The Voyage That Led Me To You

Chapter Three

It was way past dusk, and as we strode along the pavements, down towards the beach a grin took over my lips as I recognised Jude's broad figure in a distance. I shoved my hands into the pockets of my cardigan as I lowered my head, hiding my flushed face and the broadened smile. I had enough teasing earlier. Right after Jude left, (and after my short fantasy of him) I woke Alicia up and she got up promptly, after mumbling a few incoherent words that I still couldn't quite catch on up till now. Just when I was about to tell her what had happened when she fell asleep; Aria and Roni appeared from the doorway with a handful of snacks (not even surprised), talk about perfect timing. Long story cut short, they squealed in delight like literally into my ears, and almost got me deaf for a second there. They kept rambling on how we (Jude and I) looked cute together and about how excited they are in the thoughts of having a campfire with our neighbours, hoping there'll find any, they said and I quote, "partners in crime" I knew they meant that the sick way but, let's not got there shall we?

Back to the present, my gaze shifted to my ownself, straightening the creases on my romper. We really put in a huge amount of effort for our outfit. I wore a sky blue romper, throwing a black knitted cardigan over it and for the shoes; I decided to settle on my black gladiators since I'm sure I'd be barefooted most of the time. I just really love the feeling of sand between my feet. I don't want to look like I put in too much effort on my outfits but I still want to at least look presentable. For a more laid back look, I plaid my hair into a fishtail braid. All in all, I was satisfied with my look. Aria wore her Iron Maiden muscle tee, also wrapping her precious red flannel (in case it got cold) pairing it with black leggings and a white Birkenstock sandal. As for Alicia, she wore a beautiful orange beach dress, adding a white belt to emphasize her tiny waist, and pairing it with a pair of white flats. And last but not least, Roni wore a grey sweater and paired it with her Dogtooth-pattern leggings, finishing the look with also a pair of Birkenstock but in the color black.

The wind blew right at us, making our outfits and hair flew backwards. Instead of complaining about how our efforts got ruined like how girls usually do, we simply enjoy the breeze, not giving any shit to how our hair is going to stick out in different directions. Alicia and Roni held hands and twirled around, imitating a couple ballroom dancing, that made us cracked up rather loudly which apparently, caught the boys' attention. My gaze averted to Jude, who were jogging lightly towards us. "Hey, I'm so glad you can make it" He said, grinning broadly as he waved for us to come over and sauntered off to the fireplace where 3 other guys were seated. I glanced to the side where Aria and Alicia were literally gawking at the sight of the boys. I swore I saw them drooling even. Roni on the other hand, had a cold look on her face and as I followed her gaze, it landed on a guy that looked pretty much bad news. Her eyes held so many emotions; hatred, anger and pain.

"Ladies, these are the goofballs that I have no idea why I'm still friends with them. Goofballs, introduce yourself" Jude spoke eagerly, completely oblivious to the tension in the air. A guy with the beanie introduced himself as Aidan Ryder. He seemed really friendly and goofy. I watched as he kept on throwing short glances at Alicia. It was really cute, i had to resist the urge to squeal. Next Lucas Irwin, or Luke in short as he preferred introduce himself. He almost reminded me of a vampire because of his sharp fangs that stuck out when he smiled. Though, he appeared to be a little cocky and I can already tell that Aria despised him. From the way she rolled her eyes as he continued throwing arrogant remark, my prognosis is true.

Of course it's true, Mia is always right.

Last but not least, the guy who had been flicking a sly smirk towards Roni introduced himself as Cameron Hudson. He had this strong bad boy vibe and from the looks of it, he doesn't seem like a guy you would hang out with. Then again, we barely even know them. They could all be bad news for all I know. For some reason though, I really couldn't picture Jude as a bad guy. He pretty much looked like an angel. But again, looks can be deceiving. "Ladies, please take a seat" Cameron called out, his voice sounded dangerously deep as the smirk that I'm slowly growing annoyed with broadened. Aria and Alicia nonchalantly took a seat between beside Aiden. My gaze fell onto Roni who looked like she was ready to kill anyone. Gently grabbing her wrist, I pulled her to me as we settled down between Jude and Luke. Roni whispered a soft thanks as she slowly returned to being her normal self, chatting away with Luke. Although I could see a glimpse flaming hatred in her eyes, I was thankful she did not create a scene. My gaze shifted towards where Alicia and Aria was seated and broke into a grin as I saw Alicia already starting things off with Aidan. Although I felt sorry for Aria, literally being thrown out of their tiny fantasy world.

