Night came on slowly. The van had been pulled to the side of the long road, parked by the thicket. Behind the two front seats, in the back of the van, was a small, open space. They had found some spare blankets in the trunk and laid them on the metal ground for a cushion. Open packs of the foreign snacks laid at their feet as they ate slowly, rationing what little they had. As the darkness spread over the scenery, Oren turned on the car light; a small, artificial sun shining above their heads. Jackie was laid on her stomach, drawing with one hand, eating potato chips with the other.

"So, what's your deal?" Jackie asked, not bothering to look up from her drawing.

"My deal?" Oren chuckled.

"Are you the nerd, the geek, or the jock?" she specified.

"Haven't you ever seen The Breakfast Club? People are more complicated than that." Oren said.

"Oh, I see. You're a nerd then." Jackie said with a smirk.

"Well, which one are you?" Oren asked, crossing his arms.

"I am an artist," Jackie said proudly.

"That's not one of the options you gave me." Oren teased.

"It's a subcategory. I'm a geek." Jackie replied coolly. "If liking girls wasn't enough, being an artist is a definite way to disappoint your parents." Oren didn't know whether to laugh or console her, so he did a mix of both.

"Sorry to hear that," he said.

"It's fine." Jackie sighed. "...When dad was still alive, we would talk about what type of girls we liked. He would always be urging me to talk to them but I was always too shy in the end." A small, bittersweet smile grew across Jackie's face, becoming alight with nostalgia. "This one time, I had a crush on this jock-she was a major athlete, captain of the soccer team. I was secretly in love with her for like a year, and then she got a boyfriend. We never even dated, but it felt like a breakup. My dad listened to me rant about her boyfriend's stupid hair and stupid face for over an hour. Then, he took me to McDonald's for flurries and french fries."

"It sounds like he was a really good dad," Oren said.

"He really was." Jackie sighed happily. "You know," she began, lifting her head, so they were eye to eye. "This is the first time I've talked about him with someone. And I surprisingly don't feel like shit."

"I'm glad," Oren said, smiling warmly. "So, did you eat the flurries and fries together?"

"The ultimate sweet, salty combo!? Um, obviously!" Jackie snapped.

They both broke into a fit of laughter.

. . .

Oren was the first to fall asleep. He had curled into the corner, buried under a blanket. Jackie was opposite him, by the window. Cold air drafted in from it, but she didn't mind, it kept her calm, but more importantly, it kept her awake. The light had been turned off, everything cast in black, the objects around her outlined in a pale grey, almost blue. She explored the van with her eyes, making out any object she could. Outside, the noises of the night had gotten loud, almost deafening; crickets, cascades, owls-she could have sworn she even heard a coyote howl. And amongst the animals and the trees, there was Oren and his soft snoring.

Jackie didn't like nights like this. When the world was calling her and she couldn't go out to greet it. She knew it wouldn't last, she wasn't an idiot, she knew how the world worked, and her part in it-but these escapades were a chance to prove otherwise. And for the first time, she wasn't alone.

Finally, she had had enough. Her eyes were dry and refused to shut, her mind too abuzz to settle, and it was too loud-everything was too loud. She crawled up into the passenger seat and out the door. It had begun to pour, drenching her clothes and hair almost instantly. The rain seemed to fall from nowhere, from the void, from the blackness above her. The road looked just as long as it always did, just as endless. There was a loud snap like the breaking of a branch, and Jackie instinctively turned toward it.

There was nothing.

There was something.

There was nothing she could see, but Jackie knew something was there. Her intuition told her so, and it had never led her astray thus far. Something was stalking her from the woods. She trembled, but as soon as it started she ended it. She wrinkled her nose and snarled like an animal in an attempt to scare it away.

But it wasn't an animal, the intuition told her.

It was someone, someone at least human in figure. But the same intuition still told her it was just as hungry as any predator.

"Jackie!" Oren yelled, fumbling out of the van and into the rain. His eyes were wide with fear and filled with panic. He grabbed hold of her, wet clothes and skin and hair mashing. "I thought...I thought you left me...I thought I was alone..." he said, muffled in her shoulder. Jackie, not used to such affection, patted his head awkwardly. She turned back toward the woods and knew whatever had been there was gone.

"I'm sorry," she said, the words strange and new falling out her mouth. "I saw something..." she trailed off.

"Is that why you came out here?" Oren asked.

"No-I-" Jackie bit her lip in frustration, staring sheepishly at her untied shoes. "I just do that sometimes."