The next week went by faster than what Ronald had hoped and soon it was Friday again and the feared camping trip into the woods would take place. Ronald had secretly hoped he would get sick or something like that before the trip but sadly he was as healthy as one can be.
On the bright side, Ronald had managed to avoid Farrah so he hadn’t made a fool out of himself anymore but then again, he hadn’t had a chance to talk with Farrah either. He knew he won’t stand a chance with Farrah if he doesn’t at least talk with her and try to make her like him. Or at least remember that he existed.
After school on Friday, Lucas and Ronald went to their homes to fetch their camping equipment and then they took the bus which would take them closer to their destination. The bus ride lasted for thirty minutes until they got out of the bus and then walked the rest of the way to the woods and camping area. There was no one living nowhere near, they were completely off the radar.
“This is so cool!” Lucas said.
“Ehh, sure”, Ronald said.
They hiked in the woods towards the lake. When Ronald simply didn’t have it in him to go any further, he said, “Let’s camp here.”
“But–“
“No buts!”
Lucas sighed and stopped walking too. They put their rucksacks on the ground and looked around.
“It’s beautiful here”, Lucas said.
“Yeah”, Ronald admitted. It was beautiful, he couldn’t deny that. The trees were old and big, sun was shining through their leaves and they couldn’t see any signs of people anywhere – there was no trash on the ground or another campers.
Ronald and Lucas started to put up their tents. They had agreed to sleep in different tents because Lucas turned into Kung Fu Panda during the nights and then no one would sleep well. It was bad enough to sleep on the hard ground, Ronald didn’t need Lucas next to him kicking and punching him while he tried to sleep.
As it turned out, Lucas was way better at putting up his tent than what Ronald was. It took Lucas approximately ten minutes to put up his tent, whereas Ronald struggled with his tent for twenty minutes until Lucas got tired of laughing at him and came to help.
“What do you want to do?” Ronald asked.
“What do you mean?” Lucas asked.
“What do you mean what do I mean?” Ronald snarled. “You dragged me here, you better have some activities for us because I am not sitting on my ass staring at the trees all weekend!”
“Ah, sure, of course I have activities for us!” Lucas said. “Didn’t you wonder why I dragged all the fishing equipment with me?”
“Are you seriously suggesting we spend the whole weekend fishing?”
“Well…Not the whole weekend!” Lucas quickly said when Ronald glared at him furiously. “Only today, okay?”
“Fine”, Ronald said. “But I won’t enjoy it.”
Actually Ronald enjoyed fishing quite a lot. It was funnier than what it seemed at first. He had no idea how to use a rod Lucas had pushed in his hands so Lucas had to teach him everything. And when they finally caught a fish, and it started pulling, making the rod to bend, Ronald screamed and almost dropped it. When they managed to get the fish out of the water, Ronald announced that he was not going to touch that slimy little thing so Lucas had to do it and let the fish go back in the water. They were sitting on the rocks near the lake and sun was shining bright in their faces when Ronald said, “It’s so hot I would like to take a swim but now I know there’s fish in that water and I’m not sure I want to swim with them.”
“You’re an idiot and a pussy. They are not gonna bite you, you know”, Lucas said. “Chances for that are one in a million, to be honest.”
“How’d you know that?”
“I don’t, I just said it to make you feel better.”
Lucas grinned, pulled the fishing line out of the water and put the rod aside. He pressed the tips of his fingers together and looked at Ronald.
“So, do you want to swim or not?”
“Eh, sure, let’s do it”, Ronald said, trying his best to not sound like a pussy anymore. They walked back to their tents, changed into their swimming trunks and then walked back to the lake, barefooted. It took five minutes to walk from their tents to the lake and during that walk they managed to get themselves sweaty. It was a really warm day even though the sun was going down already. And also walking in the woods was surely one way to exercise. They walked into the water waist deep and then stopped to curse how cold the water was. Then they continued walking deeper, muttering curse words under their breaths.
