The Game

It is Cold, and I am Not a Coward

Chapter 3: It is Cold, and I am Not a Coward

Early morning sun filtered in through the tent door and hit the back of my eyelids, causing me to wake with a groan. I lifted from the warm blanket around me and I shivered as the cold air hit my skin. As I began to pack up my stuff, I could already hear others waking around me outside and begin to take down their own tents. My legs were still a bit sore from the long hike yesterday, but I was already buzzing with the excitement to get back out on the trail. I also was greatly anticipating the waterfall Nate and Greg had spoken so adamantly about. It must be wonderful, and after a few hours walk the cool waters would be a glorious relief.

"Dana! Shall we wait on you once more?" A loud voice boomed from the other side of the tent, and in my surprise, I backed out the tent door, tripped over the flap, and fell to the ground on my backside.

"Hmph!" I groaned, hearing the laughter all around me as my cheeks flushed a bright red.

"Need a hand?" asked a voice so deep and lovely it caused shivers to break out along my spine. The sound of Greg talking had not done that to me yesterday, so why now?

"No." I returned with all the female pride my mother had instilled within me. I pushed myself off the ground, ignoring the outstretched hand that remained in my way, and began to take down my tent in a rush.

"Want some help?" Greg circled around to the other side of the tent to catch my eye, but I refused to meet it. When I did not reply, he started to remove one of the pieces of the tent.

"No!" I cried out, waving my arms for him to stop his progress.

His eyes widened by the vigor in my movement and pitch of my voice. "Excuse me?" he said after a bit of hesitation. He cocked his head to the side, a smirk unskillfully hidden on his lips. "Am I doing it wrong?"

Feeling suddenly bashful under his gaze, I answered, "Not exactly. I just don't need your help. I can do it on my own. Thank you." I crossed my arms to prove the assurance my shaking voice and blushing cheeks had not.

Greg stared at me a second longer, before bursting out into haughty laughter. His head slung back, and mouth wide open, chest heaving up and down. Although it was at my suspense, I had to admit that the sound of his laughter was brilliant and beautiful, in the most aggravating way. "What? What's so funny?"

"I wasn't insinuating that you were at all incapable of taking down the tent by yourself, babe." I pouted at the nickname. "Just that everyone else is waiting on you and I, being the impatient man that I am, thought I could hurry you along. Since," he added. "You are taking an agonizingly long time."

I huffed, rolling my eyes. "You could have just told me to hurry." I detached the last few pieces of the tent, wearing an unhappy grimace as I felt the other's eyes on my back. Had I really taken that long? How had the cheerleader beaten me? I was aware that packing up our supplies was not a competition, but despite that fact, I could not help but feel like I had lost. No matter what it was, from finishing a test to a friendly game of hide-and-seek, my competitive side always ruled out and I had to win. It was in my nature.

Within the next few minutes, I finished shoving my sleeping bag into my backpack, and in a similar manner shoved a granola bar down my throat. I ran to catch up with the rest of the group, who, under Nate's suggestion, went on ahead because I could "do it on my own." Grumbling under my breath about the two boys, backpack swinging with every step, I ran down the trail, and found that the group had already gone over the hill and quiet far away.

"So much for sticking together," I muttered, slinging my bag higher over my shoulder, and kicked an innocent twig out of the way of my path. When I reached the top of the rise, I peered down the steep incline of rocks and slick paths with many reservations about whether I could make it down quickly. It would need to be fast since the group of hikers had turned a clump of trees and had disappeared from sight. As much as I would like to say I had extraordinary navigational skills, if I were to be separated from Mr. Johansen and the others I was sure to be lost in the forest for decades. I definitely did not have enough granola bars for that.