Camping Out
I take out my earplugs and hear Maddie's snores loud and clear now that there isn't anything obstructing my ears. For such a pretty girl her snores are pretty loud. I laugh softly as I unzip the tent, hoping to let more light in. I look at my pager to see that it's around the time that we should be awake. We are going hiking today. I look outside and see that it is partly cloudy, with some dark clouds. Hopefully it won't rain today. I think as I close the tent and begin to change under my sleeping bag. I pull on a pair of athletic leggings under my sleeping bag, and pull off my pajama bottoms.
I put that to the side and begin putting on an old long sleeve, then a sport jacket to keep me warm out in the woods. I pull on my socks and begin putting on sunblock. I look at the sleeping Maddie and decide to wake her up so she can get ready in time. "Maddie, it's time to wake up." I say to her in a gentle voice. I even shake her gently so I can wake her up, but she just moves and turns her back to me. I let out a sigh and decide to use a more cruel method of waking her up. I unzip our tent's door, and let the cold air come in. I leave it open wide as I enjoy the fresh air that is flowing into our tent.
"It's so cold…" I hear her mumble as she pulls her sleeping bag over her face. I roll my eyes and pull the sleeping bag from her face.
"Wake up, we're going on a hike, remember?" I ask her. She grabs for the sleeping bag, but I have a tight grip on it. "No, you're not going back to sleep." I tell her. She finally sits up and sighs. I smile, success.
"Want to close that door? I need to change." Maddie says rubbing her sleepy eyes. I nod and zip it closed.
"I honestly don't remember the last time we camped out together." I say as I turn my back to her so I don't see her change.
"Yeah, we must have been ten the last time we camped with our families." She says, yes but this time around my parents are out on a business trip. It seemed serious and the two of them had to attend this time. So it is just me and the Labelles. Her parents treat me like I'm their second daughter so it is like camping out with family. Maddie is about a month or so older than me. I'm about to be sixteen in a few days. This isn't the first time that my parents have missed my birthday. I'm used to it. I remember celebrating with Maddie and her parents.
After Maddie is finally done dressing I put on my shoes and unzipped the tent and stepped out. I look and see that Mr. and Mrs. Labelle are up and cooking breakfast already. I smile and walk over to the grill. "Bon matin," I say as I look at the grill to see that we're having bacon for breakfast, it is one of the easiest meats to cook.
Mr. Labelle turns to face me, he already has some traces of gray hair on his head, and the wrinkles on his face are visible when he smiles. Mr. Labelle has a medium build and is of average height, his skin is a bit darker than his wife and daughter's. Sometimes I wonder if Maddie was ever adopted. Maddie has dark brown hair while her parents both have blonde hair. That is only difference between her and her parents. All of them have blue eyes and fairly pale skin. "Bon matin," He says in return. "Is Maddie up?" He asks me as he grabs a plate and puts the bacon on there.
"Yup, she's up." I say as I look at our menu. There is untoasted bread, bacon, an assortment of packaged jellies, and scrambled eggs that are still on the pan. My stomach starts to growl just looking at the food. I put my hand over it to "quiet it down". I'll feed you soon. I think as I look at our tent to see Maddie finally getting out. "Took you long enough." I say walking to her.
"Bon matin, to you too." She says sarcastically. I laugh and greet her good morning. "Did you sleep well?" She asks me.
"Yup, my earplugs helped, I'm sure you slept well." I say giving her a friendly nudge with my elbow. She has been trying to paging someone while on this trip. I should have just confiscated her pager and kept it with me. I'm not even sure if her pages are even being sent to whomever she's sending it to. I'm assuming it's her boyfriend, or a crush that she actually had the courage to talk to. If I had feelings for someone, that person will never find out, well not from me anyway.
"Just because I snore, doesn't mean I slept well." She says giving me a nudge back. I just let out a small laugh, but then I notice that she's wearing makeup. I furrow my brows as to why she is wearing makeup. There is no one here to impress.
"Why do you have makeup on? We're going to hike, all that dirt is going to get on your makeup." I say to her. I have hiked before and the dirt that I end up wiping off, with my sweat, made the napkin black. Maddie just shrugs and starts reaching for the plate of bacon. Mr. Labelle and Mrs. Labelle join us after they went back into their tent. Maddie passes me the plate of bacon, I take it and use my plastic fork to grab two strips. I then reach for the pan of scrambled eggs, and use the spoon to add some onto the plastic plate. I carefully pass it to Maddie. I am about to take a bite of my scrambled eggs but someone puts their hands over my eyes.
