Last Chance

Camping
I wasn't sure he would be able to make the night any better, playing with the baby tigers was a pretty amazing experience. "So where to now?" I asked him.

"You'll see, we're not very far away." He placed his hand on my thigh and focused on the road ahead of him. I glanced over at him and my insides flip flopped. Beside me sat the one person who had had my heart for longer than I can remember. Sure, there had been other boyfriends, but never had I felt the same connection with them as I felt with Sid. It was like we could be seperated for years and were thousands of miles apart and then when we saw each other again it was like we had never been apart in the first place. Being such close friends for so long kind of solidified all the other feelings that came along with growing up. I was lucky, very lucky. "What's up with the staring? Do I have something on my face?"

I lifted my hand and stroked his cheek. "Nothing, I was just thinking. About you, and us, and what a crazy ass story we are going to get to tell people."

"That's an understatement." He grabbed my hand and laced his fingers through mine.

"Will you take me fishing?" I asked

"That's kind of random. Where did that come from? And yes, I'd love to take you fishing." He had a toothy grin on his face, the one he always gets when he gets really excited about something. I wasn't sure if he was excited about the next part of the night, or the fact that I had asked him to take me fishing.

"I was just remembering the camping trip, the summer before Grade Twelve."

"Ah, yes, the Grad Camping Trip. I can't believe our parents agreed to let us go on and unchaperoned weekend camping trip."

"Neither can I."

-----August 2004-----

Carrie and I had just finished setting up our tent and were unrolling our sleeping bags when I heard him. "God dammit, this is so fucking stupid!" I looked over there was Sid, wrapped up in a mess of nylon tent and metal poles. I could see his feet kicking out of the crumped opening where the enterance would be. I laughed at the sight. Mr Perfectionist was having some serious problems with his tent and I couldn't help the giggles that escaped my mouth. He must have heard me, because he looked up and gave me the stink eye, scowling before turning back and nailing the pegs into the ground.

I got my laughter under control and wandered over to him. "Want some help?"

"No. I can do it on my own thank you very much. Who's stupid idea was this anyways? I only came because of you. I haven't even really been going to school here for the last couple of years. Fucking stupid camping idea." He kicked the tent and walked away, obviously mad.

"Here." I passed him a beer. I was lucky to have a few friends who were of age and were able to bootleg for us.

"What's this Kel? I'm not really into that."

"Relax Sid, one beer isn't going to kill you. I thought for sure you and the guys would be drinking out on the road."

"Um, yeah. Not so much." He snatched the beer from me, taking a swig and then spitting it out. "This is disgusting. I can't believe people enjoy drinking this."

I laughed handed him a tent pole. "Come on Crosby, let me help you set this up." He sighed and took the pole reluctantly from me.

With my help, we had his tent up and ready to go in ten minutes. "Okay, you can say it now." I stood in front of him and tapped my foot.

"Say what?"

"You know what Sid. Say thank you and that I'm the best and that you love me and that you would still be kicking your tent if I hadn't helped you."

He shook his head. "Not gonna happen."

"Whatever you ungrateful bastard, Carrie and I are going fishing before dinner. You're welcome to join...that is if your ego doesn't get in the way." I walked to my car and grabbed my tackle box and rod from the trunk.

"Fishing? Wait up Kel! Let me grab my stuff!" I looked over my shoulder to see him running full speed to my car to grab his gear. I knew he wouldn't be able to turn down fishing, he loved it almost as much as hockey. I continued to walk down the path towards the lake knowing that he would catch up to me shortly. I was baiting my hook when I heard his footsteps behind me. "Where's Carrie?" He asked curiously.

I chuckled. "I don't know, and I don't really care. I don't even really like her. I'm only sharing a tent with her because sharing a tent with you would be considered inappropriate. She's too busy flirting with Mike back at the campsite."

"So why did you tell me she was going with you?"

"Because I didn't want you to think I would actually go fishing alone. I knew you would come anyways. Can't stay away from those fish can ya Crosby?" He shook his head and smiled.

