Chapter Thirty Three: Dream a Little Dream of Me
~~~
Eva dropped her berries as Kenji's hand latched around her wrist, pulling her away from the berry bush she was at and out into the jungle.
"What the—" A dinosaur roared close by, and Eva groaned, the two taking to running from the new threat.
The two teenagers glanced over their shoulders, both sighing at the fact that the dinosaur was indeed chasing them.
"Run, run, run!" He shouted quickly, leading the way through the thick underbrush.
"What do you think I'm doing?!" Eva snapped.
She slid around a tree, her feet slick in the mud as she all but face planted.
Kenji spun his arms dramatically in a circle, breaking to a stop a few feet from her. He ran back, grabbing a disoriented Eva by the wrists and hauled her to her feet.
The dinosaur— one neither Eva or Kenji recognized, roared loudly. It took a snap at them just as Kenji pushed Eva forward, the two collapsing in the mud again.
Eva spit mud out of her mouth, slipping as she pushed her hands into the mushy ground, rising to her feet once more. She grabbed Kenji's hand, pulling him to his feet.
The two took off running, slipping and sliding as they went. The dinosaur stayed close behind them, its heavy footsteps drawing nearer and nearer.
Eva shoved Kenji to the left of a tree as she dove around the right side, climbing to her feet once more.
"Is it still there?" Kenji cried, the two taking off running again.
Eva glanced over her shoulder, a sob cracking through her throat. "Why?" she cried. "Keep going— just... keep going..."
They continued through the dark forest, patches of sunlight illuminating their path. In the distance, they could vaguely hear the sound of rushing water. Eva was quick to lead the way, headed for the river.
Her heart beat viciously in her chest, sweat coating her forehead and arms.
"You see that vine?"' Eva shouted behind her.
"That sounds like a terrible idea!" Kenji shouted back.
The two came up on the river, Eva rushing forward and jumping, her hands latching around the vine. It held her weight, and a moment later, she was letting go, landing on the other side.
When she turned around, Kenji was still on the other side, nervously looking at the only way across.
"Um, maybe—"
"Just jump!" Eva snapped. She peered around his body, the dinosaur that was chasing them running full speed at Kenji. Her eyes widened. "It's the vine, or the dinosaur, Kenji!"
He looked behind him, yelping at the sight of the carnivore running straight for him. He hesitated, bouncing between the vine hanging over the river and the rocks cutting through the water a dozen meters down. Finally, he backed up, running for the vine.
His hand latched around the thick green plant, swinging himself forward.
The dinosaur reached the river, reaching out its neck and snapping its jaw just as Kenji let go, falling into Eva.
The two hit the ground roughly. Both teenagers groaned, untangling their limbs and keeping a careful eye on the dinosaur. It snarled, but seemingly refused to step across the river. Whether it was scared of water or god knows what else, they didn't care.
Eva dusted off her mud covered jacket as she stood, still panting.
Kenji stayed on the ground, panting. But soon his effort for getting in air was minimized when he started laughing, choking on air. He cupped his hands together and shouted, "Get wrecked, asshole!"
"Yeah!" Eva cracked a grin. "Fucking salaud! Eat a bag of dicks!" (Bastard.)
Kenji furrowed his eyebrows. "What is up with you and a bag of dicks?"
"Come on," she grinned, holding out her hand to Kenji. "We better find the others. They're probably worried sick."
Kenji took her hand, and the two took off, deeper into the jungle and away from the dinosaur. If it meant taking the long way to their friends to avoid the dinosaur, then so be it. They walked in silence, both on the lookout for anymore unfriendly dinosaurs.
When they finally reached the others— after only having a run in with a pack of compies— the others seemed happy to see them.
"What happened to you two?" Sammy asked, noticing the dirt covering each of them and the exhaustion set in their eyes. "You're all dirty... and y'all completely disappeared on us!"
"I don't wanna talk about it," Eva said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Dinosaurs," Kenji deadpanned. "It was dinosaurs."
"I lost all my berries," Eva continued, her lips etched into a frown.
"Better that than your life," Kenji said, knocking her shoulder lightly as he stepped around her.
Yaz held out a handful of berries, which Eva happily took. "Can we just have one adventure without dinosaurs? Just one." She tossed the berries into her mouth, smiling at the sweet flavor they produced.
"Maybe when California freezes over," Darius joked. "Okay, I think that's enough for today. Besides, you guys look like you need a long shower."
"Maybe two," Eva said as she finger brushed her hair, pulling mud out of it as she did so. "Seriously, there is mud in places mud should never be."
Kenji wrinkled his nose at her comment. "You can have the shower first."
"I feel so loved."
~~~
"Okay, Eva, I'm not refilling the water again," Yaz said from outside the shower curtain.
Eva was still in the shower after half an hour of scrubbing, and yet she still didn't feel clean. She picked mud out of her ear, looking down at her body awkwardly. "Just— just one more time?"
"No. Eva, you're as clean as you're going to get. Just take it and get out."
She frowned, flicking the mud onto the ground below her.
"I'll do it," she heard Kenji say.
She smiled slightly, then, upon realizing he couldn't see her, shouted out a thank you.
Maybe if they had a stronger shower, this wouldn't be a problem. But it was. Eva would never be clean enough. They were stranded, and she would never feel the pressure of a hard shower for the foreseeable future.
