You're joking.

Does he honestly think he's just going to get to walk away? He can't ditch me just like that! I mean, he totally can, but he totally shouldn't.

I drop my bag in the snow and run after him, "Nooopeeee!"

Standing in front of him, I hold out my hands, my palms flat.

"You're just going to ditch me like that?"

"I wasn't aware that you need babysitting."

"I-"

"Do you not know how to start a fire?"

"I can," I state honestly, "But, can I have like a sleeping bag and some blankets, though, or something?"

He raises an eyebrow, "Only once you've started a fire."

Then, he side-steps me and walks in the direction of his cabin.

"You don't just start a fire. You build it," I mutter lamely, remembering what the survival books said.

He probably didn't believe my claim that I can start a fire.

Well, I'll have to show him that I can, then.

Walking back to my bag, I open it up and take out the matches, putting them in my coat pocket. Then, I glance around for some birch trees.

Birch trees make up about 10% of Alaska's forest, so I should be able to find some.

Then, I think my eyes land on one, many yards away, hidden behind an evergreen. Hopefully, it is, in fact, a birch tree. And, hopefully, some birch bark has fallen off it, since I don't feel like killing the poor tree.

You see, birch bark makes for a fantastic fire fuel. It really just gets it going. However, if you peel it off the tree, the tree will die.

I make my way over to it, finding that it's in terrible condition. It looks dead.

"Yay!" I exclaim, absolutely thrilled.

I take as much as I can carry in my arms and bring it all back to the cave.

That way, if it rains or something, I have a dry supply of it.

After I've knelt and cleared out a simple little spot near the opening of the small cave, I stand up again.

"Okay, time to find some kindling and little dead tree branches or something."

I walk out of the cave, starting to trek aimlessly around the forest.

I find nothing.

And, I know that sounds incredibly moronic, considering I'm literally in a heavily-wooded forest, but it's true! There are no little twigs for kindling and no dead fallen branches of any kind.

I assume it's because this spot is so close to Vaughn's cabin; he's cleared out all of the dead brush around and used it for his own fires.

I glance around, chewing slightly on my lower lip. Is there a standing, dead tree anywhere? I might be able to just knock it down, or I could use the hatchet that's still in my back pocket.

When I come across a smaller tree that looks dead, I nearly jump for joy. "Yes!"

I jog over to it, place both my hands on it, and push as hard as I can.

Which ends up being very stupid, as it was barely standing.

I fall face-first along with it, ending up sprawled in the snow. My face is flat against the cold, white ground, and I feel my whole head start to become a human icicle.

Now I'm lying on the cold, hard ground.

It's a good thing Vaughn can't see me from his cabin right now, otherwise-

My train of thought instantaneously stops when I hear the sound of snow crunching underneath a pair of boots.

Oh, you've got to be kidding me.

I quickly push myself up, wiping the snow from my face.

Hey, don't some girls melt an ice cube on their face to get flawless skin? Maybe the snow will do me wonders, then. Who knows?

When I look up, I come face to gorgeous face with Vaughn, who does not hold the blankets I so intensely desire. Instead, in his left hand, he holds a big ax.

Is this where he reveals he's an Alaskan Ax Murderer?

I'm still kneeling down on the ground near the stupid, dead tree when he offers me his right hand. And, I'm tempted to not take it, because I want to prove to him that I'm not weak and pathetic like he thinks I am. However, I also want to be civil allies with him, and pushing his help away isn't going to help me achieve that.

So, sighing, I take his hand and allow him to help me up.

"Gravity really is inconvenient, isn't it?" I say lightly.

No expression. Silence.

Very awkward silence.

"Okay, well," I state for absolutely no reason, reaching down and grabbing the stupid, dead tree.

Then, I drag it along with me as I walk away from my uncle's friend.

Hearing his footsteps behind me, I begin to worry that any second now, I'll feel an ax pierce my back.

But, that thankfully never happens.

