"Smashing" Cook said, before sitting up on the side of the bed and putting his clothes back on. I sat up and did the same.
We'd been sneaking around lately, a lot. In front of everyone else we remained normal but alone, everything was different.
"You free later?" He asked, once he had gotten dressed.
"Should be" I shrugged.
"Cool" He replied while a smile lifted on his face.
"Why?"
"You'll see, back in a bit" He said, before kissing me, and then leaving my room.
I was a little intrigued to know what he was planning, but I thought it might be nothing special. I took a shower and put on some black jeans and a black shirt, with an oversized grey shirt on top. I walked downstairs to see Liv, who stared at me with a gleam in her eye.
"Don't look at me like that, you're reminding me of mom" I grimaced, and walked to the fridge. Liv laughed, but still kept that same look.
"I've noticed Cooks staying around a lot" She smirked.
"Yeah..so?" I shrugged, glad that my face was planted in the fridge and not facing her. I didn't want any more of that 'making love' talk.
"Nothing, nothing. I'm guessing you guys talked it out then?" She said, still smirking.
My phone suddenly rang, cutting the conversation.
"Saved by the bell" I muttered, under my breath.
"Hello?"
It was Freddie.
"Hey Freds. What's up?"
"Nothing much. Listen, are you free later?"
"..."
I knew I wasn't, but I couldn't exactly say I was meeting Cook.
"Kal?"
"Erm..yeah I should be. Why?"
"Katie wants to have a party. At Gobblers End"
"The fuck??"
"Some forest"
"Oh, cool. Shall I tell Cook?"
"That's the thing, he's not invited"
"What? Why"
"Katie doesn't want it to be some kind of pikey-hoedown"
"I could just tell him to calm it down a bit"
"You know what he's like Kal"
"He's changing though-"
"Kal."
"...Ok I won't tell him"
"Cool. Anyway, I'll see you at Effys yeah? She's driving"
"Yeah, whatever"
I packed a small bag and walked over to Effys, just in time as everyone getting in the car. I drew the short straw and had to right at the back. Katie and Effy were in the very front, Emily, Freddie, Pandora and Thomas were behind and JJ, Naomi and I were in the very back smothered with all the luggage.
"Kal, you probably should have brought a jacket I mean, we aren't in the middle of winter but it is freezing today and your-"
JJ rambled on, and I replied in all the right places, but I still felt guilty about leaving Cook. I have no idea what he was planning, but what if it was special? I stared out the window as hundreds of cars drove by, blurring my eyes.
Our car stopped and juddered a few times, in consequence of Effys poor driving skills. She wasn't too bad though, considering she probably hasn't had proper driving lessons.
"Kal?" Naomi said.
"Hm?" I replied, still staring out the window.
"You look like your on another planet girl. What's on your mind?"
I blinked slowly and sat up, trying to focus my eyes.
"Um..nothing" I said before giving a half smile.
"It's Cook isn't it?"
"Shh!" I said, but the wall of duffel bags and half-opened tents provided a semi-soundproof area, and JJ had his head poked over the seats while he chatted to Thomas.
"It is! I knew it" Naomi nodded.
"That obvious?"
"To me, yeah"
"Shit"
Almost on cue, Cook rang my phone. I saw his name flash on screen and quickly declined.
Naomi saw everything from the corner of her eye.
"He wasn't invited then?"
"Nope. Too rough for the party according to Katie-kins"
"Shame, he would have livened things up a bit"
"I know! Anything better than listening to Katie yell at Effy"
"If I were Eff, my ears would be bleeding"
"Exactly"
My phone buzzed with a text. I ignored them for a while, before more and more came through.
"You gonna answer those? Your phones gonna fucking explode on us" Naomi said.
"Yeah, sorry"
I slowly opened my phone, and stared at the messages, nervously nibbling my lip as I did so.
COOK:
Where are you
babe?
-
Liv said you've
gone to Gobblers
End???
-
I thought we
we're meant to
hang out tonight?
-
Did everyone go
but me
-
Kal
-
You ignoring me??
-
Kalani???
-
Fuck you.
-
I stared at the last message and dug my nails into my hand. I should have just stayed at home, for him. I blinked hard, in attempt to make my tears vanish. They didn't, so I instead wiped my face fiercely.
"You ok?" Naomi asked.
I nodded without looking at her, just continuing staring at my phone. Naomi grabbed it, turned it off and threw it to the front of the car.
"Naoms- hey what the fuck!" I exclaimed, and poked my head over the seats to try and see where it landed.
"I think that hit Katie" She cringed, listening to Katie yell even louder.
