We wandered around some more, looking for our way back. It was getting dark out, which was concerning. Nevaeh and Lucas were probably certain we had died by now. Either that, or we ditched them.

Zeke was also very committed to making sure he ignored every single thing I said. I tried making an effort to say something to him, but he let it all fly over his head as he continued to lead us. Neither of us had any idea where we were, but I trailed after Zeke in fear he would lash out if I tried to guide us.

"Do you know where you're taking us?" I tried asking for maybe the 134th time.

He snubbed me, not bothering to process what I had to ask. I didn't know what I was trying to do. I didn't know what he was trying to do, either. He could have been leading us in circles. Better yet, maybe he was leading us further away from camp and deeper into the forest.

I sighed in exasperation. "I don't know what more you want from me," I called. "What do I have to say for you to reply?"

"Apologize." He muttered.

I sent him a look, even though he couldn't see it. "Apologize for what?"

He stopped walking, causing me to bump into his back. He sent me a look over his shoulder that said you know what.

Okay, fine. I sort of did know why he was mad. But it wasn't my fault that insults could slip out my mouth faster than I could stop them! I get it, I'm petty. But I'm petty and proud!

"No way," I told him.

I watched him shrug. "Have it your way. I'll let silence keep you company."

I growled at him and crossed my arms. I was going to yell yet it suddenly occurred to me that it had been four days since we got lost. The rest of our grade should have finished their trip by now and be on their way back to the school. What if they left without us? Oh god, what if they didn't even know we were missing?

"Zeke!" I called. "What if our class left without us? Oh no, this can't be happening. We need to get back, now!" I tried tugging on his sleeve, to which he simply ignored.

"Zeke," I whined. I sighed in defeat. Fine. If an apology was what it was going to take, then so be it.

"Zeke, I'm s-" I stopped. It's not like I tried to stop, for some reason my mouth just didn't know how to form the word. "I'm s-so-" I bit my lip and cringed. This wasn't going very well.

I could see the corners of his lips curling in amusement. "Hm?"

I huffed before trying again. "I'm s-s-s-s-s-"

"You sound like a snake," He mumbled, but I could hear the grin in his voice, making me want to slap the expression off of his face.

I took another breath. Calm down, it's just one word. "I'm so-sorr-," I cursed myself silently. "I'm so... so... I'm so-soup."

"Soup..." he chuckled. "Apology not accepted."

"I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry!"

He let out a breathy laugh. "Thank you, finally. It took you long enough."

"Can you just communicated with me now?" I demanded. "We need to get back."

He shook his head and grinned. "I still can't believe you said sorry. This will be a great thing to hold against you in the future..."

"Zeke!" I shouted. "How do we get back?"

He shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?"

I groaned and looked away. There must have been a way for us to get back, right?

"Uh," I said. "What way is the sun setting?"

Zeke point to the right of us, where you could faintly see some light escaping from the East. The East! That was East!

I pointed frantically in the same direction as him, waving my finger around. "That's East!"

He blinked. "Okay... What do we do with that information?"

"We now have a sense of direction!" I cheered and tried to think. In what direction did the sun usually shine in the morning?

I pointed in one way, trying to trust my instincts. "I think we should go that way."

"Are you sure?" he asked me.

"Well, do you have any better ideas?" I asked, knowing he didn't as he kept quiet.

I took charge this time, knowing Zeke would follow after me. I could hear his footsteps behind me as he tried to keep up with me.

"So," I started. "Give me a good reason why I shouldn't choke you to death right now."

"What?" I could hear the confusion in his voice. Don't play dumb with me, boy!

"You're planning on murdering all us," I remarked calmly. "What do you plan to do with our bodies? Feed off our remains? is it because you know we'll never be found? Is that why you're willing to sacrifice the rest of us?"

"You're delirious, tough girl." I was glad to hear him call me by the nickname again.

I was still casually leading the way as I discussed him being a murderer. "If you plan on sacrificing, I would recommend at least keeping someone around. You know, so you can reproduce. Preferably me." My eyes widened as I realized what I said. "Not that it means anything, I simply like the idea of not being killed off."

"What are you even saying?" He demanded. I didn't even really know what I was saying at this point, to be honest. Maybe I was going insane.

"You're not slick," I threw him a look over my shoulder. "I've seen you sharpening those pointy sticks. I know what you're planning to do with them."

"And what am I planning to do with them?"