I turned to the side when I felt poking on my arms, and when Jude's face came into view, I held in my breath. Our faces were so close; I could feel his hot breath. "So, are you enjoying this?" He asked, his eyes glowing in pure mischief as he wriggled his brows. Letting out a chuckle at how ridiculous he looked, I backed away in my seat for some space and shook my head at his level of immaturity. "Yes, it's actually been quite a while since we all went to the beach" I replied shrugging as I let my gaze wandered onto the fire burning rather terrifyingly. Feeling as though I was being watched, I turned to the side only to have captured Jude staring at me. He jolted up from his daze just when I turned to face him as he rubbed his neck awkwardly, lowering his head. I watched as his cheeks turned bright pink, and before I could stop myself, I reached out towards him and pinched his cheeks. Only when I realized what I was doing, I froze as I gently released his cheeks from my hold.

Great now he's going to think I'm a creep. Nice going Mia, you idiot.

Just as I was about to retrieve my apparently dead hands, his next action took me aback as the energy within me evaporates into thin air, leaving me suddenly feeling puny and indisposed. He clasped my hand that was awkwardly frozen in the air, as he placed it against his cheeks, caressing it with his hands placed on top of mine. I could feel the softness of his cheeks and the slightly sharp hairs probably from the result of his aftershave. It all happened so suddenly when suddenly his eyes darkened. I could feel his muscles tense up through his touch. Those eyes that once held emotions were now replaced with pure blankness and something else I couldn't quite unravel. As he released my hands from his grip, he got up to his feet in an instant, excused himself as he left the shore, not glancing back at all. I watched his retreating figure, as I bombarded my mind with questions that would remain inexplicable.

"What's wrong?" Roni asked as she placed a hand on my shoulders, giving it a light shake. I shrugged, grabbing a can of Pepsi from the icebox and chugging it down in a shot. I could feel Roni's stare intensify as I threw the empty can aside. Turning towards her, I tried starting a conversation just so I could get him off my head. Mindlessly asking her what her problem was with Cameron, I waited for her replies. When I didn't receive any, I turned to face her, only to be caught off guard as her facial expression changed drastically from concern to pure vexation. She got up to her feet and ran to the exact same direction as Jude.

I was alone, drowning myself in a surge of guilt and regret. Running a hand through my messy braided hair, I released a long sigh as I grabbed another Pepsi, chugging it down.

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I was starting to get worried as I perceived Roni's absence. I wasn't really concern about Jude because, well he's a guy. Uneasiness took over me as I excused myself from Luke, yes Luke. He had kept me accompany for the past few minutes. He was surprisingly nice to be with. Well that was when he wasn't bragging about his knowledge of cars, which I might say was pretty amusing. As I trotted towards the direction where Roni ran off, I rubbed my hands for heat. I turned around and noticed that our campfire place were no longer visible. I would be lying if I said I wasn't afraid, because I was. I had a bad experience at camp before where I lost track of my teammates and well, had to spent the night alone in a forest. It was the worst. Still, I gathered all my courage, determined to find Roni, I allowed my feet to take me to where my conscious told me, and I walked further away from the campsite, my eyes widen when a carnival came into view. It was dark so I assumed it was closed. Just as I was about to continue my search, my gaze fell onto a figure sitting on the fence at the fore of the closed carnival. As I squinted my eyes, my heart felt at ease as I saw it was just Roni. I was about to call out her name when a male figure appeared, jumping out from the closed carnival, holding two cans of drink. And as I once again squinted my eyes, I watched in despair when I recognize the male. It was no other than Jude Ryder.

I hid behind the lamp post as I watched them sip their drinks and staring off into the dark sky. He looked normal, and she looked alright. They were even laughing. I didn't know whether it was anger because I wasted my time worrying if anything were to happen to her or upset that they would rather sneak out just to hang out alone together, but one thing's for sure.

I felt like as if I was stabbed.

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A/N: <3