A taste to remember

Chapter six

Munnira pov

I can't stop thinking about those muscular arms and six-pack abs of his. He looks like those hot black American models you see in foreign magazines. Till date, I have been avoiding questions that Umayma has been asking me since that day - what does she want me to tell her? Oh yeah, I slept at Ahmad's house; what will she think whenever she asks, I tend to change the topic. I know I'm supposed to get angry at him, but somehow, I'm not. We were waiting for our lecturer to come when one of our course mates mentioned the school trip to Camp Resort. I wanted to know more about it, so I asked him. He was about to explain when the lecturer came into the class.

When the class was over, I waited for him outside, and he explained that he is a member of the student representative council, and they have been planning the trip for a long time. The trip will be during the mid-semester break, and each group of six will contribute 150,000 naira. He elaborated more as he escorted me home. "If you were given a free invite, would you go?" I asked. Yeah, without hesitation. They say it's the first camp resort in Nigeria, and we have only two in Africa. I would like to see how the experience will be - an experience of a lifetime".

Throughout that night, I have been reminiscing over what he said. Our semester break is in a week, and Umayma will go home, and most of my friends will go too. Mama and my sister will be in Sokoto for my cousin's wedding, even though it's after the semester break; they will be going earlier because mama has things to do there. I made my little research about the place, and I was amazed with what I saw. It has a park, a house of horror, even a hot spring; they have a lot of things. I sat down and thought deeply about it; since it's one week before our semester break, I will go for my break and come back on Friday; it will be fun.

I was already set when he called; he said they were outside. It was Ahmad, Khalid, and Yesmin. I wonder if Zaid and Farah will be going too. As if they knew what I was thinking, Zaid announced that they would be meeting us there. It was a 30-minute drive from zaria to kaduna, and in a few minutes, we arrived at Camp Resort. We could see the tall gates with "Camp Resort" written boldly on it, the walls were very tall. After opening the gate, I was amazed with what I saw; there was so much that Google didn't show about this resort. The slide, the pool, the firehouse, the cave room, and so on.

Ahmad drove the car to the park, and there we met Farah and Zaid. We all got our things from the boots and walked to the reception, which is called a mini head office. There, they gave us a camp coach who showed us around and took us to our camp house. We had a closer look at the place; they have no motel or hotel; we were to sleep in a caravan house. One caravan for three people. It has a kitchen, toilet, bathroom, and three beds. They said they have one with a king-size bed for the newly wedded couple, but it's at the luxurious caravan house. The camp coach showed us to our caravan house, which was facing the guys' caravan. He said "we should settle in, look around if we want, and that we will start the jungle tour tomorrow".

The next morning, we woke up early, took our baths, and Farah made us big breakfast with indomie I brought. While we were eating, our clothes arrived; they were black truck suits with different color stripes. Farah rushed for the one with purple stripes, claiming it was her favorite color. Yesmin gave me a chance to choose between the pink and maroon stripes; I chose the maroon, and she chose the pink. I don't know what size they brought; I wore the black top and the jackets comfortably, but I had to struggle to wear the trousers. The length was okay, but the weight was quite tight. I asked our camp coach if they had a bigger size, but he said that it was the biggest female size they have.

We all took our black bags, which contained a bottle of water, some snacks, and the sleeping outfits that came with the package, which matched our truck suits. Stepping out, you could see how the guys looked so good in their outfits. Zaid got the one without stripes, Khalid got the one with light blue, and Ahmad got the one with navy blue stripes, which made him look really cool and classy. Yesmin wore a matching pink cup, and I wore a small maroon veil to cover my hair up.

At exactly 10:00 a.m., we started our jungle tour. The camp coach gave each of us a map, and we were to begin with hiking the rocks, which led to the jungle. There, we saw beautiful trees, grasses, flowers, a water fall, and a hot spring. The next day we are to cross the rock town then the bridge which led us back to the park. I thought the hike would be as easy as it sounded until we started climbing rocks; my legs felt so heavy. But the view from the top was perfect; we could see the entire camp and even the town itself. We all sat on top of the mountain, taking a break. I removed my jacket to get some fresh air, and Ahmad handed me a bottle of water and sat next to me.

