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  He smiled and stuck his hand out, "Hi, I'm Billy, you are Kelly?" He asked giving her a once over.

  "Yeah." She sounded almost shy. "How'd you know?"

  "I looked you up in the yearbook so I'd recognize you."

  "So did I." She managed a smile.

  She shook hands with him and leaned back in the seat.

  Mr. Peters was fixing to give them a speech as he cleared his throat and stared at the kids as he stood in the middle of the aisle.

  "Okay kids, at school I'm Mr. Peters the science teacher, but here, I’m your guide, your counselor and your friend. This is a trip where you can learn, enjoy, and connect with nature. The park has several hiking trips but I handed picked this one as it will take us to a remote area of the park that has more to see and you'll get to camp right there in full view of everything. I don't have any instructions for you until we get to our destination, so I'll make this short, enjoy the sights along the way. It's a long trip so take advantage of the fact that we are going to one of the most gorgeous places on our earth. Enough said for now, be sure and load your cameras because your folks will want to see all the things you have."

  Kelly leaned her head back on the headrest.

  "He's a pretty nice guy away from the classroom," Billy commented.

  "You been on any of these trips before?" Kelly asked him out of pure curiosity.

  "Oh yeah, for the past three years." He answered with a smile.

  Kelly couldn't help but notice the smile. She wasn't attracted to jocks, but Billy did have a certain charm about him. She did her best not to notice though, and he was quite friendly too.

  "Well at least you've got experience. This is my first trip." She sighed heavily. "Never been, never wanted to go." She wailed softly so others didn't hear.

  "Well, I'll try my best to change your mind." He smiled knowingly at her.

  "Good luck!" She chortled.

  "I haven't seen you around." He remarked offhandedly. "You do go to Medford High, don't you?"

  "I'm not much of a joiner. And yeah, I'm a Junior."

  "Oh okay, well that's great."

  "Yeah. Sure."

  "This will be my last year." He remarked.

  "Lucky you." She mumbled.

  "I'll miss it."

  "I'll bet your going to get a football scholarship at some big fancy college, how could you miss high school?" She protested.

  He stared at her now, "I don't play football?"

  "Basketball?" She asked.

  "No, none of the things you might expect. I like to ride horses and hike trails and I'm on the track team, but I doubt I'll get a scholarship. I'm taking a tech school when I get out and go to work."

  She looked at him this time, really looked. "Really?"

  "Yeah. I guess you're going to college."

  "I don't know. We don't have that kind of money. Just coming on this trip stretched my Mom's paycheck." She admitted.

  "Where does she work?"

  "The bank."

  "So what are you going to do if you don't go to college?"

  "I haven't thought about it much, but probably go to some trade school like you to learn how to do something and go to work." She shrugged.

  "Good idea." He smiled.

  They rode in silence for a long while.

  "I like your shoes," he smiled as he stared at them.

  They were gray with a soft pink accent. She smiled.

  "Yeah, Mom spent too much on me. Made me feel guilty, but she's the one that wanted me to come."

  "Oh, so you aren't here because you enjoy it?"

  "No. who likes bugs and sleeping on the ground?" She wrinkled her nose.

  "Me." He grinned. "Maybe before the trip is over I'll win you over to hiking."

  "I doubt it." She pouted. "I'll be a real challenge for you."

  "You got brothers and sisters?" He asked.

  "No, I’m an only child. Just me and my Mom."

  "Where's your dad?"

  She didn't think he'd ask but when he did, she found herself nearly tongue-tied.

  "He—died. He died in Afghanistan."

  "Man, I'm sorry." He sounded as though he meant it. The way he said that, as though he was so sorry he even mentioned it. It touched her.

  "Oh no, now I remember, they announced he died over the intercom, didn't they?"

  "Yeah. My Mom took it pretty hard."

  "At least she can be proud."

  "That's what everyone told her, but it's hard to think like that when you miss him…"

  "I'll bet."

  "How about you, do you have brothers and sisters?"

  "Yeah, an older sister and a younger brother."

  "Must be nice."

