Weekend in the Woods

“Jacky, hurry up!” Samantha yelled from down stairs.

Jacky rolled her eyes and yelled back, “We still have a hour before Veronica, Jason, Ryan, or Shawn get here. Chill!” Jacky glanced from her half overflowing bag to her dresser and back again. She thought from a moment before she went into her bathroom to get her toothbrush and toothpaste.


Samantha took her head out of the refrigerator. “Only one more hours until everyone get here!” she excitedly told herself. She opened the pantry “Hey sis!?” yelled Samantha.

“You don’t have to yell, Sammy, I’m packed and ready to go. Is the food ready?”

“Almost, do you think we need any litters of soda? We only have a case of cans.”

“Jason’s coming, what do you think?” Jacky put her bag on the floor next to Sammy’s neatly packed one, which was near the counter.

Samantha sighed, “Oh yea, he could drink a whole case himself! I’ll bring a litter for the rest of us. Ya think that three litters of water will be enough?”

“For a weekend? Yea, we could always take some from the river and boil it and drink that if it isn’t.” Jacky sat down on at the kitchen table as Sammy took her head out of the pantry with one litter of Pepsi in her arms.

Sammy the soda on the counter next to the bag of already packed food. The doorbell rang and Sammy ran to get it. Jacky packed the soda with the rest of the food.


Sammy swung open the door, “Ryan!” she threw her arms around him, causing Ryan to step back out of shock. “We get to go camping in the woods!!” she excitedly exclaimed.

“Oh, so that’s why I have all this stuff. Some guy on the street was all like ‘Hey kid, where are you going with that stuff?’ and I was all ‘ya know what, I don’t know!’” Sam giggled as Ryan brought his sleeping bad and bag through the door.

Jacky stepped out of the kitchen and smiled, “Hey Ryan,” she gave him a hug and then led him into the living room. “You can toss your stuff onto the floor next to the couch.”

Ryan threw down his stuff and plopped down onto the couch. The doorbell rang, so Sammy left Ryan and Jacky alone to answer it. Jacky sat next to Ryan. He put his arm around her, “I can’t believe your parents are letting you come with us. Your dad is so uptight with you and your sister and boys.

“Yeah. I guess he understands that we’re just friends.”

Ryan took his arm off of Jacky’s shoulders and leaned against it on his knees. “Yea, just friends,” he grumbled under his breathe.

“Hey guys!” Veronica said as she walked into the room. “Sam’s helping Jason with the tent stuff.” Veronica put her stuff next to Ryan’s and gave Ryan and Jacky each a hug.

“Well, if we want a place to sleep, I better make sure that Jason doesn’t Let Sammers carry anything important!” Ryan said with a smile. He got up and left the room. He came back shaking his head, “Too late.”

Sammy proudly came marching into the room with poles for the tent falling out of the bag she had over her shoulder. By the time she placed the bag onto the floor, it was empty. “Hey! Where’d they go?”

Jason came trailing in with a big camping book bag and an armful of poles. “Hey Ryan!”

Ryan jumped up from the couch, “Yes, sir!?”

“Can you go get the rest of the tent stuff?”

“Sir, yes sir!” Jacky, Sammy, and Veronica laughed as Ryan saluted Jason and then skipped past him. Jason rolled his eyes and put down his stuff onto the floor.

After Veronica had controlled her giggles, she said, “I’d better go out and make sure HE doesn’t screw something up.” With that comment, She jumped up and sprinted after Ryan.

Jason sat on the floor and helped Sammy put the poles back into the bag, “What’s up with my girls?”

Sammy sighed, “I dropped all the poles.”

“Poor Sammy,” Jason gave her a quick hug then put this last pole back into the bag. He stood up and moved onto the couch next to Jacky. Samantha sat on the other side, putting Jacky in the middle.

Veronica and Ran walking into the room with two bags. Shawn followed behind them. “Hey Shawn!!” Sammy jumped up and gave Shawn a big hug, making him drop his bags. Before Shawn could say anything, Sammy kept talking, leading Shawn into the living room with bags dragging behind him. “Shawn’s here, everybody! That means we can leave.”

Sammy led Shawn to the couch and made him sit down. Then she cleared her throat and stood up tall, like she had something important to say. “Jacky, will you please explain to everyone what we’re doing?”