“Let’s dive on three”, Lucas suggested.
“Okay. One...”
“Two...”
“I can’t do it!” Ronald cried out.
“Man up! Two!” Lucas yelled.
“Three!” they yelled in unison and dived underwater, Lucas first and then right after him Ronald, holding his nose closed as he went. He had never really learned how to dive without holding his nose. Lucas didn’t mock him about it, ever. It was quite possibly the only thing Lucas didn’t pull in when he started teasing Ronald.
“Aaaaaaarrrgggghhhh, shit, shit, shit”, Ronald cursed as he popped back to surface. Lucas was swimming next to him. “I can’t feel my head.”
“It’s not that cold anymore”, Lucas said. “Just relax, it will feel warmer then.”
“You’re unbelievable”, Ronald said as he swam after Lucas.
They didn’t stay long in the water because despite of Lucas’s words, the water was still cold and the sun was disappearing fast and air was getting cooler.
When they were walking back to their camp chills run down on Ronald’s back. He looked behind him but saw no one. He had had a feeling that someone had been watching them.
There we go with my wild imagination again, Ronald thought and continued walking. They arrived to their camp and changed to warm clothes. Then they made a campfire and prepared sausages and drank water from their bottles. Darkness came faster than either of them had expected but it wasn’t that bad. The moon and the stars lightened the woods up and they also had their campfire.
“Horror stories?” Lucas suggested.
“Oh, no, no, no. No. You know I’m not into any kind of horror things”, Ronald said and even he heard how pussy he sounded again.
“You are no fun.”
“I know”, Ronald sighed.
“I wanted to tell you about the wolves and bears that live here.”
“The what now?” Ronald asked, horrified.
“I’m kidding, there’s no wolves or bears here”, Lucas said. “I swear to God, you believe everything I tell you.”
“I don’t believe everything”, Ronald said defensively.
“You’re too nice for your own good”, Lucas said and looked at Ronald. “I say this to you as your friend; be a dick sometimes.”
Ronald understood what Lucas meant. Ronald should sometimes think himself before others and be a little bit more brave, more daring, more…more of a dickhead.
“Easy for you to say, you’re a natural dick”, Ronald said.
“And you’re a potential dick. Embrace it, brother!”
They laughed because their conversation was stupid and then Ronald yawned. He looked around in the woods and then dying embers in the campfire.
“Should we go to sleep?” he asked.
“Yeah, might as well.”
They killed the campfire or what was left of it and went to their tents, wishing each other goodnight. Ronald crawled inside his sleeping bag and placed his pillow under his head and then he just stared into the darkness not really seeing anything but hearing even the tiniest things.
In fifteen minutes he could hear Lucas snoring in the tent next to Ronald’s and he chuckled. Of course Lucas was able to fall asleep anywhere at any given time. Ronald lied awake for a couple of hours, checking the time from his phone every now and then. He couldn’t sleep. He felt very uncomfortable lying on the hard ground with only his sleeping bag softening the ground. He should’ve take his mother’s air mattress with him but he had forgot it. He had a bad habit to forget things.
Suddenly Ronald heard something that made his blood stop running in his veins. He went pale and he shut his eyes, scared and listened carefully. His heart was beating so fast that he was sure it would explode.
Someone was walking in their camp. It couldn’t be Lucas pranking him because Lucas’s snoring was still very audible. Ronald didn’t know what to do so he just lied there, frozen in place and listened the footsteps walking around the camp, then past the tents and then stopping.
Ronald didn’t dare to breathe.
Then the footsteps continued moving and disappeared into the woods. Ronald wanted to cry, he was so scared. But he bit his lip and breathed in and out slowly. Maybe it was a deer or something. That made Ronald calm down. Yeah, he was just being paranoid. It could’ve been a deer and he had just imagined automatically that those were human footsteps.
