Save Me From Myself

Chapter Fourteen - Christmas Vacation

"Valentina ... baby, we're here."

I slowly open my eyes to find the car parked and Nadine and I are the only ones inside. I sit up and rotate my next. It cracks as I straighten it out from being in an awkward position. I take in my surroundings. A cabin in the middle of a huge clearing surrounded by trees. The sun is just about to set, painting the sky in a pretty orange. 

"All of our bags are out so we just have to go in."

I look over at Nadine. She's checking her phone. I watch her face furrow before she turns the phone off and looks back at me. She smiles widely when she sees that I've woken up completely. 

"Are you ready to go inside, love?"

Ever since the winter showcase Nadine has been different. I blurted out that I loved her. It shocked the both of us to say the least. She was prepared to say something back but we'd been surrounded by everyone leaving. Since then, we haven't had a moment alone. Which is mostly my fault. I'm scared of what's she going to say. 

I don't know if she loves me too. So I've taken every precaution so that I don't have to deal with that conversation. Being in the car alone with her is not where I want to be so I open the door. 

"Wait, can we talk?"

"I actually have to use the bathroom."

I don't give her a chance to respond before I've rushed out of the car and into the cabin. I don't stop until I find the nearest bathroom. I close and lock the door behind me. I close my eyes and lean up against the wall. I take in a couple deep breaths before standing up straight. I would face that conversation eventually, just not yet. 

I open the bathroom door and go into the living room. My mom, Carmen and I decided to spend winter break with Nadine's family. Well, everyone except for her dad. He explained that a lot of people in town leave around Christmas and it's the optimal time for renovations and such. 

We even brought Alpha and Beta with us. They were running around the cabin since they didn't have a lot of room in the car. I sit on the floor next to Jack. He's playing with some toys he brought with him. He smiles at me and I smile back. "Where's Nadine?"

"She should be coming in. I had to use the bathroom that's why I rushed in so quickly."

As if she heard us speaking about her she enters the cabin and joins us in the living room. She doesn't even look at me as she takes a seat beside my sister. "Great, we're all here. Let discuss our plans for the next four days."

My mom pulls out her mini notebook she bought before the trip. She wrote down a list of things that we needed to do. She loved going on vacation and it showed. "So tomorrow, we're going into the nearby town. This is the last chance for anybody to do last minute shopping since Christmas is the day after. We'll have a dinner at a local restaurant. I kept tomorrow simple since since we probably all need time to recuperate from the long drive over here."

We all nod, not daring to argue. "Okay. Carmen and I will share a room. Margret and Jack and Val and Nadine. All your things you should be in there so get enough sleep."

I tell everyone goodnight and go off to find my room. Conveniently it's the only one with one bed and it's own bathroom. Typically parents don't want their teenagers to sleep together but clearly my mom nor Nadine's have any problem with it. I brush my teeth and change into pajamas. I get into bed and wait ten minutes before Nadine finally comes in. 

She doesn't say anything. She doesn't even look at me. She goes through her own night routine. I watch her hesitate to get into bed but she eventually does. She stays as far away as possible from me though. Her back is turned to me. I shift so that I'm laying on my back and stare up at the ceiling. I bite my lip. My head is saying this the ideal situation but my heart wants her to talk to me.