two young women stumble into the woods (beginning with a bit of backstory to establish who they are)

[NOTE: This chapter will lead to a parallel perspective for Maya and Sydney, but it needs an extra chapter up front to set up their journey. The next chapter after this one will be the first part of the parallel storytelling.]

"Are you coming?" Maya asked, her voice low and dry. As she turned back toward the exit door of the country club, her long ponytail swung around before settling in place against her back. Her dress left her back bare, and Maya enjoyed the feeling of her hair sweeping against her skin.

Maya Ivanov liked attending lavish parties like this one -- though she had almost zero interest in the purpose of the party itself. Open bar, endless drinks, and if she found someone young and cute to spend the day with, all the better.

Maya Ivanov

For this particular party, she wasn't even quite sure how she was related to the bride or the groom. Her parents probably told her (one of them was cousins with someone who was related to the groom, she vaguely thought), but she didn't really care.

Maya had debated bringing a date, but since she wasn't in a relationship at the time she figured she had just as good a chance at getting laid by a random hookup at the party as by someone she brought along herself.

After she arrived at the club that morning, out in the parking lot, she saw a few other young guests and got to chatting in particular with a young couple, Sydney and Derek. They all shared a similar youthful ennui about the wedding ceremonies and were each on the hunt for something ... more.

"Yes! I just -- one second!" Sydney hissed from just inside the door. After a beat, she bounded outside, two bottles in her hands.

Sydney Bélanger's connection to the wedding was a little stronger than Maya's in that she was actually social friends with the bride-to-be. They were second cousins, had met at previous family gatherings, and had even maintained a loose friendship via text message and social media.

Sydney Bélanger

She brought her recently-serious boyfriend Derek along to the wedding, but almost immediately regretted that choice. The night before, they (along with two others) had gone out partying, and Derek had said some rather stupid things that upset Sydney. They had an argument, and spent the night apart from one another.

Although they reconciled in the morning (and came to the country club party together), Sydney was still angry. When they met up with Maya at the party, Derek kept interjecting obnoxious comments into the conversation. Just as it seemed that Maya might be getting too turned off by Derek to stick around, Derek made the timely choice to go outside for a cigarette. When he slipped out the front -- Maya and Sydney headed toward the back.

"Come on, Maya," Sydney said. "Let's dip."

The two women passed the bar as they went for the back exit. Maya said, "There's no one watching this end of the bar. We should snag a couple bottles of champagne on the way out!"

Sydney felt her skin get hotter as she got nervous from the idea of stealing from the bar. But Maya was right. No one would see. Sydney double-checked to make sure she wasn't being watched -- and then checked again to make sure Derek hadn't somehow come back inside yet. She stepped up to the bar and eyed two bottles of champagne just on the other side.

From outside, she heard Maya's voice. "Are you coming?"

Sydney stretched herself over the bar and grabbed the two bottles. "Yes! I just -- one second!"

Maya and Sydney cackled as they ran down the back field behind the country club.

"I feel like a kid!" said Sydney. "Stealing liquor from the bar and running away. It's like high school again."

"You used to steal fancy champagne in high school?"

"Nah, it was shitty vodka back then." Sydney smiled. The two of them slowed their pace as they got further from the building. They passed by a smattering of guests, some just enjoying the scenery, some sitting and talking together. Sydney knew a few people from the family tree (aside from Staci, of course), but didn't notice anyone in particular. And Maya's parents didn't come to the brunch event at the club, so she didn't expect to see anyone familiar.

"Quite a view," said Maya. "Money does amazing things."

Sydney nodded. She handed one of the bottles to Maya and began peeling and opening the other one. Once the cork was popped, she traded bottles so Maya could take a sip.

"Taste good?" said Sydney.

"Mm-hm," replied Maya, wiping a bit from the corner of her mouth. "Ooh, this is the good stuff!" She handed the bottle to Sydney, who took a swig.

"You're right, that's delicious," Sydney said. She took a longer drink. "If I'm not careful, this is going to go to my head pretty quickly."

"I didn't eat anything this morning, so yeah, a quick chug of this and I could get lit fast." Maya grabbed the bottle again and swallowed a hefty gulp of it. "And stop me if I start talking too much or getting too familiar. Sometimes that happens when I drink during the day."

Sydney laughed. "You're fine. I wouldn't worry about it."

Maya smirked and took another drink. "Or maybe you'd enjoy it. I do like to party ..."

Sydney grabbed the bottle back, and as she drink, she skipped further down the field toward the trees. "You want to see if we can get lost in the woods?"

Maya nodded and ran a bit to catch up. "Don't get too far ahead of me, Syd! These shoes weren't made for athletics!"

"Poor planning," sassed Sydney, cackling at Maya. "Come on!" She led the way toward the tree line, and stumbled to a stop. She held herself up against a tree, and then rolled her body around to lean her back against it.

Maya reached the edge of the woods and stopped a few feet away from Sydney, a bit out of breath.

"I'm not as fit as you. Clearly." Maya glared at Sydney. Maya was a slightly bigger girl than Sydney. She was taller, fuller figured (one might even say 'voluptuous'), but even aside from her body differences, simply wasn't as prepared to go running through the woods. Her heavy boots were geared more for fashion than function, and while they might be better than heels (for outdoor adventure), they were far from fit for hiking.

"Aw, it's nothing. Come here. Running from the top of the hill there, you should be sure to hydrate." Sydney was joking, of course, but handed back the champagne bottle so Maya could take another drink. As Maya reached for it, Sydney took note of the tattoos running up the side of Maya's arm. It looked like a spider web around her wrist, and then some kind of celestial series (maybe the planets?) running up her forearm.

Maya took a few steps closer to Sydney, and reclaimed the bottle. She had caught her breath again, and as she approached Sydney, looked at her with a little more attention than she had before. Maya was a little surprised (and a little delighted) as it began to occur to her how attractive Sydney was. She looked into Sydney's eyes a bit longer than one might expect, and it was only when Sydney averted her attention and looked away that Maya realized she had been staring.

"Wow," Maya said, exhaling. "Sorry about that."

"You're fine," Sydney said again. But she wondered if it was fine. She felt a little bit like Maya was kind of checking her out. Maya knew she had a boyfriend ... though she also knew that they'd been fighting. But no matter, Maya was aware that Sydney was at least partly straight and at least partly taken. But then Sydney thought, but what if she actually was flirting with me? She smiled at the thought, and again felt her face getting hotter as her cheeks got flush. Maybe today will turn out fun after all.

Maya, having caught her breath, led the way down a path in the woods.