• chapter five •

A week finally passed after my football match with the three of them without anything eventful happening (apart from a harmless little spider prank), which was quite unusual for me since I was used to some drama taking place in my house all the time.

That harmless little spider prank caused us slight harm, though, it caused us to postpone the hiking by one hour, because Liam and Zack were sitting in detention at the time we were supposed to leave for the forest (yes, Zack had agreed to come), because they had decided to shove a rubber spider into Jessica's locker (who, I had to be reminded, was Luke's girlfriend. When I said that I thought they had broken up, Liam told me they were back together again).

I had no idea whose plan it was. Friday morning, when I was standing in front of my locker, Liam crept up behind me and said, "Boo!"

I jumped and dropped my books. "What the hell, Liam!"

His lips stretched into a goofy smile. "Look at this." He took out a rubber Redback spider from his pocket and showed it to me. Its creepy, rubbery legs shivered and so did I. "Ew."

"Zack and I are going to put it in Jessica's locker. Come, watch the drama."

He led me to Zack, who was standing in front of a notice board. Liam tossed him the spider. He caught it one-handed. "Niiice," he said. "Jess will love it."

"Why are you guys doing it?" I asked.

"We're bored," Zack replied, like putting spiders into someone's locker to chase away the boredom was the most normal thing in the world.

After the spider had fallen at her feet and she'd done a fair bit of screaming, tripping because of her three-inch stilettos and falling on her butt, a circle of people formed around her. She kept on saying 'ohmigod ohmigod' with her hand on her heart till Luke came running to her like an overprotective boyfriend.

The three of us were leaning against the wall casually with our arms crossed, which was very stupid of us, since standing casually wasn't quite casual at that time.

"Who put it here?" Luke's eyes scanned the crowd, zeroing in on us. "Samuels, you!"

"What?" Liam asked innocently. "I didn't do anything." Which was pretty true, because Zack was the one who had put it here.

"You're lying. I know you put it in there. Now just own up so that I can get you suspended." Luke pushed everyone aside and came to stand in front of Liam with the spider in his hand. He was almost as tall as Liam: around five-eleven.

Liam remained calm. "I told you, I didn't do anything. Fuck off."

Luke grabbed Liam's collar. "You fuck off, meatball."

Liam shoved him away roughly. He raised his fist to strike again, but Zack pulled him back. "Whoa. Calm down, buddy."

But when Luke punched Liam right on his jaw, Zack lost it too. "You asshole."

Both of them attacked Luke together.

"Guys! Stop it!" I said from a distance because I was too scared to go between them and actually stop the fight.

Then a new voice came and the circle of people scattered. "Stop it! Right now! What is going on here?"

They stopped fighting and looked up. It was a teacher, obviously. "M-Mrs. Parker..." Luke sputtered. "These guys started it. They put a rubber spider in Jessica's locker, and when I asked them about it, they attacked me."

Liam clenched his fists. The tip of his ears had turned red. I could see how angry he was.

Mrs. Parker looked at him, then Zack, then Luke, and said, "Come with me, all three of you."

∞

At 5:00 (exact!) I stood on my porch with my backpack slung over my shoulder — which contained my ham sandwiches and lemonade — and waited for Liam to come. Our original plan was to meet at 4:00, but that was before the Spider Prank.

I had asked him to meet me outside my house because I had no idea where he lived (and he had said we'd know each other in a week. The only things I knew about him were that (a) his last name was Samuels and (b) he had a crush on Abigail and (c) he hated Luke and (d) he lost his temper easily, which caused his ears to turn red.)

Zack, Ash, and Liam came about five minutes later. Liam had a tiny bruise on his jaw where Luke had punched him.

Ashley and I had reached that point in our friendship where we could hug each other whenever we wanted.

"Hi, Haze," Ash said and hugged me. I liked hugging her. She always smelled of some expensive perfume.

We started walking towards wherever Liam was taking us. I walked with him, while Ash and Zack walked behind us.

"You didn't tell me that Ashley said yes," I mumbled so she couldn't hear.

He smiled. "Yeah, but when I told her today morning that I was going hiking with you and Zack, she wanted to come, too. She's like that. You invite her, she won't come, you tell her you're going without her, she'll want to come. She can't stand being left out."

We crossed the highway, then passed a few houses. We were nearing the forest now. It was dense, and it was definitely going to be pitch black in the middle of the forest, even in broad daylight.

When we reached the starting of the trail, Zack said, "I'm hungry."

"Let's walk a little first," Liam suggested. "We can stop somewhere and eat."

He continued walking, but Zack stopped, so Ashley stopped, so I stopped. Zack took out a camera from his backpack  — a big one, with zoom lens and all. He caught me looking and smiled. "I like photography." He put the strap around his neck.

"You guys coming?" Liam called from some distance. I hurried to catch up with him. He sighed when he saw Zack. "He will stop us a million times to take a million photographs. We'll have to keep an eye on him, otherwise, he'll run into the forest after a pretty bird to get a shot and we'll never hear from him again."

"Okay."