“Going camping. We’re going camping,” she said bluntly.

“They know that!!”

“Then why did I have to tell them that?”

“I meant the plan. Tell them the plan!!”

“Oh, well, we’re going…”

“Stand up and say it!” Sammy pulled her sister out of the seat then sat down.

“Whatever! We’re going into the woods behind the house. It’s about an hour hike. You guys have to carry your stuff with you.”

“What about the tent stuff? You don’t think I’m going to carry it all, do you??” Jason said.

“And the food?” Sammy added, “What about the food?”

“Hey, relax, I’m not done. We’re going to take these wagons,” she pointed to two little red wagons in the corner, “And we’ll put the tent stuff…”

“And food!” chimed in Sammy

Jacky rolled her eyes, “And food in them and we’ll take turns pulling them. It’s only for an hour!”


“It’s heavy!!! Are we there yet? Can’t someone else pull it now??” Sammy complained.

“You’ve only had it for five minutes!” Veronica laughed.

“But it’s heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeavvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvy!!!!” She whinnied.

“Here’s the clearing anyway. Just pull it a few more feet. Jeez.” Jacky rolled her eyes.

“Jeez, I’ll take it.” Jason turned back to help Sammy.

“No!” Sammy pushed past him. “I can do it on my own.” Jason rolled him eyes and followed her into the clearing.

The clearing was surrounded with trees. In the distance, the friends could hear a river. Everyone dropped his or her stuff and Jason sighed. “I guess we should get the tents up.”

Jacky grabbed a bag of poles and Veronica took a bag with the material. Sammy joined them on the far side of the clearing and the guys, taking the things needed for their tent, took a spot next to them.

In five minutes, the girls looked at their tent and sighed. “Good job, girls,” Sammy patted Veronica and Jacky on the back.

“Lets move in!” Veronica said as she picked up her bag and opened the flap of the tents. Jacky followed, and then Sammy.

They rolled out their sleeping bags with Sammy in the middle. Jacky put an electric lantern in the corner of the tent. “We can out it where ever tonight,” she said. The girls nodded. They lined up their bags along one side of the tent and then left the tent one by one.

Outside, the guys were still trying to get their tent up. “No, no, no!” Jason was saying, “If you’d just let me…”

“Oh yea, because Jason the great always knows everything!” Shawn yelled back.

“Hey you guys,” Ryan moved into the very unsteady tent, “This will work!”

“Just cause I know how to camp and put up a tent doesn’t mean that I know everything!” Jason yelled, ignoring Ryan.

“Why do you think you have to always take charge!? I know how to put a tent up!” Shawn let go of the rope he was holding.

“Ouch!” the tent collapsed. The girls started to giggle uncontrollability. Jason and Shawn had just noticed he had been there. “Guys? A little help?” They could see Ryan’s body outlined under the fallen tent. He was moving around trying to find a way out. This made Veronica, Jacky, and Sammy all laugh so hard that they fell, onto the forest ground. Jason and Shawn were trying to get Ryan out of the tent, but instead go their selves tangled in the tent, too.

“I can’t take it!” wailed Jacky. She controlled her giggles enough to get up, and Veronica followed. Jacky took the rope that Shawn had been holding and Veronica went to the back of the tent and picked up another rope. They both pulled the ropes tight and the tent shot up. Shawn and Jason rolled of the top of the tent and winced as they hit the ground. Jacky and Veronica controlled their laughter long enough to tie the ropes onto the pegs already hammered into the ground. Then they burst into the laughter again.

Ryan came out of the tent looking a little dazed and looked down at Jacky. Jason and Shawn stood up looking dazed and confused. “You think that was so funny?” Ryan asked Jacky. She was laughing too hard to answer. “Alright, I’ll show you what’s really funny.” Ryan picked up Jacky and walked down a path that lead out of the clearing.

A few moments later, the four left in the clearing hear a loud splash followed by a scream. Veronica and Sammy stopped laughing and Shawn and Jason looked at each other with a grin creeping across their faces. They all darted down the path and came to a river. They got there in time to see Jacky pull Ryan into the river with a loud splash. They stood up in the water, which was waist high, and started to slash each other, laughing.

Sammy walked over to the edge of the bank. “Hey sis? Ya alright?” Jacky nodded her head and continued to splash Ryan.

