Chapter 12
Ren:
I bolted upright, jerking out of deep sleep. I was cursing silently to myself with every swear word that I knew as I slipped out of bed without waking up Dominique and walked out on to the balcony. I shouldn't think about that, it meant nothing... but I still couldn't stop my mind from thinking about the kiss that Ian and I had shared-
Stop it, I mentally ordered to myself. Think about that wasn't a good thing and it wasn't going to do me any good. I sighed and leaned against the cold brick of the outer hotel wall. This trip wasn't good for either of us. I thought back to how I had found Dominique last night after her talk with Aiden in the lobby.
I had started to go back down to check on her, but when the elevator door opened, she had been sitting on the floor of it. There were tears on her cheeks, but I wasn't sure that she really noticed them. I walked into the elevator and sat down next to her. "What happened?" I asked her quietly.
She sniffed. "I just told the biggest lie...ever."
I had a feeling I knew exactly what she was talking about... "Which was what?"
"I told him that I never want to see him again... which isn't true... I really love him..." Tears began to well in her eyes again.
I put my arms around her. "I'm sorry, Mee-me. I'm am so sorry. If it's any consolation, you're not the only one. At least the guy you're in love with isn't a total bastard," I mumbled that last part under my breath.
She frowned and leaned into me. "I'm sorry Ren. Maybe coming here wasn't such a good idea."
"It's not your fault. But next time that I try to sleep in before one of these trips and you wake me up, it will be your fault," I joked, trying to cheer her up a bit.
She laughed light. "Alright," she yawned, "let's head to bed... we have a long day tomorrow."
That had been last night, now, at three in the morning, I was a wreck. I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take. I planned on getting on that ship today, doing the last project that we had to do, then leaving here without seeing those two guys ever again. I sighed. Like that would happen.
I sat out there until sunlight began spilling over the horizon and then I went inside and tried to fall back asleep. Dominique woke me up at about eight and we both got ready in silence.
We were down at the boat house at ten, waiting where the Marine Biologist that we had been paired with for the day told us to meet. From the quick meeting that we had before, she was young, maybe a few years older than us and very new at this job. She was supposed to just tag along with us and have us do most, if not all, of the research.
We were waiting there for a good fifteen minutes before she showed up. She wasn't dressed for going out on the water though, she had on a dress. "I am so sorry," she said, and if I remember correctly, her name was Amy. "But- okay, I am just going to come out and say this. I have...um... a date and you guys can handle this on your own, right? You don't really need me there anyway. Plus, what your teachers won't know won't hurt them."
I smiled at her. "You can go, we'll be fine."
She beamed at me. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. I will write the best report for you two ever. I-"
"We get it," I interrupted her. "Plus, I would rather be on a date than here anyway." Not really, but she didn't know that.
She gave me a grateful look and ran off. "Well that was interesting," I said to Dominique once Amy was out of sight.
