ISOLATION

Day 5

"Scar, wake up! The scavenger hunt starts in forty five minutes!" someone said as they shook me out of my slumber.

I groaned, sitting up and stretching, instantly feeling terrible from lack of sleep thanks to yet another nightmare. Dakota was kneeling on the floor watching me carefully.

"We let you skip breakfast because you needed more sleep. I grabbed you an apple," she said, handing the apple to me.

"Thanks, Dak!" I smiled at her.

I went into the bathroom and changed out of my pyjamas and into my high waisted black running tights, a black nike crop top and my Nike running shoes. After pulling my long hair into a high ponytail I walked out, joining the rest of the girls in the centre of the campsite.

My eyes were instantly drawn to Lauren, as if she had some beacon of light that made it impossible not to see her. She was wearing a baggy T-shirt and loose running shorts, her signature baseball cap sitting on top of her head. I drew my gaze away from her before she could notice and no doubt make a snide comment, focusing on the stone pavement below my feet.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen. Scavenger hunt time!" Mrs Cade called out as she walked over to us. "I will be picking the pairs so don't get too comfortable with your friends."

"Now the winners of this scavenger hunt will have the opportunity to meet with the Dean of Federation Square University. He values cooperation and skill, something that you will be showing in today's activities," she continued on.

Mrs Cade pulled out a clipboard and began to call out names, pairing people off for the Scavenger Hunt.

"Shannon and Logan, Peter and Callum, Karina and Louise, Ellen and Abigail."

I stood there staring at the ground until my name was called.

"Scarlet and Lauren."

"No!" I said instantly, and everyone's eyes snapped to me.

"No, what? Miss James..." Mrs Cade said.

"I'm not working with Lauren," I stated, but she just tutted at me.

"Yes you are. This is the perfect opportunity for you two to get to know each other properly and work out your differences," Mrs Cade smiled, and I bit my tongue to stop myself from responding.

Lauren and I made our way over to the table to grab our compasses, maps and kits.

"Don't talk to me unless you absolutely have to," I snapped at her, and she smiled cheekily at me.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," she grinned evilly at me, but I just ignored her.

We looked at the instructions on our map and saw that the starting point was on the other side of the campsite. We walked together silently, desperate to finish this scavenger hunt as quickly as possible.

"It says to go north," Lauren said, pointing at the instructions.

"I know, but you're using the compass wrong. You've got it pointing west!" I told her, pointing out her mistake.

"No, I've got it pointing north!" she argued back at me.

"No you don't! It's pointing west!" I snapped at her, and she ripped the map out of my hands.

"I'm not wrong, so just follow me and keep your mouth shut!" she spat at me, turning around and walking in the wrong direction.

I rolled my eyes and walked after her, knowing fully that we were going the wrong way. After fifteen minutes of walking Lauren sighed angrily, pulling out the map and compass, studying them frustratingly.