For some reason I found this chapter hard to write. Though I am not completely sastified with this chapter I don't feel it's important enough to keep going over it. I'm really just trying to work out Alex's feelings now. By the end of this trip I want her to be more clear with who she is and what she wants and this trip is going to important in helping put things in perspective. This chapter is also a litte longer than my normal lengths. I really don't want this trip to exceed three chapters. I don't feel it's important enough. But anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

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Chapter 24

I was awoken at 4:30 a.m. the next morning by Mr. Michalchuk.

"Common sweetpee. Time to get up." He said shaking me. I groaned. I wanted so bad to just go back to sleep. Mr. Michalchuk pulled the covers off me and I felt like I had fallen into ice water. He grabbed both my hands and pulled me to a sitting position.

"You gotta get up. We gotta get going."

I could only grunt. Thank god I had packed last night so all I had to do was shower and double check myself. I tried my hardest not to fall asleep during my shower but found it difficult. Luckily for me I beat Dylan so every five minutes or so I was startled by Dylan knocking on the door nagging me hurry up. I finally got annoyed and got out. I quickly dried my hair and got dressed. We all managed to be ready by 5:30. With all three of us helping it only took a few minutes to put everything in the Van. Mr. Michalchuk went down the list of everything we should have and Dylan and I checked it.

"Alright then. That's everything. Let's pile in." Mr. Michalchuk said sounding very upbeat for this time of morning.

Mr. Michalchuk took the drivers seat. Dylan took the front seat and I sat in the back with all the equipment. I didn't mind though. I could sleep and I was all for that.

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The drive went pretty smoothly. We stopped around eight to get some breakfast and then continued on our path up to the forest. Mr. Michalchuk had anticipated a good six hour drive. The first few hours went by fast considering I was out cold...but about half way the road started to get rough and every time I started to nod off I'd get rocked back awake. I felt like I was on a roller coast ride. Dylan would glance back at me every once and awhile to make sure I still alive.

"You alright back there?" He asked.

"Yea." I replied tiredly.

"Just checking. We hadn't heard anything from you in awhile." He smiled.

I kindly returned the smile. We seemed to only be getting deeper and deeper into the forest. Judging by how much the van was bouncing back and forth we seemed to have left the road completely. I was beginning to feel motion sickness. I did even know I could get motion sickness. I was about to lose my breakfast when the van finally pulled to a stop.

"We're here." Mr. Michalchuk annoucned as he shut off the van engine. I wanted nothing more than to jump out of the van and breathe some fresh air. It smelt like pine. Not my favorite scent, but at least it was clean and crisp. It had been a long ride and my legs were so sore I had almost thought I had lost my ability to walk. It felt so good to finally be able to stretch out. I looked around. We seemed to be in the middle of the wilderness. There were no signs of any humans. A few feet were I was standing there some small stones arranged in a circle. I assumed it was to build a fire. The sight made me feel better. We were actually at a camp site and not in just some random spot in the forest.

"Alright, let's start unloading the van. We need to make camp." Mr. Michalchuk said opening the trunk of the van.

Dylan and I hurried to get everything out. Both tents in total took about half and hour to pitch up. Mr. Michalchuk was going to take the smaller tent and Dylan and I would stare the bigger one. It was about noon by the time we had set everything up and I could practically hear my stomach rumbling throughout the forest.

"Okay then. Let's get something to eat." Mr. Michalchuk said grabbing the fishing poles and bate, "The river is this way."

Dylan grabbed me by the arm, "Common. Time to catch some food!" He said sarcastically.

"Fun!" I returned in the same tone as his. Dylan dragged me all the way down to the river.

I could hear the water flowing as we reached the river. It was very pretty and I made a note to myself to return with my camera and get some shots of it.

"Dylan, you get started. I have a feeling Alex is going to need a little help." Mr. Michalchuk grinned.

"Fishing can't be that hard." I replied. Dylan laughed before grabbing the bait and picking a nice spot next to the river.

"Alright kiddo." Mr. Michalchuk said as he grabbed a fishing pole and bait. He attached the bait to the hook. "Come right here." He said walking to the edge of the river.

I obeyed following him until I could feel the jagged edges of the rocks pushing against the bottom of my shoes.

"Take this." He said handing me the fishing pole. I took it in my hand. I could fee Mr. Michalchuk's arms wrap around me. He placed his hands over mine so he had hold of the fishing pole too.

"Okay. Ready?" He asked. I nodded.

I could feel his hands pull up and the fishing pole followed. Suddenly I felt my arms whip back down and I saw a long string flying out towards the water before making a little splash.

"There you are." Mr. Michalchuk smile, "Now hold the pole like this and wait for a tugging motion. If you feel something let me know."

"Ok." I said as I focused my gaze on the string bobbing up and down in the water. After awhile legs started to ach and I found a small bolder which I could sit on. I looked around to see Dylan and Mr. Michalchuk both with fishing poles in their hands. Despite the fact I thought this was completely boring, I felt somewhat relaxed. At peace.

"Anything Alex?" Dylan called to me.

"Nope." I replied.

Suddenly I felt a tug on my line. Mr. Michalchuk noticed the string in the water thrashing around.

"You got something!" He exclaimed putting his pole down and hurrying over to me. "Steady...steady..." He said. He didn't take my hands like he did when I started. He was letting me do this by myself.

"Now slowly reel her in." He said watching eagerly. I could see little splashes in the water as I started reeling in the string. The splashes got closer and closer until I could see the fish squirming trying to break free.

