Chapter 13

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Georgina asked Daniel. Her long, dark hair was pulled back severely into a tight braid. She was wearing cargo shorts, boots, and a red tank top.

“Scouts motto is ‘be prepared’. Besides, after telling my mother that we’re not getting married yet we should be ready for anything.” Daniel was wearing his old scout uniform.

“Good, because honestly, I’m terrified,” Georgina confessed.

“You? Terrified?”

“My students and I are not on the best terms. I’m pretty sure most of them don’t like me at all.”

“Don’t let them get to you. Teens can smell your fear. You have a whole week to show them the wonderful and caring person you truly are.”

“I hope they give me the chance,” Georgina said with a nervous smile.

Daniel adjusted his backpack, took a deep breath, and strode toward the group of teens that had gathered at the start of a wide trail. Georgina walked a few steps behind him.

One boy stepped away from the group. “Hey, I’m Mark,” he called out with a bright smile as he approached Daniel. “Are you Ms. E.’s boyfriend?”

Georgina just gave the teen a questioning raise of her eyebrow.

Daniel smiled at him. “Hey, Mark. Yep, I am. She’s great. Cool T-shirt, do you play League of Legends?”

“Yes, of course, I do. Do you play too?”

Daniel nodded.

“I play with Garen,” Mark said.

“Well, I might invite you to play with my team. In which position do you play?”

“Jungler. Hey, maybe we could walk together, and talk about computer games,” Mark suggested.

“I’d like that.”

Daniel connected with the group of teenagers in no time. He was in touch with his inner teen, so a few minutes later he was chatting with all of them about computer games, TV shows, and movies.

Georgina looked at him with a pang of envy. Daniel’s superpower was sneaking into everyone’s heart.

The group was following a path that others had taken enough times so it was clearly defined and the brush didn’t encroach. The path was at an incline and the rugged forest terrain was mountainous.

A few hours later, Daniel was ready to take a break. Georgina could probably go all day without resting. He felt a strange mixture of admiration and jealousy. He wanted to be her equal. He wanted her to be impressed with him.

He didn’t know Georgina admired the way Daniel had the whole group in his pocket in no time. They all sat around him without even realizing it. They were telling jokes, singing silly songs, and talking non-stop since they left.

“Are we stopping here?” a student named Karen asked Georgina.

“We’ll take fifteen. Be sure to hydrate,” Georgina said when everyone else had caught up with them. “We need to head out soon if we want to make our designated camp by dark.”

The rest of the day went pretty much like the morning: trudging through the forest, stopping for a break, trudging on. Until they reached a large clearing and Georgina announced they would set up camp there.

Some hours later, they were sitting by the campfire singing silly camp songs, playing games, telling stories, and cracking ridiculous jokes. Daniel was the soul of the group.

Before turning in, Georgina read them a paragraph from her favorite book: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”