Love Trails

Plot: Degrassi camping trip. A/U

POV: Mixed.

Author's Note: ok the boring part... the idea came to me during the holidays. I tried to pass it on to someone i knew was interested in writing a fic. They didn't want to for whatever reason so i decided to write it myself. don't know if i'm doing the right thing.
It'll probably be a 5 chap fic or even shorter. i don't know yet.
i doubt i'll update it soon... bc i'd rather work on my other fic... so i apologize in advance.

The title is... i know, blame my beta. I was laughed at when i revealed what i'd been calling it... of course i won't tell u what that was.
Then we brainstormed... Five Days... Hiking Boots... Camping Trails... Love Trails. tada!!

Thank u Aeryn btw for all ur help. i mean it.
and Ash for telling me to go ahead with the idea.

Disclaimer: Don't own Degrassi or any of it's characters.

Chapter 1

On the mid-July morning, students had assembled early outside Degrassi Community School. It was unusually cold for a day in the middle of summer. Marco, Hazel and Paige stood in the line to get on the yellow bus that was going to take them to the campgrounds. There were almost sixty or so other students who were waiting there for the same purpose.

"Marco, don't tell me the loser crowd is also coming camping with us?"
Hazel asked Marco as she looked at a group of students who stood not too far from them. Paige smiled at what Hazel said as she followed Hazel's gaze.

Jay stood a few feet from them with his back to them. He was dressed in his typical attire and hat. What was different about him today was that huge back pack that hung on his back. It was a camping bag with an attached sleeping bag, his hiking boots and an army water bottle. Jay is apparently taking this camping trip way too seriously, Paige thought to herself.

Jay was busy telling his gang some story about when he'd gone on a camping trip with his dad. The way that his hands were positioned, it seemed like he had just illustrated the length of the fish he'd probably caught. All of his friends had laughed at that but the laughter that stood out among the crowd was of a girl. She had slapped Jay's hand in non-belief and had laughed some more at a now irritated Jay. Paige knew this girl well. This was the girl Paige hated and who hated Paige. Sensing the pair of eyes, the girl had turned and looked back at her. Paige missed the scorn that used to be permanently pasted on the girl's face, but it was nowhere to be found ever since she had become the vice.

The girl turned away and so did Paige, but not before noticing what she was wearing. It was a navy hooded sweatshirt under a khaki jacket that went all the way to her mid thigh. The dark pair of jeans was her patent wornout ones. Apparently, she had come well prepared for this cold weather. Like Jay, she also had a similar camping gear that hung on her back with the whole hiking boots and water bottle regimen. What was wrong with everyone today?

Despite their best efforts, Marco and his student council had been unable to organize the camping trip at the end of the school semester. The treasury that was left by the previous student council was just not enough after the school prom. But the fact that they were able to arrange a camping trip at all was a miracle. Marco had big plans for his school during his presidency but it was turning out to be harder than he'd initially anticipated.

There were two groups that existed at Degrassi which could easily be simplified as the 'enthusiasts' and the 'not so enthusiasts'. The split had divided the school in two halves; one that wanted to be involved in school activities and the other that couldn't care less. The less caring group never voted for any activities. The small number of participants mostly resulted in cancellations of the activities altogether.

Marco's student council was different from previous ones in the sense that he had something others didn't. He had Alex as his vice. Alex had turned out to be the missing piece of the puzzle that could make the school whole again. She was full of inspiring ideas that had surprised even Marco. Marco thought of her as the miracle that Degrassi had waited through all these years; the gem that was hiding somewhere… waiting to be discovered; 'the one' who had finally revealed itself.

With help from Alex, Marco had finally managed to organize a camping trip; its success depended completely on how many students enrolled for the trip. When enough students willed to participate, Principal Raditch was left with no other choice but to approve the five day trip in supervision of four of the Degrassi teachers. Marco called the camping trip… the 'camping extravaganza' and was extremely excited about it. He wanted this trip to be a success, as he believed that it pretty much commenced his standing as a good student council president. Of course he credited his 'council' more than he credited himself, Alex in particular.

