"And we're back to the drawing board." The organizer crossed out the word 'volleyball' from the board, "Since that didn't work for.... obvious reasons." His eyes narrowed down to us, "What do you guys suggest we do for team building?"
"Dodgeball." Jameela gave me an evil grin.
"No." Everyone groaned, and she looked away.
"Can't have any fun around here." She murmured under her breath.
"Well, there's a forest, I think we should check it out right? That would be fun." Leon pitched, making me nod in agreement.
"I agree with Lee over here." Nathan hollered, and slowly took his hand, "I think we need a little break from you know, team bonding because obviously that's not working out well for some of us right now, cough cough Cecelia."
"Hey!" I pouted.
"No lies told." Derek laughed, "I think Leon Turtle is right; we split up into pairs, and we go checking out the place."
"Or maybe just have a chilled day here, and everyone does what they want." Brandon spoke up, much to everyone's surprise.
"For today I suppose it is best to let you guys have fun today." Mr Kahale said, "You're dismissed."
As the others dispersed, Leon, Nate, Derek, Jessica, Yvonne and I stayed on the table, an awkward silence ensuing. We each gave each other glances and neither of us said a word, letting the tension in the air ride between us. For one Yvonne and Jessica kept on stealing glances at me, both giving me the same vibe: I did something wrong.
Jessica's skepticism is justifiable mainly because of the situation with Derek and I, while Yvonne basically saw me naked. Two different situations but the same effect.
"Cecelia." Leon cleared his throat, everyone's attention turning to him, "A word in private?"
"Sure." I trailed off before standing up and walking to the beach.
As we got closer to the shore, Leon paused, "That was so fucking awkward."
"Tell me about it." I muttered, "So what's up?"
His brown eyes seemed to tinge with worry as he then ran a hand through his dark hair, typical nervous Leon move, "It's about Derek."
I rolled my eyes, "What about him?"
"Listen, I think he still has feelings for you." Leon divulged, "I mean, we've been best friends since kindergarten and..."
"Leon, you're funny." I laughed, "Derek and I dated a long time ago-"
"It was literally 2 months ago, and you broke up because he outed Nathan." He interrupted, "I mean, you guys never broke up because of irreconcilable differences or anything."
"I understand where you're coming from, but I'd like to stress out the very first point you made. The three of us have been best friends since kindergarten, I know how he acts, and he's acting like a big brother right now. Plus if he liked me he wouldn't be with Jessica-"
"Why did your hand just twitch?" He rose his brows in concern.
"What?"
"Cecelia, when you're a little agitated, your hand starts to twitch or you occupy it with something. Like you rightfully said, I've known you for a long time." A slight grin formed on his face, "Why does the fact that he's with Jess bother you?"
"It doesn't bother me-"
"You looked away from me, you're lying." He simply stated, "You still have lingering feelings for Derek, don't you?"
"No, I don't." I said firmly, "I meant sure his eyes are so dark that you'll get lost in them and sure he has a dimple on his left cheek which appears when he laughs way too hard or when he's blushing. And I mean of course he has the stupidest grin whenever I say something stupid and whenever-"
"You're rambling, Cece, you like him." Leon sighed and I immediately covered my mouth, "Why are you going through with this dare if you obviously still like Derek?"
"Because I want to win?" I lied.
"Or maybe because you like Yvonne too." Leon snorted, "I've seen the way you've looked at her since day 1."
"I can't like 2 people at once, that's impossible."
"Very possible, actually." He crouched down, "Remember you liked Derek and Nathan at first-"
"I didn't like Nathan, it was a drunk kiss. Like the one you had with Nathan at first-"
"Enough with the drunk kissing, Cece. Figure out your feelings, win the bet. That's all I ask of you." He bowed, "Nathaniel!" He yelled.
When Nathan came running, I turned to leave but he stopped me, "Hold on, where are you going?"
"Anywhere else. This is obviously my cue to leave." I rolled my eyes and kicked the sand, "I'll have to spend time with Yvonne."
"Do you know what you're going to be doing or you're gonna move like a lost chicken?" He asked me.
"I actually never thought of anything to do, help?"
"I thought a little birdie screamed help." Derek came and tugged my hair.
"Can't leave me alone for 5 minutes?" I scoffed as he put an arm around me.
"Now this is our cue to leave." Nathan countered, "See you guys later."
When the couple left, Derek removed his arm and turned to face me fully, a smirk plastered on his face.
"What, Derek?"
"You asked for help."
"Not from you."
"Too bad, I'm here to help." His smirk turned into a genuine smile, "Now, tell me what's going on?"
"Well, I wanted to spend the day with Yvonne but I have no idea what we're gonna do. If you have any ideas, please advise, I'd appreciate it for life."
Derek paused, his eyes still on me. It seemed as if he was deep in thought, until he snapped his fingers.
"Do you know how to slowdance?"
I shook my head.
"Sing?"
Another shake.
"God, Cecelia what else can you do besides move a bunch of chess pieces around?" He joked then his face became serious, "Want me to teach you?"
"Why?"
"I had a couple of romantic ideas, like maybe walking across the beach at night and slowdancing. You know, that romantic shit. Or maybe go swimming-"
"Swimming! She doesn't know how to swim!" I beamed, "I can teach her and it can be like that 'Everything Everything' movie! Remember when Olly taught Maddie how to swim? That was so romantic!"
He shook his head, "I never understood your obsession with that movie."
"You'd never understand it, you haven't been in love."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Well you're just...you. It's a good thing, don't worry. Plus you said you didn't love me." I laughed a little.
"I never said that."
