"Now this here's a red maple," drawled Mr. Brown. The old man gazed up at the tree with a warm fondness that left more than a few people wondering if he should be left alone with it for a while. "Can any of you kids tell me what's so special about these?"

The rest of the adults supervising the hike and the gaggle of children groaned as they took yet another pit stop for Mr. Brown to yammer on about trees. "If he keeps this up, the leaves'll turn by the time we're done," Carson grumbled. He pushed an errant tree branch out of his way as he went off to help a boy tie his shoelaces for the third time in the last fifteen minutes.

Lucas rested a hand on Amy's shoulder. "Carson and I are gonna ditch for a bit so we can chill by the lake. You in?"

She pushed his hand away, her gaze shifting to her dad. He stood at the front of the group with a camera in hand as he snapped pictures of squirrels scrambling through the branches overhead. He noticed every twitch of their tails, every dropped nut. Why couldn't he ever pay attention to how much she could do for a change? "You bring anything?"

"Chocolate, my dad's old slingshot," he lowered his voice to a whisper, his breath hot on her ear, "and enough of the good stuff for all of us to have a good time."

"If you guys can get us out of here without getting caught, I'm in."

"You're on. Carson?"

Carson glanced over his shoulder before giving a slight nod and jogging over to Mr. Brown. "Hey, did you know moose have horrible eyesight?"

While Carson peppered the chaperone with facts about the local fauna, Lucas slipped behind the group and gestured for Amy to follow.

He led her deep into the undergrowth where the earthy funk of fresh mushrooms clung to her as tightly as the wet leaves coating the bottom of her shoes. "Could you slow down a little?" she asked as she picked her way through nature's minefield. One misstep, and she'd crash to the ground, potentially adding yet another battle scar to her knees.

"Alright, but don't blame me if we get caught." He slowed his pace to match hers, occasionally glancing over his shoulder to make sure she hadn't snuck back to rat him out.

At last, the telltale honking of geese told them they'd reached Lake Murgenthal. Amy groaned as she massaged her aching legs at the base of the rocky slope leading to the water.

"You alright?" Lucas asked

Amy flopped down onto a fallen log with a sigh. "Just gotta sit a sec."

"Those rocks really are a bitch. I'll be back real quick, okay?" He retreated back up the slope with surprising nimbleness despite his wide frame, waving down at her from the top before disappearing.

###

By the time Lucas returned with Carson and a bulging bag covered in splotches of mud, the aching in Amy's muscles had eased to a slight tightness. "Sorry it took us so long," Lucas said. "Somebody was enjoying talking to Mr. Brown a little too much."

Carson flushed. "Hey, he's actually pretty cool. He used to work at Yellowstone and said the algae here—"

"Bores people there to death. Are we here to talk about plants, or to actually have fun?"

"I'm here to make sure you don't do anything too stupid."

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Just show us what you brought."

Carson took a seat next to Amy and opened the bag he'd dragged to the shore. Soda bottles clinked together as chocolate bars peeked out from a sea of sour candy.

"Is that it?" Lucas asked.

"Hey, you try sneaking around when you can barely see shit. I could have sworn something ran over my foot."

Amy extracted a bagful of candy covered in so much powder that the coating formed hard clumps at the bottom. "What are these?"

"Holy shit, an armory bag!" Lucas rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Guess you really did grab the good stuff."

"It's a mix of sour stuff," Carson said. "Some of it's real mild. Some of it..."

"Some of it's so sour it'll make you feel like your tongue's dissolving," Lucas said with a smirk. "How's about a game of never have I ever?"

They all took a seat around the bag of candy, each grabbing some chocolate and soda 'in case anyone wants to wuss out' according to Lucas. He started the game. "Never have I ever had a job before."

"Used to work at a movie theatre." Carson closed his eyes and fished around in the candy bag, pulling out a powder-coated gummy shaped like a bullet. He shuddered as the sour missile landed on his tongue. "Never have I ever been to Disney World."

