Once a Dare leads to Love (BOOK 1)

|64|Truth And Dare|

Skylee P.O.V

I closed my eyes tiredly as our bus kept moving towards our destination on Road 191 North in the Rio Grande to the main entrance of the El Yunque forest. I was so exhausted after the seven hours flight from New York to San Juan. Then the bus journey was of almost an hour. I decided to sleep till we reach Yocahu Tower.

Our location of the Wildlife Contest & Camp was El Yunque National Forest, a tropical rainforest in the care of the US Forest Service, located in northeastern Puerto Rico. Our bus was moving on the thin road enclosed by beautiful trees on both sides. I was tired and since I only slept for three hours last night, that too after confessing my feelings to him. I smiled as I remembered last night. We confessed and sealed it with a kiss like a treasure box before burying it in the depth of our hearts.

Because, when I woke up at the sound of an alarm, he was gone and I was alone again. But it didn't mean it had not happened. He was just giving me space and waiting for me to open up to him. That consideration was enough to make me once again fall in love with him.

With his thoughts revolving in my head, I dozed off.

The next thing I knew, someone was slightly shaking my shoulder. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the person's face.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty." Rosalyn chuckled.

"Thank you, pinkie ponk." I retorted with a yawn.

"Your creative department is bad with nicknames." She scrunched her nose before moving away and hopping off the bus.

We were still not talking with each other but now, it had turned into a weird competition in which we try to give the smartest throwback at each other.

I climbed out of the bus. The first thing that greeted me was the fresh air and the voices of so many birds along with the sound of falling water. This forest had so many streams. I smiled, inhaling the scent of trees, moist mud, and that particular fragrance of nature.

It was a parking area with many vehicles, mostly buses parked around. I creased my brows. It wasn't Yocahu tower but we were at the parking of Big Tree Trail. God, we even crossed Juan Diego Stream when I was asleep. Darn it! I pouted before moving towards the rest of my teammates.

The area looked quite crowded with all the students wandering like lost souls. There were 10 different schools with each team of six members. So, it was quite noisy too. We stood near the bus and observed our surroundings. The sun shone brightly above our heads.

Mr. Ryan came towards us and looked at his wristwatch before saying, "Get some fresh air. Once all the team will assemble. We'll give you your first task."

What? I just blinked at him. No wonder why we were at the trail spot directly.

"First task? Do we look capable to win any task after a straight 7-hour tiring flight? I can't even stretch my neck without wincing." Rosalyn complained. She was right though. With these tensed muscles and lack of rest state, we would lose it even before it started.

"Your warriors need food and rest, dude. Besides, are we in some kind of reality show stuff? Earn it and all." Owen said in a 'duh' tone, earning a hard glare from him.

"Stop complaining like kids. It's not a summer camp. It's a contest in a wild and only those teams will get food and rest who will earn it." He replied in his grumpy tone, passing us a sharp look. Now, it even explained why he said he would take care of the food. No one from us packed a single item to eat.

"Isn't it say 'Wild Life Contest and Camp', Mr. Ryan?" I blinked my eyes innocently. "Why would you use the word when it's not a camp?" He threw his signature sharp look at me which I return with an over-sweet smile. He sighed.