Genesis

Just Like Old Times

     I sat on a camping chair next to the ashen bonfire-pit, wondering who exactly my tentmate was and whether I would ever be able to get any sleep with her... habits. I thought again about sleep. The sun was rising against the golden sky and I could already feel my eyelids begging to close. My muscles ached as the others started to wake up and sit outside, refreshed from the long night of sleep they had gotten. I envied them.

     I didn't even notice my eyes were closed and I was drifting off to sweet sleep when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I jumped to my feet and turned to face them, only to see Xander, looking just about as freaked as I felt being woken up so suddenly.

     "Jesus, Quinn," he stared at me with wide eyes, "Chill. It's just me."

     "Sorry," I mumbled as I rubbed my temples, "It's been a long night."

     I sat back down as Xander sat in the seat beside me.

     "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked me, inquisitive. I sighed quietly.

     "Nothing, nothing at all. Just that I didn't get too much sleep."

     He looked at me skeptically, raising an eyebrow, "What happened after I went to bed last night?"

     I paused, rubbing my forehead and trying to get the thought of Colt holding me out of my mind, "Nothing really. Just Mayanna and, apparently, her twin conquests," I mumbled, gesturing towards the twin boys talking with Daniel by the water-coolers.

     "You mean Blaine and Kraig? The Giovani twins?"

     When I nodded in reply, Xander laughed, "So, what, you've been out here this whole time?"

     "Pretty much, yeah," I told him.

     He chuckled a little, giving me one of his mischievous looks, sparking a giggle in my stomach before we both burst out laughing. 

     Just like when we were kids.

     Xander stopped laughing abruptly as his gaze was caught by something. Just as quickly as his attention was averted away, his eyes fluttered back to look at me.

     I glanced to my left, trying to see what could be so interesting, before turning back to him again.

     "What was that?" I asked him.

     "What was what?"

     I narrowed my eyes playfully. He was hiding something.

     "You were looking at something."

     "No, I wasn't."

     "Yes, you were," I said, noticing a nervous smile spread onto his face. The same nervous smile he got when I asked him if he had a crush on Oliver Jenkins in the third grade.

     I gasped, "Oh my God. You have a crush, don't you?"

     He smiled, his eyes darting away as I started to giggle. He swung his legs over the side of his chair, looking up into the sky before letting out a dramatic sigh.

     "It's nothing, really."

     "Who is it?" I inquired.

     "We haven't even spoken--"

     "Who, Xander, who?" I asked him, as he swung his legs back to the floor, turning his chair to face me.

     "Okay, fine, I'll tell you," he started, "But he's way out of my league and I don't even know if he swings my way, so you have to promise not to try to get us together."