The White Lie

Chapter 10

After Indie picked her jaw up off the floor and regained her composure, the inquisition began. 

"So did anything happen?"

"Did he kiss you?"
"You held hands?"
"Do you like him?"
"Do you think he'll kiss you tonight?"
I tried to quickly and efficiently answer question after question as we packed. It felt good to debrief with my best friend, it was always important to get a second opinion when it came to hot older boys.
Together we decided that it did seem like Alexander liked me, but we both agreed it was weird that he hadn't made a move.
"Oh you're so lucky" Indie said dreamily.
I shoved her as we trekked into the middle of the campsite to dump all of our stuff. We'd all planned to put our bags in the middle and then we'd all hike back to the cars together.
"I'm lucky!? You have a boyfriend remember?" I said, poking her in the stomach.
I giggled as Indie swatted me away. "I know, I know. But Alexander is so yummy, and don't even get me started on that accent!"
I didn't reply, Indie was right. Alexander was yummy and I had it bad for him.
As if I needed confirmation, when we reached the middle of clearing my butterflies went wild as Alexander came into view, his lean muscles bulging as he carried his and Nate's bags to the middle of the clearing.
"Jeez Nate" I heard him call. "Why is your bag so heavy? What do you have in here?"
I saw Nate huff over and snatch his bag away, looking indignant. "Nothing, I just like to have options okay?"
Alexander laughed, turning away from his friend and locking his eyes onto mine. I was about to start heading over to him before I was stopped by Blake.

"Jones! Where have you been all morning? I was looking for you!" Blake boomed, towering over me.
I shaded my eyes with my hand as I looked up at him. "Really?" I asked throwing him an uninterested look. "Why?"
"We haven't had a chance to hang out Jones! Tonight, you're all mine!" He gave me and cheeky smile and turned away.
I glanced to my right and Indie cocked an eyebrow at me. I just shrugged, unable to elaborate on Blake's strange words.

Half an hour later we were all loaded up once again and ready to hit the road. Today's drive wasn't meant to be long, just an hour until we hit the next site but we were all excited. It was hot and sticky and Indie told us the next site was one of the smaller waterfalls that filtered through the ranges, we were all anxious to get into the water and cool off. We were lucky, I mused as we cruised along the narrow dirt road between acres of forest trees. There were so many spots to stop and explore, the ranges provided the perfect place for a getaway. There were multiple waterfalls and streams with clean water littered throughout the mountains, there were clearings and tracks to camp by and there was even two or three towns closer to the edges of the ranges.

As the drive stretched on I found myself thinking about the trip so far. In 24 hours I had fought with my best friend, had a heart to heart with Kai, matched him up with Alice, slept in a tent with someone I'd just met, held hands with the same boy later that day, made up with my best friend. This is so not like you Reece. I had always been pretty plain, Indie was the charming, outgoing one who never cared what anyone else thought. Scarlet was the confident bombshell who was followed around by a hoard of guys in high school. Sienna was the hard worker, intelligent and sweet, always there for anybody who needed it and finally there was Alice. Alice was the creative, artsy one, she was confident and easy going in her work, but when it came to boys she was a bag of nerves. Then there was me, the average one. I got okay grades, I liked to take photos and I had a killer wardrobe that any girl in her right mind would be jealous of. I had dated boys here and there but never anything too serious, I was never a butterflies and hand holding girl, but now here I was, butterflies and hand holding included.

Soon enough the road widened and we could tell we were getting close. While the first waterfall was far into the mountains, it was still a popular tourist and local destination given that it was the closest fall to get to, meaning that there was a car park, toilet block and a campsite. Eventually we saw the familiar sign up ahead, signalling the turn off to the waterfall. We turned in, surprised to see no other cars in the car park, and hopped out.