Daaamn Georgie, how many chapters in a night? I know, I'm crazy or something! I just finished writing a report today and I was so happy I put time aside for WEFYB. Be proud ;-) I hope you enjoy the chapter, the next few should be up soon. Hope you all have a great day lovelies xx
Copyright © Georgie E. - Fruitea on Wattpad
Chapter 22
"Flipping hell," I grunted as I shook out my hand again.
"Yeah, well you should stop going around bitch slapping people." Kyle was trying to keep up his infuriating disappointed facade, but even I could hear the humour and pride in his voice. "Gosh, you put your number on her didn't you?"
I shrugged, pressing my thumb against the palms of my hand. Why wasn't the pain receding?
Naiad had stayed in stunned silence for all of two seconds before she started screaming. She had flounced off soon after with her friends running behind her. We had all been left in stunned silence, one that had only been broken with my exclamation.
"Well I'd better go, my coach will be going sick if I'm not back soon."
"Woah-woah." My arm was taken and I was pulled back. It was Kyle.
"You need to go and see Kendal," Tahoe told me. "Right now, he's on the boat."
"I don't need to do anything."
"He's on his boat," Tahoe said simply.
~~~
Needless to say it didn't take me long to make up some excuse to Ian so I could drop onto the deck of Kendal's boat. It swayed under my feet, something that couldn't have gone unnoticed to its owner but he didn't appear from the cabin.
The deck was deserted as was the port it was docked to. The boats involved in racing today had been shifted closer to the event, only two spaces down I could see Beck's boat ready and waiting for me and him to board any time soon.
Realising that I only had half an hour before we would be tacking up, I opened the door to the cabin. Again, there was no response and I climbed down into the main space. On the hob a kettle was boiling, run dry and squealing; a mug was next to it with coffee stains around the rim. On the floor pillows were strewn as was a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and socks and on the bed, underneath layers and layers of twisted blankets, was Kendal.
Taking the final steps to the bed another noise became distinctive; sniffling.
It was heart breaking hearing that noise, spotting the shaking which was nothing to do with cold – with that amount of covers and the temperature in the mid-twenties – and the way he wasn't even bothered enough to take the kettle from the hob.
So I moved the kettle onto the cooling mat, the whistling dropping. I stood, watching the steam recede, my hands bracing the top. I needed the support of the furnishings, there was something running in my mind so obscene I think my knees would have given out.
Because I was heartbroken by the noise. And the reasons behind this empty feeling had nothing to do with a friend being hurt. No, it was because he wouldn't be like this if it was me in Naiad's place. I placed my hands on my head, sighing deeply before turning back towards Kendal.
He was still yet to respond.
Silence fell with the kettle's whistling, the only sound noticeable was Kendal's hiccupping. My steps echoed with each creak as I made the way to his bed.
"Kendal," I whispered. The noises stopped for a moment, like he just realised there was someone there, before they started up again. "Kendal..." I tried again. I placed a knee on the mattress, it groaned with my added weight but I ignored it, and Kendal seemed to ignore me too.
I crawled up the bed, in the space between the wall and his shrouded body. He didn't complain, didn't seem to have energy to do anything else but sob. I lay down by his side, turning to finally face him. His face was pressed to the cushion, open to see with a mandala blanket framing his face; tears ran down his face and his nose was red.
"Kendal," he looked finally. Instinctively my hand went to his forehead, my fingers tracing from his temple to his chin. He didn't move away, just opened his blood shot eyes and watched me.
"Lou," he croaked. I smiled, my hand resting on his neck that was only just visible.
"The guys wanted me to come see you," I told him. He nodded sadly and I realised why; "I wanted to make sure you were okay too."
Kendal laughed, his laugh deeper with tears thickening his voice. "Don't know why, I treated you like shit." I smirked, leaning forward and pressed my forehead to his. "I was wrong to do that," he added.
"You thought you were helping the both of us," I soothed.
He shook his head, snivelling as he did so. "Whatever my intentions I should have gone through with my deal; I should have made sure Beck wasn't on the higher footing." Silence pursued as I tried to find the nicest way to tell him to shut up. "I need to tell you, Lou. I didn't think about how it came across at the restaurant; I wasn't dating you to make Naiad jealous. I was trying to show her that I could be a good boyfriend."
"I know, Kendal." I placed a hand over his, which was tight around the blankets he was using as a veil. "The boys told me about it."
"The boys... you mean Kyle too?" Kendal laughed; "Why'd he do that? He hates you!" I tried to laugh it off but even in this situation, with the humour being anything but comical, the mention of Kyle's hatred for me tasted a little bitter.
"I think he was trying to tell me that you were a good guy and that I should get my arse over here."
Kendal laughed again, with more vigour this time. His laughter dies and he stared up at me, his smile slackening to a frown with passing seconds. "Why would you come and check up on me?" He says finally; "You should hate me, you should be pleased it didn't turn out right."
I shrugged. "I couldn't wish badly on you."
"But why not?"
I didn't answer, I just stared at him. I couldn't answer that, I didn't know how to. We stayed like that, his tears started to slow, my hand was relentless moving from his temple to chin. It was one of those bittersweet moments I had been craving all year; the peeling sunburnt skin satisfaction, the hot sun drying your skin after an hour in the freezing lake. I hadn't had a melancholy moment in a long time and here I was having one with Kendal Yates, of all people!
"You have a tattoo, on your ribcage."
Kendal's eyes narrowed. "How do you know that?"
I smirked. He knew I had spotted it that morning after the party. It seemed so long ago, at that time I was only beginning to trust him. To see where trusting him led, I would never gone down that road to begin with.
A smile twitched at his lips; yeah, he remembered my gawping. "It's a bit floral for you, don't you think?"
