Bridge of the Gods [ON HOLD]

Chapter 4 - Phantom Power and Ludricous Speed

MARCH

Nerves skitter over me as I stare at the half-packed bag on my bed. I can't quite believe it's time already. The past months have gone by so fast, it feels like that midnight call in September had only been a week ago. You would've thought that after dropping out, time would have gone by as slow as a snail, but it hadn't at all. Things had started going by in fast forward. After finishing my last exam, I had officially ended my 'year' at the University. I would be taking a gap year, and take the second semester next year. So for the first time in two years I had not spent my Christmas break making assignments and reading textbooks. Instead, I had been meeting up with the associate of the Managing Company. His name was Max and he had been younger than I would have expected, only a few years older than me. Together with him I had been able to plan out the biggest details of the trip. He had ensured that we got our hiker's permit, and that we got a spot on the Hiker's list. We were officially two of the fifty hikers who would start the PCT on the 23d of April. Max, the associate, had also helped me with getting the official papers that would let us enter Canada through the trail. Apparently we'd be illegal without these papers.

During January and February, I had gotten myself a full-time job in a small bookshop. That was the upside of being a literature student. It was easy-peasy to get jobs with books. And books were in general nicer than humans, so I like. And since I was not in school anymore, it was an easy way to make some money before leaving, so that I would have enough to take it easy when I came back. Sav and I had also hung up advertensions for a flatmate that could move in while I was away, so that I wouldn't have to keep paying rent while I was in the States. Thinking back on the past months, it doesn't feel as if they went by as fast I thought, but I still am reeling a bit with the knowledge that I will be in Campo in less than a month. Somehow, the counting down had changed from months to weeks, and it was ... well. Scary. But a good kind of scary. A I-know-I'm-going-to-do-something-potentially-stupid-but-I'll-enjoy-it-anyway scary.

"Robyn?" Sav shouts as she enters the apartment. I tear my gaze away from my luggage and turn towards the door. "Yeah?" I shout back as I walk over to the kitchen. "How is it going?" Her hair is tousled, it must be more windy outside than I thought it was. She drops her backpack in a corner of the kitchen and walks over to me. I give her a tired smile. "It's so much to think of, I'm quite sure my brain is going to explode."

"No worries, there's not a lot in there that can explode," she answers dryly.

"Hardy-har-har. You're supposed to be my best friend."

"And I am. I'm making sure you don't worry about exploding brains." She flops down on my bed, causing the bag on my bed to almost spill over.

"You have no idea how insanely jealous I am of right now. I think if I hear the word 'law' one more time I'm just going to drop dead," she says with closed eyes.

She sits up and opens an eye, taking a look across the room. Mockingly, she recoils with horror. "Jesus Robyn! You were not joking when you said that it was not going well.'

I sigh and throw myself down next to her. "You know my brain. It's all over the place. I don't know how my parents ever thought I would be able to live on my own."

"They don't. They check in with me every week."

"I'm not even going to try and say that is false, because knowing my parents it does not sound unlikely."

"Come on," Sav sits up, hauling me up. "I know exactly what you need."

She opens my laptop and pulls my Spotify playlist up. It's a list I made that has so many songs that no matter how I feel, it will always correspond with my mood. Yes, I know, I'm a Queen. I did the impossible.