Secrets & Spies (Complete)

Chapter 10

 

Chapter 10

The seniors were made to stay behind on senior prank day and clean up the mess in the cafeteria and fix the mess made in the library as their punishment for locking the teachers in the teachers’ lounge. Their original punishment was to cancel the camping trip but after much protest from the seniors, the teachers decided just to make them clean up the mess instead. They still didn’t have a clue as to who locked the teachers in and they would probably never know.

So here we were, trekking up a big, steep hill, with a rather heavy bag on my back, making our way to the campsite. I sighed to myself, this had to be my most dreaded weekend, and I was not excited at all about how this weekend was going to turn out for me. Unlike everyone else, who all seemed to be excited about this trip.

"Urgh, my feet hurt" I complained to Aaron as we trudged up the gravel pathway.

"We’ve only been walking for 5 minutes" Aaron chuckled. He was also carrying a rucksack but didn't look as heavy as mine, although he did make carrying a rucksack look easy. He also carried a guitar case; apparently he played a little guitar which I thought was pretty cool.

"How long left?" I whined as I readjusted the rucksack on my back which felt like it was slipping off every two seconds.

"Not long now"

"That’s what you keep on saying" I moaned.

"That’s because it's true"

“No it's not. You’re lying." I say now nearly out of breath

"Well maybe if you stopped complaining every second, you would find the journey faster"

"What! I am not complaining" I protested, swatting some flies that were coming my way in the process. "And that doesn't even make any sense"

He didn't reply as he was already engaged in conversation with some other classmates. I huffed in annoyance as this trek seemed to go on forever. Tree after tree we had passed, nothing distinctive about the path we were taking.

The cold of the evening was nipping at my skin which made the walk that little bit more difficult. I was dreading the rest if this weekend. The trees swayed lightly with the wind in the cold evening air. The sky was turning a slight orange colour as the sun was about to set -The only thing I enjoyed of the walk.  The sound of birds chirping in the early evening could be heard from a distance, but the sound of loud chatter drowned out the beautiful sound of the birds.
 
"Can I have everyone’s attention please?"Mr. Hill, one of the teachers who was organising the camp trip, voice boomed from the front of the crowd. “We are now two minutes away from the camping site" I mentally groaned. Seriously, another 2 minutes, I couldn’t even last another 2 seconds. There was an eruption of cheers as he announced this. "So if you could all make your way in an orderly fashion then-" but that was drowned out by the eruption of cheers and all the students hastily making their way to get the best place in the campsite! Everyone rushed past me while I lagged behind, trudging my way slowly as the weight if my bag was holding me back. As I had never been camping before, I just brought along with me as many things as I could from insect repellent to 20 packets of chocolate. I needed to be prepared for every situation possible; you never know what’s going to happen in the woods. I’m now thinking I should have packed lighter, I didn't realise that this much walking would be involved.
 
I finally made my way to camp, where everyone was already setting up the tents, and dumped my heavy rucksack to the ground which landed with a huge thud; not caring of the contents inside the bag or that is was a fire hazard that I just left it there lying around. I was just glad that it was off me and it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off me, literally.
 
I walked over to Sasha, who was my camping partner for the weekend. She was in a few of my classes but I had never really spoken to her. I guess now was my chance, if I could talk to Aaron without revealing anything, why couldn’t I talk to other people.
 
The camp site was rather big; it was a vast grassy area which was separated by trees from a farm so the cows and sheep could be seen from a distance. The sound of water running could be heard from the corner of the campsite from the small stream which was hidden behind some bushes. Not far from us was a pathway which led to the forest.
 
I could tell Sasha was having trouble putting up the tent. Everyone else at least had there's above ground level whereas ours was still on the ground, with the tent poles and pegs scattered all over the ground.
I decided to go over and help her, even though I would be of no use since I couldn't even put up a tent. To be honest, she is making much more progress than I ever would with putting up a tent.
 
"Have you ever been camping before?" I say as I crouched down to help her with the tent.
 
"No" she replied meekly. And pointed to the mess that was supposed to be our tent.