Perpetually Dreaming

Chapter 7-Shelby

((1538 words))
Chapter 7-Shelby

     I woke up to Zach screaming below, something about rather sleeping out in the woods than whatever trash these beds were made from. The air in the cabin felt stale from a long night of closed windows, so I figured I might as well get up, there was no way I could get back to sleep like this. As I got up, I delicately tried to move the blankets as to not wake H. it didn't work.

      He stirred for a moment before opening his eyes and giving me a dreamy smile. I attempted to smile back at him, but his bed head threw me completely off guard. There was no holding it back, I burst out into laughter and nearly peed myself while he frantically tried to fix it. Someone called from downstairs (okay, down ladder) asking what happened, but I got caught up in my phone, too shocked to reply.

      "Guys! It's five in the morning, why are y'all awake," I yelled, not wanting to believe I was up and functioning at this hour. I hadn't heard any alarms going off, so someone must have just woken up and set off a chain. I sighed and opened my duffle bag, figuring I might as well get dressed for the day now. Shelby said something about the weather, but she was drowned out once again by screaming. I ended up choosing some grey sweats and an equally drab tee shirt, taking them and my toiletries down the ladder.

     It came to mind that there wasn't a bathroom in sight. I hadn't noticed one, at least. Looking to Shelby, who was already dressed in black leggings and a red crop top, I asked, "hey, uh, el baño?" She took a minute to process it, either from grogginess or lack of Spanish, before pointing out of the window. I followed her finger and landed my gaze on a small outhouse. Sighing, I walked outside.

     Immediately, I regretted not having shoes. Small twigs and rocks did their best to impale my feet, but, luckily, none of them did. I swung open the door and, surprisingly, was hit with the smell of artificial pinewood. The small shack was kinda sweet, aside from the toilet in the corner. I set my clothes on a counter by a long standing mirror and got ready for the day, noticing a thing scratch up my side. How long it's been there, I don't know, but I didn't feel like staying in the outhouse to investigate.

      Grabbing my clothes and leaving the shack, I sang Allstar to, at least what I thought was just, myself. The whole squad, excluding Shelby, was lined up outside the hut to change. Zach lost it laughing at my Shrek moment while the others attempted to hold back laughter. "Haha very funny, catching me at my lowest," I laughed awkwardly, wishing to be anywhere else.

      I walked into the cabin to see Shelby frantically searching through her bag, throwing clothes everywhere. I didn't want to seem rude by not asking, so I walked over and asked, "Hey Shelby, what do you need?" It came off a little snarky, but it got the point across. She looked up, face red, and responded, "I have plans for later but I," she paused to laugh at herself. "Seemed to not have brought things for s'mores."

      I let out a huge sigh of relief, thanking God it wasn't something important. I got her to calm down and offered to take her to the store. She seemed hesitant to agree and let someone else take charge of her trip, but she agreed. I grabbed phone and wallet from the loft and hopped down, seeing she was outside talking to everyone. When she came back inside, she began to go through everyone's things and grab laptops, putting them into her, now empty, side bag.

     I didn't feel like questioning her as we walked down to the car, her carrying at least five thousand dollars in her small bag. My car was covered in morning dew, making it damn and kinda nasty, but we got in anyway because Shelby wasted enough gas yesterday. I pulled out of the driveway, careful not to hit any chickens on the way. A Golden Shepard raced the car as we left, stopping only at the large bridge across a small creek. I'm not a fan of driving in steep terrain, so I held my breath as we went up the incline leading out of the campsite.

      Shelby seemed to notice my heart jump out of my chest as we barely made it over the hill, letting out a small laugh.  I rolled my eyes and kept driving, noticing some cows on the way. Nice. She guided me to get into town, or rather, gave me vague directions and expected it to be enough. It took twice as long as it should have, but eventually, we found ourselves at a Dollar General.

      She marched in as I followed in her dust, glad to see that her pride wasn't damaged too much yesterday. Shelby seemed to know the store by heart, even though she's probably never been here before, handing me a basket. Walking to the back section, I noticed that she wasn't getting s'mores like she'd said earlier. She picked up a few different two liters and put them into the basket on my arm. I did my best to not buckle under the weight, nearly failing.

    She did go to the obvious camping section and pick up things for s'mores like planned, though. I admired her ability to just get what she wanted, until we stumbled upon the makeup aisle. Moreover, the self-care aisle. Now, once again, I don't really know her, so I can't judge. That being said, the girl nearly screamed at the sight of facemasks. She rushed over and started admiring the different kinds, picking up a few that she liked and putting them into the already overflowing basket.

     "Y'know, we could get some nail polish too and have a salon moment," I recommended. She looked like she was either on crack or simply too excited about nail polish. Even though I know its the latter, the former could still be an option. She loaded at least five different colors into the cart, ranging from beige to neon yellow. I threw a nail file on top just because, and I decided we should leave before we needed a cart.

      I paid for everything, figuring that I should probably spend some money on this trip other than gas. We put the bags into my backseat, Shelby giggling to herself as she strapped them in. I wish I knew the ups and down of that girl's brain. She got into the passenger seat, plugging the aux cord into her phone. Soon, Ed Sheeran was blaring out of my busted up speakers. I don't really listen to him much, so thank god this song constantly plays on the radio because this girl needs a karaoke moment.

     We sang together completely off key, but it's not like we could hear ourselves over the radio blasting. Eventually, we got to a Starbucks that she told me to stop it. Shelby brought the laptops inside, handing me one of them as we sat down at a table. I gave her an inquisitive look, causing her to explain: "listen, they all have videos rendered and you just have to go in there in hit upload. Their logins should be on a sticky note inside."

     I shrugged and figured it's not the weirdest thing I've ever done for these essentially strangers. That award goes to this whole trip. I opened the small computer and hit upload on the video as Shelby went up and placed an order. Thank god this place has about three people in it, including us, so it won't take too long. I took another laptop out of the bag, hurrying to get them all done. The thumbnail in this one was a picture of Liam playing Uno, giving a confused look at Zach. I laughed to myself as I hit upload, causing Shelby to look up from sitting down at the table and opening another.

    "You really like him, don't you?"

     "Well, uh, I mean I-"

    "It's fine, I'm happy for you two. If you ever get together I'll support you," she smiled at me, the slightest bit of sorrow behind it. I took her hand from across the table and smiled back, attempting to imitate her sorrow, failing miserably. Soon we finished and out the hunks of technology back into her bag, now only waiting for the employees to finish with our drinks.

    Soon enough, a small girl called out Shelby's name and she ran up to get them, signaling for my help. I pulled her bag over my shoulder as I watched her struggle with two drink carriers. Taking one out of her hand, I thanked the employee and started heading out the door. I held it open as Shelby struggled to drink and walk. We put them on the center console in the car and drove off, hoping the coffee would make up for our absence.