"Let's drop this and talk about slowdancing, alright? We have other times to discuss our relationship or friendship or whatever it is we are."
"Noted." He nodded, "Hey, would you look at that? They left." He muttered, "Guess we're the only ones on this beach then."
"Guess we are."
Silence. We stared at each other and Derek slowly put his hands on my waist.
"What are you doing?"
"Since they're gone and you might not consider this later, I thought I might teach you how to slow dance. Unless, you don't want to?" He said quietly.
Hmm, slow dance with Derek and get the chance to dance with Yvonne later?
"Be a good teacher." I joked, and he didn't reply, only brought our bodies a little closer.
When skin met skin, I wrapped my arms around his neck and stared into his eyes, watching him.
"So remember to maintain eye contact, okay?" He started, his voice slow and quiet.
"Yes.."
"Now, look at my feet and follow the directions, okay?" He said, and I did so.
We began slowly at first, and his hands tightened around my waist. We maintained eye contact and for a brief second, our noses touched. When they did, he stopped, and let go of me, running a hand through his hair as my face became a little hot.
"Shit, listen, I'm sorry I-"
"Shut up Derry Berry." I tried to lighten up the situation, "At least I didn't fall on my butt because of your teaching."
He seemed to ease up a little, "So, you're good to go?"
"Yeah, I think I'll be able to manage." I smiled, "Thanks again, Derry Berry."
He smiled at me and gave me a feeble hug, "Anything for Cecelia. I gotta go find Jess, see you later?"
"Later."
I watched him rush away, and leave me with my thoughts. What if Derek actually did like me again? What if he wanted to be with me and not Jessica? Do I like him?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After dinner, Yvonne and I had retired to our rooms early. She was reading a book while I was getting ready to take her to the beach; the moon was out and it was a beautiful night, maybe she'd be fine with it.
"Yvonne."
"Cecelia." She didn't even bother looking up from her book.
"Let's go out."
"At this hour? It's 10:00." She put the book down and gave me an incredulous gaze.
"I'll make it worth your while, come on." I clutched my phone tight, "Bring your airpods."
"Cecelia, I'm in my nightdress, I can't go out now." She sighed.
"I'm in my shorts and vest, just trust me and you'll have fun. I swear I won't throw you in the water." I pleaded with her, "If you do, I'll teach you how to swim in a week."
"Fine." Yvonne finally gave in and stood up, "Let's go."
Lucky for us, the organizers weren't too strict on curfew, our curfew being 11:30. Of course no one would be outside now, giving me and Yvonne some much needed alone time. I also needed to properly apologize for yesterday, and talk to her about it. She kind of evaded the topic for the longest time that I thought I was in the wrong. Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. But either way I need to make things right between her and I.
We got to the beach and walked to the shore. She gave me one air pod and I quickly connected them to my phone.
"The moon is so beautiful tonight." She gawked at the moon, and I hesitantly turned her face.
She gave me a sincere gaze, and I began, "Yvonne, I wanted to bring you out here so that I could dance with you. I wanted to dance with you and talk to you about life, or anything that you want."
Yvonne's eyes spoke a thousand words I could not read at once, "Cecelia, why?"
"Because I want to do this for us. I mean, our friendship." I shakily placed my hands on her waist and pulled her closer to me, "Please..."
She looked at me once more, and hesitantly put in her air pod. I picked the song 'You Are The Reason' by Calum Scott and Leona Lewis to create the atmosphere. We began to dance slowly, and each passing second, our gaze became intense. She placed her forehead against mine, and I smiled at her before our noses touched, and she stopped briefly.
'I need you to hold me tonight...'
"Cece...." She whispered, our lips mere centimeters away from each other.
"Yvonne..." I replied, and before anything else happened, the song changed to 'Moonlight' by Ali Gatie.
'You're the reason I believe that love is real...'
She put her chin on my shoulder and we continued dancing slowly as I stroked her back.
"I'm so sorry for freaking out yesterday, it wasn't like me." She said and the words vibrated on my skin.
"It's okay, we all make mistakes." I replied, "This is nice."
"I wished we could have done it any sooner, this is so sweet." Yvonne answered, "Thank you Cecelia."
'Love you like I love you.'
As the song ended, we instinctively let go. I sat on the sand and patted the sand besides me. She sat tentatively, and placed her hand on top of mine as we sat in silence, staring at the moonlight reflected on the water.
"Yvonne?"
"Cecelia?"
"Are you happy?" I asked her, and she remained silent for a while.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Like...are you happy with your present life? All that's going on? Are you?" I asked her, not sure if she'd answer it.
When she went quiet for a while, I looked at her, and noticed she had looked down instead. She then looked at me and gave me the most straightforward, amazing answer I had ever heard in my entire life.
"I'm not happy with my current life, but all I know is I'm happy with you right now." She said seriously, "And I will never be more grateful than I am for you now."
We stared at each other for a while, and she leaned in to give me a peck on the cheek. I turned away, laying down on the sand as I looked at the moon and watched her do the same.
"Oh." I answered.
"Oh." She repeated.
"So I guess when the day goes down and the night comes, fun and games are all over and you're-"
"I'm me, the vulnerable, emotional Yvonne you wouldn't find during the day. The facade breaks and the realism enters the atmosphere." She answered, "Who are you during the night Cecelia?"
I kept quiet for a while, "I'm me."
"Oh." She stated.
"Oh." I repeated.
"Hey I have a question."
"Yes, Yvonne ?"
"Are you....are you happy right now? Like, being here with me?"
I smiled at the moon, "You have no idea."
Question of the day;
Are you team Yvonne or Team Derek? Comment down below!