Meant to Be

Chapter 7 - Mud

It didn't take long at all to get to a huge piece of land. There was a big, blue house in the front. Nick got out of the truck and opened the gate that was blocking the path. I hopped into the drivers seat and pulled up. He walked back to the drivers door. I looked at him with puppy dog eyes. He ignored them and said, "Alice, let me drive. You don't know where you're going." I sighed and crawled back to the passengers seat. We rode up to the house. "You can come with me if you want." I nod and step out of the truck.

We walk up to the little blue door, following the stones along the way. He knocked on the door. "Go away! I don't want to buy cable! For the last damn time." Nick laughed.

"Maggie, it's Nick. Open up." There was some shuffling inside and the door opened.

"Oh, it's you. Good greif!" It was obvious she was raised in the South by her thick, country accent. She was wearing boots and you can't forget that she lives on a mud park! She looks like she is in her thirties, maybe forties.

Nick grabbed twenty dollars out of his pocket and handed it to Maggie. In return, she handed us two bright yellow bracelets. I tried to get the bracelet on for what seemed like the longest time. Finally, Nick turned to help me. He somehow had already gotten his on.

"Hey mom. Do you-" He stopped. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that we had customers." Maggie dragged him over to Nick and I.

"This is Josh. He was about to go riding. Maybe he can go with you guys." It sounded more like a question than a regular statement. Nick glanced at Josh, then back at Maggie. "Sure, but we are leaving before one."

Josh smiled. "That's perfect." He had dark brown hair, so dark that it looked almost black. He was a bit short. His teeth were a little crooked and he was covered in camouflage. Over all, he was pretty attractive.

Before he walked out of the door, he shouted, "I'll meet y'all out back."

Maggie yelled out of the door, but Josh was too far to hear her. "Be careful Josh!" She looked at us. "You be careful too!" We walk towards Nick's truck. I heard Josh starting up his four-wheeler. Nick unloaded his from the bed of the truck, it takes five minutes. Nick emptied his pockets and put everything in the console. I did the same. Then he locked the truck. We got onto the four-wheeler and drove around to the back. Josh smirked, "Want to race?" Nick smiled and we took off. He was so competitive. We were only going 45 mph. Josh was beating us!

"Hurry up Nick!" Okay.. Maybe I was a bit competitive too. Nick gassed the four-wheeler until we rode up next to Josh. "Where are we racing to?" I yelled to Josh. He pointed somewhere ahead of us.

"See that flag pole?" I nod. "Right there."

Josh was off. Nick and I were right behind him. We passed Josh a few times, but he somehow kept getting ahead of us. Josh ended up winning. "Damn it!" Nick shouted.

I laughed. "Guys are so competitive."

Josh smiled, "Follow me. I know where the best trails are." He drove up to a patch of trees with a very narrow path. "This way."

Nick looked back at me. "This looks like a scene from a horror movie. He's going to bring us way out here to murder us." We both laughed and continued to follow Josh.

We had been driving for a little while. There was nothing but trees. "Hey, when are we getting to the mud?" I asked.

"Be patient!" He snapped his head around, causing him to swerve. My eyes widened. Maybe he was taking us out here to kill us. I laughed to myself trying not to think about it. About ten minutes later, we come to a wide trail. You could see mud everywhere. The mud was very still. It didn't look like many people go this way. We all had smiles planted across our faces. Today was going to be a very fun day!

Nick drove through first. It was pretty deep, it came up to my knees. Nick's white shirt was not going to be white when we leave. Josh rides through, slinging mud everywhere, all over Nick and I. "Wahoo!" Josh screamed. We rode for hours.

**

"What time is it?" Nick asked Josh. He looked at his water-proof watch. "3:25."

"We better get going." Nick says. I frowned. "We have to get you some new clothes, remember?"

"I'd rather just stay here. It's more fun." Nick gave me that 'let's not argue' look. My frown changed into a fake smile.

"Josh could you please take us back?" He looked unhappy about it, but agreed. We went back the way we came; through all the mud. We did take some shortcuts so it only took twenty minutes to get back. I'm surprised that we didn't run out of gas!

All three of us were completely covered in mud. Maggie walked outside just as we were getting off the four-wheelers. "Smile!" She yelled while holding an instant camera. We posed together for the picture. "You can hose off in the back." She said. Nick sprayed me off first. Then, we switched places. He washed the four-wheeler off while I went to ask Maggie for towels. We dried off the best that we could. Our clothes were still a little wet, but Nick said it was fine to get in the truck.

Josh helped Nick load up the four-wheeler. "Bye Alice!" Josh yelled.

"Nice meeting you." I replied, waving my hand. Nick checked his phone before taking off. He had two missed calls from Robert. He must be worried. "I'll call him back later." He said. While Nick was opening the gate, Josh came running up to my window. He smiled and handed me the photo that Maggie took. I flipped the picture over as Nick got back in the truck. "What's that say?" He asked.