An Attic filled with Birds [Completed]

3. Time goes fast

By now, Alison and the rest of our grade are sixteen years old. Therefore, the board of directors at school thought it would be a great idea to put us all in a forest, and teach us survival skills. Nothing says lust for survival more than thirty teenagers in the time of social media. Without their phones, of course.

Most of us did end up going, though. Technically, it is mandatory. That doesn't stop people from having their mothers call them in sick this morning.

Me and Alison are good friends now. We've been bonding over our mutual neutrality towards Mr. Brown. It's been good.

All of us stand in a circle somewhere in the forest. From here, you can still catch a glimpse of the bright, white bus between the trees. The sky is gray, but it isn't raining. When the explanation about coordinates is finished, we're expected to pair up and do a treasure hunt.

I look for Alison, while the rest is pairing up and receiving their coordinates. I see her walking to one of our teachers. I look at them from a distance. Eventually, the teacher points to the bus and Alison nods. She walks away.

I go up to the teacher.

'Everything okay with Alison?' I ask.

'She's fine, don't worry about it,' she says. 'Now, how about you go figure out what coordinates you've gotten. I'm sure you'll have no problems finding the hidden treasure on your own.'

'Are you sure?'

'I'm super sure! You're a bright kid, I'm sure you can find it.'

'I mean about Alison,' I correct her. ' Are you sure she's alright?'

'Don't worry about her.'

I nod and walk away from her. I walk on my own, instead of pairing up with someone else. Being a good friend involves looking out for each other, right? I pretend to look at the map in my hands. Every now and then I trace my finger over nothing in particular. I bow my head and keep walking with the map in front of me.

Slowly, but surely I distance myself from the group. The teachers don't notice it. Or if they did, they didn't say anything of it. I mean, you don't want to bother someone who might be looking for the greatest of treasures? When I lift my head and see I'm far away enough from everyone else, I walk up to the bus.

The door is still open, and I go inside. At the back of the bus, I see Alison with her eyes closed. Her head is leaning against the window. I walk up to her, and grab my bag from under the seat next to her. I sit down.

She opens her eyes and looks at me, still half asleep.

'What are you doing here?' she asks.

'Are you not feeling good?' I ask, dodging her question.

'I just have a headache. Nothing major.'

I open my bag and rummage through it until I find what I need.

'Here,' I say.

I hand her a small box with painkillers.

'Take one with this.'

I hold up a water bottle. She smiles at me.

'Do you always carry this?'

'I do. I haven't had to use it in a while, but look at you now. Finally someone who can use it.'

'Thank you.'

She opens the box and puts a pill in her mouth. She takes the bottle from my hands and takes a sip. She hands them back to me. I put them in my bag again.

'You can go back if you want,' she says.

'And look for plastic coins? In a cold forest? No thank you.'