Natural Chemistry

Chapter 16: Maybe Closer

This time around we divided the navigation. I had the map and he had the compass, I was yet to understand what he understood from the rattling device or why we were using it.
The walk back shouldn't have been impossible as we just needed to trace our path, the fifteen trees marking each corner.

The sun was already burning a hole in my sulk, sweat trickling down my back in awkward patterns. Vince seemed indifferent to it all, though I wondered why he hadn't mentioned yesterday's occurrences.

Maybe he's shy, highly improbable.

"So, about yesterday?" I said, stretching every word.
He still had his back towards me, and I wondered if it was because he was avoiding the topic.

"What about it?" At his words my heart dropped to my stomach.
"Nothing, nothing at all." I mumbled, getting his clear cut message to forget about all that happened.

He suddenly stopped and turned to face me,"Look, Melissa. We both are diametrically opposite. Even at the thought of us hanging out people cringe in disgust. There are too many things I'm related to that you should keep your clean white shirt away from." As he finished I was at awe, this was the longest he had ever spoken to me. But his words sounded so hurt, like noone ever wanted to be around him even as a friend.

The way the storm swirled in his blue eyes, I could see the cracks that lay beneath. He was hurting but he didn't know how to share.

"I thought you were the rebel who didn't care what people say." I smirked, crossing my arms. The look on his face lightened a bit but never left completely.

"Not me, you. Your whole top of the food chain drama will take a nosedive if they see you with me."His hair was dangling about his forehead and I wanted to brush it away so bad.

"Shouldn't that be my decision?" I whispered after a long second.

"Jinx. I'm not ideal for relationships."

"Whoa there, tiger. No one said anything about relationships." I shook my head in a big no, "I liked the sound of hanging out for a bit."

He seemed confused at my sentence yet he was thinking it over.

"If your reputation goes for a six, my shoulder isn't a crying booth." He smirked, folding his arms.

"If your reputation goes for a six, I'm not a punching bag." I retorted, mirroring his actions.

"Deal."

"Deal."

We shook hands on it.

It all happened so fast, I didn't know what I had just agreed to.
Friends? With Vince D Montero? A guy I was most definitely attracted to?
I knew he needed a friend right now, not a girlfriend. And I knew I needed one who didn't expect me to keep up the attitude, no facade.

"You shouldn't be this nice all the time, it doesn't suit the cliché." He said, looking at me over his shoulder.

I sure am a Jinx.

"Right back at you." We both walked on with the unlikely friendship budding between us.

Just as I was about to suggest a game of twenty questions, his phone rang in the silence of the forest.
"Hello?" He picked it up, as my heart raced thinking the authorities had finally tracked us down but as his face darkened I knew it was something else.

"Slow down, slow down, what did you do?" He asked his voice merely above a strangled whisper. His back was towards me as his shoulders hunched over.
"But I finished everything, mom. He can't do this." His voice was breaking my troubled heart with every pain stricken word that left his mouth.

"Hello? Hello?" He paced back and forth, trying to get the signal back.
He shoved the phone back in his pocket and without a word started walking faster. One of his hands brought out the pen I had seen earlier to fiddle with.

"Vince?" I called out after a while, in hindsight, I should've asked for the phone instead.

"Yeah?" His voice had returned to the one I was greeted with on our first encounter, cold and calculating.
Taking that as a hint, I didn't mention the phone call but pointed out the direction to him, we were hardly a few meters from our camp.

We reached the clearing only to see it vacant, no sign of a living human to be seen.
After a lot of walking around, we realised the idiots had packed everything and moved to the next camp site.

"Give me your phone!" I exclaimed upon remembering how it had magically caught some signal back in the wild.
He didn't say much, infact he hadn't said much in quite a while, he handed me the phone.
I quickly typed in Chelsea's number and brought it to my ear.

"This numbe-" upon hearing the mechanical voice talk back I gave up and tried Jake's number instead. Atleast, that was ringing.

"Hello?" An extremely dubious Jake picked up the phone.
"Jake! It's me, Melissa!" I said in a rush, "Where are you p-" before I could finish Jake interrupted me.

"Guys, it's them!" He exclaimed loudly, probably putting it on speaker.
"Listen!" I yelled into the phone, trying to catch the dummy's attention at the receivers end. "We have come back to the first camp site but there is no one here, send someone immediately, and please, haul Brandon's ass to this place too."

"Melissa. Don't move from there, we will be arriving soon." Daniel's calm voice soothed over my ear, bringing relief to my panicked heart.
I cut the call and sat down on the irregular land and started to pick out the twigs and thorns stuck to my socks and shoes.

"They will be here soon." I said in a reluctant voice. He didn't reply but only sat down beside me.
"About the phone ca-" I didn't want anything to be awkward between us, so before he could say anything further I cut him off,
"There is no need to explain, Vince." I said with a small smile. He frowned at my words and turned his face back to the empty clearing.

"What's the whole story with Brandon anyway? What did you do to that loser?" He asked, the pen was still settled comfortably in his right hand as he continued to cap and uncap it.

"Well. I don't want anything to do with him anymore and people don't get that." I thought back to the time Jake painted his car, the memory so far back in my mind, almost like it never happened.
I didn't want anything to do with Brandon or his dumbness any more but people assumed I wanted him to be miserable. I did, sure, yet the thought of putting an effort for him gave me the chills.

We both settled down, once again the looming awkwardness returned.

"So, what's your favourite colour?" My eyebrows shot to my hairline at his enquiry.
"What? Just because I'm an outcast I can't make conversation?" He chuckled at my expression.

"Well, guess stereotypes are meant to be broken. Blue, by the way." I replied, glaring at the amount of seeds and grass sticking to my clothes.

"Same." He whispered back, resting his chin in his hands.

"What's the story with the heart tattoo?" I asked, milking the open house Vince was choosing to become.

"Jinx, baby steps." He shook his head with the most adorable smile on his lips.
We continued to speak but soon heard jeeps rushing our way.

Dusting out clothes we both stood as a frantic Chelsea and an equally terrified Jake made their way towards us.

"You're okay." They let out a breath of relief when they hugged me. I took in the comfort of familiarity.
They ushered me towards the vehicle and just as I was getting in I glanced to see Vince was already looking my way.

He threw another heartbreaking smile my way with a small nod.
He didn't know how his every action drew a person in.

********
My heart is in more danger than hers. XD

Love,
Rojesta 💜