Left Behind - 1. Left Behind

The senior class had just about reached their destination. It took a lot of persuasion to get the school to let them take this trip, but right now the two buses full of students were anticipating a day of fun. It was the school’s way of rewarding all of the graduating class while the other grades did the mandatory end of the term tests. Having already completed what was required by the state, a week of fun had been planned. This trip was the highlight of the week and the teachers couldn’t silence the noise on the bus.

“I can’t believe we’re goin on this trip,” Mitch said turning to face his friend.

“I’m not too thrilled about it,” Cara said as she fumbled around in her purse looking for her brush. The day was hot and humid so the windows were down. Cara has been Mitch’s best friend this year and they had gotten close. She was dating Mitch’s older brother Daniel, who had graduated the year before.

“Well you packed enough bug spray,” Mitch said leaning over to help her search through the small cans of bug spray stuffed into her purse.

“Guys are so lucky, you all like nasty things like bugs and snakes, but I have no intention of meeting either of them,” she said, finally giving up the search for her brush and closed her purse before tucking it between them.

“Then why didn’t you skip?” Mitch asked nudging her with his elbow.

“It would be the loser thing to do,” she said causing Mitch to laugh.

“I think complaining the entire time would be worse than skipping it altogether,” he said.

When the bus slowed and turned onto a narrow, roughly paved road the bus became quiet for the first time that morning. The sun was just getting bright, but the temperatures were already reaching uncomfortable highs. It would make the hike difficult, but nothing seemed to damper the excitement everyone, with the exception of Cara, felt.

Looking around Mitch saw that the only visible building was a small cabin. There were two people standing outside and they approached the bus when it came to a halt. They were the tour guides that would lead the group on this long trek through the forest. The area was a large protected game reserve, but to the east was a recreation center by the lake with cabins that could be rented.

“I’ve never seen so much green,” Cara said in a whisper. Mitch kept looking around until his eyes locked with someone he knew all too well. In the back of the bus sitting with a girl was his former best friend Aidan. The previous summer Aidan had told Mitch that he didn’t want to be friends anymore. Every time Mitch saw Aidan, that summer night came rushing back into his thoughts. It was the same summer that had his older brother leaving him to go to college, but he never thought it would be the summer where he would lose his best friend too.

“Mitch, we need to talk,” Aidan had said as they both lay in the tent. They were at the local party spot and the group they hung around with was having a camping night to sleep off their alcohol consumption. That way they wouldn’t risk embarrassment by turning up in the police news when the Wednesday paper circulated around their small town.

“Alright, man,” Mitch had answered as he leaned up and rested on his elbow so that he could see Aidan.

“You’ve been pissing me off a lot,” Aidan had said, not sounding the least bit mad. It’s what Mitch was still confused about. He had never been able to piss Aidan off and wasn’t aware that he had done it then.

“Is it because of Jacy? She and I are just friends,” Mitch had said as he sat up and crossed his legs Indian style facing Aidan who did the same. Aidan had been avoiding Mitch’s eyes in the dimly lit tent. The only light source they had had that night was the small fire in the middle of the circle of tents.

“Just listen, I think we need to take a break and spend time with other friends,” Aidan had said as he turned on his flashlight and looked for his shoes, “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be your friend anymore. We’ve changed.”

“I don’t understand where this is coming from,” Mitch had said as he grabbed Aidan’s shoe away from him, “what’s really going on here?”

“Nothing, I already told you, now just fuck off and give me back my shoe,” Aidan had said as he jerked his shoe from Mitch’s grasp. Mitch hadn’t fought him, there was no reason to. He couldn’t keep a friendship that Aidan didn’t want.

After that night, Aidan and Mitch never talked again. Mitch had hoped it was the alcohol talking and Aidan would come around and apologize after he stopped being embarrassed about his decision. When that never happened and when Cara started coming over because she missed her time with his older brother, he and Cara started to hang out more often. When school started for their senior year, Mitch found out that Aidan and Jacy were dating and had been since just after that night of camping.

When Aidan averted his eyes, Mitch kept scanning the grounds no longer feeling the excitement everyone else felt. Cara was a nice person and was entertaining, but she was never able to fill the void of losing a life long best friend. That would only be changed with time and time is something they didn’t have. Cara had already been accepted to the same college his older brother attended. It was a college that didn’t offer the major Mitch had in mind. He knew it was going to happen, college meant that friends had to leave one another to pursue what would be the rest of their life.

“He’s not going to be your friend if he’s not changed his mind by now,” Cara said. Mitch frowned, turning back to face her.

“I won’t lie and say I wasn’t looking at him,” Mitch said looking down at his hands resting in his lap, the excitement of the day draining from him.

“Have you even tried talking to him though?” She asked looking him over, “Because you two could use a good talk.”

“He said he didn’t want to,” he said crossing his arms, “he told me that he didn’t want anything to do with me.”

“Have you talked to Jacy?” Cara asked not wanting to feel unable to help Mitch out. She had always cared about him; she had known him for so long. They hadn’t talked much before, because his brother occupied most of her time. Now that Daniel was away, Cara stayed close to his family.

“No, I lost her as a friend too,” Mitch said tugging on his shirt collar. The bus had been sitting out in the sun for a little while now. The teachers had left the bus to talk with the two tour guides and everyone waiting had started to get fidgety.

