Elijah's Pov
I am definitely not buying her story. You can't land punches so perfectly and gracefully just by going to self-defense classes. And there is that constant feeling that she is really familiar and looks soo much like someone I know. And that day, when we played football together, I didn't miss how she got tensed and tried avoiding me throughout the game. She didn't even glance at me.
Something about her doesn't feel right. I mean, one minute she is all fierce and scary, and the next she is weak and fragile. After she missed two days of school after punching the wall, she again went through another transformation, this one of a very sweet girl. If I wasn't any sure, I would have thought that she is having some personality disorder.
But I can see that this sweet exterior is just an act. It's kinda evident. I don't even know how all the others even sucked up to her excuses. Everyone except Louis and Sam. And a part of me knows that Louis knows a lot more about her than he is letting it show. She keeps intriguing me. I looked to my right to find Shaden leaning towards Louis laughing loudly about something. Somehow, despite many things, she looked innocent on so many levels.
"Hey man, you have that look on your face." Brendan said shoving a bunch of chips into his mouth.
"Which look?" I asked him confused.
"When you go into deep thoughts, your face contorts into a constipated look right? That one." He said pointing at my face. I shoved him hardly making him bump into Jessica who glared at him angrily, stood up and walked away fuming.
"What's with her?" I asked pointing my chin at Jess.
"She is paired with Shelby and you know how much she hates her. You know how Shelby always had a thing for me. She kept taunting Jess that she isn't enough for me or all that bullshit and now Jess is angry at me because she thinks that I am just encouraging her instead of stopping her." Brendan said with a sigh.
"But did you not always turn her down whenever she made a move at you?" I asked him confused.
"Exactly! That's what I kept telling Jess. I don't know what's got into her today? She is acting very weird." He said pressing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger.
"Maybe she is angry because you aren't even trying to ask Shelby or her dickhead of a boyfriend to switch tents so that you could stay together. I mean, this is the last school outing we are ever going to have." Mabel pointed out sitting beside us.
"Shit! That is why." He said groaning and then lifted his head up, searching. "Where is Jonathan? Maybe I will start by asking him."
"Who is speaking about my roommate?" Shaden asked, suddenly appearing and flopping beside me. Finally after a week she decided not to avoid me. I looked at her amused and she tried to give me an easy smile, which actually wasn't that easy.
"Jonathan is your roomie?" Brendan asked surprised.
"Yeah, and he is going all the way to show me that he hates the idea to share the tent with me." she said with a sad pout but it was clear that she wasn't affected by it. Haru scoffed sitting beside her.
"Of course he wouldn't like sharing his tent with you. I mean, he always goes for easy girls. He knows that he is not cut out for you." he said rolling his eyes.
"I thought he already had a girlfriend." She said confused but when she saw the look we all gave her, she nodded her head slowly. "Right" she said only to stay silent for a second or two and then scrunched her nose.
"Why are people here always thinking about sex?" she asked looking kind of distressed about it. "I mean there are things which are more fun than jumping at each other." She said looking mildly disgusted.
"Like?" Jordan asked with a smirk.
"I don't know. How about relishing in your childish nature and playing stupid games? And by stupid games I don't mean that stupid truth or dare. Some fun game where you get to have fun without making others feel uncomfortable." She said with a shrug.
"That doesn't seem more interesting than sex!" Haru said exasperatedly. As if she was speaking blasphemy.
"Do you have any such games in mind?' Casey asked, sounding interested.
"Oh many." Shaden replied looking excited. "Okay, does everyone know how to climb trees?" she asked with a mischievous grin on her face.
"I don't." Jess raised her hand and she was soon joined by Brendan, Louis, Jordan and me. Her face dropped a little, losing its glint from before.
"What game do you play with climbing trees?" Louis asked as if the idea itself was ridiculous. I mean, it is kinda ridiculous.
"Believe me there are many. Okay, I will tell you my favorite. It's just like playing tag, but we can keep altering between the ground and the trees based on the runner's choice. If the 'It' person chooses the ground, they should tag us on the ground, if they choose the trees, then they chase us from tree to tree. People mostly prefer the trees though." She explained.
"Wow! That is insane! But what if you fall from the tree while jumping?" Jordan asked sounding edgy. Oh yeah, he hates heights because of the fear of falling.
