“Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go!”
“AJ, if you don’t shut up, I’m going to have to hurt you,” Brian growled.
AJ quieted for a moment and then started up again.
Brian sighed and continued walking. Ty was in the lead, with Kevin behind her. Brian, AJ, Howie and Nick followed. Howie glanced over at Nick and frowned.
“Dude, what is that?” he asked, pointing to Nick’s pockets.
Nick looked down and his face immediately turned bright red.
“It’s toilet paper!” Howie cried, laughing.
“Shut up!” Nick yelled.
Ty stopped walking and turned around. Indeed, toilet paper was hanging out of Nick’s pockets. She tried not to laugh, but couldn’t help herself.
“I refuse to use leaves!” he exclaimed, trying to defend himself.
“Nick, I have toilet paper,” Ty managed to gasp. “I wasn’t going to make you use leaves.”
“Oh.”
Kevin remained quiet as he aimed his video camera at Nick. Nick saw it and frowned.
“How come Ty let you bring that?” he asked.
Ty saw the camera. “I didn’t see it,” she said. “How’d you hide that from me?”
“You don’t want me to have it?” Kevin asked innocently.
“Well...it’s not a cell phone...”
“Kevin carries it with him everywhere, he records everything!” AJ explained. “And this could be fun. Like the Blair Witch Project!”
“As long as we don’t end up missing,” Brian pointed out. He shivered. “That movie was too scary.”
“No one will end up missing,” Ty said sharply. Then she relaxed. “I guess it’s all right, as long as I’m not on it then. I hate cameras.”
“It’s a promise.”
Nick stuffed the toilet paper back in his pockets. “I’m still keeping it,” he said.
They continued on their way.
“I gotta ask, Kev,” AJ said. “What is the big deal about taping in the woods? There’s nothing here but trees, and grass.”
Kevin smiled. “Yeah, isn’t it beautiful?” He stopped taping and looked at AJ. “Don’t you get it? We’re communing with nature out here, aren’t you excited?”
AJ shrugged. “I’d rather be ‘communing’ with a beautiful woman.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“Ack! Stupid things, go away!” Howie yelled.
“What’s wrong?” Ty asked, half turning to look.
“I’m being eaten alive by mosquitoes!” He slapped his arms furiously, trying to get the annoying insects away.
“Ever heard of bug spray?” Brian said, handing him a can.
Howie took it and began spraying away. Brian coughed and moved a few steps back.
“Easy, man, don’t kill us too!”
It was quiet as they continued walking. AJ had tired of singing and resorted instead to stomping his feet as hard as he could with each step. When he stepped in a puddle of water and splashed Brian, he knew he was in trouble.
Brian stopped and glared at AJ. “If you want to survive this trip, then knock it off!” he yelled.
Ty stepped between them. “Is there a problem here?”
“I think Brian got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” AJ said, moving behind Ty, just in case Brian took a swing at him.
“I’m fine, I’m just not an outdoorsy person. This is Kevin’s area of expertise, not mine.”
“Look, this will be fun! We’ve only got a few more hours to go before we reach the campsite, and then we can settle down for the night,” Ty said, trying to sound cheerful.
“A few more hours? We’ve been walking nearly 2 already!” Nick said. He promptly sat down on a nearby log and crossed his arms. “This sucks. I want a hotel room.”
Ty looked down at him. “You’ve been too pampered, that’s your problem. Now get your ass up off the ground and get moving!” she screamed.
Nick was so startled that he fell off the log. This started everyone laughing and the tension was broken.
Ty extended a hand to help him up. “I’m sorry. I just wish everyone would realize that this isn’t as bad as you think! There’s so much out here to see. I hate it when people can’t understand that nature was here first, not hotels and phones and tvs.”
Kevin nodded. “I understand perfectly.”
“I knew someone would!” Ty said. She smiled at Kevin. “Hey, I have an idea. I’m not that familiar with your music, so why don’t you sing me a song?”
“You don’t know our music?” Brian asked. “Even people who hate us know our music.”
“I’m a country person. Pop isn’t exactly my style, but maybe you could change my mind.”
“Sounds like a challenge, guys,” Howie said, smiling. “All right, what should we sing her?”
“Pick a number between one and twelve,” Nick suggested. “We’ll sing that track from our latest album.”
“Okay, um...seven.”
The Boys huddled together, talking it over. The song was “Don’t Wanna Lose You Now.”
“Okay, we’re ready. Let’s keep walking, we’ll sing,” Kevin said. He told her the name of the song and started to snap his fingers.
They started singing and Ty had to admit, they were good. Even without instruments, and surrounded by trees, they sounded perfect. She listened to the words and bit back a smile. She’d have to comment on the lyrics when they finished.
She liked the way Kevin’s voice blended with Brian’s. She liked the way they sang, period.
I’m gonna have to go buy their cd now! she thought.
When the final note faded away, she clapped and whistled. “Excellent! That was great, I’ve never been more impressed.”
They thanked her.
“But...”
“But what?” Nick asked.
Ty pursed her lips and carefully stepped over an above ground tree root.
“Well, the line, ‘girl if only I knew what I’ve done, you know, so why don’t you tell me’? Okay, that line just proves a guy wrote the song.”
“Huh?”
“Men can never figure out what the hell they’ve done to piss off their women, so they always have to ask. Men should know, they did it!”
Howie laughed. “But we have short memories.”
“Just proves my point. Men are stupid.”
“Hey!” AJ protested. “I resemble that remark!”
Nick was pondering this and missed the root that everyone else had avoided.
“Whoa!” he cried as he dived headfirst into a pile of leaves.
Ty rolled her eyes heavenward and then stepped around everyone to help him up.
“Are you okay?” She brushed leaves from his clothes and pulled sticks from his hair.
Nick nodded slowly and rubbed his head. “I’m fine.”
Ty saw his ears were pink from embarrassment. She suddenly felt bad for him. “Here, why don’t you come and walk up front with me?”
His face brightened and he got to his feet and followed her.
“If you’re gonna fall again, grab onto me, okay?” she said, smiling.
“Uh huh.”
“What if I fall?” AJ called to her. “Can I grab you too?”
“If you can reach me, sure.”
AJ grinned wickedly and nudged Kevin in the ribs. Kevin just shook his head.
