CHAPTER 20: LOST IN THE DARK

It was half past midnight when Kiesha did not return at the place where everybody was having fun while others were sleeping already at their own tents. Kiesha was crying deep down inside as she was walking towards the tall and huge branches of trees.
“I can’t believe what I just heard lately. So, it’s true. They are secretly dating. I don’t know why I feel this way. I don’t want myself to become Justin’s rebound girl anyway. But what am I gonna do? I started falling for him. Oh please Kiesha please. Stop acting like you’re jealous because you will be caught. Please my bleeding heart hold on.”, she whispered.
In fact, she did not even know that behind her sorrowful cry will be her nightmare. She was lost.
“Wait. Where am I?”, she doubted herself.
“Oh no! I am lost! What am I gonna do? Am I in the forest?”, whispered Kiesha frightenedly.
She kept walking as the cold breeze blew over her entire face. She was wearing a blue jacket which Kenneth gave her.
“Thanks for this Kenneth.”, she sighed.
Kiesha spent almost 1 hour in the forest. She saw a huge rock so there she was seated on the top of it and waiting that someone might pass by to ask for help. Her legs and feet were so tired already upon running and walking long miles.
“Hay. Why did I run anyway? I just can slip it away and act like I don’t mind at all. Now look what I have done to myself. I look very pity now.”, she whispered.
On the other side, Kenneth was continuously searching for Kiesha.
“Kiesha!! Where are you?!”, he shouted.
Kenneth went into the dark forest.
“Oh goodness. Where am I?”, whispered Kenneth.
Suddenly, someone patted on his back. He was startled then.
“Oh gosh! Bro? What are you doing here? You startled me huh. I told you just stay there and maybe soon Aivy will wake up.”, said Kenneth.
“Bro, I’m sorry but I really have to find her. What if she’s lost right now? What am I gonna do then if Aivy will know it. I will be scolded by Kiesha’s parents too!”, he replied anxiously.
“By the way, why are you doing so much effort for Kiesha by the way?”, asked Justin.
“So much effort? What do you mean?”, asked Kenneth.
“I just noticed it. Remember the time she collapsed. There was you. Second, we did great photos together but there was still you. Lastly, this evening you tried to laugh with her and tell more jokes. You even gave her your jacket. And now, you are really concerned about her. What’s that mean, do you like her too?”, asked Justin.
“What? Is it a problem to care for a friend?”, replied Kenneth.
“Are you sure?”, asked Justin.
“Of course bro. What else am I up to?”, asked Kenneth.
“I don’t know. It depends on you.”, replied Justin.
“Oh wait. Are you jealous right?”, asked Kenneth.
“Huh? Of course not. I’m just wondering.”, replied Justin.
“Mmm. I see. Anyway, can’t we just stop these non-sense arguments? Instead we’ll find Kiesha. You, you should go to the left lane while I’m going here. Okay?”, said Kenneth.
“Is this a forest?”, asked Justin.
“I think so. A beach bound to the beach way. Sounds great huh. We need to get fast Justin, it’s almost 1 a.m already.”, explained Kenneth.
“Alright, alright.”, replied Justin.
“The one who can find Kiesha first will be her soulmate.”, replied Kenneth.
“Really..”, said Justin.
“Yes it is.”, replied Kenneth.
“Okay. I like that.”, replied Justin.
The two guys separated their ways and started searching for Kiesha.
“Kiesha! Where are you?”, shouted Justin.
“Kiesha! Come back!”, shouted Kenneth.
Kenneth went into the forest and felt scared because all he can see were huge trees and large bushes.
“Oh goodness. I hope there are no snakes here.”, he whispered.
“Oh my god! What’s that crawling?”, he asked nervously.
“Oh no! A snake!”, he shouted as he jumped on the rock along the right lane.
Even though he’s afraid, he still went through to find Kiesha.
On the other hand, Justin was shouting while finding her.
“Kiesha! Where are you? I am here Kiesha. Please!”, shouted Justin.
Justin went through the dark forest and without fear, he grabbed his mini flashlight and started to turn it on. He was scared but all he hoped for was to find his soulmate, Kiesha.
“Kiesha!!”, he shouted.
After an hour, he saw a big rock on the other side and decided to take a rest there.
“Oh, I’m so tired. Kiesha, where are you?..”, he whispered.
He sat on the top of the rock and covered it with wide green leaf. Not later than a minute, he suddenly heard a little voice from a distant. He heard it again and was shocked when he heard a woman crying.
