It Came with a Face
"I don't understand why we have to carry all this stuff Hanna." I finally said after lugging two bins and a cooler to the Jeep. I didn't know why Hanna wanted to pack her entire closet for a five day camping trip with the girls. The trunk was filling up fast and we still haven't packed Spencer's or Aria's or Allison's things in it.
"Like this one, look!" I said after pulling out an end of what seemed like Hanna's cord charger.
"Seriously Hanna, you need a phone charger to go camping?!" I asked rhetorically while flashing the black cord in her face. Hanna crossed her arms and gave me her trademark rolling-eyes-with-an-irked-face look
"Okay, I know I don't need a charger, but you never know what could happen in that jungle that this cord might practically save our lives."
"Okay first off, we're going camping in the forest Han, not in some humid, tropical rainforest in the middle of Philly!" I manage to yell out from all the frustration. I swear, sometimes I don't know where she gets these ideas. "Second, what could a cord charger do to save us from near death?!"
"Tomato, tomahto and you never know!" Hanna replied.
"Whatever. I think that was the last packing gear, let's head to Spencer's. I don't know how we'll fit their things but it fits now and Spencer will figure this out."
"Yeah, tell your Dad thanks for letting us use it to go camping. All of us really needed some time off before school starts again."
I finally agreed with her on something. We all needed some time off.
Spencer didn't want to drive her SUV and Aria and my car couldn't fit all of our stuff, let alone Hanna's entire closet. It took some begging and some compromising but Dad finally said OK after a little push from my mom.
I looked at Hanna and nodded in agreement and began my way to the car then starting the ignition. Hanna packed herself inside the passenger's seat and pulled her seat belt down.
"I mean, this summer alone was just horrible. First Spencer's parents split up, then Aria's mom's wedding not-" Hanna trailed off at the last bit of her sentence. Sometimes she wants to talk about what happened with her and Zack but she cuts off midway.
"Hey. Hey. Look at me. It wasn't your fault Hanna. It never was. Zack is a creep and needs to be put away. What he did-," I took a breathe after realizing this conversation was going farther than any other that we've had. "What he did to you, wasn't your fault. It was his. He was the problem Hanna. OK?"
Hanna looked at me with her glazed blue eyes. She looked like she was about to cry. I held her hand to comfort her and told her it was going to be okay. Hanna turned her gaze from my mine and pulled her hand away. It was typical Hanna-move where she would run away when things got to uncomfortable.
"Don't forget Ali going bonkers last year with Mona and her passé." Hanna exclaimed after changing the subject.
I knew Hanna didn't want to continue talking about it so I just played along. I began imagining the scene from last year; it was Ali's first day coming back from Georgia after being gone for a year in Rosewood. A lot has changed and it was the same day that Mona and her friends decided to team up and just bury Allison from all the years she tormented them.
"I guess none of us had a decent year this year." I finally said after letting out a sigh.
"Yeah, I guess too." It made me feel a little better that Hanna didn't bring up my sad story. I guess we can put that away too.
Hanna and I drove in silence for a few minutes and decided to talk about what we might see while camping. By the time we were guessing on what carnivorous animal would show up for its last dying meal, we had reached Spencer's house with Allison and Aria. Placing efficiency aside, all of us only took half an hour trying to pack all their stuff in with some organizing and delegating from Spencer and a little bit from Allison. I couldn't help but give Hanna a glare as we stared at Spencer squinting her brows to figure out where to squeeze the next packing gear.
"Wait, Aria. I think it'll be much better fitting your bedroll in between Ali's and the cooler by the corner." Spencer said while she was deep in organizing my packed Jeep.
"Uh, no Spence. This belongs here." Allison said as she pulled out the squeezed bedroll from the corner and placed it in between one of Hanna's packing gear and my bed roll.
The squabble had been going on for a few minutes and frankly we were all getting tired of it.
"Okay, you guys are both wrong. This looks better under the seat while rolled up." I said after pulling it for the last time and pushing it tight under the last set of seats next to the trunk. Both Spencer and Ali gave me a look but Aria and Hanna were smirking.
After finally loading the last packing gear, we began getting ourselves comfortable in the car, readying to drive off. Hanna sat next to me in the passenger's seat while Spencer and Aria sat in the back with Allison sitting in between them in the middle.
The drive was about seven hours, and we tried leaving in the crack of dawn to at least get their by early noon but needless to say we all overslept from our get together last night and we didn't wake up until noon, not even forgetting the time we used up packing all of our stuff inside the trunk. I was still a little hung over from last night- we all were. I'm guessing that's why Hanna and I have been arguing all day. Six hours in the trip, I finally noticed the fresh smell of pine trees and lush mountains. The paved road that went on for hundreds of miles finally turned into dirt and rocks with tall grasses and trees surrounded them. The altitude was getting higher too since the roads we were driving on was also a mountain, but the road cliffs didn't scare me, even though it was getting late. The sun was beginning to set and I was feeling sleepy. Spencer, Aria and Hanna offered to drive, but I was the best shape out of all of them and I was also the only one who knew where the cabin was. It was an old cabin that my grandparents had built a long time ago. I haven't been there in a few years, but I remember the smell of pine and redwood standing tall over the cabin through driving through the trees. I remember hiking to a basin that was a few miles off the cabin where the waterfall would light up from the sunset. I began remembering the shortcuts and corners that would get me to a berry bush, and then I would one by one pick them to taste their sweet flavor. I was so lost in my train of thought that I didn't even remember seeing it happen.
I woke up with the ringing sound in my left ear and the muffled yells and cries of somebody not too far away.
"She's gone OK! She's gone OK! She's gone! We need to help Em, I can't pull her out." I heard another's voice yell out.
Who's gone? I thought to myself.
I began to panic, but my body won't listen to my mind. I couldn't move my body anywhere, so I began to scan my surroundings.
An entire tree branch had fallen over the windshield. The glass had shattered and all the shards were draped all over the dock and on the empty seat next to mine. Half the tree branch was dangling outside the car with the other end hobbled over the car's hood and inside the dock. It was pressed up my chest to where I realize I was having a hard time breathing. Then I blacked out.
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