Love On The Lake

part 5 - breakfast

"Soooo..." Veva tried, peeking her head into the bathroom.
"I told you-" I tried, mouth full of toothpaste. I spit. "Im not telling you anything. Besides nothing happened!" I kept brushing. "You won't say anything?" she whined. I kept brushing, ignoring her.
The girls in my cabin have been trying to get a response out of me since last night about what happened in the closet with Nick but we wouldn't say anything. Nothing really happened. He was super cute about it though. It did seem suspicious since he came out sweaty. Just a simple cuddle, maybe a few kisses but nothing more.
I finished washing my face and getting fresh for the day. With my hair in a bun, I slipped on a Hard Rock Cafe hoodie and slipped on my vans and walked alone down the path they directed us to. The scenery was gorgeous, with early morning dew numbing the tips of the pine needles. Little squirrels and mourning doves made sounds in the trees and the sunlight was picturesque.
Yesterday in the long list of instructions they gave us, they took us up to a small clearing where they held breakfast picnics every morning. It was a bit of a hike but there was food at the top. Arianna and Jenna were already up there waiting for everyone else.
All was quiet until I head heavy footsteps coming up quickly behind me. I stepped to the side and saw Nick quickly ascending the hill towards me.
"Oh, hey," I said, slightly awkward.
"Hey" he said, clearing his throat. "So about last night..."
"We don't have to talk about it," I said, sticking my hands in my pockets and continuing walk. My shoes crunched against my the gravel.
"We, don't?" he said, slightly awkwardly. I shook my head. "Ok, chill." He took I deep breath and I smiled. Then, he rested his hand over my shoulders. Slightly unexpected but I wasn't comparing. Suddenly those stupid butterflies were back. I was unsure of what to do but we walked like that for the rest of the way. Eventually I leaned into him, letting his warm slightly stinky scent waft over me.
Yes, even when you like someone, boys are still stinky.

As we neared the top of the hill, the sound of voices got louder and we saw serving tables filled with senior volunteers and our friends sitting on little blankets with their fresh oatmeal and OJ. Arianna saw Nick and I coming up the hill together and her blue eyes got wide. I recognized two of Nicks friends from last night sitting on a blanket across from Arianna and Jenna's blanked.
I felt Nick slowly push away but I grabbed his hand before he could. I liked his warmth and didn't mind my friends seeing us like this. Whatever this was. Stupid.
"Heyyy Coraaaa," Arianna said as she approached us. "And Niiiick."
"Hey Ariannaaaaa," I said, matching her tone.
"Whatcha doinnnn," she said.
"Breakfast, duh," I said. She raised an eyebrow, glancing at Nick. I titled my head.
"I'm getting breakfast, what do you want?" Nick asked me.
"Oh, erm, oatmeal and orange juice is fine, thank you." He nodded and walked towards the line.
"Oh my god," Ari said, lowering her voice and grabbing both of my hands. "Y'all are cute."
"Um, thank you?"
"So when's the wedding?" I let go and have her a playful punch. I grabbed her hand and we walked towards the picnic blankets. Sitting across from ours was Leo, both Aidens and Tom. Jenna and Tom were chatting vigorously about I don't really know and I sweat down beside her.
"What were you and Nick doing?" Leo said when scooted next to me.
"When."
"This morning, when you came up the hill."
"I don't know? walking?"
"Nuh Uh, y'all were cuddling."
"Great if you knew what we were doing then why did you ask." He stopped talking.
Nick walked over to us on our blanket and handed me a little bowl of oatmeal with a scoop of brown sugar and a juice box.
"Thank you," I said smiling. He nodded.

I started eating my breakfast, but when I looked up Arianna and Jenna were smirking at each other.
"What, have you never seen a gentleman before?" I said. They quit smirking. Nick put his arm around me as we ate. We ate in silence for a while, listening to the other groups talking and the sounds of birds.

Both of our cabin/friend groups had arrived and we moved our picnic blankets around so they touched each other, and sat in a circle, alternating boys and girls. I sat next to Nick who slung his arm around me, and Aiden K on the other side of me.

~ to be continued ~