Chapter 3: THE GIRL AND THE BEAR

R Y A N

"David! Get out of the bathroom! We're going to be late," I yelled at the door. The lazy bum who had been in there for over an hour. Today was the day we were going on a hike and I couldn't be more excited. This day was beautiful in Big Sur, a perfect place in California to have the vacation we needed. But of course, David was taking his time to get ready. I wondered why he was taking all that time to groom himself up. It was just a hike.

"Dude! Stop yelling." The door opened and David stood frowning at me. He took out his towel to dry his hair.

"Well, I wouldn't have yelled if you weren't wasting time." I rolled my eyes after he gave me the middle finger. He enjoyed taking the time to groom himself up. His hair colour changed every six months and now blonde is his colour, a huge contrast to my brown hair. I never had the urge to change my hair colour. I didn't understand why people love doing that.

"Beauty takes time, asshole." He raked through his hair with his hands. "How do you think I got these guns?" He raised his biceps and gave each a kiss. David loved showing off his body. I mean, why wouldn't he? Compared to me, he was very bulky. I was lean and had a darker tan than him. I guess I got my tan thanks to my Italian heritage.

"You are way more obsessed with yourself than those women who keep on chasing you." I laughed as he scowled at me. Well, if he can tease then so can I.

"I am not obsessed with myself. I just love myself." He then pointed his index finger at me. "And those are two very different things." He rolled his eyes and took out a vest to put on.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go before we're late." I grabbed my bag and pulled it over my shoulder.

"Alright, douche."

"So how long is this hike?" Mike, another close friend of ours, questioned. It had been a good day so far, except for the fact that Mike has been complaining the entire time. He was another lazy bum that I loved.

"Well, it won't end if you keep complaining." David gave him a slight shove and laughed. We'd been walking for over an hour and it was great. The sun was shining over the horizon and it wasn't too hot. The birds kept on singing their lovely songs and the breeze gently drifted by to cool our skin.

"Ugh! You're so annoying, David." Mike winced and rubbed his arm where David pushed hurt him. A small shove can feel like a hard punch when it comes from David.

"Said by the most annoying one." He rolled his eyes at him. I swear for boys we roll our eyes a lot. I guessed that comes when you bring three very different personalities together.

"Oh shut up, mate!" He laughed loudly and slapped David's back. Mike was a black Australian that came to the United States one year ago. His Australian accent was still pretty obvious despite spending so much time around Americans. My awkward Italian accent was long gone, but I still spoke Italian sometimes.

"That mate word sounds like, you know, a significant other. Why do you guys say that?" He glanced at Mike questionably.

"Same reason why you guys use the word dude." He rolled his eyes at the stupid question. Sometimes, David acted like he was stupid. I hoped the girl he married someday would be way smarter than him.

"Yeah, I still like the word 'mate' better, mate." He wrapped his arms around Mike's shoulders. There he goes again with his teasing. I mentally rolled my eyes.

"Ugh! Leave me out of this shit, man!" He pushed his arms off and ran ahead to get away from him.

"Nooo! Don't leave me!" David called after him, chasing Mike.

"Oh come on! Guys, stop your bromance for once." I teased them and laughed loudly upon the glares I received.

"Bromance, my fat ass!" They both yelled. Haha, big asses indeed. 

"Ugh! Finally, I can rest," Mike groaned as he sat down on the ground. The sun had finally set so we decided to camp for the night. I took out the three tents and passed two to them. I then took out my hammer and nails to set my tent up, which thankfully didn't take too long.

"I am gonna go and get firewood." David took his torch and left into the woods.

"Be safe!" I yelled after his retreating back.

"I will!"

"So how is Miya doing?" Mike glanced at me. He was trying to appear nonchalant but I knew that he cared deeply about her. He had been trying to avoid her since they almost kissed at the party last month.

"She's fine." I took a look at him. He had a sorrowful look on his face. Mike was a nice guy and I knew that he'd never hurt Miya in any kind of way. I just hoped that she could see that.

"You know that she misses you right?" I took a seat next to him setting up David's tent.

"Really?" He looked up at me, shocked. I guessed he still couldn't believe that the girl he'd liked for a while missed him.

"Yes indeed. She hasn't been smiling a lot recently. I am very sure she is hiding something but I am just waiting for her to open up to me." I groaned. Miya has not been the same anymore. At first, I thought it had to do with her thinking that she ruined her friendship with Mike but my gut was telling me something else.

