Maddie looked emotionally drained. She usually doesn't get like this unless something is very, very wrong. Ayro stopped the car very suddenly.
"I got the police off our tail," He said, "Everyone grab something from the trunk and get moving."
Three seperate tents, and a lot of supplies. The group had discussed this plan many, many times before. Ayro had stopped the car near a huge forest. We were to carry all of the items we possibly could, and hike into the forest. We would find a secluded area, and set up camp there. Hopefully, there would be a river near by so that we could get rid of things that weren't nessicarry.
Everyone was handed a large duffel bag heavy with items. Ayro took the remaining stuff that wouldn't fit in the bags.
"You're all lucky that I'm here," James joked, "Or everyone would have to do a lot more heavy lifting."
We left the car behind, and started walking. The group was just walking in a useless mob, so I decided to drag Maddie to the back of the group. Something was seriously wrong, and I needed to know what it was.
"Why do you care about what's bothering me? My feelings don't involve you," She said bitterly.
"I know that look. Something's wrong, and letting it out will seriously make you feel better," I responded calmly. I made sure to use my kindest voice. I wanted her to know that she could trust me.
"I'm just... it's really nothing."
I gave her another worried smile. "You can tell me. I'm just trying to help you."
"You wouldn't understand."
I took a deep breath. "I may not understand, but it's not healthy to keep things bottled up inside."
She looked at me with hatred radiating from her eyes.
"I like to analyze things. But the one thing I absolutely cannot do is understand and analyze Raven," She glowered.
"Elaborate on that."
"Whenever I try to analyze her, I'm only able to think about her flawlessness. I can only think, 'wow Raven is so perfect. So amazing,' and I don't understand why. It's so frustrating. She doesn't even talk to me anymore! She only pays attention to you and Ayro. I was barely even part of that rescue plan! I feel like I'm not important to anyone here and you guys just dragged me with you for no reason!"
Her words really struck me. After she was done talking, I took about two seconds to respond.
"I'm sorry, Maddie. I know that Raven didn't mean to make you feel unimportant. She's been stressed and worried about a lot of stuff lately. Just know that we both really care about you."
She kept her gaze on Raven the entire time that I was talking. I'm guessing that I did something wrong in her eyes. Sometimes I feel like she hates me, and I can't, for the life of me, figure out why. I've always been kind to her. Sure, I keep secrets from her, but everyone keeps some secrets.
She started walking faster, leaving me at the back end of the group. I didn't bother catching up with them.
It was rude of her to ditch me like that. All I was doing was letting her get her feelings out and being as nice as possible. I wasn't being sarcastic, rude or mean to her, but she was mad at me. Mad at me for a reason that I couldn't figure out.
When everyone was begging to stop, Ayro finally complied.
I helped him set up the tents that we were supposed to share.
"Alex and his friend... His friend... Uhh..."
"James," I reminded him.
"...Will take one tent. The rest of us will just have to decide for ourselves. He looked at me with a hopeful expression on his face.
"Crystal, you want to-" Raven started, but I cut her off.
"How about you go with Maddie? Ayro will share a tent with me," I said calmly.
"What if-"
"I'll be fine."
I'm never fine. Not for a moment. The voices dissapeared momentarily, but they were starting to come back. I could only shut them up for so long.
"Thought you could get rid if us? Stupid human. It's going to take a lot more than that."