A Scenic Connection (BoyxBoy)

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

The feel of the cool water against my skin was amazing! I had never skinny dipped before and now I was thinking this was the only way to swim!

I flipped open the lid of the shampoo bottle and squirted some into my hand. I was eager to feel somewhat clean and my hair was a mess. I massaged my scalp and closed my eyes as I felt the midday sun on my face. The sounds of some birds and the water was so soothing.

Quickly dunking my head under to rinse out the shampoo, I resurfaced feeling absolutely refreshed but still pissed off about what everyone else did. I reached for the shower gel I brought, letting the shampoo bottle float on the surface of the water as I lathered up. I looked around absentmindedly as I rubbed the gel over my body, first my arms, then my chest, working my way lower and lower. I made sure that I soaped up everywhere then hurried and jumped back in, causing a big splash behind me. I surfaced and wiped at my eyes.

I was glad I had this moment to be free and alone, it felt so good. However, at any moment someone could come walking down the path, so I quickly finished rinsing myself and hurried ashore to get my towel. Once I was dried off somewhat I slipped my boxers and shorts back on before laying down on the towel and getting some sun.

About ten minutes later I heard sticks and rocks shuffling and quickly sat up, looking behind me.

"Uh, sorry I didn't mean to startle you," she said, giving me a small wave. I turned around, looking back out over the water. "Mind if I join you?"

I didn't react but she sat down next to me anyway. I didn't look at her, instead I continued to look out at the lake, taking in every tree and rock along the waterline. It really was a beautiful place.

"Okay...so I'm sorry, everyone's sorry," she continued when I didn't say anything.

"It's fine," I replied after several long moments of silence between us. Hadley's face tightened.

"Grif don't do that," she said sternly. I looked over at her for the first time.

"Do what?" I asked coldly. She blinked a couple times.

"Say it's fine when clearly you're mad," she replied, a look of annoyance on her face. I felt like slapping her. I shook my head.

"It is, it's fine. I don't wanna talk about it, so it's fine," I told her dismissively. She scoffed.

"We just didn't want to wake you. It's called being nice," she said, getting snippy with me. Wow really? She has the right to be pissed off?

"You're my best friend," I said evenly, "you've woken me up plenty of times, the least you could do was tell me you guys were going swimming and ask if I wanted to join or not. At least given me an option to make me feel included. Instead I felt the opposite. The way I always do. Remember I didn't even want to come on this stupid trip, but I did for you because you wanted me to," I unloaded on her. "And yet here I am feeling alone, once again. You're a great friend Hadley," I said mockingly, "truly terrific!" I added, the sarcasm dripping from my voice. I looked away from her. She didn't try to say anything further and with that she got up and walked off.

I shook my head slightly as I sat there thinking about everything. I only came on this trip for her, and she gets mad at me for feeling left out? I just couldn't even believe it. I sat there for a long time, baking in the sunshine and probably getting a major sun burn.

After a while I started to feel hot so I decided to go for a dip again. Without even thinking, I climbed up on a large nearby boulder to jump off of. I still had my shorts on but thought fuck it as I ran along the center of the big rock towards the edge to jump. What I didn't count on was the rock being slippery. Right as I reached the edge I stumbled badly. My feet came out from under me and I felt my head hit something hard before I tumbled down towards the water below, hitting it with a splash.

For a brief second I realized I was in the water before everything went black. When I opened my eyes, I saw Tyce standing off in the distance. He waved at me slowly, a big grin on his face. I waved back, trying to yell something to him. The odd thing was, nothing came out. I tried again to call for him. Nothing. His expression changed, his brow furrowing as he looked at me confused. I turned and looked. We were standing in a beautiful big green field. The evening sun was setting. There were no big pine trees, or any trees for that matter, and I looked back over at Tyce.

I opened my mouth again but still nothing would come out. I wanted to ask him where we were. He wasn't looking at me anymore though. Suddenly Jordan was there. He whispered something to Tyce, and they both looked at me and laughed. I flipped them off trying to walk away. My feet wouldn't move. I started to panic as all I could do was look around helplessly. Tyce and Jordan didn't seem to care, they were talking to each other but I couldn't make out the words, they were muffled and slurred, as if I they were farther away then they looked. Tyce smiled at me, his big prefect white teeth flashing brightly. His smile was so infectious and he looked so handsome. I couldn't help but smile back, the panic of not being able to move subsiding for a moment.

"Griffin!" He shouted. I looked around confused. It was definitely Tyce's voice, but his mouth didn't move. He just looked at me expressionless. The ground beneath my feet turned muddy, a puddle of water forming quickly. I looked from my feet back up at Tyce, alarmed. He cocked his head to the side, as if studying me carefully. I desperately tried to call out to him, but I still couldn't form any words.

"Griffin!!" His voice called again, echoing around. Clearly something was wrong. My right arm started to feel heavy. I tried lifting it in Tyce's direction to motion him over to me for help, but it was too heavy. It was hard to lift. I didn't know what to do. Where did Jordan go? I wondered as I could no longer see him. I was vaguely aware of the sound of water, but I didn't see any water besides the puddle at my feet. I scrunched up my nose in confusion.

Staring at the puddle, I started to feel sleepy, the thought of laying down in the field and going to sleep sounding very enticing. My eyelids felt so heavy, like I hadn't slept in days. I closed my eyes for a second to rest them because I couldn't move to lay down. My body wouldn't let me move anything.

"Griffin!" Tyce's voiced boomed loudly. I looked across the field at where he was standing earlier, but he was gone. I was all alone.

"Open your eyes Grif!" Tyce voice called again. This time it wasn't as loud. He seemed very far away, the words even more fuzzy. Why was Tyce yelling? Where did he go? Why was he laughing at me with Jordan? I stared off into space and the thoughts swirled around in my head.

"Please Griffin, please," Tyce's voice said again, this time it sounded muffled and sad.