"Why'd you do that?" I asked.
"Stop thinking about him. Just get him off your mind for one night, yeah?"
I thought about it for a second, before nodding.
"Yeah" I sighed.
We suddenly pulled up to a petrol station in the middle of nowhere, Katie exclaiming,
"We're just gonna have to ask someone for directions"
I climbed into the seats in front, and then jumped out of the car.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"We're lost, that map is shit" Katie shouted, viciously pointing to the crumpled map that was stuffed into the bin.
She paced back and forth, calling for anyone who was in the area. A car suddenly pulled up with a few guys inside, who looked menacing. Katie took no notice, and sauntered up to them, all smiles.
"Scuse me gentleman, could you tell me how to get to Gobblers End please?" She asked, tilting her head to the side and blinking sweetly.
She's a natural.
"Well I wouldn't start from here love. I reckon I could show you" The man replied, chuckling creepily.
"Great. Listen to the nice man Freddie!" Katie smiled, before walking into the shop.
I retrieved the map from the bin and spread it out on the car, while one of the men marched up to me, looking like some sort of cowboy out of a movie. He squinted at me and looked me up and down, before smirking. I smiled awkwardly, and walked up to Freddie.
"Go deal with him, he's a bit of a perv" I grimaced, nodding at the guy.
Freddie nodded and went over.
"Got that?" The man said, while Freddie nodded and folded up the giant map. He looked a little confused as he tried to remember every direction he was told.
"You kids wanna see something before you go?" The man asked, a gleam appearing in his eye. He walked up to his car and pulled out a gun, cocking it without even looking.
"Hang on mate do you really think-" Freddie started.
"Shut up kid" The guy warned, pointing a finger at Freddie.
I shuffled closer to him, wishing I had stayed in the car.
The main aimed his gun at a picture of Jesus, that already had hundreds of gunshot holes in it. Katie suddenly came running out of the shop, flailing her arms, causing the bullet to hit a glass instead of the picture.
"Freddie help!" She shouted.
One of the men came out after her, laughing.
"You made me miss. Ive never missed before" The man hissed.
Katie stared back at him, breathing hard.
"Alright that's enough!" Freddie said, running up and putting an arm around Katie. "Leave her alone!"
"Beware the moon!" The guy laughed.
"Whatever, freak" Effy cursed.
"Fucking weirdos" I muttered, and climbed back into the car.
We started driving, Katie quieter than before.
"Are you ok Katie?" I asked, poking my head above the seats.
"No! I almost got felt up by some old creep!" She exclaimed.
"What?" Freddie said.
"He just started shouting at me, I didn't even do anything-"
"Guys, I don't know if this is a bad time but.." JJ said, and pointed behind us.
I looked back and saw the guys car, accelerating towards us at a concerning speed.
"Um Effy!" I shouted, my eyes darting from Effy to the car.
The cars headlights flickered on, and it came towards us faster.
"It's them! It's them Freds!" Thomas shouted, tapping Freddie frantically.
Pandora started having an small panic attack, while everyone shouted for Effy to stop.
"Stay calm!" Freddie ordered, to no avail.
"Effy! Stop the fucking car!" I yelled, but she carried on.
They pressed down on their horn and were at least a couple inches away from us, making us all scream. They came up next to us, and shouted something at Effy.
"What are they doing! Eff!" Pandora shouted, still breathing irrationally. I hung onto Naomi and J and prepared for the worst.
"EFFY STOP THE CAR!" Freddie shouted, causing Effy to come to a sudden halt as the car pulled up in front of us. We all went silent, holding our breaths, when the guy simply flicked a cigarette out of the car window, and swiftly reversed away.
"I think we should go home" Pandora suggested, her voice wavering.
"They're gone now we're safe. As long as we, beware the moon obviously" Freddie shrugged.
We were silent for a moment, before I busted out laughing, realizing how dramatic we had all just been. Freddie and Effy started laughing too, which set off everyone else.
"Fucks sake what just happened?" I laughed, wiping tears from my eyes.
"I don't know" Effy giggled back.
"Why are you all laughing? It's not fucking funny!" Katie exclaimed, still shaken up.
Freddie leaned forward and kissed her, which calmed her down a bit.
"Come on, not far now" Effy sighed, her smile instantly fading at the sight of the two together.
We drove deeper into the woods, passing thousands of trees and bushes. The area was empty, just us, it seemed. After a while we all clambered out of the car, passing around our backpacks and sleeping bags.
"Ok um..this way, right Freds?" Katie asked, as she walked ahead.
"Yep" He replied.
I walked with him, stepping through the bushes carefully.
