"Please take her home safely",Gabby and Aurora chimed in and told Joshua, as if I were some fragile commodity. He nodded and we drove away from the riverside to my home.
"You don't like the outdoors?",I asked him once inside the car. "I don't exactly not like it..",he said "but I think its best if I slept in a bed tonight and not in some sleeping bags, considering the eventful day I've had. I'm not much as young as those guys anymore I guess".
"I guess you saved me from going into the woods every five minutes for peeing so I should give you my thanks,old man", I told him and that earned me a smirk from him. "I didn't say I was old, only I wasn't as young as you guys",he casually remarked and I could only refute him by saying,"Not young equals old,old man, and nothig you say is gonna change that fact",and simply shrugged without leaving him any chance to refute back.
We reached home and after wishing him goodnight,I went to my room,got freshened up and laid down for my much needed rest. I slept off as soon as I laid my head on the pillow and fell into a deep slumber.
The next morning I woke up to the sounds coming from the kitchen. Apparently, Leo and company had returned and were excitedly sharing their experience of spending the night by the riverside to my parents,like little kids. I got up from my bed,washed up quickly and went down to the kitchen only to see all of them done with their breakfast.
Only then did I check the time and I was shocked to see the clock read 9 am. "Gosh,you guys should have woken me up. I slept like a log",I complained,while chugging the milk my mom handed me, and quickly ate the eggs and fruit salad left for me on the table. "Easy darling, there's no rush.Its Sunday and no one's in a hurry to leave anywhere. You needed the sleep, so we didn't bother waking you up",my dad said and I beamed at him.
"Let's go fishing at the lake today",Leo,the ever enthusiast,suggested and the others joined in excitedly. These city guys are behaving like kids on a sugar rush, I thought to myself and smiled at them. I looked around for Joshua, but he wasn't here. Maybe he wasn't awake yet, I thought.
"You joining us today?",Zeke asked me and though I was tempted to say no, I didn't want to disappoint them either, so I only nodded a yes. "Great,it will be more fun with you around",he said and I only smiled back at him. "Let me go grab the fishing equipments from my place and whatever we don't have, we can grab it from Pop's store",Leo said excitedly. "I'll come with you in case you need help",Zeke offered. "Sure,that'd be great",Leo answered and they both left.
Gabby and Aurora had gone to my room for freshening up,and mom and dad had gone to their room to get ready for church,when a deep voice came from behind me,"Already making plans to go out into the woods again?".I turned to face Joshua and saw him smiling at me and I just shrugged and replied,"I can't let them explore my town without me. I'd be a bad host". He only smiled at me with a look which I could not decipher.
"Will you be joining us,old man?", I asked him and he chuckled and replied,"Sure, why not. This old man has already gotten the much needed rest, so I can't see why not". I smiled at him in agreement and waited for Gabby and Aurora in the living room.
"Are you going dressed like this?",he asked me. I looked at my dressing, and let out a gasp. I was so comfortably dressed in my pyjamas,and though I was comfortable in it,it was not appropriate for me to go fishing dressed like that. My face turned red,and I excused myself as I went to my room to rummage from my cupboard what appropriate fishing outfit I could wear.
I grabbed a pair of shorts,a flannel shirt and wore a cap and wore my flip flops. "Issy, do you have any extra pair of shorts. I didn't bring mine with me",Aurora asked me and I fished out one of my shorts and handed it to her. "Any chance you have another pair that could fit me",Gabby added as well, and I gave her the other pair I had taken out.
"Girls,are you done getting ready yet?",Leo called out from below and we went downstairs to meet them. Just like last night,I ended up in Joshua's car,with he and Zeke as we trailed behind Leo's car to the lake.We were going fishing and I didn't know if I was gonna like it,when even the thought of fish smell was making me feel nauseous.