I gasp out of surprise and try to remove the hands off of my eyes so I can see who it is. My hands travel up the person's arms and he's leaning back. I can tell that this person is a man because of the size of his hands and his forearms. I move my head trying to remove his hands from my eyes. He finally removes it and the sudden light hurts my eyes. I rub them and I hear the Labelles snickering.
I turn around and see my Uncle Nate. I feel a big grin tugging on the corners of my lips. I get up from my seat and wrap my arms around his neck. I feel his arms wrap around my waist, and lifting me up spinning me, just like the way he does. Uncle Nate is rather young, he's only twenty years old, but he doesn't look it. "What are you doing here?" I ask him. "Aren't you supposed to be at the States right now?" I ask him as we break the hug.
"I came back early for my little watermelon's birthday." He says kissing me on the forehead. I smile, glad that someone from my family is here to celebrate my birthday with me. His nickname for me is because of what happened when I was one year old. I climb into half of a watermelon skin and sat there. There's a picture of me sitting there smiling like a little goofball. I wrap my arms around his waist again for another hug. I missed him, I haven't seen him since last Christmas.
"Hi Uncle Nate." Maddie's voice, it's a playful one, she's trying to flirt with him as always. Of course Nate thinks he's too old for her, while Maddie thinks otherwise. She thinks it is okay that the two of them are four years apart. I also think its okay but I don't know how I feel about Maddie dating my uncle and if things work out and they marry, she's going to be my aunt. That will be very weird.
"Maddie, how are you?" I hear Uncle Nate ask her. I sit back down on the picnic table. I already know that Maddie has her arm around my Uncle's and having him sit down next to her instead of me. I just shake my head at her and her parents are here to witness all of this. I'm sure they hear her talk about Uncle Nate. She never stops, well maybe she does just to listen to me and my love life.
Mrs. Labelle looks at her daughter, unsure of what to do. Her blonde hair is tied up in a bun, and she's wearing her hiking gear as well. She also has some gray hairs, and she also wears glasses just like her husband. I like to think of the two as a perfect couple because, well they are. I never see them argue, and I can tell that they love each other.
"I'm great, how about you?" I hear Maddie. I just shake my head as I continue to eat our breakfast. I look down and see something in my Uncle's pocket. I look at it and it seems like a flask. Uncle Nate doesn't drink, not that I remember. Maybe it's for water, not all flasks are for alcohol, right? I don't bring it up and continue eating until I am full, but not too full. We are hiking after this.
Uncle Nate puts his arm around my shoulders. I look up at him and our eyes catch. "I'm happy that I can celebrate my niece's birthday," he says looking at everyone at the table. I smile glad that he's here as well. I'm sure I have shown it already to everyone that's here. I sometimes feel like Uncle Nate and I could have been siblings, because we are so close in age. He was also born here in the UK, like me. My parents didn't really have a choice in moving to the UK. My father was ten when he moved with his parents, and my mum was about six when she came. We saw each other fairly often when I was younger, and I always assumed he was my brother, instead of my uncle. My parents told me multiple times to call him uncle instead of older brother (in Korean).
"Do you remember me calling you oppa, instead of samchon?" I ask him as I remember my four year old self calling the eight year old Nate older brother. He lets out a chuckle as he removes his arm from small shoulders. I look at his face and it seems that he is trying to recollect that memory.
"Yeah, I remember. I also thought that you were my younger sister." He says in response to this. I look at the Labelles and they seem confused.
"Sorry, samchon means uncle, and oppa means older brother in Korean. But oppa is only used by younger sisters." I explain to them. The sudden realization is obvious on their faces as they nod and smile. That is how I am with my grandparents whenever we go visit them. I'm sure they're aware of the fact that I don't really speak Korean. I simply nod and smile whenever my grandparents talk to me.
After breakfast is over, and Maddie's still flirting with my uncle, we are packed and ready to go hiking out in the woods. I look over at Uncle Nate and he seems dressed to go hiking. We made all of our sandwiches, for our lunch while we hike. I see him take a swig from his flask. The top of it has the shape of a man's head, and the only way to open it is "decapitating" the man's head from the opening. I don't remember my Uncle Nate ever carrying a flask.
He knocks his head back as he drinks it, and he kind of shivers after he drinks it. It doesn't seem like an enjoyable drink, judging from his scrunched up face. Is he taking an herbal medicine? I wonder as I remember having to drink those horrible bitter herbal drinks. He seems fine. I smile when he catches my eye, and he smiles back as he puts his flask back into his jacket pocket.
"Ready to go hiking?" He asks as he makes sure that his flask is in his pocket.
"Of course I am, are you healthy enough?" I ask him gesturing towards his flask. He notices and smiles.
