#Chapter 27: Bioluminescence

Ava “You do know how much I hate surprises, don’t you?” Chris walked behind me, his hand still clasped in mine. The further we walked, the more the sounds of the party faded into the distance, replaced instead by the sounds of the forest. I could never decide which was louder: the sound of music or the sound of the woods teeming with life at night. “Of course I do,” I laughed, deftly ducking beneath a low-hanging branch. “That’s what makes this so fun.” We continued on like that for a while, Chris peppering me with questions and attempting to needle our destination out of me, while I simply deflected each one with a coy smile or a teasing remark. Eventually, though, the path began to grow steeper, the trees thinning out until we emerged into a small clearing dominated by a towering rock face. Chris stopped short, his gaze drawn to the mouth of a cave set into the stone. “Wait…” he murmured, recognition flickering through his eyes. “Is this…?” I couldn’t help but le