Evergreen Mountain

Four | Ground Rules

Hal raised an eyebrow and sat up, placing his elbows on his knees.

"About?" he asked, curious.

"We'll be living together for the next two weeks. We need to set some ground rules so I don't kill you." I sighed. Hal laughed and leaned back.

"You wish." he murmured, making me shoot him an annoyed look.

"Why did you even come on this trip?" I blurted out, exasperated. "You don't seem to even want to be here. So why bother?"

"Same reason you're here." he smirked.

"Which is?" I asked, Hal rolling his eyes at my response.

"Get drunk and get away from my family for a few weeks." he answered.

"Not a big nature fan?" I taunted.

"The opposite actually." I felt my lips quirk up slightly at his answer. "Are you?" he asked.

"Yeah. My grandparents live on a bunch of land in Germany. I've been hiking around there since I was little. I like it. The quiet, solitude." I answered, mentally scolding myself for voluntarily sharing so much with him.

"I remember your grandparents." he suddenly said, my head swiveling to look at him, eyes narrowed.

"You do?" I asked.

"Yeah. They were visiting that one time in 2nd grade, right? Heavy accents."

"Yeah. It was Amelia and I's 8th birthday, I think? They insisted they needed to visit us here for some reason." I said, smiling at the memory.

"They were nice." Hal added. I hummed in response, the silence between us becoming more deafening by each passing second.

"What happened?" I blurted.

Enough, Andy, enough! What is wrong with you?

Hal looked at me, tilting his head in confusion.

"In 5th grade. What happened?" I finished. Well you're in it now.

"Just drifted apart I guess." Hal replied, quieter as he shrugged and dropped his eyes from my gaze to look down at his book. I nodded, not convinced he was telling the truth.

"When did you stop going by Harrison?" God please put me out of my misery and shut me up! Hal chuckled and shook his head.

"Only my parents and you ever called me that. Now only my parents I guess." he smirked.

"So why Hal?" I asked.

"Just shortened my last name." he curtly answered, shrugging nonchalantly. "Why Anders?" he asked, smirking.

"Great-grandfathers name. On my mom's side." I answered. "But only my mom and you call me that." I smirked.

"For the record, I think Ander sounds better." Hal countered.

"Well that only makes one of us." I said, rolling my eyes. Hal absentmindedly tapped the cover of his book. I cleared my throat before speaking. "I'm taking a nap." I declared.

"Okay?"

"Just, keep it down." Hal raised a finger to his eyebrow and saluted me.

"Because reading is such a noisy activity." he replied, a smirk playing at his lips. I let out a loud sigh as I sat on my bed, laying down to face the wall and shut Hal out.

I woke up to an empty cabin and a cloudless sky. I decided to go for a walk, knowing everyone in cabin 15 would probably be passed out from last night. I changed into shorts before pulling on my shoes and slipping my phone into my pocket. I opened the door and headed for the trails. There were at least 4 trails, 2 of which were long hauls through the mountains. I settled for the shortest one, knowing I didn't want to be back late for dinner.

The sound of rain dropping from the trees and my feet slapping against the ground filled me with a sense of calm. The trail had a branch off that went towards the lake, so I followed it. The lake was a clear blue with a perfect reflection of the mountains surrounding it. I let out a light sigh and closed my eyes, feeling the sun on my face.

I sat on a nearby log and looked out onto the lake as I took my shoes off, deciding just to walk around in the water for a little while. It was cold, but I kept walking. The bottom was comprised of smooth stones that were a bit uncomfortable to walk on, but I kept going anyway. The bottom of my shorts were soaked as I stood a few feet away from the shore, looking out at the scenery.

I allowed myself to get lost in landscape, enjoying the peace and quiet that it had to offer. As I gazed out at the lake, I realized the sun was bright and golden, sunset probably only an hour or two away. I made my way back to the shore and main stretch of trails, mentally making a note of how I got there so I could find it when I come back.

I jogged along the remainder of the trail towards the main dining hall. It was loud when I entered, nearly every seat full and the sound of laughter and dishes clinking filling the air.

"Andy! Over here!" Leo's voice cut through the chaos. I looked in the direction of the voice to see his arm waving in the air. I nodded in his direction before hastily grabbing whatever food was left and sitting down next to him.

"Where've you been? We went over to 20 and you weren't there." Will asked.

"I was just walking around one of the trails." I answered, shrugging as I started shoveling food into my mouth.

"We're gonna play cards after dinner. You in, Andy?" Liam asked.

"Yeah, sounds fun." I nodded, taking another bite of food.

We all made our way back to the cabins, pushing and shoving one another as the sky darkened. Liam pulled a set of cards out of his bag and joined us in the circle on the floor.

"Texas hold 'em?" Will asked as he sat down next to me. Noises of agreement flooded the room, prompting Liam to start dealing out the cards.

Leo and Liam were having a screaming match over something halfway through the 3rd round when the door squeaked and Eli walked in.

"Mind if I join?" he asked, prompting Will to scoot over and make room for him. I dealed him in while Leo and Liam continued to yell at one another.

"Alright, alright, calm down the two of you. We have a new addition." I said, nodding my head in Eli's direction. "Let's get started."

We finished around 2 in the morning, all of us nearly delirious with exhaustion and the aftermath of hangovers. We were laughing at a story Eli was telling us, a sudden quiet washing over us. Liam loudly yawned, covering his mouth and moving to stand up.

"I'm gonna go to bed." he announced, gesturing towards his bunk, which I took as my cue to leave.

"I'm gonna head out. I'll see you guys in the morning." I said, standing up and heading for the door. I made my way back to cabin 20, shoving my hands in my pockets to try and keep them warm.

I slowly opened the door, trying to quell the noises as I stepped inside the cabin. I heard soft snores coming from Hal's bed. I looked over at him, seeing his back was facing me, as I quickly changed into pajamas. I pulled back the covers and slid into bed, letting my eyes drift closed as the sound of Hal's snoring lulled me to sleep.