I woke with a start to the morning bell. I think that loud annoying noise was the worst part of this Fort. I got dressed and climbed off of my bunk bed. Diane was already up and double checking her backpack. I kept glancing at the door in excitement. I blinked as I realized that the chain lock on the door was done up. Why did she lock the door?

I suddenly heard Trish's voice, "Oh! What? Who? Uh.... Diane! Are you responsible for this?!"

I giggled quietly, would she admit to it? Diane chuckled and went to the door, unlocked it and opened it. I glanced past Diane to see Trish still lying in bed, staring up at the poster that hung halfway between her bed and the ceiling. Diane leaned on the doorframe with a grin, "You can blame me for the chips, but you might want to give Nathan a big hug and a kiss for the poster."

I tilted my head, what had Nathan done? I would have to ask Diane later.

Trish rolled out of bed and gave Diane a hug, "Thank you! Now, how do I get these chips off easily?"

I chuckled quietly, what was it with people here and junk food? I could barely look at it and they treated it like a rare treat. Diane stood on Trish's bed to untie the chips and lightly tossed them to Trish. She then brought down the poster and leaned it against the wall.

We headed down to the mess hall. We were almost there when Nathan appeared around the corner. Trish took off at a run, "Thank you for the present!" just before she wrapped him in a tight hug and planted a kiss on his cheek. I squeaked and covered my eyes, didn't she know that kissing a boy could give you cooties?! I clearly remember Auntie telling me to cover my eyes whenever I saw a couple kissing.

I peeked between my fingers to see that they had finished kissing. Nathan looked somewhat confused as he held out a small box of chocolates, "You're welcome. I also got you this."

Trish promptly threw her arms around him and gave him another kiss. I quickly covered my eyes again. I heard Diane chuckling and glanced up at her to see her grinning at my reaction. The two lovebirds finally separated and we went into the mess hall.

Oh, they had a salad with some sort of raspberry vinaigrette dressing. My mouth watered as I took a large helping of that. I put a few more things on my plate then followed Diane to our regular table. Trish sat beside me. I had realized the other day that Diane was trying to get me to trust Trish. It was hard, I was really nervous and shy around anyone except for Diane. I couldn't seem to help it.

I glanced at Trish out of the corner of my eye as she was sipping her coffee. I had to start somewhere I guess, and if Diane wanted me to trust her... Baby steps counted, right? I slowly took a deep breath while gathering up my courage. I noticed Diane glance at me as she somehow sensed my nerves. I put a brave face on and turned my head to look at Trish.

Trish noticed me turn my head and she looked at me in curiosity. The others at our table were also looking at me. I felt like I was on a stage in the spotlight with so much attention. I didn't like the feeling. My voice was soft, but I couldn't get it any louder considering how nervous I was, "Trish, how did you meet Nathan?"

There. I did it. I had actually spoken to someone besides Diane without them speaking to me first. I felt Diane relax slightly next to me and she had a slight grin on her face. That alone made me feel as if I had achieved an award.

Trish grinned at me, "We met in this Fort. It was actually at the Christmas party last month. He came over and asked me for a dance and simply never let go of my hand."

From the growing smirk on Diane's face, I somehow doubted it was as simple as she was making it out to be. Matthew was also at the table, he raised his eyebrow at Trish, "I think you are forgetting to mention the weeks of meals where you two snuck looks at one another before you actually spoke with one another."

I stared in fascination as Trish's face turned bright red. I had never seen someone's face turn that red before. Trish looked at Matthew with wide eyes, "Who told you that?!"

Matthew threw a pointed glance at Diane. Diane's smirk grew noticeably as they looked at her. Trish's jaw dropped, "What did you tell him?! I thought I could trust you!"

Diane slowly took a sip of her tea as if trying to build the suspense before she answered with a grin, "I simply told him to watch you when Nathan happened to be in the mess hall. Whatever conclusions he drew were his own."

Trish was speechless as she stared at Diane. Nathan started chuckling, "Did you point us out to everyone?"

Diane shook her head with a grin, "I didn't have to. It was quite obvious to anyone who looked at you two. Between Trish's face resembling a tomato and you watching her with that expression on your face, anyone who knew you two knew what was going on."

Nathan just grinned unashamedly while Trish turned even redder. Trish shook her head, "Just wait until you find a guy and I can tease you endlessly."

