Solitude: a state or situation of being caught up in the essence of one's own company.
River let out hard, sharp breaths as he continued to hike up the steeped hill. It was cold, it was dark, and this activity was completely unnecessary, especially at this time of night. River rather be anywhere else but here; he rather be at home playing video games, or skateboarding with his friends, or even doing to definition of pain (homework) but, what Skylie said was law and he couldn't say no to her. After all, she was his best friend.
Skylie and River were dead opposites. River was your basic, outgoing teenage boy who loved being social, but he also loved analyzing the world around him and especially people. He was an overall loved guy, and pretty popular. His light colored eyes loved to scour every area he could; finding the little things nobody noticed, and the huge things everyone saw. Studying human nature and just how the world worked in general was his thing, and he wouldn't give that up in a million years.
Skylie on the other hand was nothing like that; she loved quiet, and when I mean quiet quiet. Like, dead silence, zero sound, you can hear absolutely nothing. That was her safe space; her solitude. She was the type of girl who could find a random path in the woods or in a small nook that would lead to something beautiful. She didn't really like talking to people, she hated video games or any electronics with all her might, and she especially hated parties.
Heaven forbid parties.
Nevertheless, they worked. They have been best friends since they could remember, and for their tenth best friendiversary, Sklie had something very special planned. Something that, so far, River hated very, very much.
Hiking up a mountain after sunset in the middle of September.
"If you keep that inner monologue going, it's just gonna make this hike even harder." Skylie deadpanned, not even needing to look behind her to know that River was struggling big time.
"Sky, I don't even want to be here." River huffed, annoyed. "Just please tell me what we are doing so we can get this over with?"
A small smile escaped Skylie's lips as she continued to hike up the steep, grass covered hill. "Well, that would ruin all the fun, wouldn't it?"
"Hiking, in the dead of night, already ruined all the 'fun'" River replied as he sprinted to catch up with the petite, blonde girl.
"Positive thoughts keep you happy, Riverbed." The girl simply retorted, snickering at the nickname she came up for him years ago.
"You always tell me that, but I swear it's a lie." River muttered under his breath. "Skoleciphobia."
Skylie laughed loudly, turning around the shove River's shoulder. "Okay, first, it's Scoleciphobia, not Skoleciphobia. Two, that's not a nickname, it's the fear of worms."
River couldn't help but laugh a little too, smiling at his best friend. "It could be a nickname!"
"No, it would be a terrible nickname!"
This is how conversation flowed with the two teens. It was easy and usually about pretty much close to nothing; They didn't have to think twice about they wanted to say or what might offend the other, because everything to them was a joke. Usually, you could find them dying from laughter over something just as little as a weirdly colored blade of grass. It was honestly impressive how much interest that they could find in something so miniscule.
River had to admit, besides it being not the warmest and pitch blackness around them without their phone flashlights guiding their way, it was a nice night. There was just enough of a breeze to ruffle River's curls just a little, and there was the slight dampness that made his heart warm like it would when the sun would peak out from the clouds after a heavy rain. I definitely have to hand it to Skylie. He thought to himself as his light colored eyes scoured the area. She really knows how to find the places in the middle of nowhere.
