The next day, the boys wanted to really get in touch with nature, so they decided to go out on a nature trail by themselves. By the time the girls got out of bed, the boys were gone already.
As Tara walked back from the showers, she noticed a paper between the window and wiper of her van. She walked over to the van, and noticed a note from the boys.
Hey Girls!
We wanted to go on one of those long nature trails, one of those all day excursion ones, so we thought we'd leave when we got up! You girls werent up yet, and we didnt want to wake you's, so we'll see you when we get back later tonight! Supper is on us!!
Justin, Lance, Nick and AJ
Tara entered the dining shelter and ate some breakfast. After the other girls were up, Tara, Karine, Laura and LeeAnna drove into town to do some shopping!
When they got to the mall, Tara called her parents up to let them know how her trip was, while the others called their parents also.
"Hey mom!" Tara said from the mall payphone.
"Hey hunny! How are you doing?" Taras mom said.
"Oh Mom! you wouldnt believe whats happened this week!! The second day we were here, these four guys set up camp RIGHT beside our site! And, it looked like they were having trouble setting up, so we went over to offer to help them! and when we went over, the guys were Justin and Lance from N SYNC, and AJ and NICK from BSB!!!" Tara said happily.
Taras mom was really happy, and was kinda surprised. After about ten minutes, Tara got off the phone, and joined the otheres for a few hours of shopping!
Later that afternoon, the girls returned back to camp, took a dip in the lake. At around 6:00, the boys still havent returned back to the site, which made the girls start to worry about their friends.
"Maybe we should go and look for them?" Tara suggested.
"Yeah but we wont make it back in time before dark!" Laura said.
"Yeah, but we cant let them spend the night out there alone! they know absolutely NOTHING about camping, or how to survive out in the wilderness! What if we take the exit of the trail, and go backwards! They're bound to be closer to the exit" Tara said. At that, the girls knew what they had to do, so they packed a little bag, grabbed some flashlights, and headed out to the trail.
"I seriously think we took a wrong turn somewhere" Nick said, as the boys stood in the forest, with trees all around them, no one in site, having come to a dead end.
Tara lead the girls on the trail, with Karine, Laura, and then LeeAnna following behind. Each holding their own flashlight, they called out the boys names.
About an hour later, Karine heard someone screaming.
"I told you we should have took that other path back there man!!!" AJ said to Nick.
"Hey its not really Nics fault, i mean, the path broke into two directions, they should really put a sign up here or something to tell you which way to go" Lance said, trying to be a peacemaker.
AJ sat down on a treestump. "Im hungry" Nick said.
"SHut up Nick! We're lost and all you think about is food!" AJ said, complaining further.
"hey! It was YOUR idea to come out here, AJ!" Nick said, yelling back at him.
"I think we should stay here, and wait till someone comes and finds us!" Justin said.
"Thats not a good idea! NO one might come and find us! No one knows we are here! maybe we should backtrack and take the other route?" Nick suggested.
"Yeah, we could do that, only problem is, that it is going to get dark out VERY SOON!" AJ said.
"Yeah, Well.. then I guess we will have to backtrack, and go on the RIGHT route, and when it gets dark out, we will have to stop and stay there for the night" Justin said.
The boys headed back on the wrong route that the took, and finally found the correct one. As they reached the correct route, the sun was setting, and darkness was slowly filling the forest.
"OVER HERE!!!!!!!" the voices said. Tara and Karine turned and shone their flashlights ahead of them, to find four bodies standing up, running towards them.
"Tara!! karine!! Laura and LeeAnna!!! We're SOOOOO happy to see you!!!!" Nick said, as he gave Tara a hug. Nick hugged Tara for a long time, realizing that it felt pretty good to be in her arms, and he was no longer scared, and he knew that everything was going to be ok.
"Got any food?" Nick asked curiously.
"You see, Id knew that you would ask that.." Tara said, and then she pulled out a box of Swiss Cake Rolls, the kind that Nick likes. Nick ate a few rolls, and the others had some too. By that time, it was pitch black out, and they had to hike out of the forest, following the CORRECT trail. About an hour later, they made it back to the cars.