the wild week

05. jone

'look, the lake!' florence shouts beside me, and i twitch, looking up.
among the tree's thick stems, patches of water are glittering towards us. 'finally!' i hear sid groan behind us.
i would go and try offering him to carry some of the bags again, but right now i kind of don't want to help him with anything.
i guess i was in the wrong too, joking on about his flirt with florence. but i know that i can't approach him within fifteen minutes after an argument, not even to try to solve it, or he'll combust.
anya runs up to florence and they start talking excitedly as we leave the bigger track for a smaller one, almost disappearing in the bushes. soon, the trees split up, showcasing the beautiful forest lake glittering in the sunlight from above. its water is slightly green due to the seaweed-covered lake bed. it's so pretty.
we walk out onto a pebble beach, the track continuing in the end of it. here's where we'll stay the night, before we continue deeper into the forest.
sid drops the bags with a groan, which makes florence gasp; 'the fuck, sid, be careful! there's fragile stuff in there'. under his breath, sid mumbles 'what, makeup and silk bows' but i don't think florence hears it.
anya and florence starts undressing, whooing over the lake and the surrounding forest. they get down to only their underwear, anya says, 'carpe diem!' and they run into the water.
'didn't they bring bikinis?' i say as florences head disappears under the surface.
'can't expect to understand girls, can you?' says sid, and it's not really a question.
he's so fucking sexist sometimes.
'well, are you going to take a swim?'
'didn't bring shorts,' says sid, looking away.
'go skinny dipping,' i reply sheepishly.
'you gay or what?' he says.
i laugh. 'you wish i was.'
sid shakes his head and goes to stuff around with something in his bag. i watch anya and florence swim, glittering drops of water splashing around them as they play around in the shallow water.
'c'mon jone! you'll never regret a swim, am i right?' yells anya. florence shoots her some sort of irritated glance — maybe she isn't over the breakup after all — but i get warm anyway.
'not today, sorry,' i tell them.
this is the first time anya calls me by a nickname. jone is what basically everyone says, except there's a few people still going with ethan. i know florence used to like it.
i don't know what she likes anymore.
'come on,' screams anya again, 'join us!'
'i don't have lace panties, are you sure i'm welcome to the club anyway?' i let out a snicker. my underwear are with spiderman graphics. i would certainly not be welcome to the club.
'next time!' says florence before anya can reply. they both glance angrily at each other, but after a couple of minutes they're having a full-on war in the water again.
sid drops down next to me.
'sorry bout the gay joke. that was not okay,' he says, looking away.
i can tell it takes a lot of courage for him to utter these words. 'it's fine,' i say. 'glad you're apologizing, though.'
'yeah,' says sid and it could mean literally anything.
'you don't admit you're wrong often, do you?'
it's a stupid-ass thing to say. oh my god.
'because i barely even am wrong,' he replies, grinning at me.
i can see a hint of something else in his eyes, though.
but i decide just not to mention it.