358
The peace and quiet lasts about two seconds and now Alex is back with pick up line after pick up line. He won't shut up and they just keep getting worse and worse.
"I'm sorry, I lost my virginity. Can I have yours?"
"Are you my homework? Because I'm not doing you but I definitely should be."
"Are you an elevator? 'Cause I want to go down on you."
And the list goes on. Eventually Aidan gets sick of it and tells him to shut up which does the trick. It's a quiet walk back to camp.
When we get there it's only 2pm and the sun is coming out. It's getting warmer so Joshua suggests we go exploring along the beach. I can feel my stomach start to sting in the way that requires medicinal treatment so I stay behind. Beckett offers to stay with me.
Once everyone has left I go straight to my bag and find the medication that helps numb the pain. It will make me drowsy but I don't have another choice. I pop two tablets into my mouth and follow them down with water.
Beckett is sitting in one of the camp chairs around our unlit fire, a frown etched into his face.
"I'm not telling," I say, going back to our conversation from up at the blowholes.
"Why not?"
I take a seat on the grass beside him, crossing my legs and pulling my beanie over my ears. "I don't want them to pity me or constantly worry about me. Worry is of no use. I want to spend my time left happy, with my friends happy. It won't happen if they know how long I have left."
"They will start to notice something's up, Dakota. You can't not tell them."
Deep down I know that. It's just that, "I don't want people to treat me differently."
Beckett nods in understanding, pushing his glasses up. "Just consider it. You don't have to tell them right away, but at some stage I think you should."
My stomach begins to settle meaning the drugs are starting to work. I push myself to my feet and try to smile. "I will, but not now. I want to sleep now."
I walk to the girl's tent and maneuver onto my bed, making myself go to sleep so that no one has to suffer through the affects of the tablets on me and my brain.
*
A deep voice wakes me from my slumber. I sit up, groggy, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
"How do I get Dakota to sleep with me?" It's Alex, of course.
"Why don't you try to form a relationship with her instead of just trying to screw her? Wouldn't that be a better idea?" I recognize the other voice as Luke's.
"You know I don't do the whole relationship thing," Alex responds. I can almost picture him rolling his eyes.
"No shit. I'm just saying the only way she will ever contemplate sleeping with you is if you're friends... Or more."
"So you're saying I have to get her to like me in order for her to sleep with me?"
No.
"Yes, pretty much. You know I don't approve of what you're doing, right?"
"I know. It doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying."
I sigh, wriggling out of my tangled mess of sleeping bags to stand up and step out of the tent. There's this atmosphere at a camping ground at twilight, as if the whole place is buzzing. You can hear people talking and laughing, the birds singing their songs, and the crackle of camp fires as they light up the night.
Everyone is sitting around the campfire including the two boys I had just heard conversing only a minute ago. Apparently Alex and I are going to play the game the same way. He's changing his strategy. Mine is to get him to fall in love with me while his is to get me to like him. Alex is going to lose and I am going to win.
"Sleeping Beauty is finally awake!" Luke cheers, grinning from the other side of the fire. I laugh and find a spare seat in between Alex and Lacey. I catch Olive's eye and I can tell she is proud of me for not avoiding Alex. I wouldn't go as far as to say I am making a move, but I am sitting next to him, aren't I?
"Are you finally warming up to me?" Alex asks as everyone resumes their conversations. I angle my chair slightly towards him and shrug.
"I guess you're not that bad," I lie. "I'm still not going to sleep with you though."
"I know. I get it."
I frown, crossing my arms. "You do?" I don't know what he's up to.
"Yeah, really. I can't make you have sex with me. We'll just see what happens."
"What are you proposing?" I ask, pulling the sleeves of my jumper to cover my hands while crossing my legs.
"I'm proposing that we be friends. Luke has been trying to convince me to do that for a while now, considering we're both his best friends, and I've come to see that it's a good idea." He looks genuine, with his lips turned into a smile instead of a smirk, but I know better.
"Okay. Friends," I agree. We shake on it and then Alex laughs.
"What?" I ask in a state of confusion.
"I've never had a friend that's a girl before," he admits, averting his eyes to the flickering fire.
"That you haven't slept with?"
"Right," he confirms, nodding. "It'll be interesting."
I don't bother responding. Instead I turn to the fire, stretching my legs out so that my toes are close to the flames. I outstretch my hands as well so that they can soak in the warmth.
I look around at everyone and can't help the feeling of happiness overwhelm me. All my friends are laughing and talking, smiling and joking around. I'm lucky to have such a good group of people surrounding me, but I don't feel it when Joshua suggests to play a campfire game. The choices are limited; Truth or Dare, Storytelling or Spotlight, none of which I am particularly fond of. I opt for Storytelling but I'm outnumbered; the majority want to play Spotlight.
Spotlight is a very large game of hide-and-seek where you find people by spotting them with a flashlight. I only like it if it is played in pairs, because otherwise I get bored and end up retreating to the tents.
I offer my suggestion and Luke agrees enthusiastically, dividing the group into pairs.
"Beckett and Lacey."
"Alex and Dakota."
"Josh and Aidan."
"Ryan and Olive."
"I'll be it."
He must think of himself as the Ultimate Wingman for his best friend considering he put me and Alex together. I would rather be with anyone else but I suppose I can get to work on making him fall in love with me. Olive told me to be myself? Well here goes.
Luke grabs his flashlight out of his tent and begins to count, so as the game goes we scatter. I want to go to the trees that line the back of the camp grounds but Alex wants to go near the main road.
"There is no cover there at all. We'll get spotted first," I whisper-argue, crossing my arms over my chest.