"Then you either bleed or break a bone." She replied with a shrug as if it's not a big deal.
"Oh! Easy. No big deal. Just break a bone or bleed to death. Or you could hit your head and have a concussion or who knows, you can freaking just die." Brendan growled, going at her face. She placed her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him away.
"Woah! Easy there buddy. I am not forcing you to play the game; I am just explaining the rules of the game. It was fun when I was playing with people back at my place." She said with her hands still on his shoulders and looked at him as if she was appeasing a child.
"Now that we know this game is kinda suicidal, can you tell us any other game." Sam asked looking at her amused.
"Whatever." She said rolling her eyes and then her face lit up with another idea.
"Fine, there is this another game . It's called seven stones or Lagori or Lingoch. Here, we are divided into two groups, place seven stones between both the teams, same distance away from both the teams. Then you get three chances to knock down the stones with the ball. If you don't hit it, the ball is passed on to the other team. But if you do hit it, the other team guards the stones while we try reconstructing the tower. We should try protecting ourselves from being hit by the ball until the stone tower is made. Simple." She said excitedly. She saw all our blank faces and pouted her lips. "Come on guys, I know it doesn't sound fun but as you play it, you will start loving It." she said hopefully.
"Not that I understood the rules but let us give it a try at least." Casey pleaded others while Shaden gave her a thankful smile.
"Yeah cool, I am up for it." Louis said standing up.
"Me too. Though I liked the other game better." Haru said with a wink.
"I got a ball here." Mabel said tossing a volley ball at her. Shaden caught it easily but shook her head.
"We can't play this game with this ball. We need something smaller." Casey was about to pull a baseball from her bag but Shaden just made an X with her hand. "Unless you want people to end up with bruises, don't even get the ball out." she warned.
"How small do you want it?" I asked.
"As small as a cricket ball or a tennis ball."
"I got one here." One of the guys from my calculus class said tossing a cricket ball at her. I didn't know anyone even played Cricket.
"Fine, I will go pick up some stones." I said standing up from the spot. Shaden tugged at my pant and held her hand up asking me to pull her.
"I will go with Elijah." She said as she got up and we walked together in search of stones.
"Where did you learn all these games?" I asked her as we searched the ground for suitable games.
"Back in India. At school we play actual sports. But once you come home, you just don't feel like playing the same sports. So, we make up our own games with our own rules to play with the neighbors. They are called neighborhood games." She said with a small smile and a faraway look.
"Do you miss it? Your home?" I asked and she smiled sadly.
"Who doesn't miss their home?" She said picking up another suitable stone.
"Then why are you here?" I asked.
"Well, you know sometimes they say that we can't have control over everything in your life. The situations force you to do stuff which you would never have even dreamt off." She said with a shrug.
"Like?" I asked testing how far she would go in answering me.
"Like me shifting here. Never in my life did I ever think that I would study in a country which isn't India. Even if it is still a developing country, I still love it. It's my home and nothing can replace It." she said and though she looked genuine, I didn't know for sure that's the only reason she looked sad in the beginning.
We didn't speak much after that as we kept looking for suitable stones. The teams were already divided when we walked there with the stones. I noticed that they were many other people who joined the game who weren't actually from our friend's circle. Since we were the last ones to join, we were put in separate teams.
She wasn't lying when she said that this game is more fun playing than listening. Soon more and more people joined the game and I for one didn't even realize that we actually spend two hours playing the same game. I mean this game doesn't even have a proper name. Though it was kinda messy at the beginning, because Shaden was the only one who actually knew the game, soon all of us got the hang of it.
"Wow! I love this game. We should start asking her for more games like this." Jordan yelled beside me as he was chased by Casey while Sam and Shaden kept re-building the stone structure. I shouted at Casey to target Shaden who was hunched over the stones.
Casey grinned and threw the ball to hit a very concentrated Shaden but Sam saw this coming and he just lifted Shaden up from her sitting place, took a branch and hit the ball far away and gently placed her back in the same position. Shaden finished arranging the stones and jumped into Sam's arms as they started jumping in victory.
"Hey not fair, he hit the ball." Jess complained.
