Never Cheat With Fire ; Jokestar Book 5

Trailing Behind

Kasai sighed as she twirled her hair in boredom. The sun was starting to set and no one else had showed up, well except Willow, Harp, Lil and Sierra to wish them luck and to not get eaten by something in the woods.

"You sure that they're coming Ian?" She asked, looking over to him who was standing on a rock looking out to the path that lead up to the end of the reserve, before they had to cross over the fence.

"They damn should be. Elise is bringing the marshmallows so she better show up." He said before shouting slightly. "I see them! Or someone, I don't know! It's a person!"

Kasai stood up, heaving her backpack up with her. She walked over next to Ian and put her hand up to block the yellow rays of the sun to look down the dirt path. Sure enough a small group of teens were walking down the path towards them.

Ian looked over to Kasai and could see she was getting nervous. He stepped down from his rock and flicked her hair to get her attention, he gave her a comforting grin before grabbing his bag and waving to the group.

"Yo guys! Ready for a sunset hike?" He said with a wink. He turned around and jumped over the weathered wooden fence that was meant to block the path to the cliff they were headed to.

No one really questioned how legal this was though and all followed him over. Cole walked slow with Jay under his arm while she had a blanket around her shoulders. Sage was talking to Elise, giggling to themselves while Ian poked fun at them while leading the group. Kasai hung at the very back of the group, scared to talk to anyone or even make herself noticed.

"Hey." Kasai bit her lip and turned to her right. Lucas was shuffling next to her.

"H-Hey." She muttered, there was an awkward pause before anyone spoke again.

"So, how's it been?" He asked, clearly struggling to make conversation. Though he may as well of said 'how's the weather been?'

"It's been fine." She said bluntly. Clearly upset no one bothered to talk to her, except Ian and her new friends. "You?"

"Been better." He said, looking to the ground. "Heard you been sitting detention? Skipping class?"

"How'd you know?" She snorted.

"I know you wouldn't do anything rebellious, except that. You're a good girl."

"Thanks I guess." She looked over to him, "Heard you've been drinking again."

"Heh, and how'd you know?" He chuckled, returning her look.

"I can smell it on you. You also smell like chlorine and spaghetti." She said screwing up her nose in disgust.

"You're not wrong." He casually shrugged. "I went swimming and had spaghetti for lunch."

"I wish I was." Once again they entered a awkward silence.

That remained the theme for most of the trip until Sage tripped and Kasai helped her up, sparking a conversation. Staring with Sage apologises for not talking to her, though she just used Shaun as an excuse. It sounded that way anyway.

Then Elise joined us and the pair kind of took over the conversation, though it was better than being awkward with Lucas. As the continued to walk Kasai looked out across the path to face the town. They were just above it all and they weren't even at the peak yet. It was kind of chilling to see how small you really are compared to everything else, yet seeing it all from here did make her feel a slight adrenaline rush of sorts.

Finally the group stopped and in front of them was a small clearing before entering the forest on the right. To the left was the cliff face, looking out to the setting sun behind Crystal Springs. Everyone began unpacking their equipment. It was a struggle to get the tents up, Ian brought these fancy ones from somewhere in the dark depths of his house so no one knew how to use them. Until Elise found the manual in the side pocket of Ian's bag.

Once the two tents were up they all went to the edge of the forest to gather firewood, no one dared to go too far in. Not further than the sunlight grasped at least. Everyone chucked it into a pile between the two tents. Sage and Lucas even moved over some logs and stones as sitting stools. And now the moment Kasai dreaded;

"So... Wanna light it up Kasai?" Ian said, everyone looked over to her in excitement. She felt a sudden sense of panic wash over her. They were right next to a forest on top of a mountain with no help unless they walked or ran another two hours and they wanted the her, the dangerous wreck, to try and light a fire?

Kasai took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She looked around at everyone. There was no way she was getting out of this. She sighed, no point fighting it. She stared at the clump fire wood on the dirt, feeling her hands begin to heat up. She closed her eyes and snapped her fingers, breathing out at the same time. Then she heard shouting. She opened her eyes, fearing for the worst before realising they were cheering. She did it. She actually did.

She laughed the way you do when you're scared out of your mind. She pushed her hair out of her face before leaning forward and burying her face in her hands. She couldn't believe she- she, she actually did it.

"Nice one Minty!" Ian said, patting her on the back as he walked past. She lifted her head up to see where he was going before starting to laugh.

"Now, who wants smores?"