"But the trees are the most obvious place to hide. He'll look there first." Alex has his arms crossed to match, his voice louder than a whisper.
"No he won't. He'll open his eyes and look around in the open and boom, we'll be found first."
"You don't know what you're talking about. Now will you shut up and get your cute little ass over here?"
Ugh. There's no point in arguing with him so I cave and follow him to the fence line. He points to a tiny opening between the bushes and the fence, of which he gestures for me to go in to.
"We're not both going to fit," I hiss under my breath. There is just not enough room for two people to fit comfortably.
"We'll have to squish but it's possible. Just quit arguing for two seconds and get. We need to hide."
"Fine."
I slide against the wood fence and sit on the cold grass, my legs scraping the bush. Alex mimics me and sits so that he is just hidden from view. Of course that has to be so that his whole side is touching mine.
"See? Not as bad as you thought, is it?" He asks, turning to face me with a raised eyebrow.
"It's worse." What I don't understand is how a million girls would kill to be in the same position.
"I thought we were going to try to be friends," he says, nudging my side.
I sigh, having already forgotten. "Oh, right. Sorry."
"It's no problem," he smiles, before tilting his head to look at the sky. I can't begin to guess what's going through his mind right now, but I'm not sure I want to know.
Before I can stop my mouth from moving, I blurt out; "Why do you do it?"
He doesn't look at me, but I can see him roll his eyes. "You mean, sleep with a lot of girls?"
"Yeah, that."
"It's not like it was always my goal to do this. I actually used to be a guy with morals until this one girl came along. I fell in love with her and she broke my heart. The rest just sort of happened of it's own accord."
Wait, really? I feel a little bad for him, until he catches my eye and bursts laughing.
"You're joking, really?" I ask, shaking my head in disappointment.
"You thought I was serious?"
"For a moment," I allow.
"Nah, that's a load of crap," he drawls. "The truth is that I'm devilishly handsome and girls can't keep their hands off me. It turned into a game somewhere along the way, I guess."
"Blunt," I tell him.
"Honest," he corrects me. "We're friends. I'm not going to bullshit you."
"You just did!" I exclaim, perhaps a little too loud. I clap a hand over my mouth and wince, peeking my head over the bushes. No one was in sight.
"But I told you the truth straight after."
"Whatever."
We sit in a comfortable silence, listening out for Luke and anyone else he has found. I hear laughter in the distance and howls of delight, but they are on the other side of the ground.
I'm happy that we haven't been found yet but the wind has just picked up and I'm getting cold. I can't keep from shivering and if I don't admit defeat now I could easily turn blue.
I start to stand up but a hand yanks me back down.
"What are you doing?" Alex asks, looking at me as if I've gone mental.
"I'm quitting. I'm shivering and soon I won't be able to get warm again. I need to head in before I get frostbite." That too would be another silly way to go. It's basically saying you were too stupid to keep your body at a high enough temperature so you died.
"Oh chill out, will you? Here," he opens his arms and for a moment I don't understand what he's doing, I just sit and think that he looks like an idiot. Then it dawns on me.
"Not happening." I rub my arms, trying to create heat through friction.
"Fine. Then take my jumper." He somehow manages to slide off his jumper and hands it to me, but I don't accept.
"No. You're only wearing a t-shirt. You'll freeze." Don't mistake this for me caring about what happens to him because I don't. He can die a stupid way any day of the week but I am not going to be responsible for it.
"No, I won't. I don't feel the cold and you obviously do. I don't have cooties."
Despite myself I start laughing. I haven't heard anyone use that word since the third grade when the whole 'boy-germ-girl-germ' dilemma was about.
"Ew, boy cooties," I mock, before contradictorily accepting the jumper. It's probably ten sizes too big for me but it's warm, still having the heat from Alex's body lining the inside. "Thanks."
"No worries."
Eventually it get's too cold to be out – even with extra layers – so we surrender and jog back to camp. The boys want to stay up for a little while longer but Olive, Lacey and I decide we need some sleep. I give Alex back his jumper before saying goodnight and turning in.
We don't bother changing and climb into our sleeping bags as we are. I lie on the far side of the tent with Lacey on the other side and Olive in between us.
"Guys. I think I like Beckett."
I sit bolt upright and work hard to stop a squeal escaping my lips. "Are you serious?"
"About time," Olive just sighs, staying lying down.
"Yes, I'm serious," she says, ignoring Olive's comment. "I think I've always liked him a bit but we just talked a lot tonight and I think he likes me too."
"I'm going to get you two together," I tell her, leaving no room for arguing. It will happen, if it is the last thing I do. Which it potentially will be.
Lacey laughs but accepts my comment freely. I think she is grateful for the help. That's why I have always wanted Lacey and Beckett together; Beckett is really quiet and Lacey isn't. But Lacey is very innocent which makes her seem quiet and Beckett is deceptively not. They are the best kind of opposites and they would balance each other out.
"I ship it," Olive adds, before we hear the a conversation outside the tent.
"Okay, so Dakota and I are friends." Alex's deep voice filters through the thin tent walls. We all stop talking so that we can sufficiently eavesdrop.
"Wow, that's definitely an improvement." That is Luke and he sounds impressed, probably because he knows how reluctant (and annoyed) I have been about this whole ordeal.
"Yeah, it is," Alex responds, but he's holding something back.
Thank God Luke notices too. "What aren't you telling me?"
"There's a problem," he admits, his voice getting slightly more distant. They must be walking away. No no no.
"What is it?" Luke asks.
"Well, I've been thinking about it and," Alex clears his throat as a zipper to a tent opens. "Dakota is the type of girl I'm going to end up liking."