U-TURN
Part 1
“Yuna!” Nuki called out.
A girl suddenly looks up from the book she was reading. And a smile quickly appeared on her lips as soon as she saw her sister.
“Nuki,” she said as she instantly stood up and walked towards the front of the door of her classroom.
“Hi . . . what are you doing here? Is your class already finished?” Yuna asked curiously.
“Yes. Why isn’t your class finished yet? Almost all the other classes in this building are finished. So how come your class is still here?” Nuki asked back as she tilted her head sidewards in a confused manner.
“Oh, remember I told you my class will be having a camping trip this Saturday. So were supposed to have a meeting with our teacher. He’s gone to talk to one of the school administrators first. So we’re all still waiting for him,” Yuna answered.
“Camping trip? Sounds fun . . . So the trip will be on Saturday?” Nuki asked again.
“Yes,” Yuna replied.
“Eh? That’s 3 days from now. Have you bought the things that you will need? Have you arranged your things?” Nuki started to ask excitedly.
Yuna laughed. “No.”
“Bad girl . . . How about we go shopping before going home? Tell Emer and Samar to come along. We will have a serious girl bonding time,” Nuki said with a giggle.
“Okay,” Yuna replied with a giggle as well. She couldn’t stop herself from being amused with her older sister. There were times that she was more like a younger sister than an older one.
“Hey speaking of Emer and Samar . . . where are those two?” Nuki suddenly asked as she noticed that Yuna’s best friends were not in the room.
“Oh, they went with our teacher to the admin’s office. They are in-charge of the class activities remember. Hmmm . . . why is it you always forget all the things I tell you?” Yuna asked with a pout.
Nuki laughed. “Sorry. You know I have so many things going on in my daily life,” she said again with a light laugh.
“My sister is being crazy again,” Yuna remarked with a laugh.
“Hey, we’re both crazy … we’re sisters,” Nuki said. But she then noticed someone in Yuna’s classroom. “Hmmm . . . Yuna, I think someone is looking at you,” she teased.
“What? Who?”Yuna asked. She then looked back at her classmates who were all busy their own things inside the classroom.
It was then she instantly caught someone was truly looking at their direction. It was Changmin.
Changmin was Yuna’s classmate for almost a year now. He was one of the most popular boys in their school. But somehow it didn’t make any difference to Yuna. She was more interested in studying than boys.
“Oh . . . him. . .” Yuna uttered with dismay. “Don’t mind him. . . Maybe he’s just waiting for the teacher to arrive. We’re blocking the doorway remember,” she said as she tried to act like normal.
Nuki gave the guy another quick glance before whispering something in her sister’s ear. “You know, he’s totally cute. And judging by the way he was looking . . . I think he’s interested with you.”
Shocked, Yuna looked at her sister with wide open eyes. “Nuki, stop it. You’re giving me goosebumps.”
Yuna slowly looked back at her classmates. She tried to pretend that she was looking at the window. But in reality, she just wanted to see if they guy was still looking at their direction.
But sadly, Changmin was no longer looking at them and was instead chatting with some of their other classmates.
Suddenly a girl placed her arms around Nuki’s shoulder. “Hey, what are you doing here? Don’t tell me you’re spying on your sister again,” Emer asked Nuki jokingly.
“Emer . . .” Nuki uttered happily.
“Hi Nuki,” Samar greeted as well.
“Samar, Emer . . . I’ve been waiting here for almost ten minutes I think. So isn’t your meeting going to start yet?” Nuki asked impatiently.
“Oh just give us another ten minutes more and we will try to finish everything as fast as we could okay?” Emer said with a smile.
Nuki smiled and nodded.
----- After twenty minutes . . . . .
Yuna was already strolling in the big shopping mall together with Nuki, Emer and Samar.
“Hey, isn’t that Changmin?” Samar asked as she pointed to someone sitting in a restaurant that they were passing by.
The other girls instantly stopped walking and looked at the person Samar was pointing at.
It was indeed Changmin. He was drinking a glass of juice while obviously waiting for someone.
“Hmmm . . . who do you think he’s waiting for?” Samar asked Emer.
