treat you better - alejandro rosario

chapter 24: talissa

the bus pulls over to a camping site in which i assume we are staying. the bus doors open as a lady wearing boots and a hiking backpack steps in.

'hello everyone, my name is karen,' she introduces herself. 'it is my personal mission to get to know you guys individually and inform you of the dangers and fun of the wilderness.'

'she has the karen haircut and everything,' ximena leans in and whispers to me. 'she's mentally screaming for the manager,' i say, making us both giggle. we then stop to hear what she's saying.

'when you all get off, i want you to form groups of eight folks each,' she states. 'these are the people you are going to share a cabin with.' she says. it was me, mattia, roshaun, alejandro, ximena, alvaro, and robert. we look at eachother as if we shared the same mischievous expression.

we stepped off of the bus to group together. 'we only have seven people,' ximena states. 'that means we have to share with someone,' alvaro states. 'no shit big brains,' alejandro implies, making us giggle.

'no but seriously, who do we share with?' i ask. we look over at one another. everyone had already gotten into groups and there was just one person who was without a group.

talissa

why? literally why? that's exactly my luck. the girl who i thought was my best friend, then who sleeps with my boyfriend is the one who ends up in my group. amazing.

i shook these thoughts out of my head. i want this to be a good trip, right? think positive, girl. it might not be that bad, maybe we can rekindle our relationship.

talissa starts to walk over here, and i feel myself tense up. if snakes had legs and a fake smile, that is what they'd look like.

'hey guys! hey atlas,' she says approaching me and extending her arms out for a hug. i oblige and hug her back. 'i missed you,' i whisper to her. 'me too,' she whispers back before releasing from the hug.

'so i think you guys already know that i don't have a group.' she states. i manage to see mattia roll his eyes from the corner of my vision. i give him a stern look. he mouths sorry to me.

'feel free to be with us then,' i say. 'i was gonna try to be your friend again anyways,' i say. i hear alejandro smack his teeth from behind me, making me extend my hand behind me to pinch his arm. 'great then,' she says with a smile. the smile didn't seem pretty genuine to me. but then again, it could just be my interpretation that made me feel this way.

maybe i was in the wrong for the whole falling out of out friendship. i do tend to over exaggerate at times, so maybe i accidentally let it get the best of me. after all, they were drunk when her and zach were making out.

upon entering the cabins, i see four bunk beds. i run up to the one in the back corner and throw my purse onto the top bunk. 'dibs!' i announce.

everyone else starts claiming theirs. alejandro claims the one underneath me, as mattia and roshaun share a bunk, roshaun being on the top, and mattia on the bottom. alvaro shares one with ximena, with ximena being on the top. robert volunteered to share with talissa, but of course he'd be the one on the top bunk.

we were instructed to get into our swimming suits, and so we did so. i wore a black one-piece, and then we headed out to a pond.

'if you ever get stranded in the woods and you come across a pond, here is how you can make a meal off of the contents of the pond,' karen states. she demonstrates to us how to hand-craft a fishing net. we grab the materials and sit at a bench. talissa comes over and picks the spot next to me.

i finish my fishing basket early. 'damn atlas, how did you finish so fast?' robert asks. 'experience,' i state. 'just kidding i have no idea what i'm doing,' i state.

'i think ximena knows what she's doing,' alejandro states, making us all look over at her. 'oh yeah, arts and crafts is my cup of tea. she says. 'same!' i say. 'i once crocheted a scarf out of ramen noodles,' i say. 'how the fuck did you do that?' alvaro asked. 'first of all, watch that mouth,' i say. 'and also, i was just bored at a chinese restaurant so i picked up the chopsticks and used them as the hooks.'

once we finish, karen instructs us to get into the pond and shows us how to collect the fish. she shows us how to check behind rocks, seagrass, etc. 'by the way,' karen starts. 'biggest catch will be tonight's dinner.'

and so we dug through the pond. all i ended up finding was a sea urchin, which was pretty much useless, and a small crab.

after changing into our hiking gear, we then took a walk around the area as a class. there were waterfalls, lakes ponds, anything you could imagine. it was quite the experience.

'how was your first night on the trip?' karen asks us, as we eat our dinner at the wooden benches.

'make sure you leave some space for s'mores later tonight,' she says. it was pitch black, probably 9:00. the whole day was pretty eventful. i love s'mores, so that would be the highlight of today.

'y'all do know i'm the one that caught this fish, right?' ximena asks.

'cap,' i say.

'girl no you did not,' mattia says.

'you guys are mean to me and for what?' ximena asks.

'you're just an easy target,' alvaro says.

'it's your reaction that makes it funny,' alejandro says.

ximena takes a small piece of fish from off her plate and throws it at alejandro, hitting his nose. he takes a piece of crab and throws it, making it hit her eye. mattia and robert also throw a piece of their food at her. i throw one back at robert as alvaro throws one at mattia. alvaro takes a piece of fish from my plate and puts it in robert's hair. he doesn't even notice it, and we all start laughing. i take out my phone and start recording him.

'guys, what's so funny?' he asks. 'there's fish in your hair!' i say while laughing. he quickly swipes it out of his hair. 'y'all are immature,' he says. 'um, and you aren't?' ximena says. 'bro why is ximena always instigating?' mattia asks. 'right!' roshaun agrees. 'child, that's just how i am,' she says. 'okay buddy,' alejandro says.

we all sit around the campfire in hiking chairs as karen tells us a personal story 'i'll be back baby, i just need to use the bathroom,' alejandro says as he gets up from the chair. 'be quick, i don't wanna be without you,' i say.

about three minutes later, i get a text from alejandro.

ale 🥰

hey baby :) could
you meet me at the
waterfall?

sure! i'll be there
in a minute.

i get up and start to make my way to the waterfall. 'where are you going?' alvaro asks. 'alejandro wanted to meet up with me by the waterfall,' i tell him. he smirks. 'have fun,'

my corner: ok guyssss next chapter is gonna be really cute so brace yourselves. hope you guys enjoy, and dont forget to vote.