“Well maybe sometime before graduation you can sit them down and talk,” she said making it sound simple. Mitch wanted nothing more to talk to Aidan and Jacy. He missed talking to them and he wanted to introduce them to Cara as well. He wanted to know everything that had happened in their lives that he had missed during the split. He was also stubborn though, and that got the better of him a lot of the time. Mitch didn’t want to face rejection by Aidan a second time; the first had been hard enough.

“You said he’d not change his mind,” Mitch said wanting to end the conversation, “what good could it do to talk?”

“To get out what you want to say,” she said shrugging, “I’m sure you have some pretty bitchy things to say to him and Jacy.”

“Yeah,” he said nodding his head.

When the bus doors opened, the senior English teacher, Mrs. Finley, stepped onto the bus and held up her hand for everyone to be silent. It took a while for the noise to die down, but when she was satisfied she let her hand drop.

“Now seniors, lets get off this bus,” she said causing everyone to stand and start shuffling out of the seats they had been sitting in. Everyone had jumped up before Mitch stood so the line had already formed to exit. The excitement made everyone forget their manners so Mitch and Cara had to wait until the back of the line went past them. Aidan and Jacy had been sitting in the back; it would be the closest Mitch had been to them all year.

“Don’t say anything to get you in trouble,” Cara whispered as the back of the line got closer. Mitch had been watching Aidan coming down the aisle, tensing up with every step closer. Aidan was averting his attention, not even meeting Mitch’s gaze halfway. He had made himself busy talking to Jacy, who like Cara, wasn’t too thrilled about the long hot hike they were about to go on.

When Aidan and Jacy passed, Mitch stepped out right behind them, with Cara following at the end of the line. Aidan had stopped talking to Jacy as he would have had to turn around to do so. The four of them could feel the tension at the back of the line as they were the only four walking down the narrow aisle of the bus not talking excitedly about what the day was going to be like.

“Hi Mitch, how’s the year been treating you?” Jacy asked breaking the silence as they reached the front of the bus.

“You’re talking to me Jacy?” Mitch asked frowning. Cara reached up and smacked Mitch on the shoulder reminding him to keep his pent up feelings subdued until the timing was better. Mrs. Finley was watching from the front of the bus and spending the day alone in the information cabin doing book reports wouldn’t be what anyone wanted to do. Not even for Mitch, who wanted to tell his former two best friends how he felt about being abandoned during what should have been the best year of their high school life. Mitch had spent the year seeing people prepare to say goodbye. Plan for the last huge summer together before college. Being sad and getting over not stepping foot in the place they took pride in for the past four years. Mitch had abandoned the group he had been friends with just the summer before. Cara was the only person that he still considered his friend. Everyone else was just a passing thought. A few words exchanged between classes out in the halls or a party invitation that Mitch made excuses not to accept, all because he was afraid that he would run into Aidan if he went to them.

When everyone was off the bus, Cara stepped in front of Mitch, ending up beside Jacy and putting herself between them. Mitch didn’t want to speak to Jacy, she had chosen not to care when Aidan dropped him. She chose Aidan and Mitch hadn’t forgiven her for that yet.

“Now students divide into two groups, girls in one and guys in the other,” the male hiking guide instructed. The two groups separated leaving a few feet between them. “My name is Tyler and I’ll be leading you on this hike along with Jane, who will be leading the girls.”

“Are we going on two different trails?” Cara asked raising her hand to direct the guide’s attention to her.

“No, there just aren’t enough eyes able to see everything,” Tyler answered causing most of the guys in the group laugh. Mrs. Finley and the assistant principal Mr. Morgan were the only chaperones from school. Mitch was standing off to the side, slightly away from the group. He noticed Aidan doing the same; it was a self-conscious safety distance the two always had ever since the camp out. They still shared quick awkward glances from time to time, with the one being caught looking turning away as soon as the other one noticed. It was a dance they both took part in at times.

“So here are the rules,” Jane said stepping forward after the laughter had stopped. She was holding a manual in her hand and she looked down at the page she had it opened to, “no food, gum, or candy of any kind is allowed, no cologne, perfume or sweet smelling sprays are allowed to be sprayed while on hikes.”

“There are bears here,” Tyler interrupted when people started to complain. Mitch looked over to see Cara clinging to her purse, slightly shaking her head. He smiled at her when Cara caught him looking. He knew that she would risk an encounter with a bear to keep from stinking. “Now let Jane finish with the rules, as these are extremely important for your safety.”

“Ok,” Jane said, her voice sounding stern this time, “stay on the trails, if you become separated from the group, look for orange signs with arrows. They will lead you back to the base cabins.” Mitch stopped listening when his attention was diverted to Aidan. He had noticed Aidan looking over his shoulder at him. Aidan’s blue eyes darted to the ground when Mitch caught him looking then he turned back around.

“Now that the rules are taken care of, does anyone have any questions?” Tyler asked and when no one raised their hand Tyler looked down at his watch. “Well then as soon as you’ve dropped all your stashed food into the trash we can leave.” The groups abandoned their segregated spot and gathered around the two large bear protected bins. Mitch had a pack of gum to throw away, not feeling up to running from a bear. After he checked his pockets for anything else, he turned to see Cara talking to Tyler so he made his way over to her.

“Please just my deodorant,” Cara pleaded still clutching tightly to her purse.

“This is not a negotiation,” Tyler said smiling at her, “now hand over your purse so we can see what you can keep since you won’t leave it here in the lockers.”