And then she froze, an idea popping up in her head. There was a shower on the island. One that had its own water, and was secluded from Camp Cretaceous. One that she could get to in less than an hour.
But when would she even go? When could she sneak away from her friends? During the day when they all did their own thing? At night when they were all asleep?
"Here, Yaz."
Yaz sighed loudly, and the slosh of water told Eva Kenji had come back from filling the water jug. Eva covered her tits as Yaz got the water jug back onto the dispenser her and Brooklynn had made above the shower.
"Thank you!" Eva sang, to which she could practically see Yaz rolling her eyes.
"Last time!"
She nodded as she turned the lever, letting the cool water rush down the back of her neck. She continued to shower with the low jet of water, knowing she might just be getting her hands on a real shower by the end of the night.
~~~
The campers all sat around a campfire on logs they pulled from the forest, Eva and Brooklynn wrapped up in her green comforter. They all had various sodas and juices cracked open in front of them.
The sun had by now set, the sky dark and starless. The fire in front of them crackled with life, warming the seven teenagers. Cicadas sang in the distance, crickets chirped, and distant roars reminded them exactly where they were.
Sammy gossiped with Kenji, Darius talked with Ben, and Brooklynn yammered on and on about a trip to Switzerland she took a few months ago. Eva listened to all the chatter around her, content with the day. While it didn't start out good, the day had turned around. Sitting by a campfire under the night sky with her closest friends was a good way to end a night. If they had music, it would be even better.
Reading her mind, Yaz leaned into her left, and said, "You should sing something."
Eva raised an eyebrow as she took a sip of her strawberry soda. "Yeah? Like what?"
Yaz shrugged. "I don't know, but... you have a good voice. It'd be a shame to waste it when the time is so perfect."
"Okay, it's not that good," Eva admitted, tucking a lock of blonde hair behind her ear.
"Don't sell yourself short," she said. She brushed her fingers through her hair, offering the blonde a smile. "Do you know The Lumineers?"
She nodded, sifting through the songs in her head. She took another sip of her soda then cleared her throat. "♪ Charlie boy, don't go to war. Firstborn in '44. And Kennedy, made him believe, we could do much more."
The campers quieted, looking at Eva.
"Go on," Kenji urged with a smile.
"Continue," Brooklyn whispered.
"♪ Lillian, don't hang your head. Love, should, make you feel good. In uniform, you raised a man who volunteered to stand." She whistled, in the break in the song, feeling nervous under all the stares. They may have been her friends and she may have loved singing, but the feeling of stage fright was creeping up her shoulders. "♪ Ohh, oh oh, woah, woah-oh. Play the bugle, play the taps. Make your fathers proud. Raise your rifles to the sky, boys. Fire that volley loud."
Sammy clapped, "Another! Another!"
"Oh my god, please do another," Brooklynn begged, hands clasped together.
"Another?" Eva teased, smiling softly.
"You know Doris Day?" Kenji asked.
"Que sera sera?" Eva answered immediately. "Okay, um—" she cleared her throat, then took a sip of a soda, then cleared her throat again. "♪ Stars shining bright above you. Night breezes seem to whisper 'I love you.' Birds singin' in the sycamore trees, dream a little dream of me.
"♪ Sweet dreams til sunbeams find you, sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you. But in your dreams, whatever they be, dream a little dream of me."
She looked over to see Kenji, hand over his heart, his eyes closed as he smiled in delight. "You a fan of Doris Day?"
Kenji opened his eyes, looking slightly scared. He pointed at himself, and Eva nodded. "My— my mom and I used to sit down and watch Doris Day movies together. It was our thing."
Eva smiled, "That's so sweet."
"Y-yeah. Whatever... It is, isn't it?"
From what Eva remembered about Kenji's birth mom, she left when he was young to travel the world. She never returned. Whatever memories he still had of her must be few and far between. And the fact that he openly shared something about her with Eva just warmed her heart even more.
Whenever they weren't arguing about stupid things, Eva could still see the old Kenji shining through, and it made her miss him beyond anything else.
Dream a little dream of me.
~~~
She snuck away in the dead of night, or, close to three in the morning. She didn't know how long it would take to get there, nor did she know how long she would end up spending, nor what time her friends would eventually wake up, and by all means, she did not want to push it. But she finally arrived without a single run in with any dinosaur— knock on wood.
She scoped out the campsite, not having been there since her and Sammy retrieved Tiff and Mitch's can opener a week after Tiff left them. Where all the yurts were overturned or wrecked, two of them weren't, one being the bathroom yurt. Eva couldn't care less for the other one.
She peered around the empty campsite, the place still feeling as strange and weird as her and Sammy's adventure. It felt as though any minute, Mitch or Tiff or Hap would jump out with a gun raised at her head. God knows Tiff would have loved to take her out.
Opening the flap of the bathroom, she stepped inside, eyes glazing over the seemingly untouched tent. She crossed the floor to the shower, fingers crossed, and turned the small lever. Water sputtered out of the shower head as Eva cackled in delight.
A shower. A real shower. And Eva felt zero guilt as she pulled off her clothes, stepping into the small cubby.
------
BYE THIS CHAPTER IS SO CUTE I LOVE IT
mwah xx
- Atha