How Could This Be Real?

108. Did He Now?

"Whew!" I exclaimed as I ran off the log flume, soaked from head-to-toe. "That was awesome!"

Ash shook his head like a wet dog, droplets of water landing on all of us.

"Agh! Ash, stop!" Amy laughed, holding up her hands to shield her face.

He stopped and gave her a goofy grin, strands of dark brown hair plastered to his forehead and hanging in front of his eyes.

A pair of arms suddenly wrapped around my waist from behind and I was lifted into the air. I squealed as they spun me around, kicking my legs and laughing breathlessly. As soon as my feet hit the ground again, I was turned to face them and immediately pulled into a kiss.

I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck, deepening it and earning teasing remarks from our friends. I pulled away after a minute, still grinning, and asked, "What was that for?"

David shrugged at me, "Because I can." I chuckled and he pecked my lips again before he said, "I'm going to look for a toilet, should we meet somewhere for lunch?"

I glanced over my shoulder at everyone, "You guys hungry?"

"Yeah!" "Starving!" "Fooooood!"

They all said yes except, surprisingly, Ash. He was staring at the ground with unfocused eyes, his jaw set and his hands stuffed in his pockets. I wondered if I should ask him if something was wrong, I mean Ash ignoring food is definitely not normal, but I decided not to think too much into it.

So I gave David a quick kiss on the cheek and waved to him as he started walking away. "See you in a bit," I said and he nodded, not being able to keep from casting a wary glance Ash's way before heading off.

The rest of our group went the other way, toward the food court. As we walked, I tried to wring out as much water from my hair as possible, but I swear this mop on my head is a sponge that won't dry out for anything. As for the rest of me, the sun was doing a good job at evaporating the water from my skin and keeping me nice and cool, so I dug in my bag and pulled my shirt back out. I slipped it over my head, but not before I heard a distinct wolf-whistle nearby and made the mistake of looking for where it had come from.

My gaze landed on a small group of older teenage guys, probably in grade eleven or twelve, who were heading towards us, and unfortunately, all had their eyes set on me. I got a sinking feeling in my stomach and turned away, quickening my pace and pretending I hadn't noticed their stares. Not five seconds after however, one of them walked up beside me, a disgusting smirk on his face as he looked me over.

"Hey dollface," he said in a thick Yorkshire accent.

Another fell in step with us and asked in an ugly, nasally voice, "Where you headed?"

I walked even faster, trying desperately to shake them, but they easily kept my pace. I was getting a really bad vibe from them and knew that they were up to no good, but I didn't want to snap at them because they might get irrational which could lead to any number of things.

"What's the rush, babe?" the first spoke again, his eyes boring a hole straight through me.

"We just wanna talk," the other said with fake innocence.

"Boys, boys, give the girl some room," a new, smoother voice spoke from behind me.

The one on my right stepped a few paces away, leaving enough room for the new person to walk through and he did, but he immediately stepped in front of me and I had to stop abruptly to avoid running into him. However, his stroll didn't even falter as he walked around me, nodding as his dark brown eyes scanned my body.