"Are you gonna break it off with Katie then?" I asked.
"No" He replied.
"Why?"
"Cos she'll be pissed! I didn't mean for all this to happen"
"Well what are you gonna do?"
"Keep it up I suppose"
"For how long Freddie? She'll just start to love you, and then it'll be even harder to break it off"
Freddie sighed and itched the back of his head.
"Just keep it between us for now, ok?" He asked. I nodded as a reply.
"Freddie, is this to right way?" Katie called.
"That's right sweetheart!" He shouted back.
I cringed at the pet name.
We made it into a bit of a clearing, where we could dump all our stuff and set up camp. It seemed like a good place to hide, or clear your head. It definitely cleared mine, as I weaved my way in and out of all the trees, chasing after JJ. Freddie suddenly picked me up, slung me over his shoulder and ran too, while I protested.
"Put me down!" I shouted, laughing hysterically. Freddie and J made howling noises as they ran, which echoed through the trees.
At this point, I hadn't thought about Cook for hours.
Freddie lightly put me on the floor again, and suggested we should get some sticks for a fire. I looked over at Katie, who was glaring at us.
"I think you'd better do that with Katie" I said, nodding over at her. He frowned for a second, before looking over at her and realizing what I meant.
"Shit, I probably should" He laughed, before running over to her.
I went over to Pandora, who was sitting by a tree with Thomas. They were holding hands, huge smiles beaming on their faces. They seemed to be like this all the time. Can't say I'm not jealous. Effy was there too, opening up her jacket as something was bundled inside.
"Hello Kal" Thomas smiled.
"Hey Tommo...what you got Eff?" I asked.
She looked over at me and did that 'Effy smile' as usual, that was more of a smirk.
"Shrooms" She whispered, as her eyes lit up.
"Are they funny ones?" Pandora asked.
"Mhm" Effy replied.
"What are you doing?" Katie frowned, walking over to us.
"Found some shrooms, want some?"
"No! How d'you know their not poisonous? I don't want you running my party by like..vomming blood! And this isn't that kind of party Eff! It's just..drinks and sausages! No mushrooms!" Katie ranted, while Effy took no notice and popped mushroom after mushroom into her mouth.
Sort of ironic for Katie to be fussing about her party being ruined by drugs as if she didn't pour MDMA into panda's innocent sleepover brownies.
"Woah..mushrooms? Who's got mushrooms? Gimmie some" Freddie said, as he walked over.
He sat down and took hold of a few, while Katie protested bitterly. The others came over and took some as I did. They tasted vile, but I managed to keep them down.
"How long till it kicks in Eff?" Pandora asked.
"Not long" Effy smirked.
"Here we go" I muttered, preparing myself for either a crazy trip, or some kind of poisoning.
A few hours later, a crazy trip luckily seemed to be the result of the shrooms. We all danced around wildly, waving sparklers around each other. I danced with JJ, twirling around him and giggling hysterically. Music echoed throughout the area, blasting through my ears and making my blood rush. We all fell to the floor after a while, exhausted but still giggling. I was beside JJ, staring up at the stars. I must have zoned out for a while, as I came to my senses when Katie started scolding Effy.
"Listen Effy. I didn't even want you here in the first place and you ruined my night. The only reason I invited you is because you can drive, and you're sort of embarrassing yourself don't you think? It's pretty sad, throwing yourself at your mates boyfriend" She ranted.
Luckily Freddie seemed too loopy to hear.
"Katie..! Come sit down.." Effy said, sleepily slurring her words.
"I'm not being nasty or anything! I don't even think you realize you're doing it. It just..it makes you look like a desperate whore" She said.
"Katie, please shut the fuck up" I mumbled, cuddling into JJs arm more. He was right- it was freezing.
"And you Kal" She said.
I laughed a little.
"It's ok Katie-kins i'm really not interested in your loverboy" I sighed.
She rolled her eyes and stormed off. She's so paranoid about loosing him it's crazy. Effy walked over to to the direction of the bags and stood there awkwardly, looking around.
"You alright Eff?" I asked, looking back at her.
"Who moved the stuff" She frowned.
"What?" Katie said.
"Who moved the stuff? The bags are gone" Effy repeated.
"What are you talking about? God sakes! This is so not funny guys" Katie raged before, all of a sudden,
BOOM.
A gunshot suddenly rang out throughout the woods, making us all go silent for a moment. Birds frantically flapped across the sky. My legs seemed to be glued to the ground. I was like an ice structure, frozen in place as my blood ran cold.
