First name terms

31- Unexpected declarations

Clearly, that was not a group of friends that would survive when they were lost in the woods. They were in the first step of their camping adventure, and everything was already failing.

-This stick goes like this!

-Why would you bend it?! It doesn't make sense! Just slide it through the little sleeves- Cole smacked the back of his head.

-Has someone figured out where this damn thing goes?- Josie held a large piece of cloth in the air.

-That's the floor!

-Jane, that's impossible, the floor is already there.

-Pay a look at the instructions, Jose.

-Wow, Akes, you are so bright! I hadn't thought of that!- she exclaimed sarcastically- They are in JAPANESE, you smart-ass.

-Has none of you ever gone camping?- Noah, who was already putting his belongings in the tent, asked.

-Not enough times to know how this works...- Ruby muttered, sitting inside the tent and holding the roof so that Jane could finish passing the pole through the little holes.

The only ones that were going in the right direction -apart from Noah, who had already finished his'- were Anne and Diana, who put it up in ten minutes, but the rest took another half an hour. However, two couples had to re-build it: Josie and Tillie had forgotten to clear the ground beneath it, so they had to do it again to avoid getting stabbed with pebbles and sticks in their sleep, while Cole and Jerry had their door facing the other way, so they messily tried to turn it around and failed completely. Charlie, Noah and Moody would sleep together, next to them Cole and Jerry, then Ruby and Jane, following them would be Anne and Diana, and finally, Tillie and Josie; all placed in a circle around the fire they'd start later on. 

Despite the lack of survival skills they all had, the day went on smoothly. Cole sat by the lake, drawing a sketch of the landscape, and somehow managing to make it look even more stunning than the real one. Jerry, Charles and Moody spent a couple of hours kicking a ball, and then trying to teach Tillie how to play soccer. Josie and Jane laid under the sun, getting tanned for the summer. Ruby and Diana were trying to learn how to skip stones, and they laughed each time they threw one that would make a plop sound and sink directly into the water. Anne, living her adventure, skipped across the needle-covered paths of the forest, jumping on fallen logs of trees and spinning around, breathing in the smell of damp moss. Noah walked peacefully behind her, admiring, not only the nature that surrounded them, but also the girl in front of him.

-Oh god, Noah, look at that tree!- she pointed her finger at it.

-It...looks like every other one we've seen up to this point.

-No, this one's perfect to climb- she squealed before rushing towards it, and the boy just chuckled at her spontaneity.

-Be careful!

Her two french braids bounced up and down as she got ahold of the different branches and hopped onto them. Her friend was extremely surprised at her abilities. In just a second, she was already sitting on one of the side branches, laying her head against the main tree trunk and admiring the rest of the forest. Her eyes wandered around the place, until they met the boy's.

-The view from up here is outstanding!- she exclaimed from the top of her lungs, stretching her arms as the light spring breeze caressed her freckled face- Come up!

-Me?- he said with a breathy voice, his eyes wide open.

-No, the rock next to you... YES, you, Noah!

-Oh, no. No way.

-It's not that high up, I promise.

-I pass, it is really not my thing. I'm not too adventurous.