Ch 37: Into the Woods

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It's three in the morning.   And it's a Saturday.  Let me rephrase...it's three a.m. on a Saturday and I'm at school!!  My parents drew straws last night for who would drop me off today and Henry drew the short one.  I laughed so hard-- that's what you get for calling me Booger!! I always complain about it to him, but secretly I love the nickname.  I love all the nicknames my parents gave me and the new ones my friends have given me. The nicknames make me feel part of something, part of a family, of friendship. Those things were very rare to me as a child and now I treasure them.

"Booger, be safe. No wandering off in the woods. You'll be eaten by bears. Look there's one now!" He says pointing at Silas.

I smack his shoulder, "Dad! That's my friend."

"You sure he's in high school, he's so tall! What do they have in the water here?"

"Nothing good, because he drank water from Greece."

We both get out of the car and my dad goes around the back to take out my stuff. One duffle bag full of my clothes and toiletries, a pillow and a sleeping bag.

"Ladies and gentleman get your stuff in and your butts on the bus!" Ms. French yells and blows her whistle a couple times for emphasis.

This camp out is only for the Sophomores and despite there being over 400 in my graduating class it looks like only about 50 signed up for this trip. I spot my friends and rush over with my bag hanging off my shoulder, sleeping bag under one arm and pillow under the other.

Silas helps me put them in the under compartments of the bus and I start to greet everyone.  All my friends are here except Victor.  He had mentioned a concert and I hope he does well, but I'm going to miss getting to spend time with him this weekend.

Once my bags are in North and Luke start loading theirs.  I see that Luke also has a small backpack that he didn't put under the bus. I hope he has snacks in there!

"Sang, want to sit next to me on the bus?" Nathan asks.

"Sure" I tell him and we start to walk over to the door to get in. I hear Gabriel grumble behind me, "I wanted to sit next to Sang."

Luke slaps him on the back, "You snooze you lose."

We get on the bus and Nathan slips in, taking the window seat and I sit next to him. Kota takes the seat across the aisle and Luke and Gabriel sit behind me.

"Oy! Sang, want to sit next to me on the way back?"

"You can't call it so early!" Nathan insists.

"Of course I fucking can! So Sang?"  Gabriel retorts giving Nathan a glare.

"Sure, I'll sit next to you on the way back." I tell him.

"Good. Now, face forward so I can fix this hair of yours"

He starts fixing my hair by first taking the clip out, then he starts to comb it with his fingers and separate it into pieces. I think he's starting a french braid. I'm glad he's not insisting on leaving it down. Camping with my hair down would be a nightmare!

"North, be a darling and help me with my things" I hear Jade out the window. I didn't think she'd come on this trip. She seems more fit for 'glamping'.

I look out the window and hear North grunt then roll his eyes at Silas who is helping other students put their bags away. He walks over to Jade and grabs all four of her large brown bags with little gold designs on them and tosses them into the compartment without any regard for their safety.

"What the fuck, North! That's Louis Vuitton luggage!!"  She exclaims.

Her twin brother Jay walks by and puts his one bag in then turns to his sister, "That's why you don't take designer shit on camping trips. You know how dirty they're going to be by the time we get back?"

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