Rise

Chapter 7

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If you can't get someone out of your head,

maybe they're supposed to be there.

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It was dark by the time we got back to the campsite. We stumbled out of the trees, laughing. My stomach hurt from it.                                   

I was gasping for air as I placed a hand on Han's shoulder to steady myself, so that I didn't fall to the ground and die of laughter. "He--he just--" I couldn't even finish my sentence. I closed my eyes, laughing even harder. Han's shoulder moved beneath my hand as he laughed too.

Luke staggered out of the jungle, looking irritated but also not being able to contain his laughter. He came up to me and Han, telling us it wasn't that funny but then laughing after he said it.

What had happened was: me and Han had conspired to scare Luke. Han, when Luke hadn't been watching, had crept into the bushes up ahead of us. I pretended to think that something had taken Han, and me and Luke continued forward through the forest. At some point, Han jumped out from behind a tree and scared the living daylights out of Luke.

He'd jumped literally 5 feet into the air! And I'd never heard a guy scream so girlish-ly. Luke had ran away, and then come back once he'd realized what was up.

And me and Han still couldn't get over it.

"Don't do that to me again!" Luke exclaimed, obviously trying to hide a smile.

Han let out a bark of laughter, shaking his head. "Kid, if I'd known I'd get that reaction out of you, I would've done it way sooner. No, I'm definitely going to do that again," he chuckled.

    Letting my hand slip off of Han's shoulder, I turned to look at Luke as we walked over towards our tents. "Sorry Luke, but you gotta admit; that was perfect."

Luke rolled his eyes, but as I turned back around, I saw a ghost of a smile on his face.

    Standing around the campfire as we warmed up, I looked around at the landscape. This place was just as beautiful at night as it was in the day. The breeze smelled of pomegranates, and there were countless stars shining up above.

    I looked back at our campfire, then back up at the stars, and at the fire again.

    Was this what friends did? I thought so. I mean, you didn't invite someone you didn't like on a camping trip.

    Looking up, I see Han's bright eyes trained on Luke as he repeated, for the tenth time, what Luke had looked like when he'd been spooked. I see Luke's smile as he continues to laugh, and as I watched them both, I felt my heart get a weird fuzzy feeling.

    I watched them, feeling a happiness like honey spreading through me. A strange light, weightless feeling took over, and I was on wings in that one instant.

    As I glanced back up at the serene night sky, I got an idea. I stepped forward, shaking them both by their shoulders. "Hey, guys. I have an idea. Let's go stargaze in that meadow over there!" I pointed at the meadow, which was a small hike away from where we were. It'd be a perfect place to lay on your back and watch the stars.

    Their gazes lit up, and I felt a weird rush of euphoria as I realized that they liked my idea, and that they were willing to do stuff with me.