Anning and her team of four were inside her tent, because her tentmate hasn't returned yet and there was no guarantee that she will even come back.
Anning and Baizhi sat on one of the bed, and the other two on the remaining bed, sharing whatever happened inside the tent. Of course, the professors' prompt of not spreading it was thrown out of the window, since exceptions are more important.
There was a moment of silence in the room, broken by Baizhi.
Baizhi," Maybe, it really is a ridiculous prank by someone ?"
Kritika countered it, " But the dead crow-"
She wasn't able to complete her sentence, because of the shiver. Raya stroked her back, and only then did she felt some warmth. She continued-
" But the dead crow is too much. Its too gross, and.... and the way it was lying there, split open-" She again quivered, as a result Raya finally embraced her.
Baizhi looked at Anning. But Anning only blinked at her.
Does she also want a hug ? Should I ?
Quickly dismissing that thought, she asked, "Are you scared ? Don't worry, the faculties are handling it, it will soon be solved." She said reassuringly.
But Baizhi only held her hand, and after some moment of hesitation, asked, "Sizi.... was also there?"
Are you asking or stating?
Of course, Anning didn't say it out loud, instead teased her by faking a very surprised expression, "Are you jealous of her ? "
Baizhi first baffled, then opened her mouth to retort but wasn't able to say anything after seeing Anning's smiling face. She gulped and looked away.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Anning viewed it as childish, and chuckled.
Since the clock was already reaching to five o'clock, they decided to follow their morning routine and went out of the tent one by one, leaving only Anning inside.
When everyone was outside, the smile from Anning's face suddenly vanished like it was never there.
She rewinded her memory back, when they were leaving the tent in question. She hadn't forgotten about Sizi who was following her, but once Sizi went back the other direction, her face has visibly darkened.
And that's the reason why Baizhi was asking her if something has happened that made her look like this, not the situation in the tent.
Something's doesn't feel right. Is Sizi involved in this too ?
She steadied herself from these dazing thoughts, and went out of the tent to freshen up. The boys' group has already left for bathing spring, and because of that the girls' group will go in the next batch, i.e, at evening.
The timing was evening because if there were any wild animals in the forest then they will go to the spring in afternoon, most probably. And it was better to avoid them as far as possible.
After freshening up, everyone gathered together to have their breakfast, which was made by themselves with the help of staffs. The staff were responsible only for managing portion sizes and cooking over an open fire, while the students were responsible for providing them with everything they required like water, chopped vegetables, firewood, etc etc.
While this arrangement excited some of the students, there were also a few who only wanted to click pictures and roam everywhere, posting them online (the slacker type).
Anning was from the first category, and had helped everyone including those students who actually wanted to learn some cooking skills. Baizhi was also with her.
Baizhi loves being in front of the camera too and every once a while, she will take out her phone and randomly stats to click some.
Whereas Anning is highly photo- phobic. She likes to click picture of others but never wants to click her own. But is she really going to say no to Baizhi ?
Despite of the morning hassle, her eyes will still drift to a cornered tent, where a person was still sleeping soundly after crying her eyes out.
Sizi hasn't woken up yet.
It was really a miracle that Baizhi didn't caught Anning peeking to that side. But that doesn't mean nobody has. Raya kept glancing at Anning after noticing where she was looking at with that worried expression.
In the middle of all this drama, the food was already ready and everyone finished it as quickly. After some hours, the teachers called for them to get assemble in a row.
The real work was going to start soon.
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