Private Finished Camping Madness

Maisie Belle couldn't stop thinking about what had happened that day before. Her poor bottom lip was red and a bit swollen from how much she'd chewed on it and how much she was still chewing on it. Ash hadn't brought it up again, and some small part of her was hoping that maybe he'd forgotten that he ever asked her. Which was highly unlikely but a girl could hope to save herself from embarrassment.

She lurched at the sound of his voice but played it off as just hopping over a rock that was in the way of her path. "Yeah? Well you gotta be quiet in the forest. Trees have ears and all that, y'know? And I don't wanna scare off all them critters; they're just trying to live."

Maisie eyed the gathering they came upon and slung her bag off her shoulder, avoiding eye contact with Ash the entire time. She opened up her bag and started to dig around for a few moments, but as time went on, her digging grew slower and her heart sank. She'd forgotten her tent.

Maisie Belle wondered how long it would take her to hike all the way back to town and to her dorm to either die of embarrassment or grab her tent and hike back. She jumped a bit and glanced over, "What? Nothing's wrong. I'm just gonna set up my tent before we go to sleep so I don't have to sleep on a bunch of bugs that snuck in." She zipped up her backpack and slung it back over her shoulders.

Her grey eyes slid to inspect his tent setup, and she snorted loudly. "Shortcake, you suck at setting up tents. Ah well, you're a beginner so I guess I can't blame you, but them tree spirits sure will be scared off by how that looks. Then we won't have no one to help us clean." She stood up and strode over to his tent and got back down to start helping him adjust it.

"You see this thing here? You gotta position it like this so this bit doesn't fall over," she said, explaining tent anatomy that I definitely don't understand but she's a pro at. Maisie continued to explain how to properly set up a tent until finally it was looking presentable and wasn't going to fall down at the slightest gust of wind. "You got all that? I'll tear it down in the morning so you can build it again and show me you've learned."

Maisie snatched the water from him and started to gulp it down. "I got my own dang water," she huffed as she pulled the now half-empty bottle away from her lips. "But thanks. Maybe we can set up a little cooler area for all the food and water, but it's gotta be away from animals."

She stood up and looked around, wondering what she could do to stall for time to decide how to fix her missing tent problem. Should she go find another group and ask if they have a spare tent? Maybe she should actually run back to town and grab her tent; it wasn't like they were three continents away from home.

"Huh?" She glanced over and snorted. "I really think you're deaf, Shortcake. I already told you I ain't gonna set my tent up 'til sun-down. If I set it up now I'm just askin' for bugs and things to get in my sleeping bag." Hey, at least she still had her sleeping bag--maybe she could hope the weather was good and just sleep under the stars. "Hey, you wanna start a lil campfire or something? I can get us some dry wood and all that if you wanna roast some 'mallows. Marshmallows. Roast some fluffy bits. Saying marshmallows just reminds me of my goats and I don't wanna roast those lil guys."

Maisie was about to start gathering some firewood when Ash did it all anyways, and she stood there wondering what there possibly was for her to do. Maybe she'd leave to go pick up some trash with everyone...His comment-question struck a chord within her, and she gave him the most done glower she had ever given him.

In fact, she was so peeved that she slunk over to his tent and knocked it all down--carefully, of course, so as to not damage the tent or anything inside, but it was definitely no longer standing and all messed up to the point where it'd take some time putting it back. "Y'all gonna stop calling me a wuss or do I gotta do more? I will happily march my ass back to town if you're gonna suggest I'm all weak and scaredy-cat like that."

She huffed and folded her arms, silently fuming for several different reasons and certainly not solely because of his dumb comment that she probably normally would've laughed at. Her tent was miles away and she'd be darned if she was going to cave and ask him for help right away. "Well I'm still gonna wait! I'll do what I like, thank you, and I don't need you questionin' me every step of the way. Just lemme do what I want!" She opened up her bag to pull out a big bag of marshmallows, threw them near the fire, and closed the bag again.

"I don't need to prove anything to you!" Maisie huffed and crossed her arms, still peeved that he was underestimating her by a long shot. Sure he was some vampire guy with enhanced strength and all that, but that didn't make her the weakest daisy in the field that needed to be protected, she thought to herself as she fumed. She watched as he went about fixing his tent, but it didn't really make her feel all that satisfied.

A sigh escaped her and she looked around. She could just go ahead and build herself a little fort to sleep under; she'd built plenty of forts in her life-time so it shouldn't have been too much trouble. Bullheadedness was keeping her from admitting anything to her roommate if only to escape his teasing that surely would've made her feel ashamed and embarrassed.

"Huh? Oh--they mix it up with the tents. We got one big tent to hold coolers and activities and places to rest and talk, but if we choose, we can have our own tent. Separate tents are popular among all them couples that want alone time. Most of the kids get one big tent so the adults can watch over them and make sure they're all where they're supposed to be." Maisie sat down in front of the fire and stabbed a marshmallow with a nearby stick, then stuck it over the fire to roast. "You wanna see if we can't go find a river to fish in? Or maybe we can start picking up trash or something."