“How about you join her?” Jason said from behind as her pushed her in. Sammy’s screams were cut short by a splash. Jason started laughing.

“Hey! That wasn’t nice!” Veronica said as she pushed Jason. When Jason resurfaced, he was still smiling. Sammy jumped on his back and pulled him back under the water.

“Your next!” Shawn pushed Veronica in, but Vero grabbed his arm and Shawn toppled in on top of her. Everyone started to splash each other and laughed.

Jacky pulled her shirt on. “Dry clothes, how nice!” She sighed. The light from the lantern filled the tent.

“Hey! We got it!” Shawn yelled from outside.

Sammy shook her head, “Ya give three guys matches and a bunch of sticks and how long does it take to built a fire?”

“Too long,” Veronica said with a laugh. She followed Sammy and Jacky out of the tent. The guys had actually done a nice job with the fire. It filled the clearing with a nice, calm, gentle light. Around the fire, they arranged rocks a log for seats. “Nice job, guys,” Vero said impressively. She took a seat on one of the rocks. Jason took two cans of soup out of the bag of food, which stood between the two tents.

He put them into a pot. Sammy moved next to him and took a grill looking thing out of the wagon. Jason followed her over to the fire and she placed the grill over the fire. Jason put the pot on top. “Two will be enough, right?” Sammy nodded.

The soup cooked quickly and Jacky handed out the bowls. The group of friends ate in silence. They put the dishes in a pile and removed the grill from the fire. Jacky took out marshmallows and they started to joke around. As the night went on, they started tell ghost stories and stuff. Sammy was the first to head into bed. Jason went in soon after, and then Veronica and Shawn. Soon, just Jacky and Ryan were sitting up.

Jacky gazed up to the sky. “The stars are so pretty,” she said with a sigh.

“Yeah,” Ryan mutter without taking his eyes off of Jacky. “Hey Jack?”

“Hum?”

“How long have we been friends?”

Jacky laughed, “Since the day I kicked your butt on the play ground.”

Ryan laughed. “Right. I was the new kid.”

“Yeah. I kicked a homerun in kickball and you said it was foul.”

“It was!”

“It was right over second base!”

“Oh, yea,” Ryan and Jacky laughed. “You got so mad you tackled me to the ground.”

“Yeah, we had to stay in from recess from a week!”

“You were the only girl that could ever tackle me.”

“I can still tackle you!”

“Yea?”

“Yea!”

Ryan shook his head and smiled, “Right.” His brown eyes met Jacky’s blue ones. He began to lean his face into hers.

Whoo! A nearby owl made the two of them jump. Jacky looked at her watch. “It’s late. I guess I should go to bed. Make sure to put the fire out, ‘kay?”

“Okay,” Ryan said with a sigh. Jacky got up from beside him and made her way into her tent. Ryan stared at the fire for a moment before he reached for then water bucket and threw it on the fire. Darkness now covered the clearing as Ryan made his way to his tent.



“We’re going fishing! Come on, Jacky, fishing!” Jacky rolled over. “Wake up! I wanna go fishing!”

“Then go,” Jacky said as she put her head under her pillow.

Sammy sighed. She looked at Veronica and Jacky and said, “You two lazy people! Fine, Jason and I will just go by ourselves.” She waited for an answer, but her friends kept sleeping. She threw her arms up in defeat and walked out of the tent.

“Ready?” Jason asked with a smile. Sammy shook her head yes and picked up one of Jason fishing poles. She followed him down the path to the river. The sun was still hidden over the horizon as Jason showed Sammy how to bait the hook and cast the line.

“I’ve never fished before! This is so fun!” Sammy said with a big grin on her face.

Jason smiled and said, “Yeah, I guess it’s fun.” He picked up his pole and put the bait on the hook. After he baited his hook, he cased his line into the river.

The two friends stood in silence for a few minutes. Jason watched Sammy look at Her floating ball hopefully. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her hazel eyes shinned.

Sammy watched the ball intently. Then, it started to bob up and down in the water. “Jason?”

“Hum?” he said, quickly returning his eyes to his ball.

“Is it supposed to bob like that?”

