The White Lie

Chapter 2

The next day flew by quickly. My parents had taken my younger sister, Sunny, down for a picnic at the park, so I had the house to myself. With only one day to go until we left for our trip, I had invited Indie over to help me pack.

"Make sure you pack a bikini!" Indie screeched excitedly from her position on my bed, lounging with her long legs stretched out in front of her. I turned to stare at her, "What?" she asked, staring back at me with her big chocolate brown eyes, eyes that usually would make any boy our age turn to putty in her hands.
"Aren't you reading the list? I've already packed my bikini! I packed the cute little blue one with the flowers. And besides, you're meant to be reading out things I haven't packed!" I told her, tucking a strand of my long blonde hair behind my ear as I leaned across her to read the list.

"Oh... right." I laughed, unable to feign anger any longer. Indie laughed along with me.
"I don't know why you left packing until the last minute Reece, I've been packed since last week!" That didn't surprise me at all. Indie had always been the organised one in our group, writing up lists for each of us on what to pack, putting the items into separate categories and printing out a  map of the route we'd take through the mountains and attaching it to the other side of the paper. I was thankful, I knew without the list I would have been destined to forget something important, I guess I was the forgetful one of the group.
"Okay, well did you pack a towel?"

We continued on like this for another hour, until I had finally placed the last item in my bag, my prized possession, my camera. "Oh great! You're bringing your camera! I was hoping we'd have some great snaps of the trip!" I smiled, thinking of all the beautiful photos I'd be able to take, portraits of my friend's swimming under waterfalls and setting up camp in green clearings.

"I can't believe we actually leave tomorrow" I said, finally zipping up the bag and plonking myself down on the floor. "We've been talking about this trip for six months and now it's actually happening, our first time venturing out on our own."

 "I know! A whole week without parents, a whole week of sitting around the fire drinking, telling stories, exploring. Not to mention a whole week with Nate" Indie sighed dreamily, and I groaned as I noticed the loved-up expression on her face. "Oh, and you and the girls of course!" she added sheepishly. My stomach flipped with unease and while I didn't want to ruin her good mood, I knew I had to voice my feelings. Besides, Indie was my best friend and I was sure she'd understand.
"Indie, I hope inviting the boys wasn't a mistake. This was meant to be a relaxed thing, a few girls out in the mountains, you know, a real girls weekend away..."
"Oh Reece, don't be such a downer." Indie sang, standing up to plonk down beside me, nudging me with her foot. "We're going to have a great time and what's that saying- the more the merrier! It's going to be even better than we thought. When was the last time we actually let our hair down and got social?"

I contemplated that. We have been working really hard all year.

We'd barely gone out to a party all year, the five of us girls were too dedicated to getting good scores with hopes of getting out of this town and moving to somewhere with a nightlife, somewhere with more than one pub, a grocery store and a small strip of various shops. Before this year we did used to go out and let loose a little, well, as loose as you can in a small country town and I knew Indie was aching to let her hair down, so I decided to cut my best friend some slack.

"Okay, I just hope your right, you've promised me a good time and I'm going to hold you to that!"
Indie laughed. "I'm always right". If Indie thinks this will be such a good trip, maybe it will. 

After another hour of lounging around my bedroom chatting, Indie headed home. "I want to get in a run before dinner, and then an early night for our early morning tomorrow!" She explained. "7 am sharp, my house!" I waved goodbye as I watched her get into her car and drive down the street. 7 am, just a few hours and we'd be on the road. The early morning didn't bother me, both Indie and I were morning people and we usually liked to head for run together before school. Our other friends were always at a loss as to where we both got our energy, so I knew they'd have trouble dragging themselves out of bed.