𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐓𝐘 → original

seven

Ophelia woke everyone up at 10 am the next morning, after being awake herself since 8 am. She hadn't slept much, having had trouble falling asleep, but that wasn't exactly out of the usual for her. The sun was shining and the temperature outside was exceptionally hot, so she knew that it was the perfect day for them to go down to the lake. There was some grumbles of discontent as she nearly dragged them from their beds, but no one protested too hard.

Ophelia forced everyone to eat cereal or at least a piece of toast before they started their day. While sitting around the dining table, half asleep, they could hear Tyler emerge from his room and go to the bathroom. Afterwards, he went back to his room and closed the door once more.

"Anybody have the wifi password?" Nadia questioned, scrolling futilely through her phone. They didn't get any service up in the mountains, so without wifi she'd have no way to stay in touch with anyone.

"Oh yeah, I meant to ask yesterday." Ophelia nodded, pulling her own phone out and opening up to the settings. There, she found that there wasn't even any options for wifi. She furrowed her brows. "Does this place have wifi?"

"It definitely used to, when we were here in college." Amory noted, pulling his own phone out to check as well. Nothing.

"I told Vallie's father to get rid of it." Tyler entered the dining room and began speaking without any pleasantries. Caspar noted that he too appeared to be sneaky, listening in and moving around quietly. He hadn't even heard him open the bedroom door again. "It's so beautiful up here, we need to be unplugged, you know?"

"That's all very lovely, but what if I get any important e-mail from work or need to reach my family?" Nadia raised her brows.

"Landline." Tyler pointed towards the living room. "Or, if any of you have Verizon for your phone plan, you'll get service out here." They all shook their heads, leaving him to shrug. "And if you need to check your e-mail that bad, there's a desktop computer in our bedroom. I'll give you the password."

Something about the way he said 'you' showed that he meant he would give Nadia and only Nadia the password. She had no intention of going into that room, at least not until Vallie was back, so she simply nodded and made no attempt to get said password. Tyler glanced around the table for a few moments longer, his gaze holding longer on all three of the guys in a way that could only be described as resentment. He then turned and left without another word.

After the group was finished eating, Ophelia and Marc packed a series of sandwiches with the lunch meat and cheese they had brought, then grabbed two bags of chips as well. Ophelia used the cooler she had brought and emptied into the fridge to fill with ice packs and wine coolers, then around noon they made their way down to the lake.

There was a small, winding path through the woods that led to a clearing in front of the lake. There was a small bit of sand, making a makeshift beach, then a dock. It wasn't a very large space, but Vallie said many people didn't know it was there, so it granted them privacy. Out on the expanse of the water, they could see a few boats in the distance. Otherwise, they were completely alone.

The group took their time laying out beach towels or setting their coolers in the shade. Then, the girls were stepping out of their jean shorts—or, in Ophelia's case, jean overalls—whilst the boys pulled off their shirts. Ophelia was strict about each of them applying sunscreen, even if there were trees to provide shade. No one wanted to get burnt and be miserable right at the start of their trip.

Amory was the first in the water. After Ophelia decided he was sufficiently lathered in sunscreen, he ran and jumped from the dock into the blue-green waves. The water was pretty calm that day, and it wasn't too windy. The tip of his head broke the surface, a smile etched on his face, as he looked back at his friends on the shore.