Getting It Right (BOOK THREE)

Chapter 34

The later the day gets, the hotter it becomes. They're a hour and a half in to their hike and everyone is sporting pit stains, glistening foreheads and low on water supply.

"Lets take a break," Aunt Mel announces and no sooner do the words leave her mouth does the group of teens drop to the ground.

"My legs feel like jelly." Monica cries, sitting on the ground even though that's completely against her normal mind set. Even her ponytail looks deflated and is hanging like a damp noodle.

"Let mami take care of you," Kat sits down beside her and pulls Monica's legs into her lap. She starts massaging her thighs first and works her way down. Monica smiles appreciatively and lays her head on her shoulder, softly stroking her golden hair.

Sevyn looks around at everyone as they catch their breath. Miranda and Malcolm are carving their names into a nearby tree. Shaun and Ty are splashing each other with their water bottles, wasting water that they're going to beg to have later. Then there's Jackson, who's sitting by hisself on a rock, staring out into the distance. He's been completely silent since this morning and he's done nothing more but kick around some dirt and pebbles since they've started the trail. Sevyn was giving him space, but now she can't take it anymore.

Walking over to him, she hovers behind him for a second before finally stepping closer. "Hey," she says softly.

Jackson doesn't even turn to look at her when he speaks. "Hey..."

"You've been mighty quiet today. What's going on?" She stares at his back and the sweat soaking through his shirt.

"I don't really wanna talk about it." He replies, looking down at the ground.

"Isn't that usually my line?" Sevyn slides her way into his lap and puts an arm around his neck. He sits there like a statue with his arms hanging loosely by his sides. Examining his face, she notices that he looks troubled. The deep lines in his forehead along with the frown he's wearing is enough of a sign that something is definitely bothering him. "Baby what's wrong?"

"I really don't want to talk about it Sev." He says lowly.

Sevyn rests her head against his. "Come on, you always push me to open up."

"And how long did it take until you finally obeyed?" He says, sharp enough to give Sevyn a sting.

Sevyn reels back slightly and knits her eyebrows together. "Jackson I'm—-"

"Heavy," he finishes for her. Her mouth drops open as he glares at her ruthlessly. He pushes her a little bit, "Get up please."

She reluctantly complies and stands up. Stepping back, she allows him to get up too. He brushes past her and walks farther away from everyone else towards a tree offering ample shade. Sevyn feels hurt and confused. She's only trying to help him and he's acting like she's the enemy. She racks her brain, trying to figure out if she did anything wrong between last night and this morning. The most she did was steal the last piece of bacon this morning and if he's mad about that then he has some serious anger issues to work on. But Sevyn knows he can't possible be mad about bacon, something deeper is eating away at him and she doesn't like the distance he's creating between them.

"Sevyn," Her name is whispered and she looks over to see her Aunt Mel gesturing her over with her finger. Walking towards her, she sits beside her Aunt who's dabbing her chest with a tissue. "What was all that?"

"Jackson?" Sevyn glances over her shoulder at where he's leaning against a tree checking his phone. She thinks about lying to her aunt and saying everything's fine but she decides not to. "I don't know Auntie. He didnt say a word to me this morning, he hasn't smiled all day and he literally pushed me off him a minute ago. I don't know what I did."