The Trail

Exposed

The rain finally let up. Around us you could hear light tapping of hammers nailing tents into the ground, the rest of the guys around us chatting and laughing, talking about what alcohol they brought along with them on the trip and how trashed they planned on getting. Caleb was pouring whiskey into a mug he brought along with him as he explained to one of the guys how to start a fire in wet conditions. Meanwhile, I stood here with my hands tucked into my windbreaker pockets watching Adam put together our tent horribly. He didn't bother saying anything after Granola Boy put us together as roommates.

I let out a sigh. "You're doing it wrong. Let me help." I crouched down next to where he was tethering the tent into the ground, his method causing the tent to be tilted and warped.

"I'm fine." He snapped, smashing the hammer into one of the poles way harder than needed, causing the tethering to give way and the whole tent collapsing.

"Good job." I said sarcastically and quickly gathered the falling pieces before he could begin to make a second attempt.

"Jesus Kid, I can do it myself it's not rocket science." He said standing up.

I ignored him, continuing to pitch our tent by myself.

Behind us cheers erupted. They managed to get the fire going. And in an instant off came their wet shirts and pants, leaving them all in their briefs. Caleb made a post for them to hang their damp clothes by the fire. Otherwise I'd be in heaven but none of these guys were my type. Adam scoffed at me and peeled off his shirt, leaving me to join the guys by the fire. The guy was seriously fit. Broad chest and shoulders with obviously smooth pale skin. He looked like some type of ancient statue. The sight of him would have been more enjoyable if he wasn't such an asshole.

It took me about an hour to get everything situated correctly, which is pretty good for someone who learned everything they know about camping from YouTube. I looked over to the guys who were fellowshipping around the campfire, too preoccupied with themselves to notice me. Perfect. I slipped out of my wet clothes and placed them on top of the tent to dry as much as they could overnight, leaving me in my sports bra and underwear. Kicked off my wet hiking boots and socks and climbed into the tent.

Warmth and dryness, finally. I dug around in my backpack until I found my journal. Juan made me promise I'd keep a log of my days on the trip, I figured I'd at least try. Oh, and I couldn't forget my bottle of sake. I emptied some of the contents into my mug, found a cozy spot in my sleeping bag, switched on my flashlight in the center of the tent for some light and began to write about how much I hate this camping trip and the people who are on it.

A page and a half and two mugs of sake later the tent immediately unzipped. I jumped, knocking down the flashlight and throwing my notebook at the tall creature who frightened me.

"Fuck! Fuck is wrong with you?" Adam said catching the notebook midflight. He zipped the tent back closed behind him as I caught my breath, my face buried in the palms of my hands.

"You gave me a fright." I said looking up at him.

"You gave me a fright." He mocked with a smile.

I frowned at him. His attention immediately went to the notebook in his hand which was originally meant to be for his head.

"No!" I exclaimed as his eyes began dancing over the page. I jumped out of my sleeping bag onto my knees trying to grab it from his hands as he held it above him with one hand and was pushing me back with the other, laughing the whole time.

"Calm down, rugrat." he shoved me lightly back down on my sleeping bag.

"Can you not?" I said annoyed, giving up the fight.

"Coming here was an absolute mistake, all of the guys are terrible specifically my unwanted tent mate, Adam." He read out loud from the page with an amused smile. "Not quite sure how this experience is going to make me more submissive."

"Oh." He said with a smirk looking down at me.

I sat there totally embarrassed, my eyes downward just hoping he would stop reading and just shut the fuck up.

I felt the notebook hit my leg after he tossed it back to me, I avoided looking back up at him and quickly took the notebook and stuffed it under my sleeping bag.

"That's what you're here for?" He said unrolling his own sleeping bag.

I didn't answer. The space was small, our sleeping bags couldn't help but touch. He lay on top of his, with nothing but his briefs on, obviously extremely confident with his body. I quickly stuffed myself back into my own bag despite being more than warm already, not wanting to expose myself. That made him chuckle. I could still feel his eyes on me.

"That's funny. I'm here for practically the opposite." I could now smell the whiskey on his breath, I guess Caleb didn't mind sharing.

He took my bottle of sake from the corner of our tent and took a few sips which caused his face to screw up.

"Why?" I finally asked quietly.

He shrugged. "Abusive relationship."

My eyes widened in response.

"Emotionally." He elaborated.

"That's still bad." I said, getting more comfortable and took another sip of my drink.

He nodded. "What's up with the submissive stuff? I never knew the lack of being submissive was a bad thing." He lay back down on his side toward me, propping up his head with his hand.

I let out a deep breath. "Well, when I was younger I –"

"No." he stopped me. "Not the version you gave your therapist, please."

I rolled my eyes. "I practically raised myself, basic submissiveness like asking for help when needed or letting people take control is something I never learned and it's ruining all relationships for me."

"Tough." He responded and flipped over on his back and closed his eyes.

"Okay..." I said, expecting that more conversation would have followed. "That's it?"

I saw a smile creep over his face with his eyes still closed. "We were put on this trip to help each other, and I'm going to help you."

I sat up. "Okay, how?"

He rolled over, facing away from me. "Just get some rest, you'll need it."

I sat there in confusion and silence for a moment until I heard a light snore and gave up. I lay back down in my sleeping bag replaying the end of that conversation over and over in my head to try to figure out what he could have meant until I feel deep to sleep.