The Cherry Trees

Chapter Seven: 2015

"Wow, you never see stars like that," I said, gazing at the brightly lit diamonds that stood out against a sheet of deep blue, almost black. It was a perfect night. The air was warm with an occasional cool breeze, and the crickets chirped softly in the woods. A nearby creek pronounced its rushing waters with the lulling sound of it running against smooth rocks. The fire's light danced on our faces, crackling and popping every now and then. Its smoke rose up to meet the blackened sky after sifting through the pine needles of the trees above us. We all smelled faintly of the hickory smoke, but I appreciated the scent.

"Yeah, it's because all of the city lights where we live makes them seem duller," Luke spat out like an encyclopedia.

I saw Will punched him softly out of the corner of my eye. "Dude, don't be such a nerd."

Lexi laughed, and I smiled as we all laid there literally star struck.

"We should sneak out tonight," Lexi said.

All three of our heads turned to look at her at the same time. "And what do you think we should do?"

"I'm not sure, we could walk around the lake or something."

"I don't know if that is a good idea, Lexi. I mean, I hate sneaking over to our house when we are at home, I don't think it is a good idea to sneak out in the middle of nowhere," I reasoned.

"Oh shut up, Anne, you're such a party pooper. Be spontaneous!"

"Seriously, Lexi, I mean I don't think it's that great of an idea," Will said.

"It would be fun!"

We all looked at Luke, surprised. Last summer there was no way that he would have ever agreed to something like this.

We all came alive in the summer time it seemed, exploring new things, making new adventures and mainly just laying around enjoying our laziness. This weekend of the smoggy summer in Georgia, we decided to go camping, and after convincing our parents to chaperone us, we packed up and left for a four day trip to the middle of nowhere. I guess the adventure, along with growing up a little more made Luke a little more... spontaneous.

Lexi grinned. "See, guys, if Luke can do it, then so can we!"

I groaned and slung my arms above my head, grabbing the soft blanket. "Fine, but how?"

"Well, after all of our parents are asleep, we just have to open the tent," Lexi said sarcastically.

"Thanks for clearing that up," I shot back.

"No problem. Let's wait until 2, that way we know our parents are sleeping. Then we can walk down to the general store and buy some lemon drops, and then walk up to the waterfall, so wear your bathing suit."

"Lexi, we cannot hike up that waterfall. It's dark and slippery," Will reasoned.

Lexi looked at him for a moment before saying, "True, we won't hike up it we will just swim in the pool at the bottom of it. No big deal."

After several arguments of animals coming out and eating us, or us getting hurt when it's dark and no one was around us, Lexi finally convinced us to go, though I still didn't really want to.

We all walked back to the campsite where our multiple tents were set up around the campfire and table which were centered in the middle. My dad had some potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil sitting in the fire, and some pork cooking right above them on the grate. After we ate our deliciously smoked dinners, we retired to our tents to tell ghost stories through the zip down windows. Lexi and I shared a tent right beside Will and Luke's so it made it easier to talk.