Alexandra's POV
"Earth to Alexandra! Are you with me?!" I heard my best friend's voice calling me. I turned around and looked at Mark confused.
"Don't look at me like that. You've been staring into space again" He said. Really? I didn't even notice.
"Yes I figured it out. And before you ask me what I mean, you just said your thoughts out loud" He commented. I rolled my eyes.
"Thanks for the kind words" I said sarcastically of course and being the person he is, he answer back in the same way.
"What are friends for" He smirked and I punched him playfully in the arm.
Oh how silly of me! I started telling the story without telling you anything about me. Hi! My name is Alexandra but my friends call me Alexa. I won't get into much detail about me. The only thing you need to now about me for now is that I'm an orphan. On the positive side, I have been adopted by a very friendly family from a very young age and my adopted parents are the best.
Also one more thing before I get back to the story. The person besides me that I have been talking to a minute ago, is my best friend Mark. We met at preschool. It was very obvious to the other children that the people who claimed to be my parents looked nothing like me so the kids thought that I was very weird and did not play with me. Mark though, saw that I was lonely and came and talked to me. Long story short, we've been friends ever since. We even go to the same school. Well, that's enough about me, I'll get back to the story now.
The scenery was just breath taking. We were walking in the forest along with the rest of our classmates. All around us stand tall trees with little birds singing at their branches. The path that we were walking was made of big and small rocks. The teachers who were in the front were leading us to the camping site where were suppose to spend the following two weeks.
Finally we made it there. It seems that the scenery keeps getting better and better. In front of us stood a big field with the forest surrounding it and a lake in the middle. This must be the perfect place to relax and have fun. I hope they let us go swimming in the lake or go exploring in the forest. This trip is going to be the best one ever if we avoid the unpleasant surprises.
"Do you think the lake is deep enough to go scuba diving?" I whispered to Mark. He immediately turned to look at me. His expression was a mix of confusion, shock and somewhat fear. It was priceless! It's a good thing that the moment he opened up his mouth the teacher called for all the students or else who knows what he would have said.
"Attention students! Please gather around so can explain a few things before we let you free" The students started gathering around the teachers so the could hear better.
"Is it just me or did the last part sounded like they were talking to animals to you too?" I whisper to Mark again who only shrugged in response.
"Can you blame them though? Take a look around you" Mark whispered back to me. I looked around and observed all my classmates.
"Fair point" I said. Mark understood that I got what he meant and smirked at me and I gladly returned it.
"As you all know" The sound of our teacher's voice gained our attention.
"We will be staying in this campsite for a couple of weeks. We want you all to behave yourselves and not cause any trouble. The rules are simple, respect all nature around you, don't hurt the animals in any way and most importantly, stay within the campsite's limits. Understood?" The teacher explained.
"Understood" The students replied all together. To me it sounded just like robots talking.
"Now we will begin calling your names to came and get your tents and necessary gear." An other teacher announced. After sometime, mine and Mark's names were called. We got a few weird looks from some teachers and students. Apparently , it's weird for two best friends of the opposite sex to share the same tent at a school trip. Okay it does sound a little weird but still. After all we don't have a problem, we have been best friend since like... for ever actually.
A couple hours later, we were officially done with our tent and ready to enjoy the following weeks. The only thing left for us to do is decide on what were going to do tomorrow.
"Finally done!" Mark sighed.
"Yea. Who knew that put up a tent was so much work" I agreed with him. I look around me once more to take everything in and noticed that the sun was begging to set. Soon it would get dark.
"Look who do we have here" We heard a voice from behind. Mark and I turned around and saw Denis, the school bully. He is a big guy with an equally big cure. Everyone is afraid of him, with some exceptions, and he loves to make other people's lives measurable. And for some reason his favorite person to torment is me.
"The orphan and her friend. How adorable is it that the two of them will share the same tent. It melts my heart, really. No wonder they ended up like that, since they have no other friends" He said mockingly. Here we go again. I can't understand why hates me that much, I have done nothing to him. I was doing my best to keep my patience by take deep breaths. Mark on the other hand looked like he could murder somebody. Denis of course looked amused and decided to take it a step further.
"But then again, it's no surprise that you have no other except him. Your own parents wanted nothing to do with you. The left you at the doorstep of the orphanage with your only belongings being a piece of paper with only your first name written on it. Since the didn't want you, how could anyone else?" That's it! He crossed the line there. My first instinct was to run as far away as possible but there is no way I'm giving him that kind of satisfaction. So I did the next thing that came into my mind, I punched him in the face. Hard.
The one thing that Denis didn't know about me is that I am capable of punching someone if they cross certain lines. But from the painful sounds he was making I don't thing he'll be making that mistake again soon. I know I'll be in a lot of trouble but I really don't care, he deserve it.
I left the scene and went to the lake to calm down. It was already dark outside. The moon was shining bright creating a pale white light around the lake. The lake's waters were calm. It was so quite and peaceful that the only thing you could hear was the crickets paying there little song in perfect harmony with the environment around them. It was the perfect to relax.
I walk to the small wooden dock and sat at the edge. I stared at the distance. I wasn't in the mood to think about anything so I just admired the scenery once more. I didn't even noticed that someone had came to the lake too until they sat beside me. I knew it was Mark.
"I don't want to talk about it" I said.
"That's fine because I didn't came here to talk. I came so wouldn't be alone" He said. I turned my head and smiled him. I turned my gaze back at the lake once more and I noticed that there was something small flowing in the water. I moved my hand and grabbed it.
"What's that?" I asked and looked closer at the object in my hands. It was a small glass bottle with a piece of paper inside. I took it out and realized it was a message.
"Who sends letters in bottles anymore?" Mark asked. I shrugged. Normally I wouldn't read somebody else's letter but my curiosity got the best of me so began reading the letter out loud.
"Dear daughter,
When you find this, our kingdom will probably be already lost. We are afraid the responsibility of saving our home and out subjects has fallen to your shoulders. Remember that we love you and that we will always be with you no mater the circumstances. We wish you the best of luck in your journey.
With love,
The King and Queen"
"Well that was weird" I commented.
"Maybe we will have a scavenger hunt tomorrow and this is a part of the game that we happened to find early?" Mark said. I shrugged again.
"Maybe. Who knows? Anyway, it's getting pretty late how about-" I didn't had the chance to finish my sentence because I got sucked by a whirlpool! It seems like it was taking us somewhere.
The impact of the hit of the ground finally came. Surprisingly, it was not as painful as I had imagine. I got up from the ground and looked around while dusting myself in the process. We were somewhere inside a forest that looked almost identical to the one we were previously but something felt differently, the dock near the lake was gone.
"Where are we? What is this place?" Were the only questions i manage to say out loud.