When I get to the cave, I drop the tree and swiftly turn around. Vaughn surprisingly looks interested, probably 100% sure I'll fail with lighting this fire.

But, I have 100% complete faith in myself that I will start this fire.

"Well, don't just stand there," I tell him.

He scoffs, "Why? Do you need help? I thought you were capable of starting a fire on your own."

Nodding, I take the hatchet from my back pocket and throw it on the ground. "I am. I'm just telling you to stop standing there. The fire shall be ignited, go get the blankets."

There's no reply, but I can tell he's annoyed with me. Mainly because, if I were him, I'd be annoyed with me.

I reach down and pick up the stupid, dead tree again, holding it horizontally. Then, I lift my right leg and put it on the tree.

"What are you doing?" He asks.

"When I told you to stop just standing there, I didn't mean that you should start asking stupid questions."

Silence.

Smiling on the inside, I step down hard on the tree, snapping a part off and creating a mini log that will make for perfect fire fuel. Then, I do that easily and quickly until the whole tree is broken up into 7 mini logs.

"You have a hatchet," Vaughn comments.

"Yes, but I think my method is faster, wouldn't you say?"

No response.

Then, the last step before I can start my fire begins.

I go to the broken off branches from the tree and break off all of the little dead twigs I find.

Kindling!

Now, I can start the fire.

Bringing a couple of small logs and the kindling over to the spot I cleared in the cave, I place the three big broken off branches down as a sort of base. Then, I put some birch bark down on top. Next, some kindling. Finally, I strategically place a little more birch bark.

"Birch bark?"

I glance over at Vaughn, who once again seems interested.

"You don't use birch bark to start fires?"

No reply.

Taking out my matches, I expect to hear him scoff. "I bet you consider this cheating," I tell him, then ask sarcastically, "Let me guess, you use flint and steel to start your fires?"

Silence.

I strike a match, quickly bringing it to the last piece of birch bark that I had placed. It catches fire instantly, continuing to burn and set fire to the twigs, long after the match has gone out. I put the used match along with the kindling, and continue to build up the fire for the next few minutes. When it's going pretty good, I place one log to the side of it, willing it to catch fire.

When it does, I stand up happily. "Told you I could start a fire."

He's silent, as usual.

His silence is...intriguing. And, I'm not just saying that because he looks like my dream guy. Even if he didn't look...nice, I'd still be wondering about his interests and why he lives out here alone.

I turn to walk back out of the cave, "Okay, while I go find more dead trees, you can go get me those blankets you told me you'd get."

I prefer the term straightforward rather than bossy.

I don't look back at him as I walk away from the cave, searching for my next helpless, dead victim to burn.

When I finally spot it, I push on it only slightly, and it goes down.

"Not making the same mistake twice," I mumble to myself as I reach down and pick it up with both hands. Then, I turn around and start dragging it back to the fire.

Vaughn's gone, so I assume he is, in fact, getting the blankets like I told him to. I'm slightly surprised, but I don't dwell on it much, considering how I've decided to focus solely on the fire. When I get back to the cave, I quickly break the tree up into mini logs and once again return to the trees to find more fire fuel.

I need enough to keep it going through the night; otherwise, I'll have no idea how I'll avoid becoming a human popsicle.

I'm not too upset about having to sleep in the cave, honestly, I'm kind of excited. It's an adventure, an Alaskan experience! Plus, it shouldn't get below zero, it'll just barely get below freezing. And, since I'm layered with good clothes and Vaughn will bring me blankets, I'll be totally fine.

When I once again return to the fire, I'm dragging two dead trees along that I had to wander a bit farther to find.

When I see what Vaughn's doing, I stop walking forward.

"Um, what are you doing?"

He's arranging two sleeping bags that are laid out on opposite sides of the fire, blankets piled on each.

When I near the fire and drop the trees, he stands up and looks at me, "What does it look like?"

