Outward Bound

3

Wikitoria had felt it this morning. She'd jumped down from the top bunk only to meet Maia's stern eyes. She stood up straight, trying to ignore the hurt she knew she had caused her. She wet her lips.

"Morning."

Maia finished tying her ponytail. She grabbed her cap and left without a word.

"Oh, man." Wikitoria followed.

"What's up with Maia this morning?" Naydeen jogged up beside her as they came over the bridge. Wikitoria stretched out her arms, trying to untighten her shoulders.

"I don't know. Why's that?" They rounded onto the beach.

Naydeen shrugged her shoulders. "She's running pretty heavy. Got something on her mind, I think." As they slowed down to catch up with the others, Wikitoria noticed how different Maia was holding herself today.

"Shit." She quietly said to herself, rubbing her hands over her face.

She needed to fix this.

Maia was trying to ignore her. She could feel her eyes on her, but it wasn't going to work. The anger was coming to the surface with every press-up she did into the mud. Wikitoria had hurt her, blatantly disregarding her feelings.

"Stuff her." She said to herself. She picked up a handful of mud, washing her face in it. She was starting this again. She stood up, getting ready for the pier and washing Wikitoria out of her system.

Wikitoria stood there, knowing exactly what she was doing. She was letting her go.

A couple of days later, they set off on their morning run. Wikitoria admitted she was lagging purely to watch Maia run. She was staying in step with her and noticed they were keeping quite a good pace. She had naturally assumed she was in better shape than the blonde academic. Yet Wikitoria could see she was definitely in good shape in front of her. She smiled to herself. Really, she didn't care what shape she was in; Maia was Maia.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she banged into her.

"Woo, Maia, what..." She stumbled over her, realizing she had stopped.

"Aah!" Maia fell to the ground.

"Shit, Mai, you alright?" Wikitoria put her hand on her shoulder. Maia moved her leg around.

"My ankle, uh." She grabbed it in pain. "I've hurt my ankle!" Wikitoria looked up to see who was around. Frankie and Lindon came around the track.

"Hey, hey guys! Can you help!"

"Who's that?" Adam pointed out.

Ruby covered her eyes from the rising sun. "One of the girls." They saw the boys carrying her around the bend to the finish line. Ruby bent down next to Maia as the boys sat her on the log. "What happened?"

Maia adjusted her cap. "I think I've rolled my ankle."

Wikitoria stopped in front of them. "She just stopped in front of me. Is she ok?" Ruby felt her lower leg.

"We'll get Tia to have a look. Guys, do you mind taking her back to camp?" Maia stood up, swinging her arms over their shoulders again. She frowned at Wikitoria; this was all her fault!

Tia came back into the women's cabin. Maia had her ankle up on the opposite bed. "Well..." Tia sat down next to her. "It's not too serious, but it has put you out of the overnight camp tonight. You cannot walk that distance, and we can't get you up there any other way." Maia sighed, looking at her wrapped ankle.