I felt a hand on my shoulder, shaking me.
"Nmf!" I mumbled, but the hand kept shaking me.
"Come on Cora! Wake up, a group of us are going to town", Ava said, "And if you don't get up in three seconds I'm going to have to jump on you."
'UGH, fine! Fine! I'm up", I groaned, slowly standing up. I glared at her once I got my feet fully on the group. She glared back, sticking out her tongue and skipping away. I got up walked around to find Caleb. I needed to try and get out of going to town so there would be zero chance that I'd run into the guy. I spotted him over where he was talking to some of the other males. I guess they were figuring out a plan if things went badly. I waited until they were finished their little talk and jogged up to Caleb.
"Hey", I breathed.
"Hey what's up Cor?" He said.
"Um nothing much, I just feel like I should hang back today. I'll stay at the camp with some of the others", I suggested, hoping he would buy it.
"You wanna stay behind?" he asked incredulously. "You never want to be left behind! You always throw hissyfits!"
I pouted, giving him the puppy dog look, hopefully that would soften him up. "I don't throw hissyfits!"
"Fine then, temper tantrums", he said teasingly.
I glared at him, "I simply voice my vexations."
He laughed, ruffling his hair with one hand, while wrapping the other around me.
"Fine if you want to stay, then stay. But don't come crying to me when you miss out on all the fun", he chuckled, sticking his tongue out at me.
I laughed, pushing off of him and jogging away to the group who were going to stay behind. Caleb joined the small group heading into town. It was mostly guys going, though Ava and two older women went with them.
***
Ok, it's been fifteen minutes and I'm already bored out of my mind. All the good fighters were gone so wrestling was out of the question. Caleb and Ava were gone, leaving me with no one to talk to. And let me tell you, having staring contests with a caterpillar can only entertain me for so long. I groaned after losing to the caterpillar for the fifth time in a row and quickly got up, brushing the dirt and clinging leaves off of me.
I paced back and forth at the edge of the woods, waiting for the group to return. It was about midday when I saw Ava walking back. I ran up to her, hugging her like I haven't seen her in years
"Avy!" I yelled.
She laughed at my craziness "Cora! Get off, it's only been a few hours!"
"Yes! Long, painful, torturous hours, waiting for you to come back!" I yelled dramatically. "Now I don't have to be bored anymore!"
Ava just shook her head laughing, "Oh I bet it wasn't that bad you drama queen!"
"Oh but it really was! No lie."
"Well I'm here now, so you can get out of your little depression", she laughed.
"Yay! So how was it? Are they letting us stay? How many were there? What are they like?" I babbled.
"Whoa, well maybe if someone actually went with us, that someone wouldn't have so many freakin questions", she teased.
"Oh shut up and answer!" I laughed.
"Yes mommy," she mocked. "Things are going pretty well, Jared's just working out the specifics right now. Their pack is about as big as ours, plus some of them are even close to our ages." She said the last part with an excited smile on her face.