“Oh, I think I gotta run now.. I am scared.”, he whispered nervously.
He continuously heard the woman’s little outcry. Justin stood up and followed the woman’s voice. He raised his mini flashlight to see who’s the woman crying. When he looked at, his eyes widened when he saw the woman crying.
“Kiesha?!”, he shouted.
Kiesha looked elsewhere and was startled when he saw Justin.
“Justin? Why are you here?”, asked Kiesha.
“I searched the entire forest for you. Why are you here? Why did you run?”, asked Justin.
“Oh ahm. I ran because..”, she replied.
However, someone was running towards them.
“Somebody! Help me”, shouted Kenneth.
“Kenneth? Why are you running?”, asked Justin.
“Hey Justin! It’s you! Ho! Please we can’t go back in there.”, he said.
“But why?”, asked Justin.
“It’s because there are a lot of snakes there.”, replied Kenneth.
“What?”, replied Justin.
“So, where can we find Kiesha now?”, asked Kenneth.
“She’s here.”, replied Justin.
“But where? I haven’t seen her. It’s so dark.”, replied Kenneth.
Justin immediately turned on his mini flashlight and placed it on Kiesha’s face.
“Oh damn it! Kiesha it’s you!”, replied Kenneth.
Kenneth hugged Kiesha so tightly.
“Kiesha? Bro, you found her!”, replied Kenneth.
“Are you two searching for me?”, asked Kiesha as she wiped her tears.
“Of course! But guess who came first. It’s you bro congratulations!”, said Kenneth.
“What are you doing? Hey you both. Are you trying to bet on me?”, she asked anxiously.
“Yes. I told him that whoever gonna find you first must be his soulmate.”, explained Kenneth.
Justin was embarrassed.
“Enough Kenneth. At least we both found her already. The question is, can we still go back at the camp now? Where are we heading to?”, asked Justin.
“Come on. This way. Follow me.”, replied Kenneth.
All of them went their way back to the camp until they get out from the forest.
“Oh look guys, we’re almost there.”, said Kenneth.
As the friends went through, a snake accidentally falls on the ground.
Kenneth was startled because he was already traumatized lately as he saw snaked crawling on the ground lately.
“Oh my goodness!”, shouted Kiesha.
“Kiesha, move away. We’ll get through this.”, said Justin.
He then pulled one of the woods which were found on the ground and eventually killed the snake by crushing it.
“Hey, stop it now.”, said Kiesha.
“Let’s go on guys. Thanks bro.”, said Kenneth.
At last, the friends came out from the forest at 1:30 am dawn.
“Guys here we are! Thank you so much at last Justin found you Kiesha.”, said Kenneth.
“Ahm.. Thank you guys for searching on me.”, replied Kiesha.
“That’s it? You won’t give us a hug?”, asked Kenneth.
“Hey, why did you ran?”, asked Justin.
“I ran because ahm.. I was actually searching a place where can I pee.”, she replied with a trembling voice.
“Oh. Why did you not tell us? There was a public comfort room near the camp but you have to pay only 1 penny.”, replied Kenneth.
“Are you alright now? Your hands are so cold.”, asked Justin.
“Yeah I’m okay now guys. Thank you for your help. You saved me.”, replied Kiesha.
“By the way, I have to go now guys. Kiesha please don’t go again anywhere okay?”
“Oh I’m sorry guys. You did not have your greatest fun this evening because of me. I have to take care of my best friend instead but she doesn’t want me to stay beside her. So I ran and cried.”, replied Kiesha.
“Alright. I’ll go ahead now and sleep. You two, you gotta sleep now.”, replied Kenneth.
“Kenneth, by the way thank you for letting me borrow your jacket. Here, take this. Thank you very much.”, said Kiesha.
“Oh it’s all yours now.”, replied Kenneth.
“Really? Thank you Ken.”, replied Kiesha.
“You’re welcome.”, replied Kenneth with a smile.
“Hey, may I ask, Is that the only reason why you left?”, asked Justin.
“You really want to know huh I am deeply worried about my best friend. I don’t know if she will talk to me tomorrow morning.”, replied Kiesha.
“Did you hear anything that night when you’re standing right beside the tent?”, asked Justin.
“Nope. Why?”, asked Kiesha.
“Nothing. I’ll go ahead. Bye.”, said Justin.
“Ahm Justin?”, asked Kiesha.
“Yes?”, said Justin.
