Camp Echo Falls (Completed)

Chapter 6

I can't help but burst out in laughter, the sheer suddenness of his rude comment making me uncontrollably hysterical. "I can't believe you just called your step mum a slut," I laugh scrunching my nose as the laughter dies down, "You're such a child." I tease lightly, trying to keep the mood friendly.

His head snaps around to look at me shocked, his green eyes flaring. Momentarily his mouth hovers open, as if he can't believe what I've just said. Trying to keep his composure, he shuts his mouth quickly and shrugs his surprised reaction off. "I'm not a child," he runs his hand through his hair frustratedly and I feel the warm sensation at the bottom of my stomach swirling again. "I just don't want to be here." His throws me a glare, a hint of anger flashing across his eyes. The sudden switch from calm to pissed making me bite back a laugh - boys can be so dramatic.

"Okay fair enough, but chill out. Trust me, this isn't the worst place to be." I laugh softly, feeling his burning eyes staring from beside me.

"She is a slut." He mumbles under his breath, taking his eyes away from me and back into the trees. I roll my eyes and a small smile tugs at the corners of my mouth.

"Come on we're almost there." I laugh and run in front, ducking under a branch of a low tree at the edge of the forrest, leaving Leo to follow me to the rest of the group. I find my way to the rest of the group quickly, weaving in and out of tens of trees, jumping over fallen branches and stepping through low bushes, following the pattern of the forrest as though it was the back of my hand. The woodland is the size of a couple football pitches, filled with beautiful, old oak trees and bushes littered with wild flowers. Secret hangout spots at every turn, trees dedicated to make out sessions and weed dens hidden behind clusters of bushes.

Like normal, everyone is perched around a large fallen oak tree, in the middle of a small clearing between the trees. I found this spot the first summer we came to camp, and it's been our secret meeting place ever since. "What took you so long?" Naomi calls as I take a seat on the tree, resting my back up against a thick branch.

I hug my legs up to my chest, after years of siting here, my balance is good enough to not need my legs either side of the tree. "Sorry, he walks slow."  I nod towards the dark haired boy across the clearing. He stands with his hands in his pockets, looking around at the trees above and around the clearing.

"Actually you wouldn't shut up, which is not my fault." He retaliates easily, shrugging without a second of hesitation. He leans against a smaller tree opposite of where I'm sitting and I narrow my eyes, giving him a glare. To my surprise he chuckles lightly, shaking his head, making his hair bounce slightly, as it falls down into his eyes. Only moving back to normal as he runs his hand through it, pushing it so I can see his emerald eyes again.

The warm feeling bubbling again, making it almost impossible for me to breath. His eyes still on mine for a second too long, before looking off into the distance again, his features naturally hardening as his jaw clenches. I feel a sudden coolness and try to distract myself from that weird feeling by looking around my friends. Naomi, who's applying lipgloss, is sitting at the other end of the fallen tree, lost in conversation with the blonde boy who's holding up her mirror for her to look into.

Alison is sitting with her legs crossed underneath her, her hands neatly placed in her lap, as she happily listens in to Naomi's and Eli's conversation. Which mainly involves Naomi dramatically retelling a story, waving her free hand about in the air for effect, pressing her lips together to smooth out the lipgloss. The two other boys, Will and Jax, are each sitting on old tree trunks, once living, breathing beautiful oaks, now used for the brothers to rest on. The blonde boy arguing with his one-year younger brother over something to do with football.

Everyone has immersed themselves in conversation, but I sit in a peaceful silence. I find that not talking is easier, I like being able to be in my own head sometimes. "Anyway," Naomi clears her throat, clicking the tube of gloss and letting it fall with a clank into her purse sitting next to her.

The dark skinned girl flashes a wicked smile through her perfect lips before looking around the group, "Lets get this party started shall we?" Just as I'm about to ask what she means, she pulls out a bottle of crystal clear vodka from her handbag. I smile. I love this girl.

Eli practically pounces at her for the bottle, but she snatches it away. "Nope, me first." She blows a kiss at him and takes a swig, the curly haired boy glaring but then smiling gleefully as she hands him the bottle. He throws his head back and takes a quick shot, shaking his head with a dramatic, "Wooh!" before handing the bottle to a boyish grinning Will.

I'm not surprised when the dirty blonde boy swigs back what I would call at least three times my average shot. Easily draining the liquid without any hesitation, only coughing when his brother snatches it from his hand, muttering something about not wanting him to die today. The younger brother with the black bandanna around his forehead sits back on his seat, shaking his head as he raises the bottle to his lips. Just before he drinks the vodka, he stops himself. "Wait I'm not putting my lips on something Will has touched." The boy cringes and Naomi along with Alison both snicker at his sudden realisation. Eli rolls his eyes dramatically as he sits back on his hands, not bothering to deal with Jax's childishness.

The 16 year old waits a few seconds, staring at the bottle neck intensively, measuring up the pros and cons, before mumbling a 'fuck it' and taking a swig from the bottle. "Worth it." He grins and hands the bottle to Alison. I roll my eyes and let out a snicker under my breath at his weird behaviour. Alison takes a sip from the bottle and makes a disgusted face, looking over at me, her big blue eyes innocent as she holds out the drink.

I get up from my seat and smile at her, "Thank you Ali." I say as I take the bottle from her and put it to my lips. I don't usually drink that much, but I have a feeling that this is going to be a long night. I take a long swig and internally cringe as the liquid burns the back of my throat. I see out of the corner of my eye as Leo bends his arm and props it up against the tree above his head, resting his weight against it. He looks over at me and holds his hand out to take the bottle from me. Before he can take it from me, I take another swig, tilting my head back further this time. The liquid feels like fire trickling down the back of my throat. I stifle a cough and look at Leo, his piercing eyes watching me.

"You gonna give it to me or not?" Leo is standing a few inches from my face looking down at me. He's so close that I can feel his minty breath on my face, it mixed with his dark cologne smells like heaven. Or hell.

"I...um..." I stutter, "Yeah, sorry." I breathe out and step back, stretching my hand out to pass the bottle to him.

He takes it from me, momentarily his fingers glides his over mine. Even the faintest touch makes my insides squirm, my heart thudding hard against my chest.

He goes back to lean on the same tree as before and puts the bottle to his lips. He holds my eye as he tilts the bottle back, the same bottle I had my lips on just second before. Agonisingly slow, he takes it from his mouth still looking directly at me, his green eyes blazing into mine.

After what feels like hours, he breaks eye contact and walks over to Naomi and hands her back the bottle.

The girl takes it from him easily, a small smirk on her face as she looks between me and the dark haired boy who's still staring at me. Her perfectly filled in eyebrows raise as she widens her eyes, taking a swig from the bottle to stop herself from saying anything.

I ignore her weird gestures and try to forget that whole interaction with the new boy, who for some reason I can't get out of my head.

God damned good looking boys.

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