Page 65 of Grave Matter

“Get your shoes and your coat,” Lauren says quickly. “The phosphorescence is going off tonight!”

“And Nick just got back from the Port Alice run, so we have provisions,” Munawar says, lifting up the box of wine and attempting to pour it into his mouth. It explains the ruby stains on hisAmateur Mycologist with Questionable Morelssweatshirt.

“Save some for the rest of us,” Rav says, smacking him on the back, which only makes him spill more wine on his shirt.

“Okay, just wait for me, please,” I tell them. I’m remembering Amani knocking on my door and taking off, and I’m afraid that if they go without me, I’m going to end up in a snowy field again.

They hang out in the doorway while I slip on my sneakers and hoodie.

We then leave my room, and I lock the door behind me before we clamor down the steps. In the common room, a group is cracking open beer cans by the fire, and Munawar yells at them to come join the show.

With that group now joining ours, we head out into the night. Twilight still stretches across the horizon, but the darkness is coming quickly, the stars appearing in the clearing sky as the rain clouds move to the north. The group is laughing, yelping, drinking, and for the first time since I’ve been here, I feel like I’m part of the gang.

“Have any wine to spare?” I ask Lauren as we pile down the ramp, our footsteps on the metal grid echoing across the inlet, shaking the dock at the bottom.

“I thought you would never ask,” she says, pulling out one of the disposable paper cups from the common room’s water cooler. Once we’re level on the dock, we stop, and she makes me hold the cup while she pours red wine from the box, and then we continue on our way to the end, where there are no boats tied.

On the way, we pass by Kincaid’s boat. From the looks of it, he’s not home. Unless he’s sleeping. All the lights are off.

“Is this wise to be partying beside the professor?” Munawar asks.

“We’re in our fucking twenties, Munawar,” Justin says, his words slurring slightly. “Nick is the one who got us the booze. We’re allowed to do what we want.”

Then Justin grabs Natasha’s arm and pulls her close to him, and they start wildly making out.

Lauren snorts. “Geez. We get it, you like each other.”

We all walk around the couple until we reach the end of the dock. Lauren drops to her knees and then leans over the side. The water is black, reflecting the sky, though if you look close enough, it does seem to be sparkling here and there. Could be the stars though.

Then Lauren dips her hand in, and the water comes to life, glowing a sparkling green and blue.

“Whoa!” a few people say in unison, and suddenly, we’re all sitting by the edge of the dock. I get down on my side and reachdown, my fingertips trailing over the water. It’s freezing cold, but that doesn’t matter when you’re able to make light streaks by moving your fingers around.

“Magic,” I say to myself, marveling at it. We have bioluminescence at home, but not that frequently, and it’s just never that dark out. But here, there are no other lights aside from the dim ones on the dock and at the lodge, zero light pollution in the night sky when the nearest town is a hundred miles away.

Munawar and Rav decide to go to the beach to get some stones to skip, so I get comfortable sitting on the dock next to Lauren. Justin and Natasha have climbed into a fishing boat, and one can only imagine what’s happening there. Everyone else is drinking and splashing the water around until it sparkles.

I take a sip of my wine. It’s cheap, but it tastes good after not having any for a month.

“You going to let your hair down tonight?” Lauren asks, pouring herself another cup. “Relax a little?”

“Maybe,” I say.

She touches her cup against mine. “Alright, well, here is to that maybe. Don’t you dare go to sleep before the night is over.”

“No promises,” I say, downing the contents and handing it to Lauren.

“Off to a good start,” she says, filling it back up.

“I hope so,” I say as I take it from her. I’m already feeling a little fuzzy-headed, but it also feels like a weight has lifted off my shoulders. I need to keep myself in check though. I don’t need to be drunk and hollering gibberish while pounding on Kincaid’s boat.

“How have you been?” I squint at her. “I mean, really.”

“Fine,” she says, though her voice sounds clipped. She looks around, and I have a feeling she’s looking for Rav. “It’s been good.”

I watch her closely. She seems a little thinner than she was, hollows under her cheekbones, and in the darkness, the shadows under her eyes deepen. I feel bad that this is the first time I’m noticing. As usual, I’ve been too wrapped up in my own brain, in my own worries. “Are you sure?”

She drinks her wine and nods. “Yeah. I mean, you know. I don’t think it’s a secret that I have a thing for Rav.”