Page 72 of The Chaperones

Stella, the art teacher

I find my pants balled up on the side of the tent and slip them over my hips.

“I should be getting back.” I grab Travis’s lantern to hunt for my boots. One is in the corner, but I can’t see the other one. I search underneath the sleeping bags and his clothes, which are tossed about the tent.

“Stell, come on. Don’t leave. I’m sorry. I got carried away. Don’t go.” He grabs my wrist a little too tightly, then realizes and loosens his grip. “I have something—” Travis starts digging into his bag. “I was waiting for the right moment. It’s in here somewhere.”

I find my other boot underneath an inflatable pillow.

I slip my foot into the boot and tie it. Travis is mining his bag, tossing out clothes. I keep my attention on my laces, on the other boot, which is now on my right foot. When both are tied, I force myself to engage calmly with him. He’s focused, determined, none of the anger from moments before. It was there, though. I saw it. I can’t unsee it, nor the truths it revealed.

I lean over and kiss him on the cheek. Gently, I pull away before he can fully kiss me back. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Wait, let me find it.”

I grab the lantern and head out into the dark night, relief washing over me as soon as the cold hits my face.

I only make it a few steps before he’s out of the tent too. “Here it is,” he says. I don’t turn around to see what he has for me. “Stella, wait.”

I hear his feet thud on the ground, and he jogs to catch up with me. I walk faster.

“Stell, where are you going?”

“Back to my tent. I don’t want the parents to wake up and find I’m gone. Let’s just plan to see each other when we get back to the mainland, okay?”

Travis darts ahead of me, blocking the path. He’s holding something in his right hand. It’s so dark, I can’t see what it is. “Are you breaking up with me?”

I hate how well Travis knows me, that he can articulate my thoughts before they’re even formed. Am I breaking up with him? Can one moment undo everything?

It wasn’t one moment. It was what that moment revealed.

Travis guards the path, bobbing on his feet like he’s ready to tackle me if I try to pass him.

“I protected you.” His voice is sharp. “I told everyone that you just left the room for a minute. I lied to my sister for you. I took the blame. The only reason you still have your job is because of me.”

Is he threatening me? Would he tell his sister, the school, what actually happened? Sure, I left for longer than we said. I should never have left a child alone for any period of time with a grown man. But whatever happened in that room, whatever Travis did, that’s not my fault. I will not let him shift the blame onto me.

I push past him and walk faster. He stays glued to my side.

“I don’t want to fight, okay?” I try to exude calm.

“I’m not the one who’s picking a fight,” he says at my ear.

The ground is too soft beneath my feet, and I slip as I speed up. I just need to get back to my tent, to surround myself with the parents. My toes are freezing. Every step is painful, but I keep walking.

“Stell, that’s not even the direction of your campsite. Let me at least walk you back.”

“I’m fine. We’ll just talk when we get home, okay?” I keep walking straight ahead, until I’m no longer in the lower loop. My toes are icicles, ready to snap off. It’s so dark, even with Travis’s light, that I have no idea how far I’ve walked, if I’m almost to the upper loop. If, soon enough, everyone will hear Travis. I don’t care anymore. I just need to get away from him.

“Stell, stop. You’re going to get lost.” He speeds up, staying one step behind me.

It’s so dark, and my feet are killing me. I can only think about how close Travis is, how he won’t let me go.

“Come back to the tent. Wait until daybreak, when you can see. It’s not safe.” But there are no predators on the island. Except him.

I circle the lantern around until I see a trail ahead, and I start running, feeling the pain of each step in my frozen feet. I hear him stop behind me, his feet thudding into the gravel as I create distance between us, relieved that he’s let me get away.

My legs are alive, and I run faster and faster, the light from his headlamp dimmer as the distance between us grows.

“Stella,” he screams.

I keep going until I get to a fork in the road. In the distance, I see the lights from the mainland. I can smell the ocean, with its sweaty brine. Waves crash like they’re angry at the island. Travis’s right—I’ve chosen the wrong way. I’m at the beach, where there’s nowhere else to go. The ground crunches behind me, a light swinging into view. I don’t think. I act. I take a right onto the path that leads above the ocean, away from Travis Stevens.