"Yeah, but he didn't touch it." Shaden said sticking her tongue out. This is the most fun side I have seen in her and I don't think I am the only person who noticed it.
"You are just changing the rules because you are the only one who knows the it." Richard accused.
"Oh honey, I win with honesty and courage." She cooed pinching his cheeks as he swatted her hand away.
"It was fun." Casey grinned despite losing the game.
"I agree with her. Do you have other games like this?" Louis said slinging his hand over her shoulders. She is now in between Sam and Louis looking like a cute munchkin because of her height.
"Many." Shaden said with a wide smile.
"I can't believe we played for almost two and half hours." I voiced out and Haru just gasped in response.
"We played for that long? Wow! I didn't even notice the time slipping by." He said still looking surprised.
Slowly people started moving out as the adrenaline rush from the game ceased. Shaden slipped away from Louis's hold and ran behind Jonathan shouting out his name. He turned around and stood there impatiently.
"What is she even speaking to that idiot?" Jess asked sounding annoyed. I shrugged as I watched Shaden beaming at Jonathan who was smirking at her. She gave him an awkward hug and walked towards us with a wide smile.
"What's up with that smile?" Jordan asked her scrunching his nose. She ignored him and walked towards Brendan. "Hey, it wasn't that twin who just asked you a question." Jordan complained which she ignored again to which he huffed and then pouted.
She pulled Brendan down by pulling his ear and whispered something in his ears. As he kept listening to her, his expression changed from one of confusion to that of a relief. He looked at her with a grateful smile and hugged her to which she just smiled at him and patted his head, though she had to stand on her toes to do that.
"What was that?" Louis asked with a frown.
"You aren't the only one who wants to know about it buddy." Jess said with a frown of her own which soon disappeared as Brendan walked towards her with a bounce in his step. He quickly hugged her and then kissed her lightly on her lips whispering something while kissing her. She beamed at him and deepened the kiss making Jordan groan.
"Get a room people." He said shoving at his twin and then turned towards us. "Even after two years of them dating, it is still weird to see my best friend and twin brother make out. Scratch that, it isn't weird, it is outright disgusting." He said making a face. I just rolled my eyes at him and walked away towards the ground where they were serving dinner. I was surprised to see that Shaden joined us yet again for dinner.
"Is it going to be regular Simba?" Louis asked, pretending to be irritated. She raised her brow at him. "You seeking me out in the public?" he asked and she scoffed.
"Of course. I need idiots like you by my side to make myself look good." She said with a careless shrug.
"So, I am an eye candy now." He said, shaking his head in disappointment. She just looked at him amused.
"That wasn't what I meant. But now that you mentioned it, sure. You are an eye candy." She said pinching his cheeks and his smile just got wider.
"Does the eye candy get any kisses?"
"Why not?"
"Gimme." He said, turning completely towards her and scrunching his lips, so that she could plant a kiss. Instead, she went through her bag and shoved a kisses candy into his mouth.
"There you go." she said and laughed at his expression.
"Not the one I was looking for, but I'll take it." he said turning away and tuning back to the circle of people around his, only to slightly blush after seeing the amused expression on all our faces.
Later that night we set up our tents. I was actually paired with Louis, but he is going to accompany some girl. I was happy that I had the entire tent to myself. I walked around the camp and finally decided to visit Jess to see if she was still angry regarding her tent-mate. When I reached there, I found Casey and Brendan along with Jess and the absence of Shelby. They were all laughing about something.
"What are you guys laughing about?" I asked, sitting down beside Brendan and Casey.
"Oh! We were speaking about how we beat Silverdale's team in the last game. Stephen's face was so funny when Casey started dancing after the win." Jess said chuckling.
"Oh, that sexist pig. I absolutely hate him. He always had a problem with Casey playing along with us boys. Thinks that he could play better than us. Such a loser." I said with distaste. Casey just rolled her eyes at the memory.
"So what's up with Nate and You?" Jess asked wiggling her brows.
"What about us?" she asked nonchalantly.
"Are you guys serious or something?" I asked bumping his shoulder into her.
"For now, yes. We never thought about how it would go in the future." she said shrugging.
"What about Sam?" Eli asked with a smirk.
"Yes, what about him?" she said looking mildly nervous. Very mildly.
