His face lit up. “You’ll go?”
“Of course,” I responded, caught off guard by his confusion. “I love camping. I live to camp. Why wouldn’t I love to camp?” It was the truth, even though I hadn’t actually gone camping in close to nine years.
He shrugged. “You just seem like someone who hates the outdoors, is all.”
This was surely a dig at my skin. I could never tan, so I didn’t try usually, normally staying inside on my electronics, huddled in blankets. “I hate being sunburned,” I clarify. “And bugs.”
He let out a quiet chuckle. “Okay then, uh, you can pack for hiking and stuff, make sure you pack swimwear, and in about two weeks we’ll go.”
“Okay,” I smiled. I ran back up the stairs, leaping into my bedroom. I rummaged through the small closet, pulling my trusty backpack out of the depths. It was a deep green, made of corduroy. The straps were leather, faded and soft to the touch. My dad had bought it for me at the ripe age of fifteen, sort of bribing me to come camping with him. I had two weeks to wait, but the excitement was too much to bear without doing anything.
I stuffed a couple of tank tops in there with several pairs of shorts and a jean jacket. I remembered how cold it can get and packed sweatpants as well, along with the bottle of SPF 45 I always keep handy.
“Need any help packing?” Jen’s voice rang from my doorway, scaring me. I jumped, spinning around.
“Oh,” I sighed. “You scared me. Yeah, I’ll take some help.”
She nodded, walking toward the place on my bed where I had laid out all the essentials that needed to be packed. “Uh, I wanted to talk,” she started. Uh-oh.
“Sure, about what?” I really hope she isn’t angry at me. I hate when people are angry at me.
“I think you might need to sit down,” she said in a low voice, gesturing to the bed. She sat, too, patting the place next to her. I sat down, unsure of what was going on. She cleared her throat. “I just want to make sure you don’t get hurt. My brother...” she trailed, gazing into the distance. I raised my eyebrow, trying to make eye contact with her. She snapped back into reality continuing. “Um, sort of uses girls. And I care about you, plus you’re my roommate, so if he broke your heart, I’d have to hear about it,” she finished, half-jokingly.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” I stated, trying to give her a reassuring smile. Then, seeing the concern still on her face, “You really think I’d let anyone control me? Thank you, though.”
She smiled half-heartedly, standing. “I just don’t want you to get hurt,” she whispered. “Promise to tell me if he does anything stupid,” she pleaded.
I was not used to dealing with delicate people. Following my instinct, I got up and hugged her. “I really will be okay,” I assured her. “If he tries anything, I’ll put him in his place. And if I can’t, I will tell you. I promise.”
***
Two weeks flew by, the fastest and slowest time lapse in the existence of time. There was a really light knock on my door. When I opened it, I revealed Jay, who promptly swept past me and sat down on my bed, making the mattress dip.
“I checked the forecast and it looks like we’re all set,” he told me proudly.
“Good, wouldn’t want to get caught up in a tornado,” I joked. He didn’t laugh, so I tried explaining my joke. Like an idiot. “Get it? Because England doesn’t get tornadoes?”
“Oh, I got it,” he said.
Trying to hide my embarrassment, I turned back to my dresser, nearly scrambling to find something to idle myself.
I felt hands on my waist and turned my head, my nose almost coming into contact with Jay’s. “Hello,” he said directly into my ear. I could feel his breath on my skin, chills immediately springing up. I turned around to face him.
“Hello,” I parroted. His hands moved from my waist to my hands, holding them to his chest. He leaned down, placing his forehead on mine. He didn’t move a muscle, just stared me in the eyes, trying to read me. When he finally did move, he pecked me on the cheek, pulling me in for a hug.
“Thank you,” he spoke into my neck.
“It’s only a camping trip,” I told him. Why was he being weird?
“That’s not what I’m thanking you for.”
“Being enigmatic does not suit you,” I purred. That earned me a small laugh and head shaking from him.
“You should get some rest,” he advised. “Goodnight.”
And he left. Like he had never been in here. Still, I heeded his advice, leaving my shower for tomorrow morning.
***
My, how I hate the sound of my alarm. And it’s not like I can just pound the snooze; that would break the screen.
It’s seven AM. I have not been awake at this un-Godly hour since high school. Even my lectures in college didn’t start until nine. I can’t complain much, though, seeing as if I would have taken a shower last night instead of leaving it for today, I could have slept until eight.
The first thing I did when I went to the bathroom was splash my face with cold water. I couldn’t wake myself up any other way. Well, I guess I could, but I hate coffee and I need a shower anyway, so...