  "Sometimes." He grinned. "I'm lucky in a lot of ways, I have both my parents. My father was a little disappointed that I didn't want to play football. It took him a year to come to terms with it. So I tried out for track and got on the team. That pleased him. It's not that I particularly like track, but it keeps me in shape."

  "Running is good. I run every morning before school." She admitted. Although why she admitted to him she wasn't sure. At least she was in shape for the trip.

  "Really, maybe you should try out for track this year." He suggested.

  "I do it for the same reason you do, to keep in shape." She shot him a slight smile.

  "Hey, I got a half smile out of you. I’m doing pretty good." He seemed so happy with himself. He wasn't cocky but he was confident and she secretly liked that about him. She envied him in many ways.

  When the bus finally stopped that night, Mr. Peters told them they would be resting at Motel 6 for the night. He paired six girls each in every room and the same for the boys.

  Kelly bunked with all senior girls and she felt a bit displaced with them. She didn't know any of them and they seemed to snub her.

  One of them came up to her though, a pretty blonde. "Hey, aren't you paired with Billy Williams?" She asked.

  "Yeah." Kelly replied not paying much attention to her.

  "He's gorgeous. I've wanted to get to know him for ages. Would you consider swapping partners?" She asked.

  Kelly paused, "Well I don't know if we can do that or not. And I'm not sure I should. Maybe we should ask Mr. Peters first." She explained.

  The girl frowned, "Geez, he'll probably say no."

  "I don't know. You'll have to ask him though." Kelly told her.

  She didn't want to have to get to know a new partner. She knew a lot about Billy now and for some reason in the back of her mind, she really didn't want to switch.

  "Alright, if he says yes, then it's a switch, okay?" The girl asked.

  Kelly shrugged, not liking the whole idea.

  Billy was cute, she give her that, but switching bothered her more than she wanted to admit. She had a hard time talking to people and she already knew the basics about Billy. It would be like starting all over with this.

  "Oh, by the way I'm Patricia Johnson. Are you a senior?" she looked skeptical. "I haven't seen you around."

  "No, I'm Kelly Webster and I'm a Junior." She told her.

  The girl turned her nose up immediately. "Girls we got a kid with us. Kelly Webster, she's a junior."

  Kelly watched all the girls ignore her like she suddenly had a disease. She hated the social class thing and tried to ignore their snubs. But they made it obvious she was not someone to hang with. Not that she really wanted to hang with them, but she wouldn't snub them either.

  The next day she went with Patricia to see Mr. Peters, mainly because she wanted to know for sure what he said.

  "I'm sorry Miss Johnson, but I've already assigned partners and there will be absolutely no switching. Is that clear? This isn't a dating club, a glee club. It's an adventure club and I took a lot of pains to see that everyone got a suitable partner, including you."

  "Yes Mr. Peters." Patricia looked angry as she stomped away. Kelly turned to the teacher.

  "She wanted to switch, I didn't."

&n
bsp; "Good. I chose the partners I did for a reason. You will be with a seasoned hiker, in other words. Billy Williams has been on trips with us before and he knows what he's doing. Since this is your first year with us, I wanted you to be with someone experienced. I know what Patricia is up to. I've had that same trick played on me before, that's why I won't consider switching, especially with first timers. I'm responsible for everyone on this trip and I can't have any hanky-panky going on."

  Kelly took another look at Mr. Peters. He really was a concerned kind of teacher and he was merely looking out for the students. She appreciated that. "Thanks Mr. Peters, it is my first time and I don't know anything about it."

  "Well, I hope it will be an experience you won't forget, and I hope to keep all my students safe. By picking the right partner for the hike, I can feel relatively sure that all will be well. If you get into any trouble, Billy will help you, I’m sure of that. And I'm very glad to have you with us this trip. It's going to be exceptional."

  She smiled and walked off.

  Chapter Three

  They boarded the bus again the next morning and headed out. This time she sat by the window. For some reason Mr. Peters had changed her outlook to some degree. She sadly realized she had her head stuck in the sand for some time now and coming out of that sand woke her up.

