The wind grew in strength and the tress and bushes started tu rustle. Sean wondered how much time there was left. It felt like an eternity. He looked at the time, but realized it was pointless since he hadn't been smart enough to actually check the time when they started. And a half hour after unknown time equalled confused Sean. It was almost like he had done the same with the last four years of his life. He hadn't really thought about how quickly time could fly and then suddenly, here they all were, soon going off in different directions. A part of him almost wanted to chain them all to the campsite and never let go. Then the trip wouldn't have to end. They could pretend time didn't pass. He put back the phone in his pocket, suddenly not as enthusiastic as he was before.
Impatient, Sean separated two of the branches in front of him so he could actually see something. He noticed Amy standing just a few metres away. How could he have missed that!? Thankfully she was facing the other direction so Sean dropped the branches so they would once again cover him. But the branches let out another rustle, and this time, the wind wasn't strong enough to act like an excuse. Sean just hoped Amy didn't hear anything.
Amy shone her torch on the path, looking carefully for any footprints on the ground. She chuckled to herself, feeling like a true detective. While she was enjoying herself, part of her was terrified. And it wasn't so much about the dangers of playing this game in the dark, as one might expect. What if we stop talking after all of this? Will we ever get to hang out like this again? Amy knew that she couldn't do anything other than try and keep in contact with her friends, but she knew that sooner or later life would get in the way and thirty texts a day would dwindle to five, then to once a week, until there would be nothing left other than the occasional birthday wish.
For God's sake, Amelia, stop thinking so negatively! She chided herself, and she stopped walking. Looking around, she realised she had completely strayed off the path as she had been thinking. The girl got worried, and even more so when she heard a bit of rustling. God, I really hope that was the wind...
When it happened twice, the girl's eyes narrowed, facing the source of noise suspiciously. She shone the torch on the bush, "anybody there?" She asked.
Suddenly, Sean's hiding spot was lit up. "anybody there?" Amy's familiar voice was comforting in a way, especially after all the depressing thoughts that occupied his mind. There was the chance that Amy would ignore the sound and walk away, but it was more probable that she would check the bush and find him there. Her question was kind of ridiculous though. They were playing HIDE and seek after all. But Sean was freezing and would rather talk to Amy than stay hidden. So he rose from inside the bush and did a weird hand gesture. A wide grin covering his face.
"I'm not the Sean you're looking for."
Anybody there? She repeated the question in her mind, frowning at herself. I'm acting like one of those girls from horror films, hoping that the murderer will respond from the kitchen! Amelia took a step forward, a lot more confident than before, well, that was until Sean suddenly rose from the bush, surprising her.
She jolted back in surprise, "holy shi-" she pressed one palm to her heart, the other over her mouth, the torch dropped when she jumped back. "Sean! Don't do that! Somebody could've gotten hurt!" Amy chided him, trying to calm her racing heart while doing so. She bent over to pick up the torch, looking up at him before raising her eyebrow. "What exactly are you doing?" She asked, referencing his weird hand gesture and wild grin. "You look like a crazy axe murder like that."
Seeing Amy almost scared to death, Sean couldn't help but feel a little guilty. "I was trying to make a joke with a reference from Star...nevermind." Sean gave up. It wasn't important anyways. He climbed out of the bush and went over to where Amy stood. "Are you okay?" Sean asked, concerned. He looked around, not noticing that they were all alone until now. "Where are the others?"
Amy pulled out her phone, "after your chilling text," she emphasised on the word 'chilling', a goofy sort of grin plastered on her face, "Quinn and I split up. Quinn and Booker had apparently hid close together, and when I found Q, she never said anything until much later." She told him, unlocking her phone so she could text Quinn, I found Sean, before tucking her phone back into her jeans. "Now that I've found you, we should head back to camp to meet up with Quinn and Booker. Then the four of us can look for Ryan and Harry together." She pursed her lips, concerned, "I really hope they're okay, it feels like they've gone to hide years ago." She said, as she began leading the way back to camp.
