Royal Runaway

Chapter Fifteen

"I bet I'll win if we race all the way to that island out there." said Jaylin with confidence, as he pointed to a little island that stood out in the middle of the lake.

The day had passed rather quickly. Madeline thought it had to be almost four o'clock. Jaylin and her had just had so much fun swimming around their little beach, even getting out and exploring the rocks surrounding it. The two were now stretched out on the sand, letting the beating sun dry their skin.

Madeline looked out at the small island. It didn't look like it was that far out in the water, but Madeline wasn't the fastest swimmer. She had been a very good swimmer since a young age, but one of the things she lacked was speed. She could hold her breath underwater for a long period of time but couldn't beat her little brother River to the other side of the long lap pool they had at the palace.

Thinking about her brother gave her heart a little tug. She hadn't realized until just now how much she really missed her family. She missed her two little brothers, River and Theo and all their craziness. How they would play little pranks on her, which she pretended to get annoyed at but secretly she loved them. She missed her dad, with his warm smile and kind eyes and the way he always gave her a look of love. Madeline even missed her mom, even though she could be demeaning and controlling. She missed Lorelai's sense of purpose and how she had each little moment planned out. Madeline had never felt lost or as if she was searching for something. Her whole life had been mapped since she was little. Now, she was finding her own map.

She took another look out at the island. "You're on," she said, turning to Jaylin. They both jumped and up splashed into the water.

"On your marks, get set, go!" shouted Jaylin as he took of in the water, Madeline close behind. The water felt cool and wet as it flowed over her, engulfing her in a wave of refreshness. Madeline swam fast with all her might. She freestyled her way in the water, pulling her right arm above, gliding it in lake, then her left. She kicked her legs with all strength, propelling her towards the island.

She came up for air and glanced in the direction of the island. She didn't have much longer to go. She kept swimming. It gave her a rush and an odd sense of purpose. Madeline glided as if she were a flying under the waves of the lake.

Madeline suddenly felt the water to become more and more shallow. She stood up and ran the rest of the way to the island. She looked around the shore and found that Jaylin wasn't there. She turned towards the water and saw him just now standing and walking towards the shore.

"You won," he said, throwing his hands up in the air, defeated, but Madeline saw a trace of a smile on his lips.

She won. She actually won. Madeline hadn't thought she'd actually would win and now she had. It was all very thrilling.

Jaylin was just now reaching the shore, his feet still submerged in the water. "Good race," he said, holding out his hand for Madeline to shake.

She grabbed it, shook it, but before she knew it Jaylin had a devious smile on his face and pulled her back into the water. Madeline, who was caught off guard, didn't fall into the water like she was thinking she would. Instead, her foot made her fall towards Jaylin, who ended up catching her before they could both fall into the water.

Madeline blushed at her clumsiness. She then noticed that Jaylin's arms were still around her. She turned her face to face his and saw that he was smiling down at her. Madeline had never been this close to him before and the proximity to him made her stomach do flip-flops. She couldn't help but smile back at him, with his warm smile and adorable dimples. Madeline then suddenly felt herself drawing closer to him, if that was even possible. She wasn't sure if she was forcing them to become one unit or if Jaylin was moving his lips closer to her.

What is he doing? She thought. Does he want to kiss me? Do I want to kiss him? We've just met! Wow, he looks really cute in this light... Madeline stopped herself. She didn't want to put herself into that situation. She didn't know what the future held and she didn't want to get tied down. Even if the person who was tying her down was incredibly cute. "We should get back," Madeline whispered, their lips merely centimeters apart.

Jaylin pulled back a little, his face flushing a little. "Right, of course." He rubbed the back of his neck and Madeline tried not to notice the tips of his ears growing pink. They stepped apart awkwardly, sort of just standing there. Madeline suddenly realized how tired she was. After swimming all day, racing to the island and the excitement of the almost kiss, she was worn out.

"Let's swim back," she said, hoping the awkwardness would wash over them soon. "I'm tired and would should probably eat and find a place to camp."

"Good idea," said Jaylin, who didn't look at her as he made his way into the water.

The swam back to the beach, this time it wasn't as thrilling. When they reached the beach, they gathered their things and made their way up to the main part of the park. Madeline put on her baseball hat over her wet hair. She saw Jaylin look at her out of the corner of her eye, but if he thought it was weird he didn't say anything.

They made their way towards the bathrooms, which had public showers in them. They separated without words to head to the showers. Madeline loved the sensation of the warm clean water running over her. She cleaned up, using the toiletries she had packed. It felt wonderful to wash her hair after almost four days of it being dirty.

When she was done, she dressed as quickly as she could, to avoid as many people as possible. When she walked out of the bathrooms, she saw Jaylin sat on a bench, waiting for her. "Hey," she said, coming and sitting next to him.

"Hey," he said, turning to look at her. Madeline knew this was the deciding moment. Jaylin's next action would determine whether the awkwardness was still there. To Madeline's great relief, Jaylin smiled. "So, what do we do next?"

Madeline smiled back at Jaylin. "Well, I was thinking food should be our number one priority. Do we have any food or do we need to buy some?"

Jaylin glanced in his backpack. He pulled out some raisins, a few granola bars and a small piece of bread. "This is all I have."

Madeline reached into her own bag and grabbed a jar of peanut butter and some candy. "Well, it's not much of a feast but it'll do. Tomorrow though, we should try and get some more food."

"Where's the closest town besides this one?" asked Jaylin, as he opened up the jar of peanut butter, tore the piece of bread in half and started to spread the peanut butter on the bread.

Madeline pulled out her map. "The next town is Easthaven. Do you know if that's a fairly large town?"

Jaylin nodded. "It's pretty big. It's definitely not a town, it's a city. Do you want to go there?" He handed a her her piece of bread.

Madeline thought for a moment. The larger the town, the more possibilities for her to get discovered. However, the bigger the city, the more places to hide.

"Yeah, let's do it." Madeline said, taking a bite of her bread.