Page 2 of Chosen By The Grizzly

Or even been kissed. But luckily, they don’t know that.

Monica grabs my hands and fixes me with a stern look. “Listen to me, Callie. You’re more beautiful, inside and out, than all four of them put together. You’re as funny as hell, and you don’t have fake lips, or tits, or ass cheeks…”

I giggle. “Okay, that last bit is true.”

“This probably isn’t going to rank as one of the greatest weekends of all time. But it’s only three days, and you’re doing your sister a solid, just by being there and making sure they don’t all take themselves out through some stunning act of stupidity.”

“Thanks, Mon, you’re right,” I say. “It’s just three days.”

“That’s the spirit, girl. You repeat that like a mantra.”

Just three days.

Trouble is, if I know my big sister as well as I think I do, a lot can happen in three days.

* * *

“My feet fricking hurt.”Madison leans against a tree, pulls off her glittery pink sneaker and examines an angry-looking blister on her heel.

I heave off my backpack and dump it on the ground, then I root around until I find what I’m looking for. “Blister bandage.” I hand over the little flesh-colored disc without further comment.

“Thanks,” Madison says grudgingly, and almost snatches it out of my hand. She curled her lip at my sensible trail shoes and hiking pants this morning, but I’m gonna do my best to forget about that now.

I perch on a tree stump and wipe my glasses on my Dry Fit T-shirt. It’s a relief to take the weight off for a moment. I’m hot, sweaty, and my back is aching like crazy. This morning, Lindsay surprised us by arriving with two tents. Apparently, we’ll need to camp out on the first night, because there’s no hut close to our first stop. Kinda begs the question of why we’re stopping there at all. But hey, I don’t make the decisions around here.

Anyway, in true Lindsay style, she concealed this piece of information until it was too late for us to back out.It’ll be fun, she said.They’re not heavy, either! We can take it in turns to carry them.

Of course, that didn’t happen. The other three are carrying small, fashion backpacks. I’ve got a suspicion they’re full of make-up, wilderness non-appropriate clothing, and not much else. They also don’t have straps for attaching tents, et cetera. So, Lindsay and I have wound up carrying the tents the whole time.

“How much farther?” Ashley whines, fluffing her curly blonde hair around her shoulders. She’s been struggling the most, so far. She’s rail thin, but she’s been puffing hard on the uphill sections, and she seems so out of shape I’m kind of worried for her.

My sister slides her phone out of her back pocket. Like the others, she’s in full make-up, including false eyelashes, but at least she’s wearing trail shoes and sensible shorts and a tanktop. “We’ll be there in another hour,” she says.

“An hour?!” Brittany seethes. “You didn’t say we’d be walking so far each day, Linz.”

“We’re only going ten miles,” my sister replies airily. “It’ll be worth it, you’ll see.”

I roll my eyes. Spending the night in a basic campsite doesn’t seem like a great prize after a whole day’s walking and bitching and complaining.

But Lindsay is real upbeat. Like, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her sopumpedbefore. From the moment we gathered in the forest parking lot this morning, she seemed like she could hardly wait to get to our destination.

The other three were also excited at first, but before we’d even gone a mile, their good moods had been replaced by constant complaints.

As for me, funnily, I’m actually enjoying the hiking part. I offered to bring up the rear, but that was mainly so I could drop back and put some distance between myself and the others. And it’s kinda cool being in the forest, far from civilization. The air smells so fresh and alive. And if I tune out the mean girls’ whining, I hear nothing but bird song and the rustling of little animals in the undergrowth. Who’da thunk it?

Maybe I’ll come back here someday. See if Monica wants to come with me. I snap a selfie and send it to her. There’s not a lot of Internet connection out here, but eventually a pair of blue ticks appear next to it.

You got this!she replies right away, with a thumbs-up and starry eyes.

She’s such a sweetheart, and I’m so lucky she’s my bestie. My parents weren’t around a lot when I was growing up. They got divorced when I was young, and they both seemed more interested in their new families. Lindsay was also less of a support than I needed. But Monica has been there for me through thick and thin.

When Madison’s laced her sneakers up and everyone’s sipped their diet sodas, we set off again.

The last hour is the worst. The sun is dropping lower in the sky, casting the forest in an eerie gloom. It’ll suck if it’s already dark when we arrive. My feet get heavier with every step and the skin on my shoulders is being rubbed raw.

“We’re here!” Lindsay exclaims from the front of the line at last.

I emerge from the trail into a clearing. Andstare. I’m in an open space, about twenty yards across, surrounded by a bunch of tall, sinister-looking pines. There’s a hollow in the middle of it that might be a firepit, but that’s all.

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