Breathe

twenty-six | end

"They say school helps you, but all it does is make me want to run really far away and never come back."

Asher smiled as we left the school building together. "It's just two tests on the same day. You'll survive it."

"Yeah, remember you said that when you're at my funeral," I replied, rolling my eyes. "Is that even legal? I don't think it is. They can't make me take two tests on the same day. Ash, can we sue the school?"

"I wanna sue the school," Gill said as she reached us, slightly out of breath since she had been running to catch up with us.

"I wanna sue my neighbor," Sam replied. She was always close to Gill, I rarely saw them around school on their own. "Their dog shit into our garden again and Amina made me clean it up. I'm gonna poison the rat."

We reached Asher's car and came to a halt. It was the middle of October, school had started almost two months ago, and he had finally fulfilled his dream of getting his own car.

"Hey," Tyler greeted. He had been leaning against it, waiting for us. His eyes landed on Asher. "Why did you drive here today?"

"Kiri and I are gonna go for a drive now," he replied, pulling out his car keys. "And no, none of you can come."

Gill rolled her eyes. "That's not fair. You knew us before him."

I just smiled at her. "The key is sex, baby."

"Shut up," Asher replied, hitting my shoulder before unlocking his car. "Enjoy your weekend, don't bother me, we'll come back Sunday."

"Sunday?" Sam repeated. "I thought you were going for a drive."

"Guess who's gonna get murdered in a tent tonight," I replied, rolling my eyes. "He makes me go camping. I'm actually having doubts about this whole dating thing."

"No way, I love camping! Take me with you please!" Gill beamed which earned her an annoyed glance from Asher.

"Just the brat and me."

I sighed, leaning against his car. "Cute nicknames. He's so romantic."

He rolled his eyes. "And you'll be kicked out of the tent tonight. My tent, by the way."

"Anyone wanna come over for lunch?" Tyler asked, hiding his hands in his pockets. Sam glanced at Gill who nodded.

"Sure. Don't get eaten by a bear, Kiri," Sam warned me, and I paled a little.

"Actually, I changed my mind. Can I come too, Tyler?"

"Just get in already," Asher sighed, opening the driver's door.

I did as he said, waving at the others and watching them walk away through the windshield. I couldn't deny that I had a weird feeling about this trip. Something about me and mother nature just didn't work out, I couldn't help it. So naturally, I wasn't nearly as excited about it as Asher.

He noticed and pulled out a pack of gum, tossing it at me. "You'll be fine. It's just a camping trip."

I took a piece of gum before connecting my phone to his car, starting my music. "Oh, alright then. That's only the exact same thing people say before getting eaten by bears or murdered in a dark forest, no need to worry."

Asher sighed as he shoved the gum back into his pocket. He always carried snacks around for me these days, after my plan to stop smoking had turned out to be rather difficult. It helped that he had taken away all my cigarettes, but the craving as well as the nervousness was still there, and sometimes it was hard to just relax.