Me And You

Camp

November 22nd of 2019. A rather terrifying day in my life. I wasn't prepared for what was about to happen.

Our bus arrived an hour late, and we were standing under the scorching heat. Once the bus arrived, all of us rushed in like animals. We all wanted a taste of the A.C inside. But none of us got to experience it. Instead, all we had were A.Cs without power and Chinese paper fans. The Camp counselor brought Chinese paper fans for some activity. But we've found a much better use. All the girls sat in the front, whereas the boys sat on the throne, The Backseat. The counselor sits along with the driver at the front; the girls in the middle, talking gossip and playing K-pop and heaven is where all the boys do whatever they want with no restrictions. At one point, there was a bet between the boys and girls to see who can act better in charades. I opted out because I thought it was stupid.

I expected Emma to take part in this, but she opted out too. So I went over to her.

"Hey,"

"Hey,"

"May I sit here?"

"Yeah, sure,"

"So, what do you wanna talk about?"

"Anything. Just keep me distracted from the circus behind us,"

"(Chuckling) Okay. How's Shawn,"

"Oh. We broke up,"

"Oh, no. What happened?" I asked. I knew why he broke up. But she doesn't know that I know what happened. So I went with the flow.

"I don't know. Maybe that's how it is. Maybe I'm destined to be single,"

"Now come on. I was your boyfriend. I liked you. Just because we broke up doesn't mean we hate each other,"

"But why did we break up? Because of me. My stupid demand. I'm sure Shawn broke up because of something I did,"

"Now, now. Stop thinking about him. He was useless. Friends are better than relationships. Think like that,"

"How do you remain calm and jolly even after realizing that you've been denied love because of something?"

"I uhh...I don't know. Maybe I got used to it. I don't know. I know that there is that special one for me. That's what kept me going. But I'm afraid of not identifying her, even if she's sitting beside me,"

"Hmmm. Anyways, chuck that. Let's have some fun,"

"Yeah,"

She got up and joined the bet with the others. I, too, got up, but I didn't join. I stayed there and watched her act. I must say she has improved. I listened to my music which I smuggled.

Once we reached camp, the bet was off. No one knew who won. We entered the Runestone Camping site. The air was moist with the fresh smell of the forest. We set our site somewhere in the far end of the woods. By then, nighttime rolled. We all gathered around the campfire and told stories. There was another bet between the boys and girls to see who can narrate the best story. I took part in this one because I knew very well that the boys would win with me on their side. We even changed our names. The Girls

were The Gals. The boys were The Dudes. The Dudes started first. I volunteered to tell a story.

"Some of us are afraid of being in the dark. For such people, this is not a story for you.

There was once a boy in an orphanage.

He was just like us, the same age. He had always been afraid of the dark, right from when he was sent there. No one knows why. There was a special repelling force between him and the lonely darkness. One day, his friend asked him why he was like that. He spoke up. The young boy was sleeping in his bed on a usual night. He was at the time, eight years of age. He hears footsteps outside his door and peeks out of his eyes to see what is happening. His door swings open quietly to reveal a black patch of shadow appearing out of nowhere. He ran back to his bed, covering himself with his blanket. The door slowly opened. The shadow, with its fingers, wrote something on the walls. It then hid under the child's bed. An hour passed, and his eyes are adjusting more and more to the darkness. He tries to make out the words, but it's a struggle. He gasps when he finally makes out the sentence.