Page 7

Wyatt

L ast night as I lay in bed and tried to sleep, I once again chided myself for even thinking this was a good idea. Here I was sharing a room with five other people I didn’t know until that day. But a part of me was excited to see what we’d do next.

“Where do we go now?” someone asked.

“Breakfast,” someone else said. I gathered my clothes for the day and my bathroom kit. A short thirty minutes later all of us walked to the mess hall. The food smelled mouthwatering, and I wondered if it was the fresh air or if I was starting to get excited about being here.

“Morning, Wyatt,” Gavin said as he rushed past me and out the door. Not that I noticed. Well, not much.

“He’s hot,” Dani said with a grin. “I mean if you’re into that kinda thing.

” She winked. We walked together into the mess hall, and everyone chatted more than we had yesterday.

Phones were not allowed other than in our cabins, which wasn’t tough with the iffy cell service.

I had to admit it was nice talking to other people and getting to know them.

“He is. Everyone is so nice here. I wasn’t sure what to expect,” I whispered as we sat at the same table.

“Me either. But so far, it’s all good.” She started eating her breakfast and I nibbled my eggs benedict and country potatoes while glancing around the room at everyone.

“Welcome to the first day of Camping 101. Over the next week you’ll be learning about different tools to help you in the outdoors and how to use them.

One of the most important tools is a simple compass,” Gavin said, and held up what looked like a compass attached to a piece of plastic.

“There is one of them for all of you, so please, everyone take one.” We all walked up, and he handed each of us the same thing he’d shown us.

Looking at it up close I could now see the plastic had lines and a ruler on it, but I had no clue how to use it. Everyone was quiet as they looked at it and apparently had the same thought I did. How the hell would this help us get out of trouble?

“Don’t worry. I promise after today you’ll know exactly how to use it,” Gavin said, and proceeded to explain each step and make sure we all understood before moving to the next. After about an hour I was amazed to realize I understood how it worked.

“Okay, everyone, you’ll want to choose a partner and I’m going to give you coordinates I want you to find using your compass. First team to find it gets a treat,” Gavin said.

“What’s the treat?” a camper, who I now knew was Bobbie Chandler from Reno, asked.

“You’ll have to wait and see,” Gavin said.

He held out a bag and had everyone choose a slip of paper.

On the paper were coordinates. I was so excited to try to use the compass I forgot about getting a partner and after setting it up the way Gavin had demonstrated, I wandered off in the direction the needle pointed.

“Hey, Wyatt, wait up.” I turned and was surprised to see Gavin jogging to catch up.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“You shouldn’t do this exercise alone. We just want to be overly cautious. I’ll tag along with you if you don’t mind.” He looked a little unsure, and I didn’t think Gavin was ever unsure about anything.

“I don’t mind. But don’t help me unless I need it. I want to see if I can figure it out,” I said and glanced down at the compass.

“Let’s go then. Lead the way.”

I followed a straight line that led away from the lake and toward the path we’d walked on the day before that led toward the forest. Gavin stayed quiet but walked along with me, never letting on whether I was going the wrong way or not.

I hoped that meant I was doing this right.

After checking the coordinates again, I walked along a path I hadn’t been on yet that led a little deeper into the trees than we’d gone yesterday.

But for once I didn’t focus on being outside.

I was so completely focused on where I was headed, barely looking down to make sure I wouldn’t end up on my ass.

The trail veered to the right, but my compass led me in the other direction.

It wasn’t hard to follow but even though I wasn’t sure it was okay for me to go off trail I didn’t want to lose the direction I was headed.

I glanced behind me and was relieved to see Gavin was right there waiting for me to lead the way.

“You’re doing great, don’t give up,” he encouraged.

Lining up the compass again I continued on the same path that led away from the marked trail.

After a short while there was a rock the size of a house directly in front of me.

I checked the compass again and knew I was close.

Slowly walking up to it I found the exact coordinates and was surprised to find a plastic container tucked into a crack in the rock.

Lying down, I pulled it out and couldn’t hold back my grin as I popped it open to find some fresh cookies inside.

“Not bad for someone who has never used a compass before,” Gavin said and walked over to the rock I rested on.

“Have a cookie,” I offered before taking a big bite of one and mumbling, “this is the best day ever.” Gavin chose one and was silent as he took a bite.

His eyes met mine and I would have sworn he was proud of me.

The same guy who never wanted to go to camp found out I wasn’t as bad at it as I thought I’d be.

Or at least I wasn’t bad with a compass. “So, what’s tomorrow’s task?”

“Oh no, I’m not ruining the surprise,” Gavin said. The two of us sat a while longer, and I had to admit there was something about being away from everyone and everything and just enjoying the sights and smells of being in the forest.