“I am very much thankful you saved me this day. If you weren’t there first, maybe I will be bitten by the snake at this moment and died now.”, replied Kiesha.
“I’ll do anything for you.”, replied Justin.
“Huh?”, asked Kiesha.
“I mean I’ll do anything so that Aivy will not be worried. Okay?”, replied Justin.
“Okay.”, replied Kiesha.
“Why is he talking about Aivy then?”, she whispered.
Justin went to his tent where he and Kenneth were staying. Kiesha did not have a tent so she decided to sleep outside the tents.
“Kiesha,”, said Justin.
“Yes.”, replied Kiesha.
“Where are you gonna sleep?”, replied Justin.
“Maybe outside?”, replied Kiesha.
“What? What if it will rain? Don’t you have a tent with you? You can sleep beside Aivy.”, suggested Justin.
“Yeah, right. But if I’ll go inside, maybe I’ll only make Aivy wake up. I have to sleep here instead. Anyway, I want to sleep while watching the stars. It’s better here maybe?”, she whispered.
“If that’s what you want then it’s alright.”, replied Justin.
Kiesha then placed her mat and soft pillow and lied on it. She quietly looked over the tent where Aivy was sleeping. She can’t take it so she stood up and went on Aivy’s place. She opened the tent and she saw her best friend sleeping so tiredly after drinking beer. She sat beside her and hugged her. After that, she went back outside. Justin saw everything.
“Hey, why are you here?”, asked Kiesha.
“Nothing. I am just worried about where you gonna sleep.”, replied Justin.
“I’m fine Justin. I will sleep here. Don’t worry. I will look after Aivy. Okay?”, replied Kiesha.
“I don’t mean about Aivy, Kiesha. I care for you.”, replied Justin.
Kiesha did not mind every word Justin said towards her. Instead, she went back lying down until she felt asleep. Justin stared at her and sat beside her until she falls asleep.
“I love you.”, whispered Justin.
Justin went back to his tent and slept.
Saturday morning came. It was 6:00 am when Aivy woke up first. She fixed all her things inside her tent but was planning not to fix her tent. She noticed that Kiesha did not sleep beside her. As she went outside, Kiesha was there still sleeping. All of their batchmates have their own tents except Kiesha. Because of that, Aivy was very worried about her best friend.
“What did I do to her last night? I can’t even invite her to sleep with me. I’m such a bad person. I don’t know if she will gonna even talk to me this morning after I pushed her hand away when I got drunk and wants Justin to carry me the whole time last night. What an idiot self. I hurt my best friend.”, she whispered.
Aivy decided to prepare breakfast for everyone. She prepared eggs, milk, coffee and hot chocolate drink. She boiled the eggs and cooked packed of sausages and ham. After, Justin woke up and helped her prepare the tables and chairs. Most of their classmates and schoolmates woke up and greeted with each other.
“Oh Aivy, good morning. What happened to you last night? Are you drunk?”, asked Justin.
“Good morning Justin. Well, yeah. I guess I already remembered everything. I am deeply sorry for what did I tell you last night Justin. I was just you know, kidding the whole time. This morning, I just found out that Kiesha was there sleeping. I could not even invite her to sleep with me. I am
worried she might not talk to me ever again. It would be awkward for us.”, replied Aivy.
Kiesha woke up and noticed Aivy and Justin were talking to each other. She just moved her head downwards while fixing her things. Aivy saw her and gave her a hot chocolate drink.
“Hey Kiesha, best? Good morning. I am really sorry I did not even invite you to sleep with me last night. I am sorry that I got drunk. Will you forgive me best?”, asked Aivy.
“Good morning best. Of course. It’s very fine for me. I will be the one who will apologize since I did not take care of you but I am glad Justin was there to help and save you. Thank you for the drink best. Just put it here. I’ll just fix my things.”, replied Kiesha.
“Are you not mad at me?”, asked Aivy.
“Why would I? Of course not best. I love you. I’m sorry okay?”, replied Kiesha.
The best friends hugged each other and Justin saw the two. Kenneth was there preparing the utensils as well. The batchmates were very happy and excited for their activity on that day.
“Everyone, good morning. We would like to thank you Aivy for the breakfast you cooked for us today despite of what happened to you last night.”, said Kenneth jokingly.
“No I am just kidding guys. Come on let’s help Aivy to prepare other foods and drinks. I am very excited for this day.”, added Kenneth.
Everyone was very happy eating their breakfast by the beach as the wind was so refreshing.