Oakleaves
Chapter 3

	Silently I paddled along.  Various thought ran through my head.  ‘I knew I loved him.  Or was it lust.  He was really hot, but it was more than that.  It was more than the need for sexual release.  I wanted him to cuddle with, to brush the hair from his face, as a companion, a friend, a lover.  Yea, this was love.  The really difficult part is, how can I face such a predicament, when I don’t know even his view points on homosexuality.  Ahh, I could give myself a headache just thinking about this.’

	I gave an extra long paddle stroke out of frustration.  The canoe turned a bit to the left with the powerful stoke.  Noah stopped and turned around so he could see me.  "Anything wrong?" he asked me.

       "None more than usual."
       
       "Really, what is usual for you?"
       
       My eyebrows perked.  "Mild," I stated matter of factly.
       
       "humph," he snorted.  I guess he was hoping for an open conversation.
       
       "What??" I questioned.
       
       "Just thought you might want somebody to talk to."
       
       "Good offer, but now is not the time, we are falling behind."  
       
       He turned and dug his paddle deep in the water.  I had to strain to keep up with his stokes.  ‘He was pissed about something, but what I wasn’t sure.  What had I said that would do this to him.  I acted nicely, I just didn’t give anything away.  Wait, why am I justifying a conversation, that lasted fifteen seconds.  This was foolish.’  
       
       By now we caught up with the group and I called a break.  Everyone agreed expressing their need for a little trail mix and some water.  I whispered as much as I could to Noah, "What had I said."
       
       He turned and had crooked it just a bit.  "I overreacted about some stupid shit.  Well talk when we get to camp." 
       
       "Count on it."  He turned as we set out again.  Again I was drawn deep into my own thoughts.  ‘What if he could be gay, what if he could love me, what if this could all be right.’  I smirked to myself, ‘that only happens in stories.’  Consciously, I didn’t give it another thought, but I knew that deep in the recesses of my sub-conscious that thought was nagging.  More so, hopping.  
       
       It was then that I heard a rumble of thunder.  I looked toward the west and saw a single menacing dark cloud forming.  I heard Mr. Anderson shout to us to gather together.  We all aimed our canoes toward each other and met with much pushing and bashing we all came to a stop.
       
       "I assume you all heard that thunder in the distance.  Well, that cloud is headed straight for us.  These storms are sudden and string winds and rain accompany them, but they are short.  I advise that we find land soon, to dock till it passes."  
       
       Not knowing much about storms and their patterns the unanimous decision was in favor of Mr. Anderson’s suggestion.  The closest land was about fifty yards away.  We paddled like mad in order to get there in time.  Each of the canoes stuck land in time and the occupants quickly jumped out.  Noah, Brook, and Mrs. Anderson each dragging their end of the canoe up onto land.  
       
       "Quickly pull up the tarps.  Cover them," Mr. Anderson yelled out.  We did as we were instructed.  Alex went to explore the island rounding the corner and out of site.  Mr. and Mrs. Anderson sat with Brook and I dragged Noah near me.  
       
       He started before I got a chance to, "Garrett, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t hounded on you like that."
       
       "Don’t worry about it."
       
       "No, I guess that I have to say this.  Garrett, I have wanted to be your friend for a long time, and since then I have, but you have been pushing me away.  But I can’t put all the blame.  I too have been pushing you away lately."
       
       "I have. I will admit.  I’m sorry."
       
       Just then Alex ran around the corner of the island and yelled out, "Its coming!!"  Jets of rain shot out from behind him.  He ran into the group with Brook.  Each in turn huddled together.  Seconds later rain began to pound on us.  We heard rumbles of thunder.  We huddled together.  Noah and I somewhat apart from the others.  
       
       I instinctively wrapped my arms around him as I would if he was my boyfriend.  He crouched down and I shielded his head with my body.  Within half a second I realized what I had done, but the damage has already been done.  
       
       "This feels good," he said.
       
       My eyes shot open.  ‘Did he say what I thought he said.  Could it be true.  Or is he talking about the rain.’  I let go of him and he pulled back as well.  He turned from me and drew his knees under his chin, wrapping his arms around them.  ‘What the fuck is going on here.  Could it.  No, it couldn’t.  He seemed so straight.  So, normal.’  I conformed to the same position and let the rain pound me in the back.  My brain went into overdrive.  Once again, I was probably over-analyzing this.  ‘But yet, he has been avoiding me for a long time.  Scared, shy, in love.  FUCK!! Everything is just garbled now.’  I looked at him.  Rain soaked back.  I had to smile at his perfect beauty.
       
       The rain finally let up.  I could see it move across the lake and once again turn into rain shadow.  
       
       "Right then, uncover the canoes and fold up the tarps.  Lets get going, we have to cover a lot more water today."  We did as we were told.  Noah and I folded up the tarp and tucked it under my seat.  Wordlessly we shoved off, closely followed by the other two canoes.  We turned around and headed for the open lake.  
       