It wasn't that his tat was of flowers and butterflies, it was the opposite of that; simple font with nothing to make it sparkle. It was just such a romantic idea, a romantic word that held so much power behind it.
Kendal finally moved, pulling his blanket from his head. His hair stuck up in all different angles, gelled that way by heat and sweat. He pulled the blanket further down, all the way to his hips and revealing the tattoo on his right.
He raised his arm, looking down at his tattoo. I was also staring but I was more drawn to the way his skin stretched over his ribcage, how even in this relaxed position you could see muscle on his abdomen that could only be gained with years of working at the wheel, cranking sails, and pulling on tension strings.
"I wouldn't call it feminine," Kendal finally mumbled. He looked up, smirking weakly when he saw me staring; "Like the rest of me; not the most feminine."
He chuckled at my stupefied face. The next words that came out of my mouth I blame completely on my brains mummification; "You don't take steroids, it makes you even manlier."
Like a bucket of ice water had been poured over my head, I jumped out of it. "Oh God," I grumbled as Kendal started laughing. I put my head in my hands, listening to Kendal's laughter. It was nice to hear, even at my expense, I thought I wouldn't hear him laughing today.
"So you think I'm manly, hey?" He'd rolled onto his front, his elbows propping him up. I pulled my hands away and rolled my eyes at him. "Manlier than Troutbeck."
I huffed; "You're such a child. There's not even a competition between you and Beck, and you know it."
Kendal placed his head against the pillow, his two thumbs balancing his temples just above the cushion. He heaved a sigh and then looked back up at me sadly. "I'm sorry about that." I shrugged, as of it didn't matter. "No Lou," he urged; "I am so, so sorry. Naiad—" he choked over the name and for a moment I felt like I was drowning again "—said that you staged the whole thing just for some one-up. We both saw you struggling in the water and then Beck was there like your saviour and I don't know, I..." His fingers started playing with the loose thread on his pillow case. "I swallowed up every single word spoken. I'm sorry."
It felt like a weight had been lifted and I smiled. "So why did you chose that word?"
"Adventure?" He looked down at the tattoo and shrugged. "I don't know; maybe it's like when girls get live, love, laugh, dream on their bodies. I want adventure."
"So philosophical," I mused sarcastically.
He shoved my shoulder. "I want to just get on my boat, maybe the one my dad told me to pay into, and see the world. I want to taste foreign food and feel the difference between the ways the sun burns my skin in England to the way it burns it in... America, France, Thailand... Just somewhere else."
"What's stopping you?" There was silence, one that had Kendal looking away from me. "School's over with, there are months until you have to be back for results. Why don't you just get on the boat and see the world?"
"I always wanted to go with someone and I thought I had found the right person to go with." He looked down at his hands, eyes tearing and not wanting me to see. I gulped, the truth hitting hard. He didn't just want Naiad to have as his own, he wanted her to come with her around the world.
So romantic...
But I couldn't picture Naiad on a boat for days, without a clean source of water to wash her hair. What did he imagine; her dressed in some chic 1950s style sailor suit, a sailor hat on her head, acting as the girl in some naval fantasy? Maybe for the first day but then after that it would be anything but a wet dream. Unlike what the name suggests, Naiad was never one to be at home with the sea.
"But I ruined it."
I scowled but said nothing. How could he have possibly ruined it? Why did he even want to have her join him?
"I know you probably don't care for my opinion but you're better off without her."
"What are you—?"
A screech rang through the air, even from this distance it made me jump. I breathed a laugh, turning back to Kendal to finish his question. He opened his mouth but before he could speak a voice echoed.
'Can all team relay competitors make their way to the team's boat to the left of the competition?'
I huffed, I had to go before his team turned up for pre-race warm ups and pep talks.
"What's was that?"
He smiled; "It doesn't matter, I'll tell you later. You go and get ready."
I shimmied down the bed, Kendal pulled himself into sitting position and watched me as I readjusted my rubber socks. Turning, I smiled and said; "Good luck. Don't start crying when I whoop your teams' butt."
Kendal laughed; "I won't need to cry, Lou." I raised my brow, I'd missed the fighting talk the two of us had adjusted to over the years. "I'm not racing." The fighting talk deflated like an empty sail and my shoulders dropped.
"You know, you don't have to do this for her," I crossed my arms, feeling uncomfortable to give him this advice. "She's not your greatest love, there's no need for the big romantic gesture."
He smiled lazily, leaning his head against the small window pane. "It was less the big romantic gesture and more trying to be the cool guy in the team who gives it to the under-appreciated guy." I raised my brows, wanting a better explanation. "Willis Low."
"You gave your spot to Will Low?" I huffed; "Unbelievable!"
"What?" He laughed; "You know, some girls would find that attractive in a manly man."
"Yeah, but Will doesn't even want to go into water sports at uni, Kendal, you could have gone in with that under your belt!"
Kendal shrugged his shoulders; "I've already got my offer from South Devon."
"Yeah but—"
"To do Yacht Operations."
"But—"
"And it's an unconditional offer."
"But... wait, when did that happen?"
He smirked victoriously. "The day I told you I was going to help you." My brows dropped and he laughed. "I had everything but the girl now. At least I tried to get her." I smiled sadly, not knowing what else to do. "You'd better go, Ian's going to go spare if you don't turn up soon."
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yes." He heaved a sigh and smirked at me like a brother would towards a sister; "Now go."
So I climbed up the steps and I went to close the cabin door behind me. But a noise stopped me, a sigh that was so heavy an anchor would have troubles outweighing it. I stuck my head back inside the cabin to find my heart breaking all over the floor again.
Kendal had thrown the covers over him again, completely giving up on the world.