Reignite | Currently Revising

Chapter Twenty-Four

~Melanie~

I wake up the following day to people loudly talking outside my tent and things dropping even louder to the ground. I groan as I turn over and squint my eyes open in James' direction. He's already sitting up, rubbing his eyes. I do the same, then stretch. James scoots up shirtless to the entrance of the tent and unzips it. Bright light blinds me, and I blink quickly to readjust. Some of the tents around us are being folded and packed away as a warm breeze hits my face.

My aunt and uncle are packing up their tent across the firepit from us, as are Kara and Sean next to us. Bianca's aunts and uncles are packing up over on the far left of us. Right next to us, Graham and Charlie have almost finished packing their tent.

The only tents I see not moving are the ones with my parents, Bianca's parents, Marisa and Kevin's, and Bianca and Ethan's. Oh, that's right. It's Monday. Some of them have to return to work or start their summer jobs tomorrow.

I plop back down on my sleeping bag and sigh.

"You okay?" James asks.

"Yeah, just tired, but gotta say goodbye to everyone," I respond, sinking lower and lower as the air depletes from the puffed-up sleeping bag beneath me.

James doesn't say anything as he slips on a blue t-shirt and flip-flops, then steps outside, leaving me alone in the tent.

After a minute or two, I finally push myself to sit and reach for my flip-flops at the edge of the tent opening. I step outside in my tee shirt and pajama shorts to see now only five tents instead of ten. The once large oval of tents surrounding the fire pit now seems sporadic and out of place.

I look at Bianca and Ethan's tent. It sits unmoving. I head toward the cabin, where everyone is hugging each other goodbye. My dad and Greg heave luggage into the cars as my Grandma Rogers walks over to me. The rim of her canary yellow visor almost hits me in the face as she leans in to hug me goodbye.

"Melanie, sweetie. It was so good to see you. Congrats, again, on graduating. I'm sure we'll see each other all soon for your sister's birthday in the fall."

I smile as I pull away, "Goodbye, Grandma Rogers. Thank you. Safe travels home."

"Oh, don't worry. Your Grandma Hansen is driving," she says as she pats my shoulder.

I nod, knowing both are terrible drivers. I feel worse for the other drivers on the road. Who let them drive themselves up to the cabin and back home? If only Grandpa Hansen and Grandpa Rogers were still around. They both drove fine up to their final days.

After hugging everyone goodbye, Marisa claps her hands.

"Who wants to go on a hike to the watering hole?"

"Great idea!" Bianca says.

"Let me change and pack a sack, and then I'll be ready to go," I say.

We all go our separate ways back to the tents or the cabin.

"So, how high is this watering hole?" James asks as we walk through the tall, itchy brush.

Oh, that's right. He's scared of heights. "It's not too high. Maybe twenty, thirty feet?"

"Thirty feet!" His gray eyes grow wide.

"It's not that bad, James. We've been doing this since we were kids. If you really don't want to jump, you can walk down the lower trail, but you gotta walk a bit more until you're near the edge of the watering hole compared to the upper trail."

"I don't care. That sounds good to me... Better than jumping to my death."

I roll my eyes and chuckle at his dramatism.

Once everyone's ready to go, we start hiking along the lake.

After a couple of miles of walking in single file, the trail takes us away from the lake and up a steep, rocky incline.

The humidity in the air makes it feel hotter than it really is. Once we reach the top of the incline, James leans forward with his hands on his knees, panting.

"You okay?" Kevin asks.

James nods.

"Want some water?" I ask him as I reach for my sack over my shoulder.

"Sure, thanks," James says as he looks up at me.

His face is flushed as I hand him my water bottle.

"We're halfway there," Bianca mentions.

I see James hold in a groan as he hands me back the bottle.

After about fifteen minutes, James is now at the back of the group. I'm little ways ahead of him, trying to keep him company but also trying to stick with the group. Kevin and Marisa are at the front chatting away about something as Bianca pitches in her thoughts every now and then. Ethan was next to Bianca before but slowed his pace, so he is now next to me.

I don't say anything as I look at the trail underneath my sneakers.

Ethan walks very close to me and nudges my arm with his. I ignore him and keep on trekking.

Ethan then comes up behind me and whispers in my ear, "I know last night meant something to you."

I blanch and quickly walk to the front of the group, almost tripping on a tree root.

"You okay?" Bianca asks.

I nod, putting a fake smile on, but the churning of my stomach has yet to subside.

We finally reach the summit and everyone cheers.

~~~