Lost Connections

Chapter 13

"WAKE UP, DAMN!" Shell hit me with a pillow for seemingly the 100th time according to her tone. "Bro what the fuck!" I yell back, dodging the other pillow she was getting ready to throw at me.

"Sorry you just would wake up. Anyway, breakfast is in the cafeteria we're late and we have to be there, please get Amber up, and hurry! You guys have 10 minutes."

My eyes widened, I hate being rushed. I got up quickly and shook Amber awake. "Such a beautiful first sight to see in the morning." She smiled and faced her head in her pillow.

"Come on, we have 10 minutes to get ready." I tried not to smile at her comment. Though I don't know why. I guess I'm pretty stuck on Loel. Pathetic? Yes, but I can't stand to see her with that thing she's with.

"Okay, okay." She finally got up. After I took care of my face and did my morning routine, I had three minutes to get dressed. I threw on an oversized black shirt and put fish nets on my arms, slapping on baggy dark blue jeans and black converse. It's not camp wear, but I don't have anything for these occasions.

As I was tying my shoes, Amber was struggling to part her hair to do a half up half down style. "Need help?" I asked, visibly trying not to laugh.

"I got it!" She said defensively after seeing me almost laugh. She made her ponytail and I walked over to her to see her part. "That's crooked as hell." I say bluntly and take her messy bun out, she let me. So I did her part and let her finish.

It was in a messy bun with strands sticking out, with the back of her hair down. She looked in a mirror and thanked me. We headed out to the cafeteria together, I sat with Braydon. Loel was with James and a group of jocks and probably cheerleaders. I sigh and pay attention to Braydon.

"That's Amber?" He asked, trying to start conversation. "Yeah, that's her." I say, looking at my food. They served eggs and bacon today, maybe it tastes better than it looks?

"She's pretty. Bet you're gonna fall for her by the time the trip is over."

"Ugh! Can you stop! It was one really hot kiss from a DRINKING GAME." I emphasized on the last few words. "First step of love is denial." He shrugged with a smug look. I stuck my middle finger up at him which causes us both to laugh.

"The last thing I want is for her to become a popular girl." Braydon said, looking over at the laughing group of popular people. Would we even spend time together on this trip? I didn't realize how much I miss her.

"I think you should get her to remember. You know, drop hints-"

"No."

"Come on, we both know y'all's friendship would not have ended because you admitted your feelings-"

"You don't know what happened that night. You know what I want you to know. It wasn't that bad but can we please not talk about it here? Let's just enjoy the trip... ok?" I said, almost losing my cool. I hate talking about what happened. It was embarrassing.

"Alright, Alright, I'm sorry for pressuring you, I didn't mean to get you all upset." He apologized with his hands up like he was getting arrested. He had his hair in two corn roll braids with a thick chain. "You look niceee." I tried to change the subject. He smiled and did a shooing motion with his hand.

~

"Alright! If you look around you, you can see an obstacle course ahead of you, but first we will be doing a scavenger hunt. After that we will play a game of flag tag, and lastly we will do the obstacle course. For this scavenger hunt, you will start off with a clue that gives you a pass to the object list that you must find in the woods. First one back at start with everything they need of course wins the round. There are no prizes you just get the victory of winning. Everyone who needs to go to the bathroom, please go now and meet back here in five." Lizzy announced and a few people started leaving to go to the bathroom.

I looked over to see Loel headed my way. "Goodmorning." I smile and look her up and down. She was wearing a short sleeve burgundy shirt with black ripped shorts and black shoes. She had a lot of bracelets on her wrist as always. "Hi! You look cute." She smiled back, we talked until everyone came back and Lizzy started talking again.

"Alright! Everyone is in a group with your cabin mates! Here are your first clues." She said as she passed them out, I took the clue because for some reason everyone wanted me to be captain of this activity.

"Go!" Lizzy said in excitement. Everyone started reading and disappearing into the woods. I read out the clue, "You've probably had one when you were a kid, its a woody home waiting near the bridge." I laughed at how corny it was. "A tree house near a bridge?" Amber said immediately, looking over my shoulder. She was about my height, maybe an inch or two shorter. "I was thinking the same thing." I say, agreeing. "Oh! Yeah that makes sense, but where would we find the bridge?" Kate said, pulling her hair up in a ponytail.

"Split up?" Shell suggested.

"No, that's stupid, we left our phones in the dorms, how are we supposed to meet back up when one of us find it?" I said.

"Ok so stick together, we need to get going though, other groups may have found it already." Amber added.

"Listen out for water." I say, assuming the bridge is over water.

We started to walk into the woods. It's really pretty. The different shapes of the trees, the sound of the wind and leaves crunching after every step. "Guys! It's over there!" Kate shouted happily.

"SHH!!!" The whole group harmonized. "It looks like no one found it yet, don't lead them over here." I said to her, shaking my head and walking across the bridge. "Damn, how old is that tree house?" Amber asked, looking up at it. It looked old and unstable.

"I'm not climbing that-" I say once we got there, all of us looking up at the small wooden house levitated and resting on a thick branch. Amber looked at us, all of our faces said we weren't climbing it. She shook her head, "Fine, I'll do it, but one of you better catch me if I fall." She laughed a little, eyeing me after she asked for someone to help her. I mean, I guess it's the least I can do since she's climbing it.

I stepped in front of the ladder, prepared to catch her as she climbed up. She finally got up. "Oh it actually feels kinda stable." She yelled down at us. "Did you find the paper?" Shell yelled back. "Uh- oh, yep! I'm coming back down."

And so she did, looking down and being cautious. Not cautious enough because she ended up missing a step when she was a little further down. She gasped, losing her balance and falling it happened really fast. All I could remember was my eyes going wide and everyone else making a noise after she fell on me. I caught her a little bit, but it was a pretty good fall so we both fell.

"Fuck." I groaned, rubbing my forehead and lifting myself up. Meanwhile, Amber was laying on my chest, making it hard. She sat up once she realized, she was blushing, I'm sure I was too. We both got up and wiped our clothes, clearing our throats.

"So first object, a tire. That should be easy?" Amber tried changing the subject. "Yeah, they're pretty big. Where would tires be in the woods though?" I chime in, also trying to avoid talking about what just happened.