Emer shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t know. You know that guys is totally secretive. He is one of the most popular boys in our school, and yet he hasn’t dated anyone. That’s according to my sources,” Emer answered.
Nuki laughed. “According to your sources? Oh my . . . you sound like a reporter.”
A few more minutes passed. A young girl suddenly entered the restaurant and went straight to Changmin’s table. She instantly sat down and started to talk with him.
“Oh . . . he’s waiting for a girl,” Nuki uttered with disappointment. “Seems he’s already taken. Sorry dear sister. . . better find yourself another man,” she said jokingly to Yuna.
“Nuki . . . I don’t care whether he has a girlfriend or not. You’re the only one who keeps on teasing me about him,” Yuna said with irritation.
“Yes, I know. But I just think that the two of you would make a perfect pair. That’s why I keep on teasing you about him,” Nuki replied.
“Goodluck with the teasing Nuki. But you should know that your sister is only interested in books. Hey, I wouldn’t be surprised if one day she suddenly tells us that she’s marrying a book,” Emer uttered as a joke.
“Ha ha ha, very funny,” Yuna uttered with a pout.
Samar and Nuki both laughed out loud.
“Yes, somehow I can imagine the same thing,” Samar uttered as she tried to control her laughter.
Yuna just shook her head. “You guys are making fun of me again,” she uttered as if hurt.
Nuki lovingly placed her arm around her sister’s shoulder. “You know, we just want you to open your eyes and try to see the world around you. Not everything revolves around books and studying. You should also learn how to enjoy life . . . . and learn how to love,” she then uttered seriously.
Samar and Emer both nodded after hearing Nuki’s words.
Yuna sighed. “Look, I’ll get there . . . when I’m ready. Don’t worry okay? Come on, I heard there’s a new store that opened on the upper part of the mall. I think they’re selling cds and dvds.”
“Really? Well what are we waiting for? Let’s go. I just hope that they have the cds that I’m looking for,” Samar uttered with excitement.
-------The day of the camping trip finally arrived.
“Everyone . . . please remember to always stay on the camp site at night. Please don’t go exploring on your own. And if you do want to explore . . . make sure you do it together with your group mates. Group leaders . . . please always monitor all your members. If you want to go and explore, please inform me first. I will be personally instructing you about certain parts in this forest that you are not allowed to go to. You can now unpack your things and rest for a while. Then we will start our first day activities in an hour,” the teacher announced.
“Yes, sir . . .” some of the students happily shouted.
A few minutes later in the tent that Yuna, Emer and Samar shared. . . . .
“This is so exciting,” Samar exclaimed with joy.
“Totally right about that. I can’t wait until we get started with the exciting things that we planned,” Emer added.
Yuna smiled. “This will be a totally new experience for me. Three days of camp life would certainly add a new chapter in my life.”
Samar and Emer laughed. “If we didn’t know better . . . we already know what you are going to do for the whole 3 days here,” Samar uttered.
“And what do you mean about that?” Yuna asked. Somehow she couldn’t understand what her friends were saying.
“Uhmm . . . let me ask a simple question,” Emer uttered.
“Okay . . . what is it?” Yuna asked again.
“Did you bring a book?” Emer asked with a smile.
“Yes,” Yuna quickly answered.
“Now that is what we mean,” Samar quickly said as she lightly shook her head.
“Hey, I just brought a book in case . . . I get bored or something . . . or I don’t have anything to do,” Yuna tried to explain.
“Oh yes, as if we would actually believe that,” Emer said with a smile.
“Hey . . . let’s start unpacking. Then let’s eat a little snack before going out. I am starving already. But let’s hurry in eating okay. Our teacher might start calling us in a little while,” Samar reminded the others.
“Okay,” Emer and Yuna replied with laughs.
Their first day at the camp site went by without any problems. Everyone was very happy and enthusiastic. They played games, sung different songs, ate some homemade foods that some of the students brought along and told different stories about different things. By eight o’ clock, all of them were already very tired that they all decided to take an early rest. All of them were very excited for the next day to come because it was the day that they were going to start exploring.
As Yuna quietly lay down beside Emer, she couldn’t really understand the strange feeling that she was having. Somehow she was afraid of something . . . but she didn’t know what it is.
