A Lantern's Light | A TMF Fanfic

Chapter Five | An Adequate Face

Warning: Mentions of Death

~

Hailey -- currently focusing on finishing her own meal -- looked up to see Milly offhandedly tapping her fingers slowly against the wooden picnic table the two girls both sat at, seeming to be lost in thought.

"I should probably give Zander a better apology," the guitarist remarked, "I really didn't think it would scare him that much."

Hailey chuckled, covering her mouth due to the fact she was still eating. "What did you expect, Milly? You made him think he was eating spider food."

Milly returned Hailey's laughs, not seeming to have any verbal response to give. A thought then popped into the pink-haired girl's head, and changing the topic, she started, "Oh, hey, I forgot to mention earlier. So, Sean and I decided to save battery power last night, and I was going to bring the lantern with me so I could see, but it wouldn't turn on," moving to her question, Milly asked, "Was I just missing the switch or something?"

"Oh, yeah..." Hailey trailed, a realization coming to her, "I must've forgotten to tell you all. These lanterns are kind of old, and they started doing this weird thing where they use the battery power even when they're off. It has something to do with the way the wiring is." In the moment Hailey couldn't find herself with a good explanation, so she added on, "My dad can explain it better than I can. Anyway, if you want to save power, take the battery out."

"You seriously need to find new places to shop," Milly commented, cautious yet still maintaining humor. "Lantern's -- even old lantern's -- shouldn't do that."

"Okay, I know between this, the juice, and the batteries it seems bad," Hailey acknowledged, then continuing, "But I promise we're fine."

"Whatever you say," Milly sarcastically agreed, giving a small eye roll that drew her sight back into generally staring off the same way she was before.

The conversation ending, Hailey turned back to her eggs, eating again.

Not even hearing the noises of her own tent, Hailey jumped back a little to what seemed sudden to her, seeing Jake was now walking towards the picnic table. He still seemed extremely tired with Hailey noticing him covering his mouth with his hand as he yawned, but also observing that he was already dressed, and not in pajamas like she still was.

"Hey, guys," Jake greeted, his words holding a sleepy energy.

"Hey, Jake," Hailey returned, watching the club's singer sit down. "Are you gonna get any food?"

"Eh, I'm not really that hungry," Jake answered, bringing up his hand to scratch the back of his head.

Her paper plate now empty, Hailey picked it up, lightly tossing it into the hanging trash bag they had set up to hold their trash before they could properly dispose of it.

"Well, I think I'm gonna head on over to the camp store to buy some firewood," Hailey remarked, standing up from the small table.

Perking his head up to the club's leader, Jake asked, "Could I come with you?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Hailey confusedly agreed, "Why though?"

"I forgot to pack gum so I just wanna see if the store has any," Jake explained, "Plus it's kind of fun to browse."

"Okay," Hailey said, then pointing to her clothing, "First I'm gonna get changed out of these pajamas, but then we can head out."

"Cool!"

Hailey gave a small smile, walking off to her tent.

~

After Hailey got changed, her and Jake fairly quickly made their way up the camp store. Now arriving, Hailey pulled the store door's wobbly knob, noticing the building seemed to have an overall pretty janky quality to it. Stepping inside, she briefly scanned the room, then turning to Jake.