I Know You

The Camping Trip (Part 1)

The sound of crickets and the smell of fresh grass filled the air. The car window rolled down with music playing lowly. This truly was how I wanted to spend summer.

We've been driving for an 1 hour and 30 minutes with an hour and 45 minutes left. Hamzah had just taken up his turn to drive while Trey got to rest.

I lay back and soak up this feeling of satisfaction when it's slightly interrupted. "Hey Evan, you awake?" Hamzah asks quietly . "Yeah how's driving so far." I ask. "It's not so bad, but I am getting sleepy." He says.

"Oh do you want some of my coffee?" I ask. "Are you sure I mean it's yours." He responds.  "Yeah it's no problem, here." I say while offering it to him. "You can remove the lid if you want." I say. "Oh no it's fine." He says before taking a sip.

"Ugh thanks so much you're a literal life saver Evan." He says. He takes a sip and hums with amusement "hmmm thats so much better."

"Hamzah you know I hate that nickname!" I say strictly but in a whisper.   "SHH I know I just forget." He says. "WELL STOP IT." I say in a fierce whisper. "But that's our thing Evan, and remember when you used to call me Hammy? We're definitely even."

"I was like seven okay?" I said. "Well good thing it was just a phase." He says relieved. "Uh uh you reminded me so now I'm calling you Hammy again thanks!" I says. "Shut upp." He says in a low sleepy voice. I chuckle and feel my eyes starting to shut.

I wake up with my mom tapping me "we're here sweetie." My mom says in a sweet tone.  I get out of the car and get all of my stuff. We walk and finally arrive. At this point it's around 4 or 5 am. The skies are dark blue and cold.

We set up a fire so we can set up all of our things in the dark. "Leane go get me some wood for later." Trey asks. "Sure." I say. I go to gather sticks when I hear feet shuffling to catch up with me.

"Oh hey Hamzah." I say. "Hey Leane you forgot this." Hamzah says while handing me a flashlight. "Oh thanks hammy." I say with a slight smile. "I hope a bear eats you." He says. "I think they'd like Ham better.." I say. "Yeah yeah." He says.

I go look around for some wood and I find all types of sticks and logs. I see the sun lifting up into the sky slowly. I walk back to our camping spot and come back to everything being set up.

"Trey, here's some wood." I say. "Yeah thanks just put it over there please." He says. I set it down when I go into the girls tent to take a nap. Everyone but Trey is taking a nap.

I put down my stuff and try to sleep until I feel someone trying to waking me up. "Whatre you doing in the boys tent?" Hamzah asks me. "Oh shit I thought this was my tent my bad." I say. "Well goo!! Im not wearing a shirt." He says while covering himself. 

I laugh at him and I sit up and feel Hamzah touching my hair. "Wait you have a burr in your hair, let me get it out." He says. "Oh thanks." I say. We stay silent for a while, while he's taking our the spiky burr from my hair.

It felt so intimate. The silence with his gentle fingers touching my hair softly, it was sweet. "There you go I got it out." He says. "Oh thank you, put on a shirt! BYE." I say enthusiastically. He smiles at me. "Zip the tent up when you're out!" He exclaims.

I get out trying to get over the embarrassment and intimacy I'd just experienced. I see Trey still trying to create a fire. I chuckle looking at him twist the stick between his hands.

I go into the girls tent when my mom is just getting up saying "I just booked us for a group hike in 10 minutes get ready!" "Oh already? Okay." I say. She nods while getting her suitcase out.

I get all of my hiking clothes ready and go change. I get out of the bathroom when I see Hamzah getting out of the bathroom too. "Hey Hamzah you ready for the hike" I ask while standing next to him. "Oh yeah do you know how long it's gonna be?" He asks.

"Maybe 5 or 6 miles?" I respond unsure. "DAMNN,  5-6 miles." He says with a wide open mouth. "Yeah I know it's a lot." I say with a chuckle. "Yeah no kidding that's like a whole marathon." He says. We look at each other and chuckle.

We walk back to our camping spot. "Hey you guys ready?" Mom asks. "Yup, let's go!" I say. Hamzah looks at me with wide eyes..while he mouths "help me". I push him away while laughing.

We get going on the hike when I ditch Hamzah and go with Diana. "Hey how are you, you've been sleeping." I ask.

"Oh I'm so much more refreshed, that nap was like an out of the body experience." She says. "You're so dramatic." I say while laughing. "I'm not lying! That was the most scrumptious nap ever." She says. We both laugh our butts off over other stupid things.

Diana looks back and nudges me "hey Hamzah's looking at you, I think he likes you." "I don't think so he'd never like me, remember how much we hated each other?" I ask. "Yeah well that's seems to have changed, I saw you at the carnival." I shrug "I don't know we'll see." "Mhmm okay." Diana says.

We come to a stop when my mom says hey guys you wanna take pictures up there. Both Diana and Trey say "Yeah!" enthusiastically while me and Hamzah on the other hand go "no way." We were both equally scared of heights.

Okay well you guys stay there and we'll meet you back here. "Okay sounds good" I said. I look at Hamzah and sit on the log. "You can sit down if you want." I say. "Oh yeah thanks." He says.

I get so bored that I try to balance on a fallen tree trunk. "Hey be careful Evan." He says. "Yeah sure." I say. While I'm looking over to him, I slip and get a huge gash from a pointy branch. "AHH FUCK HAMZAH!" I call in panic.

"OH SHIT." Hamzah says while running over. "Are you okay?" He asks. " NO LOOK AT MY FUCKING LEG." I say with tears in my eyes. "Oh fuck okay I'm gonna bring you to the bathroom and get some first aid." He says. "Okay." I say in a shakey voice.

He picks me up and walks me to the bathroom. Im on the shower bench when he says "I'll be right back okay?" He says reassuringly. "Yeah okay." I say in groaning pain.

5 minutes later.

"Okay I'm gonna clean your wound but it's gonna hurt, here hold my hand." He says. I grab his hand while my leg is squelching with pain. He wipes my wound, puts some ointment on it, and wraps it.

Im a crying and sobby mess when he says "it's gonna be fine okay." I start sobbing into my knees when he brings my head to his chest and wraps his arms around me. "You'll be okay." He says with my head under his chin. Hes pate my back to give me comfort.

He pulls me back and says "let's get you to the tents okay, I've already texted you're mom, we'll be fine." I nod while wiping my tears. He carries me over to the tent. We go inside and as I'm laying down I doze off to sleep, knowing I'm safe with Hamzah near.