Road Tripping

08

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"I WANT THAT one too," I whine, lamenting over glow-sticks. "No!" Lucas hides the pink glow-stick behind his back and slaps my hand away. "You can't have it all!" He shouts childishly. "Yes I can!" I scream back, furrowing my eyebrows. "I am princess Laila!"

"You've already got heaps!" Jackson chimes in. I do, actually, but I need more. A purple and a pink one make a pretty crown atop my head, and I have one on each wrist and ankle. That's six. Two are around my neck, and that's eight. "Eight isn't enough!" I shriek, bracing my knees for an advance and theft of everyone's glow-sticks.

But before I can fling myself wildly at Luca and Jacks, I feel two firm hands seize me by my waist. "You've got enough princess." The voice coos, and I know that it is Nate by default. Our kiss that was a kiss but still not really a kiss lingered in the back of my head, relentlessly taunting me with the urge to grab Nate by his shirt and crush my lips to his.

"We're going swimming, anyway." Nate turns me by my shoulders to face him. Since the kiss that wasn't really a kiss he's been acting really flirty. I blame the kiss that was a kiss but could've been more of a kiss entirely on Jacks. His freak out about glow-sticks was unnecessary and interrupting. I shall never forgive him.

"I don't have any bathers," I reply thoughtfully. "We're going skinny-dipping," Jacks says as seriously as possible, albeit we all know he's lying. "Ew!" Luca pouts. "I don't wanna see that!" He covers his eyes in demonstration. "I don't blame you," Jacks says with a smirk while standing in an attempt to look even slightly sexy. "It'll be hard to miss." Wink. Ugh.

To my absolute relief, Lucas pulls out of Nate's tee-shirts, judging by the size. My eyes light up, and I quickly snatch the shirt from Lucas's grasp. "No pants!" I shriek. Immediately slipping off my shirt before hastily putting on Nate's and removing my jeans. Of course, I reposition all my glow-sticks. "It's like my princess dress!" I grin at the shirt that nearly reached my knees.

My smile simpers as I glide smoothly into the water, stroking my arms to propel myself forwards. I flow gently down the stream, moonlight glinting off the ripples in the cool water. All that is illuminated is the silhouette of my arms and the rest of my form and the luminous rainbow glow-sticks that clad my entries body.

"How about we finish what we started?" A brooding and husky voice mumbles slightly incoherently from behind me. The huskiness is distinguishable as Nate; I have grown well accustomed to his voice. I decide to act oblivious, as being annoying is a gift. "What did we start...?" I ask, tapping my chin with my finger. "I could demonstrate, if you'd like." Nate smirks, his eyebrow raised questioningly.

Teasingly, I move forwards. I watch Nate's face the entire time I move my lips closer to his ear. "You'll have to catch me first," I whisper and I had hastened away until I felt secretive. I hum along with the birds that chirp in the trees, and I wonder how they could still be so proactive when it is this late; ten or eleven pm. I feel bored as I wait for Nate to find me, so subsequently I trace my fingertip overtop of the water, watching it swirl under my touch. Sometimes, the littlest things please me.

I scream when something firm grapples against my leg, and I begin to kick violently until it releases me and I swim away. My head snaps around when I hear a string of profanities from behind me, and I see Nate rubbing his shoulder. "I didn't think a person so short could kick like that." Nate laughs, while I stand unamused that he had grabbed my leg.

"You're pretty obvious when you're covered in fluorescent pink glow-sticks, Lai."

I frown harder, cross my arms and turn away. "You don't really look like a princess," Nate says casually, turning me by my shoulder for the second time tonight. "More like a mermaid." I inexplicably crack a smile, and mentally chastise myself immediately after. Damnit, Laila! Get a grip!