Fabled

Chapter 2- The Trip

Amerisa POV Again

We sat in the car all. Day. Practically. Bad traffic made the ten hour drive even worse, too. There had been an accident on the road.

I didn't understand why they decided we shouldn't split the trip into two days if we had all week to go be in North Carolina, but whatever. I was excited to see my cousins, though I hated to be leaving on such short notice (even if they had told Colton) and it wasn't like me and Jamie were besties or anything, but it'd still be fun to talk to another girl around my age. 

Plus, despite the large age gap, Cooper and Colton would hang out anytime they saw each other, so I would be little brother-free for a whole week, which would be nice.

We arrived at 5:00 pm. Jamie, Cooper, and their parents welcomed us with big smiles. Jamie led me into her room immediately, and I dropped my stuff in a pile on the floor. They did have a guest bedroom, but 19 year old Cooper didn't want to share a room with 8 year old Colton, so the two similar aged people got to share the room, and that happened to be us.

"I cleaned it up, so you'd have a place to sleep," she told me, gesturing to the floor that had everything pushed aside to make just enough room for the purple sleeping bag they had supplied, still wrapped up in a corner.

Even though Jamie was fifteen, her room was a mess. I remember her texting me, once, saying, my parents always said that when I was older I would want my room to be clean. Guess I haven't reached that age of teen-ness yet. We didn't text often, and that probably explained why I hadn't heard about this trip sooner. I had responded, Uhhh ookay! I kept my room pretty spotless, except for my desk. It was like going through a maze, trying to find something on there. 

"Thanks," I told her, settling down on the area. 

She nodded. "So, what's been up with you lately?"

"Just school and stuff. You?"

"Mom and Dad are thinking about getting a dog!!" she exclaimed. Just by the way she said it and the huge grin she had on her face I could tell she'd been dying to tell me that. 

"Oh that's great!"

After a pause, she asked, "Do you wanna go to the pond? It's not far from here."

"Sure!" I said. "It'd be nice to get out somewhere, after being in that stuffy car for hours."

"Then let's go!" We headed downstairs, and I noted how she hung on the banister and no one got mad at her, very  unlike my house. "Hey Mom, we're going to the pond," Jamie said, spotting her mother.

"Okay honey," she said. "Just come back soon for sandwiches."

"K!" Jamie agreed as we both eyed the sandwich she was making hungrily. "We will! Thirty minutes?"

"That sounds fine."

Jamie glanced at me to give me a hungry smile then led the way to the mudroom. I put on my tennis shoes, Jamie choosing boots, and we headed out the garage. We walked to the pond, which I'd say was about 30 houses down on each side of the road. When we got there, Jamie jumped over the fence-like thing that stopped people from jumping into the water onto a smaller platform that was closer to the water. I chose to open the gate and walk through that and down the two steps. 

Jamie immediately started taking her shoes off, so I did the same. We stuck our toes in the water, which was just high enough for us to go ankle-deep. The chill water felt nice.

She laid down on the wood with her arms spread far apart. I laid down next to her. When I turned my head in her direction, I noticed she was wearing a twine necklace that was almost a choker. You definitely wouldn't be able to take it off, so I started wondering about if there were another person with the other one.

We stayed there for a while, surprisingly in silence, until Jamie's phone went off with an alarm.

"Oh, it's time to go," she said. "I set the alarm while we were walking here. C'mon. Time for sandwiches." She grinned at me. Okay, I think she's developed a special love for turkey and cheese sandwiches over the past two years she's been here, I thought.