YOU 1 [Charli D'Amelio]

Chapter 27.

I keep quiet as Max continues down the gravel road. She turns the music off finally so the only noise is the gravel crunching beneath the tires. We are out in the middle of nowhere. I am nervous now, we are alone, really alone. There are no cars, no buildings, nothing.

"Don't worry, I didn't bring you out here to kill you" she jokes and I gulp. I am more afraid of what I might do when alone with her than if she was to actually try to kill me.

She continues to drive for another mile and finally stops the car. I look out the window and see nothing but grass and trees. Granted, it is nice and serene out here. There are yellow wildflowers littering the land, and the breeze is perfectly warm. But why did she bring me here? "What are we going to do here?" I ask her as I climb out of the car.

"We have a bit of walking to do first" she informs me and I groan. So she took me here to exercise? She must notice my sour expression because she says, "Not too much walking" She begins walking along a part of the grass that is flattened, almost like a trial from being walked on many times.

We both stay quiet for most of the walk, except a few rude remarks from Max about me being too slow. I ignore her and take in my surroundings. I am beginning to understand why she likes this seemingly random place, it is so quiet. I could stay here forever as long as I brought a book with me. She turns off the trail and goes into a wooded area, I am a little suspicious but I follow. A few minutes later we emerge from the woods to a stream, or maybe a river, I have no idea where we are but the stream is quite big and looks pretty deep.

Max doesn't say anything as she pulls her shirt over her head then bends down to untie her dirty black boots. "Why are you undressing?" I ask and look at the stream. Oh  no. "You are going to swim? In that?" I say and point to the water.

"Yea, I do it all the time. You are too" she unbuttons her pants and I have to force myself to not stare at the way the muscles in her back move when she bends down to pull her pants through her legs.

"I am not swimming in that" I don't mind swimming, but not in a random stream in the middle of nowhere.

"And why is that? It's clean enough that you can see the bottom"

"So.. there are probably fish and god knows what in there" I realize how ridiculous I sound but I don't care. "Besides you didn't tell me we were going swimming so I have nothing to swim in" she can't argue with that.

"You're not wearing a bra and panties?" She smirks and I gape at her. So she thought I would come out here and take all my clothes off to swim with her? My insides stir as I think about being naked in the water with Max. What is she doing to me? I have never, ever had these types of thoughts before her.

I am not swimming in my bra and panties you creep" I say and sit on the soft grass. "I will just watch" I tell her and she frowns. She is now only in her boxer briefs, the black material is tight against her body. This is the second time I have seen her in just her boxers and she looks even better this time.

"You are no fun. You're missing out" she says and jumps into the water. I keep my eyes on the grass and pluck a few blades out, playing with them between my fingers. "The water is warm Charl" Max calls from the stream. From my spot on the grass, I can see the drops of water falling from her now black hair. SHe is smiling as she pushes her soaked hair back and wipes his face off with one hand.

For a moment I find myself wishing I was someone else, someone braver, like Addison . If I was Addison , I would strip down and jump into the warm water with Her. I would splash around and climb up the bank just to jump back into the water. I would be fun and carefree. But I am not Addison , I am Charli.

"This friendship is beyond boring so far" Max laughs and swims closer to the bank. I roll my eyes and she chuckles. "At least take your shoes off and put your feet in, it feels amazing and pretty soon it will be too cold to swim in"