Chris quickly led me the rest of the way to the lodge and sat me down on the bottom step of the little stairs that led to the lodge's portico. We were the only ones there, and waited for the others silently sitting next to each other. A few minutes later Josh came from the shed and smiled upon seeing us. Chris stood up and did his weird secret handshake thing with him, then Josh walked to me and gave me the most painful bear hug he could.
"I swear you're shorter than last time I saw you, Mendoza." He beamed, making me punch him in the arm.
"You saw me like 5 days ago, shut up. And don't call me that, you know I hate it." I pouted, making him laugh and pat my head.
"Fine then, Abigail. Where's Sam?" His eyes lit up when he said her name, and it was the most adorable thing in the world.
"She's with Mike by the bridge probably, he scared the crap out of us and Abby needed a breather so I came ahead with her." Chris answered, saving me from having to explain what happened back there.
Josh squeezed my shoulder and smiled before getting up. "Come on Chris, let's open the door and go in already, Abigail's probably freezing her buns off." I rolled my eyes at him and looked back towards the trail, noticing Ashley and Matt walking towards us.
Ashley and I used to be really close until a nasty rumor about me and Chris started to spread around in sophomore year. She liked Chris for as long as I can remember and I was one of the few she had trusted with that secret. The rumor really affected her relationship with me and I hated it. It took a while, but thanks to Hannah and Beth I was able to clear things up, our friendship never really mended though and we were really distant.
Matt looked angry and Ashley kept glancing his way, as if worried he might explode. She came and sat next to me, exchanging extremely polite hello's. For a bit she didn't say anything, but I guess she was dying to share what had happened with somebody because she initiated conversation with me.
"How are you?" She asked, seeming genuinely concerned in my well being.
"I'm alive, looking forward to this weekend. What about you, how are you?" I smiled, slowly leading the conversation to what she was dying to share with me.
"I was ok, until Matt appeared and saw what I saw. Now I have this horrible feeling of dread following me around and I hate it." she finished her statement stealing a glance at Matt, and turned back to me.
"Lead the way Cochise!" exclaimed Josh, startling me. Chris reluctantly came back down the stairs and exchanged cute little nervous hello's with Ashley before following Josh to the back of the lodge. I looked at the door and realized the lock was frozen. I chuckled at the thought of them braking into the lodge and turned back to Ashley, who was slightly blushing.
"So, what happened with Matt?" I whispered, not wanting Matt to know we were talking about him.
"Well, you know how there's this telescope by the cliff where you can look at the scenery?"
I nodded my head, gesturing for her to continue.
"Well, I was there minding my own business, when I caught Emily, Matt's new girlfriend, getting way too friendly with Mike. Just then, Matt jumped out at me out of nowhere asking what I was doing and scared the crap out of me. I tried to stop him, I really did, but he was stubborn and watched it all. He got so mad and now I don't know what to do. I'm scared he's going to get into a fight with him, or worse, with Emily." she looked at me desperately, seeking advice.
I opened my mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Sam coming up to us and sitting in between us. She looked from Ash to me and asked, "So what's up, you both look like you saw a ghost or something." I stood up as Ash started to explain and walked over to Matt, I really wanted to avoid the confrontation. This weekend was supposed to be fun, well enjoyable at least.