He still didn’t dare to open his eyes which was good because if he would’ve opened them, he would’ve seen a man’s silhouette in the tent’s doorway.
On the bright side, Ronald had managed to avoid Farrah so he hadn’t made a fool out of himself anymore but then again, he hadn’t had a chance to talk with Farrah either. He knew he won’t stand a chance with Farrah if he doesn’t at least talk with her and try to make her like him. Or at least remember that he existed.
After school on Friday, Lucas and Ronald went to their homes to fetch their camping equipment and then they took the bus which would take them closer to their destination. The bus ride lasted for thirty minutes until they got out of the bus and then walked the rest of the way to the woods and camping area. There was no one living nowhere near, they were completely off the radar.
“This is so cool!” Lucas said.
“Ehh, sure”, Ronald said.
They hiked in the woods towards the lake. When Ronald simply didn’t have it in him to go any further, he said, “Let’s camp here.”
“But–“
“No buts!”
Lucas sighed and stopped walking too. They put their rucksacks on the ground and looked around.
“It’s beautiful here”, Lucas said.
“Yeah”, Ronald admitted. It was beautiful, he couldn’t deny that. The trees were old and big, sun was shining through their leaves and they couldn’t see any signs of people anywhere – there was no trash on the ground or another campers.
Ronald and Lucas started to put up their tents. They had agreed to sleep in different tents because Lucas turned into Kung Fu Panda during the nights and then no one would sleep well. It was bad enough to sleep on the hard ground, Ronald didn’t need Lucas next to him kicking and punching him while he tried to sleep.
As it turned out, Lucas was way better at putting up his tent than what Ronald was. It took Lucas approximately ten minutes to put up his tent, whereas Ronald struggled with his tent for twenty minutes until Lucas got tired of laughing at him and came to help.
“What do you want to do?” Ronald asked.
“What do you mean?” Lucas asked.
“What do you mean what do I mean?” Ronald snarled. “You dragged me here, you better have some activities for us because I am not sitting on my ass staring at the trees all weekend!”
“Ah, sure, of course I have activities for us!” Lucas said. “Didn’t you wonder why I dragged all the fishing equipment with me?”
“Are you seriously suggesting we spend the whole weekend fishing?”
“Well…Not the whole weekend!” Lucas quickly said when Ronald glared at him furiously. “Only today, okay?”
“Fine”, Ronald said. “But I won’t enjoy it.”
Actually Ronald enjoyed fishing quite a lot. It was funnier than what it seemed at first. He had no idea how to use a rod Lucas had pushed in his hands so Lucas had to teach him everything. And when they finally caught a fish, and it started pulling, making the rod to bend, Ronald screamed and almost dropped it. When they managed to get the fish out of the water, Ronald announced that he was not going to touch that slimy little thing so Lucas had to do it and let the fish go back in the water. They were sitting on the rocks near the lake and sun was shining bright in their faces when Ronald said, “It’s so hot I would like to take a swim but now I know there’s fish in that water and I’m not sure I want to swim with them.”
“You’re an idiot and a pussy. They are not gonna bite you, you know”, Lucas said. “Chances for that are one in a million, to be honest.”
“How’d you know that?”
“I don’t, I just said it to make you feel better.”
Lucas grinned, pulled the fishing line out of the water and put the rod aside. He pressed the tips of his fingers together and looked at Ronald.
“So, do you want to swim or not?”
“Eh, sure, let’s do it”, Ronald said, trying his best to not sound like a pussy anymore. They walked back to their tents, changed into their swimming trunks and then walked back to the lake, barefooted. It took five minutes to walk from their tents to the lake and during that walk they managed to get themselves sweaty. It was a really warm day even though the sun was going down already. And also walking in the woods was surely one way to exercise. They walked into the water waist deep and then stopped to curse how cold the water was. Then they continued walking deeper, muttering curse words under their breaths.
“Let’s dive on three”, Lucas suggested.