“PULL!” Jason cried, as he stuck his pole into the muddy ground and helped her pull back on the pole. “Now, turn this,” he began to turn the pulley as he talked. Sammy took over and the string pulled tight. Sammy kept reeling and finally she pulled the line in. Jason and Samantha stood over the bass. It flopped a little in the air and it took a second for Jason to react to it. “Nice job.” He pulled the fish close to him and pulled it off of the hook gently. Then he put it into a bucket.

“Wow! It’s big!” Sammy remarked on her catch.

“Yes, a nice size,” Jason said as he returned to his pole.

“Yup,” Sammy smiled as she threw her line back into the water.



Jacky rolled over. Veronica lay across the tent from her, still sound asleep. She heard Jason and Sammy’s familiar laughing outside the tent. Jacky sat up and rubbed her eyes. She pulled shorts and a tee shirt out of her bag and got changed. She emerged out of the tent and saw Jason and Sammy laughing as the fire cooked two freshly caught fish.

“Hey, sleepy-head! How’d ya sleep?” Sammy asked as her sister sat beside her.

Jacky shrugged, “Alright. Any one else up?”

“Nah,” replied Jason as he moved the fish around.

“Hey, I’m up!” Ryan hopped over one of the little ‘seats’ and then sat in it. “What’s for breakfast?”

“I don’t know. Could it be fish?” Sammy said sarcastically.

“Um, it smells fishy out here. I thought it might just be you!” Sammy scrunched her nose and Jason laughed. “So, any way, who caught the fish we’re eating this morning?”

“I did!” Sammy declared proudly.

“Do we have other food I could eat for breakfast then?” Sammy reached over Jacky and slapped Ryan on the knee. Ryan pretended like it hurt, and Samantha scrunched her nose again.

Jacky said with a sigh, “I’m going to wake everyone up so they can be up in time to eat.” Jacky stood up and Ryan watched her walk around the rock-shaped-seats.

Jacky opened the flap to the guy’s tent and Shawn rolled over. “Get up! Breakfast is going to be ready soon, so get up already!” Shawn groaned as he sat up and blinked at Jacky. Jacky shook her head, “And please put a shirt on!” Shawn looked surprised as Jacky let the flap fall closed and moved to her own tent.

She opened the flap and stepped inside. “Hey, Vero! Ya gota get up and dressed and stuff.

“Five more minutes?”

“Breakfast is ready!!” yelled Sammy from outside the tent.

“Eat if you dare! Ouch! You didn’t have to hit me,” followed Ryan’s voice.

“You can sleep five more minutes, but there might not be any more breakfast left when you get up!” Jacky said.

Vero sat up and groaned. “I’m coming, then.” She was moving towards her bag when Jacky went back outside the tent. She took her seat between Ryan and Sammy just as Shawn came out. Jason passed them each a plate of fish and Sammy handed her sister a cup filled with water.

The friends ate in silence and, in a few minutes, Veronica joined them. Jason handed her a plate and Sammy handed her a cup of water and the friends went back to their silence. Jason, being the first one done, went down to the river and got a bucket of water. As everyone finished, they dumped their used things in the bucket.

“What do you guys wanna do now?” Jason asked.

“How about a hike?” suggested Jacky. Everyone agreed that it was a good idea, so Veronica and Sawn disappeared into their tents and emerged with clean clothes on. Sammy threw some snacks and a Frisbee into a backpack and threw it onto her back. Jason grabbed a soccer ball. “Ready?” Jacky asked.

“Yup,” everyone said.

They walked to the river then took walked along a bank that followed it. They walked up a big hill, and after about two hours, they got to the top. Ryan looked at the view.

“It’s amazing up here!” Ryan smiled.

Jacky joined him at hid side. “Yeah, it really is!” She smiled a sweet smile at him and Ryan felt like his knees were going to let him fall.

“Snack time!” exclaimed Sammy. She opened her backpack and dumped the snacks onto the floor. Jacky grabbed a bag of cookies and then settled herself under a tree looking out towards the wonderful view. Ryan sat next to her and opened his store bought cupcakes. The sun was high in the sky and the shade felt nice and cool. Within five minutes, everyone but Ryan and Jacky had decided to abandon their snacks and play a little soccer.

“You guys playing?’ asked Jason.

Ryan shook his head, “Nah”

“Alright, how about you, Jack?”

“I’ll keep Ryan company.”