"Sounds good" Sean grinned as he started walking beside Amy. "And no need to worry about Ryan and Harry, they are fine." Sean said reassuringly. He sounded certain, like he knew they were, when it was obvious he didn't. But worrying wasn't going to make anything better, so they might as well be optimistic about it. Sean started walking, slow so that Amy easily could follow his lead. "Hide and seek isn't really your thing, is it?"
Amy easily matched his pace, the two of them walking side by side as Amy used her torch to brighten up the path. "I hope so. We're going to find them next anyway." She said, assuringly. It seemed like she was trying to assure herself more than him. "You know I don't have the best sense of direction," she reminded him, her previous grin softening up into a small smile. "If I can't mind my way around an area, how am I supposed to find everyone and win?" Amy nudged him. "And you? What was with the text?"
Sean couldn't help but laugh when Amy talked about her sense of direction. He started thinking about memories from moments where Amy's bad sense of direction had been prominently shown. "You don't have to say that twice. Remember that time when you visited and picked the wrong apartment and my neighbour Fredrick opened? And that text was a literary masterpiece, mind you." Sean and Amy kept walking, the light from the torch being their only guide. "Honestly, I was bored and thought I could send you a text to keep myself busy. And maaaaybe I hoped it would throw you off...with your bad sense of direction and all." Sean teased. The darkness around them seemed almost to become even darker as the evening turned into night. Sean started to think about their conversation and the fact that he wasn't keeping track on where they were going. "Speaking of which, this is the way to the campsite, right?"
Amy covered her face with her free palm in embarrassment. "Oh god, I first thought that your neighbour was your relative or something." She said, her voice coming somewhat mumbled through her palm. "That text was creepy," she moved her palm away from her face, somewhat glad of the change in topic. At least this one wasn't embarrassing. "Well I don't think you were successful in fooling me or Quinn, so ha!" Amy let out a laugh, just to tease Sean.
Amy blinked twice, stopping in her tracks as she looked around. "Uh... Maybe?"
Sean stopped just moments after Amy did. He guided her torch-holding arm and looked around them to see if he recognized any of it. After a while he could make out a familiar collection of rocks further ahead on the path they were following. "Yeah, it seems like this is the way to the campsite." He continued on the path they were following. "So...what do you look forward to most during the trip? Anything special you want to do? I can't wait to go hiking. I've always wanted to do that, but never had the chance."
Trusting Sean's decision, Amy followed behind him without complaint. She had stumbled on Sean's location earlier, so backtracking was next to impossible for her - especially with her less than perfect sense of direction. She hummed as Sean asked her a question, thinking about her answer as he said his. "I've been looking forward to simply hanging out with you guys." She said, truthfully. "I know it's boring, but I don't know if I'll ever find friends like you guys in college, so I want to savour every moment we get." She smiled, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "Sorry, got a bit corny there." Amy laughed nervously.
Sean chuckled. "If I say that I want the same, does that make me corny too?" Not far ahead, the campsite made itself visible. They were almost there. "It just feels like it has gone so fast, you know? Like one day we are all worried about who we should ask to prom and the next we are writing our college application essays." Sean skipped slightly as he continued moving down the path. Sean thought of all the things he hadn't done, and said, in high school when he had the chance. He had convinced himself that he still had time.
"I'm not complaining," Amy chuckled, "at least I'm not the only corny one around here." They stepped into the campsite, beside the dwindling flame they had set up earlier. "Maybe college will go by quickly too, maybe one day we'll be in this exact same scenario years from now with a completely different group." She turned off the torch, saving the remaining battery for the last stretch of the game. "I'm going to text Quinn and tell her to meet us here." Amy told her, pulling her phone back out.
At the camp, come meet us here so we can find Ryan and Harry! She sent the text. "Now it's time to play the waiting game."
