We have been driving approximately for two hours, that meant we still had about five hours until we reached Silver Falls State Park located in Oregon.
After quite a lot of singing and playing silly games, the mood in the van has settled down. I placed my head on the seat and shut my eyes, the soft song that was playing on the radio made it easy for me to drift to sleep.
When I woke, I found myself in a different position that I fell asleep in. My legs were resting on Harry's lap, and I was sprawled out on the entire seat. His hand was gently resting on my thigh, as he lightly caressed my skin with his thumb. I must have shifted in my sleep, cause I did not fall asleep like this, but I liked it. I fluttered my eyelids, not fully opening my eyes, wanting this moment to last longer. Harry saw me blinking and smiled.
"Hey there, sleepyhead." He tickled my stomach and it made me jerk up in a sitting position. He knew I was ticklish, and always used it to his advantage. I was right next to him, and I senced his smell, vanilla and cinnamon. I was still laughing, protecting my stomach with my hands when he embraced me with his hands into a tight hug.
For a brief moment Harry was being himself, his old, nice and sweet self. Or maybe I was still dreaming. And if I was, I never wanted to wake up.
"Where are we?" I questioned when he loosened his grip. I rubbed my eyes and looked outside the window, scanning through my sorroundings.
"We are close. Half and hour away." Zach spoke from the drivers seat.
"How long was I asleep?" I asked looking at Harry.
"For about four hours." he spoke, after he looked at his old wristwach, "you aways were a heavy sleeper." he remarked. I instantly remembered the sleepovers we had all the time.
"Well, atleast I don't snore." I scrunched my nose at him, which made him giggle. Hearing his laughter after a long time made me feel happy, and a spark of hope ignited in my chest. Hope things would change to the way they used to be.
I felt the van slow down, as we got of the road and on the gas station parking lot.
"I've just got to fill up the tank." Zach got out of the van.
"Anyone need anything from the shop?" Jen asked stepping out of the van.
"Something to eat would be nice." Gemma raised up a finger, "since someone, ate everything we had!" she held her strict gaze on Harry, who raised his hands in the air in a defending motion.
"I want some gum." Tina added, she was always somehow chewing gum and blowing up bubbles.
"And a pack of Marlboro white." Harry yelled, because Jen has already started walking away from the way. I never liked this Harry's bad habbit. He started it early, in the 8th grade.
I gave him a dissapointed look.
"Oh, what do you care if I smoke or not. You always bored me about it." he hissed. The sweet Harry got repaced with a Harry I did not know very well, and quite frankly, wasn't keen on getting to know him.
Jenny came back, tossing everyone what they asked for. Harry immidiately took out s cigarette and got outside the van, leaning on the hood of the car.
"I forgot how on-and-off he is." I remarked. Remembering how fast his mood changed. This also was a reason we grew distant.
"Yeah.. I can't quite figure out why he acts like that.." Gemma, his older sister, said. She stopped him from getting into a bad crowd, but his attitude she could not change.
After a bit of driving, we came in front of a big sign - WELCOME to Silver Falls State Park - with and arrow pointing left. We drove to the car camp and parked the van closer to the lake that was located there. There were not many cars there since it was only the beggining of the holiday season.
I stepped out of the van and soaked in the view. Tall trees towered over us, givig us a feeling of protection. Behind the trees rose massive mouintains. There wasn't a cloud in the sky.It was mid day and the sun wasn't showing us any mercy.
We placed our tents by the shore in a circle, setting a place for our bonfire.
After that, we did not waste another second, and we took a swim in the lake to cool us down from the work we have done.
The cold water influnged my body, providing a refreshment from the heat. We splashed around like little kids, our laughter ringing through the woods. I felt like a child again.
"NO! Harry, please!" I cried, as he carried me to the pier. He did not hesitate a second to throw both of us in the water.
"I hate you!" I yelled when I swam out to the surface. I tried to drown him, but he was too strong.
"You love me." He smugly stated when I failed at my attempt. Instead I splashed water at his face.