"Hazel!" Marco said in a disappointing tone.

"Sorry, Marco, but you can't stop me from wondering… they better not trash up the campsite."

"Marco, I so didn't sign up for this just so I could sleep in the mud. And why is it so cold in July?" Paige of course had completely different worries. The long wait had begun to irritate her and the fact that she hadn't packed any warm clothing was upsetting her even more.

"Paige… do I look like the weather channel to you? I don't know, okay? Now both of you, STOP. Ms. Kwan was supposed to be here by now… I'm beginning to get worried. We're still short of a bus and a teacher."

"Well why don't you let Mr. Simpson worry about this?" Hazel suggested.

"Yeah, but he sorta expected me to take care of it… now we both don't know what to do." Marco replied agitatedly.

"…Marco… I didn't pack any warm clothes…" Paige whined and pouted as she looked at Marco. She really did look worried.

"Paige, it might not be so cold later… don't worry okay?, let me go and find out about the other bus and we'll work on getting you some warmer clothes, okay?"
Marco tried to reassure her and waited for her approval to leave… just then, Paige thought of another question…
"Will our cell phones work in the wilderness?"

"Seriously you guys, I really do need to find out about that bus… I'll be right back…and in the meantime, try to get a hold of yourselves." Marco looked irritated. He walked to the school building leaving Paige and Hazel behind. Paige took her cell phone out and speed dialed Spinner's cell.

"Hey Hon, why are you not here? We're supposed to leave in half an hour…"
"What? You're not coming... why?..." She waited for Spinner's response.
"I don't care if you have a cold… you were the reason I signed up for this wilderness adventure… I have absolutely no interest in the stupid nature or the wastelands…" Although she was able to hide her frustrations from showing in her voice, she couldn't exactly say the same about her eyes that were ready to leak. "Spin… you better be on this trip or we're through…" It had taken all out of her to give Spinner the ultimatum and then she hung up the phone without listening to Spinner's explanations.

When Paige had first learned from Marco that he was in the process of arranging a camping trip, she had become more than excited about it for various reasons. The timing for this camping trip could not have been more perfect. She and Spinner were having some problems lately and Paige looked at this camping trip as an opportunity for them to work things out. This trip was just what was missing from their relationship besides what Spinner had been hinting at since his birthday. She had thought a lot about 'it' and finally she felt that she was ready… at least she thought she was. She had to be… for Spin. He had been very patient with her since her rape, more than two years ago. She was ready. Some private time could do them both a lot of good.

The trip really was as close as it could get to a full room-service hotel stay as long as Marco listened to her 'off-record' suggestion of getting a lodge or a cabin. She personally preferred a small room with a double bed, a personal TV and an attached Jacuzzi bath, but she was willing to settle with the bunk bed without the TV as long as she was getting a non-sharing bathroom. Paige wanted it to be a small group and was willing to pay a little extra, but Marco had informed her that 'keeping the cost low so everyone could participate', outweighed her preferences.

"See, Paige, that's what my election campaign was all about… giving a chance to everyone…, making sure that everyone gets equal opportunities and especially focusing on those who get left out because of the exponential costs of these trips. That's something that Alex has made me understand. She had some great ideas about how to cut the costs to fit it in the budget so more students could afford to come." Marco had spoken proudly of his vice-president.

Paige's dream was shattered as soon as she had learned that they were supposed to bring their own tents and sleeping bags along with the basic survival kit. She understood that it meant a very non-private, non-luxurious and a laborious camping trip. This sounded worst than the ones she was used to going on with her own family. It involved collecting fire logs, cooking food and reeking in the smell of 'nature', but at least her family respected her personal space. She was the youngest one of her family and there was a list of privileges that came along with her position in the family.

