The Girl in the Hoodie

38

I crouch down, pulling a lighter out my pocket and setting the sticks alight.

"You brought a lighter?" Dylan asks slowly.

"Of course I did." I scoff. "You really think I'd take Max's word when he said he knew how to use a flint?"

"Um, wow, okay." Max throws me an offended look.

"You had a lighter this whole time, yet you just watched us trying to start a fire using a flint for an hour?" Noah growls, throwing his arms up in frustration.

"Well, yeah." I shrug.

"Why?"

"It was amusing."

Noah steps forward with a death glare on his face, no doubt ready to strangle me, but Max and Dylan quickly pull him back.

"Okay, please don't kill your soulmate." Max pleads.

*~*

Monday, 11:45 PM

"Well, this is cozy." Max grins as we all lie around the fire in our sleeping bags, in a circle, our feet towards the fire. "Not bad at all."

"I hate you, Max." Noah, Dylan, Megan and I all grumble in unison.

"Love you, too, guys." Max doesn't let his grin drop. "Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite."

"I hope the fucking bed bugs do bite you." I say sharply, pulling my sleeping bag tighter around me.

*~*

Tuesday, 2 AM

"What the—shit, guys, wake up!" Dylan's voice cuts loudly through the air, making us groggily wake up.

"What—oh fuck." I curse, sinking further into my sleeping bag as small droplets of water fall on my face.

"What do we do?" Megan questions, also sinking further into her sleeping bag.

"I don't know—grab the tent that isn't up in the tree?" Max suggests.

"What the hell is that going to do?" Noah questions, his voice skeptical.

"We can huddle up, toss it over ourselves and use it as a tarp." He explains.

"Fuck, fine." Noah grumbles before standing up with his sleeping bag still around him. The rain had started falling harder now, feeling like mini-bullets against our sleeping bags. As soon as he takes a step, he slips and face plants on the muddy ground.

Everyone except him starts laughing their asses off.

"I fucking hate camping."

*~*

Tuesday, 10 AM

"I vote we call this whole thing off." I state from my sitting position on a large rock next to the lake with my legs crossed. "This is fucking ridiculous."

"I agree with Carter." Noah grumbles, his head on my lap as he lies on the rock with his eyes closed. "I ate a face full of mud. I don't want to be here anymore."

"I want to go home." Megan complains from her seated position on the rock opposite us.

"Me too." Dylan agrees, leaning against the rock Megan is sitting on.

The storm had gone away as quickly as it had come. The sun was shining and it was hot out, so here we are, chilling on some huge ass rocks, drying our clothes because somehow, we had all forgotten to pack spare clothes.

"We really suck at camping." Max grumbles from his position on the ground, his voice defeated.

"You think?" I mumble sarcastically, running my hand through Noah's hair.

"And the map's completely trashed. No way that's getting us home." Dylan sighs, rubbing his face in annoyance.

"As if it did us any good in the first place." Noah mutters bitterly as I continue playing with his hair.

"At least the food stayed dry." Megan tries to lighten up the situation.

I shrug. "True."

"The storm last night took down trees everywhere." Max groans as he sits up and looks around. "The trail is completely destroyed."

"Fuck." Dylan crosses his arms, resting his head on Megan's shoulder. "Just our luck."

"Okay, let's be smart for the first time on this goddamn trip," I start. "We have a compass. Let's just pick a direction and stick with it. We'll get out of this shit hole eventually."

"Or we could end up walking for days and never find the end." Noah butts in.

"Oh, Noah," I drone sarcastically. "Ever the optimist."

"Noah has a point, though." Megan starts. "This place is huge. It's the biggest national park downstate."

"Eastview's on the north end of Constantine forest, so we'll go North." Max tells us. "Sure, we might walk out in Riverhead or something, but that's better than wandering to our deaths."

We all nod in agreement.

"So we just keep walking until something pops up?" Noah questions, sitting up. "Just like we did when we got here?!"

Max pops his lips, scratching the back of his head, thinking of the plan that had gotten us lost in the first place. "Yup."

"We're doomed." Megan shuts her eyes, falling back on the rock.

"We're not doomed." Max corrects. "We have a plan."

"Yeah, a shitty one." Noah pipes in.

"Better than no plan."

"I'm not so sure about that." I hum.

"It's a shitty plan but we don't have a choice." Dylan sighs, standing upright. "Let's just start walking and pray we get out of here soon."