Understanding Teenagers

28: Ava's Cold Christmas Adventure

Ava's POV

I don't know why Sara wanted to go on a camping trip during Christmas Break, but here I was going along with it. My heart was hurting for Giselle. She wasn't doing anything for the holiday. All Jaxon wanted to do was work and didn't want to think about Christmas which meant there would be no celebration at their house. Dad certainly wasn't going to visit and neither was their mom. And nobody was really sure what was going on with Liam. To say the least, it was going to be a lonely Christmas. And Sara would not let me bring Giselle with her no matter how much I pleaded. The only thing I could do was make the best of it.

"How are you doing?" asked Sara who was in front of me with her hike pack on her back.

"I'm doing fine." Didn't realize there would be all this snow.

Yes, the higher up we got, the more snow there was. Thankfully, I did dress for the occasion, but crap I didn't think Sara was all that serious when she told me what to wear. With strong boots, my feet were able to take a step at a time and get through the snow. After about a couple hours we had finally reached the top. The surface was smooth and the scenery was admittingly beautiful. White was everywhere. Never had I seen this much white before. I must have taken a nap when we reached the top, because the next thing I knew, the tent was already set up. Just as she said, we would only need one tent.

"You feeling rested?" she asked over the crackling fire that was between us.

"Yeah, who knew a hike could be so tiring?"

I was grateful for the fire. At certain points during the hike, I felt like the freezing temperature would be the death of me. But with this nice and relaxing fire, my feet were slowly cooling with my hands being able to move again. A complete silence surrounded us in the moonlight. Not a soul to be found except us. Things were a little awkward for a bit as we made s' mores. Not a word was said unless you count smiling at each other as talking.

"Wouldn't it be cool if Imagine Dragon had a show out here?" asked Sara trying to break the awkward silence.

"I guess that would be pretty cool. And Taylor Swift could headline."

She laughed. "Big fan of Taylor Swift?"

"I mean I guess I am a little. I used to sing along to that one song 'You Belong With Me' every time it was on the radio."

She immediately zoomed into her tent and came back out with her ukulele which made me wonder how she was able to fit it in her hiking pack. She found herself sitting right next to me.

"You sing and I'll play along. I've been getting pretty good at playing."

My face started blushing. "Crap, I can't sing. I'll just listen to you play."

"Don't be shy dude. We were all singing in the car after the concert. I heard your voice. You were amazing."

"But I'm not really much of singer."

"You just told me you sang along to Taylor Swift in the car. Come on, just humor me. Stop doubting yourself and just sing."

Why was she forcing me to do this? But I guess if there was nobody else around, I could sing one song. Nobody was around to hear the tree fall in the forest. Within a second, Sara began playing. Not going to lie, she was almost like an expert. Crap, she was an expert. Before I knew it, I found myself singing with my eyes closed.

"You're on the phone with your girlfriend

She's upset

She's going off about something that you said,"