"What's the cabin number again?" Nathaniel questioned to the eager girl beside him.
Bea sorted quickly through the papers on the floor of the moving car.
"It says number 22 on the paper." Bea started gathering her stuff into her bag again since they'd be stopping soon. She hated messes.
They both had been looking forward to this trip for months. Bea was so excited when winter break started. She'd already packed two weeks in advance. Iris, Rosa and Bea were staying in one cabin. Nathaniel, Leigh and Lysander in another just down the road.
The car soon stopped in front of a small cabin. The roof was coated in a thick layer of snow, as well as everything around it. Behind the tiny building was a large frozen lake.
That must be fun in the summer. Bea thought while looking over the icy water. Even though she was still sitting in the car, she could feel the cool, icy air from outside.
Bea looked over to Nathaniel to see him looking for the key to the cabin inside his backpack. He quickly pulled out a yellow envelope with the key inside. They both looked out the windshield, not wanting to leave the warmth of the car.
With a loud sigh Nathaniel opened his door, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. Even though the door was only open for a second, Bea already felt freezing.
This is going to be a long weekend.
She gave herself a little pep talk and then promptly headed out into the cold.
With her bag and papers in hand she fast walked to the wooden steps that lead up to the porch. Nearly slipping on the first icy step she met with Nathaniel, who was trying to get the key into the lock.
After a few second and a bit of jiggling, the doorknob turned, letting the door swing open with a very audible creaking. Bea and Nathaniel both proceded into the cabin closing the door shut behind them.
When they were done warming themselves up they thought to look around where they would be staying for a few days.
The first floor was basically one big room. On the left wall was a large fireplace, with a TV mounted on the wall above it. Sitting in front of that was a moderate sized, two-seater couch. With a wooden rocking chair next it it.
On the wall to the right was the kitchen. It was very small and look like only two people could work there at a time. Next to the kitchen, but more near the back wall was a tiny, four chair table. The door next to the table was the bathroom, and across from that were the stairs to the second floor.
"Let's put our packs down and go get the rest of our stuff." Nathaniel said, breaking the silence.
"Ok, sure." Bea agreed.
As they headed back out into the cold, Bea started to think. I talk to Nathaniel everyday, so why is now any different? Why is it so awkward now?
Bea reached into the car trunk for her duffle bag. "So, uh, do you know what cabin you and the boys are staying at?" Bea questioned, desperate to make conversation.
"Cabin 23. It's a bit of a walk from here though." They finished the rest of their unpacking in silence.
There wasn't much else to do now since no one was here yet. Nathaniel had lit up the fireplace and was reading a book. Bea was trying to get reception to call Iris and see when they'd be getting here.
"H-hey, do you want to have lunch now?" Bea asked with a shaky voice. What the hell is wrong with me? I've asked Nathaniel to lunch a hundred times.
"Sure, I brought sandwich stuff in the cooler, want to have that?" Nathaniel put his book down and headed towards the kitchen.
Even with just two people in the kitchen, Bea found herself brushing elbows with a certain blonde boy quite a bit. She could barely focus on make her sandwich and almost put on peanut butter instead of mayonnaise.
While struggling to reach for a plate she felt someone come up behind her. Her heart skipped a beat. Butterflies filled not only her stomach, but her whole body. She felt the warmth from Nathaniels chest on her back.
"Let me get that for you." Nathaniel reached one arm past her head and got two plates from the cabinet. Her heart was beating so hard she could almost feel it in her mouth.
It might of just been her imagination, but Bea could swear that, just for a second, Nathaniel lingered for a moment.
Although there was a bit of one-sided awkwardness in the kitchen, Bea felt a bit more relaxed at the table.
While cleaning up lunch, Nathaniel found a trailbook under the sink.
"Hey, take a look at this." Nathaniel showed Bea the book.
Most of the trails weren't accessible during the winter, but there was a nearby one that seemed pretty tame.
"How about we go on this one? It goes up a hill, and when you get to the top there's this really big rock." Nathaniel seemed eager. Which was odd, Bea never expected him to be this excited over a little hike. Something was up.
"I'm up for it, seems like fun. I'm just worried that we'll be cold."
"We won't be out long, and you might be able to get reception at the top." Nathaniel stated. He did have a point. And that sealed the deal for her.
Bea was right. It was cold. Almost unbearably cold. But seeing Nathaniel this happy about a little hike was enough to make her completely forget.
He was a few steps ahead of her, but that just gave Bea some time to think.
What made him so excited about this hike? I know we've been cooped up in that cabin for a couple hours, but did he really want to leave so badly? And since when di-
"Look! I can see the rock! Let's hurry up!" Nathaniel practically shouted.
He was right, that was a damn big rock. If I wasn't wearing my glasses, I would of thought that it was just two SUV's stacked on top of eachother.
Trees surrounded the huge rock, and many of them had multiple carvings in them. Bea walked up to one of the trees to read the carvings. There were a lot of initials with hearts around them. Actually the whole tree was covered in them.
Looking to another tree to see if it was the same, Bea found that nearly every tree was just couple's initials. There wasn't even any vulgar drawing or words.
"Did you see this? All the trees have hearts and couple's initials on them." Bea stated to Nathaniel.
"Huh? Oh, y-yeah. Weird." Nathaniel quickly looked away. A little too quickly for Beas' taste. Just as she was about to say something…
Beep. Beep.
Bea reached into her back pocket for her phone. 5 messages came in all at once.
Iris: we're on our way. rosas bags almost couldnt fit XD
Rosa: r u at the cabin already? i was told you rode w/ nath ;)
Iris: at a gas station now and at the base of the mountain. i was told it was gonna start to snow a lot tonight, i'll bring extra jackets
Iris: the mountain got closed off D: we're heading back. i think we're cancelling the trip
Iris: just talked to the ranger guy. dont try to drive off the mountain tonight, too much snow. he said it'll be safe in the morning. im sorry bea :'(
Alone on the mountain. Over night. With Nathaniel. In one cabin. Holy crap.