Mike didn't know what to think. That was possibly the saddest sentence he had ever heard uttered from someone his own age. He didn't have tons of friends but he had no idea how it must be to feel totally alone. His heart broke for her. He was quiet for a few minutes, just getting his thoughts together. They had started hiking again.
After a short while, Mike broke the silence. "You're not alone, El. At least, you don't have to be. Not anymore. I kind of hate that you've ever felt that way. I feel like I've known you forever and I don't even know much about you. It's weird. But in a good way? You know? Anyway, I want to know more about you and I definitely want to be your friend."
"You do? But people will pick on you." She said as she stopped to turn around and look at him. She had been walking a couple of paces ahead.
"People pick on me anyway. I don't care what they think. I think you're cool. I want to be friends."
El turned back around to start again but also to hide the huge smile on her face. She was apprehensive, yes, but that he had seen some of her oddity and still was interested in being her friend gave her a fluttery feeling she was definitely not used to and she felt like she needed to hide it for the time being.
They hiked for a little while longer. As they topped a ridge El spotted a waterfall that looked to be about fifty yards away down a drop-off from the trail they were on. Her face couldn't hide her excitement.
"I want to go take pictures of that waterfall! Look at it!" She pointed to where she was looking and Mike could see it. It was a pristine waterfall that looked to be about twenty-five feet high. The rains they'd had the past few weeks had made it swell so that it was rushing over the cliff and looked like something from a movie. El was clearly excited.
"It's not exactly on the trail, El." Mike worried aloud. "It looks like it wouldn't be too hard to get to though. I'll come with you if you want to get closer to it." He smiled. It was just right there. They could easily climb back up the slope to the trail they were hiking. It would be easy peasy.
They made their way down to the falls, using a switchback method so they wouldn't have to go straight down and risk hurting themselves by falling. They finally made it to the edge of the stream where the falls were emptying. It was really a beautiful sight. It was also loud. They had to shout to hear one another and the look on El's face was one of pure joy. She hopped around from rock to rock trying to get the perfect angle, squealing with delight as she snapped her photos.
They had dropped their packs near a big rock next to the pool the falls were pouring into and while El snapped pictures Mike explored the side of the falls. He could see behind them and noticed that it wasn't one waterfall but two, with a smaller one feeding into the larger one. He yelled at El to get her attention and motioned for her to join him near the side of the cascade.
"Do you want me to take your picture standing in front of it?" Mike asked when she was close enough that he no longer had to yell.
El looked around and saw a flat rock that was about waist high sitting at the perfect angle. She positioned Mike where she wanted him, sitting on a mostly dry rock at the side of the falls where she could see the downrush behind him, fiddled with her camera before setting it on the rock where it was pointed at them, and hurried back to Mike, sitting next to him. He understood what was happening and he pulled her closer to him just as the shutter released on the timer. El knew that she would treasure that picture.
"I think that will be better than a picture of just me." El said shyly as she retrieved her camera. They explored the area for a little while longer. The rocks and paths through them were infinitely intriguing.
"This is like Dagobah!" Mike exclaimed.
"It totally is." El smiled, noticing the surprised look on his face.
"You like Star Wars?" Mike couldn't believe it.
"What's not to like? A hero with powers who feels alone and then finds a group of friends and a family? That's the dream." She sounded forlorn.
Mike thought that was a deeper answer than he'd expected.
They had put their packs back on after they took the picture of the two of them and had continued to search the area for other photo opportunities. Mike glanced at his watch and then looked at the sky.
"Um, El? I think we should start trying to get back to the trail. It's going to get dark soon and it will get colder. We need to be able to meet back up with the main group."
"Okay, which way should we go?" El asked.
Good question. Everything looked the same. They had gone around the waterfall on their exploration and now they couldn't remember if they had turned right or left. They tried to get back to where they started but the shadows had changed and nothing looked familiar to them. They crossed another small stream, Mike thinking if they followed the water maybe they would end up back where they needed to be. After wandering for a while, and with the sun setting quickly, the canopy of trees making it darker, Mike dreaded what he was about to have to tell his partner.
"I think we're lost. It will be dark soon so we need to find a place to camp for the night. I can set up the tents and start a fire. I'm sorry, El. I should have tried to mark our trail as we went along." He sounded bewildered.
"It's not your fault, Mike. I'm the one who wanted to go off the trail. I got you lost. I'm sorry." She looked around warily. "But where can we camp? I've never done this."
Mike looked around. The area had big rocks, or small cliffs, he wasn't sure which, near a small patch of young growth trees. The ground looked flat so he knew it would be a good place to set a tent. There was a log lying on one side of the space.
"Here seems good. These cliffs or whatever they are will act like a windbreaker and also protection. And it's flat so we can set up our tents and start a fire. Don't worry. We'll get out of here tomorrow." He smiled, trying to allay her fears somewhat. They took off their packs and leaned them against the log.