The next day . . . . .
“Remember to always stay on the path. Don’t go around and explore things on your own. This is a very vast forest and some parts are still dangerous. So please . . . please always stay with your group mates at all times. It is only 9am . . . You are all required to return here by 3pm. I will be checking the attendance by 3:10pm sharp. Is that understood?” the teacher said with a loud voice so to get everyone’s attention.
An hour later . . . .
“My feet is killing me,” Samar complained.
Yuna lightly laughed. “You should have brought two rubber shoes in case that one made your feet hurt again.”
“Uhmm, yeah you’re right. I guess I have to live with this rubber shoes for the next two days,” Samar said with a sigh.
“I have a spare one in my bag. You can just borrow it later,” Emer said with a smile.
“Really?” Samar asked with joy.
“Yes, of course,” Emer simply replied.
“Oh, thank you. I really need a break from this shoes. I already have a wound because of it,” Samar said with a sigh again.
“What? Well you should just wear a sandal or something. You wouldn’t want your wound to get much worst, would you?” Emer said with concern.
“But I don’t have one. Frankly . . . because of my total excitement, I forgot to bring a lot of things,” Samar confessed.
“Oh, you silly girl. Come on. Let’s head back to camp. I want to see your wound first. It may need some ointment or something,” Emer said with a smile.
“Thanks, you’re really so sweet,” Samar uttered.
“Yuna, come on. Let’s go back to camp,” Emer said to Yuna, who was busy looking at a plant.
“Uhmm . . . aren’t you guys going to return here?” Yuna asked curiously.
“Well. . . yes, we are. But Samar needs to change her shoes and I have to put some ointment on her wound as well. Why are you asking?” Emer asked.
“I’ll just stay here and read a book while waiting for you guys. I am really too tired to go back. Is that okay with you?” Yuna said with a smile.
“Well . . . you would be all alone here. No, it’s not okay. You have to go back with us,” Emer said with a serious tone.
Yuna sighed. “Oh, all right.”
Another hour passed . . . .
“Yuna, it’s time to get up. We can go now. We still have a lot of places to go to,” Emer said as she gently shook her friend’s shoulder.
Yuna slowly opened her eyes. “But I am so sleepy already. Just leave me here. I don’t want to go out anymore. I’ll just wait for you guys to return.”
Emer and Samar looked at each other.
“What do we do now?” Samar asked Emer.
“I guess it’s okay to leave her here since some of our other classmates are here as well. Come on . . . I think she’s really tired. Let’s just allow her to rest,” Emer said as she slowly stood up and went out of the tent.
Two hours passed . . . .
Yuna slowly opened her eyes. “Hmmm. . . Where are they?” she asked as she sat up. Somehow her mind was still in a mess. She couldn’t think straight. She looked around the tent, searching for Emer and Samar.
“Oh . . .” she uttered as she suddenly remembered that her two friends have gone out to take a stroll around the forest.
Yuna slowly stood up and went out of the tent. She then looked around at the other tents. “Strange . . . why is it I’m the only one here?’ she thought.
Then she came to one of the boys’ tents, some of her male classmates were there. And they were all sleeping.
Yuna sighed. “I guess I shouldn’t bother them,” she thought again.
She just went back to her tent and took out the book that she brought along.
“I’ll just read while waiting for Emer and Samar to arrive,” Yuna thought.
But only half an hour passed . . .
“I’m bored,” Yuna uttered as she placed down the book she was holding. “I wonder . . . what else I can do . . .” she started to wonder.
“Aahh . . . that’s it. I will go around and explore the places near the camp site. I guess it would be okay since I won’t be going out too far,” she uttered to herself with total excitement.
She hurriedly took her bag and went out of the tent. Then she started to walk to the same pathway that where she and her friends stopped before returning to the camp. While walking she was still taking a peek every now and then at the book she was holding. Somehow she was too interested in the book that she couldn’t stop reading it.
“Hmmm… this is a good place to take a rest for awhile,” Yuna uttered as she slowly sat down below a large tree. “I think I will just read my book here until Samar and Emer pass by.”