We walked silently for some time. I looked at Liam and saw the bruise on his jaw. "Does it hurt? The bruise?"

"Obviously it does. Today was the worst day ever. I mean, I'd thought today would be a pretty good day. We would have fun scaring Jessica, I would tell Abigail some silly joke and we'd laugh together, and then the hiking. Everything messed up. And I thought I'd be in a good mood. But I'm pissed, and this goddamn bruise keeps on hurting."

"Yeah, I know. What a strange world we live in...said Alice to the queen of Hearts."

He looked at me for a moment, then at the trail again. "You are an interesting person."

"And you're a crazy person."

He laughed. "A lot of people say that." Then, a little seriously: "Even Abigail used to say that." Then he shut his mouth like he'd said a little too much.

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He was gazing at a tree. He swallowed and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"It's not just a crush, is it? You really love her."

He didn't answer, and I didn't push him to. We just walked quietly for some time. Then he sighed. "We dated last year, when I was a junior. I'd never met a girl like her. She's amazing. She's the kind of girl every guy wants. And I fell in love with her. I thought she loved me, too. But a month after we started dating, she broke up with me. She said she really liked me, but she just couldn't love me back the way I did, so it was best to end it. So I let her go."

"You're still friends?" I asked.

"Yeah, but—" his voice turned slightly steely, "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"Okay," I said, somewhat surprised by his tone. The leaves on the ground were rustling. A dead leaf was being carried by the light breeze, which I caught, then let blow away again.

"Hey, Brace-O, have we walked enough to stop and eat something?"

"No," he replied.

"You were the one who'd told me not to eat lunch so we could eat it together, right? I don't care what you say, I'm eating." I felt Zack coming up behind me and opening my backpack. He took out a sandwich and zipped it up again."Oh, and if you're in a bad mood, I'm not interested in talking to you. You can go and pee in the forest."

"Shut up. I'm not in a bad mood."

"Yeah, right."

Liam turned around and glared at him. Zack glared back. "What's wrong with you, anyway?" He looked at me. "Did you say something to him?"

I felt guilty, wondering whether he was annoyed by my question about Abigail. "Not really."

"I just am in a bad mood, okay? No need to go around asking people what's wrong with me. It's not a big deal."

Zack looked at him again. "Okay, you know what? I'm going. This stupid walk of yours is too boring. I'm going into the forest. I'll probably get some nice shots, which is much better than strutting around on this useless trail especially when you're angry for no reason."

Liam snorted. "Seriously? Are you a human compass or something? You'll lose your way." He shrugged. "Not that I care."

"I'll keep the trail in view, you idiot. I'm not stupid like you."

"Fine." Liam started walking. Zack and Ash turned around and went into the forest. I just stood there, my slow mind still processing what had happened. I looked at them, then at Liam, then decided it was best to stay on the trail. I walked with Liam, hoping both of them would come back.

∞

When we had reached the end of the trail and started walking back, I managed to convince Liam that maybe he was in a bad mood because he was hungry, and so we sat down under a tree and ate up our food, after which Liam jumped up and announced happily, "I'm in an amazingly good mood now," and I clapped and hooted just to humor him. He rested a hand on his stomach and bowed.

I felt a little water drop on my arm. And another on my leg. Then on my face. I looked up. The sky had darkened. It was the lightest drizzle.

Liam looked up too, and frowned. "It's going to rain. I think we should go back now." He offered me his hand. I grasped it and he pulled me up swiftly. "I wonder where those two are."

He took out his phone and dialed. The volume was so loud that even from where I was standing, I could hear the phone ring. It rang one time, two times, three times, then Zack picked up. "Hello?"

"Where are you?" Liam asked.

"In the forest. Duh, you idiot."

"Okay, you're still angry."

Zack paused for a moment. "No, actually."

"Okay, good. Now come back."

"We're...uh...sort of lost."

"You're lost?" He put the phone on speaker so that I could hear. He stared silently at the phone for some time. "What do you mean you're lost?"

"Lost. L-O-S-T. Adjective. Unable to find the way to a place, mislaid, unable to —"

"Not the literal meaning. God, you're an asshole. I thought you said that you'd keep the trail in view."

"Yeah, I thought I would —"

The line disconnected abruptly. "Huh?" Liam frowned, then dialed, but the line disconnected again. "Damn. Damn."

"What?" I asked.

"I think he's going further into the forest. There won't be any reception there."

"Okay, so. They're lost, and they're going deeper into the forest, and it's going to rain. And we don't know how to find them."

"Yeah," he said. "That pretty much sums up our pathetic situation. This is the worst day ever."

"What do we do now?"

"Try to find them, what else?

"We can't just roam around in the entire forest till we find them, Liam. Do you have a map?"

"No, but we can mark the trees with chalk as we go. I have a compass, too." He took it out of his pocket and held it up in his palm. The red needle pointed towards the forest. "That should be North. We can't totally rely on the compass, though, there might be magnetic rocks in the forest."

"Shit," I mumbled.

"Nevermind. I'll follow the compass and you can follow me." He gave me a piece of chalk.

