The Week Away (BXB romance)

Sardines

I woke up early in the afternoon, Jayden not beside me this time. A tinge of disappointment instantly hit me, though it subsided quickly when I actually woke up properly. Why would I expect him to be there, anyway? I mean, the passing comment he made before he fell asleep last night was... interesting, to say the least, though that was all it was, a passing comment... surely.

"... He better wake up soon, I'm getting bored" I heard through my door, Max most likely complaining about me unless Chris was still asleep.

"If he isn't up in the next ten minutes, we'll play without him" Vicky continued "Chris won't be back for a good few hours, so we have plenty of time, but I'd rather not waste it waiting for one person to wake up"

So it was definitely me they were talking about. I quickly dressed myself in some casual attire, a simple white shirt and a set of jeans, and rushed out of the room.

"Speaking of the devil" Vicky mused, seeing me leave the room. Something always seemed insincere about her, though I really never knew what.

"Afternoon, Mark" Jayden said, his usual smile on his face "Shall we, then?"

"Quick summary, Chris has gone to the shop, the closest shop being about an hour or two away, so we've got quite a bit of time to waste" Max said, cutting right to the point "And we've decided to play sardines"

"Sardines?" I asked.

"ever played hide and seek?" Vicky asked, continuing before I could answer. Then again, who hadn't played hide and seek before? "Well basically, sardines is the reverse version of that. One person hides, and everyone else seeks. When we find the hider, we join them in hiding. Last person to find the hider has to hide next round"

"That sounds simple enough" I said, grasping the concept fairly quickly "So, what are our boundaries? also who goes first?"

"Anywhere around the lake, I guess. The house included" Vicky continued "As for who goes first, we'll draw straws or something. Oh, and before you ask, you have five minutes to hide."

After thinking it over, I decided there were no other questions to ask. Or at least none that wouldn't result in harsh glares or rolled eyes. Max quickly shuffled off and returned with several colourful straws, which we took turns drawing. By the end, I was the one with the smallest straw.

"Right, so I'll set an alarm on my phone" Vicky said, tapping away at her iPhone "And everyone will close their eyes. No peeking, anyone"

Max gave a quick roll of the eyes, though besides that, everyone agreed to the terms and quickly closed their eyes. Well, I guess that means it's my time to hide.

Time to think smartly. I never really knew why, but I always got competitive when it came to hide and seek. I was quite a fun kid, clearly. Alright, time for my classic technique. I loudly, or at least loudly enough for everyone to hear, walked over to the front door, opened it, making sure it creaked, and closed it again. With any luck, they'd think I'd left the house. After that, I took my shoes off and slowly crept into my room, where I hid under the bed. By the time I got a perfect position, the alarm went off in the other room and everyone got up.

"Great, he went outside" I could hear Max groan "It's going to be... annoying to find him"

"Alright, off we go" Vicky said, before I heard them trotting towards the front door. I heard it open, and close, so it was good to assume I was alone. I had to hold back a chuckle. It was such a classic move, I could barely believe how effective it was.

It WAS good to assume that I was alone, that is, until the door into this room opened, and a set of legs could be seen in the doorway.

"Nice tactic, Mark" Jayden said as he paced around the room, slowly, steadily. "Opening and closing the door to make it sound like you'd left the house? Veeeery sneaky of you..."