"Of course I am, why would I not be?" He asks me. I shrug and just decide not to mention the fact that I assume that he's drinking herbal medicine.
"Nate!" I hear Maddie's voice say and Uncle Nate looks up to see her, and I turn around. Maddie's dressed in athletic leggings, hiking boots, and she also has a jacket to keep her warm during this cold morning. I turn my attention again to Uncle Nate and he has this goofy expression on his face. I wave my hands over his eyes but all he does is move my hand away. I have never noticed him look at Maddie this way. I look over at Maddie again and she looks like her usual self, there's nothing different. Uncle Nate walks slowly towards her, as if he's entranced by her. He wasn't like this during breakfast.
Maddie is still watching Uncle Nate come towards her. I still don't see anything different about her. This is really weird. I look over at Mr. and Mrs. Labelle and they look confused as I am. The only type of people that I can think of can do such a thing is a Veela, but Maddie isn't a Veela is she? Sure she's beautiful, but now Uncle Nate seems to be charmed by her.
We start our hike and the two of them are clinging to each other, well more like my Uncle Nate constantly staying by her side, and making sure that she doesn't injure herself. I shake my head as she uses those fake falls to just have him hug her in his arms. I sigh as I walk with Mr. and Mrs. Labelle. I'm used to hanging out with these two, they're like my second pair of parents.
"Oh, this looks beautiful!" I hear Mrs. Labelle say. I look in the direction that she's looking at and I see that we have walked into a forest of trees. I smile as I look up at the leaves with the sun shining down on them. I take out my camera and take a picture. I smile as I continue looking up at the trees. We continue walking and we manage to get out of the forest of trees, while Maddie and my Uncle Nate are lagging behind us.
"Are you okay?" I hear Uncle Nate say to Maddie. I look over my shoulder and I see her blushing. Her cheeks are so red it looks as if she ran a marathon. She simply nods and clings on to his arm, not willing to let go of him. I roll my eyes at these two. I guess I'm not really okay with these two ever being a couple, even if she really does like him, and vice versa.
I look out above the hill and see a sea of tents. I wonder why there are so many people here, and it seems that Mr. and Mrs. Labelle can't see the tents. They seem to be marveling at the meadow that it should be without those tents there. I lend them my camera so that they can take some pictures. They ask me to help them take a picture of the two of them with the view.
"Of course," I say. I am about to snap a shot, but I hear about six thuds nearby. I lower the camera and look over to my right to find four red heads, one black haired boy, and a brown haired girl on the floor. I see that the Labelles are also looking in that general direction. I give them my camera and rush over to the six of them. "Are you alright?" I ask them. I extend my hand out to one of the red haired boys and he takes my hand and I help him up.
"Yeah, we're fine." I hear him say and I look up in the same direction as him, and I see two familiar faces "climbing" down from the sky. They used a portkey. I think as I they softly land where these six children landed on their backs.
"Are you sure?" I ask, wanting to make sure that they're alright. The boy nods, and now that I have closer look at everyone, I realize that they're all from my school, Hogwarts.
"Rebekah?" The voice belongs to someone who I used to call my best friend. The two of us basically fell apart when we reached our second year at Hogwarts. That was also when I made it to the Slytherin Quidditch team. Of course I think he has stopped talking to me because of that, but I think it's something else. I turn around and I see him standing there with his dad. His dad has his back facing me while he's talking with a man whom I assume to be Mr. Weasley. I hear murmurs behind me and I know they're already talking about me.
I look at his grey eyes and I feel my heart skipping a beat and my cheeks are warming up for no reason at all. I pull my hair from a ponytail and cover my face with my long black hair. "Cedric, let's go to our t-." He stops talking when he sees me. His faces turns from happy to a grim and solemn expression. His lips are also in a tight line. There has to be another reason why Cedric just stops talking to me. I think, remembering that Cedric will not be the type of person that will turn his back on a friend.
"I better get going." I say making myself feel even smaller than I actually am. My shoulders are hunched over, I even fold my arms in an attempt to shield myself from the Diggory's.
I turn around and start making my way back to the Labelles, but all I remember feeling is the way I felt when I looked into his eyes. No, no, I'm not crushing on him, am I?I shake my head as I try to calm myself down and think of something else. "That boy was cute." I hear Maddie say to me. I look at her and see that she's still clinging onto Uncle Nate's arm, who is looking at her like she's the only thing he sees. I nearly gag when I see that dorky expression on his face.
"Who?" I ask her, trying to deter the feelings that are still lingering. I clear my throat and we continue walking out onto the meadow. It is time for lunch.