“Cara, just leave your purse here,” Mitch said, but Cara just looked at him.

“I can’t, this purse has everything I need to get through this hell you people call fun,” she said unzipping her purse so that she could start looking through it. “Can I keep this?” She held up lip gloss and when Tyler shook his head no she reluctantly handed it to him.

“Ok, I’ll just go throw this away,” he said, but when he started to turn Cara grabbed hold of his shoulder stopping him.

“You will not, that is my lip gloss,” she said snatching it away from him, “you may be a rough person but I will not have chapped lips, I’m going to see my boyfriend this weekend and I need lips worth kissing.”

“Cara,” Mitch said getting her attention. A crowd had begun to gather around them and Tyler was starting to lose his patience with her as well. He didn’t want his best friend embarrassing herself more than what she already had.

“Fine,” Cara said shoving the lip gloss back into her purse, “I guess it’s better to just leave it here.”

“Thanks,” Tyler said when she handed over her purse.

“You’re welcome,” Cara said crossing her arms in defeat.

“I was thanking your friend,” Tyler said smiling in my direction.

“Oh, well then, you’re not welcome,” Cara said turning her back to Tyler as he stepped inside the cabin to have the person at the front desk put it into the lockers for safe keeping.

“I can’t believe you’re so fond of your purse,” Mitch said trying not to laugh at the glare Cara gave him when she turned to face him.

“I have everything I need to pull this off in there,” Cara said smoothing out her shirt. He knew that she was girly. Her soft light brown hair was blowing in the breeze. She was a beautiful girl, Mitch could see. He also knew that all the products in her purse didn’t make her that way either. His brother Daniel was lucky to have her. He and Mitch hadn’t talked too often after Daniel had left for college. He hoped that his brother stayed true to Cara. Now that Cara was his best friend he would hate for his own brother to hurt her, but he knew he would still have to comfort her. He thought it would put him in the worst position possible. Choosing between his only loyal friend and his brother who had cheated on her.

“Cara, after this is over everyone here will look like shit,” Mitch said nudging her with his elbow.

“I don’t want to look shitty though,” she said raising her hand to shield her eyes from the sun, “why can’t it rain?”

“Now you want it to rain?” Mitch asked shaking his head, “You do know that Daniel likes to camp right?”

“I know he does,” she said, “and I do hope it rains, I was hoping it was raining when I woke up this morning, but apparently the damn weather woman is wrong yet again.”

“Cara stop your whining,” Mrs. Finley said as she walked by, “we’re getting started in a few minutes so you two need to rejoin the group and wait for instructions.”

“Alright Mrs. Finley,” Mitch said putting his arm around Cara’s shoulders and walking with her to the group still standing by the trash bins. Everyone had dispersed into their social clicks.

“Students, we’re ready to go,” Jane said, “so let’s divide into two lines.”

“Line up so that you’re across from me,” Mitch said before he let Cara go join the girls. There were a lot more guys here than girls though. Some of the girls had skipped this trip, not liking the idea being outdoors all day. Mitch had expected Cara to do the same, but when he saw her at the buses all ready to go, he felt relieved.

“Shit Mitch,” Cara said reaching into her pockets, “I forgot about my gum.”

“Cara, you’re supposed to throw that away,” Mitch said when she pulled out a pack of Trident and showed it to him.

“Go hurry and throw it away,” she said, “I would, but I don’t want to run and get all sweaty.”

“Cara, you’re going to end up sweaty anyway,” Mitch argued, but Cara only grabbed his hand and pushed the gum into it. The lines were already forming when he looked up to see what was going on.

“Go,” Cara said getting into line.

“Damn,” Mitch said turning and running back to the bear proof bins and tossing the gum into one. When he turned around to jog back he noticed the two lines had already formed and he stopped when he saw who was at the back of the line he would be joining.

“Come on Mitch,” Tyler said waving his hand. That caused everyone to turn around and look at him. Mitch reluctantly got in line; Cara wasn’t anywhere close to where he would be in line. She was in the middle of the shorter female line and he wouldn’t be able to talk to her as the hike went along.

“Fuck this sucks,” Mitch said when he took his spot. Tyler had a large walking stick with him and he and Mr. Morgan were the only ones carrying large bags on their back. Jane and Mrs. Finley had first aid kits and medical supplies in backpacks on their backs.

When the lines started moving away from the freshly mowed area in front of the cabins, a dirt trail through the wilderness was visible. Mitch had missed the scenery coming into the recreational game preserve, but now that he was trying to distract himself from glaring at the back of Aidan’s head, he began to look around.

The wind had started to blow slightly harder, but it was still a refreshing, calm breeze that felt cool against the sweat starting to form on his face. He could hear the wind blowing through the trees and when he looked up, the different shades of green caused by the rays of the sun made the leaves seem like they were glowing. Along the dirt trail it was lit and shaded in different places as the sun peeked through the canopy of trees above him. The air was silent though, he had expected to hear birds singing in the trees, but there wasn’t a sound.

As Mitch and the rest of the class went deeper into the trail, the forest became darker and dense. Rocks and roots began to make the once smooth trail rough. The cracking of leaves and the snap of small twigs could be heard as they kept walking. The muscles in the backs of Mitch’s legs were starting to burn with the distance already walked. The back of the line was a lot quieter than the rest. Jacy was now walking beside Aidan. She had been walking a lot slower than the rest of the girls and had made her way back to where he was in the line.

