Godless Girl

Chapter 4

Aurora's POV

I awake to the harsh sound of a phone alarm. Rubbing my eyes, I reach around to turn it off. My arm feels numb and I notice a head of messy gold locks is laying on top of it. I move most of it off her face and behind her ear. Hope stirs for a moment and then her pink lips fall open again. "Hooope," I sing. "Wake up, it's nearly breakfast." She moves again and stretches her limbs until she squeals and yawns. Her messy hair frames her face and gives her the illusion of beautiful innocence. She looks unharmed and happy and I envy her.

"So the air mattress isn't so bad, huh?" She mumbles and rolls off my arm. I shake my head, saying, "No I slept perfectly fine. It was warm and comfortable." Hope smiles and nods. We both rummage through our luggage to choose clothes for the day. The schedule says we have a rock climbing activity between breakfast and lunch so I decide to wear a plain outfit of shorts and a t-shirt with converse. I turn around and see Hope wearing name brand athletic clothes and tennis shoes. She's also wearing fingerless gloves and a bandana. "Do I look ready?" she asks after a minute of me staring. "Oh, um yeah you look good. Ready to climb." I clear my throat and make sure to grab a small bag with snacks and water before leaving the tent with Hope.

Breakfast looks better than our previous meal and we're both surprised to eat it instead of granola bars. Afterwards, Father Gabriel calls roll and we're led by Sahara to a large rock climbing wall. "You will be attached to a rope in case you fall, which you probably won't. This activity will be a race between 3 people at a time, each standing 5 feet apart in the beginning. Whoever makes it to the top and rings their bell first, wins. Any questions?" No one says anything, only murmurs.

Sahara separates us into 3 lines and has 3 other camp leaders fasten their gear and rope. She puts a blue whistle to her lips and holds up a stopwatch. Sahara blows into the whistle sharply causing the 3 kids to jump and try to scramble on the wall. I look around for Hope and finally spot her white bandana in the line directly across from me. I count the people in front of her and then the people in front of myself. Oh no. We're going to be racing each other. I wring my hands together and ignore the people moving too quickly in front of me.

A man named Scott buckles me and tugs the rope in uncomfortable ways. "Good to go." he says, giving me a thumbs up. I laugh nervously and look at Hope and the short red haired girl on either side of me. I hate activities like this.

Suddenly a sharp trill injures my ears and I subconsciously grab onto the wall. I inhale deeply and begin climbing steadily and terrifyingly up. Hope seems to be confident and going faster than I, but the red haired girl can't even reach any other rocks or grips. I decide I like competition and pull myself quickly up the rocks. I soon reach Hope and she's panting and reaching weakly, but we are only a few feet from the bells.

Unfortunately for Hope, I do not take mercy on her and shoot upwards to dramatically swing the bell. Sahara blows her whistle again and our ropes are slowly let down. Scott unbuckles me and gives me a high five. I hand him the rope and he winks at me before I walk away to receive my reward. Uncomfortable, I run to the woman beside Sahara who gives me a $20 gift card to the gift shop. I thank her and she insists I earned it well.

After I drink some water from a fountain and sit down, I see Hope come out of the bathroom. I wave her over and she smiles. "You were impressively energetic!" she enthuses after sitting beside me. "I started too fast." She shrugs. "You did pretty great too. Very fiery I'd say." I tell her. Her mouth widens into a smile and her teeth shine at me. She only nods and looks away.

I tilt my head back to look at the sky and I feel a weight slowly lean into my shoulder. I look down to see Hope on her phone and shoulder against mine. Her blonde hair spills into my longer black tendrils and I can smell coconut shampoo. She glances up at me and her nose is inches from mine. After giving a small smile, she looks back down at her phone and checks her messages.

Is today mildly flirt with Aurora day?  Or better, confuse Aurora for an unknown reason day? I shake my head and clear my throat. "Do you want to skip lunch and eat at the tent? We have chips and fruit I suppose." I suggest. Hope quickly jumps up and nods enthusiastically, smiling again. "Good idea!" she yells and grabs my hand, pulling me into the forest along our dusty marked pathway.

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stay tuned, much love <3