"Holy cow!" Dylan exclaimed, "That's a big one!"

"That's it...nice and slow." Mr. Michalchuk said...he now had his hand hovering over mine just in case he decided I needed the extra help. Finally the fish broke free of the water and it was hanging in mid air as I reeled it all the way to the top of the pole. It continued to squiggle for a few moments before going limp.

"Well...look at that. That's got to be seven pounds. Great catch Alex!" He said cutting the string from the pole and holding up the fish. I felt proud.

"Dad!" Dylan exclaimed. It appeared Dylan had something on his line too.

"Well, it looks like we are going to have a good lunch and dinner today." Mr. Michalchuk exclaimed.

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One of the grosses things I had ever done in my life was gut a fish. Dylan was helping me and mostly doing all the work. He spent most of the time laughing at all the disgusted faces I would make while we were cleaning the fish. We had managed to catch four and I was now beyond belief starving. Dylan and I had only managed to finish gutting one fish when Mr. Michalchuk came over to us.

"I'll finish this. Why don't you two go wash your hands in the river and then collect some fire wood. I want to have a nice camp fire tonight." Mr. Michalchuk said helping me up to my feet.

Dylan and I both walked down to the river together.

"So, how are you liking the trip?" He during our stroll.

"Well, I haven't died yet." I laughed.

"Your not going to die. I swear you girls...a little time away from the city and you think life as you know it has ended. Is it a wonder I don't like girls." Dylan shook his head.

"Maybe that's why I do." I laughed.

I dipped my hands in the water. It was ice cold. I removed them for a second by reflex before submerging them again. My hands stung so bad I actually had to wince while I cleaned them. I glanced over at Dylan whose hands seemed to be unaffected by the cold water. I pulled my hands out of the river and shook the water off them. My hands hurt so bad they were almost numb. I rubbed them together to try to get some feeling back in them. Dylan was still washing his hands so I took a seat on a bolder next to him and waited. He glanced over at me a few time smiling. I pretended not to notice. I kept my focus on the river. Suddenly my face was stinging and I could feel it trickling down into my shirt. I turned my gaze to look at Dylan who was grinning. I put my hand back into the water, ignoring the pain, I splashed the ice cold water in Dylan's direction. He brought his arms up to cover himself.

"Hey!" He laughed splashing back.

I laughed as the cold water stung my hands and face. I managed to get a good one on his face drenching his shirt in water. Dylan was now shivering a little.

"Well that was fun." He said wringing out his shirt.

"No, it was cold." I laughed. I tried to ignore the frost bite I was sure was setting in.

After a few minutes to drying off as best as we could we went hunting for some firewood. We found a small trail along the river and decided to follow it. I would collect the wood and he would hold it.

"So," Dylan started balancing the tree branches in his arms, "How about that Ellie." He grinned.

"What about Ellie?" I question suddenly feeling awkward at the suddenly start of conversation.

"Oh, nothing. Mom just seems to talk about you two a lot."

"I will tell you, just like I told her. There is nothing going on between Ellie and I." I stated. Despite the fact I wanted this conversation to end, I was a little excited to be able to talk her. It was very rare I actually had someone to talk about my feelings with and I almost felt relieved.

"But do you like her?" He questioned.

I took a piece of wood and placed it on top of the pile with such force Dylan almost dropped it.

"So you do." He laughed.

"Why do you even think that?" I questioned nervously. Was I being obvious towards my liking for Ellie?

"Oh, I saw the way you looked at her on New Years Eve. And those times we all would hang out during winter break." Dylan said teasingly, but I knew there was truth to it.

"Okay," I admitted, "So I have a tiny crush on her. It's nothing." It was the first time I had admitted my crush on Ellie to anyone.

"I knew it." Dylan laughed.

I rolled my eyes at his comment placing another branch on the stack.

"It doesn't matter anyways, she's straight. By like 100." I said.

"Yea, but that's what you thought about my sister until..." He didn't finish, he did have to.

"That was a weird twist of fate." I stated, "I took a leap and I got lucky."

"Maybe you can take a leap with Ellie." Dylan suggested.

I laughed, "I'm not about to try that again."

"Why not?" Dylan questioned.

I shook my head, "And jeopardize our friendship?"

"Do you think she's worth it?" Dylan asked his voice was now serious and calm.

"I don't know." I replied. My voice was unsteady.

"Was Paige worth it?" He asked, I could see he seriousness in his face.

I looked at him and smiled, "Yea."

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Sorry for cutting the ending like that. I wasn't really sure where I wanted this chapter to end and I felt that was a good start in resurfacing Alex's feeling for Paige which had sort of gone away in the last few chapters. I know what I want out of Chapter 25, I'm just not sure where else I am going to go with it. I want to have them back home in the next couple chapters but I need to figure out how I'm goin to break these next two chapters up. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up in a few days. I know updates have been getting slow. I've been really busy and I will be for the next month. But don't worry I'm still going to be writing and updating they will just take a little longer.

And again, because I am well aware all you readers are really really really wanting Paige to come back now, don't worry. It's getting close. I've even started working it out in my head how things are going to go so I don't have a huge writers block when it comes time to write her in. But just so you have an idea, this trip is going to be the last major thing to happen to Alex before Paige. She will have to resolve a few things when she gets back first (But don't worry, I don't expect to go into huge detail with everything. So it should be short) but I'm really going to start focusing on Paige soon. Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter and thanks to everyone who's been reviewing! I have found many of them extremely helpful!