Chapter Four
The Hiking Trip
The next day David was waiting for me outside of math. He had this HUGE grin on his face. Showing all of his perfect white teeth.
"Hi Kat!" exclaimed David. "Hey David. Would you mind if I sat with Nigi Yuki today at lunch?" I asked. "No. You don't have to sit with me. But why do you want to sit with her?" said David. "We need to make arrangements for a hiking trip." I replied. "That sounds fun!" he said. "I know, I love to hike!" I said. "Just then the bell rang. First period was about to start.
Math passed by very quickly today. Mrs. Vaneli is much better than Mr. Froth. He was so boring. Then Mr. Smith's class zoomed by as well. Then before I knew it, it was lunch time.
"Hey Nigi Yuki!" I exclaimed. "Hey Kat!" she said. "Did you talk to your parents? Mine said it was okay." I said. "So did mine!" she exclaimed. "Great! Where are we going to go?" I asked. "I thought we could hike around Crater Lake." she said. "That sounds like fun." I said. "It will be! But first I want to stop in Corvallis. I want you to meet my friend." she said. "Who's that?" I asked. "Yoshito Horai." she replied. "Okay, fine with me." I said.
"When will we go?" I asked. "How about this Saturday?" she asked. "That should be fine. But I'll ask just to be safe." I said. "Okay. Well, call me this evening okay?" said Nigi. "Sure." I replied.
The rest of the day went slower than the morning. ELA was so boring. Ms. Ford should really make it more interesting. Mr. Shikon is okay. He's not as boring as Ms. Ford. At least David talks to me in class. Nigi threw me this surprised look at the end of class. Doesn't David always act like this?
Today I met up with Nigi. And we talked a little before we headed home. "Kat?" said Nigi. "Yeah?" I said. "Is there something going on between you and David?" she asked. She had caught me off guard. "N-no." I said. "We're just friends." "Oh, well. You seem to be the only one he talks' to." said Nigi. "I hadn't really noticed." I said. "Well everybody else has. Well I'll see you tomorrow. Meet me at the hike shop." she said. "Bye, Nigi Yuki!" I said.
Just as I had thought. This wasn't his usual behavior. Nigi gave the impression that I was his only friend. There is something strange about him. But what?
The next day I drove to the local hiking store and met Nigi Yuki. She was excited to go on a hiking trip with someone other than her parents. It took us about two hours to get to Corvallis. It turns out Yoshito goes to the university there.
"C'mon Kat! Let's go see Yoshito!" said Nigi excitedly. "Okay, I'm coming." I said. We walked to the dorms, and I finally met this Yoshito. "Yoshito, Kat. Kat, Yoshito." said Nigi. "Hello." said Yoshito. He was pretty ordinary. Just the usual Japanese dude. Black hair and Dark Brown eyes. After I met him, Nigi said I could do whatever for an hour or so. So I walked around town.
The first building I saw was a book store, so I stopped in. It wasn't very crowded, just a few people. I walked down through the young adult section. I wasn't watching where I was walking. And I… tripped. Then I heard someone laugh. It almost sounded like David!
I scrambled up to my feet, almost tripping again. I dashed to the other side to find… this tall person. They had tan skin dark, almost Black, Brown hair. And amused very dark Blue-Violet eyes.
"You aren't David." I said. "David? No, no. I'm Aaron." said the tall person. He must have six foot something! I'm in eleventh grade and still five nine.
"You aren't the most graceful person. Are you?" said Aaron. "No, not really." I said. "Didn't think so." he replied. "I can't help it if I'm a klutz." "Sure you can. But I wouldn't consider ice skating if I were you." he said. "I never have." I said annoyed. "How old are you?" I asked. "Huh. I'm only in the ninth grade. And what are you? In the eighth grade" said Aaron. My mouth dropped open in pure, boiling anger and annoyance now. "I'll have you know I'm in the eleventh grade!" I snapped. I grabbed a hardcover book, stood on my tip toes, and slapped him in the head. Well… almost. I missed and fell backwards. He caught me by the hand and pulled me up. His skin felt like it was on fire! But then there was icy cold skin on my back.
'This is awkward.' I thought. 'One boy per side. One with skin on fire. The other with skin like ice cubes.' "Are you alright Kat?" asked David. There was that silky voice. "I'm fine." I said. "Aw, David you got yourself a girlfriend." taunted Aaron. "No!" exclaimed David. "Well uh, I gotta go. See ya!" I said slipping away from them. "I'm coming with you." said David. "Aw, you do like her." said Aaron. "It's true. I do." he said. My eyes widened in disbelief. "As a friend though." he continued. 'So close to the moment of truth.' I thought.
We walked in silence for about half of a block. The silence was so antagonizing! "What are you doing here in Corvallis?" I asked. "I was on my way to the beach. Then I saw you walk into the book store." he said. "You went out of your way, just to see me?" I said eyeing him suspiciously. "I guess so. Would you like to join me at the beach?" he asked. My eyes widened again and my face turned scarlet. "I-I don't know. I'm supposed to go hiking with Nigi Yuki." I said. "Okay. Maybe another time then." he said. Then my cell phone rang. I fumbled in my pocket and retrieved my phone. "Hello?" I said. "Kat where are you?! We need to get going." said Nigi. "Okay. I'll meet you at the university in five minutes." I said. Then I hung up. "I'll see you later." he said. That wasn't just a 'See you later.' He almost sighed it. Like he was sad to say goodbye.
I walked as fast as I could to the university. And for once I didn't trip! Nigi was waiting for me by the car. "What took you so long?" she asked impatiently. "I ran in to David at the book store." I replied. "That explains it. C'mon, we need to get going." she said. "Okay."
It was about a ninety minute drive to Crater Lake. When we finally got there we had to walk down to Wizard Island.
"Would you rather take a trail or walk through the woods on your own?" asked Nigi. "Preferably a path." I said. "Okay. We need to find the trail first." said Nigi. "Well, duh." I added. "What's the longest trail they have?" I continued. "They only have one." she said. "What fun is that?" I said. "It goes to the summit." she said. "Okay. It sounds nice." I said.
I took my first fall on a tree root. We were only half a mile in. I fell a lot after that. Every time I fell I swore I heard someone chuckle. Must have been my imagination. Or was it? It almost sounded like David.
"Nigi?" I said. "Yeah?" "It's getting dark. I think we should turn back." I said. "I guess we should." she said. I heard sticks breaking in the background. "Did you hear that?" I asked in a hushed voice. "Hear what?" asked Nigi. "Shhh. There it is again." I said. Sure enough, there were sticks breaking. "What is it?" asked Nigi. "How should I know?!" I said a little frantic. Then this HUGE… squirrel emerged from the trees. "What the?" I said. "Let's go." said Nigi annoyed.
We finally made it home at 7:30. I was exhausted by then. I was on my way up to my room, when my Dad stopped me.
"Kat." said my Dad. "Yes?" I said wearily. "One of your friend's called." he said. "Who?" I asked while yawning. "Some boy the name of David." said my Dad. I perked up when he said that. "Does he want me to call him back?" I said. "Only if you want to." Dad said. "I wrote his number down for you." he continued. "Thanks Dad! I'll call him back real quick." I said.
I dialed David's number. No sooner had it rung twice when he picked up the phone.
"Hello. Is David home?" I asked. "Kat1 I'm surprised you called. After all that tripping you did." he said. "I wanted to call yo- tripping? How do you know I tripped a lot?!" I exclaimed. Silence. "Are you stalking me?!" "He-he. Well uh, I gotta go." "Don't you hang up on me!" But it was too late. "Humph." I sighed. "We'll talk about this on Monday." I said to myself.