“Okay. One...”
“Two...”
“I can’t do it!” Ronald cried out.
“Man up! Two!” Lucas yelled.
“Three!” they yelled in unison and dived underwater, Lucas first and then right after him Ronald, holding his nose closed as he went. He had never really learned how to dive without holding his nose. Lucas didn’t mock him about it, ever. It was quite possibly the only thing Lucas didn’t pull in when he started teasing Ronald.
“Aaaaaaarrrgggghhhh, shit, shit, shit”, Ronald cursed as he popped back to surface. Lucas was swimming next to him. “I can’t feel my head.”
“It’s not that cold anymore”, Lucas said. “Just relax, it will feel warmer then.”
“You’re unbelievable”, Ronald said as he swam after Lucas.
They didn’t stay long in the water because despite of Lucas’s words, the water was still cold and the sun was disappearing fast and air was getting cooler.
When they were walking back to their camp chills run down on Ronald’s back. He looked behind him but saw no one. He had had a feeling that someone had been watching them.
There we go with my wild imagination again, Ronald thought and continued walking. They arrived to their camp and changed to warm clothes. Then they made a campfire and prepared sausages and drank water from their bottles. Darkness came faster than either of them had expected but it wasn’t that bad. The moon and the stars lightened the woods up and they also had their campfire.
“Horror stories?” Lucas suggested.
“Oh, no, no, no. No. You know I’m not into any kind of horror things”, Ronald said and even he heard how pussy he sounded again.
“You are no fun.”
“I know”, Ronald sighed.
“I wanted to tell you about the wolves and bears that live here.”
“The what now?” Ronald asked, horrified.
“I’m kidding, there’s no wolves or bears here”, Lucas said. “I swear to God, you believe everything I tell you.”
“I don’t believe everything”, Ronald said defensively.
“You’re too nice for your own good”, Lucas said and looked at Ronald. “I say this to you as your friend; be a dick sometimes.”
Ronald understood what Lucas meant. Ronald should sometimes think himself before others and be a little bit more brave, more daring, more…more of a dickhead.
“Easy for you to say, you’re a natural dick”, Ronald said.
“And you’re a potential dick. Embrace it, brother!”
They laughed because their conversation was stupid and then Ronald yawned. He looked around in the woods and then dying embers in the campfire.
“Should we go to sleep?” he asked.
“Yeah, might as well.”
They killed the campfire or what was left of it and went to their tents, wishing each other goodnight. Ronald crawled inside his sleeping bag and placed his pillow under his head and then he just stared into the darkness not really seeing anything but hearing even the tiniest things.
In fifteen minutes he could hear Lucas snoring in the tent next to Ronald’s and he chuckled. Of course Lucas was able to fall asleep anywhere at any given time. Ronald lied awake for a couple of hours, checking the time from his phone every now and then. He couldn’t sleep. He felt very uncomfortable lying on the hard ground with only his sleeping bag softening the ground. He should’ve take his mother’s air mattress with him but he had forgot it. He had a bad habit to forget things.
Suddenly Ronald heard something that made his blood stop running in his veins. He went pale and he shut his eyes, scared and listened carefully. His heart was beating so fast that he was sure it would explode.
Someone was walking in their camp. It couldn’t be Lucas pranking him because Lucas’s snoring was still very audible. Ronald didn’t know what to do so he just lied there, frozen in place and listened the footsteps walking around the camp, then past the tents and then stopping.
Ronald didn’t dare to breathe.
Then the footsteps continued moving and disappeared into the woods. Ronald wanted to cry, he was so scared. But he bit his lip and breathed in and out slowly. Maybe it was a deer or something. That made Ronald calm down. Yeah, he was just being paranoid. It could’ve been a deer and he had just imagined automatically that those were human footsteps.
He still didn’t dare to open his eyes which was good because if he would’ve opened them, he would’ve seen a man’s silhouette in the tent’s doorway.