"Do you remember when we were kids, and we used to play at the back of Big Mommy's house?" Farah broke the silence. "Yeah, it's true; you wanted to go catch a chameleon, and it led us to the bushes," Yesmin added. I lifted my eyebrow, smiling, and turned to look at his face. He refused to look back, acting as if he wasn't listening.

"Guess how we found him after four hours of getting missing? He was in the farm, and guess what was following him a chicken!" We all burst into laughter. Khalid added, "Then, he used to be scared of chickens, but somehow, they love him; they follow him wherever he goes."

I laughed so hard I felt it in my stomach. He couldn't keep a straight face for long, and we all burst out laughing. We took a 10-minute break and then continued our journey. We reached a point where we had to jump to get to the next rock, which led to the jungle. There was a significant gap between the rocks, and the depth was quite long. The next rock was higher, and one wrong move could lead to a fall. The rest succeeded in jumping to the other. I hesitated, not wanting to take the risk.

'Hey,' I felt Ahmed's hand on my elbow as he tried to lead me. I quickly pulled away, suggesting he go first. With only two hours left, I wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but he jumped without hesitation. They called out to me from the other side, urging me to jump. I took a deep breath, stepped back, and went for it. My legs slipped, and I lost my balance. Suddenly, I felt a hand around my waist, lifting me up. It was Ahmed, his strong and flexible hands holding me close. Our faces were few inches apart, our eyes locked. He pulled me closer, and I felt his breath piercing through my skin, his perfume consuming me. We stood there for three minutes, not saying a word. Someone cleared their throat, snapping us back to reality. He let me go, and since then I tried to avoid eye contact. 'Okay, let's go,' Yasmine said, trying to ignore the awkward moment. We continued on our journey, leaving a significant space between us.

"So, what's going on between you two?" Farah asked, walking next to me. I looked at her, not getting what she meant. "The intense moments between you two," Farah said, adding, and working away. To be honest, I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened a few minutes ago. Somehow, I didn't want him to let me go; I wished he could stay like that for long. But why do I feel that way? I asked myself over and over.

We finally got to the jungle, and there was a sign that read "Jungle Paradise." I bent down to tie my loose lace before joining them. Immediately, I bent down, I heard a sound from behind. I opened my eyes wider, praying it wasn't what I thought. It was - my trousers had torn from behind, and I didn't have a jacket to cover it up. Yesmin and Farah were already in the jungle, and all my eyes could see were Khalid and Zaid watching it. I couldn't ask them for it; what if they ask me why? I don't think they are nosy; I will just tell them I'm cool, I thought to myself. I was about to walk towards them when Ahmad appeared right in front of me. Before I could say a word, he tied his jacket over my waist and left. Oh my God, he saw it.

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Nature is indeed a work of art, and today I'm admiring its beauty. The evergreen leaves cling to the trees, the sparkling river flows into the sea, and the stunning waterfall cascades into a hot spring beneath. Monkeys leap from tree to tree, while rabbits hop and nibble on leaves. Only God can create such perfection.

I turned to look at my friends, but they were still asleep, as both ends of the camp were closed. Perhaps this is the perfect time for a bath in the hot springs, and we won't be spending another night here. I quietly walked to our tents and zipped mine up, assuming it was the right one. I took my traveling kit, towel, top, and tracksuit, which I had dried the night before.

When I arrived at the water's edge, I hesitated for a moment before entering the cave, keeping my clothes on a rock by the side, a bit far from the hot spot. I took my traveling kit with me, feeling the relaxing hot water on my skin. I felt like sleeping off, as the warm water soothed my joints. I floated like a leaf, swimming in and out, just like I was taught when I was 12.

After 30 minutes of bathing, I got out to clean myself with a small towel. I walked to get my clothes, but they were nowhere to be found. I searched around, thinking maybe I had misplaced them, but they were nowhere to be seen. Holding my shower to my chest, I walked out of the cave, more confused than ever.

Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I quickly lowered my head.

"You must be looking for this," he said. It was Ahmad. How did you get my clothes? Did you steal them while I was bathing? Were you watching me all along? I thought. "I saw Julian with it," Ahmad said, pointing to the monkey that had been introduced to us when we first arrived. I looked at it, and it kept jumping and making sounds. "I'm sorry...I" Before he could say another word, I collected my clothes and quickly returned to the cave.