There was knocking on my front door. At seven. In the morning.
He could not be serious. I just got undressed for my shower. I threw on my robe and shot down the stairs, silently cursing him. It is 7:15. Why is he up? And, more importantly, why is he here?
I opened the door to reveal Jay smiling at me.
“Good morning,” he voiced.
“It’s seven-fifteen.”
“Yeah,” he said, looking at my garb for the first time. “Oh, were you about to get in the shower? I can come back,” he offered.
“No, it’s fine,” I assured him. “You can sit down here or something and I’ll be in the shower. You know where the food is if you get hungry,” I said, backing up the stairs.
He smiled, walking into the living room.
***
I threw on the sports bra I had in the bathroom, putting on a tank top and flannel shirt over it, paired with jean shorts that came down to mid-thigh on me, or knees on anyone else. I walked out into my room, immediately grateful that I did bring my clothes into the bathroom with me.
There, on my bed, Jay was sitting, looking out of the window. I coughed and he snapped to attention as if I was an army general. Cool.
“Ready to go?” I ask, going to my dresser and pulling out ankle socks. My boots were packed in my duffel bag, so I slipped on my tennis shoes, lacing them up quickly.
“Yeah, we’ll have to stop by ASDA on the way though, pick up s’mores stuff, you know. Probably a couple of blankets. Camping stuff. C’mon, I drove my car,” he said, gesturing to the driveway.
“Hang on, I’m gonna say bye to Jen first,” I informed him, making my way to her room.
She was snoring. I gently shook her awake, trying not to laugh at her. “Hmmm?” came her sleep-coated voice, rolling over.
“We’re about to leave,” I told her. “If Dale comes back looking for a fight--”
“Yeah, yeah, he’s bigger than me, don’t do it, blah blah blah,” she interrupted.
“I was going to say punch him in the throat and then while he’s down, kick him in his princess parts, but your thing works, too, I guess.”
She propped herself up on her elbows, furrowing her brow as she looked at me. “You’re not going to warn me to call the cops if he shows?” she asked cautiously.
“Well,” I said, shrugging. “Let’s just say that you should only call the cops if it’s a dead body. You know where the kitchen knives are.” I probably should not have said that, but if he comes around here bothering her and I hear about it, that’s the advice I would follow. Probably.
She laughed, falling back into her nest of pillows and blankets. It hadn’t occurred to me how many pillows she had. Like, eight. Granted, some were throw pillows and one body pillow, but that was a lot.
I left her room, walking back into mine and checking for Jay. He wasn’t in there, so I made my way downstairs before hearing him on his phone. I realize that eavesdropping is considering wrong, frowned upon, even, but I also know that secrets don’t make friends.
“...Yeah, I’ll be there. No, of course she doesn’t know. I don’t know, seven? Okay, call you later,” he spoke into his phone. I ran backwards five feet and then made my entrance. “Hey,” he said, opening his arms to me.
I had no idea what that phone call was about and I didn’t want to ask him, either. “Hi,” I said into his chest. His plaid shirt smelled like fabric softener.
“Alright, let’s go,” he said, breaking away from me. I didn’t want him to end the embrace. Still, we would never get where we’re going if we didn’t leave.
***
When we finally checked out of ASDA, we had a sleeping bag for me, a spare blanket, a lighter, s’mores ingredients, and hot dogs. We headed out.
Jay’s car was nice. I am terrible with cars and stuff, so all I know for sure is that it was A.) a Nissan, and B.) Grey. The interior smelled amazing and when I asked what it was he only shrugged and pointed to ‘scent-cubes’ in the cup holder.
“One of the rules for riding in my car is that you have to provide scintillating conversation and a back-story,” he stated once we were on the highway.
“The cookie is the best part of the Oreo,” I informed him.
He looked over at me, then back to the road, shock in his eyes. “No way can anyone seriously think that,” he murmured. “No, that’s not right, I’m afraid.”
“Yes, it is,” I argued. “Next time you’re dipping them in milk, imagine how awful it would be to only have the cream, you’d be screwed and you would probably hate yourself.”
He laughed, showing off his teeth. “That’s true. Okay, what about the back-story?”
“Don’t have one,” I told him. “Not an interesting one, anyway.”
“That’s a lie, too, I bet,” he insisted.
I sighed. I really didn’t want to talk about my life right now. “How long do we have before we get there?”
“Four hours,” he confirmed. “Talk.”
“I read a lot as a kid. Not really a social butterfly, obviously. My family had bunches of dogs and cats and guinea pigs. When I was in fifth grade I started writing. Then I grew up. Now I’m here,” I briefed him.