We started our journey into the forest. I drew a huge white 'X' on the trunks as we went along.

We walked for a long time through the annoyingly dense forest, stepping carefully over rocks; fallen branches; thin, netted stalks of mosses and grass that was nearly as tall as my knees. I felt a thousand scratches on my skin, and groaned. All that time I had spent on my skin: putting on moisturizers, applying sunscreen, what a waste.

Finally, when I couldn't tolerate the torture any further, I stopped and started calling out for them. "ZAAAAAAACK! ASHLEEEEEEEEY!", and Liam joined in too. Crows flew up from the branches with loud 'Caw! Caw!'s. Our voices echoed back. Apart from that, there was no sound to be heard. When our throats and legs both had been totally exploited and abused, we sat down on the too-tall grass and the too-thick moss.

"I'm going to kill them the moment we find them. Like, they'll be like, 'Oh, thank God we've found you guys!' and I'll stab them. Do you have a knife?"

I ignored him. "I'm worried."

"Yeah, I know." He picked up a tiny stone and threw it and sighed. "Did I mention that this is the worst day ever?"

"Yeah, like, three times. Now stop it."

"Okay." He stretched out his legs and leaned his back against a tree. "Can you smile, at least? I hate it when people around me are worried or depressed or something." I smiled a little. "That's better. You look beautiful when you smile."

"Do I?" I asked.

"Definitely." He smiled too. Then he took out his phone. "It's been exactly thirty minutes since we entered the forest. We've come pretty deep inside. Oh wait, I still have reception?" He called Zack again and put it on speaker. This time, the phone rang.

"Liam?" he said. "Hey."

"Zack. Wherever you are, stop walking for a moment."

"Okay."

"Do you have a compass?"

"Comp—? No. I have brains, you asshole. If I had a compass, we won't be lost."

"Let's do one thing. Shout my name. We're in the forest, too."

"What?"

"Take the phone away from your mouth and shout my name."

"Okay." A second later, we heard the faintest echo possible. "Liam! Am am am am am!"

"Did you hear that?" Liam looked at me. There was the biggest smile on his face. "C'mon!" We both stood up, full of new energy, and ran towards his voice. "ZAAAAAACK?!"Liam called.

"I'm here! Ere ere ere!" After another five minutes of fighting with the wild mosses and grasses and bushes or whatever, we could hear his voice more loudly. I saw the bushes parting in front of me, and Ashley stepped out. Zack was right behind her.

"Hazel!" Ash cried and hugged me tightly.

"Where were you?" Liam said. "We searched the entire forest for you! Couldn't you stay near the trail?" Then he raised his voice. "Couldn't you even bring a fucking compass?"

"Stop shouting at me, alright? I lost view of the trail, it's not my fault."

"It is."

Zack turned to Ashley and handed her his camera. "Take care of this for a moment. I have to kill this guy." Then he pounced on Liam, and punched him, and neither of them was laughing this time. Both were furiously hitting each other. I had never seen them fight like this. Ash and I stood paralyzed with fear, until I went behind Zack and grabbed his arms and pulled him off Liam.

"Stop it! What the hell are you guys doing?"

Liam stood up slowly, wiping blood from his nose. "You're a bastard, you know that? I will never. Ever. Ever. Come hiking with you again."

Zack pulled away his arm from my grip and went to Ash. "Whatever. How do we go back now? You have a compass, right, Mr. Perfect?"

"I don't think it works correctly," Liam coldly replied. "There could be magnetic rocks in the forest. At the edge of the forest, there weren't any rocks around, so maybe that's why it pointed north. But here..." he trailed.

"Great." Zack sat down on a rock.

"We marked the trees with chalk, though," Liam said. I gasped loudly. My hand flew up to my mouth. "What?" he asked.

"Liam, I...I didn't mark the trees when Zack was calling our name. We were running towards his voice and..."

"Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit." He sat down on the ground. "Shit. How will we get back?"

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Ashley said. We all looked at her. "We won't get back. Ever. We'll just die here either of hunger or dehydration or some wild animal will come and get us and a hundred years later, our skeletons will be found by some archaeologists or something."

"I'm sorry," I murmured. "I'm so careless."

"It's okay," Liam said. "It's not entirely your fault. I forgot to mark the trees, too."

The word 'entirely' got stuck in my head. It wasn't entirely my fault, but some of it was my fault.

"We can try to follow that compass, wherever it leads us to," Ash suggested.

Liam took out the compass and said, "Hold on," and walked as far away from us as he could while still keeping us in sight. He held up the compass, looked at it, then walked in the other direction. He looked at it again and shook his head. "The needle is pointing in different directions." He went to another point and tested from there. He sighed. "It's hopeless. The compass isn't working."

"So basically, we're screwed," Zack said.

"Yeah," Liam replied. "Totally. We have no map, no proper compass, no marked trees to follow. We're absolutely, completely screwed."

I rested my back against a tree and slid down to the ground (which I could now barely see because the sky had darkened a lot), feeling guilty as hell. Everything was my fault.

The grey clouds burst and it started raining. Heavily.

∞