"Let's see what we have to work with." Mike said as he started to unpack both bags. He had brought all of his gear so he had more than he would really need for a standard hike like he was supposed to be on, but now that he would have to spend the night in the woods alone he was glad that he had brought everything. He started to remove items from his backpack as El looked on.
"What's that?" She asked as he took a small, round, metal object out of the pack.
"It's a camp stove. I told you I brought everything I had." He smiled as he continued to unpack.
El copied him and started to unpack her own bag. She was about to apologize for her lack of useful items when Mike looked over at what she had unpacked.
"That is awesome!" She didn't know why he was so excited.
"What is?" She looked puzzled.
"You have two tarps, rope, tent stakes, and is that a hatchet?" He seemed really excited as he looked at what she thought of as useless pieces. "Your dad must be smart."
"I guess? Why is this good?" She still hadn't caught on as to why Mike thought this was so great.
"Because with this stuff I can make sure my tent stays dry. They said it was probably going to rain. This way we can use one tarp as groundcover and put the tent on it. I can tie the rope here between these two trees, just over my head, and make a tent for my tent with the other tarp. We can use the tent stakes to hammer down the tarp on top so it doesn't blow away. It will even be big enough under there to stack some branches or other stuff we can use to burn in the fire." Mike's excitement was making El feel more at ease. The sun was setting by the minute though so he had to get started.
"I'm sorry I don't have a real tent." El said, apology still dripping from her voice.
"It's fine. We'll be warmer if we share anyway. It's October. It will be cold. There's no way around it." Mike was busy working on the tent situation.
"I'm going to get some rocks for a fire pit and try to find some firewood that is dry enough." El stood up from the log where she had been sitting and proceeded to walk a little ways out of their makeshift campsite.
"Are you sure they won't be too heavy?" Mike had already put the tarp on the ground and was in the process of setting up his tent.
"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, Mike." El crossed over the site and down a short hill, she could hear Mike cursing under his breath at his ongoing fight with his tent poles. She thought it was funny. He couldn't see her though so it was easy for her to lift the rocks she needed and get them close enough to camp so that she could just pull them over one at a time manually. She had to pull a couple from a stream but it took little effort. She walked back up the small hill and picked up a rock that she had placed just out of Mike's eye line from where he was working on the tent.
She tossed the rock onto the ground as Mike was tightening the rope he was hanging over the tent. He noticed her wipe her nose.
"Are you okay? Is your nose bleeding?' She could hear the concern in his voice.
"It does that sometimes. Has for as long as I can remember. I'm fine. Don't worry." She smiled and went to get the rest of her rocks. She had to get them one at a time using her arms but they weren't far away. She placed them in a circle and sat down on the log, waiting for Mike who had put up the second tarp by that point and was hammering the stakes into the ground with a rock. El was impressed at how functional the setup looked. His tent was small but like he'd said, maybe that would help them stay warmer.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" El asked. Mike was fishing around the top of his pack for some matches. She had gathered what firewood she could find while he was still working on the tent. It was dark now so she was holding a flashlight for him so he could see what he was looking for. She would have to hold it for him while he lit the fire as well.
"I have an air mattress here on the ground somewhere. It's lime green. If you want to blow that up you totally can. It's not huge but it will help some so we're not completely on the ground. You can probably just set the flashlight on your lap pointed at me so your hands can be free."
El found the air mattress easily. Mike had put the wood in the circle shaped pit El had created and after breaking up some smaller pieces to use as kindling started striking matches to get it to light. It took three matches but finally they had a flame and Mike fanned it to cause the oxygen to make it bigger. Mike took the air mattress El had inflated and their two sleeping bags and trudged over to the tent. He put the mattress in, followed by the two bags. He frowned to himself. The air mattress wasn't big enough for them both to sleep on. He sighed and moved it completely underneath El's sleeping bag. He could sleep on the ground. It wasn't a big deal. He knew she already felt bad enough that they were lost, he certainly wasn't going to add to her discomfort.
El was sitting by the fire, mesmerized by the dancing of the flames. The glow of the fire made everything around it sparkle with orange and yellow.
As he emerged from the tent, finally finished with the work that needed to be done for the day, he realized that he was pretty sweaty and didn't want to sleep in a shirt that smelled and was damp with sweat. Walking back to his backpack which was still leaning against the log El was sitting on, he stripped his shirt from his torso. El watched as he did this and could feel her face burning with her blushing but the darkness and the firelight reflected on her face hid it from Mike.
"I hope I don't stink." Mike said as he rifled through his backpack. "I have a couple of extra shirts so I'm changing so I don't gross you out too much."
"You don't gross me out," El said, almost in a whisper. "It's not a problem."
