Abandoned Cemetery

Fae was on the edge of her seat. Just up the hill, about forty steps from where the car was parked, was the cemetery they were to visit. She had heard about it from her friends before, had visited it several times during the day, usually on Fridays. But tonight, it was different. She had been dared to go up the hill with her crush and try not to get spooked. He was the very definition of tall, dark and handsome and he had the best dimples when he smiled.

Markus had a crush on her, his mind often drifted to her at school, or when he was at work, but Fae could be oblivious. They had known each other for a long time, about four years. But he had never confessed, since he did not know where her feelings were. The best he could hope for was to stay her friend. She was short but adorable, and the way her eyes lit up when she was happy was to die for.

"Are you ready?" He asked, turning to look at her. "If you get scared, you could always hold my hand."

Fae could not speak, so she stood and walked a few paces ahead of him. As much as she enjoyed their teasing banter, she knew if she took his hand, she would not want to let it go. She was sixteen, not a fool. Markus laughed behind her before she could hear his running footsteps and felt her waist grabbed.

"Markus, don't do that!" Fae yelped, smacking his arm half-heartedly. "You know I'm ticklish there!"

Markus looked down at her with a smirk. They were there on a dare given to them by one of his best friends. If Fae knew the reason, would she regret coming? He wondered as he grabbed her hand purposefully and started running slightly ahead of her. The best he could hope for was this one night to confess and be rejected.

“You’re running way too fast, Markus!” She yelled out, her legs fumbling slightly under her. “The cemetery isn’t THAT far!”

“I know, I know. I’ve been here before, remember?” Markus replied, finally slowing to a walk when they came up to the old headstones. “The oldest marker I found here was the 1870s, but the name had worn off it. Do you think the forgotten person would be angry about that?”

“Honestly, I don’t like to think about that.” Fae said firmly before walking over to the old marble bench. “But someone takes care of this place. It’s amazing considering how well it’s hidden by the trees.”

           Technically, it was illegal to be inside a cemetery after sundown, but since this one was considered abandoned, a lot of people came here to stay the night on dares. It was a short walk from the town mall, hidden well in an alcove of trees. It was a quiet place, free of the normal fast paced environment of the city around them. To be honest, Fae was okay as long as Markus was with her, but she would never consider saying that out loud.

“You don’t seem scared at all, Fae.” He countered, sinking onto the bench next to her, seemingly disappointed. “I was hoping this would scare you a little and you’d stop being so serious all the time and act cute.”

“Is that how you see me?” She replied, her voice slightly annoyed. “Because things like graveyards don’t really scare me.”

           The sound of the leaves crunching under footsteps could be heard. Fae jumped slightly, moving closer to Markus as they approached. There was no reason to be afraid, but she could not help it, because as far as she knew, they were the only ones out here. Despite the fear causing her heart to pump vigorously in her chest, the smell of Markus’s cologne began to fill her nose. Of course, she knew he wore it, but she had never been close enough to really get a good whiff of it.

“Did you grab a flashlight?” Fae whispered, softly, looking up at the moon where it faded between the leaves. “Because I didn’t.”

“Yeah.” Markus’s voice was closer than she expected, practically right in her ear. “In my pocket.”

           Markus shifted slightly to grab the light when he realized how close she was. It was times like this that he often wished he could throw an arm around her shoulder and just be confident. But he did not want to ruin their friendship. He sighed softly before finally finding the light in his pocket and turning it on. Looking around for the owner of the footsteps, he found nothing, so he turned the light back to her.

“Nothing there, Fae.” He whispered, their new closeness tightening his throat. “Are you sure you want to stay here the whole night?”

“Are you?” She challenged, her eyebrow raising as she did so. “Because I’m perfectly fine.”

“Oh, so if I stand up and leave, you will stay by yourself?” Markus had always loved bantering with her. “Because I have considered it.”

           Suddenly, he felt her hand grab his bicep, halting him immediately. Fae did not often touch him, but feeling her small hand holding onto his arm, there was no way he could leave. He knew his presence made things easier for her. Chuckling, he grabbed her hand, and held it in his, interlocking their fingers.

“I will never…” More footsteps stopped him from continuing. “Shhh…”

           Fae watched as he looked around again, the small beam from the flashlight barely covering the areas he was looking before he moved it somewhere else. As much as she was fine as long as he was there, she was starting to get scared, because there should not be anyone else up here. Maybe his friends knew she had a crush and were trying to scare her into confessing to him? But if that was the case, why was Markus acting scared too?

“Markus?” Fae whispered softly; her eyes focused on the spots he pointed the flashlight at. “Did you see anyone?”

“No.” Markus whispered back before pulling out his phone to check the time. “We’ve only been up here for ten minutes.”

           It felt like they had been up there a lot longer. Now that he thought about it, it was going to be hard to stay a full night up here. Markus shook his head on a sigh before releasing her hand and wrapping his arm around her shoulder. With her tiny body pressed into his side, he could feel her curves beneath her clothes. The footsteps distracted him again and he felt her arm wrap around his waist, drawing her even closer.

“Okay, I admit it, Markus. I’m scared.” She stated hesitatingly. “And if you don’t know already, which I’m assuming you do, I have a huge crush on you!”

           The footsteps stopped. Markus remained frozen where he sat, pressing her into his side. She had a crush on him? But…he had a crush on her! Why did she suddenly confess?! He finally turned his gaze down to her where her brown hair hid her face.

“You do?”

“Yeah! Didn’t you know already?” She questioned, pushing away from him in a huff. “Isn’t that just Josh and Anthony walking around to scare me so you could make me confess and laugh at me?”

           Fae knew he would never return her feelings. Markus was popular with girls, really cool, a lot of fun to be around, and so much more. For a teenager, he was the full package and she was average. She stood up and started to walk back towards what she assumed was the car. Now, Fae was just ready to go home. There was no point in continuing this farce if she was just going to be a joke for him and his friends.

“Fae! Fae, wait!” Fae felt his hand wrap around her wrist, stopping her before she could take another step. “I had no idea you had a crush on me! I thought I was the one crushing hard on you!!!”

           After he spat those words, they both stood there, under the canopy of the trees staring at each other in the moonlight. So, all this time, they had been crushing on each other and neither one of them could tell? How oblivious and stupid could they be?! Before long, they both started laughing until he grabbed her waist and pulled her forward, planting his lips on her cheek.

“Oh!” She yelped before a giggle parted her lips. “So…are we a thing now?”

“If you think I’m going to stand by and let you date another moron, you must be kidding. You’re definitely my girlfriend now.” He countered reaching up to run his fingers along her cheek. “I can’t wait to tell the guys.”

“So…if that wasn’t them making those footsteps…”

           As the night continued on, they never found out who had made those footsteps, but Fae did not think it accurate to label that Cemetery as Abandoned anymore. She felt that whoever was there that night had picked up on their mutual feelings and wanted to push them closer together. Their confession that night led to a bright future for them both, and they often revisited what they called the Couple’s Cemetery.