Perpetually Dreaming

Chapter 8-Will's Demise

((1554 words))
Chapter 8-Will's Demise

     We got back to the site and started handing coffee to the squad, Shelby was very picky about who got what. Emily, Will, and Liam seemed to of disappeared from Earth, Shelby was set on hand delivering to Em and Will, so that left me with Liam's. I carried Liam and mine's coffee around the site, but I couldn't find him. I reached into my pocket to get my phone and text him before I realized that there wasn't service out here. Giving up, I took them both to the tire swing to consume them in private.

      When I was about ten feet away from it, I heard a familiar voice call my name. Spinning around, I noticed Liam leaning against a bridge. Not the same as the one Shelby and I took to leave the site, this one's small and probably won't hold both me and Liam.  The creek wraps around the whole site, but the cabin we're staying in is too high up on the hill for it to go by.

     Smiling like a teen in love, I walked up to H and gave him the coffee, thank god I hadn't drank it yet. Leaning up against the bridge beside him, I stared off into the distance, saying, "I wonder what's over that way." He looked off, following my gaze. There was a small pause as he thought before he took my hand and walked off in that direction.

     I can't tell you why I followed him, I mean I don't really care about what happens, but it's really unlike me to just... go on a walk. I held his hand as I basked in the warm rays of the morning. Since we woke up so early, and Shelby is oddly efficient about shopping, it was only about noon. We were surrounded by golden wheat on a path leading off into the distance, beautiful and warm feeling, perfect for a romantic getaway.

    "So you heard about the new Pokemon game?"

    "Sword and Shield?"

     "Yea!"

     "Yeah, it's trash, I don't like it," I laughed as we walked, smiling as Liam began ranting about the game and how I'm just not understanding its meaning.  It felt like a cheesy teen movie, for once my surroundings feeling as good as I do.

      There was a small rustle as we walked, casing Liam to put his arm around me. I startled for a moment, holding tight to him. He handed me the remnants of his coffee as he walked forward in a defensive stand when all of a sudden...

    He burst out laughing and signaled for me to come towards him in between gasps for air. Cocking an eyebrow at his outburst, I walked forward to see what was deemed so threatening just a few moments ago.

       Sure enough, it was just Will and Emily, seemingly having the same idea about escaping the others. I watched as Will put the box from before back into his pocket again and realized what had been happening. "Oh, by the way, Shelby bought you guys coffee if you want some,  she's looking for you two," I stumbled, the words feeling like cotton in my mouth. Maybe Will would like me if I stopped ruining his moments.

    Emily smiled and walked towards me, unaware that I'd just prevented a life-altering moment in her life. She took my hand and began to walk back to the campgrounds, leaving Will and Liam to talk. I won't question what they needed to talk about, but Em and I were crossing the bridge out of the field when they finally stopped and started walking back.

     Emily was going on and on about how we and the other girls need to go on a girls only trip here soon, but I couldn't quite focus on what she was saying. My thoughts drifted off to Will and H's conversation. They're best bros, maybe it's about something unrelated to me completely, but the pit in my stomach was telling me it was. Will obviously wishes I wasn't here; I'm sure the others think the same thing too. Ally shouldn't have asked me to come.

     Thoughts swarmed my mind as I nodded along to what Emily said, hoping I wasn't agreeing to something too stupid. Not that she generally says dumb stuff, it's just that she has been spending a lot of time around Zach.  We had walked all the way to the cabin, her still talking in my ear, before Shelby caught me off guard and pulled me out of my self-pity spiral, saying, "Guys I'm bored."

     In unison, for some strange reason, Emily and I both replied, "Hi bored, I'm dad." We shared a surprised look with each other before bursting out laughing and walking inside the cabin. The futons were still in bed mode, which made the small space clustered and almost claustrophobic, yet somehow held the same level of coziness as before. I sat on the ladder in an attempt to look cool, but all I ended up doing was hurting myself.
 
   Liam and Will came in a few minutes after us, Shelby immediately thrusting a coffee into Will's hands. The whole squad, minus Zach and Ally, gathered around in a semi-circle on the floor around the ladder, leaving me as the odd one out, again.  We awkwardly talked about different things, mostly just them making sure Shelby had uploaded their videos, but silence consumed the conversation quickly.

     Suddenly, Ally and Zach burst through the door looking distraught. We tried to ask what happened, but they downright refused to talk about it. Ally looked around the circle of us and seemed to get an idea, throwing all of us off of her initial entrance. She ran to her bag and took a box out of it, immediately causing a chorus of groans from everyone in the room.

      Monopoly.

      She threw the box down in the middle of the circle and started setting up the board, Shelby helping. I didn't really know what was happening, but I did know that I wanted to be the hat. Reaching into the box for it, I found my hand on Liam's. Seems he wants the hat. Also seems he doesn't want to date I guess. Doing my best to convey that in a look, I grabbed the small hat and put it on my finger, plotting my character's backstory.

     "I think I'll be the local recluse, slash billionaire. No one knows about the billionaire part though, they all think I make my money as a tap-dancing street dancer. In actuality, I make it from-"

    "Okay, Nat, hun, that's enough," Ally finally chimed in, the board now set up completely. I scrunched up my face at her as she handed me a stack of cash (ingame, obviously). We didn't feel like rolling dice to see who went first, so Ally went first. Followed by me, then Liam, Will, Emily, Shelby, and Zach. In that order. Remember that, it's completely useless information but hey who knows.

    We all went, but nothing really happened for the first few turns. Or the ones after that. Or the ones after that. I actually don't know why it's such a big deal, I mean no one's even getting--

   "LIAM I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL FILL YOUR EARS WITH CEMENT, THERE'S NO WAY I AM PAYING YOU THREE HUNDO,"

    "OH YEA? BECAUSE THAT'S NOT WHAT THE CARD SAYS, COUGH IT UP, BABE!"

     What was momentarily a funny moment was turned sour with those words. Word, more precisely. The word 'babe' immediately sent Shelby's mood into a downward spiral. She kept playing the game, but it didn't have the same luster as before. Eventually, the game had lost all hope of being fun anymore, everyone bringing down their own mood so Shelby wouldn't feel left out.

     I helped Ally pack away the game, realizing it had begun to get dark out already. Huh, Monopoly really went that hard. Shelby left to go to town and get some food, bringing Emily and Ally with her. I didn't try to go, figuring she probably needed some time to cool off. I guess the whole deal with Parker has momentarily spoiled any thoughts about relationships for her, which is totally chill.

    I climbed the ladder to the loft, wanting to sleep and wake up with everything fixed. I checked my phone and realized that it was barely six, but the sun was setting, so I figured it would be fine if I did too. I scrolled through the home page of Instagram, or what was left at least. Since there isn't reception out here, it was just the last few posts I'd looked at before getting back here.

    Soon, Shelby and the others came back with pizza again. This trip is gonna be so bad for my skin, I don't know if I'll be able to handle it. I climbed down the ladder, wearing some Oscar the Grouch pajamas that I'd changed into earlier. Shelby shot me a shy smile as she reached into her bag and pulled out the nail polish we'd bought earlier. I smiled as I took it from her and begun painting my nails, grateful that there weren't any hard feelings over the dealio with H.