Hamilton Academy: He's Always Watching

Part Three ~ Chapter Seven

"There was something else occupying my mind though. It was a certain anniversary that was coming up."

-MATT

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Somehow, while we were fanning the fire with paper to get it going a little more, things had gone completely wrong.

Someone had left the one thing we were supposed to get out of this night at the cabin out instead of putting it away.

And now it had fluttered into the fire.

“The instructions!”

“How are we supposed to build a raft now?”

“Mr. Ehway never prepared us for this one,” Amy muttered.

That’s right; the instructions on building a raft had burned to ashes in the fire.

“Wow,” Kyle said in mock amazement. “We sure know how to make things easier for us.”

“You have successfully woken me up with bad news.” My brother stated. “Can’t you ever wake me up by bringing a cake over or something? Not lighting something important on fire.”

“Sorry Ethan, next time we plan on making things difficult on ourselves we will do it before you fall asleep,” Amy said sarcastically.

“Guys,” I started slowly, cautiously. “I don’t think building a raft without instructions will be too hard. I think we have all seen enough TV shows with that in it or read a book with it somewhere to have a general idea.”

“I…uh…” Johnny trailed off in thought for a second. “You’re right.” Kyle nodded decisively along with him.

“I have a good idea on how to build a raft. I have read plenty of informational books in my lifetime to understand the general idea. No worries, guys.”

And it was decided. There wasn’t much to worry about on the raft, we all decided. What had happened happened, and we couldn’t turn ashes back into paper.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Amy questioned, leaning on her elbows.

We sat in silence for a while, none of us really answering her. Ethan, Johnny, and Kyle looked as if they were going to fall asleep, and the rest of us were pretty tired out also. It had been an exhausting day, and we still had more to endure.

There was something else occupying my mind though. It was a certain anniversary that was coming up.

In exactly one week, it would be the official anniversary of the date that me and Kelly Howards got together.

The first person I ever truly fell in love with.

And it was time my friends knew the real story.

***

            “Guys?” I almost whispered the word, my voice coming out a lot more hesitant than I had wished it would.

            “What’s wrong, Matt?” Julia and Amy quickly picked up on my nerves, although I tried to brush them off.

            “I just think it’s time I told you all something I don’t really talk about…”

            I had officially gotten everyone’s attention. Even Andrew was focused on me as I scratched my shoulder nervously. Ethan, Johnny, and Kyle all slowly opened their droopy eyes, turning their faces to me.

            “Is everything okay?” My brother sat up. He cleared his throat to get rid of his scratchy voice from only just waking up.