"Don't play dumb. You guys have this weird sexual tension between you." Jess said with a bored expression.
She just rolled her eyes. "Oh God! It's nothing. You know how Sam is. He flirts with everyone. And also, we both are friends." She said trying to act bored.
"Well, that's the thing. Sam flirts with everyone, but with you he looks genuine." Brendan said smiling mischievously.
"And also, he never made any friend other than Louis all these years. You are the only girl he shows his interest in." I added.
"Why do you even know so much about Sam when you guys aren't his friends? And also, you are wrong; he shows a lot of interest in Shaden too. And guess what, she is a girl too." She said sticking her tongue out at me.
"But everyone shows interest in Shaden. I mean look at Jake, he hates speaking to girls unless he is flirting with them. But when he is around Shaden, he actually behaves himself and speaks to her very nicely. Granted he makes lame jokes which I think Shaden doesn't even understand because of her innocence, he still treats her with respect." Jess stated her observation.
"Really? Jake? The 'I love ruining relationships and then I break the girl's heart' Jake?" Casey asked surprised.
"Yeah, I saw them speaking during dinner. I asked her if he is annoying her with his dirty jokes and flirting but she just laughed telling that once we get to know him, he is actually a good person. She said that she is as close to him as she is with Haru." She said with a confused expression. "I don't know if it means she is very close to him or not close at all."
"Haru told me during dinner that they are pretty close. So close that he actually told her about his father and all the other stuff. They supposedly meet a lot outside school." Brendan said, confirming the relationship between both.
"Outside where?"
"The place where she works. Both the gym and the mechanic place. She once went to his workplace too. I think they actually speak a lot. She asked him to help her with some stuff related to electronics because, apparently, he is best at it." He said. I scoffed at that idiot's over-confidence.
"Anyway, it's getting late. I am going to sleep." Casey said getting up from her position. She looked at me thinking that I would go with her but I just sat there and she shook her head before walking out.
"Why aren't you leaving?" Jess asked narrowing her eyes at me.
"I don't want to go just yet."
"Oh come on man! We wanted this privacy for so long. Don't ruin it for us and just get the fuck out." Brendan whined.
"How did you even get this room? Weren't you guys fighting over the fact that you couldn't stay together?" I asked confused.
"One, we weren't fighting and two, Shaden helped us. Don't ask me how, because I don't know." Brendan said with a shrug and started kicking me out of the room and then zipped his tent the second I was out.
"I hope you guys catch STDs" I cursed.
"Eli, I am not sleeping with you." Jess replied in a bored voice.
"And I am very grateful for that." I said as I walked away from her.
As I was walking towards my tent, I heard moans, groans, shuffling and many other sounds which would be a nightmare to innocent ears. I was about to step into my empty tent when I saw a figure few meters away laying on the bare grass and looking up at the sky. I squinted my eyes before walking towards the figure, to realize that it was none other than Shaden.
What was she doing here?
I walked towards her and sat beside her. She tilted her head to the side and gave me a lazy grin and then turned her head again to face the sky. I followed her direction and looked up.
It was beautiful up there. Unlike the city, from down here, in the middle of the grassland, the stars looked brighter and also more in number. It looked like a beautiful painting on a dark canvas. The dark blue sky with purplish ruins here and there and numerous number of diamond like stars. It looked as if looking into the depth of ocean filled with luminous creatures. To the west most side, stood the crescent shaped moon.
"It's beautiful, isn't It." she asked with a small smile.
"Yes it is." I agreed.
"Not the stars and the sky."
I looked at her confused. What else is beautiful? "Then what?" I asked
"The fact that we, the Earth, has just one moon while there are planets which have more than ten and few others with no moon at all. The entire science behind the moon and the way it's always pulled towards us but not into us. The fact that the stars are so far away and the moon is so near and still the first thing we notice when we look up at the sky are the stars but not the moon, just because they are brighter." She said still staring at the sky. When I observed her closer, I realized that she was in fact looking at the moon in specific, not that bright stars, not the beautiful picture the sky is offering, but just the plain crescent moon.
"You really love Astronomy, don't you?" I asked lying down on my back so that our shoulders were aligned together but not exactly touching.
"Not just astronomy. I love aerospace and Aeronautics. But the heavenly bodies and the galaxy and anything from the outer surface fascinates Me." she said sounding excited.
