Hazel eyes surveyed the room before her, butterflies fluttering around and around in her stomach.  Even though she told herself she’d be fine, the fact still remained was that she’d be alone with five of the most attractive guys that she had ever seen in her sixteen years of life. Though she was sure she was ready, since she didn’t really have to bring anything but herself, she still felt like she ought to bring something. Yet, JR had insisted over and over that she didn’t need to bring anything except herself to the park and on the hiking trail. Wondering if maybe she could try and find a loophole, she picked up her phone again, unlocking it, and looking over the last conversation she’d had with JR.

Are you sure I don’t have to bring anything except myself today?

Yes, I’m quite sure.

…Really?

Haha, yeah.

Honest.

Stop worrying already Alisia, geez. By the way,

 the guys and I might be running a little late. Okay?

Oh, okay, yeah, that’s fine. :3

  With a sigh she turned off the phone and placed it back in her pocket. Though she wasn’t really sure if what she wore would exactly be considered hiking clothes, mostly because she usually didn’t go hiking often in the first place. So, she went over to the full mirror her parents had gotten her awhile back and checked out her appearance. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into the neatest ponytail she could manage on her own, even though she knew by the end of the day she’d have strands and locks of hair slipping out of the ponytail, because for some reason her hair just didn’t like being pulled back for long. While she wasn’t one to put on makeup, even to ‘impress boys’ like some girls she knew at her school, she did have on mascara and lip gloss, she liked the scent too, cherry. Then she gazed at her outfit in the mirror and did a slow three-sixty, trying to keep an eye on herself the whole time. It was going to get a little hotter later on in the day, so she had on a black tank top and green cargo pants, with her usual black and white sneakers. With a sigh, she really couldn’t fathom what she ought to bring, she saw no loophole. Deciding she was satisfied with her look, she grabbed her car keys off her dresser drawer, she told her parents she was going to meet some friends at the park and that she’d be back later, heading out the door and to her car.

  ~A while later~

  She pulled her car into a parking space, placing it into park and turning off the ignition, pocketing the key. It was pretty here, and she stood just outside her car taking in the surrounding nature of the area, and definitely seemed like an ideal place to have a picnic later. Not really sure if the guys were there yet, she decided to go wait for them at a table she saw further ahead. She saw a few people taking their bikes up to the biking trail instead of just hiking on foot, while there were little families around the area with little ones running around and screeching with delight. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a couple making out, and she couldn’t help but stare in shock for a few minutes. Sure, she’d seen lots of couples kiss at school, but never really thought couples would be so daring even outside of school. Though she managed to look away, off to the nearby forest, she felt a hand suddenly be placed on her shoulder and whisper “Feeling lonely? We could do that too, y’know.” Then he chuckled and she couldn’t help but yelp in surprise and practically fall over, catching sight of Baek Ho from the corner of her eye before falling over. He then burst into full out laughter when she’d toppled over and her cheeks felt warmer than usual. “Ugh, Baek Ho, not cool, you weirdo!!” While instinct told her to throw something at him, she had nothing of the sort.

  So instead she scrambled to her feet and attempted to punch his shoulder, but he merely grabbed her wrist, tightening his grip a bit so she couldn’t slip free and try to hit him again. After a moment or two of struggling she did calm down, and laughed when he said “Come on, you wouldn’t really want to damage this face, would you?” Then she saw the rest of the guys approach, JR, Min Hyun, Ren and Aron. “Aah, what are you doing Baek Ho? Did she reject you and now you’re trying to take her by force?” Aron asked, teasing, and she realized Baek Ho hadn’t released her wrist, though he did when Aron had asked that question. “Of course not, I can take rejection better then you can.” He responded, and the two continued teasing with each other, while JR came up and greeted her. “Hey Alisia, you haven’t been waiting for us for too long, have you? And you didn’t bring anything else that you didn’t have to?” She noted the light teasing tone in his voice and she sighed, and then smiled a bit. “I promise, I brought nothing that I didn’t need to. Want to search me?”