“We needed to rethink this hike thing,” she said causing Mitch to stop looking at the canopy to glance in her direction.

“Yeah, this is fucking boring,” Aidan said, edging closer to Jacy, getting out of line slightly.

“You guys voted for this since the girls were out numbered,” she said nudging Aidan in the shoulder, almost causing him to lose his balance.

“Well it beat the hell out of going to the damn mall and watching some chick movie,” Aidan said as he regained his balance. Mitch had to slow down to keep from running over him. It had been the first time that year he was close enough to Aidan to hear him speak. He noticed a change in Aidan’s voice; it seemed deeper than last year. He thought it could have been because he was winded from the hike. It was just another thing Mitch missed out on, he thought. Jacy seemed a lot more grown up than she had been last summer. Her short brown hair kept blowing in her face and when Jacy looked over her shoulder, Mitch looked away. It was different getting caught looking at Jacy than it was with Aidan. He felt guilty looking at her. He slightly blamed Aidan’s problem with him on her.

“How are you today Mitch?” Jacy asked, “I’ve missed talking to you this year.”

“Yeah?” Mitch asked smirking as he crossed his arms. His feet started shuffling against the ground. Cara wasn’t there to keep him calm this time. “Then why didn’t you?”

“I don’t know,” she said, “it just seemed you didn’t want to talk to me when school started.”

“Well you fucking abandoned me last summer,” Mitch said looking at her to find her eyes looking back at him. It softened his anger now that he was seeing how forgiving she looked. She had still abandoned him like Aidan, but he blamed most of that on him.

“Who didn’t answer my calls?” Jacy asked moving back further in her line so that she was walking beside Mitch.

“I didn’t want to talk to you,” Mitch said wanting to speed up, but couldn’t because Aidan was poling along.

Aidan had been quiet and didn’t seem to be paying any attention to what was going on behind him. He didn’t want to talk to Mitch; he was honest when he said he didn’t want any kind of friendship with him that night in the tent. There were hidden reasons for that decision and he didn’t want to tell Mitch or Jacy about them either. He was with Jacy and that was what he wanted.

“Then you can’t be pissed at me Mitch,” she said, “so bring Cara and sit with us when we stop for a break.”

“No Jacy,” Aidan said slowing down. Mitch had to stop walking to keep from running into him.

“What do you mean Aidan?” Jacy asked as Aidan started walking again. Mrs. Finley had slowed her pace throughout the hike to monitor everyone. Jane and Tyler were leading the way trying to get people interested in the things they saw in the forest. So far, mostly everyone was talking to the person walking next to them. Everyone knew this was the last trip before graduation. Social groups had slowly gone away in the last year, with everyone talking to people that they hadn’t talked to since their freshmen year. Mitch and Cara were different; they needed one another and didn’t want to look for more people to talk to. Cara had lost her friends by dating an older guy and always being with him. Mitch had lost his two best friends from grade school when Jacy became more important to both boys.

“I mean that I don’t want to talk to Mitch,” Aidan said causing Mitch to tense up.

“That is no way to be Aidan,” Jacy said then looked around when everyone else fell silent. Mitch looked ahead to see everyone glancing back from time to time seeming to expect a fight. Everyone knew that Aidan and Jacy were together and some people thought that is why Mitch and Aidan were no longer friends. Mitch even found himself admitting that, when he thought about it. That was the last and most logical reason he could come up with after he stopped blaming himself. Jacy was the only person he could blame for Aidan’s decision.

“Jacy, don’t worry about it,” he said, “Mitch is doing fine, he has a girlfriend.”

“Cara is not my girlfriend, she’s my brother’s girlfriend,” Mitch said kicking a rock off the trail. It could be heard crashing over the leaves as they walked past. It had made a few people in line look around and the talk of bears started ahead of them. Aidan was silent after that. He was finished talking and started to ignore Jacy as well. Jacy had been dropping hints like sighing and stomping, trying to let Aidan know that she was pissed and wanted him to talk about it. When Aidan didn’t even look in her direction she gave up and the back of the line fell into silence once again.

When people started complaining about the heat and their feet hurting, Jane and Tyler decided that a small clearing in the forest would be a good place to stop. It was a small opening where a large old tree had fallen a long time ago; creating a space that hadn’t been reclaimed.

“Alright, we can take a five or so minute break to let everyone rest,” Jane said as she leaned up against a tree. Tyler sat down beside her, but when a group of girls surrounded him, Jane abandoned him to go stand next to Mrs. Finley and the two started discussing the animals and plants that were protected in the preserve.

“Damn I thought we’d be walking forever,” Cara said leaning against Mitch after seeking him out.

“Don’t lean on me, my feet hurt too,” Mitch said gently pushing her back to stand on her own power.

“So how was the back of the line?” Cara asked still resting her head on his shoulder. The close contact made Mitch uncomfortable and he found himself searching for Aidan and Jacy in the group that was slowly dividing. The excitement of the hike was still there, but there were a few people that looked like they would rather be somewhere else.

“The back of the line is shit,” Mitch said, “I finally talked to Aidan, the first time this year.”

“Really?” Cara asked finally lifting her head off his shoulder to look at him, “What did you say?” Mitch watched as a butterfly fluttered to land on Cara’s shoulder. She was wearing a halter top and it had landed on her strap.

“Cara, don’t freak out,” Mitch started to say as Cara frowned and started waving her hands in short quick movements.