"So why are you here?" I asked after a while. She tilted her head to look at me and then furrowed her eyebrows while thinking.
"Would you believe me if I said I am here for moon gazing?" she asked pursuing her lips. Moon gazing not star gazing, I noted to myself.
"I would have. But I wouldn't really think that you are here just for 'Moon gazing'." I said putting emphasis on the word. She sighed before turning back towards the sky.
"Brendan and Jessica really looked like they needed time together. So when I heard that Shelby and Jonathan, my tent-mate, are together, I told him that I could arrange him privacy as long as he kept our tent empty. He agreed then I offered my tent to Bren and Jess and I thought I could use his tent but Jordan is busy there. So here I am, tent-less." She said giving out a low chuckle at the end.
"Reason why I don't go around helping people." I said bumping my shoulder with hers.
"Mister Miller, you are misunderstanding my intention. I am doing this to repay their kindness. Miss Jessica Cobbe offered me help when I needed It." she said with a serious face.
I turned to the side to look at her. The more I looked at her, the more familiar she looked. I kept staring at her trying to figure out where I have once seen in her.
"Why are you staring at me?" she asked still looking at the moon.
"You look very familiar." I said bluntly. I could see her face harden but then she turned towards me giving me a full view of her face.
"Really? Like who?" she asked looking at me.
"I don't remember. I just feel like I have seen you before. At some sport's meet? At a inter school competitions? I don't know, I just feel like I've seen you before." I hated being uncertain. It makes me feel vulnerable and weak.
She snorted loudly. "How could you have seen me in some school's competition if it's actually the first time I stepped out of my country?" she said, lazily turning away from me to face the sky. "Unless I participated in the Olympics of course." She joked.
"Well, have you?" I asked sounding really serious.
"What? No! As if I am talented enough to participate in the Olympics. I am neither that brave nor competitive. And anyway, I do not want to do anything which isn't related to astronomy or physics." The way she was looking at me conveyed everything. She wasn't lying.
"Yeah, you are right. I think it's some other girl from India." I said shrugging off the feeling.
We lay beside each other for a while without speaking anything. I kept thinking about everything and concluded that I could be wrong about her. I mean since I am from a different ethnicity, all the faces from India look the same to me. I might have confused her with someone else.
I felt a buzz in my pocket. I took my phone out to check a message from my 9 year old half sister. I chatted with her with a small smile on my face. I am glad that my step-father did not kick me out after my mom died. I am also happy that he is moving on from my Mom with his colleague. Mindy needs a mother at this age.
What about Shaden? What kind of family did she come from? I turned towards her to ask exactly this but stopped myself after seeing her sleeping beside me peacefully. She was turned towards me and slept in a fetal position, trying to protect herself from the cold.
I smiled at her small form before gently lifting her up in my arms to take her into the tent so that she could sleep comfortably in the warmth. She opened her eyes as I was walking towards my tent and gave me a small smile while thanking me. I laid her down on the mat and covered her with a blanket and went back to my own mat to sleep. Even before I could think anything else, I could feel my eyes closing, taking me to oblivion.
**********
The next few days were everything we dreamt of for our senior year's camping. We played small games day and night, we had campfires, people singing and dancing around the fire, playing pranks on each other, swimming at the lakeside, boating and we even got to visit a native village and spend time there. It's the fifth day today and we just have two more days for our camping to end.
We were all sitting under the mangrove tree while Jordan kept explained us how he managed to flirt with a girl who did not know English while Haru kept giving commentary on what a fool Jordan was. Shaden's phone started ringing. When she saw the caller's name, I saw her face going rigid. She ignored the call. But soon after, she got the call again, which went unanswered too.
"Aren't you going to take that call?" Haru asked nodding at her phone. She smiled at him tightly and excused herself and walked towards the woods, away from us so that we wouldn't be able to hear her.
We couldn't see her face but her shoulders were stiff indicating that she was worried about something. She spoke for a while and then suddenly there was a bounce in her body as if suddenly it sprung back to life. She kept moving on her toes and then cut the call and made another call. Excitement was oozing out of her as she spoke to this new caller.
