Trust In Forever (Book 12 in the Forever Series)

Chapter 5

Reid

I was only ten & a half, but I felt older since I had a job, now. Modeling was a job, even if it was a lot of fun. Emma made it fun because we had so much in common. We laughed a lot when we were together & always had a lot to talk about.

I was losing interest in Cub Scouts, a little, but I wasn't going to tell my little brother, Avery, that. He loved it so much & he loved that we could do it together. Honestly, he was the only reason I even signed up to do it again this year. I was thinking of quitting, since most of my friends had quit already. I decided I would give it another year & even though, I was trying to climb the ranks to Boy Scouts, I didn't have any intention of doing it when I was in sixth grade. I hoped Avery would make friends, so he wouldn't care if I was no longer a Scout.

Most of my friends would think it was a drag to have their little brother around all the time, but me & my siblings were pretty close. Jerry & I were close & I was close to Avery, too. Jerry was a teenager now & he was in high school, so he didn't have as much time for me, now, as he used to, but we were still close. Sure, we fought sometimes, like brothers do, but it was never that serious.

Avery & I were at this camp out at Mr. B's house, which was cool, I guess. I didn't really want to go, but Mom & Dad said I had to go or Avery couldn't go. I figured it was because he was still Mom's baby & she was protective, plus he didn't really have any good friends in the troop yet. My friend, Scotty, was there, so it wasn't going to be all that bad. He wanted to share a tent, with me, but I was supposed to share with Avery, so I told him it might be too crowded.

Mr. Bryant heard me & Scotty talking & butt in with a suggestion. "Avery can stay in my tent, since it's just me."

Avery loved the idea, so I shrugged my shoulders. "That's cool."

"Avery, go grab your sleeping bag & backpack & bring it my tent so we can get it set up, while we wait for the campfire to get bigger." Mr. Bryant said as he stood up & rubbed his hands together.

I laughed at the excitement Avery had, as he ran to our tent to get his things. "Thanks for letting him stay in your tent. Are you sure it won't be a problem?"

"Of course it isn't a problem. It just makes sense, since I have a two person tent, but it's just me."

I nodded, then helped Scotty & another scout, Tyler, try to get the fire bigger. I heard Avery come out of the tent & yell to Mr. B that he had all his things, so I looked over my shoulder to watch my little brother disappear inside the tent with Mr. Bryant. I turned back to the fire & joined in on the conversation some of the other boys were having about video games. 

My friends & I got the fire going pretty good, then I realized Avery was still in the tent with Mr. Bryant. "I'll be right back." I said to Scotty as I stood up. I walked toward the tent, "Avery? You still in there?" I shouted as I got closer to the tent, thinking maybe he had come out & I missed it.

I was just about to open the tent door, when it opened by Mr. Bryant's arm. "Sorry, we were playing an old handheld video game that was mine when I was a boy." Mr. B said as Avery came walking out of the tent.

Something didn't seem right & I could feel it. The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up, so I looked at my little brother, to make sure he was okay. Physically, he looked fine, but there was something in his eyes, that had me worried. "You okay Avery?"

Avery didn't look into my eyes, when he nodded & answered with a quick, "Yea."

I looked at Mr. B & he smiled, looking completely normal, or maybe he was trying too hard to look normal, which was a thought that popped into my head. "Let's go enjoy that fire that you boys made. I can see it from here. Looks great." Mr. Bryant clapped his hands together then walked toward the fire.