CHAPTER 22

Audrey relaxed at the edge of the water, watching the students play and eat and use the kayaks the teachers brought. They had arrived about three hours ago but time seemed different up on the Mountain. Nature didn't care about such petty human constructs. The trees, animals and even the Sun itself just happened to do whatever they needed to be doing, and they were wherever they needed to be.

She understood why being so close to nature could be so comforting. The idea of just getting away from all the noise was just a part of it. The laughter, the birds singing, the cool, gentle wind on her skin... everything was perfect.

I could live out here forever.

Enzo made a spear out of a big stick, using his pocket knife. I never thought he'd be the type of man who carried a pocket knife.

She watched him from a distance. A bunch of students laughed at him, he made a bet with them that he could catch a fish using only his recently made weapon, and from time to time, poked at the water. The spear always came out clean, the fish having escaped him. It never ceased to make the students laugh.

It was all in good fun. Even she couldn't help but smile, he looked so focused and made a face that bordered on disappointment every time he missed. It was kind of adorable.

It is adorable you ass, stop censoring yourself, it's not like he can hear you. Her smile faded.

He told her he could.

No.

He told her she reached out to him but he blocked her out.

She took a long breath out and wiggled her toes. She hadn't had a day like this in years.

Something stirred inside of her. She instantly turned to him and saw in his face that this time he wasn't playing. This time his eyes briefly turned to her before piercing the water in a swift movement. The surface almost didn't move, it was a perfect throw.

The students laughed as he pulled out the spear. He didn't say anything, focused completely on taking it out of the water.

The laughter turned into silence, then into "wows" and finally into "oh my God's" and "holy shits."

A huge fish, at least fourteen inches long, wiggled and fought for his life as he took it from the weapon and tossed it to the shore.

"I know what I'm having for dinner. You can keep your cereal, kids."

The students yelled in unison, they all hated being called kids, but this time they deserved it and they knew it. It was a friendly, competitive jab that showed them who was the boss.

Enzo handed the spear to one of the students, and gave him some tips on how to do it. Everyone gathered by him and debated how many tries each would get before passing it to someone else.

Audrey couldn't wipe the smile off her face.

Enzo walked to her. From a distance, he looked like a fashion model, only more rugged, more real. His light yellow shirt completely drenched, his muscles showing through it like one of those cologne TV ads.

She caught his eyes and saw the smugness in them: the glory of a champion, a half smile on the corner of his lips, the "I can do that any time I want," look.

Audrey rolled her eyes, hiding her smile from him.

"How are you feeling?" he asked from a distance.

"Incredible," she said, "I see you're a fisherman."

He shrugged, as if it was nothing, "maybe a little."

She laughed, feeling the water ripples from each of his steps crashing against her ankles.

"You do that often?"

"Only when someone's looking."

"You're silly."

He walked out of the water and sat next to her, looking up to the sky.

"We should go back, we still need to make a bonfire, dinner—"

"We'll let them use your spear for half an hour and then we'll go, okay?"

"Deal," he said, patting her on the thigh, and for a second she stopped breathing.

His touch was so familiar, so intimate, so gentle. She hadn't realized how much she needed it.

"Behave," she said and he cleared his throat, nodding.

"Yes. I'll try."

***

The hike back to camp was slow and serene. Audrey wasn't sure what Enzo had done to her but she didn't have any kind of pain or cramps, even though by all means she should have.

Mr. Dunley lead the troupe, she and Enzo at the back, the students in between.

Peter Dunley took photographs of squirrels and all kinds of small animals, the students, trees and even insects.

"Would you look at that," he said to a boy, "come on Charles, get in there!"

And so Charles, a fifteen or sixteen year old boy, walked over and stood next to a tree with purple flowers on its bark.

"Just take a picture of the thing, Coach," he complained as Mr. Dunley waved his hand at him, trying to get in position for the photograph.

"No point in taking a picture if no one's in there, Chuckie-boy."

The student sighed and Mr. Dunley took the photograph. It was the hundredth he had taken, more or less.

"That's it. I'll post it on your wall, so people can see how tough you are."

The students laughed, Charles just rolled his eyes, "whatever you say, coach. Whatever you say."

"He's right, you know?" Audrey told Enzo, "we should take a picture of the group, we're not coming back tomorrow."

Enzo nodded and called Mr. Dunley, before long, everyone gathered at the edge of the trail.

Mr. Dunley placed the camera on a big rock and used some pebbles and sticks to keep it steady.

"Okay, that's great!" he said looking at the small screen on its back, "it's spectacular! Stay still, I'm gonna put this on auto and... wait! Miss Rodriguez you're not in frame! Move to the left!"

She did so but there was no place for her, unless she stood in front of someone else.

"Come up here, Miss Rodriguez!" A girl said, she stood on a big rock, right behind the group.

"Help me up, Claire," Audrey said as she stepped up beside her, holding her hand.

"That's it! Don't move, don't move!" Mr. Dunley said, pressing a button and running towards the group.

A few seconds later the shutter clicked and everyone relaxed and clapped, walking back to the trail.

Claire jumped down from the rock she was standing on and Enzo extended his hand to help Audrey.

"It's fine," she said, "just a small—"

She jumped down and fell on a big root, twisting her right ankle so hard everyone heard it crack. She screamed loud enough to scare every animal in a three-mile radius away.