Into The Wild

N I N E

I take a deep breath before looking back at her, equally regretful. "I'm sorry, too. It was stupid of me to ignore you."

She holds her arms out, tilting her head as if to ask, Let's hug?

I step into her embrace and we hold each other tightly, none of us willing to let go.

We sit together on her bed, legs crossed and giggle like little girls. "So..." she says, raising an eyebrow. "What's with you and Luke?"

I stare at her, wondering if she's still obsessed with him like she used to be. She leans in close to inspect my face. "Are you alright?"

I shake my head, lowering my eyes from hers. "There's nothing," I answer, to both of her questions.

She raised her eyebrows curiously. "Really? Because I saw him touching your waist a few times, touching your hand and your wrist, and don't get me started with the looks he gives you when you aren't looking."

"Looks?" Aria smiles smugly. "Aria, tell me, what looks?"

She leans in to whisper into my ear. "I've caught him looking at you so many times. A couple of times was during the bus trip to the camp, then when you were cleaning the bathrooms, he passed by with a smile, and then there was yesterday when we all sat by the campfire. Amber was talking to him, but he was looking at you laugh and smile with Madison, Carly, and Jay."

My eyes widen, my cheeks suddenly feeling very warm as I stand up from the bed and pace around the room. "Why?" I stop and wonder. "Why would he be looking at me? And why isn't his girlfriend doing anything? I don't like this."

Aria smiles again, hinting that she knows something else. I sit very close to her and touch her shoulder, which makes her laugh.

"It turns out Amber and Luke broke up almost a year ago," she says, watching my reaction.

But I had none.

None. 

Unless you count that huge smile on my face.

"Wait, then when Amber came to the cabin looking for Madison, why did she lie?" I question out loud.

Aria shrugs, almost looking angry. "I heard she cheated on him, and now she thinks she still deserves a chance," she says, holding onto my hand.

"Do you still like Luke?"

Aria looks at me and bursts out laughing. "Olivia, I never liked Luke. I only appreciated how he looked, and I guess when you started getting closer to him, that made me jealous."

We stop talking when we hear the door open, Madison and Carly walking inside with trays of food. Unfortunately, they only brought three, none for Aria. "I'll bring you a tray," I tell Aria. She smiles and nods thankfully, remembering she did this once before.

I enter the cafeteria, everyone's eyes on me. What is going on? Did I do something?

Then, I feel a hand on my shoulder, pulling me back. Luke.

He trails his fingers from my shoulder all the way down to my hands, sending tingles all over my body. He makes sure to leave our hands intact for at least five whole seconds before rushing into the kitchen.

I'm trembling. I'm literally trembling.

My heart is beating fast again.

I take slow and steady steps to the front of the cafe, grabbing a tray. No one's looking at me anymore. Thank God.

And weren't they all looking at Luke? I knew I felt someone behind me.

As soon as I grab a lunch tray for Aria, I hide it behind me while I walk outside when someone snatches the tray from me. "Luke?" I gasp when I see him with Aria's tray in his hand.

He stares at the tray in his hand, then at me and our surroundings. I'm already halfway towards our cabin, and now Luke has caught me trying to take the food. "What are you doing?"

I look away from his eyes. "I... was just about to throw it out," I tell him. When I try to move past him to go back into the cafeteria, he steps in front of me with a smirk. "What?"

He shrugs. "I'm just wondering why you're still wearing..."

My wig.

My cheeks turn hot as I wonder why I'm seeing so much of him in one day. There was even a week that went by without us interacting, but this is our third time today.

So I thought of the only solution possible.

I run away.

I grabbed the tray in advance and sprinted towards our cabin.

I ran as fast as I could. Faster than what I ran in track.

As soon as I entered the cabin, I make sure to close the door and lock it. Madison, Carly, and Aria stare at me weirdly, sweating, and breathing like a maniac.

"Olivia?" Aria calls from her bed.

"Why do you look so disheveled?" Carly asks, nodding towards my hair.

I almost rip off my wig when I pull it off and throw it on the ground in anger. "He's pissing me off! I've seen him three times today and he's found every way to touch me!"

Madison raises an eyebrow and leans down the top bunk. "He found every way to touch you?"

Aria smirks lightly, pushing herself up from the bed. She walks over to me, grabbing the tray from my trembling hands, and sits crisscrossed on the floor. I glare at her, it's all her fault I had to see him again.

"How did he not see you with that wig coming off your head?" Madison wonders aloud.

Carly springs up from her bed. "I almost forgot about that!"

I squint at the three of them before sitting on Aria's bed. "About that... he already knows the issue with my wig," I tell them.

Each one of them takes their time to gape at me.

"He knows you wear a wig!" Carly states, staring at me unbelievably. I slowly nod, only to see her mouth open wider.

Aria chokes on her rice, quickly drinking the cup of water I brought her. "Why are you so mad, though? You like him, don't you?"

Carly and Madison nod in agreement.

I shake my head. "Now that I think about it, I probably don't. He's being too annoying and that's not very attractive."

They all stare at me with straight faces as if to say, Girl, we all know so don't you try to hide it.

I shrink into my pillows.

While Aria finishes her food, Madison goes to sleep, and Carly logs onto her laptop, I climb up onto my bunk.

The events of the same day keep replaying in my head. Especially those that involve Luke.

I decided to skip out on the campfire.