Chapter 10

'Wow.'

Nellie was breath taken. Here she was, standing on the edge of Grand Canyon, looking down on the Colorado River. The river was slithering in and through the path that it made thousands of years ago, glinting from reflecting the sunlight, moving through the gorge. And the gorge. She couldn't believe that after all of these years she spent wishing that she could just see a tiny glimpse of the beautiful orange sandy rocks and cliffs, she was now standing there, taking in all the beauty.

'This is amazing.' Nellie sighed happily.

'I know right? It says here that its 277 miles long and 18 miles wide.' Blake looked up from the guide that he picked up at the entry of the park, amazement written all over his face.

'I know. And it's also 6, 000 feet deep.'

Blake rolled his eyes 'Trust you to know all the digits by heart. You've been obsessing over this place for I don't know how long.'

He was right. Ever since she had learnt about the Grand Canyon in Geography in 4th Grade, she had been completely hooked. She had memorized everything that she could find about it, from the Indian tribes that had lived there to the different ways one could explore the Canyon, only hoping that one day she would be standing where she was standing at this instant.

'How long do we have.' She questioned, looking away from the amazing sight that was laid out in front of her to Blake.

Blake looked at his watch before answering. 'It's twelve o'clock right now. I say we spend another hour here, and then we get back to the hotel, and get ready for the football thing. Sound good to you?'

'Sure.' She muttered, sad that they couldn't spend any more time exploring and taking pictures.

'Come on, no need for that sad face.' He said, noticing her expression. 'Let's eat now, so you can spend the rest of the hour taking as many pictures as you like.'

So they sat side-by-side, leaning on some rocks as they ate their sandwiches, enjoying the view extended in front of them.

'I understand why you put this on your bucket list. It's one of the most impressive things I have ever seen in my life.' Blake said, before chewing off another bite of his sandwich.

Nellie grinned at him before saying. 'One more thing I can strike out on my list. Do you still have yours?'

He grinned back. 'Of course I do. I've nearly crossed off everything.'

She sat up and looked at him in surprise 'That's not possible!' She exclaimed 'you had some of the most ridiculous and unimaginable things on that list! There is no way that you've done even half.'

'Well you're the one to talk.' He laughed 'you had ''marry one of the Backstreet boys'' on your list.'

Nellie blushed a deep shade of red. 'I was going through a phase, ok? And anyways, it's still possible, since one of them is still single. Unlike ''get bitten by a spider and become a superhero''.'

'Aw come on. That could so happen. I mean, I'm a photographer, right?'

Nellie laughed, and ate the last morsel of her sandwich before lying back onto the ground, looking up at the clear blue sky above her.

'Guys! Let's make a bucket list!'

Nellie and Blake looked up at Shanna, whose head had appeared through the entrance of Blake's tree house. They put their books away, both slightly annoyed, so that they could listen to her suggestion. Trust Shanna to always come up with the weirdest ideas.

'So all we do is write down a list of things that we want to do before we die, and then, when we do them, we get to cross them off.' She explained, sitting next to the two of them. 'The goal is to do everything that's on your list before you kick the bucket. Come on! Blake you go get the paper, and Nellie you go get the pens.'

Nellie and Blake looked at each other, eyebrows raised, and sighed before following Shanna's commands.

And a few minutes later, they were all back in the tree house, Nellie and Blake listening to Shanna's instructions.

'Ok, so we're going to write twenty things we really want to do, like for example, Nellie, one of the things on your list is obviously going to be 'go see the Grand Canyon'. Got it? Ok, let's get cracking.'

So the three twelve-year-olds set off to work, thinking about what they should put on their list, scribbling away on their piece of paper. Shanna, having already thought this through, finished first, and allowed herself a peek at her friend's lists. She rolled her eyes as she saw Blake's. 'Blake, the things on your list have to be realistic. I know you love Spiderman, but that's never going to happen.'

He frowned at her, obviously offended, before reaching out to take a look at what she had written. 'You wrote ''become the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls''.' He laughed before giving the piece of paper back to her.

'A girl is allowed to dream. Anyways, it's the only thing that's slightly unrealistic on my list. Something I can't say about yours.' She said, motioning towards his paper.

Blake ignored her remark and turned to Nellie. 'What about you Nells? Show us your list.' Both him and Shanna moved up to her, trying to get a peek at the sheet she was desperately trying to hide. She quickly folded it and put it in her pocket, but not before Shanna noticed wish number 2, ''kiss Blake''. Shanna giggled softly; Nellie had informed her about her crush on Blake the week before.

'Wait, did number 17 say ''marry a Backstreet boy''?' Blake asked laughingly, who had also managed to catch a glimpse.

'Yes.' She admitted, a slight tint of red on her cheeks, relieved that he hadn't seen the second item on her list. 'Among other things. Like ''work as a photographer'' and like Shanna said, ''visit the Grand Canyon''.'

She could now check the latter off her list, leaving only two unmarked, number 2 and number 17.

'Watcha thinking about?'

Blake's voice snapped her out of her trance, and she turned her head to notice that he was now laying down besides her, their faces at very close proximity.

Maybe we could also cross number 2 out?

She nearly let out a gasp at her brain's contemplation and felt her cheeks burn up at the thought of his lips on hers before answering, 'Oh, nothing much.' She quickly sat up, picking up her camera in the process 'Just that I should get started with the pictures before we have to go.'

A.N.: Hey guys :D So I've decided to make the event american football related, so don't expect much, because i know NOTHING about it. Once again, thank you so much for the reviews, they are much appreciated :D