Shadowteer

Chapter 25

Chris sat as far away from Manon as possible when they got back to camp, feeling uncomfortable with the fact that he had hugged her and he was comfortable with it. He sighed gently. Parisians were starting to notice him. This was how it started. Soon enough he would be forced to move again and... he stared at Manon as she laughed at Kemen who had succeeded in burning his marshmallow till it was black. He didn't want to leave. Not while Papillon was on the loose and she was still dangerous. Not to mention Nightmare. He couldn't bear the thought of leaving Manon.

He sucked in a breath and tried to concentrate on his s'more but he was getting distracted. By Manon. It was so strange. Something about her dark frizzy hair and plump lips just seemed so... inviting. She pointed at him, giggling and for a moment, he thought she was laughing at him till he realised he had been holding out his s'more for too long. He smiled sheepishly, enchanted by her laugh.

"Dude, you messed up your s'more. What are you thinking about?" Everyone turned to him. Manon did as well and their eyes met. He looked away, face slightly red and cursed. He grabbed Tyler and Fred by their collars and gestured for Kemen to follow him. When they had walked into the forest, away from the confused girls, he let out his belted up confusion.

"Guys, I need help." They laughed.

"Yeah, we can tell. Your wardrobe needs a serious update from black and dreary." He waved Fred off and folded his arms.

"I'm not talking about my fashion sense which is amazing, by the way. I'm talking about... that." He pointed in the direction of camp. Tyler frowned.

"Uh... is the fire too hot or something?" He facepalmed.

"It's Manon you idiot."

"What did she do?"

"She's... she's driving me crazy. Look at her. Just look at- ugh!" They stared at her and turned back to him, completely confused. "Can't you see it? Sh-she's messing up my head. I can't think straight around her. Do you guys know what's wrong with me?"

They all shared a knowing look. "Yep. Happens to all of us. Happens to me around Meera."

"Me around Ella. That's why I messed up our relationship in the first place when she turned me down." Tyler shook his head, still angry with himself for doing that. He should have accepted it and moved on but he was so whipped, she was simply too hard to get over and he had taken out his anger on her.

"And me and my beautiful girlfriend Etta." He winked at her. She smiled shyly and waved. Man she's beautiful. I'm a lucky guy.

"What point are you all trying to make?"

"You wuv her."

"WHAT?!"

"Yep. You are super attracted to her."

"Whipped."

Chris stared at his friends with a shocked face. He managed to comport himself and folded his arms. "This was a mistake. I'm going back to camp."

They laughed and followed him back. Manon shot him a questioning look. He shrugged and sat down. "Can everyone stop looking at me?"

Manon got up and got out a bottle from her bag. "Guys, let's play bottle truth or dare. They sat in a circle, the boys managing to get Chris to sit beside Manon. He agreed simply because by doing this there was no way the bottle would land on both of them. It got to Meera's turn and it landed on Chris. He scowled.

"Truth or dare Christopher?"

"Hmm... truth." He smirked slightly when she groaned.

"Fine. I can work with this. I was gonna ask a question for Chranon but I think I'll ask you something else. It's been bugging me for a while and it's kinda personal so-"

"What is it woman?"

"Are you... depressed?" Chris rose an eyebrow. The rest seemed keen to know as well. He cleared his throat, holding in a chuckle when she told him there was no pressure.

"No Meera, I'm not. I mean I used to be but... I'm not. I don't think so, anyway." They gasped.

"Seriously? Not even a little?" He rolled his eyes. He really needed better friends.

"No. I'm not depressed."

"But... but why do you weak a black hoodie then? That's so deceiving!"

"I like black. I like hoodies. Boom."

"But... wh- then why do you hate talking to people and stay so quiet?"

"One, I hate socialising. Two, I hate people, no offence. Three, I'm kind of an introverted keeps to himself kind if guy, don't know if you've noticed bu-"

"We have."

"Then there you have it." He glanced at Manon. Her eyes were glued to the floor. He was irritated by the fact that they thought he was depressed when the actual depressed person was going unnoticed. "You should have asked Manon that question, not me."

The twins spoke up at the same time. "What's that supposed to mean?" They turned to each other, shared a look and turned to Manon who was clenching her fists tight. "Manon?"

"He's kidding. Forget it." They all stared at her, eyes the size of flying saucers. Was it possible that the Princess Sunshine, the Manon Chamack was actually a grey cloud underneath? "Look guys, it's... it's just complicated."

"Manon, simple fun loving teen friend of mine is complicated? Why are you girls so difficult- uh..." the girls stared at him, arms crossed. "Is there any way I can take back what I just said?"

"Sorry dude. We'll pray for you."

"You brought female wrath upon yourself."

"Team, we strike on 1, 2, 3, KILL KEMEN!" The girls ran after him through the forest while the boys cheered them on. Manon was still etched in their minds though.

. . .

"So..." Meera cleared her throat, trying to choose the right words, "about what you said back there, I get it if you were talking about me. I was kinda vulnerable when I blurted out that stuff about my brother so yeah and I'm not usually like that. If you didn't then sorry for making things awkward right now and-"

"It's fine. I wasn't talking about you or anything. Besides, I know what it's like to loose a brother or in my case, a sister through no fault of yours."

"You have a sister-"

"Had."

"Right. I'm sorry."

"Kayla Cassel. Died a few years ago. Drunk driver. NBD." She hesitated before placing her hand on his.

"NBD?"

"No Big Deal. What? Not a fan of internet acronyms?"

"Uh, nope. They get stupider everyday-"

"You mean more stupid."

"Ugh FML, smh. Ah well. YOLO, a? I right?" He chuckled and stroked her hair. She froze and let him.

"You know this is a great addition to our love story. You've never let me get close enough to touch your hair-"

"Love story?"

"I... I didn't sa... did I- I did." He went red and continued to run his hands through her silky raven hair. She smiled at the action before frowning.

"Hey, do you think Manon is-"

"GUYS, GET IN THE CAR NOW, THE PRESS IS HERE!"