The fact that there were three yellow buses waiting outside their school to take them away from civilization was not a pleasing sight. Paige had decided to compromise with not getting her everyday luxuries as long as she was promised some quality time with Spin. But just now she had learned that Spinner wasn't coming. She couldn't opt out now… that could have resulted in Marco not speaking to her for the rest of her life.. She knew how important all this was for him. But how exactly was she going to manage mourning over her broken heart while surrounded by the noise pollution around her; something that was likely to be produced by sixty uncontrollable teens, with minimum rules and only four grownups. Making this trip economical had not only added more people into the mix, it had totally taken the glamor out of it. Just imagining how painful her next five days were going to be, made her shudder. Paige was angry, disappointed and cold. She looked around for someone to blame for all of this.

Alex had become a part of their group after becoming the vice-president of the school. She hung out with Marco as his sidekick; something that Marco prized very much. Paige knew that Marco also enjoyed the power that he had gained with his association with the resident bad-ass girl. It had also turned out that Alex was smarter than she had let people believe. Her grades had been improving so much lately that they had defiantly proved the universal law of gravity wrong. Paige knew the girl had issues with 'laws'.

The two infamous adjectives that Marco frequently used for Alex were 'brilliant' and 'friendly'; both were hard for Paige to accept but she knew there was no point in arguing with Marco on that. Paige had kept the little fact to herself but sometimes Marco and Alex's closeness made her feel jealous. Paige was always a little possessive about people she cared about, but this girl had made her distinguishably insecure for some reason. There was something about Alex that even scared her at times and at those times; it brought her relief to know that Marco was always present there acting as a buffer between them.

The era of them confronting and passing insults in the hallway had ended with Alex becoming the vice-president of the school. Although they saw a lot more of each other now than they ever did before, they never spoke to each other anymore. The staring contests were also not as much fun either because Alex's eyes had gone soft. Paige could tell that Alex was being easy on her. As odd as that was, Paige actually missed those conversations. They were fun. Now it seemed as if they had nothing left to say to each other.

Paige saw Marco running back to Alex. He looked worried. She saw him pull Alex aside and then he said something to her. Now both of them looked worried. Paige curiosity was raised so she hesitantly walked over to Marco.
"Is everything okay… Marco?" she asked.
"Yeah Paige, Just give me a minute." Whatever it was, Marco wasn't willing to share it with her. He held Alex's shoulder and pulled her further away.

"So what are we gonna do, Alex?" Paige heard Marco ask Alex.
"We'll have to make it work with three buses. We'll just cram it a little. It'll work. Don't worry, Marco. In the roster it says there are sixty students, we should all be able to fit in three buses. And apparently we're gonna have to do with just three teachers too.", Alex said while she scanned through her very organized papers in a file folder and then gave Marco a reassuring look.
"Alex… what would I do without you?" he said as he quickly hugged her and ran off in another direction.

Paige was now clearly upset. Not only that Marco had ignored her, he had not been there when she needed him. He didn't even know that she had just broken up with Spinner on the phone. She needed her best friend to console her; tell her that it was going to be alright.
But he was too busy for her.
Too busy with this camping trip.
Alex was the one who'd come up with the brilliant idea.
Alex, the smart one, who wasn't in it for her selfish reasons.
Alex, who cared about the school.
Alex the dependable one, who was as excited about this trip as Marco was.
Alex, who wasn't cold because she had brought warm clothes to this stupid camping trip.
It was all Alex's fault.
With all the accrued anger, Paige walked up to Alex.

"Paige." Paige heard the girl call her name as soon as she was in the earshot range. It was the softest voice that she had ever heard from her. Paige even wondered if she was meant to hear it.

"… this… is not gonna work." Alex, who was surprised at the thought of Paige wanting to talk to her, now looked confused as well.

"Don't act like you don't know..."

Ascertaining an upcoming assault by the tone of Paige's voice, the expression on Alex's face changed to a pained one. She didn't protest unlike what Paige had anticipated. Feeling even more courageous by Alex's behavior, Paige continued.

"…this trick of yours… to get into the popular crowd, it's not gonna work, Hon. I can see right through it. To me, you will always be as hopeless as you always were."

After she was done, Paige marched back to Hazel.

TBC

how'd i do?