  Some teachers really did care about their students, she surmised.

  Feeling safe since her father died was something that had become important to Kelly. He had been her protector and now her teacher had assured her that he was looking after everyone too. Why hadn't she known this about herself? She'd gone into a shell since her father died.

  Billy sat down beside her and smiled. "I see you survived your first night okay."

  She glanced at him and rolled her eyes. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and looked relaxed. "It was eye opening. I'll say that."

  "They give you a hard time about being a Junior?" He asked.

  "How'd you know?" She asked, staring at him.

  "It's typical. They razed me the first time I came on one of these trips too. But I was so excited about the trip itself, I didn't pay any attention. I had a blast. Sorry they did that to you though. Don't let them get to you."

  His support was surprising, and it was another reason to like Billy. Oddly enough, Kelly didn't like many boys.

  "I have to tell you." She paused thinking about what she was about to admit, but she owed Patricia no loyalty. "Patricia Johnson wanted me to switch partners." She looked for his reaction.

  "Oh yeah, Mr. Peters doesn't allow switching."

  "I know. We went to him this morning and he told her no. He explained to me why after she took off in a huff."

  "What did he say?"

  "He said he handpicked everyone's partner and he knew I was brand new to hiking so he put me with someone who was experienced."

  Billy glanced at her, "He said that?"

  "Yeah, I guess he thinks pretty highly of you, and he said he wanted to protect me. I kind of appreciated that." She told him on a more positive note. "I will admit I know nothing about camping. I'm a real greenhorn."

  "Like I said, I've done this some and I enjoy it, and I truly hope you get to enjoying it too."

  Still bugs and hard ground wasn't something she could truly say she enjoyed. But, it was looking up.

  "I'm sorry Patricia couldn't be your partner." She told him. "She's really a cute girl."

  His expression changed suddenly, "Don't worry about it. This isn't some kind of date. It's an adventure. For you it's new, and first impressions are important. Now if you had gotten Dave over there, you'd have been sorry, because he's like Patricia, all he thinks about is making out. Or Ron, over there, he thinks he's God's gift to girls. Or Mike, he doesn't know any more about hiking than you do. So Mr. Peters was right to turn her down. And I'm glad. I come for the adventure, to see the beauty of our country and to enjoy being outdoors. If I wanted a date, I'd ask a girl out, but not to something like this. Besides, I’m kind of getting use to you." He grinned.

  That bolstered her ego a bit.

  He was something. A senior actually not bothered by being stuck with a novice, and a Junior!

  They had another night of stop overs then on to Yosemite.

  The second night she was with a mixture of girls, Juniors and Seniors. One girl, Marty Phelps bunked below her. "So who did they hook you with?"

  "I got Billy Williams."

  "Really, he's a hunk." Marty smiled. "All the seniors wanted him."

  "I met one last night. She wanted to know if I would switch."

  "What did you tell her?" Marty asked with a snicker.

  "I told her to ask Mr. Peters."

  "You mean you would have switched if he let you?"

  "I guess. I didn't really want to, but I figured Seniors have more priorities than me."

  "I know Patricia; she's gone on Billy. But he doesn't pay her much mind. Billy's a good guy. He hangs out with my brother, I should know. He's not dating anyone right now, that's why he's so hot. They all want to grab him before school starts. But Billy just doesn't act interested. And I'm not really sure why either."

  "Are you interested in him?"

  "Me? Heavens no. I go with Andrew Wilder. But Andy is a football player and he didn't come on this trip."

  "Oh. Who's your partner?"

  "Jimmy Saunders, he's pretty cool, and he's experienced too."

  "Who do you date?"

  Kelly hung back from that question. "I'm not dating anyone right now."

  "Really, why not?"

  "I don't know. No one's asked me." She shrugged.

  "You're cute enough."

  Kelly shrugged. She hadn't realized until this trip just how out of it she was. She didn't date, she didn't get involved in anything. Her mother was right she needed to get a life.

  "Well, you have no worries with Billy. He's not like most of the guys who try to come on to you. He doesn't flirt much. Not unless he really likes a girl. But he's not going with anyone either right now."

