if by chance | ✓

12 | pretty unlikely it's you

[ 12 ]

R H Y S

✦

By the time we set foot on the patch of wild grass surrounded by tall poplar trees, it was almost an hour past dusk. The last remnants of sunlight played on the sky like a toddler throwing colors at an empty canvas.

We were a team of two. The first team consisted of Sophomores (including me) while the second was of Junior year students who were more enthusiastic to sleep than to explore.

"It's so breathtaking." I hear Coraline whisper from behind me.

Some guys were already pitching tents and preparing for the bonfire. Though technically, the fire tonight would be used solely for cooking and to ward off wild animals. Everyone was too tired to pull out their guitars and sing.

"What's the plan?" Noah asks, referring to the distributions in who gets which tent.

"You don't wanna ask me and Amber." Cora shrugs as they walk over to a yellow round ceiling tent with Nathaniel Amherst.

"I wonder if I had ever heard that guy talk before." I comment and Noah chuckles.

"He's kinda shy. Struggles with socializing. But don't get him wrong, he's truly in his element with those girls." He explains.

"It's four to a tent right?" I inquire.

"Yup! You're going with Eugene, Luna and Riley. I'll be accompanying my sister." Noah smiles.

"Great, I really need to clear things out with Eugene. I don't understand his reason behind avoiding me." I sigh.

"Maybe he is afraid he'll break down." Noah points out and it hits me hard that I hadn't thought of that possibility before.

The breeze toys with my hair as I look around. Even though it took me two hours worth of arguments with my family to make it here, I didn't regret it. I was just worried about Maa and to some extent, Rory but I knew my sister would do fine.

I pull out my cellphone in an attempt to call but the towers, naturally, were all zero. What was I even expecting?!

"Well hey there Mr. Goody Two Shoes!" Juniper pops up out of nowhere, successfully managing to scare me.

"Whoa, is that what y'all call me?" I ask.

"Apparently, yeah." She laughs. Her perfect set of pearly whites glowing in twilight.

I sit down next to her on a log, my eyes unwillingly wandering off to watch Coraline dancing around like a firefly. I wanted to be as careless as her. There was this strange enigma about her that attracted me towards Coraline. She was as fresh as she was before we boarded the bus this morning.

"Rhys?! Where you looking at?" Juniper's voice cuts my daze.

"Uh, was just admiring nature." I say, smiling nervously.

"Did you even hear what I was saying?" She asks, still giving me a skeptical look.

"Um..." I trail off, clearly embarrassed.

Juniper sighs, then turns to face me properly.

"I was asking what made you come here. I mean, you're not the type that tags along on college trips."

"Partly because I wanted to speak to Eugene. Partly because I wanted to take a break, or rather, I needed it. And partly because..." I pause mid-sentence to look at Cora who was now helping others to gather wood into a place, "And partly because I am whimsical" I say, stifling a smile.

Of course, if it hadn't been her childlike persuasion skills, I wouldn't have come here but Juniper doesn't need to know that.

✦

The cacophony of birds and wild insects complimented the starry night as we sat around the fire to eat.

Earlier, I had walked around with Eugene to gaze at the foggy peaks in the distance and we stood on the moss covered cliff that looked over a lake on which the moonlight shimmered like sequins.

"I want all of you to drill this into your heads. No roaming around after dinner. Stay close to the tents, keep torchlights and other necessary equipments handy." Mrs. Thurman, the camping head declares.

"There ain't any major wild animals, right?" Acacia asks, furrowing her dark eyebrows.

"We never know. But hopefully, just squirrels." The older woman laughs heartily, much to our amazement.

About twenty minutes later, I'm inside the tent, lying down like a compressed sponge beside Eugene. Even though we have walked past the awkward phase, we haven't been able to have a heart to heart yet.

The only thing he had admitted was, he wanted to live free as a bird. He didn't want a disease to cripple him and prevent him from living a normal life. And I couldn't agree more.

"Argh, there's no mosquito repellent!" Riley groans in the darkness.

"Then just go and borrow some, duh!" Luna argues.

"I'm scared, everyone is sleeping." Riley jokes.

"Alright, let's play rock paper scissors and whoever wins shall go." Eugene suggests, taking over his position as peacemaker of the group.

And as I had expected, the rock beats my scissor, hence compelling me to trudge along the darkness.

The rumbling of clouds and occasional lightening welcomes me as soon as I am outside. The stars were long gone, much to my dismay. It was windy.

"Pretty unlikely it's you!"

A female voice makes me jolt. Her forest green eyes staring wide at me as I sigh in relief.

"Really, Coraline! You scared me." I whisper.

"Quite obvious!" She snorts.

"What are you doing out here?" I ask.

She was still fidgety, her eyes scanning the trees in the darkness. I wondered why she wasn't in the least, spooked.

"Couldn't sleep. What's wrong with you?"

"Uh, I was looking for a mosquito repellent." I admit.

"In the jungle?" She struggles not to laugh.

I narrow my eyes even though I was quite sure we couldn't see each other's expressions to that detail in the shadows.

"So do you, by any chance, have any extra?" I ask, slapping my arms to kill another pesky insect that had been feeding on my blood.

"I always have extra. Come on in." She says in a confident tone.

We turn around to advance in the direction of her yellow tent but an unexpected shrill yelp sounds from the direction of the hedges just in time to render us speechless.

✦

a/n : when was the last time you went on a trip to the jungles? or to the mountains? tell me about it.