Alex got up from the bed and walked to the door. He opened it to reveal Nathan standing there waiting.
"Oh, hey," Nathan said when he saw Alex.
"Hey. What's up?"
"The bear's been caught so we're going to clean up outside now," Nathan said with a groan. "I just thought I better come get you guys before we leave."
"Okay. Give us a minute and we'll be out." Alex turned around to see Nick already pulling on his sneakers.
Outside the cabin, the air was fresh and cool with a strong smell of pine trees. The students were gathered on the grass in their teams and all looked unimpressed that they have to pick up rubbish. Miss Bradley was in front of them and was about to break off the teams with the other camp leaders.
"Alright, teams! Time to make a difference! There are enough walking trails for all of us to walk and find any discarded trash and plastics. Each trail will have two teams, so get together with a team."
Nick turned to his team just as Drew spoke.
"We should team up with Amelia's team. Her group is nice." As he finished, he was tapped on the shoulder. Drew turned around to see Amelia and the rest of her team.
"Hey, Babe! Our groups should toootally team up!" Amelia said over enthusiastically. "It'd be so much fun!"
"Oh my God we were all thinking the exact same thing!" Drew exclaimed as they both laughed and leaned into each other for a kiss. There was an extremely uncomfortable silence between the team as they made out. Nick looked at Alex who looked back at him, both with a look of disgust, confusion and slight amusement.
When they finally pulled apart, they looked into their eyes and giggled in each others arms. Amelia was a red head like Drew. It was long and lightly curled. She had blue eyes, lots of mascara and freckles on her nose. Her smile was bright white and her canine teeth were sharp and large. She turned her head to see everyone and then her face went bright red.
"Omgomgomg I'm so sorry! That was so awkward!" she flustered. Nick gave a little chuckle to himself.
Who is this airhead? He thought.
"Okay, is everyone ready?" Miss Bradley called. "Let's get going!" A dreary 'yay' was said by all the teenagers as they began walking towards the forest.
Nick and Amelia's team was being lead by Miss Bradley. Alex was unfortunately donned the 'bearer of the bin' which was just a large plastic bag that he had to carry as they collected rubbish. Nick accompanied Alex while they walked down the gravel track.
"So how long have you been playing, Piano Boy?" Alex asked.
"Well, pretty much as long as I could remember," Nick answered. "My dad taught me at home. He was a professional pianist actually."
"Wow, really!?"
"Yea." Nick smiled to himself, "I miss him." There was a moment of silence before Alex spoke again.
"What happened to him?"
"He died 6 years ago," Nick said looking at his feet as he walked.
"Shit, I'm sorry. The must've been tough on you."
"Yea it was. It forced me to stop playing in piano competitions."
"Why's that?" Alex asked looking at Nick's sad face.
"After he died, I couldn't hear the notes anymore. Whenever I played in front of anyone, it felt like the strings disappeared and all I could hear was the faint sound of the hammers hitting the air. Even the sheet music. It would fly from the page. I was left on the bench banging at the keys, but no matter how hard I hit them, no sound would come out." There was a silence between the boys. "But that was years ago. I can hear the notes now. It's just beginning to play is the issue, I guess."
"Damn. That's some serious stuff," Alex said. "What about your mum? Did she help you?"
"I don't really wanna talk about her right now."
"Okay." They walked in silence for a moment before there was a large weight on both boys' shoulders. An arm was slung over the outside shoulder of each boy. They both turned their head to see Max's grinning face between them.
"Hey boooooys!" Max said enthusiastically. "How's it gooooing?" Nick and Alex looked at each other with confusion.
"Um... Good?" Nick finally said.
"Oh, well ain't that great. Say, you two seem to be awfully close nowadays. You know, there's a rumour going around that you two are loverrrrrrs," Max mocked. Nick's face went red. He was a bout to speak before he was cut off by Alex.
"Ew what the fuck. That's gross. I'm straighter than the pole your mum dances on, Max." Nick just looked at Alex, still embarrassed.
"Y-Yeah... What he said..." Max looked left and right at the two boys before giving up.
"Oh well. Just wanted to know whether it was true." Max's expression changed into one of mischief as he spoke again. "But, apparently, YOUR dad died of an overdose! How tragic." Max was mocking Nick with an evil glint in his eyes. "I guess having you for a son would make me wanna kill myself too." Nick's face began to heat up again as tears we just about to form in his eyes.
"Max, what the fuck are you doing?!" Alex yelled, but Max kept going.
"Or was it a car crash because he was drink driving? Died instantly on impact right? Or was it becau-" A fist flew through the air and collided with Max's nose creating a loud cracking sound. Max's face tilted back as he let go of Nick and Alex's shoulders to clasp his face. He was groaning in pain as blood ran down his wrist and forearm. His upper body flopped down towards the ground as he tensed in agony.
"Aaarghhh!! My nose!" Max groaned through the pain. He looked up from his hands at the two boys, eyes with more fire than the depths of hell. Blood was pouring from his crooked nose.
"Talk to Nick like that again and it'll be more than just your nose that I'll break," Alex said glaring at Max hunched body. "Let's go, Piano Boy." Alex pushed Nick slightly forward down the path. Nick looked over his shoulder at Max struggling to stand up and smiled to himself slightly.
"Thanks for sticking up for me," Nick said.
"Anything for you, Piano Boy." He smiled and winked at Nick who smiled back. They picked up the pace of their walking to catch up to the teams. They were surprised no body noticed. They walked for another two hours before going back to the campus with a scarcely filled rubbish bag. Who leaves rubbish in the forest anyway? By the time they got inside the cabin, it was nearly time for dinner.