“I don’t want to know, but get it off me,” she whispered closing her eyes.

“It’s just a butterfly,” Mitch said, putting his finger on her shoulder, letting the butterfly crawl on it, “see.”

“I hate bugs,” Cara said, “and that asshole Tyler wouldn’t let me bring my purse and now I just know I’m covered in ticks.”

“God, I hope we don’t run into a snake,” Mitch said, “you’d piss yourself.”

“Damn right I would,” she said waving her hand at the butterfly, wanting it to fly away. It was still resting and slowly opening and closing its wings. The soft yellow color and the gracefulness were lost on Cara. When Cara succeeded in making it take to the air she ducked and put her hands on her head shielding herself from it. “Tell me when it’s gone.”

“It’s gone Cara,” Mitch said shaking his head. He looked to see people looking at her as she lowered her hands.

“So now that I’m safe,” she said looking around, “what did you say to Aidan?”

“I just told him that you were with Dan and not me,” Mitch said frowning, “he didn’t even want to talk to me when Jacy suggested that we should.”

“That asshole,” she said, “well you’re better off without him.”

“Yeah, I’ll just be you and my brother’s third wheel,” Mitch said looking down to see a small rock. He started lightly shuffling it from one foot to the other not wanting to still be pissed about last summer. He wanted to get over it and at the beginning of the year he wanted to make new friends. When he and Cara got close he was too scared to keep looking for more.

“You’re going to make a lot of friends in college Mitch,” Cara said putting her arm around him. Mitch wasn’t quiet or withdrawn. He knew that he would be open to having friends in college. It was something people did to survive the stress of classes and being away from family for an extended period of time. Mitch wanted this year to fly by, he was lucky when it did. After the summer is over he’ll be going to his favorite college. It was the longest distance away he’d ever be traveling. His small town in Washington was his life for the past seventeen years and only the summer stood in his way. The University of Texas was Aidan’s and his dream college. It was the only college he had applied to and he was still going to go. The school was large and had everything he wanted out of a college. A large student body and it’s one of the largest party schools in America. Aidan and Mitch were supposed to find themselves there. He didn’t know if Aidan had changed his plans, deciding to go wherever Jacy was going.

“You stink Cara,” Mitch whispered causing Cara to jerk her arm away from his shoulders. He started laughing when she slammed her arms down straight while frowning.

“I do not,” she said glaring at Mitch.

“It is ok,” he said reaching up and wiping the sweat from his forehead, “everyone does.”

“I hate this,” she said, “I can’t believe I’m even here.”

“There is no sense in complaining now Cara,” Mitch said trying to sound serious, “it was your choice to come and now you’re here so try to get something out of this trip.”

“If I can leave here without killing you or being killed by a bear then I will,” she said as she turned sneakily away from Mitch. “I’ll also have to take a thousand showers to get this funk from the forest off me.”

“What are you hiding in your bra?” Mitch asked after noticing where she was discreetly reaching for something.

“It is my life source out here,” she said in a low voice.

“What did you do?” Mitch asked just as a small clear container with pink fluid was revealed from behind her shirt.

“I can’t stand to stink,” she said spraying her armpits and chest.

“You smuggler,” Mitch said fanning the smell away from himself, hoping that no one else smelled the strawberry fragrance, “you’re going to get us mauled by a damn bear.”

“Oh, I will not, there’s probably like one bear in this whole forest and it’s probably sleeping,” she said crossing her arms, “you need a little of this yourself.”

“When a bear is chasing you through the woods wanting a strawberry I won’t feel sorry for you,” Mitch said watching as she placed the small bottle back into its place between her boobs.

“You’d let a bear attack me?” Cara asked pretending to be hurt.

“That’s a job for Daniel,” Mitch said shrugging, “and he’s not here to save your ass.”

“But I’m sure he’d appreciate you saving his girlfriend,” she said smiling and punching him on the shoulder.

“Alright, I believe it’s time we get going, we’ll be having lunch at the north observance tower,” Tyler said standing up. The crowd of girls that surrounded him stood with him. He looked annoyed briefly before motioning for Jane to come stand by him at the front of the forming line. This time Cara got into the back of her line. Mitch was going to get away from the back, but he took his place at the rear again so Cara could talk to him this time. It would make the hike a lot more pleasant.

“Aidan and Jacy,” Mrs. Finley said, “get into line.” Mitch looked to see Aidan and Jacy just now standing to join everyone else. They hadn’t been paying attention, having the argument that Jacy wanted to have earlier.

“Damn it,” Mitch said turning to glance at Cara, “I thought we wouldn’t have to deal with them after this.”

“At least I’m not the only one suffering,” she said as Aidan and Jacy stepped into line. Tyler and Jane started the hike again.

The clouds had begun to cluster now and the sun was shielded by them a lot longer than earlier when the clouds were less dense. The wind had picked up also as the heavy heat of the day approached.

“Cara is that you?” Jacy asked breaking the silence at the back of the line.

“Doing what?” Cara asked, “Am I hitting you when I walk?”

“No, is that you smelling like strawberries?” Jacy asked sniffing the air again.

“I think there could be some growing around here somewhere,” Cara said shrugging and looking over at me.

“I didn’t smell it until I got behind you though,” Jacy said, “you’ve snuck something out here.”

“So what?” Cara asked feeling caught, she didn’t care as long as she continued not to stink.