   As she said this, she held her hands up in a sort of surrender, and she noted JR’s eyes widen, the faintest signs of blushing on his face as she smirked. “Just kidding, you trust me, right?” Then he nodded, glancing away. “So, what are we going to do first? Just hang around the park, or head straight to the trail?” He seemed to relax a bit as she asked for their plans, the role of leadership obviously something he was used to. “Ah, I was thinking we go on the trail first, and then we can come back to the park, and have our picnic here. Sound good?” Alisia smiled and nodded, “Yeah, of course! That sounds fine.” He returned her smile, and then JR turned to let the other guys know what was up. When everyone understood the plan, they all headed onto the trail up ahead, leading them into the forest. Somehow Aron and Baek Ho had gotten into a contest and were racing each other along the trail, and she couldn’t help but wonder if they’d end up losing sight and track of them.

  JR seemed to have similar thoughts for he yelled to them “Hey guys!!! Slow down already!!!” A little ways behind her she overheard Min Hyun mutter under his breath “That idiot, he knows no one can beat Aron when it comes to running….” Ren nodded silently, walking beside him. Then she also noticed they’d seemingly unintentionally already paired themselves up, Aron was somewhere up ahead with Baek Ho, JR was with her, and behind them a bit, Min Hyun and Ren seemed to have paired together. Then, addressing JR she mused “You know, even though we’re on the same trail….do you think we still might lose them for a bit?” His gaze met hers for a moment and he nodded, smiling a bit. “With those two together? It’s definitely a possibility.” Alisia chuckled, though she hoped that Baek Ho and Aron’s sudden racing wouldn’t cause them to run off the trail, especially since that would be really bad then.

  It took a while, but eventually they saw Baek Ho and Aron up ahead, breathing heavily and leaning against trees. While she hadn’t been paying attention, JR had somehow switched partners on her. He was now walking with Min Hyun and talking with him in some language she recognized he’d spoken in at the beach when he’d been on the phone, while she walked beside Ren, who seemed totally distracted and in a whole other world since they’d entered the trail and were practically engulfed in nature. Though she was worried that meant he wasn’t paying too much attention to his surroundings, which was bad, because on their right was now a steep hill, and if you slipped and fell, well….the fall didn’t seem like it’d be pleasant. But since she sensed no immediate threat to his wellbeing, she did nothing for the time being and made sure he didn’t slip off the edge. Though she had to admit, the way he was so absorbed in all this nature was actually kind of cute, and she didn’t mind the silence between them either. It was more of a comfortable silence, rather than an awkward one. “So, you guys done competing for now?” JR inquired, smiling at their exhausted appearance. Secretly she hoped so, even though she was just being a worry wart, she didn’t want anyone to get lost.

   It wasn’t like a store where if you got lost, you would eventually be found because the store wasn’t that big, and there weren’t many places to hide either. Baek Ho grinned widely at JR, though he was still exhausted. “Heh….yah….we’re done….for now…right Aron?”  Aron’s gaze flitted to Baek Ho, and then JR’s and nodded, smirking a bit. “Mm, yah….I think so.” He was panting pretty heavily too, and she wondered what exactly they’d been competing over in the first place. Curiously, she noticed that Min Hyun and JR were moving off to the side of the trail where Aron and Baek Ho were, and she wondered why. Well, until she looked ahead and saw some cyclist heading their way, getting closer and closer. But where was Ren, and while she hadn’t been paying attention to him, he’d been wandering closer and closer to the right of the trail, where a steep hill lay. Her eyes widened and she hurried toward him, his own eyes widened as a rock he stood on gave way beneath him, and he stumbled around.

   “REN!!!” She cried out, in shock and fear. Though before he fell forward, down the hill, Alisia reached out and snatched his hand, and she slipped forward along with Ren. But she tightened her grip on his hand, and pulled him back and away from the edge. They both stumbled back from the sudden force, and she felt Ren’s body stumble into hers. Of course, once they both collided, neither could manage to stand upright. So instead, she felt herself and Ren fall backward, onto the other side of the trail. They hit the ground with a thud, and for a moment Alisia felt dazed as the worry gradually dissipated, relieved she’d kept him from falling off the edge. Though she noted a sudden pair of caramel brown eyes on her, and she looked back, not noticing before that somewhere between pulling him away from the edge, and falling backward, he’d got turned around, so not only did Ren fall on her, but now his face was inches from her face. Her cheeks gradually reddened as she looked back in his eyes, her mind blank and unsure what to say.