"It looks like you've made a spot for you to sleep on out here by me."

"It is."

"That is so, completely, utterly, 100% stupid."

"Why?"

"Okay, I get that you might not trust me enough to allow me to stay in your cabin, and that's totally valid, but you seriously don't even trust me enough to let me sleep in a cave alone?"

"I-"

"No, literally, what's up with that? Let me enjoy my peace and quiet, thank you."

He looks a bit incredulous, "Peace and quiet don't belong in the same sentence as you."

"Oh, assuming that you know my personality, are we? Am I doing that with you? Nope. No, I am not."

"I'm making sure you don't pull something."

"Oh, yes. Deceiving, for no reason whatsoever, loners who live in the middle of Alaskan forests just happens to be my absolute favorite pastime. Although, tricking the ones in the Amazon Rainforest also make for good entertainment. When they find out I'm totally not going to steal their piranha spear? The shock on their faces! Incredible."

"Why do you talk so much?"

That question makes me stop instantly and think for a second. Yes, I realize I have been talking much more than I usually do. I thought I didn't even know how to chat, but now it's as if I'm willingly saying every dumb comment that comes into my head.

Why?

I have no idea.

So, I say the first thing that comes into my head.

"I honestly don't talk a lot, but now it's as if I have to subconsciously talk enough for the both of us. Don't ask me why. Who am I to know the inner workings of my mind?"

He just stares blankly.

"So, have you had many dangerous wildlife run-ins?"

"Yes."

"Fun," I comment, only being slightly sarcastic. "What's the procedure for when I finally run into a wolf or something?"

"No."

I blink. 'No'?

Could it be...that I've finally found someone as bad, if not worse than conversation than me?

"No?" I question.

He shakes his head slightly, pinching the bridge of his nose calmly. "Sorry, that's a habit. You'll learn the procedure for that another time."

It's a habit for him to say no, huh? Fascinating.

Then, a questioning thought pops into my head. What time is it?

The sun is actually getting pretty low in the sky, so I'm assuming it's late.

I walk over to my bag, ignoring Vaughn's stare, and take out my tablet.

3:55 pm.

"Do you know when sunset is?"

"No."

"There's so little daylight here."

No response.

Honestly, I totally respect his decision to not be an annoying person, but I would've totally not let that dumb comment slide if I were him.

Honestly, it's Alaska. What did I expect? I knew there's not much daylight as there is in Washington. Yet, I still made the dumb comment anyway. I really just do suck at conversation. The only real thing I was ever good at was school. And my job, which just involved being a hostess. I thought it would be easier than the stressful Dairy Queen employee or Chick-fil-A cashier. And I most definitely did not want to work at Walmart. I may have minimal conversational and people skills, but the customers found in Walmart are just...a whole different breed. I could never be polite all of the time surrounded by ones even more moronic than me.

So, I guess I should be grateful for the fact that I ended up here over there. However, how I got here? Why I came here? Nothing to be thankful for.

I shake my head, willing those thoughts away before they come.

"Did you consider that they can track you through that?" Vaughn nods to my tablet.

"Yeah. Even with airplane mode on though?"

"Probably."

"That's comforting," I reply to my uncle's friend.

My uncle's friend...

What happened to my uncle? I need to get started on finding that out.

I'm starving, though.

"Do you have a pan?" I ask Vaughn.

"A...pan?"

"Yes...you know, like one of those circular-"

"I know what a pan is. Why do you need one?"

"I'm hungry, and I have cans of beans in my bag. However, I lacked the room to bring a pan with me. Do you have one?"

"Yes, but I'm not getting it."

"Seriously? Why not?"

"You come to Alaska and expect...what, exactly?"

I'm confused. Is this guy actually asking me a direct question like that?

Before I can start thinking, 'progress!' he continues on, "Do you expect to not do anything? Do you expect everything to be handed to you? Do you expect to be safeguarded and protected against all dangers that you'll face out here? What do you expect?"