April 27th

Chapter 8

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Eight

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April wrung her hair with her hands, watching as the cold water drizzled out to the floor by her bare feet. She probably could've made a bigger effort to avoid getting in the water in the first place, but a little part of her was glad she did. A much larger part, though, wasn't so proud of it.

The only sound aside distant wind and the rustling of trees was that of her heart, pounding against her chest. It wouldn't have mattered if it was just her, but Javier was silent, too. She didn't know if that was a good or bad thing after what had just happened between them.

She was pretty sure she'd been possessed the entire time, but all she knew was that she'd kissed him, he'd kissed her back. She'd pulled him closer, he'd done same until she had been pressed up against him, feeling the bulging mass in his boxers against her stomach. She'd assisted in discarding the rest of his clothing as he'd done hers, and he'd spent most of the next twenty minutes making her feel things—both physical and emotional—that she never thought she'd feel again. And when it was all over, she couldn't help the wave of regret that washed over her as she pulled away, struggling to catch her breath.

She was drowned—not in the literal sense—and she knew it.

She wouldn't have felt half of what she did, had her head been screwed on right, which meant that emotionally keeping Javier at arms length was going to be a lot harder than she anticipated. It was hard to ignore someone when they made her feel as euphoric as he just did, and it would only get worse if it turned out that this new discovery only worked one way—which she was certain it did.

She snuck a glance at Javier over her shoulder, watching as he pulled his shirt over his head. He'd worked on his body since they last met, that was obvious. His formerly slender arms were now what could be termed 'muscular', and if she looked close enough, she could see drops of water running along a faint set of abs, into the waistline of his pants. The old Javier didn't care about appearances in the slightest. What had finally pushed him to work out? A girl?

It wasn't fair though. Why did she have to get questions swirling in her head and he didn't? How did her life become so clustered with unnecessary guilt and he got to have his untainted?

"Ready?" He asked, draping his jacket over her shoulder, since hers had suddenly decided to get missing.

She wordlessly nodded, following behind him as they left the lake.

•~❉᯽❉~•

"Should I be worried?" Was the first thing Amanda cried out when she caught sight of them from afar. "Why are you guys wet?"

April held her index finger to her lips to get her to be quiet. "Just show me our new tent, I need to change."

"Clearly," Paige winked, twirling a wooden mallet in her hand. "Come with me if you wanna live," she whispered dramatically, turning around to walk away.

April rolled her eyes and left Javier behind, following her sister towards the six tents that had been set up in a circle of alternating green and yellow. She wasn't sure whose idea it was, but they had talent.

Paige led her to the first green one, gingerly pushing the zipper all the way up. "In here," she called.

The inside was as expected, with a clear sign that Amanda had been there. Everything had been sorted and arranged, and the way the sun lit up the inside through the tent made it look like a room with a green lightbulb, or like those clubs at night.