Signal of Distress

4 - Feel

Sweater Weather - The Neighbourhood
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Infatuated with the idea of you
-River Mitchell

"River! Riv, wake up." My eyes blink repeatedly as I adjust to the light. I look around to realize we are here. In the middle of nowhere. "Come on, Owen and Ashlyn have already left to go find us a spot."

I take off my seatbelt and get out of the car. I woke up at 5 in the morning for nothing. Eli and Owen both slept in so we didn't leave until around 11.

I pick up my bags. Eli and I begin making our way through the forest. I've already gotten like eleven scratches and four mosquito bites. "I hate this," I grumble.

"Come on! You used to love the outdoors," he says. I look at Eli confused.

"How did you know that?" I loved camping, hiking and campfires as a child.

I watch Eli scratch the back of his head. "Just figured. A girl like you had to love the outdoors. Plus, it's not that bad." He spares me a small smile.

My mind still lingers on those four words. "A girl like me?" That does not sound like a good thing.

He puffs out a breath. "Do you have to question everything?" he asks.

"When things are weird or don't make sense, yes." He stops waking for a second and turns to face me. "What?"

"Let the unknown be the unknown until it's known," he says softly.

"I-"

"Asking for it to be known doesn't count. It comes on its own," he says. He begins walking again leaving me speechless.

I follow him and we reach our camping site. "What're we doing first?!" Owen shouts.

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"It was horrible. They wanted to swim and I decided not to because the water was freezing! Owen kept flirting with me and I moved away from him multiple times. Gosh, I should've never gone." I throw my head down on the table.

Marcus and Ebony continue laughing. "We tried to tell you. You should've just backed out," Ebony says. I didn't want to be rude.

Ashlyn was complaining about every fucking little thing. Eli kept trying to reason with her but she's impossible. Owen was making the cheesiest pick up lines and was uncomfortable to be around.

"I think I'll just stay away from them all. From now on. Hey, what time is it?" I ask. Ebody holds up her phone to me. "Shit. It's almost 11, I need to go."

I quickly stand up and eat the last of my fries. "Do you have a bedtime, darling?" Marcus banters. I roll my eyes.

"No. Just an agreement with my dad," I explain.

"So a bedtime," Marcus rephrases.

I groan under my breath. "Something like that. I'll see you guys later." I wave before leaving the diner. It's only a short walk from my dorm.

As soon as I walk off the elevator I hear yelling from a distance. And as I near my door, the sound grows. "Please don't be coming from my dorm," I whisper as I unlock it.

I open my door just in time to see Ashlyn throw a textbook at Eli's head. He ducks, avoiding the assault. "Are you fucking insane!" He shouts at her.

I try my best to ignore them and put down my stuff. "River, are you stupid? Can't see we're in the middle of something. Leave!" Ashlyn shouts.

"I don't know if you've noticed but this is my dorm too," I tell her. She can leave if she wants.