Free The Story of Us by AuthorStephanieHenry

nervous
too.
    “Yeah, let’s go find them, let them
scare us and have it be done and over with already.” I roll my
eyes, annoyed by the fact that they’re ruining the camping trip by
being gone for so long.
    I grab my flashlight that I had in
Tyler and I’s tent and then the five of us stick together as we
walk through the woods, calling out to them.
    “C’mon David! Just get it over with so
we can go back to drinking! This is stupid!” Julie calls
out.
    “Drew! This isn’t funny! I’m really
getting worried!” Hailey yells.
    Ashley and I remain quiet, as we
search the woods. I hear a twig snap further behind me, so I swing
around quickly, flashing the light in search of someone.
    No one.
    “Where’s Ashley?” Julie asks with wide
eyes.
    I move my flashlight all around, but
she’s no longer with us.
    “Seriously guys! Ashley
was scared! You guys are jerks!” Julie
fumes, clearly pissed.
    We all look around but don’t see or
hear anything other than the cool October wind blowing through the
trees and fallen leaves. I wrap my sweater tighter around me and
start walking again. Julie, Hailey, and Ashley’s friend follow
behind. Julie doesn’t stop yelling out to the rest of our crew, who
are obviously messing with us.
    I notice I’ve gotten too
far ahead, so I stop to let them catch up. Suddenly, I feel a hand
over my mouth as I’m lifted into the air and carried away. Although
it surprises me, I’m not that scared because I know it’s one of the
guys. I still kick my legs relentlessly because I’m pissed. I only
stop when I feel my feet hit the ground. Although I’m now standing,
I’m still being kept in place. Whoever’s behind me is holding me so
tight, I can barely breathe. And I still have someone’s hand over
my mouth. If I didn’t know it was one of the guys, I’d bite down on
it. But I figure that would be too harsh since I know it’s just a
prank, so I refrain. I wait it out, letting whoever it is call the
shots. But when I’m pushed down to my knees, I start to get
furious. That hurt . I try to turn around, but as I turn my head, someone grabs
a hold of my hair and uses it to firmly turn my head back facing
forward. That hurt too .
    “Okay, I’m seriously getting pissed,”
I bark to whoever’s behind me.
    No answer.
    I try to lift myself up when I feel a
foot on my back, pushing me down into the leaves and keeping me
there.
    “This is ridiculous! You made your
point! Now stop being an asshole!” My heart pounds in my chest and
I’m not even sure if it’s from the anger or if I’m actually
starting to get scared.
    Silence.
    “Dude, what the hell?” I recognize
Craig’s voice coming towards us from farther away. He doesn’t sound
happy at all.
    “Dude, what the hell to you! Now she
knows it’s us,” I recognize Julie’s boyfriend, Dave, mumble in
irritation.
    “Get your foot off her, man.
Seriously, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Craig scolds
him while reaching down to help me up.
    I’m finally able to turn
around. I look at both of them with absolute fury. “Have you two lost your minds?”
    Dave responds first,
“Relax princess ,
it’s just a joke.”
    Before I can respond, I see Craig’s
fist fly into Dave’s face. I gasp in surprise. Dave hesitates for a
moment, looking at the blood on his hand falling from his nose. His
face goes from shock to rage in an instant and then he lunges at
Craig. Before I can do anything to stop it, not that I could do
much anyway, they end up in a full-blown fist fight. I wasn’t that
scared before, but now I’m petrified.
    I call out to the
others, “Drew! Tyler! Get your asses over
here! Hurry!”
    They must be able to tell
by my voice that I’m serious, because they both come running. Drew
reaches us first and immediately pulls Craig off of Dave. Tyler
shows up right behind Drew and holds Dave back. It takes a few
minutes, but they finally calm down and stop trying to get out of
Drew and Tyler’s arms. Dave