Diane looked unfazed and just grinned at her. I finished the last of the food on my plate and shortly after Diane led me out of the mess hall. It had actually been kind of fun to get a rise out of Trish like that. I wonder if I would be able to do it again in the future.

It was just Diane and me in the hallway. I was trailing behind her slightly, just a bit to the side so I could see past her. I kept running Nathan's reaction through my mind from this morning. I looked up at Diane, although I wasn't able to see her face since I was behind her.

"Diane, how come Nathan looked so confused when Trish thanked him for the poster?"

Diane glanced back with a wide grin, "Because he knew nothing about it. The more humorous part is that Trish thanked him for the 'present', so now he has to try and figure out what I gave her without letting her figure out that it was actually me."

I giggled as I finally understood. Diane had her fun by surprising Trish, and now she got to watch as Nathan tried to figure out what she did without letting Trish in on it.

Diane's voice was laced with amusement as she continued, "What will be even more interesting is when he sees that poster of himself since he has no idea that that picture even exists. He thought his groupmate was playing around with an old broken camera they have when he was posing. He didn't realize that it was a different camera that actually worked."

I did a small dance with excited energy. How did she manage to pull all of that off with no one realizing it? Diane glanced back at me once more and I was intrigued by the fact her eyes seemed brighter with her amusement.

We rounded the corner and I recognized the hallway, it was the one by the classroom. Diane greeted Agatha and after a few minutes she left me with the teacher. Today went much like yesterday with various short lessons. I got to know Elisa and Mark better. Elisa was full of energy while Mark was quiet and more serious. You generally had to start speaking with Mark if you wanted to talk with him, otherwise he was silent. I guess the two of us were alike in that aspect.

Diane was true to her word and arrived before Elisa or Mark had been picked up by their family. We headed to the shower while I told her about my day. Diane had gone scouting to the east to try and find good patches of surviving greens under the snow. Apparently she did this every day in winter. It sounded really interesting. I wished that I could join her one day, but I had watched her run laps during the evening and I knew I didn't have a chance of keeping up.

After our shower Diane led me down another hallway. She introduced me to the hairdresser and we both got a haircut. Diane just got a trim, her wavy brown hair was now just below her shoulder blade. I got my hair cut like hers, but shorter. I had long bangs that I could tuck behind my ears, which I really liked. Hopefully my shorter hair meant that there would be no more knots in my hair.

We headed down for supper. I listened to the others talk, occasionally answering a question if someone spoke to me. I couldn't quite bring myself to start a conversation, so I savored my food instead. They were all discussing a wedding that was coming up. It sounded like there were a few couples being married and they just wanted a small quiet wedding with food and dancing. Trish, John, and Nathan were doing most of the talking. Diane listened more than anything else. I somehow doubted that the wedding truly interested her.

I blinked as a strange blonde haired lady sat down across from Diane. She had a tea biscuit and cup of tea. The new lady was soon being bombarded with questions about the wedding. From the sounds of it, she must be the one planning everything. Trish wanted to know every detail about the bride's dresses, while Nathan and John grinned at them. The lady eventually turned to Diane with a grin, "By the way, you are being conscripted the day before the wedding to help."

Diane stiffened in surprise and looked like she was making plans on how she could escape this lady. Diane shook her head, "Uh... I hate to break it to you, but I know next to nothing about planning weddings and I know nothing about dresses."

Trish started snickering. The lady took a bite of her biscuit, "I know. I am after more flowers. I approached most of the Foraging Group Leaders, but they all told me more or less the same thing. They only see a handful of flowers each day, and once picked, they only last two days at most. I mentioned you managed to find an entire black garbage bag by yourself in one morning and they all agreed that you would have known of the best patches. They all agreed that the flowers are spread out enough that a vehicle is of no real help and that you were the best at long distance running and endurance since you are always out scouting."

Diane relaxed a bit and looked like she was thinking, "Okay... Are you after live flowers, dried flowers, or bright colored branches...?"

They talked for a while discussing what the lady was after and what might be available in the middle of winter. Eventually the lady left. Trish and John still seemed amused by Diane's original reaction when she thought she was being asked to help with a wedding dress. I couldn't imagine Diane in a dress, I had only ever seen her in the golden brown leather outfit that all Foragers wore. I had seen some others change into jeans and other normal clothes in the evening, but many wore their outfits all the time.