"Guess I can't."

We fished for a couple hours, both catching a few trout that we would prepare for dinner. We were lewered back to the site by the smell of bacon. "Who is cooking bacon for dinner?" Sid asked when got we back.

"Well, I kinda didn't pack anything but breakfast food, so yeah, that would be me." We looked over and saw Luke cooking away his bacon on his campstove. I chuckled.

"We probably have enough fish to feed you if you want."

"Fish? Um no thanks." He scruntched his nose is disgust.

"Suit yourself man, more for us." Sid and I walked over to the picnic table where we laid out a tarp and began cleaning our catches. I chopped off the head and threw it in the fire, causing Carrie to jump and shriek. It was awesome. She was such a girly girl and hated getting her hands dirty. I was surprised when she even agreed to come.

Dinner was amazing and afterwards our group gathered around the fire, telling stories and drinking. It lasted late into the night, with most of the guys being hammered, they decided that lighting off fireworks would be a good idea. Sid and I stayed behind and hung out around the fire, I wasn't interested in losing any of my limbs. I moved over and got snug beside him, he wrapped his arm around me and I put my head on his shoulder. "Can we stay like this forever? You not go back to Rimouski or get drafted and just stay here?" I felt Sid chuckle beside me.

"Wouldn't that be awesome. We could grow old and cranky together, each of us never fullfilling our dreams. You and I both know that if I could stay here and still be able to do what I love I would, but I can't. I'll be back at Christmas, and I'm not leaving until the end of September anyways."

"I know, it's just never as much fun when you're gone. I don't really have any other friends, no one can relate to me like you do. Look at me, sharing a tent with someone I don't even like just so I could go on some stupid camping trip with my Grad class." I saw him glance over at me.

"Look at me, going on a stupid Grad class camping trip with a bunch of kids I hardly know because I am only in class with them for two months out of the year just so I can hang out with my very best girl." He nudged me, making me laugh.

"We're pathetic." I admitted.

"Yes we are." he laughed. I lifted my head to look at him and he brushed a strand of loose hair behind my ear, sending shivers down my spine. Our eyes locked and I wish, I hoped, I prayed that this would be the moment, the moment I had been waiting for for years. I swallowed as his head leaned towards mine. We were lost in the moment nothing else existed except for us. My bubble was burst when Carrie and Mike came barreling through the campsite, laughing their heads off and then proceeding to make themselves compfortable in my tent. "Great. Now what am I supposed to do? If they're going to be doing it I don't want to be anywhere near them." I whined. Not only did they ruin my almost perfect moment, but now I had nowhere to sleep. I heard Sid clear his throat.

"Um, you could crash in my tent. I brought an extra sleeping bag. You know, since that is going on in your tent." He pointed towards where I was supposed to sleep and we both started laughing at the noises that were coming from it.

"Guess I don't have much choice then do I? You better not snore Crosby, or you'll be sleeping in the car."

"Hey! It's my tent!"

"Yes, your tent that would still be lying on the ground in a heap if I didn't help you."

Sid looked up at me, defeated. He knew there would be no winning this argument. "Fine, I guess it's a good thing I don't snore."

---------

"Do you remember when we almost kissed? I was so freakin' mad at the Carrie girl. I can't believe you invited her."

"At least you didn't have to go home and sanitze and dry clean all our stuff. I was afraid I would contract some STD or something after that night." I was laughing at the memory.

"Very true." He had turned the car off, I didn't even realize that we had stopped.

"What are we doing here?" I opened the door and got out, taking in the warm summer air. I felt his hand on my back and walked towards the enterance. He had our skates hanging over his shoulder and a mischevious grin on his face.

"I thought maybe we could play a little one on one shinny. You know, just for fun."

"Just for fun?" I raised my eyebrows at him. "You promise you aren't going to make this some sort of drill or competition?"

"Scouts honour." He put his hand on his heart and smiled.

"In that case, it sounds perfect.