       Fate seemed to have tortured me with this, because once again, Noah pulled off his shirt.  He set in on the packs to dry.  I did the same figuring that it was a great idea, to have a dry shirt.  I called a small break and applied some tanning lotion.  With the water and the harsh sun, severe sunburn can be a bitch.
       
       Pipestone bay seemed to be on e of the largest lakes, in fact I was sure of it.  The shore at time seemed a mile away.  We made our way through the lake, dodging islands and branches.  There really wasn’t much to talk about on the lake.  We just did our job.  
       
       Finally we came upon the third portage.  This is where the motorboats cannot go.  The path is like five times smaller.  Thank goodness it was short.  We traveled along a short falls that would have devastated our canoes.  Glad they put a portage here.  We dumped the boats into Jackfish Bay.  Another one of the great lakes.  But this one had channels in it.  
       
       We passed by some rock climbers with a canoe tethered to a nearby rock.  The cliff they were climbing seemed like a nice one, with enough handholds and stuff.  Mr. Anderson called out, "Good day?"
       
       One of the climbers turned around to look at the source of the calling.  I nearly fell out of my canoe.  He had blond hair and blue eyes, a nice tan.  Perfection in human form.  Now I love Noah to death, but this guy was a nice specimen.  "Great day for climbing," he called back.  He turned back and started up the rock.  We decided to take a break and watch them a bit.
       
       "Someday, do you guys want to do that?"  Mr. Anderson asked us.  He was met with four head nods, since we were so engrossed with the view before us.  Not all of us were looking at the rock climbing though.  The climbers perked my attention.  
       
       All good things must come to a close and we paddled forth into the unknown.  "To boldly go where no man has gone before."  I yelled out.
       
       "Shut up, Garrett," Alex yelled 
       
       "What?  I am the commander of the USS…umm…Jackfish.  We are on a one week mission to explore strange new life and new civilizations."  Just then, I got drenched with water.
       
       "Shut up."
       
       "Spoil sport."
       
       "You know it."
       
       The day was drawing to a close.  The sun was well past its zenith and was a good way down.  "Where are we?" I heard Noah yell.
       
       "Almost there," Mr. Anderson responded.
       
       "Do you know?" he turned and asked me.
       
       "Yep."
       
       "Well?"
       
       "Promise to tell me what is wrong?"
       
       "Yes."
       
       "Almost there," I laughed.
       
       "Come on," he urged.
       
       "Fine, we are just about to the mile portage, then after that, we are going to set up camp because it will be nearly night."
       
       "Mile portage?"
       
       "Yes, now go, we are falling behind."  With that he turned and paddled.  We were quickly approaching the shore.  
       
       I knew that this would come.  This is the big one.  The mile portage.  Oomph.  If only I would have known that I would be carrying a canoe.  Without conscious thought we crashed into the shore.  The sun was really down now and It started to get chilly.  Also without conscious thought we unpacked the boat and loaded up for the trip.  I hoisted the canoe onto my shoulders and then had help attaching the backpack.
       
       Mr. Anderson started off in front of all of us.  I followed.  I didn’t pay attention to much except the path in front of me.  The cool air kept me from getting too sweaty, but I was getting tired.
       
       To make matters worse.  There wasn’t a clearly defined path.  I had to correct myself a few times when I veered into some trees.  At one point there was a pool in my way, with large stones placed to cross.  One of which surprised me by moving.  That was certainly an adventure.  I almost lost balance and came crashing down.  Instead I did a little fancy footwork and survived.  Things went pretty smoothly after that.
       
       When I came out the other side.  There was a large space to rest.  Which I did generously.  The sun was nearly set.  Regretfully, we had to make camp.  So we piled our stuff in the canoes and shoved off.  About two yards later, Mr. And Mrs. Anderson pointed to a small shore with an embankment.  Perfect for camping.  We pulled up to the shore and unpacked once again.
       
       Tossing the backpacks down where we would set up tents.  We sat and took a breather.  Mrs. Anderson soon got to work though and set up the camp stove and made, of all things, hamburger helper.  In the mean time, we set up camp.  The tents flew up and the sleeping bags were tossed inside.  
       
       Dinner was short but sweet.  The mosquitoes were out in full force.  We quickly washed up and put away the dishes, all the while swatting away the pesky insects.  Alex, it turns out got some bad sunburn.  He was going to have hell all week from that.  I truly felt sorry for him.  Noah and I crawled into our tent.  
       
       I lay fully awake.  The sounds of the crickets chirped outside, reminding me that we were not in the city.  It was a peacefully sound.  I knew that Noah was awake.  I didn’t know who was going to start this talk.  Suddenly I heard him move.
       
       "Aww, Fuck this!" he nearly yelled.
