Chapter Two

At the bottom of the stage, tables had been lined up with all the supplies needed for our camping trip. We had to figure out amongst us who and who shall carry what.

I decided to take charge, observing the supplies that were laid out on the tables and making a mental note on what we did and did not need.

"We all brought our own sleeping bags, right?" I asked the three of them. Zeke and Lucas nodded, but Nevaeh simply pointed to the floor where her belongings rested, refusing to look away from her phone.

I checked that off my imaginary checklist. I turned to face Lucas and pointed a finger at his chest.

"You," I said. "Can be in charge of food and drinks. Are you up for that?"

He nodded, his eyes lighting up. "I can do that!"

I motioned to the direction of the table full of foods meant to feed the hungry students. "They're all over there. Try to pack everything in nicely and neatly, thank you very kindly."

Lucas rushed over to fulfill his responsibilities while I faced Zeke, whose eyes kept looking the girls beside us up and down. I pursed my lips and placed my hands on my hips (You can tell that I'm frustrated because I just made a rhyme).

"Zeke," I tried my best not to make it sound as if I were whining. "Would you mind carrying the tent?"

He gave a tight and sarcastic smile, nodding yes. "Yep, for sure." He walked passed me to the tables behind us, grabbing a tent for us. He didn't seem pleased that he had to step away from the girls.

I sighed and looked around for Nevaeh, who had somehow disappeared already. I searched the large crowd of teenagers for the familiar blonde head, and found her mingling with a group of other cheerleaders, including my best friend Julia.

I made my way over to the group of girls, squeezing through the large pool of teens as I passed. I reached my group member, and watched as she rambled on about something to her friends. It was new to see her with her phone put away and to see her engaging in conversation. They watched her with curious eyes as she went into deep conversation, intriguing them with her story. I caught Julia's eye and sent her a wave. She smiled back returned the gesture, before returning her attention the her fellow cheerleader.

I tapped Nevaeh's shoulder, and she paused her speech to turn and face me. "Yes?"

"Zeke and Lucas already know what to do. Could you please pack some survival stuff? Such as matches, compass, rope, a tarp, things like that?" I pointing my finger to one of the tables. "Basically everything you can find on that table."

Nevaeh nodded. "Yeah, don't worry. I'll get to it."

She turned her back to me so that she could continue her conversation with her other cheerleading friends. I followed the dirt path back to the tables to continue my own packing.

I collected four small, portable stools, cutlery, toiletries, and some other necessities. I also offered to carry some of Lucas' things because carrying all that water and other drinks can get heavy.

Shortly after we had finished packing, our group gathered back together and Mr. Finlay and Holly were leading us to the start of the trail. They let the students check over their
supplies and equipment one more time before we all took off.

Holly motioned for all the students to follow her lead. We started off in a single line but it slowly morphed into an uneven blob. Everyone else grouped perfectly with their partners, but mine had found their way to the opposite sides of the line. Lucas at the back, looking very unsure of where to step. Nevaeh was beside him, though all her attention was given to her mobile device. Zeke was a few feet away from me, trailing after everyone else while trying to keep a conversation with two other girls.

I was stuck in the middle of a pack. It was tiring, trying to round the three of them together. I sighed and fell back a bit in line to grab hold of Zeke's elbow, interrupting his conversation by pulling him along with me to the back of the line where Nevaeh and Lucas walked.

"Hey," Zeke yanked his arm out of my grip. "What is wrong with you?"

"We need to stick together as a group," I explained. "Which is why I pulled us all closer to each other."

"The path is now on an incline as we go up the hill," We heard the faint calls of Mr. Finlay coming from the front of the line. "We'll be taking a slower pace to make sure everyone is comfortable with the speed we're travelling at."

"Let us breath, alright?" Zeke hissed at me, putting his hands up in defence. "This trip would be a lot better if you would just back off."

A gasp came from behind me, and I could hear Nevaeh's mummers of excitement as she held her phone up in the air, holding it up in different directions. "I just had one bar!"

The path had started to narrow and students were finally falling into a line of some sort of two by two. More rocks of different sizes started to appear on our path as the class continued walking on the uneven ground.

I clenched my jaw. "We need to follow the rules on this trip," I defended. "I'm doing my best to make sure we all have a good time!"

"Good time?" He exclaimed. "Not only has this trip just started, but you've been micro-managing us since this trip started!" He threw his hands in the air, turning away from me.

"Uh, guys-" Lucas tried to catch our attention.

"Because no one else was putting in any effort! I had to do something." I argued, getting closer in his small bubble of personal space.

Lucas waved his hand in between us. "Can we please just-"

"You made that assumption the moment we stepped off that bus," He said through gridded teeth. I could see his clenched fists, and his large build and tall stance was intimidating, but not intimidating enough.

"Guys!" Lucas hollered, jumping between the two of us with his small frame. "This whole 'team work' thing that Mr. Finlay keeps talking about isn't going to work if we all keep arguing-"

"A bar!" Each of our heads turned to see Nevaeh with her phone held up in the air. She was shifting dangerously close to the edge as she tried to reach a special spot for a signal.