“Well I should’ve expected it,” Jacy said laughing, “I just hope bears don’t like strawberries.”

“Enough about bears,” Cara said crossing her arms, “they probably don’t even like strawberries.”

“They eat trash Cara,” Aidan said, “they’re not picky.”

“So then they will eat you first,” Cara said glancing back to Aidan smiling. It was the first bitchy thing Mitch had noticed Cara saying to someone other than himself. He knew though, that she meant it.

“Ouch,” Aidan said clutching his chest, “you know how to shove a dagger into people Cara.”

“Yeah well, I’m surprised assholes feel anything at all,” she said causing Mitch to laugh slightly.

“Cara be nice,” Jacy said, “Mitch doesn’t need defending.”

“What?” Cara asked and Jacy pushed Cara further up the line gently. The spacing of the shorter line caused Aidan and Mitch to be left completely alone at the back of the line. Mitch didn’t know what Jacy had planned, but she was right he thought. He didn’t need defending, but he didn’t want to talk to Aidan either. He knew it wouldn’t be worth it, not after what Aidan said today. To him it only solidified the fact that they would never be friends. Not even if Aidan decided that he wanted to talk, the friendship was dead and you can’t bring back the dead.

“It’s going to rain,” Aidan said causing Mitch to tense up. He wasn’t expecting Aidan to talk without Jacy close by to hear. Mitch didn’t respond, he just kept walking, trying to pretend he didn’t hear anything. He knew that Aidan probably noticed him tensing up so he didn’t want to make it worse by trying to have a conversation with him. Mitch did look up to see the sun shining. It was about to be shielded by a cloud, but it didn’t look like rain at all. The clouds were white and fluffy; the birds could now be heard. The hike would be pleasant and relaxing if Aidan was in the front of the line. He was a distraction that bothered Mitch more than the humidity or the sweat that burned his eyes from time to time.

Aidan was still pissed that Jacy was trying so hard to get him to talk to Mitch. They had been happy until the hike started and she started feeling bad about not talking to Mitch as much. He didn’t want to speak to Mitch though. He hadn’t even once since he left that tent half a year ago. This whole hike was a disaster and he knew that a lot of people were thinking this was a mistake. They had expected more than just a long, hot trek through the forest for their senior trip. He had expected, along with everyone else, a weekend stay at a resort. A trip to Colorado where they could walk up a few small mountains, but the school didn’t deliver that. Being stuck at the back of the line with Mitch only made the day unbearable for him. He had gotten what he wanted, he wasn’t happy with losing his best friend but it had to be done. He knew it was selfish, but there were things that couldn’t be suppressed to save a friendship. Aidan chose to drop Mitch and now he was living with the decision and he was thankful to have Jacy. It was the only way he could feel safe. No, he wasn’t happy with the situation or himself for what he had done, but the protected would stay that way. Jacy and Aidan would be attending Washington University where he had just been accepted after changing his decision. He was going to value his time with Jacy for the next four years, hoping to put the last year and a half in the distant past. A short thought, riding himself of Mitch and what he had done altogether.

He knew that Mitch would do just fine without him. Mitch was made to survive, his laidback personality made him open and inviting. Aidan didn’t want last summer to change Mitch and hoped he would be back to his old self when Aidan was also a distant thought from his past. He knew there wasn’t any obvious reason for their friendship to have ended, but things really did change. Mitch just didn’t know how it had changed and Aidan wanted to keep it that way.

Wanting to forget Mitch tensing up when he told him it was going to rain, Aidan started looking around. To him, it did look like rain. The forest was darker, the air was thick and the clouds were starting to cover most of the bright blue sky. The weather did change here, the humid weather they were having along with record temperatures was going to break. Aidan could tell when it was about to rain and it was definitely going to today. Hearing a crash in front of him, Aidan stumbled and looked down to see Mitch lying on the ground.

“Damn these fucking tree roots,” Mitch said pushing himself up to sit on his knees. Aidan looked down not knowing what to do about his former friend falling down. Everyone else had stopped walking to wait for Mitch to stand and when he looked up at Aidan he shook his head, standing the rest of the way up. Mitch dusted himself off, bending over to examine his legs.

“Are you ok Mitch?” Mrs. Finley asked, she had her first aid pack in her hands ready for any cut that Mitch had.

“Yeah, Mrs. Finley,” he said, “I just have a small cut on my leg.”

“You need to get it bandaged anyway Mitch,” Jane said as she stood beside Mrs. Finley.

“Fine,” Mitch said turning his leg to the side so they could get a look at it. Mrs. Finley put on a pair of latex gloves then she knelt down and opened her pack. She then pulled out a bottle of water, pouring some on a paper towel to clean the dirt away from the cut. It was an inch long, but it wasn’t deep enough to bleed. After cleaning the cut, Mrs. Finley covered it with a band-aid. She put the supplies away then the wet paper towel went into a zip-lock baggy. The lines reformed as Jane and Tyler started the hike again.

“Are you ok Mitch?” Cara asked as Jacy and she slowed down to walk beside the boys.

“Yes Cara,” Mitch said rolling his eyes.

“I was just asking, damn,” she said crossing her arms, “Jacy these boys need an attitude adjustment.”

“Yeah, I don’t see how they can call us moody,” Jacy said then they both laughed. Cara still smelled like strawberries, but no one else said anything about it.

