Perfection.

Chapter Forty: Relax

Tuesday

Ding!

I pick up my phone off of my nightstand. I glimpse at the very bright screen. I quickly swipe down the brightness. I decided to take today off of school as well. I swipe to the left, unlocking my phone.

"Who's up this early." I murmur to myself. I squint to read.

Hey, anyone up? - Raven

I'm pretty sure everyone is up by now. - Dominic

Not me. I was SLEEPING. - Me

Haha, figures. - Logan

So, is everyone up for a picnic by the waterfall? - Raven

Why? - Me

We all need a breather and I feel like it would be better if we took one together. Reconnect, you know? - Shu

This was Shu's idea. Now that makes more sense. - Me

Hah. - Dominic

Can you see me rolling my eyes right now? - Shu

No... - Dominic

Is it cool if Heather and Jay tag along? - Me

Sure. - Raven

What time? - Logan

Um, an hour from now? Meet at the spot where we grouped up before the field trip. - Shu

I turn off my phone. I stuff my face in the pillow before getting up to get ready. It takes me thirty minutes to get ready. I have my mom drop me off at the meeting point along with Heather and Jay. It didn't take too much convincing to get them to go with me.

"Just call me when you want me to get you guys." Mom says. We wave as she drives away. I walk over to Raven and Shu, the only other people here.

"Hey." I say. Raven nods.

"Hey." Shu replies.

"How are you guys doing?" I ask.

"We're okay, we heard what happened with Rachel." Raven says.

"Yeah, we're really sorry." Shu nods.

"Me too." I sigh. Another car pulls up. Logan hops out of the driver's side, Dominic hops out the other side.

"Hey guys." I say.

"Have you heard anything from Kate?" Logan asks.

"No." I reply.

"Nothing." Shu says.

"She didn't respond or read the text." Raven says.

"I hope she's okay." I say.

"Me too." Logan nods.

"So, we going to go up or what?" Heather asks.

"Yeah, I brought food." Logan says. We move to the back of his car and help unpack. We all carry food up the trail to the pond. It doesn't take us too long to set up.

"Who's hungry?" Shu asks.

"Or should we swim first?" Raven says.

"I'm kinda hungry." Logan says.

"I am too, but I feel like I could swim first." Dominic says.

"Let's swim a bit then." I say. We each find our own spot to change, unless we've already been wearing the swim suit, and then we wait by the pond, not looking into the woods. When Logan finishes getting ready he charges out of the woods and cannon balls into the pond. Water splashes all over me.

"Logan!" I exclaim in laughter. He shrugs un-apologetically. I roll my eyes and wade into the freezing water. When I reach him I commence the splash war. Soon everyone has joined. Heather and Jay stand away from us in conversation. I'm tempted to splash them, but I restrain myself.

Twenty minutes later a red head shows up. She's in a black bikini and her face is slightly pink. She looks a bit embarrassed to be here.

"Phoenix, what's up?" Logan asks, "I invited her. Figured she could use a refresher as well."

"Yeah, of course, come join us." I grin at her. I ignore my strong disliking for the girl.

"Is it cold?" She asks.

"Yep." Shu smirks.

"Maybe we should eat first?" Logan suggests.

"Yeah, I'm starving." Phoenix nods her head rather quickly. We climb out of the pond. The sound of the waterfall roars as we settle down and make our plates.

"So, how's it been going?" I ask Phoenix. She looks up from her sandwich.

"Pretty stressful. My aunt has been stressed crazy because of Keaton. I've had to babysit more kids and more time. It's...terrible." She sighs.

"We miss him too." Logan mutters. We eat in silence, but soon we're back in the water forgetting all of the losses just for the blissful moment.

"Tag!" Shu exclaims tagging Jay on the shoulder. For a moment I think that Jay is going to ignore him, but then I watch as he sneaks over to Heather, tagging her. I make my way over to the other side of the pond in order to not get tagged. It fails, however, when Raven is tagged. We change games from tag to red rover to marco polo. After a little while we climb back out and snack on what food is left over.

The sun comes out over the clearing above the pond at some point during snacking. I lie my towel on the not wet part of the ground. Phoenix and Heather join me. We lie down and sun bathe for a little while.

"How do you think the parents are taking everything?" Phoenix asks.

"I'd say not as well as we are." I reply.

"I heard about Rachel, sorry about that. Is Lilyth still in a coma?" Phoenix asks.

"Yes, we're really hoping she will come out of it soon." I reply.

"That whole experience was...." Heather trails off.

"I bet." Phoenix says. Water covers us and I sit up rubbing my eyes. Raven and Dominic chuckle.

"Just making sure you guys aren't sleeping!" Logan exclaims.

"I tried to stop them." Jay shrugs. I shake my head and stand up rather quickly. It takes me a moment as the black spots cover my view. Then I race back into the water and tackle Logan. It becomes a wrestling match with all of us, except Jay. It ends when we're all out of breath, which doesn't take too long.

"Okay, okay," Logan pants, "We won't splash you again!"

"You better not!" I chuckle. Phoenix high fives me as everyone composes themselves.

"Tag."