"I don't know if she is jumping up in excitement or worry." Ashton said standing up to dust his pants but Bell kept throwing mud at him. He glared at her but she just gave him a wide smile.
Just then we saw Shaden walking towards us with excitement. As she walked closer we realized that her eyes were teary despite having a huge smile on her face. Even before Ashton could question her, she hugged him and he just looked at us confused before hugging her back. "Are you fine?"
"I am. Just hug me for a minute. I need it right now." She said hugging him tighter. He nodded his head and hugged her while patting her head. We all looked at each other confused but just stayed silent. "I am gonna let go of you and run into the woods to feed my excitement. Ask no one to follow me. I will be fine and will be back in two hours." She said and started sprinting into the forest. Sam was about to follow her but Ashton stopped him.
"I think she needs some space. And my shoulder is wet with her tears." He said checking his shoulders. Sam looked at Louis with a worried expression but Louis's attention was only towards the direction she took off.
"We will go after her if she doesn't come back in two hours. Yeah?" Sam said looking at Louis and he just nodded his head.
After around one and a half hour Shaden returned with sweat covering her face and dripping over her body. She looked happy and it's the first time I am seeing her eyes lit up with pure relief and happiness. She is not trying to make an effort to stay happy, she is genuinely happy.
"What was that for?" Louis asked as soon as she came.
"Nothing, I was just soo excited and happy and I didn't know what to do. Physical activity keeps me grounded."
"Care to share what's making you so happy?" Casey asked smiling at her.
"I would, but I smell like a pig and I really need to take bath. Sorry, but I'll tell you later." She said waving us and going towards the bath rooms.
"I have never seen her this happy. She looks like she got a noble prize or something." Jess said.
"She must have won some million dollars in a game show." Jordan offered.
"Whatever it is, she looks really happy." Sam said with a small smile of his own.
After that we got distracted with our own gossip and some of us got up and started playing football. The others were just idly sitting with their phones. After an hour or so, I found Shaden stepping out of her tent and she smiled widely as she spotted Jake waving his hands at her. His friends looked at him weirdly when they realized that he wasn't flirting with her like he does with every other girl. They both started speaking and then quarreling and then started hitting each other as if they were five.
"It's weird to see Jake not act like an asshole." Haru said tackling the ball from me.
"I agree. Yesterday I found him scolding Brian who tried to bad mouth about Shaden. He said and I quote, 'I'll gut you if you speak another word about her. And also I don't want any of you flirting with her. Treat her like she is my sister. Nothing less.'" Jordan tried imitating Jake.
"Sister? What has happened to our school's asshole?" Bell cried in exasperation.
"I don't know, but Shaden seems to be close to almost every kind of people from every kind of groups in our school. Look now she is speaking to Nathaniel and his group of school presidents. I'm guessing after a while she is going to speak to Emily too." Ashton said walking towards us. And as he predicted she started speaking to Emily after around half an hour.
After that for another hour or so she kept moving to different people and started speaking to them.
"If I wasn't too sure, I would have thought that she is trying to avoid speaking to us." Louis said after a while. We looked at him confused. "I mean it's been more than four hours since she got that call and she took off into the woods." He explained.
"Maybe she is just feeling embarrassed because she acted like that earlier." Casey offered to which Louis just nodded his head. After around half an hour, Shaden walked towards us with a small smile and flopped beside Louis.
"Were you avoiding us?" Louis directly asked to which Casey just pinched him. Shaden smiled at him sheepishly.
"Tried to." She said tilting her head to the side. He just nodded at her and then ruffled her hair.
He went back to speaking something with Casey and all of us also continued our conversations from before. I was suddenly distracted from my conversation with Bell and Ashton when I heard Jordan asking Shaden why she was so happy before. I saw her becoming stiff for a moment before relaxing again. Now everyone's attention was back on her.
"My brother is out of Coma after 4 weeks." She said with a shrug.
Though she acted nonchalant about it, she looked close to tears. Seeing this, Louis gave her a side hug and she just smiled at him weakly. "He is coming here to stay with me because his doctors believe that he should stay with someone who he is the most attached to, so that he would be able to regain his memory." She said with a sigh.
"He lost his memory?" Jordan asked with wide eyes and she just nodded her head at him with a grimace on her face. "How old is he?" he asked.