“That can’t be all,” he pushed.
“I moved around a lot.”
“Have I read your book?” he asked.
“Probably not. Then again, a guy on my plane here did, so you might have, but, again, probably not,” I articulated.
“What’s it called?” he queried.
“Manic,” I whisper.
“Oh, yeah I’ve read that. Nice, by the way, I especially like the part when they do it,” he teased. I hid my face with my hands, feeling the heat rising in my cheeks. I groan. He laughed, taking one of my hands away from my face, holding it in his.
“So,” I said, hoping, praying, to change the subject. “Tell me about you,” I insisted.
His demeanor changed, his smile replaced by a raised eyebrow and smirk, his hand resting on my knee. “What do you wish to know?”
“Lots and lots. For example, is Jen your only sibling? Where did you guys grow up? Who was your first girlfriend and how did that work out?” I ask, easing the last question in. I knew I was his girlfriend now, but I wanted to know about those before me.
“Uh, yes, Reading, Annalise Bleu, it didn’t,” he answered. I’m sure he was vague on purpose, trying to annoy me. He shot me a glance, as if asking, ‘happy?’ The answer was no, I was not happy, but if he didn’t want to answer, that was his business and, more importantly, not my place to bother him. “You’ve really not had a real boyfriend before?” he inquired, awestricken. When I nodded, he asked, “Why not?”
I let out a laugh. “Because,” I stated.
“That’s not adequate,” he complained.
“You really wanna know? Because once you know, you can’t un-know,” I warned him.
“Vic, I really, really want to know why you have never had a boyfriend.”
“Okay,” I told him. I took a deep breath. “I am,” I said, pausing for dramatic effect, “a huge prude and also a stick in the mud.”
“Why do say that?”
“Because it’s true.”
He didn’t respond. The only indication that he had heard me was his hand moving from my knee back to my hand.
Since I really didn’t want to deal with the awkwardness I’d created, I looked out the window. The sky was overcast, casting the world outside the car in an ominous light.
The “kilometers” ticked by almost as quickly as the minutes. I leaned back in my seat, willing sleep to come. As it usually happened in car rides, sleep found me and pulled me under.
A soft nudging on my leg. “Vic,” Jay’s voice rang. I unbuckled myself, getting out and stretching my legs.
Whoa, talk about scenery. It was so green. Tall trees rose in all directions, pine needles littering the ground. I could hear water running somewhere to my left, but the foliage was so thick I couldn’t place the sound. There was fire-pit next to a small clearing, probably where the tent would go. Ugh. Tents.
I walked around to the trunk, helping Jay get the tent supplies. I tried to be as helpful as possible with the setting up of the tent, listening intensely, not wanting to screw up our shelter. It was set up in forty minutes with a lot of sweat and tears. Mostly mine, since I’m a big baby and sweat like a pig, but it’s whatever.
Jay got the cooler, which, lucky for me, was the heaviest object in the trunk. I’m not saying I couldn’t have gotten it, because I definitely could have, I’m just saying that I’m grateful I didn’t have to. I did, however, get my sleeping bag and the groceries that weren’t in the cooler.
Jay’s phone rang from the car. I retrieved it from the other cup holder, looking at the screen. I read the name ‘Helen’ on the screen. I remember Jen talking about a Helen, so she must be a cousin or something.
“Here’s your phone,” I say to Jay, who was sitting in the tent, toying with the string in a fishing pole.
His eyes widen. “Thanks,” he mutters to me. “Hello?” he says into the phone. Oh-kay. I motion that I’m going on a walk, to which he nods and waves me off.
I grabbed my camera from the front seat and started down a trail. I should be taking in the scenery, snapping photos for inspiration or something, but I want to find out about Helen. I pull out my cellphone, dialing Jen’s number.
“How’s camping?” she answers.
“It’s going great,” I tell her. “But I wanted to ask you about something.”
“Ask away.”
“Why don’t you like Oli?” shoots out of my mouth. It’s been bugging me forever.
“I don’t feel comfortable answering that,” she snapped. “Is that it?”
“For now,” I said as calmly as I could. “Thanks.”
Was she freaking kidding me? They were literally perfect for each other. A large huff escaped my lips before I turned around and started to make my way back to the campsite.
“I have a question for you,” I told Jay. He raised his eyebrow, eyeing me warily.
“Yes?”
“In your own opinion, what’s the key to a healthy relationship?” In my mind, there are two different acceptable answers: God and communication.
“Uh, I have to say trust. Why?” Of course. Trust. That’s a good answer.
“I dunno,” I shrugged.