“When did you two become friends?” Aidan asked not liking the idea of Jacy and Cara getting close. He knew most of Cara’s time would be spent with Mitch’s older brother Daniel, but he didn’t want Jacy insisting that she and Mitch hang out with them when she wasn’t. It would make his summer suck and it would be the last summer they had before college. The best summer of their life, the last time they’ll be free from everything that had tied them down in high school and not yet tied them up as college students. It was the idea of being in the middle of something where there were no expectations that made him excited about leaving his high school life behind. It was a new beginning and he was going to make the most of it.

“We’ve always been friendly,” Cara said shrugging, “we’ve just been babysitting the two of you all year.”

“You didn’t think she was your friend when she won prom queen,” Mitch said causing Cara to punch him in the arm, “what did you call her that night?”

“I don’t remember,” Cara said crossing her arms, “speaking of prom, your hair was gorgeous Jacy, who did it for you?”

“My sister,” Jacy said smiling. Mitch knew they had something up their sleeve.

“You thought her hair sucked at prom,” Mitch said trying to get to the real reason the two of them were suddenly friends. They did talk during school, but they were more like competitors than friends. They were friendly because they both used to talk to the same people. Now though, Mitch was worried about Cara’s schemes and what she had planned.

“Alright, just around this turn is the observation tower,” Tyler said turning around to walk backwards, “I can take two people up the ladder at a time to see the preserve from up there.” The tower came into view just then and this was probably the highlight of the hike, it was also the half way point.

“We’ll also be eating lunch here, it has been stored in the tower and after we lower everything down using the pulley system you can all start eating,” Jane said as she started climbing the metal ladder. Tyler started up the ladder with her to help get everything down.

“I’m not climbing up that thing,” Cara said shielding her eyes so that she could see to the top. It was a large metal tower. It didn’t look like much, but it was used by the wildlife service to monitor what was going on.

“I’ll never work here,” Aidan said, “probably one of the most boring jobs in the world.”

“Are you going up the tower Aidan?” Jacy asked, “I don’t think I will, it seems like too much work just to see the tops of trees.”

“No, I’m not going, the quicker we can get started, the less time it will take to finish the other half of the hike,” Aidan said as he sat down on the ground. Tyler and Jane had just gotten to the top so it would be a little while before they were able to eat. Mitch started walking away, only stopping when he didn’t see Cara start to follow like she always did when he wanted to get away from Aidan.

“Cara,” he said motioning slightly for her to follow him.

“I don’t want to,” she said, “I’m standing still.”

“You can stand still over there too,” Mitch said pointing to the edge of the clearing caused by the tower.

“I like it here though,” Cara said glancing in Jacy’s direction. Both girls then sat down and it was the first time Mitch saw Cara sit on the dirt. She kept her knees in the air and she starting dusting off her clothes as soon as she noticed seeds and dirt settling on her from the wind. “Come sit next to me Mitch.”

“I’m fine where I am,” Mitch said noticing he would only be a foot away from Aidan if he did sit down next to her.

“Whatever, just sit down,” she said.

“No,” Mitch said crossing his arms, annoyed.

“Mitch sit down, the food will be passed out soon,” Mrs. Finley said as she walked by. She was making everyone sit down and Mitch turned to see the coolers lowered to the ground and opened. They would be eating sandwiches and drinking bottled water. Mitch sat down beside Cara and Aidan scooted away, both of them turning away from one another. The food was passed out as people started talking again, being free to socialize as Tyler and the other chaperones were off to the side to give everyone space.

“I wonder where a damn bathroom is,” Aidan said after he took a sip of his water.

“Well this is nature’s toilet dear,” Jacy said, “just sneak off into the woods.”

“You can’t pee in the woods,” Cara said being surprised that Jacy even suggested that.

“Cara, have you ever set foot into the wild?” Aidan asked amused by her. He was starting to see why Mitch liked hanging out with her. She was easy to laugh at as she treated everything in an extreme way.

“No, because it is called the wild,” she said rolling her eyes, “and it has nothing for me.”

“You never went camping did you?” Aidan asked, he was talking to Cara to keep from talking to Mitch as Jacy was giving him the silent treatment every now and then. When he looked at her she shot him a look. She wanted him to talk to Mitch, but he wasn’t going to.

“Ok, I know some of you are still eating, but we can start taking people up the tower now,” Tyler said and the girls that had been drooling over him the entire time all stood. He had to choose two from the five girls standing there and when he hesitated, Jane picked. It noticeably angered the remaining three. Mitch rolled his eyes wondering why girls did that. He suspected that Tyler and Jane were dating or even married. They shared looks and flirted off and on and the girls were oblivious to it. All they saw was his toned, tanned, sweaty body and that made them want to know him more. It didn’t seem to matter that they didn’t have a chance.

Mitch noticed the sun hadn’t been shining for a little while now. When he looked up he saw the tops of the trees swaying as the wind strengthened. The air was slightly cooler and when a drumming thunder resounded in the air everyone jumped and started getting jittery. When Tyler reached the bottom of the tower with the first two girls he motioned for Jane to walk with him.

“It’s going to rain,” Cara said crossing her arms, “so now I’ll be wet on top of miserable.”

“We’ll also have to walk in it,” Jacy said as they both stood to go throw their bottles of water away.

“Come with me to piss,” Aidan said, “I know you don’t want to, but I can’t go alone.”

