It had been so completely, utterly ridiculous to both of us—my mom, who would cup her hand around spiders to release them outside—that we were quickly convulsing with laughter.

“I guess everyone has it in them,” Ros said.

“Maybe so,” I said, though I didn’t like the idea of that one bit, no pun intended. I didn’t need any more disruptions this summer, certainly not in the form of kicks and bites and punches that lay dormant within us. I wanted a soft, gentle summer, but after last night, I was already worried the texture of it was changing—to something scratchy and harsh and suffocating, uncomfortable and hard to throw off.

The day was beautiful, and the town was so painfully charming it made my teeth hurt. Though Touchstone and I had driven through it, taking a closer look felt like injecting dopamine straight into my eyeballs: a baby being fed a biscuit outside a breakfast place; handsome, bandanna-necked dogs tied up and waiting patiently for their owners who were grabbing coffee. There were pride flags hung on nearly every storefront, and a handful of queer couples, and posters for Arden’s upcoming shows, the first of which, Into the Woods, premiered Thursday, June 26, in just under two weeks. On the side of the grocery store, someone had painted a map of the surrounding trails in the woods and local sites of interest, including the Lovesick Falls spring, for which guided tours left hourly, for an exorbitant fee.

“We should do one of those tours,” I said. “The next one leaves in an hour, which should work.…”

“Do you actually have to drink the spring water?” Touchstone said.

“If you want to fall out of love you do,” I said.

“Oooh, can we go in here?” said Ros, tugging us into a thrift store.