"Se- Nine." She said looking flustered.
"Seven or nine?" Jess asked, making her stiffen again.
"He is a nine year old who looks like he is seven. He lacks in the growth department." She said grimacing again.
"Like you?" Louis tried joking.
"Hey, I do look like an eighteen year old." she said pouting at him and he just smiled at her.
"So you guys stay with your parents?" I asked and she shook her head.
"Naah. I can't stay with them. We will stay here alone." She said shrugging again.
"Wait, so you are telling that all this while you have been staying on your own?" Casey asked surprised.
"Well yeah, kind of." She said trying to move back so that Louis's shoulder will cover her face.
"Why?" Sam asked her with furrowed eyebrows.
"Let's just say I did something really bad when I was India and that I could be one of the possible reasons why my brother had to go to coma." She said retreating herself more from us.
"What? Did you hit him or something?" Jordan asked to which his twin smacked him on his head. Shaden just looked at him in hurt and shock.
"I would never do that to anyone Jordan. My brother is the last person I would raise my hand against. I love him and would do anything to protect him. I would neve- you know what, I need to go. Yeah, I just need to go."
"Simba." Louis got up to follow him but she just looked at him with a tearful eye and asked him not to follow her. She then slowly walked towards our tent and we looked at Jordan who was just staring at her retreating figure with regret.
"Stupid. Why would you say something soo horrible to her?" Jess asked fuming at him. He just opened his mouth and closed it again as if he didn't know what just happened.
"Oh my God, Oh God! What have I done?" even before any of us had a chance to utter a word, he ran towards her tent and stepped into it without her permission.
"Should we go along with him?" Ashton asked wearily.
"Hey come on, Jordan isn't the bad person here. It just happened and he is going to set it right." Jess defended her best friend.
After a while we saw Jordan walking out of the tent still looking apologetic. He glanced behind him and only relaxed when Shaden stepped out along with her bag. I looked at her confused.
"Oh, it's just that Ron is coming to pick me up because I have to fill in some documents for my brother. That's why I walked into my tent, to get my bags ready." She said smiling at us sheepishly though it was very clear that she went in there to cry, if her tired eyes are any indication.
As if on cue, a motor cycle sped in and even before Shaden got up from her place beside Jordan, a guy got down from the bike and ran towards her and lifted her up while hugged her tightly and twirled her around. He was over a foot taller than her and as he hugged her, her feet were dangling in the air. He was the same guy who came to pick her up from school few weeks ago.
"It's really true. He is awake." He told her, smiling widely and I could see few tears slip out of his eyes. She laughed at him and wiped his cheeks before hugging him once again. Jess coughed to gain their attention and he just smiled before placing her down on the ground.
"So are you the hot college guy the girls at our school were speaking about?" she asked with a sly smile. Both Shaden and the guy looked at her confused.
"I mean I am hot and I am a college student, but I don't know what you are speaking about." he said and made an 'oomph' sound when Shaden smacked his shoulder.
"Hi, I am Jessica." She said offering her hand to him. He took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles.
"And I, Cameron." He said whilst ignoring Shaden hitting him repeatedly.
"Dude, she is taken." Brendan said at the same time Shaden yelled, "Ron, you have a girlfriend." Both of them ignored Shaden and Brendan and smiled at each other.
"So what are you studying Cam?" she asked.
"Nothing big, just the top student in a medical school." He bragged. Shaden just rolled her eyes and pulled his grip out of a swooning Jessica.
"God woman! You have a boy friend." Brendan groaned.
"But he is a medical student." She swooned.
"Not to mention, the best." Cam said winking at her to which Brendan shoved his girlfriend behind him and glared at Cam while introducing himself.
"Hi, I am Brendan and I am the boyfriend to the girl you were flirting with." He seethed.
"Woah bro, cool. I was just kidding and your girl seems to enjoy seeing you all jealous and bothered." He joked. "Hey Sam, Hey Louis." He said waving at the two.
After that all of us introduced ourselves and he spoke to us for a while. Meanwhile, Jordan was speaking to Shaden, probably apologizing again. They hugged each other and then she left along with her best friend back to the city.
"She is gone now." Haru pouted. And we all sighed getting ourselves ready for another tour to the local villages.