Pine Hills Camp

Chapter 13: Trouble in Paradise

:)) 

^ This means it's a collab! 

*From Abbott's perspective*

"Are you going to tell anyone about it?" Chase starts the conversation.

"About what?" I try to look innocent.

"Don't play dumb. You saved her life. People deserve to know."

He's right. There's nothing to be ashamed of, I did save her life last night. A part of me just wants to be friends with her and forget the past few years but another part tells me that if I do, I lose face.

"Me? Be friends with her? No way."

"Careful what you say." A mischievous grin played on his lips. Careful what you say. His words stick in my head.

*Gwyn*

I close my eyes and tilt my face up towards the sky, letting the sun shine down on my skin. Take in the vitamin D while it lasts. Even though the sunshine is intense, cool gusts of wind balance it out.

"Soaking in the sun?" Luke teased. I got paired with him for today's activities.

"You should too. It's not going to be this sunny back home." Just as the last word rolls off of my tongue, a large splash of freezing cold water lands on my head.

"I'm sorry. I just had to." Luke laughs uncontrollably. In fact, he laughs so hard that the kayak shakes and starts to sway more and more. Maybe pushing him off the kayak might not be the worst idea. It certainly would stop the two of us from toppling into the water.

We row and row for what seems like forever until we're told to "BUILD A RAFT!" Now... that doesn't mean to stop, get off the kayak, gather wood and rope and build a raft. That means to hold onto another kayak's paddle and pull it closer to yourself then reach your paddle across the water to the kayak next to you and they will pull it closer to themselves. As a result, you form a large raft-like structure where everyone is connected to each other so we don't drift apart when we listen to the guide or instructor talking.

After listening to Ms Beats talk about the wildlife and whatnot around here, we break apart. For 30 minutes, we're free to go anywhere we like between the rapids and the dock then meet back at here.

Luke lets me take over the paddling. It's only fair. He did most of the work up 'till now. I tried to row us forward, which takes a little while to get used to. We come to a part of the river between two mountains. We've come so far that no one else follows us. The river snakes along the little canyon formed by years of erosion. You can see where the water used to be on the mountain sides.

"Imagine living somewhere like this. It's a pretty amazing sight to wake up to." Looking around the steep valleys, I see the tall pine trees that find its place in the dirt, submerging its roots beneath the ground into the rich soil.

"Or another amazing sight is waking up next to you," Luke whispers slowly but I can still hear him.

"W-what?!" My head whips round. As I do that, my paddle turns around with me and connects with Luke's forehead.

"Ow! Damn... I was just kidding, Gwyn. What made you so mad?" His hands fly up to his face to cover up the red bruise but also on his face, is the slightest hint of a smile.

"I-I'm sorry, does it hurt that bad?" I said quickly and my hands let go of the paddle. Rummaging through my bag, I fish out a handkerchief and dip it in the water to hand it to Luke.

"What do you mean that bad? It hurts if that's what you mean." He takes the cool cloth and replaces his hand with it. "It's not that bad."

Crap. I can feel the tears welling up. The bruise looks really bad. The build up of guilt in my mind is overwhelming.

"Gwyn! Don't cry. It doesn't hurt. Really. It doesn't."

"I'm sorry. It's my fault. I should have known that it was just a joke. You couldn't possibly mean that or like me..." I said the last part quietly.

"Hey. It was an accident. You didn't mean it. We should head back. Where's the paddle?"

I look at my hands. They are empty. Paddle-free. I replay the past few minutes in my head.

Hit Luke. Freak out. Oh!

Dropped paddle...

It seems Luke also came to the same realisation because both our eyes turn to the right. And there it is. The paddle... swimming in the river. It mocks me as it floats by as if it was saying "catch me if you can."

We panic immediately. "What should we do?! Now we have no paddle!" I shout and it echoes in the canyon, making it seem like we're stuck in some far away land with no one who can help or lend a hand. Even if they could, it'd have to be a pretty long hand because from what I see, the paddle has to be about 5 metres away.

"What are you doing!" 

Alright! This is the first chapter that has been written as a collab between me and @ParichSakulkerewatan because quite frankly, I'm living in a writer's block. He's been kind enough to help me out. I am unloading my things out of the moving van into my house in Collab Ville. Hehe. I hope you enjoyed reading and I HOPE to publish again soon.

Thanks again Plub.

- AOS