Hypnotized to Fall in Love

Chapter 6

Carl's parents chose a place with animals lurking around. They didn't see any animals but Carl saw something move in the bushes.

"That's why I don't like camping. The wild animals. They could bite me or try to kill me or something."

Ross sighed.

"They're not going to do anything to you."

"Do you remember the snake that bit me? It took three weeks before my wound healed."

Ross looked at Wendy, shrugging. Carl gave his parents a menacing look.

"I hate you!"

Carl ran back the way they came from. After a while he stopped, exhausted. He wanted to run back to his parents when suddenly, a snake slithered towards him. He stared at the snake, scared and helpless. Then, he remembered something from a book he read after the snake bite. "Don't act scared when a snake comes. Just walk away from there." Carl walked away from the snake. When he turned around, he couldn't see it anymore and ran back to his parents.

"This snake didn't bite me."

Carl's parents looked both shocked and happy. They hugged him.

"We're so proud over you", Ross said.

Wendy smiled.

"Yeah, very."

The tent was set up and they got in. At night, it was warmer in the tent than outside. Carl looked out of the tent window. The full moon was shining bright. Two bats were flying around above a tree in the dry, windy air. He lit up.

"Look! Bats!"

Wendy and Ross also came to the window. Wendy looked at them, impressed.

"They can fly really well."

Ross nodded.

"And they look cool."

Carl liked camping now. Everything that he hated before didn't seem so bad anymore. He picked up one of the comic magazines from his backpack. "Donald Duck". Ever since he was a little kid, he'd loved to read Donald Duck. He laughed at the jokes and the plot. When it was time to go to sleep, he looked at the stars from outside the tent window. He felt like he'd got a whole new life. A life that involved, romance, no fears and happiness. And he loved it.

The next day, Carl woke up by a singing voice. First, it sounded like Courtney, but when he was wide awake, he heard who it was. Ross. How could he get tricked like that in his sleep? Weird, he thought. He sang "She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain". Ross looked at Carl who stared at him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing..."

Carl didn't want to tell his dad about the cringe dream he had. First Courtney sang, then it was his dad in reality.

"Didn't you like the song?"

"I like the song, okay? I just had a weird way of waking up."

Ross nodded.

"I understand."

Carl looked out of the window to see if there was any new animals there. But it wasn't. Wendy, that recently woke up, saw Carl looking out of the window, waiting for the animals.

"They're probably asleep this early in the morning."

"Yeah... I want to come home, I already miss it there."

"Me too."

Ross came behind them, in the middle.

"So, why don't we go to the bus now, then? I looked at the bus schedule yesterday and the bus will come 10 a.m. today, in an hour. We better hurry up."

"Agreed", Wendy and Carl said in choir.

They took the tent down and put it in the suitcase. Then, Carl remembered something. He looked at the cooler and then at his parents, worried.

"But... what about breakfast?"

Wendy patted Carl on the shoulder.

"We can eat it on the bus. Come on now, let's go."

They ran to the bus the fastest they could and came right on time. The bus came one minute after they arrived.

When they came home again, Carl had many missed phone calls and messages. It was from all the girls in the school, each one had a different message and voicemail. Carl groaned, tired of the obsession the girls had over him. He thought they stopped but then, they came back. Lizzie wrote "Carl, my love" in a message and said "You're the only one for me" in a voicemail. And that was just one of them. Courtney hadn't sent or called anything. But that was because she knew that he was on the camping trip with his parents. He turned off the notifications and took a deep breath. What would happen next day at school? Would they chase him just like they did the first day of their hypnosis? What if they would try to steal him from Courtney? But that wouldn't work, anyway. And they wouldn't be able to tell him lies about Courtney either because he'd never be that gullible. Courtney would never betray Carl. He called her to tell her about the camping trip. She picked up her phone from the bedroom desk and answered.

"Hey, Carl."

"Hey, Courtney. Would you mind if I told you everything about my camping trip?"

"No, not at all."

Carl told her about the camping trip with his parents and it took at least eight minutes.

"Wow... That seems fun."

"Yes, it was."

"Could I come over to you today?"

"Sure!"

"Okay, I'm coming now. Bye!"

"Bye, Courtney!"

Courtney turned off the call and rushed out of the house. She took her bicycle to Carl and rang on the doorbell. Carl ran to the door and opened. Courtney walked into the hallway and hugged Carl, very suddenly. Carl hugged her back, a little shocked by the sudden hug. He could smell her mint perfume.

"You smell like mint."

"Yeah, it's my perfume."

Carl smiled happily at Courtney.

"Wow, it smells exactly like "After Eight".

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Consider me flattered. After Eight is so yummy."

"I agree!"

Courtney took her shoes off and followed Carl into his room. She looked around. He had a shelf full of books in sorted categories/authors. A zebra-patterned carpet was lying on the floor.