Jake Mason and the Human

Jake Is About As Useless As Natalie Is Stubborn

I had no idea why my head hurt so bad. My spine hurt from the way I was leaning and my chin was being forced into my chest.

Once I got myself up, I decided I felt fine and would be able to join the fight to help out. However, I was pretty much useless. As soon as I was on my feet, the forest was still.

Everything was silent. Everybody exchanged tired and concerned looks with each other.

I looked around to find Natalie across the road from me. When we made eye contact she started walking towards me. Dropping whatever was in her hands, she started fixing her ponytail.

I tried moving forward.

"You okay?" she asked, coming to a hault in front of me.

"I'm good. You?"

"Never better." I watched her eyes slowly shut as she pulled on her hair, then flutter open.

"Is it over now?" I asked.

"It's over now," Connor answered as he walked by the two of us and towards the tree that was holding his girlfriend. I looked up to Skylar to see if all was well. She had her head resting against the tree's trunk and her bow hanging on a nearby branch.

"It's over now," I repeated under my breath. When I turned back to Natalie she wrapped her arms around my waist with a tired heaviness. I couldn't help but lean on her for support.

"That was fun," she laughed.

"I can't believe I missed it."

Natalie pulled away and linked her hands behind my neck. Her hands were gentle as she rubbed the spot on my head that had been hit.

"You're okay?"

"I'm fine. What about you? What happened? Is everyone okay?"

She nodded. "I think everyone is going to be okay, from what I can tell. I don't know what it's like inside the camp. I'm not entirely sure what happened."

I nodded. I wanted to know more, but I knew Natalie couldn't really help with the details. I would talk to Connor some other time.

"I, um, I'm sorry," Natalie admitted to me with bright eyes. "I should have trusted you and stayed out of this."

I shook my head. "No, I shouldn't have tried to control you. Plus, you were more help than I was, so it was a good thing you came."

Natalie pursed her lips and thought about it. "Yeah, that's true. Apology accepted."

I rolled my eyes to get her to laugh. When it worked she slid her hands down to my shoulders and held me closer. Using my thumb, I reached up to wipe a smear of dirt off of her cheek, but it only smudged it around.

"Thanks," she told me, not knowing how little I had done for her.

"Thanks for helping out."

"It was fun."

"I'm sure it was."

She raised an eyebrow. "So, what do I do now?"

"I'm not sure."

"I should probably get back home."

"I should probably get back to my cabin."

Natalie groaned and rested her forehead against mine.

I gave a tired laugh. "You should probably kiss me."

She laughed and held onto my shirt. "Oh my goodness." Her eyes were bright looking up to me. "So forward!"

"That's the only way."

Natalie stood up on her toes to bring her face closer to mine. "You brute."

I was getting too nervous to talk, so I just stepped forward and kissed her.

Natalie's shoulders relaxed beneath me. As she let go of the breath she had been holding, I felt her shrink in size.

I was well aware of the campers around us, but I had seen plenty of them making out with their boyfriends or girlfriends. I was allowed this one moment with Natalie.

A moment that didn't last nearly as long as I would have liked.

"Natalie?" a voice questioned from behind me.

The girl in question abruptly pulled away and peered over my shoulder.

"Oh, hey," she awkwardly laughed to whoever was behind me. I could see her blush.

When I turned to see who it was, I immediately wanted to run away.

"Jake?" a terrified Austin Brown exclaimed. "What- what is my sister doing here?"

I ran a hand through my hair. "Austin, I tried to keep her out of this. I really did. She's..."

"Stubborn," Natalie answered for me.

I didn't make any motion to agree with her. Austin had his eyebrows scrunched together and his jaw clenched.

"How...how long has this been happening?"

"Ever since Luke came, I was assigned to watch over your sister. And we were attacked, more than once, so I had to tell her what all was happening. Then she got interested and started to want to help and be more a part of this."

Austin shook his head. "No, no. I knew that. I want to know when this started." With his hands, he motioned to me and his sister. "How long have you two been...involved?"

I let out an awkward choke as Natalie gave a hardy laugh.

"You'd like to know, wouldn't you?" Natalie teased.

He scratched his head. "I don't know. Should I, uh..." He looked to me. "Don't screw with her. Got it?"

I swallowed. "Oh, yeah of course. No way. I uh, I'm sorry."

Austin frowned. "For what?"

Shoving my hands into my pockets I stepped back towards Natalie. "Nothing. I don't know why I said it."

He peered at me and started walking away, giving his sister a look in the process.

Once he was gone, Natalie laughed. She teased, "Er, um, eh, I, uh, I'm sorry," in a mocking voice.

I rolled my eyes to hide the embarrassment. "Shut up."

Natalie bumped her hip to mine. "No, it was cute."

"Was it?"

She grinned. "Super cute."

"I am pretty cute."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far."

I hooked my arm around her neck and pulled her closer to me as we started walking. "Cute or not," I told her, "I'm super dizzy and I think I'm going to puke."

She patted my back as we made our way towards her car.

"You've probably got a concussion."

"Great."

"Don't even think about throwing up in my car."