect rhythm, floated like music through the air.

Devin finally turned to look at me, his eyes shining with his child-like excitement. I found myself speechless, just staring at him as he laughed, then led me out of the trees and towards the blanket.

“I hope you aren’t angry. I know you don’t really like big dress up events like school dances, and well, it was a full moon tonight and there's a meteor shower-“ I pulled him towards me and pressed my lips to his, stopping his words mid-sentence and feeling all the tensed nervousness drain out of his shoulders. We held that for a moment before he pulled back his head slightly, murmuring into my ear.

“I'm glad you like it.” He pulled away, dragging me with him over to the blanket and flopping down, pulling me down next to him. “And now we feast.”

As I took my first bite of the caramel chocolate Devin stocked just for me, I knew this would be a night to be remembered.