I came back to my senses when Freddie pulled me to the floor where everyone else was huddled. I shrunk into him as my eyes darted around, wondering if this was really happening. I didn't even notice my hands trembling uncontrollably. JJ reached over and held them tight, though his were shaking too.
Bushes suddenly started rustling, twigs cracked, and I realized the person was running towards us. I breathed heavier as the person shrieked loudly, getting closer and closer. Their footsteps thundered closer and I suddenly couldn't breathe, my chest felt tight and I needed to do something, now. I screamed and ran over, shoving the person to the ground.
"What the fuck! What the fuck d'you think you're playing at you fucking idiot you nearly had us-" Freddie started, as he took the balaclava off the persons face. It was Cook, and he looked over at me to check I was ok before laying back down, holding his sore head.
I stepped back, breathing hard.
"I should fucking kill you" I cursed, once I had calmed down a little.
"You scared me, stupid prick" Naomi said.
"It wasn't me! There are psychos in the woods with a gun! I saw em nick your stuff so they started shooting, they're fucking mental!" Cook defended himself.
"Shut up, jokes over" Katie hissed, rolling her eyes.
"You bloody scared us you stupid fucking tosser!" Emily said.
"Alright calm down" Cook laughed. "I took your sodding napsacks children. They're just poachers you daft wankers"
"Poachers?" I asked.
"After rabbits and shit...not you. I was just tryna freak you out!" He replied.
"Why?"
"Cos I thought i'd be funny, and it totally was. Ooh turn off the lights! Ooh we're gonna die!"
He laughed, imitating our panic.
Katie walked over and pressed her foot down on Cooks chest, pinning him to the ground.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" She asked.
"You know me I smell a shindig i'm round-"
"Yeah well uh you weren't invited so, you can just fuck off"
"Aw! But we're having such a nice time! your tits look fucking mint from this angle by the way Kit-Kat-" Cook laughed, before Freddie dragged him up by his shirt.
"What is your fucking problem!" He yelled.
"Come on then rambo. What d'you want my fucking blood? Cos you've taken everything else, you've taken fucking JJ, and I wouldn't be surprised if you've taken Kal too"
"Cook, just leave it" I begged.
"Nah he always gets everything he wants. Even Katie, and he doesn't even love her" Cook smirked.
"..What?" Katie whispered.
"He hasn't even told you has he?" Cook asked, before pushing Freddie away from him and turning to Katie. "He doesn't even want you. He wants Eff"
He nodded over to Effy who was staring at the ground, hugging herself.
"Well that's not true, Freddie loves me now. Don't you Freddie? Freddie? Freddie!" Katie repeated, while Freddie stared at Eff. Katie gulped and walked off deeper into the woods without saying a word. Leaves crunched under her feet as she disappeared into the night.
"I think she took that pretty well, don't you?" Cook laughed.
"Go. No one wants you here no one likes you, just FUCKING GO" JJ shouted.
Cook backed up, an offended look on his face.
"Do what he says, fuck off" Naomi scoffed.
I knew that would've stung. His closest friends were turning on him. Tears brimmed in my eyes and I swear I could hear my heartbeat.
"..Whatever. Have nice lives, all of yous. Coming?" He asked me, but I let my eyes wander to the ground.
"Nah yeah stay here with your friends"
I didn't look up, as Freddie walked over and grabbed my hand in support.
"Look at their little faces! Your all such wizzo chums aren't ya! Ain't that right Kal, ain't that right Freds? JJ?"
I tensed up, and wished for this moment to be over already.
"Kals been worried lately boys. Thought our little secret might slip" Cook said.
My head jerked upwards and I stared at him, wondering if he was really about to tell them.
Surely everyone could hear my heart now.
"What secret" JJ frowned.
"You wanna tell them Kal? Or shall I?" Cook said.
I didn't reply.
"We've been fucking, haven't we Kal?" He smirked.
Tears blurred my eyes. I couldn't think.
"What?" JJ asked. "Is he joking?"
I didn't reply once again, and Freddie's grip loosened on my hand.
"Kalani? You and..." Freddie frowned, glancing between us.
The silence after he spoke was almost deafening. I suddenly stepped forward and punched Cook in the face, before turning around and running into the dark. The others called after me, but I ignored them. I ran faster, sobbing as I did, while cold air rushed through my hair and hit my face over and over. It was pitch black, I couldn't see, I could only make out the couple of branches that swung in front of my face every now and then. I could hardly take a breath in, and I ran faster and faster until...
My foot got caught on something. Maybe a tree stump, I don't know. I dropped to the ground and heard my skull crack as it hit the sharp corner of a rock.
edited ✅