Jade leads us away from the camp and in the direction of the stream I had found only this morning. But after a point, she changes direction slightly and instead of moving toward the stream and letting it come into view, she continues walking along the stream.

We mostly walk in silence, as Jade instructs us to. She'd said we needed to enjoy nature as much as we could, and silence is the best way to stay near nature at all times. I understood her meaning somewhat, but by the looks on the others' faces, I concluded they didn't quite get her. So I smiled to myself and kept on moving.

After walking for about ten minutes and Raquelle constantly complaining of pain in her feet and exhaustion, Jade turns to face us. "Look guys; this was the easy part. In another minute, we'll reach a hilly area where some trekking would have to be done, in order to get to the place where I'm taking you all."

"But Jade..." Robert starts.

"We must have covered half the distance, right Jade?" Evan says.

"Well, let's carry on then..." Ned speaks up.

Jack simply groans.

"Oh no! I simply can't walk anymore...and trekking, no way!" Raquelle exclaims, stubbornly.

I keep quiet, awaiting Jade's reaction.

"Guys! Wait," Jade holds up her hands to calm us down, interrupting everyone's musings. "Trust me, it will be worth it. And you'll remember this part of our trip forever, it will be an enchanting memory. Please? And we'll be there in ten minutes if you all co-operate. So, ready?" She asks, raising her eyebrows.

I smile, nodding at her. Evan says, "Aye-Aye, captain!", doing a salute to Jade, which makes her blush ever so slightly. Ned nods, while Jack rolls his eyes dramatically.  Robert says, "Okay," but Raquelle folds her hands over her chest.

Oh god, she's so stubborn! I roll my eyes and drag her along by the elbow when we resume our walk like Ned drags Jack, whose pace has reduced drastically. It's so funny seeing him like that, I start laughing, which prompts everyone ahead of us to glance behind, and seeing the procession they start grinning too.

We begin the trek soon after, reaching a steep, rocky hillside. It's actually not a hill completely, but a slope leading to a higher area of the forest —much more like a plateau. Carefully and slowly, we go up one by one. The top isn't far away, but it sure seems challenging.

This time, Ned takes the lead, and reaches the top without a lot of struggle. Impressed at how easily he did it, I decide to go next. It's not very difficult for me either —with the practice I'd got from climbing up and down a straight, vertical wall all by myself, I make my way to the top easily, with Ned lending me a hand to help me haul myself up over the top. I smile gratefully to him, he smiles back warmly. But even after I reach above and am standing beside him, he continues to hold my hand in his. I let him; his hand's warmer and bigger than mine, so my own hand fits in nicely and makes me feel comfortable.

Raquelle follows after me, helped by Robert just behind her. Then comes Jack, followed by Jade. Evan is the last to come up, and Raquelle mischievously pushes Jade right in front, to help him over the top. Jade, blushing furiously, holds out her hand for Evan who takes it and lands on the top; but evidently, he hauled himself with greater force than required so due to the momentum, he crashes into Jade lightly, making her step back by a few steps, still holding his hand. Jade's face is a sight to see —red as a tomato!

When everyone's dusted himself/herself up, and ready to continue, Jade leads again, this time to a great bush, surrounded by weirdly-shaped trees all around. As we emerge out of the bush, we are awestruck by the scenery in front of us, truly enchanting as Jade had said.

A lake stands in front of us, with water as blue as the sky, shimmering in the sun. The smooth surface reflects the clouds and the sky clearly. Light waves make their way to the shore, which is spotted with rocks, stones, and pebbles of all sizes and shapes. Surrounded by tall green trees on all sides, the scene is really enthralling and seems straight out of a fairytale!

Jade breaks the silence softly, "So, guys and girls, what do you think about this? I see you're already spellbound, but hold your breath, there's even more! Come on, and shut your mouth Raquelle, it's still hanging open." she finishes with a laugh. We all follow her without a word, and this time no one needs any pushing or dragging; it's as if we're all in a dream!

When Jade stops at a tree bent at such a large angle so as to form a bench-like structure, we all exchange glances. And then, we all run toward it to be the first to hop onto the near-horizontal trunk and grab a seat to catch the most amazing view ever!

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HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017!!!

Hope all of my readers(and even those who aren't! :P ) stay blessed and happy all throughout this year, and always! The last year was great for me, truly. Wish this one is even better. :D

Also, I changed the cast of Ashlee from some random stranger to an actress, McKaley Miller, after I saw that the previous picture had magically been replaced by a dull one with 'wattpad' written on it. :P And, I was thinking...would you like me to put up a cast of all the other characters in the story as well, for example, Ashlee and Ned's friends? Do let me know!

Now, I'll take your leave for yet another week. ;) But not before strongly recommending you to read this one-part article by a very talented and thoughtful writer Ananya Sen, who also happens to be my BFF! ;)

https://www.wattpad.com/350418032-need-for-an-autonomous-education-system

You can find the link also by clicking on "External Link" given below.

See you next week! Bye! :)

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