Karlie leads me through the forest and back to the hut, although, in my dazed state I barely notice my surroundings until she has me sit down on her bed to check my injuries.
"Am I okay?" I ask as she picks and prods at me.
"You're fine," Karlie answers, finishing her brief inspection of my face and neck, where the maniac monkey had managed to sink it's tiny claws into me.
"Are you sure?" I press, frantically running my fingers over the small cuts. I stop to feel one on my neck, slightly deeper than the rest. "What about this one?"
Karlie leans in closer, softly brushing her fingertips across the skin of my neck. I shiver at her touch, but after a second she steps back, and a slight breeze cools my hot skin.
"It barely grazed you, drama queen," she teases, raising an eyebrow at my paranoid manner.
I narrow my eyes at her in slight annoyance. "You know, you'd be dramatic too if you just so happened to run into a rabid monkey."
Karlie scoffs sarcastically. "Are you kidding? I live with one."
I feel my jaw drop, and Karlie lets out a loud laugh. I'm inclined to argue with her, but the rare sound of her laughter leaves me biting back a smile.
"You suck," I say weakly, attempting to shove her lightly.
"And you're adorable when you're mad," she replies, a smirk creeping up on er face. I frown at her, but my obviously warm cheeks make her smile widen.
Before I can respond or even begin to process the fact that Karlie finds me adorable, she switches the subject.
"Hey, do you wanna go eat lunch?" she says with a small smile. "I know a really cool place."
"Uh, thanks for the offer but I think I've seen my fair share of 'cool places' today," I say, half of me joking and the other still uneasy at the thought of doing more exploring.
Karlie rolls her eyes at me. "Chill out. As long as you don't go around approaching wild animals you'll be fine."
"Actually, the monkey was the one who approached me, not the other way around,"
"Whatever you say, princess," she says with a smile, enjoying the nickname that she's been giving me.
"You know what?" I counter, trying to think of a smart comeback without success. I sigh in defeat. "How about we just go now?"
Karlie grins in satisfaction. "Wonderful. I'll pack some food and we'll be on our way."
Karlie takes me on our second walk of the day, leading me along the sandy beach until we reach a rocky shore. Huge boulders are spread out across both sand and water. I take a second to admire the sight, which is truly beautiful to see.
"Come on," says Karlie. "We're going to climb up."
I wince. "Is there anything we can do that doesn't involve risking my life?"
"Taylor, these rocks are like, three feet tall." Karlie holds out her hand to me. "Here, I'll help you up."
I hesitate momentarily before fitting my hand into hers, which is surprisingly warm. She gives me a soft smile before turning around and taking a first step onto one of the rocks. Then she turns around to help pull me up. We continue like this until we reach the last rock, which at this point, is surrounded by clear water.
"Perfect," Karlie sighs contentedly, taking in the light ocean breeze on her face. Unfortunately, she drops my hand to rummage through the small sack that hold all our food. She delicately places our lunch on the big boulder we're standing on, which is big enough to sit the both of us and our meal. Once everything is out, we settle down on the warm rock.
As we start eating, I take a peak at Karlie, who's happily munching on a piece of fruit. "Do you come here often?" I ask.
Karlie's green eyes find mine and she nods. "I love how beautiful and peaceful it is. And it's also great for swimming."
I raise an eyebrow at her. "What, do you just dive in from here?"
"Yup."
"It's not too shallow over here?"
Karlie starts to stand up again. "Look, I'll show you," she says, waving me over to join her.
I get up and follow close behind her as she walks up to the edge of the rock, motioning for me to look down at the water.
"See?" she says. "Not too shallow."
I crane my neck to look closer, and suddenly I feel a big push at my back. I yelp loudly as I feel myself falling, and then I hit the water with a big splash. Coldness stings my skin as I choke and sputter, waving my arms wildly underwater to bring my soaking wet head out to the surface.
"WHAT THE FUCK KARLIE," I yell as I take in a gulp of air, spitting a mouthful of salt water. The brown haired girl is still on the rock where we stood, laughing hysterically at me. She's wheezing so badly she can barely breathe, making me groan in agitation.
I start swimming toward the edge of the rock so I can pull myself out of the water. The surface of the rock is smooth, and I find myself struggling to find a hold. Getting an idea, I call Karlie over.
"Karlie, you dick, help me up," I call out to her, stretching out my arm for her to take.
She's still laughing about the little prank she pulled on me, and she takes my hand without question.
Without warning I use all of my body weight to pull her back towards me. She screams just as I did and falls into the ocean with me. Her head bobs to the surface after a second and she gasps at the air.
"JESUS CHRIST TAYLOR," she shrieks. "God, it's so fucking cold."
The water is too deep to stand, forcing us to dogie paddling in order to stay above water.
I use my hand to splash her with a face full of water. "Don't act like you didn't deserve that, you traitor."
She laughs devilishly as she wipes the water from her eyes. "Oh that was so worth it. The look on your face-"
I don't let her finish, instead tackling her down and using my full force to drag her underwater with me. I hear her muffled screams, which make the water bubble up. She pushes me away and swims back to the surface.
"Okay okay!" she yelps. "I get it, I'm sorry." Karlie's eyes are lit with alarm and she paddles her body away from me to protect herself from further attack. "Please, let's just call a truce."
I allow myself to grin at her maliciously, letting her sit in her fear for a moment. "Fine," I say confidently. "But you're helping me out of here."
"Deal," she sighs, relief evident in her voice. She swims over to the edge of the boulder we were sitting on and crawls up, water pouring off of her soaking wet clothes. True to her word, she then turns around to look down on me.
"Pull me in again and you're not getting dinner," she warns me before bending down to help me up once again.
I laugh and take her hand, pulling myself out as Karlie tugs me toward her. Once we're both back on the rock, we flop down on our backs in exhaustion on the warm rock.
"I'm never taking you here again," says Karlie in between deep breaths.
I can tell she's trying to seem upset, but when I glance over at her, I can tell she's holding back a smile.
I turn my face up to the bright blue sky with a smile to match Karlie's. "Good."
A/N: Thanks for being so patient with me y'all. I literally took forever with this so my apologies but I HATE when people abandon stories so I'll try not to with this one. As always, thank you a bunch for the support.