“Whatever makes you guys happy,” Jason sat before he turned away and joined Sammy, Veronica, and Shawn.

“You could play, if you want,” Ryan said with a smile.

Jacky shook her head, “I’d much rather hang here with you.” Ryan grinned as he watched Jacky put the last cookie from her bag into her mouth.

“Hey Jack?”

“Hum?”

“About last night…” Ryan’s voice trailed off.

“What about it?” Jacky asked.

“We almost kissed.”

“I know,” Jacky’s eyes looked over the treetops.

“Why didn’t we?” Ryan watch Jacky’s big blue eyes. Jacky didn’t look back.

“The owl made us jumped,” she replied simply.

“Jacky…” Ryan started.

“Ryan. Hang on. If you want to talk about this so bad, I have something to say. “Jacky turned and looked deep into Ryan’s deep brown eyes. “I care about you. I care a lot. You’re my best friend, next to Sammy.” She paused as if she didn’t want to tell Ryan what she wanted to say. “I’ve liked you for a long time. Since we were little,” Jacky said after a moment.

“So…”

“Sh! Let me finish. We became rally close friends, ya know? The best! I can’t kill that. Remember when Sammy went out with her ex-best friend, Jake?”

Ryan nodded, “Yea.”

“They don’t even talk to each other any more. Not a hello. Not even a friendly glance. Their strangers now!”

“But Jake…”

“No. I can’t. I won’t ruin our…” Ryan interrupted with a soft kiss. Jacky sat stunned.

Ryan watched her face, waiting for a reaction. “How can that be so wrong?” he eventually asked. Jacky look at him blankly. Ryan waited again for her to talk. After a moment, he begged, “Please say something. Anything!”

Jacky’s blank face was replaced with a calm face, even though her mouth stayed in the same shape. She leaned her face close to Ryan’s. “It can’t be.” Jacky kissed him.

Jason Shawn and Veronica stood motionless and watched in awe. Sammy shook her head and said, “ I knew she liked him.”


The fire filled their little clearing again and the friends had eaten the rest of the fish. They sat around the campfire and roasted their marsh mellows on long sticks. “The weekend is almost over!” Samantha informed her friends.

“Yeah,” Jason said with a sigh.

“Hey, tomorrow we have off school,” Shawn said with a wide grin on his face.

“After a good shower, lets go to the movies or mall or something,” suggested Ryan.

Jacky pulled her stick out of the fire. She pulled the marsh mellow off and it stuck to her fingers as she put it into her mouth. Ryan shook his head. “You’re a mess, honey.” Jacky just shook her head. She was totally happy as Ryan kissed the top of her head.



“Night!” Sammy called after Jacky, Ryan, Veronica and Shawn.

“Are you tired?” asked Jason.

“Nope, you?”

“Not at all. This was great, huh?”

“Yea. I loved the sitting around the fire and talking.”

“Yeah,” Jason’s eyes watched Sammy. “Hey Sam?”

“Yeah?” Sammy’s hazel eyes met up with Jason’s big brown, puppy dog ones.

“I was thinking.”

“Dangerous”

“We’re good friends, right?”

“The best! I mean, Jacky’s my best friend. But, you know what I mean.”

Jason nodded. He touched Sammy’s face and moved her brown, shiny her behind her ears. “Jason? Wha…”

Jason leaned his face close to hers. “I like you a lot.”

“I can’t,” Sammy pulled away from his face and hand. “You know I can’t. Remember Jake?”

“I don’t care…”

“I’m sorry. I’m going to go to bed now. I’m going to forget what happened just now so we can keep going on as friends.” Sammy rose and turned to walk away. Jason opened his mouth to protest, but decided not to. Sammy made her way into the tent. Jason buried his face into his hands and sat there a long time.



Jacky sat in her room. She was unpacked and she was letting the event of the weekend sink in.

“Hey, Jackers!” Samantha came running into Jacky’s room. “Lets go, everyone is waiting down. Jason picked them all up first.” Sammy tugged on Jacky’s hand and Jacky followed her eager twin down stairs.

“Sam?”

“Yeah?”

“We have great friends!”

“Yea!” Sammy, Jacky, Jason, Ryan, Veronica and Shawn all ran out to Jason’s car and rode off into the sunset. Jacky was again totally happy.