Catching Fireflies

Twenty

A

I yawned while I stood in front of the school when a dozen other people with our duffel bags. We were waiting for the buses to come around to take us to wherever the camp place was. I stood alone not wanting to socialize anyway and Aiden went off somewhere else.

I spent time looking into what the camp trip was the night before, and it was nothing like I had expected at first. I was thinking tents and sleeping bags but what it actually was was practically an outdoor resort and everyone stayed in cabins with room partners. An area is rented out for everyone to hang out and sit around campfires and a lake down the road with a dock and seating area.

I was glad I checked because I would've packed very differently.

While I waited, I spotted Cris and her friends off in the distance walking their way towards the large group. My eyes perked up once I saw her and I briefly caught her gaze before she quickly looked away and talked with her friends. Isaac was attached to Maria's hip as always and Faith had her arm thrown around Cris's shoulders as they walked.

I hoped to catch her gaze again and send her a small smile, but that didn't happen until they merged themselves among the other students waiting and chatted with them. I watched Cris peel away from them and find some of the basketball girls nearby and stood alongside them.

I wasn't trying to be creepy as I watched her but I couldn't help but watch her as her eyes lit up and she smiled and laughed. Ever since I watched her dance along the grass the previous weekend, I couldn't stop thinking about her.

I wanted to kiss her again.

"Seniors on the first two buses please." One of the teachers announced and all of the seniors, including myself, all shuffled onto the bus. I took a seat towards the back and watched everyone else find their seats and sit down. I still had a seat empty next to me. I was somewhat thrilled to be able to sit by myself and listen to music without being bothered, but the chaperone for this bus saw the empty seat and announced that they could fit one more person on the bus.

I groaned to myself until I saw Cris step onto the bus. Her eyes landed on the spot next to mine and she walked over.

"Mind if I sit?" She smiled.

"It's not like there's anywhere else for you to sit." I winked and she rolled her eyes as she sad down and placed her small bag underneath her seat.

The bus driver assessed everyone on the bus and without another word he started the vehicle and we were all on our way to our small vacation while excused from school. Everyone got comfortable and entertained themselves with books, their phones, and music.

I glanced at Cris next to me and she already had her AirPods I both ears. Her volume was pretty loud since I was able to hear whatever music she was listening to. I leaned over and stole her right airpod and put it in my right ear.

"You interrupted the good part." She pouted. I chuckled and leaned over more to see the home screen of her phone to find out what she was listening to.

"Glass Animals?" I asked and she nodded slowly and opened her phone to show me her playlist that consisted of mainly Glass Animals and a few others from different artists.

"I'm currently obsessed at the moment." She said as she clicked on a different song and let it play in both of our ears. I had never heard of them but before long I was moving my head along with the music. Cris giggled at me as she played the rest of her playlist and I was adding the songs onto my own playlist as they blasted in my ears.

"So how long is this bus ride going to be?" I asked. I never checked to see how long it would take us to get there, but I didn't expect it to be a terribly long trip.

"It's about a six-hour drive," Cris said and dug into her bag and pulled out a pamphlet for the resort we were going to. "It goes by pretty quickly if you nap."

"I'll have to take you up on that," I murmured as I leaned my head back on the chair. Cris tapped away on her phone while switching between songs here and there. She never took her airpod back and I didn't bother giving it back since I was enjoying her excentric taste in songs that differ from a variety of genres. One moment it was an old 2000's song you could jam out too at parties, and the next it was the saddest song I had ever heard.

Cris was unfazed no matter what song played.

I tried to nap but I couldn't get to a spot where I could doze off and forget that time existed. I didn't think of bringing anything to entertain myself like a book or download any movies on my phone. I spent an hour staring at the individual heads in front of me but that eventually got unbearable to stand. I turned over to nudge Cris, but she was already fast asleep.

The image before me was cute. Her head rested against her own shoulder and her lips were slightly parted. Her body slowly rose and fell as she quietly breathed. I didn't want to disturb her, since I doubted she got any actual sleep.

I gently lifted her head up from her shoulder and scooted in closer and carefully placed her head on my shoulder. It probably wasn't any more comfortable than her own, but I had hoped that she would wake up without a sore neck.

I leaned my head against hers and I closed my eyes and I drifted off.

-

"Ashley," Someone poked me. "Ashley wakeup. We're here." I picked up my head and stretched out the crick I had realized was there. I opened my eyes and looked around the bus. It was starting to get dark out but the sun was still barely peeking over the horizon.

"Already?" I said as I stretched out my body in the cramped space.

"I told you naps make car rides go by faster," Cris said as she grabbed her bag from under her seat and stood up from her seat as everyone else did.

"How did you sleep?" I asked and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Shoulders aren't really that comfortable." She nudged me with her elbow as I stood up next to her and I rolled my eyes.

"Alright everyone off the bus." One of the teachers shouted from the front and everyone shuffled their way off and as we got outside, I took my chance to stretch out my legs. I bent my back in awkward angles until I heard the familiar cracking sounds.

I turned to look for Cris, but she was gone. I spotted her by her friends and caught her eyes. She frowned as she looked at me then turned away as she walked off with her friends.

The chaperones announced that everyone is assigned a cabin and that the papers with that information are with them. Everyone lined up single file and got their envelopes with their cabin number and keycards.

"Ashley, do you have our cabin keys?" Aiden walked up to me and I had forgotten that he came along too. I opened up the envelope and read the paper that said me and Aiden were assigned together since we were already siblings. I handed him his key card and we walked down the long rows of cabins until we found ours and settled in.

The cabins were spacious and neat. There were two queen-sized beds, a bathroom, and a small kitchen that I figured we wouldn't end up using anyway since breakfast, lunch, and dinner was held in the main resort building.

"Did they explain anything to you? Or am I just out of the loop as always?" I asked Aiden as he plopped onto one of the beds and claimed it as his.

"Tonight we just stay in our cabins or go out and explore the area. Activities start tomorrow and curfew is midnight."

"I wished people told me these things." I sighed.

"It all depends on the chaperone that was with you on the bus. Who'd you have?"

"I don't actually know her name, I think she's a history teacher?"

"That's probably why you aren't informed." I rolled my eyes.

"I'm going to catch up with the basketball guys, don't do anything stupid," I said as I stick a key card in my pocket.

"Use that advice for yourself."