The boy kissed his girlfriend on her forehead and sat up from his spot on the log he'd been using as a stool. He took a modest sip of beer from the red plastic cup he'd been given when he and his girlfriend arrived at the fire pit. It was warm on his tongue and he spit out the metallic smelling liquid quickly before pouring the rest of it out of the cup and on to the ground.

He swished the rest of the taste around in his mouth and spit that out as well to get rid of the lingering flavor of the beer. He stepped further into the woods, wanting to get away from the smell of smoke and alcohol for a moment. He wondered if he should have brought along his girlfriend but when he looked back she had a lit cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other.

The boy shrugged and stepped into the darkness of the woods, willing the smell of pine to cover up the way the potheads reeked. He took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. The air was cool on his skin and the stars above distracted him for a moment, allowing him to escape his life for some time.

When he looked down, there was the silhouette of a young girl standing before him. He assumed she was a party guest who'd also wanted to take a break from the others as he was.

She took a slow step closer to him and her breath came out as a cloud in the chilly climate. She inched closer to him until she was looking up into his eyes.

When she didn't say anything, the boy said, "are you alright?" She bit her lip to hide her giggle but it didn't work as well as she'd hoped.

"I'm fine, thank you," she replied. The two of them were silent, the distant voices of party goers drifting in the wind around them.

"Do I know you?" The boy asked, wondering how she could seem so strange in the most familiar area the boy knew. He knew the little town, Forest Pines, like the back of his hand and he'd never seen this girl in his life.

"Sometime soon or later, you might," the girl said simply, backing away with her hands clasped behind her back. "Nice meeting you." The boy watched as she was engulfed the shadows of the trees.