  "If he's so popular, why not?" Kelly asked.

  "Well, this isn't a well-known fact around school, but his mother has cancer, and he's been hanging close to home because of it. She's pretty sick and he's really worried. Girls just haven't been a part of his life since she took sick. But don't let on you know. If he wants you to know, he'll tell you himself. He's really a good guy, Kelly."

  "I didn't know about his mother. I'm glad you told me." Kelly's forehead wrinkled with worry. He hadn't said a word about it. "He's always so upbeat, you would never guess it."

  "I know, that's Billy. But when you really get to know him you'll find out that he's pretty intense and such a nice guy." Marty told her.

  "Thanks for telling me about it." Kelly fretted. "I wouldn't want to step on his toes or anything. He said he lived with both his folks and he was lucky. I had no idea he was going through something like that."

  "I guess you two have something in common after all. You know, I never got a chance to tell you, but when they announced on the intercom about your dad…. someone said no one told you beforehand."

  "Yeah, it was a shock."

  Kelly climbed up in the top bunk and thought about it for a long while. No one would ever guess behind that fabulous smile of Billy's, was a boy who was hurting. It made her take a closer look at herself. She'd been so busy crawling in a hole herself and burying her misery she never realized that there were others out there that were hurting too.

  Boy, this trip was already an eye-opener.

  The next day she joined Billy and there was a certain amount of excitement as would have one more over-nighter then they'd be there. This time Marty was in her room and they talked most of the night. She liked Marty but she didn't have any classes with her.

  "So what do you think of Billy?" Marty asked curiously.

  Kelly shrugged. "I don't know. He's okay. Always up beat, excited about the trip. I like him, for a Senior."

  "Yeah, ma
ybe you'll start dating him." Marty suggested.

  "Oh I doubt it. I don't think he's even thinking about girls. From the way he talks."

  "Yeah, that's true. But maybe this trip will change him."

  Kelly went to bed wondering about Billy.

  The next day they were getting close to the park and Mr. Peters had a long talk with them before he ever let them get off the bus that afternoon.

  "Now pay attention kids. There are a lot of you and only one of me. But this is Mr. Rich Palmer and he's one of our official guides. The first day we'll meet our guide and get familiar with our backpacks and gear. The park takes care of the permits and stuff and they'll go over the rules with us thorough. Mr. Palmer has produced a special manual of instructions for every emergency and every situation. The senior partner, and you know who you are, will at all times refer to this manual for guidance. There are three adults here that will be stationed in-between all of you to help you with any problems that come up. Now, one other thing, and this is important.

  "I put all of you with partners I thought well suited, not because you like them or admire them, but because they usually know better than you would. We will move together, but camps will be set up with your partners. This is not a trip for lovers. So if that is what you have in mind, forget it. In a hiking situation, things can change in a moment's notice, too close to a cliff, an animal you might innocently disturb, snakes, bugs, all manner of little things that crop up. In other words, you have to pay attention to your surroundings.

  "There will be tents for girls and the boys will sleep outside. Unless it rains then we'll separate the girls from the boys and everyone will be in tents. If this rule is broken, you will be sent home and you will not come back for another trip. This will be checked up on, so remember that. In certain areas you'll be allow to fish and swim. But unless it's designated, you won't. That means you can fish. There will be no killing of animals. It's a felony offense and you will likely be fined heavily if caught. You will see animals in the park as well, please do not disturb them or feed them. No killing animals for the fun of it. We respect their territory. This is a law out here and if you don't respect it, there are fines that can be attached to your going home. If a bear wanders into your camp, send up a flare if there is a problem. Most times they are just curious. And help will come. We have Park Rangers about too that can help. You'll all be given maps, stay on course, you'll be given supplies and rations. Rations are always kept in closed platic containers. And hung on what is called a Bear Pole. There are porta-pottys that can be carried from one site to the next. If the weather turns bad, we have emergency shelters in many of the areas. Have fun, take pictures and enjoy your trip through the woods. That's all."