A Long Road Ahead

Chapter 22

The tents are all set up, and we have split into groups that will fit.

I do like the outdoors, but camping isn't something I'm the biggest fan of.

Massi and I have a tent, as does Jason and Amber, and Rachel and Luke. Bryan, Damon, and Devon have a tent, as is Elle, Jennifer, and Sabrina and the last one is just Travis.

"Okay, number one rule, no hooking up in the tents, or anywhere else." Devon loudly proclaims.

The tent we are sharing is obviously on the smaller side, as there are only two of us staying in it.

Although we are here as a group, we split off rather quickly.

Jason and Amber want to go canoeing, Travis, Devon, Damon, Rachel, and Luke go to the lake.

Sabrina, Bryan, Elle, and Jennifer decide to make a giant blanket fort using sticks and everything else we brought.

Massi and I decide to just take a walk.

He grabs my hand as we wander down a muddy trail.

"Are you ready for school to start?" I ask him. We start college in just a few days. Tomorrow everyone starts leaving, and come Wednesday, classes start.

"The summer went by way too quickly." He replies.

"It really did." I agree. My eyes start to tear up as I think about everyone leaving. I just feel like I'm never going to see them again, they are all going to make new friends, and just forget about us.

"Chlo, why are you crying?" Massi asks me, stopping us in the middle of the empty trail and facing me.

"I'm just a little scared. All of my friends are leaving, and I just feel like they are going to forget about me, and everyone will make new friends, and we will just all grow apart." I explain.

"Everything is going to be fine. Things are going to change, and maybe you will lose touch with some people, but I promise that everything is going to be fine." He assures me.

"I know, I've just, I've already lost my family, and I don't want to lose all our friends too." I explain.

"Chloe, you know that no matter what, I am always here for you." He tells me, pulling me into a tight hug.

"I know, I love you." I say.

"I love you too." He responds.

When he pulls away he grabs my hand again.

After about an hour, we return to the campsite, the sun is starting to set.

I look around as we sit in a circle around the fire.

There is no clear line between my friends and Massi's, everyone is just mixed together.

"Hey guys!" I announce, attempting to get everyone to pay attention to me.

Suddenly everyone gets quiet and looks over at me.

"Oh my gosh. You are pregnant." Bryan blurts out, causing us all to look at him.

"No," I say, denying his accusation. "I just wanted to say I love you all, and wish you all the best of luck with school." I say.

"Aww, I love you too Chlo!" Damon says from next to me, giving me a tight hug.

Everyone thanks me before all going back to their normal fireside conversations.

Massi and I planned our school schedules to match, we have an English and math class together, but that is it because we have different majors.

The rest of our classes are at similar times, so we will have breaks at the same time, besides one of us having an hour off that the other doesn't on certain days. But we both end class at the same time.

We still have conflicting work schedules, but we usually work on the same days, and I have set hours, so I only work four days a week, for three hours each night.

Sadly, because I have turned 18, and I'm out of high school, my cheerleading retirement has come. It has been beyond sad, because I love cheering, but the time for me to retire has arrived. And luckily I still get to coach, so I'm still at the gym a lot, I just don't get to compete or practice with a team. I do get to go to open gyms and stuff, so I can still practice on my own.

I'm still trying to convince my boyfriend to come to a tumbling class with me, but he refuses. I just want to teach him some basic stuff, I think it would be funny.

Bryan didn't cater his class schedule around ours, as we did to each other, but he does still have an hour two days a week that he can spend with us in between classes, so that's really nice.

This summer just flew by, it felt like a week, not two months.

We all laugh and tell stories as we pass food around the campfire.

Right now, everything just seems so perfect. As the early hours of the morning come, we are all laughing, and spending time together, enjoying one last night of just having fun.

Come tomorrow, people start leaving, everything is going to change, I'm not going to see them everyday anymore.

I know that they are still going to come home sometimes, but their priority, as it should be, is seeing family.

Massi and I are the first ones to head to bed, the day was exhausting and I have already fallen asleep for a bit next to the fire.

"Remember the number one rule!" Devon tells as we walk to the tent.

We just laugh at his joke before collapsing onto the air mattress.

I crawl under the blankets as quickly as I can. It gets pretty cold at night, even in August.

Massi wraps his arms around me, pulling me close to him as I close my eyes.

As much of a pain as Travis and Devon can be, I'm glad they take sleep seriously, sometimes I worry they won't, but I'm sure that they won't try and pull any pranks while we sleep, especially in the woods.

"I love you." I mumble.

"I love you too." Massi responds.

I am so ready to sleep.

My semester has ended!!