“Wanna go swimming?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Yeah, I would,” I admitted. “I’m just gonna get my bathing suit and go change in the bathrooms.”
“Nonsense, the bathrooms are a half-mile away, just change in here.”
“You’re in here.”
He looked down at his body and gasped. “I hadn’t realized,” he said, clutching his chest in mock-surprise.
“You’re so funny, I forgot to laugh,” I said in mock irritation. Maybe a bit of it was real irritation. Oh well.
“The last time I heard that, I fell off my dinosaur,” he retorted as I pulled my one-piece from my bag.
I huffed angrily, gesturing for him to turn around so I could change. He put his hands over his eyes and turned around, sitting crisscross applesauce. I was undressed and dressed again in record time. Funny how quickly you can get changed when you don’t like being naked around other people. I sneaked over to him, putting my hands over his on his eyes.
“I take it you’re dressed, then?”
“Absolutely not. I just enjoy giving naked-hugs,” I said with as much sarcasm as I could muster.
“Well, in that case,” he said. He slipped his hands out from under mine at the speed of light and wrapping his arms around my legs, pulled me onto his lap. I took my hands away from his face, resting them in my lap.
His eyes popped open the minute my hands left them. A frown appeared on his face and he murmured, “You lied.”
I laugh, getting up. “Now you have to change,” I pointed out.
“If I say I’m giving you a naked hug, just know it’ll be real,” he warned.
I took a seat, facing the corner and closing my eyes. Moments later, I felt hair brush against the back of my arm. I could only assume it was his leg-hair. I jumped up, swiveling around and exclaiming, “I don’t want a naked-hug!”
He laughed, and, from what I could hear, walked over to me. He grabbed my wrists gently, telling me it was okay and that he wasn’t nude. I opened my eyes, looking through the crack in my fingers. He was indeed in his bathing suit. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, though. Again, swoon.
He was fair-skinned like me. However, you could tell he tanned at least a little bit, his stomach and shoulders whiter than his forearms and neck. He didn’t have chest hair, which was good, because, ew, chest hair. He didn’t have a six-pack, which I was okay with because I don’t really like muscles. I mean, if you have them, bonus points to you, but I don’t really care about them. His swim trunks were just navy blue with a white draw string. Neat.
He laughed at me ogling his body. I quickly averted my eyes, asking, “Ready to go?” and exiting the tent.
“Don’t you want to stay and check me out some more?” he taunted, following behind me.
“Which way to the lake again?” I asked, brushing his comment off.
“Take a right at the road to the bathrooms,” he instructed.
***
Coming upon the docks, Jay turned to me.
“Who’s going first?” he asked.
“Not me,” I stated.
“I’m not either,” he argued.
“Rock, paper, scissors. It’s the only way,” I told him.
I lost. Jay gloated.
I was pussy-footing around, much like I always do when I am faced with an unpleasant task, when Jay crept silently up behind me and whispered, “Jump,” in my ear, causing me to almost jump out of my skin. I gasped, turning around to face him. Bad move. With a broad smile, he pushed me off the dock, forcing me in.
There was a magnificent splash when I made contact with the water, bubbles foaming up when I was still underwater. The first thing I noticed was how cold it was. Then again, it was only seventy-five. The next thing I noticed was how clear it was. The third thing I noticed was that this was salt-water. I rose above the surface, a huge smile on my face. I loved swimming. And floating. Just being in the water in general.
“The water is perfect!” I shout to Jay, who was still watching me from the dock.
He chuckled, jumping in himself. I swam over to him, watching his bubbles surface. His head popped out of the water. He shook his head, spraying water on me and brushing his hair out of his face. His curls were still intact, even soaking wet.
“It’s freezing!” were the words that came out of his mouth when he had caught his breath.
I laughed at him before he swam to me, grabbing me around my mid-section, dunking me under the water.
“Not fair!” I gasp as I come up.
“Do you want to dunk me?” he said with a smile that lit up the sky.
“You wish,” I taunted.
“Why not?”
“You’re bigger than me,” I pointed out.
He swam over to me again, this time kissing me right on the mouth. It wasn’t quick like it usually was, he held it. I didn’t know what to do, so I started giggling nervously. He stopped.
“What?” he asked. I could hear that my laughing had insulted him.
“I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect it. I’m sorry,” I apologized.
He laughed softly to himself. “Do you expect it now?”
“Wholly.”
~*~
Aw, look at that, they're having a cutesy camping time for now. And look, I did do a double update. Yay me. Tell me what you guys think so far on this story, 'kay? Also, remember to comment, vote, and follow. So, yeah, phew, there's that.