Episode 26

EPISODE TWENTY-SIX

I slowly woke up as I felt someone gently tapping my shoulder. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Arden smiling

“We’re here” she said

The van was parked close to an old-looking house and the door was opened. I looked outside and was completely taken aback at how wonderful the place looked. I then turned to see if Jamie and the others are still asleep. Kevin was playing games on his phone and Jamie was looking around, Kelsey, on the other hand, is still asleep and Haley was not there

“When did you two wake up?” I asked “and where’s Haley”

“We woke up about an hour ago” Jamie answered “and Haley’s just talking to his uncle”

“You should wake Kelsey up too”

“Later” Jamie looked at Kelsey and smiled “let her sleep for a little bit”

I smiled and let them have their moment, I know you have feelings for her Jamie, you just haven’t realized it yourself yet

Haley then approached the van and peeked inside

“Okay guys, I told my uncle where we’re gonna set our camp” Haley said “its a few kilometers away, just a 30-minute walk”

“Hop in and let’s go” Ryan said

“Oh, sorry Ryan, cars are only allowed to go until here, we have to walk from here on out”

“Ok then, everyone grab your bags and get out!” Ryan jokingly shouted

We giggled and grabbed our bags, Kelsey just woken up so she’s still a bit slow. When we gathered all our stuff from the van, we started walking with Haley leading the way.

We went from singing while walking to playing pranks while running, and by playing pranks, I mean, trying to trip one another, Ryan putting some kind of plant on Cindy’s shoulder and telling her that it’s and insect which of course made her jump and shrieked, she was holding her chest afterwards while we giggled and Ryan laughed his head off, of course, Cindy wants to get back at him so she opened her water bottle, jumped on Ryan back and poured the water on his head which made us laugh even more. One prank lead to another and we all found ourselves emptying our water bottles on each other and running around, so by the time we’re almost at camp site, our clothes we’re half wet with water and sweat, I know what you’re thinking “you used up all the water bottles on giving one another a bath, what will you guys drink?” no worries, we have a big jug of water with us, so we have plenty o drinking water.

Haley then stopped running

“Well, that was one heck of a walk!” Haley commented and we laughed and she continued “This is it guys, our campsite”

The place was beautiful and was really peaceful, it has an open field and the grass was just perfect, you could actually roll on it repeatedly if you want to plus there’s a lake nearby so we can take a swim anytime

“We should get our tents up” Kevin said “wait a sec, how many tents do we have exactly?”

“I brought one” I said “it fits three people”

“I brought one too, good for two” Kevin said

“Mine’s good for three as well” Kelsey added

“Okay, let’s just set all tents and just settle everything afterwards” Jamie said “and maybe take a swim a little later”

We smiled at her idea and started setting up the tents, since we worked together we we’re finished in no time, it was past lunch so the guys set up the barbecue grill so we can cook our food, and yes we brought a barbecue grill, nothing says camping like barbecue!

After setting up the barbecue grill and putting charcoal in it, Kevin asked for the pork and the tongs so he could start grilling

Haley approached him, tongs at hand and said “how ‘bout we do the grilling while you guys look for some wood so we can have a bonfire later”

He smirked “Okay, but Ryan and I are bringing Nicky and Jamie along” he said

Jamie and I looked at each other and spoke using our eyes, yeah, we’re experts at eye talking, and we’ve been practicing it for years! So basically what we’ve talked about is Kevin wants us to go with them because he wants to know more about Haley and since it’d be awkward to ask Kelsey, he’ll ask us since we’re the next best thing. Jamie and I smiled meaning let’s help him woe Haley

“It’s fine with us“ Jamie spoke “right Nicky?”

I smirked and nodded

“Okay then, off you go” Haley smiled

Ryan took out some rope from his bag and we started walking to the nearby…mini forest? I kinda don’t know what to call it since it’s not actually a forest since it’s impossible to get lost in it but there’s certainly lots of trees, so yeah let’s just call it mini forest :D

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So we're walking around the mini forest, looking for branches and pieces of wood we could actually carry, we already found a few but it’s still not enough plus Jamie and I are still waiting for Kevin to open up and ask us about Haley

“Hey Nicky, can I ask you and Jamie something?” Kevin spoke

Here we go, “why of course, Kevin, you certainly can” I spoke with an obvious knowing and teasing tone

“About what my dear friend” Jamie added “or rather about who?”

And Ryan laughed “You two totally know he’s gonna ask something about Haley”

Jamie and I looked at each other then at Ryan, ”yep” we spoke simultaneously

“Well, you two are observant” Kevin commented as he picked up another branch

“Nah, it’s just obvious that you’re really into her, like really really into her” Jamie said as she walked around

“Well I am really serious about her” Kevin said “it’s the first time I felt like this about a girl so I really don’t want to fuck it up and let her get away so I was kinda hoping for some advice on how to get her to like me as well”

“One advice, and I’m sure she’ll definitely like you if you do this” I said and looked at Kevin’s anticipating expression, I smiled “Be yourself”

“You seriously think that’ll work?” he asked

“Yeah and its proven” Jamie said “Haley’s the kind of girl who likes decent looking guys but what she really falls for is the guy’s good attitude and personality, we all know you have that or we would have probably punch your face off a long time ago”

I laughed “exactly”

Kevin smiled and nodded “thanks”

“No prob bro” I said “how ‘bout you Ryan, need some counseling?”

He giggled “no thanks, Cindy and me are doing great”

And we continued walking around, Kevin and Ryan walking ahead of us

“You still haven’t told me what song Arden sang before” I told Jamie

Jamie giggled “still haven’t forgotten that huh?”

“It’s kinda hard to forget Jamie”

“True” she smiled “she sang that Colbie Caillat song, “Realize” which I think is a perfect song for you two”

I smiled “yeah, I guess it would be perfect”

“Hey! I think we got enough wood!” Ryan shouted “Let’s head back!”

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We got back and found the barbecue grill free from burning charcoal, on top of it was a plate of cooked pork with a note on the side,

Jamie read the note out loud “eat up and join us, we’re at the lake!  =)”

“Looks like they decided to take a swim” Ryan commented

“Well, in that case, I’ll wear my swimsuit under my clothes before I eat” I said and went to one of the tents

“Me too” Jamie said and went to the other tent

“Okay then” Kevin said “we’ll just change out here”

So I went in and change into a tank swim suit and a board short, then I wore a t-shirt over the tank suit since I’m still going to eat

I went outside and the three of them are already eating, so I joined them

I wonder what Arden and the others did while we’re gone, more importantly, what/who they talked about....