Blue Kisses

Chapter 13

I'm the first student on the school bus to the Juniors Marimoth Hills field trip. My bag contains SPF, my sun hat, water, energy bars, and clothes. I only signed up for the spring break field trip so I could spend more time with Alice, I would've never imagined being outside, camping, voluntarily. It's six in the morning and the air is still too cold. I have my coat on bundling me up while we wait on the bus for the other students. I'm so sleepy I could fall asleep. I hope Alice comes soon, I regretfully forgot my coffee thermos on the kitchen counter when I left. I can't believe I did that, but I know Alice will be able to wake me up. Joshua arrives on the bus before Lucy and Alice. He glances at me and looks away as if he doesn't know me, he sits in the back far from me. He sits with us at lunch now but he doesn't talk to me or even look at me. He's only there because Lucy's his best friend and he's trying to win over Alice.

Lucy shows up and sits next to me, "Hi," she says cheerfully as if she didn't forget her coffee.

"Hi," I say back, looking for a coffee cup in her hand, nothing. She must have drank it all, traitor. "Lucy?" I ask.

"Yes?" she replies. I hesitate but she reads my mind anyways. "You want me to sit with Joshua so you can sit with Alice?"

"No," I say, "well, yes actually, would you?" I beg. "Joshua needs a friend, right now and I feel bad."
"And you don't want that friend to be Alice, I get it." she says getting up and walking back to sit with him. I hope I didn't upset her, she knows she's my best friend and Alice is different.

Our field trip supervisor, Mrs. Blanc starts roll call before Alice arrives. She better hurry, I swear to god if I have to do this field trip without her, I'm gonna jump out of the bus whether it's going full speed or not. Alice comes running in, out of breath. "Miss Lane, you're here now. Go ahead and find a seat." Mrs. Blanc says. I smile at Alice and move my bag off of the seat I saved for her.

"You don't have coffee on you, do you?" I ask

"No, I didn't have enough time this morning, you?" she asks me.

"No, " I cry. And jam my head into the seat in front of me.

Alice pats my back, "poor girl," she yawns.

The bus starts making its way to the mountain. A four hour bus ride, Alice is too sleepy to talk, that's okay, I like just being in her presence anyways. I put in my headphones and I stare out the window into dark nothingness. It doesn't take long before my brain starts daydreaming about Alice and me dancing at the prom together. Suddenly, Alice rests her head on my shoulder, I'm frozen. I can't move, what if she wakes up? I look at her, I can see her eyes are closed. I let her rest on my shoulder and I continue on with my daydreaming. My head soon falls onto hers.

I wake up to the sun shining in my eyes. I can see pine trees lining the road. We must be close. My hair is stuck to the sweat on my face. I can't take the heat so I sit up, causing Alice to wake up. I take off my drool covered coat and instantly feel refreshed. Alice stretches her arms out and yawns. Does she know that she fell asleep on my shoulder? I take out my headphones.

"Good morning," Alice says, taking off her coat too.

We arrive at the campsite, trees surround the campground and a lake down the hill. All of the tents are already set up, Mrs. Blanc tells us when we get off to get into groups of three or four to share a tent with. We must share the tent with the same gender, she added. I'm not too worried about that. Me, Alice, and Josie are sharing the same tent so we put our bags in it. It's a white tent set up with sleeping bags and a lantern. I start applying my sunscreen, Lucy is applying hers as well and Alice stands there watching us. I hand her my bottle so she can apply some to her face too.
"I have to pee so bad, I'm gonna find the restroom." Alice says.

We exit the tent, Joshua is grouped up with the Walter twins, star football players.

"Why did Joshua come? Now he's stuck with the jocks," I say.

"He told me he's going to ask Alice to the prom." Lucy replies.

"What? Here?" I ask

"Yeah I think so," She replies with worry on her face for me.

"I'm not worried,"

"Really why not?

"Me and Alice are going to the prom together." I reply

"What! Did you ask Alice to the prom?" Lucy asks.

"Not exactly. Well. We agreed to go with each other if we couldn't find dates."

"Ugh, Josie! Alice is about to find a date here soon!" She urges.

"Okay but she might not say yes."

"What makes you so sure about that?"

"I think Alice likes me back," I say.

"Really? How do you know?"

"I don't but she looks at me differently now and we've gotten really close lately." I say.

"Okay, maybe you should ask her to prom officially before Joshua does it." Lucy replies.

"No, It'll be fine and even if she says yes to him, she'll probably be going with him as just friends."

"Yeah maybe," Lucy sighs.

We ate breakfast and now we're on a hike. We have a trail guide, leading our class through the hills and river of Marimoth.

"Alice, can I talk with you?" Joshua asks, coming up from behind us.

Alice looks at both me and Lucy. "Yeah, sure," She says and they walk ahead of us.

"Do you think he's going to ask her now?" Lucy asks me.

"During a hike? How romantic" I reply sarcastically. "I don't think Joshua's the kind of guy to ask a girl to the prom while they're both sweating and burning up in the sun." I reply.

"What if they do go to the prom together, Josie?" She looks at me with concern.

"I don't know," I reply.

"Will you go with me then?" Lucy asks me.

"Yeah of course, do you not think you'll get a date?" I ask.

"I don't think I like anyone enough to go with them, except you of course," Lucy replies and holds my sweaty hand.

We finish the treacherous hike, and I'm immediately the first one in line to the girls shower at our campsite. We had dinner and now we're finishing the night off with roasted marshmallows by our tent. But there's no fire. All the other students are enjoying their warm cozy fire and marshmallow, while Alice and Lucy are sitting on the log watching me try to light up the wood. Joshua comes over with his mouth full of marshmallows "Do you want help," he offers.

"No, I can do it myself," I reply. Lucy comes over to help me anyway. I look over and both Alice and Joshua are gone. "Where did they go?" I ask Lucy.

"Joshua wanted to talk to her. They went over by the lake." She replies.

"What by the lake?" I say trying to look for them in the dark. "Do you think you can light the fire by yourself?"

"By myself? Why don't you let them be?" she complains. "What happened to being so confident that she likes you and not him?" I leave her without replying, "I don't know how to light a fire," I hear her whining behind me.

Alice and Joshua are together standing facing each other, illuminated by the moonlit lake. The same big bright moon from my dreams of us at the prom is now risen above their silhouettes. Alice should be with me and not Joshua. This can't be right. Was it all in my head? Did I make up her feelings for me? Why must I be a lovelorn teenager, thorned by an Alice rose. How long will they be talking? How long can I watch until the night breeze blows me away like dust. I walk back to Lucy, I need her now more than ever. She's sitting on the log roasting a marshmallow in the fire she lit all by herself, she's doing a happy dance. She drops her stick in the fire and hugs me when she sees my face that's soaked in my own tears. Her hugs are so warm and last a million years. I feel the fire warming up our intertwined bodies. The sound of crickets and fire sparks fill the campground. The other students nearby are enjoying themselves, laughing and continuing on with their normal teenage night, while mine is shattered.