“You’re suggesting I go with you to piss?” Mitch asked wanting to laugh at him. He wasn’t going to do anything for Aidan.

“Please, man, I’ve been holding it for about three miles,” he said, “and this water isn’t going to help any.”

“Fine,” Mitch said standing up quickly, “only because I have to piss too and I don’t want to have to hold Cara’s hand while dragging her scared ass into the woods.”

“Ok,” Aidan said then they made sure no one was watching before they stepped into the darkened forest, walking closer together as they went deeper.

“Maybe I can hold it another couple of miles,” Mitch said, “what about you?”

“Don’t be fucking scared,” Aidan said, “it takes like twenty seconds to piss.” The swirling canopy made them both nervous and they darted their attention around to things they noticed. They were officially in the wilderness for the first time; the trail had been a mental safety net around them, now though they both felt the difference.

“You know what, fuck you,” Mitch said, “I did this to be nice to you, and you don’t even deserve it.” He then turned and walked a few feet away and opened his zipper. When he was finished peeing on a large tree, he zipped up and left Aidan, heading back towards the tower. They had walked deep into the forest to get away from everyone and they had been gone a lot longer than they both anticipated. When he got there to see the space empty and abandoned he looked back to see Aidan walking out of the forest.

“Where the hell is everyone?” Aidan asked crossing his arms and looking around for any sign of where they could have gone.

“Surely the girls told them we were missing,” Mitch said walking towards the tower.

“Don’t touch that thing,” Aidan said reaching out and grabbing Mitch’s shoulder.

“Why the hell not?” Mitch asked, but Aidan jerked his hand away from his shoulder. Aidan couldn’t believe he just touched him.

“Where there is thunder, there’s lightning and that is a metal tower,” Aidan said as he stepped a few feet away from Mitch onto the trail to see if he could see anyone.

“Do you think they went back or went on?” Mitch asked following Aidan to the trail.

“I don’t know,” Aidan said, “we can’t split up either.”

“I’m going back down the trail,” Mitch said, since we know what it looks like.”

“What if they went on, I don’t want to be separated for the hours it would take for us to walk back,” Aidan said, “what if it’s closer to go on?”

“I don’t know,” Mitch said, “but I’m going back the other way.” It started to rain then. It wasn’t a hard rain, but it wouldn’t take them long to end up soaked. Neither of them wanted to listen to the other. When they took off in separate directions they only got a few feet away from each other before stopping.

“Why can’t you just come with me?” Aidan asked as he walked up to where Mitch was standing.

“Why did you abandon me?” Mitch asked crossing his arms, trying to keep warm from the chill the rain caused his body.

“I didn’t abandon you, I’ve not gone anywhere,” Aidan said looking down at the muddy trail they were now standing on. He knew what the question really meant, but he didn’t want to tell Mitch the reasons.

“You know what I meant,” Mitch said, “just tell me.”

“I don’t want to,” Aidan said wiping his hair from his eyes. It was shaggy, but now the water made it stick to his head before streaming down his face.

“Was it because you liked Jacy?” Mitch asked tugging at his shirt, loosening it from sticking to his skin.

“No, Jacy wasn’t the reason,” Aidan said, “she only started dating me when you wouldn’t call her back.” Mitch was surprised by this as it was the excuse he had for Aidan leaving him in that tent that summer.

“Why then, just tell me, it doesn’t matter now,” Mitch said stepping closer to Aidan as the rain started coming down harder. They were both scared and looked over their shoulder when a silence fell between them, trying to see if anyone had come back for them or if something worse had found them first.

“Yes it does matter now,” Aidan said shaking his head, “it will always matter.”

“I’ll accept anything you tell me,” Mitch said, “it’s what a best friend is supposed to do, I’ve held out and waited for you to come around and tell me what I did to make you dislike me, so just tell me and I’ll accept it.”

“You didn’t do anything,” Aidan said turning to face Mitch completely, “I fell in love with you that summer Mitch.”

“You what?” Mitch asked and when Aidan started to turn away Mitch grabbed his shoulders and held him in place. Aidan wanted to run as far away as he could. It was the first time he had admitted it out loud, and admitted it to himself for a long time.

“I said I fell in love with you that summer,” Aidan said and when Mitch smiled Aidan leaned forward and kissed Mitch’s lips. It was a brief kiss because Mitch broke it and took a step back.

“Aidan, I’m straight,” Mitch said still holding onto Aidan’s shoulders to keep him from darting away. Neither of them saw Jane approaching from the part of the trail they had already traveled.

“Boys!” She yelled causing both of them to jump and step away from one another. “Come on; let’s get out of this rain.”

“Talk to me about this later?” Mitch asked as they both started walking towards Jane.

“Yeah,” Aidan said, trying to sound strong, lucky his tears were masked by the rain.

The walk back was quick and silent. Everyone else was trying to get out of the rain, but Aidan and Mitch couldn’t stop thinking about what had just happened out in the middle of nowhere.

Mitch wanted his best friend back and thought this day could bring back that relationship. He knew distance and time wouldn’t take his best friend away, he wouldn’t let it happen now.

Aidan had just let his heart’s true feelings be known for the first time. He had known there was the possibility that Mitch was straight, but that didn’t stop his heart from breaking. It didn’t matter that Mitch wanted him as a friend. Aidan couldn’t see them being friends after today. He wanted to forget it ever happened. He had the bus trip back home to decide the rest of his life, as it would never be the same.

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