"Um, I'll be back in a couple of minutes. I need to, um..." El excused herself to relieve her bladder. A few minutes later Mike heard a loud yelp. "My ankle!" El cried. Mike followed the sound of her voice. She was lying on the ground, a sizeable hole near her foot that in the dark would have been impossible to see. Mike picked her up and carried her back to the log. He palpated her entire ankle area, removing her shoe and feeling for anything that might be out of place. She hissed in pain but he thought it was only a bad sprain. It hurt to put weight on it though so he was glad they were finished with working for the day and it was too dark to hike anymore. He hoped she felt better in the morning. She was crying now, the stress of the day finally hitting her.
Mike looked down at her. She was wearing shorts (why shorts in October?) and he noticed goosebumps on her legs. It had gotten considerably cooler since they had gotten to their campsite and while he was sweaty from working, she had been sitting and didn't have the chance to get her blood flowing as much as his. He felt bad for her again. She was so small and it was getting cold.
"You look cold. I have some sweatpants in my bag if you want them. I brought them just in case. I don't want you to be cold."
El sniffed, tying to quell her tears. "Really? That would be great." El smiled at him as he found the pants in his bag. "I want to take these shorts off first though and I don't know if I can get them off. Not sure I can get the pants on either, now that I think about it. Could you please help me? I'll be really fast. I just need you to hold me up while I get my shorts down and the pants up."
Mike gulped. Obviously he could do that but thinking about holding El while she was taking her shorts off was short circuiting his brain a bit.
"Just pretend I'm in a swimsuit. I'm not wearing fancy panties or anything."
Panties. Oh Christ.
"Okay. Here, I'll help you stand up. Whatever you need me to do." He pulled her up from her seat and she stood on her good foot. He held her up while she unbuttoned her shorts and pushed them down. They fell to her ankles and he helped her step out of them. Then he helped her sit back down and she put the pants on, getting both ankles through the elastic cuffs before having him stand her back up.
"I need you to pull them up." She was blushing so hard but it was the only way. Mike reached down and pulled the pants up over her thighs, then her hips. His fingers brushed her backside as he pulled the pants into place and she thought she was going to explode. She was looking at him the entire time, their faces so close together.
"Is that better, El?" Mike asked, ripping himself from his trance and helping her sit back down.
"Yes. Thanks."
They both sat on the log for a little while until Mike remembered that his mom had packed some food that if he didn't eat today might not be good tomorrow.
"Hey, are you hungry? My mom packed food. We should eat it."
"What is it?" El asked. She was starving but didn't want to seem overeager.
Mike rummaged through the top of his backpack, removing a foil wrapped package, a plastic container, a resealable bag, and another smaller foil package. They had plenty of water in their water bottles which were sitting next to them.
"We've got a turkey wrap, hummus and carrot sticks, and this package has oatmeal cookies. We can save the cookies since they won't go bad but we should eat the rest tonight."
"Your mom is amazing." El didn't even have any food because she thought the group would provide it. She didn't plan for getting lost.
"Here, this is cut in half so you can have whichever side you want." Mike offered the bigger foil package to El. She took her half and they started eating.
They ate without speaking, both watching the fire. Mike was feeling the fatigue of setting up camp earlier and El was coming down from the adrenaline rush of hurting herself while she was lost. She was tired. It was nice to just sit quietly and watch the fire. Mike was easy to just sit quietly with.
They finished their meal and were both yawning so Mike helped El to the tent. She removed her other shoe and crawled into the tent while he went back to collect their backpacks and make sure the fire wouldn't get out of control. After setting the bags under the tarp, he took off his own shoes and crawled inside the tent. El was in her sleeping bag.
"You didn't have to give me the air mattress. It's yours." El murmured as he climbed into his sleeping bag."
"I know. I want you to sleep on it. I'll be fine. I'll sleep better knowing you're comfortable." He bluntly stated. He was tired and cringed at himself for being so open.
They were lying side by side, each in their own sleeping bags. "Hey, Mike?" El whispered. "Why again did you join this club?"
"Well, my dad used to do this when he was younger. He'd go hike a long part of the Appalachian Trail with a couple of his friends. They'd go mountain climbing. All that stuff. I'm mainly trying to give it one more shot to do something he'll be proud of me for before I go to college. I know it's stupid. He did buy me all this stuff for Christmas though so maybe he's sort of happy I'm doing it."
El was silent for a minute, thinking. "You said you mainly were doing it to impress your dad? Is there another reason?"
"It's stupid."
"Mike. Tell me"
"I'm trying to put on some muscle. I'm too skinny. I don't want to be alone forever." He paused for a moment. "I hope you are warm enough tonight. I hope you sleep well."
"I hope you do too." El tried to snuggle into her sleeping bag.
"Goodnight, El." Mike zipped up his bag and snuggled in.
"Night, Mike."
In the distance, thunder rumbled.
A/N: Looks like they're in for nasty weather...