"Oh let's set up here, the view is amazing!" I hear Uncle Nate say. I shiver, his voice sounds too cheery and elated. I have heard him excited and all, but not this excited. Right now, he seems like a little boy in a man's body.
"You're right, Nate." I hear Mrs. Labelle say, and I nod, agreeing with everyone. Mr. Labelle sets down the picnic basket and takes out the blanket. He unravels the white and red checkered blanket. It's something that one will see at a typical picnic. Mrs. Labelle starts taking out some refreshments. I grab a bottle of water and take a swig, hoping this will stop my heart from beating so quickly. I stop drinking and take a deep breath. I look over my shoulder and see that Uncle Nate is feeding Maddie.
"Aren't you two disturbed by this?" I ask turning to face the parents, as I point my thumb towards the two little love birds. The two of them look at each other before answering my question.
"A little, it's strange, I thought your uncle always tried to discourage Maddie." Mrs. Labelle replies.
"Yeah, I thought so, too." I reply as I take a bite out of my sandwich. I never knew how tasty and sandwich was until today. The meat was savory and a little salty. I know I put turkey meat in mine, so how does it taste this amazing? "This is amazing," I say with my mouth full. I feel myself blush after I have realized my mistake. I grab my water bottle and use it to help make the food go down my throat.
"Thank you," I hear Mr. Labelle say. "I marinated it in salt and wine, I didn't think it would work for turkey, but I guess it does." He adds with a huge smile and a gentle laugh. I laugh as well and I'm glad that he did, it tastes amazing.
"It is wonderful, I love it!" I say as I take another bite. Now I can taste the seeping out of the turkey and onto my tongue, and the hint of salt really adds in the flavor, as if I put some chips into my sandwich, but without the oil and fat from the chips.
After we finish eating we sit there and enjoy the view. All I am seeing are a bunch of tents as well as many people celebrating and selling merchandise to the many Quidditch World Cup attendees. I wish I was down there with them. I wonder as I hear a pager beep behind me. I look over and see my Uncle Nate pulling out his pager. He looks at it for a while and seems to register what the message is saying. He stands up as if something pinched him.
"What's wrong?" I ask him. His face is full of worry and it seems that he needs to be there soon.
"I need to go back to the city." He says, and his voice shakes a little, and it is possibly from the anxiety he's feeling right now.
"Do you know the way back to the campsite?" Mrs. Labelle asks him. "I'm assuming your car is nearby." She adds.
"Yeah, I know my way." He replies with a curt nod. He runs off leaving us at the picnic. It seems that whatever that is occupying his mind brings him back to reality.
I wonder what is going on that he has to leave so abruptly. He is currently a student and is possibly working as an intern, and something came up. I keep trying to think of many other reasons of why he has to leave early, but I run out by the time we reach the campsite. We are leaving tomorrow morning so we just eat a small dinner before going to bed.
I look over at Maddie and she seems to have taken it harder than I thought she would. "Hey, he didn't leave because of you." I say trying to comfort her.
She lets out a sigh, "I know, but it still feels like he did." She says as she rolls onto her side, with her back facing me. Now it's my turn to let a sigh of disappointment. I pull into my sleeping bag and put my head on my pillow. I am about to close my eyes until I hear footsteps. I look at the shadow on the tent to see who it is. I look over my shoulder to see if Maddie is asleep, and her shoulders are moving up and down slowly like she's in deep sleep.
I cover my mouth so I can quiet down my breathing, so whoever is walking by our tent can't hear me. I would cover Maddie's, too but she might struggle with me, I would if someone did that while I was sleeping. I continue to watch the figure and the person seems to be going towards Mr. and Mrs. Labelle's tent. My breathing quickens as my heart starts to hammer against my sternum. I feel on the top cover of my sleeping bag and feel the familiar oak wood wand in my hand. I have a tight grip on my wand as I slowly pull it out of the pocket. My mum made me these pockets so I can keep my wand with me wherever I go. I have heard stories of other muggle born families not wanting their children anywhere near their wands while they're outside of Hogwarts. I am glad that my mum knows that my wand can protect me from dangerous wizards. I guess now is the time to defend my friend and her parents.
I don't hear anything but there are more footsteps coming towards our site. I slowly pull the sleeping bag off of me and get out. I unzip the door and the cold winds come rushing into the tent, causing Maddie to curl up a bit more. I unzip it further, just enough for me to step out onto the grass. I keep my wand hidden behind me and scan around our campsite, looking for anyone that threatens my friend and her family.
I tighten my grip on my wand and decide to put it in ready position. "Show yourself," I say circling around to see if anyone will ambush me or show up.
"Rebekah," I hear someone say behind me, I turn around and point my wand at Uncle Nate.