I reached out to steady her. "Watch out-"

But her foot had already slipped, and she let out a yelp. She started to lose her balance, waving her hands trying to steady herself.

I quickly reached out and grabbed her forearm, trying to help her. Nevaeh twisted and flailed her arms, struggling against my grip as she tried to regain herself.

It happened very quickly, as her foot slipped again and she started leaning the other way. I brought both of my hands to her forearm, trying to pull her back only to have her yank me forward, causing my too to lose my balance.

I caught sight of Lucas watching us with a strange face as he gripped the sides of his head. "Ah!"

As a reflex, I reached out to grab hold of Zeke. He gripped my hand tightly, and I had hopped that his immense muscles would take action and pull the both of us back on the path. That is not what happened though, because the next thing I saw was him coming down with us, and that thought was scarier than the height.

I braced myself for the fall, crossing my arms across my chest as I began to tumble. I shut my eyes tightly, trying to ignore all the 'ouffs' and 'ouches' coming from me and my clumsy group members.

I hadn't realized how tense my muscles until I had come to a stop. I relaxed my body and heard the rustle of leaves beside me. I opened my eyes to see both Zeke and Nevaeh untangling themselves as they picked themselves off the ground. I did the same, brushing off some leaves and dirt that had found their way onto my clothing.

"Oh my god," Nevaeh clenched her heart, breathing heavily. "That was so scary."

I took a look at the hill we had just dropped from, and it was most likely a few good 10 metres high, lined with rocks, bushes, grass and dirt.

"Uh, guys?" Our eyes shifted upwards to see Lucas, waving his arms at us with freighting eyes. He kept looking between us and the rest of our class.

Our classmates hadn't noticed our tumble. They continued their trip, unfazed and unaware. They were getting further and further away from us. I pointed my finger in their direction, yelling directions at Lucas.

"Lucas!" I called, motioning towards our class in the distance. "Go get Mr. Finlay!"

"Stop them!" Lucas threw his hands at our classmates. "Yell at them!"

Nevaeh took her turn to yell a Lucas. "We're stuck! Lucas, get help!"

Our calls for help seemed to frighten Lucas, his eyes switching unsurely between us and his classmates that we're getting further by the second. But soon our shouts no longer mattered, because of all decisions that could have been made, he made the most stupid of them all. Crouching down to a log position, our voices quieted, before watching as he took his time to slowly descend to where we had fallen by rolling down the same steep, dirt hill.

The three of us were speechless as he came to a stop at our feet, where he gently sat up and looked at us, waiting for our reactions.

Zeke was the first of the three of us to say something. "What the hell was that?"

Lucas stuttered, playing with his hands as he tried to find a reasonable explanation for falling after us when we were calling for help. "Uh, I- I mean everyone else fell and I didn't know what to do because I usually follow everyone else-"

"You fell after us?" Nevaeh deadpanned, letting her arms fall limply to her side.

"I didn't know what else to do!" He exclaimed, raising his hands in defence.

I sighed and brought my sweaty and dirty palms to my face. What an icon, honestly.

"Map," I muttered and pulled my hands away from my face. I turned to Nevaeh. "Do you have the trail map?"

She swung her backpack off her shoulder so that she could dig through the bag. Zeke and Lucas watched in anticipation, both anxious to figure out what to do.

Nevaeh paused, before resuming her search through her belongings. She let out an exasperated sigh and a frustrated grunt as she looked up to meet my eyes. "I can't find it anywhere in here."

I pursed my lips, clenching a fist. "Are you sure you sure you even packed it?"

She hesitated, opening and closing her mouth as she tried to think of the right thing to say. "I mean I thought I packed everything we needed. I- I suppose I forgot it."

I felt my teeth pinch my bottom lip and my nails dig into my palm while I held the fist. I nodded. "Of course you suppose," I said, turning away from her only to be stopped by Zeke's protests.

"She forgot it," He raised his voice. "She packed everything else, but she forgot one thing. It's a map, Trinity let it go."

"That map," I emphasized. "Not only held the trail our class is following which would have helped us catch back up to them, but it also told us on what plants to avoid, how to identify them, and how to keep away certain animals from your site. That pamphlet she was supposed to bring was full of educational and valuable information" I finished.

"Oh well," he bellowed. "She didn't bring it. Nevaeh forgot it. What are you going to do? Yell at her? Lecture her?" He continued to defend the cheerleader.  "She can't do anything about it, none of us can. If it was so important maybe you should have been the one to bring it, after all you're the only one putting in 'effort' in this group."

With that he stormed away, pushing gently past Lucas in the direction which followed the path the rest of our class had headed. Nevaeh slung her bag back onto her back and kept her eyes trained on the dirt floor before rushing after Zeke. Lucas' eyes flashed between me and the other two, but he quickly made the decision to go after the duo, turning his back on me too.