Camp Not So Fun

Chapter 12

The next morning, I was woken up by a grunt and the shuffling of leaves. Somewhere in the back of my head I hoped it wasn't Nate trying another one of his "hero" antics where he does something good and it turns to something bad because he hurt his ankle even more and we end up stuck in the forest for a longer time. Like almost always, what I hope not to happen usually does happen and I open my eyes to see a standing Nate, smiling triumphantly at himself.

I pushed myself up with one arm. "What are you doing?"

His eyes flickered to my face and he grinned like he won the lottery. "My ankle doesn't hurt anymore."

The skeptical look on my face said more than enough.

"I'm serious," he quickly said. "I walked a bit this morning and didn't feel anything."

I rolled my eyes and got up, grabbing some blueberries with my free hand. They kind of help with the morning breath. That's another thing to add to my list-of-things-to-do-once-I-get-back-to-civilization: brush my teeth.

Nate was already walking ahead of me and I scurried to catch up. I don't think he took much notice to me because the branches he pushed by kept flying back in my face.

"Can you please watch it," I said in annoyance when another branch flung at me, nearly taking my eye out.

Nate turned around. "What?"

Not seeing him stop, I didn't stop walking and bumped into him. I stumbled a few steps back after knocking into his surprisingly hard chest.

"Ow," I grumbled.

"You should watch where you're going. You might hurt someone," Nate snickered, rubbing his chest in fake hurt.

I felt around my nose for any bruises. "Says the one who tripped and fell over nothing."

"There were branches all over the floor!"

"Mhm," I said doubtfully and pushed past Nate. Maybe if we walked far enough today we might make it out of the forest.

The sound of leaves crunching behind me told me that Nate was following close behind.

"Do you have any idea where 

you're going?" Nate asked worriedly.

"Nope," I told him. At this point, I wasn't worried about finding direction anymore. It didn't really matter which way we were headed as long as we didn't walk in circles and also because I was not about to just sit around and hope for a miracle.

"Maybe we should stop and make a plan," Nate suggested behind me.

"No way," I said immediately. Like I just said, I'd rather be on my feet than to sit around.

"What if we get even more lost?"

"I don't think we can get any more lost than we already are," I laughed. "Besides, we haven't been moving since the past two days. I'm getting itchy from too much inactivity."

"Do you want me to scratch that itch for you?" Nate teased. I could just imagine a smirk playing on his lips.

"When pigs fly," I replied shrewdly. "Now just focus on this trail."

We walked for a bit more. Thank goodness the trail wasn't going uphill or I would've been on the floor panting for my life right about now. Another thing that lifted my spirits was that it seemed like we hadn't been walking in circles. But then again, you can never tell. All these trees look the same - green and brown.

Nate and I were walking side by side now. Every once in a while I would see him looking at me from the corner of my eye, but I didn't look back at him. Instead, I kept my gaze straight forward and pretended to be oblivious to his excessive staring. After a while, I started feeling a bit uncomfortable under his gaze.