"Exactly what I just told you!" I replied. "You're going to stab everyone to death with those things."

I quickly glanced back at him to see his reaction. A look of confusion filled his features, until it slowly morphed into a look of humour, then back to confusion.

"I can't tell if you're being serious right now, or if you're just trying to get me to laugh."

"I'm as serious as can be!" I defended.

With that, he let out a laugh. "I can guarantee I most definitely am not going to be murdering anyone. How did you think I got those fish? I stabbed them. Best thing next to a net."

"Oh," I said. I felt kind of stupid. My idea was realistic, though! He very well could have been planning to murder us, and I was the only one picking up hints.

"You're a buzzkill." He muttered.

"And you're an idiot who wastes everyone's time." I spat back.

He let out a scowl. "This is exactly what I mean. You always find a way to get me worked up." He raked a hand through his hair. "I've got enough things at home to worry about, okay? This trip was supposed to my break, my time to relax. But look at us," He gestured to around us and let out a humourless laugh. "This is doing nothing but stressing me out more."

"Oh please," I said. "You're on the football, basketball, and anything else that ends with 'ball' team. You sleep with any girl you want. You hang out with people who actually like you. Girls want you, boys want to be you. I don't see much to dread."

He sent me a look that sent a shiver down my spine. "Thanks, Miss 'I defy gender norms', nice speech. I get things were hard for you too, and it took you a lot of work to be the first girl to make it onto an all-boys weightlifting team. It's iconic, I get it, but not everything is handed on a silver platter to me, either." He spat. "At least your family has money. My mom works her ass off to provide and I'm working my ass off too to get some sort of sports scholarship because I'm a dumb fuck who doesn't do shit in school. Don't act like you're the only one who deserves a medal for doing the most. I'm trying, too."

He looked away and stormed ahead, even though he had no idea where to go. A shadow of guilt passed over me and my shoulders dropped a bit. That turned into something personal for him, and maybe he wasn't ready to share that but it came out in his word-vomit of fury.

I let him stay ahead, making sure he was always in sight. He needed a break and some time to cool off, I got that. I just didn't know what I was going to say to him, or if I should even approach him again at all.

I slowly managed to catch up to him and tugged his arm. "I'm sorry."

He sighed and closed his eyes. "What for?"

I shrugged. "Being a pain, I guess."

He didn't say anything, instead, we continued to walk in silence until I broke it.

"Why do I easily irritate you?"

He hesitated. "I don't really know. I guess it's because I tried being nice to you, but in the end, you only ended up offending me more than reach time. It was getting on my nerve."

"What have I ever done to offend you?" I exclaimed.

He deadpanned. "You're kidding, right? You basically tried shaming me for sleeping with girls, which is totally wrong of you to do. I can do what I want, I don't need your condemnation or approval."

Alright, I'll give him that. As mad as I want to be her has a point. I don't have a say in what he does or doesn't do.

"Everything is a competition with you," He complained. "You always want to be the best. I don't get that."

I stayed quiet. I wanted to defend myself but the things he was saying were true, and I hated that.

"You need to be more mature," he told me. "I'm not trying to offend you, just letting you know. Please treat the people around you better."

"I'm not the mature one?" I exclaimed. "At least I'm not the one who- the one with- dumbass!"

Zeke ignored my failed insult. "Have you ever noticed that Lucas doesn't stutter anymore? Have you even consider that it's because he's found some comfort around us? Don't ruin that by being a dick."

Wait, really? I didn't notice a difference in the way he spoke. To me, it was all the same.

Before I could respond, water came into view and my eyes widened at the sight. Zeke was already on his knees dipping his clothes into the water. I sort of had forgotten the whole purpose of our little walk.

I waited for him to finish before he brought them back up and twisted the water out. Since we finally knew where we were, we took the path back to our tent. For the longest time, it seemed we were trapped in silence or something, but Zeke broke it.

"I know you think I'm all bronze because that's usually all anyone sees," He told me. "But sometimes it's nice to think I'm more than that."

The light of a fire could be seen and as we got closer I could see Nevaeh and Lucas standing near it. I almost felt guilty for leaving them alone for this long.

"You guys are finally back!" Nevaeh exclaimed, "We thought you two died or something!"

I smiled in the dark. "The chances of that are probably high. I'm surprised we aren't dead yet."

She smiled back, and for once, I was happy to be there.