"You haven't lived until you've ridden Space Mountain at least a dozen times," Lucas said as he took some candy.

"Mom took me when I was nine, and I managed to get such nasty blisters that I still have callouses." Amy popped a packet of dark purple crystals into her mouth, shuddering as they crackled in a sour symphony on her tongue.

"From freaking Disney World?" Lucas let out a long, low whistle. "That sucks."

"On the bright side, Mom let me have all the ice cream I could stomach after that." The geese in the lake took off in a honking swarm as she thought of what to say. "Never have I ever kissed anyone."

Lucas's eyebrows shot up. "I call bullshit. There's no way in hell someone like you hasn't dated at least a few guys by now."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You know."

"What?"

"Well, you're... you've got..." He trailed off as his face flushed. "Ah, screw it."

Lucas shoved his hand into the bag. His eyes watered as he crammed a fistful of candy into his mouth.

"No use trying to dodge a bullet," Carson said quietly. His eyes watered as he bit down on his piece.

"Oh shoot," Amy said. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean—"

"No worries." Carson took a swig of soda to soothe his taste buds, cover up his voice cracking, or both. "It's just a game."

"Speaking of which, it's my turn." Lucas narrowed his eyes. "Never have I ever jumped in the lake."

Carson gave him a look. "That's not cool."

"It's what she gets for cheating."

"I don't think she did."

"You calling me a liar?" Lucas's muscles twitched as he tightened his hands into fists.

"Guys, chill. I'll take one." The bag rustled like fallen leaves as Amy's hand closed around a piece the size of her fist.

Carson groaned. "Come on, don't make her eat one of those."

"You don't eat those," Lucas said. "You bite off the pin and drink. You'd know that if you weren't such a wuss."

The lump was rough under Amy's fingers, waxy and textured like a hand grenade. She gave it an experimental shake before opening the top with her teeth, wincing at the acrid smell that stabbed her nose. "Bottoms up!"

Bright green liquid splashed into her mouth. Her tongue burned as her lips puckered against the stabbing sourness. This was no Granny Smith's tamable tartness. This was something much more intense, something that bit into her mouth with a ferocious intensity.

Amy spat the liquid onto the shore, but the pain lingered like the burn of a slap.

Carson took the half-empty wax from her and flung it into the lake, sending ripples through the blanket of algae. "I told you that thing's too intense! You want to bring her back to Mr. Sterling with her tongue raw as shit?"

"Hey, I didn't make her do anything." Lucas crossed his arms over his chest. "That's how the game works. You pick it, you eat it."

Amy tore open a chocolate bar and crammed it into her mouth. Chased with a long gulp of soda, the sweetness dulled the burning in her mouth to a dull throb. "Guys, it's okay. Really."

But they weren't listening.

"So I can't talk about what I like, she can't say she's never kissed anyone, but you get to throw a tantrum? Grow up."

Lucas grimaced as rocks clattered nearby. He raised a hand to shush everyone before glancing over his shoulder. "You're going to make them find us," he hissed.

"I'd rather eat the entire armory bag than spend another minute with you." Dragging himself to his feet, Carson wiped the mud off his pants and started making his way back up the slope.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Lucas yelled. "I swear, if you rat us out—"

That's when they heard it: a high-pitched, gurgling bugle followed by a splash.

Amy squinted across the lake, shielding her eyes from the sun's glare. "Is that a moose?"

On the opposite side of the lake, a calf raised its head and let out a pained cry. It thrashed in the shallows, water surging around it as it jerked its limbs.

"Sounds like it's hurt," Lucas said softly.

"Something's definitely not right," Carson said. "Even calves have no trouble swimming. For it to be acting like this, it must be in really bad shape."

There was that clattering again, a rain of pebbles cascading into the water. A low huffing noise came from the top of the slope.

Carson craned his neck to look at the source of the sound. "I think I found out why."