The Dumped Club

19-Dare to Believe

The warm hot chocolate swirled in the plastic cup we all got given and I felt the warmth of the milk between my fingers when I held the cup with both hands. The night was pitch black and the only lights was the fire coming out of each of the six hearths positioned on the landscape. Faith held out her marshmallow on a kebab stick, the flames reflecting in her blue moon-like eyes. She plopped the half melted marshmallow in her plastic cup when she was satisfied and sipped, unintentionally leaving a moustache on her upper lip.

It was when I looked around that I felt so... calm. It wasn't everyday that I went to the country to escape to forests with my classmates and drink hot chocolate while staring into a fire. It was true that we all lived in small towns/villages that were near each other but even we had access to phone connection, a supermarket or a shopping centre.

We trudged back to the field where our tents were and we had to listen to the teachers drone on and on about being quiet and not waking others up, the toilet policy and not leaving your tent for anything but the toilets before we could start getting ready for bed. They let us go at long last and the chaos began.

"Come on guys, let's get to the toilets quick. I don't want to have to queue just to use the sinks," Love said and I barged into our tent, grabbing my toiletry bag. It was a hassle trying to pee, change into pyjamas, brush your teeth and wash your face because there were so many of us and people were taking their sweet time. I changed into my pyjamas as quickly as I could in one of the cubicles, brushed my teeth in a rushed manner and opted for using cream and cotton pads to wipe my face clean from whatever trace of foundation hadn't sweatted off. I knew it wasn't great for my skin but I really couldn't deal with 60-70 girls trying to wash their face while chatting to their friends.

I hurried back into the tent and slid into my sleeping bag before rummaging in my rucksack to find the cream and cotton pads. I kept my hair in boxer braids and shoved on a black beanie over it to keep out the cold. Faith crawled into her sleeping bag shortly after and switched on her torch.

"Can't sleep without the light on?" I asked, nestling into the hood of my sleeping bag.

"I sometimes can and sometimes can't. It depends. I'm just switching it on until the others get here because it's pitch black outside," Faith said.

The others crept in too and Grace tied the strings of the tent shut. She rummaged in her bag and threw a pack at each of us before zipping it shut and throwing the duvet over her shivering figure.

"What's this?" Prudence asked and looked at what was inside the carrier bag packs Grace had thrown at us.

"Food. I figured we should have a midnight feast like all those girls do in movies,"

"Well we're not exactly supposed to eat in the tent," Faith said as a matter of factly before Love and Grace rolled their eyes simultaneously.

"Fae, drop it. Free food! What's better? And anyway, we already chickened out on doing a prank on Amethyst and Kaydence, I think we should live a little!" Love answered as a matter of factly.

"Exactly," Grace untied her carrier bag and brought out a small packet of sweet popcorn. "The teachers will catch us if I brought along crisps."

All in all, Grace had thought it out. Faith dimmed the torch and we dug in, even Prudence ate a few bites of the chocolate bar with a cautious and self-aware expression on her face. Grace assured her that it wasn't poisoned and I saw a slight bit of relief in Prudence's chestnut brown eyes.

I tried to nibble at a Twirl chocolate bar but my guilt wrapped around my conscience and held onto it like someone holding a cut off rope and I suddenly felt sick. I needed to tell them. They were my friends, they deserved to know. But how could I start it off? Would it matter if I kept my mouth shut for one more day? Or many more days?