How much do you really know?

nine

    After a couple of minutes of hanging out, Carson had everyone sit in a circle so that they could introduce themselves to me. I sat next to Bryce and Connor while Carson sat in the middle of the circle. Carson spoke in a loud and clear voice. Everyone immediately hushed and listened to what he had to say.
    "So, we are in a bit of a predicament. We did not expect to pick up another person while we were making our escape, but we did, and we don't leave people to try to survive on their own. Anyway," he turned to me, "This is Eliana." I felt my cheeks get hot. I grinned sheepishly and looked at the ground. Nobody said anything. I could feel my heart beating, could hear it in my ears.
    "Okay. I want to go around in a circle and have everyone say their name and their age. I'll go first. I'm Carson and I'm 18. Eliana, you can go next. How old are you?" I tried to speak loudly and clearly without my voice shaking. I had never been a fan of public speaking.
    "I'm 17."
    Bryce was next and my small voice sounded like a whisper compared to his rough voice.
    "You already know my name, Bryce, and I'm also 17."
    Next up was someone I'd never spoken to. He had short, dark hair and vicious looking brown eyes. He didn't even look me in the eyes when he spoke.
    "Justin, 18." He turned his head to me and snarled. I shriveled away from him. His teeth were uneven and yellow. It looked as if he was missing a couple too. I felt a hand on my back and warm breath as someone leaned toward my ear.
    "Don't mind him." Bryce's voice comforted me. The warmth of his hand on my back spread a feeling of comfort through my body. "He tries really hard to be intimidating."
    Connor, on the other side mimicked Bryce's movements, minus the hand on my back. "He's a bitch. Just don't associate with him and you'll be fine."
    I barely heard the person who went next. Everyone immediately fell silent so that I could hear him. He was the kid that I had talked to while we were walking here.
    "I'm Gavin and I'm 15." He looked up at me and I gave him an encouraging smile. I saw a hint of a smile on his face. I knew it was genuine because I was just like him, especially when I was at the school. I was too shy to give anyone a good smile.
    Next up to introduce themselves was a group of boys that I had never seen apart from each other since I had joined the group. There was a total of four boys. The first one was scrawny with dirty blonde hair.
    "Hey, I'm Daniel and I am 16." He waved at me and I waved back. The next guy had light brown hair and he always looked like he was angry.
    "I'm Ashton and I'm also 16." By then, hearing the same words over and over again was getting boring, but we still had four more boys to go.
    "My name is Chase and I'm 17." Chase had hair that was cut almost down to his scalp. He punched Ashton in the shoulder and make a face, as if bragging that he was older. Ashton stuck his tongue out at him. I giggled. The boy next to Chase had extremely blonde hair, almost so blonde that it was white.
    "I am Blake and I'm 17." Chase fist-bumped him. Now we had two people left, only one that I didn't know. He sat next to Connor and he turned to look at me. He reached out his hand over Connor's lap to shake mine. I took it.
    "Hello. My name is Kayden and my age is 16. How do you do?" Before I could answer, he snorted and laughed. I could audibly hear someone groan. Connor leaned over and whispered in my ear.
    "He thinks he's hilarious, but he could never, ever compete with me. He doesn't even come close. He's a whole universe away." I could see the smug look on Connor's face, and even though Connor was pretty annoying and I had only known Kayden for about thirty seconds, I had to agree. Last up was Connor.
    "You already know me so I don't feel the need to say anything." I exaggeratingly rolled my eyes.
    "Ok, so Eliana knows everyone now," Carson spoke. "You guys can all go back to what you were doing. We will eat some dinner soon and then we all need to get some rest. We will set up a schedule for keeping watch after we eat dinner." As soon as he finished talking, it seemed as if every boy started talking at once. Connor and Bryce turned towards me as Carson started passing out leftover pizza to everyone. I assumed they were eating the best of their food supply first as a sort of celebration. Everyone also had a sleeping bag in their pack. In my pack I had a couple blankets and a small pillow, so I set up a bed next to Connor and Bryce. Everyone sat on their sleeping bags, talking with their groups and eating their pizza.
    "Mmmmm," Connor said. "This is my favorite food in the entire world, even cold. What is your guy's favorite food?"
    Bryce spoke up. "Probably cheese. Man is cheese delicious."
    "Yeah cause your jawline is so sharp it could cut cheese," Connor laughed. I snorted and choked on my pizza. It was such a stupid joke, but that was what made it so funny. Bryce tried to glare at Connor, but I could see that he was holding back a smile. Connor burst out laughing once again, but it was such a funny laugh that I could never have heard it too many times. I looked at Bryce and he finally let the smile come as he met my eyes.
    "Hey man, I bet I could last longer than you out here in shorts and a t-shirt than you could," Connor challenged Bryce.
    "Haha, I could so last longer than you. You're so skinny. You don't have the meat on you to make it a week."
    "Then prove it."
    "Fine. Tomorrow morning, we'll start" I shook my head. They were going to get hypothermia, but I didn't say anything. They had the best friendship, like the one I had craved all my life.
    As a wave of exhaustion hit me due to the events of the day, I told the boys that I was going to bed. They laughed and called me a party pooper, but they lowered their voices and tried to be quieter. However, I did not fall asleep until long after all the other boys had fallen asleep. I listened to the sounds of the forest, wind rustling through the leaves, animals scurrying through the brush in search of their next meal or shelter until finally sleep took over my mind.