There I was packing for Altai, the eighth grade Discovery Week, not realizing what was going to happen to me later. Suddenly, I decided to lay down because I was feeling tired and took a short nap. I woke up in fear as my phone was ringing I felt my phone rumble underneath me. I hurriedly found it and answered the call. It was my friend calling to hang out with him. As soon as I finished the call I immediately  put on my clothes but I bounced out of the house leaving my coat behind.

Once outside, we decided to go to the beach where we had a fun time at the play area. We were able to play volleyball and tennis. After a while, we were all exhausted so we went for a walk where I saw some hammocks facing the water. We strolled towards them and we all decided to get some rest in the hammocks. A wintery cold breeze was blowing in our faces and we all decided to leave the beach.

It was getting colder and darker but everyone did not want to go home but we were all thinking about it. We found a cafe where we pulled the tables closer so we could all sit together. We bought some hot tea and warm treats. We took our paper cups of tea and walked over to the nearby benches to continue talking. It was cold and I suggested that we all go to one friend’s house where it will be warm and could listen to music. When we arrived everyone grabbed a blanket from the cupboard and Arina turned on some music, loud enough for everyone to hear. I finished my tea, and with my blanket I fell back on the couch.

Half an hour passed and I was shivering like tree on a stormy day. Goose bumps grew out of my back and when I turned around I was the center of attention. I was afraid realizing I won’t be able to go to Altai I got op to go to the bathroom hearing the words of my friend ludvig “Are you feeling ok” he asked,  I said yes “I’m fine”, and shut the door. Once I turned on water, I splashed it in my face and looked at myself I was ghastly. I walked out of the bathroom thing to myself should I stay or should I go Like the old Clash tune. My finally choice was to stay; I mean what could possibly go wrong huh? I decided to stay and sat back down trying to understand the lyrics of a song Ludvig turned on. Natasha, Arina’s friend, decided to order pizza but the thought of it disgusted me. I felt the grease dripping down my throat and it was surprising as I love eating pizza and food in general. Everyone wanted pizza so I stuck with the program as I did not care much about it.

When the pizza arrived everyone apart from Ludwig and I stayed back. Ludwig was lazy but I just felt sick. Once they brought it inside I sensed the smell and felt worse. I pulled the blanket over myself and tried to fall asleep. I looked at Ludwig and told him that he could leave as I was going to have a sleep but he wanted to stay as he noticed that I looked depressed. I smiled at him and shortly afterwards I zoned out for a while. When I opened my eyes I saw that everyone was sleeping. The music was still on playing loudly. I got up, turned off the music and went to the bathroom. I looked in the mirror and noticed how pale I was. There were even bags under my eyes. I started to feel hungry and I headed for the kitchen where I found two pieces of pizza leftover. I grabbed a plate and took one of the slices. I munched on it and started to feel better.

I decided to wake everyone up by pushing Ludvig and he fell to the floor. Arina and Natasha looked over and started to laugh at the scene of Ludvig sprawled out on the floor. He got up and we all started to laugh. I followed on with a couple of jokes which started everyone laughing. Everybody was refreshed after their nap. I had a light piercing feeling in my ear but I tried to ignore it still thinking how much of an idiot i was for not grabbing my coat. Arina told me to go upstairs and grab her computer so we could watch a movie. I turned on the movie Scary Movie Five so everyone quickly sat down ready to watch it. We had a laugh and everyone felt happy until I gulped saliva and felt again the piercing pain in my ear.

Forgetting about what I looked like or how I felt I was going along with everyone going outside because they all decided to. I did not want to say no so I went with them. When I came outside I did not have my shoes on properly and I was only wearing a sweatshirt and without a coat. It was super cold and I watched as everyone was running. I quickly started to run too hoping that this exercise would keep me warm. When we eventually stopped running I found that I was even colder than when I first started. I was shivering so I made the decision to return home. I took out my phone and called my mom to come and pick me up.

Once I ended the call I told my friends that I was leaving so they came with me to wait for my mom to arrive. While I walked towards the place where I was to be collected I was shaking like a rattlesnake. At the gate, everyone stopped and they were all cold too. We talked and talked for about ten minutes and I phoned my mom to see where she was. She thought she had to be here in about thirty minutes but she was leaving now to be in five minutes. She came quickly after the call and as she rolled up I ran quickly towards the car. I sat in the car and gulped again and my ears and throat were unbearably painful i was almost in tears thinking about discovery week. My mom asked what was wrong and I gave her the story of the pain that I had felt. On the drive home, I was certain that I would not be able to go to Altai.