"Yeah-" We were suddenly cut off by a bear roar. We both looked at each other before we ran to the direction of the noise.

"David!" We kept on yelling his name as we went further into the woods. So far we didn't hear from him.

As we kept on walking, we suddenly heard a girl's scream and we immediately stopped.

"Help! Someone help me!" The voice cried. We ran towards the voice to find a bear chasing a girl. So far she was ahead of it but it will soon be able to catch her.

"What do we do?!" Mike looked at me in fright. That was a huge bear. How do we even stop it? I wondered.

"Oh My God! I finally found you guys!" We turned to see David running towards us.

"Shit! I thought something happened to you, dude!" Mike blurted out.

"I heard a bear and went back to get my tranquillizer gun." He raised his gun.

"Please help me!" The girl was getting closer with the bear close in the tail.

"Ok, here is the plan." David pointed his index finger at us. "Ryan, get the girl while Mike distracts the bear." He glanced at us for confirmation.

"Then I shoot the bear while it is getting distracted." He continued.

"Wait! Why do I have to be the one to do the distraction?" Mike scowled.

"Dude! You caught a shark once." David yelled and shoved us to follow the girl. "Let's go get her before she becomes a bear's dinner." He cocked his gun and led us.

"Hey! Hey!" Mike stood behind the bear and shouted to get his attention. When the bear took a step back from the girl to chase Mike, I immediately went to her and grabbed her hand to run to the other side but luck was not on our side since the bear caught a glimpse of us running.

Instead of running after Mike, it started to go after us. I started picking up my pace but the girl was not cooperating. I glanced at her to see what was slowing her down, then I glanced to see that her knees were bruised.

"Is it okay if I lift you?" I asked for confirmation. She nodded. I guess she was too tired to speak. I wonder how long the bear was chasing her.

I tossed her over my shoulder and increased my pace. Luckily I saw a long bush that I was sure that bear wouldn't be able to find us. I placed her down and ducked so the bear could not see us. I took out my jacket to cover her up.

I glanced to see that the bear was almost getting close to us. Oh, God! Where is David when you need him?! I thought in panic.

Suddenly, I heard a growl from the bear. I looked up to see the bear yell in pain. It was shot in the back with a tranquillizer gun. It then fell on the ground.

David came out behind the tree and went near the bear. I sighed in relief and glanced at the girl who was holding her knees together, paralyzed with fear. Her blond hair was dishevelled from all the running. Her white skin was laced with bruises everywhere.

"Hey, you are fine now." I looked at her worriedly. Poor girl, she must be so scared. Life becomes precious when you come face to face with death.

She clutched my jacket and glanced at me. Tears kept on coming from her eyes. I offered my hand to her so that we could get out of the bush.

"Man! This weekend hasn't been good so far. It is like we are cursed." Mike wheezed as he caught his breath. The bear has done a number on all of us.

"Ryan, why don't you take the girl to our campsite while Mike and I take this bear away." David blurted out. He scrunched his nose as he grabbed the feet of the bear.

"Y-you are not killing it, aren't you?" She glanced at David warily. They both glanced at her as if she grew two heads.

"It's just that even if it tried to kill me, it is still an animal. We are supposed to protect them." She blurted out nervously.

Oh wow! What a noblewoman. This bear tried to kill her and she is yet trying to protect him.

"Do not worry, we do not kill animals," David grunted.

"Yeah, we don't. I even caught a shark to be taken back to its home." Mike nodded in agreement.

"O-ok" She weakly replied.

I decided to carry her until we reached the camp as she was very weak. It didn't take us long to reach there. I placed her down and grabbed a bottle of water to give it to her.

"T-thank you." She smiled weakly in gratitude. I sat to the opposite of her to give her space. She gulped down the water quickly. I guess she was very thirsty.

"I want to thank you for risking your life to save my ass there." She laughed slightly. I grunted to let her know I heard her. She then looked at my arms and quickly looked down after I caught her.

It was very dark so I could not see her face clearly. I could only notice her figure and I could see that she was around 5'4. And judging the way she was able to outrun the bear and I can see that she does some kind of sport due to her physical form.

I quickly stood up to get the flashlight as it was getting even darker. This made something fall out of my pocket before I could grab it, she already had it in her hand.

"Wait! Where did you find this necklace?! It is mine" She blurted out loudly and glanced at my face. Oh well, I think I just found the owner of the necklace.