CHAPTER 42: STRANDED
ALEXA’S POV
” Alexa, will you calm down? I am going crazy seeing you that way,” Rhea protested while grabbing my hand. She forced me to sit on the bench she was sitting at.
We are currently here at the campsite where Rhea and Caleb made a reservation. Rhea and I arrived first before Ken and Caleb, so I was here, not knowing how I should approach Ken later on. I mean, how should I act in front of him.
” Fix yourself. There were already in the entrance,” Rhea lectured, so I let out a heavy sigh to calm myself down. Hays, I will let fate do its thing.
After a while, I could see Caleb and Ken. Caleb waved his hand when he noticed us and hurriedly pulled Ken. They ran towards where we were. I stopped myself from laughing at what I realized. Ken seemed that he simply got up on his bed.
” Hi, Alexa. Hi, ugly,” Caleb greeted us. I smiled at him while Rhea hit the back of his head because of the way he called her.
” Hi, Rhea,” Ken greeted Rhea, and they exchanged high fives.
” Hi,” Ken greeted me afterwards when his eyes met mine.
” Hi,” I greeted shortly while not cutting off our eyes to each other. Oh my, I could really feel the awkwardness in the air.
” Ahh, what took you guys so long?” I heard Rhea ask, so my eyes shifted towards her.
” It is because of this guy. Surprisingly, he seemed better in slowing his movement more than a woman can do,” Caleb irritably replied.
” My body hurts because of the training last night. He could easily complain because he did not join the training last night,” Ken rebuked Caleb, and he jokingly punched Caleb’s shoulder.
” Well, I accompanied someone here who invited us for a camping in the middle of the school year,” Caleb stated, so we all looked at Rhea.
” What? I only asked once. Why it seemed like it was my fault?” Rhea replied while pretending to wipe her tears which made everyone laugh freely.
It was a relief on my part when we stopped laughing. I think the awkwardness earlier totally disappeared because of what Rhea did.
” So, what do you want to do first?” Caleb lively asked, which made me look at him.
” Sleep,” Ken replied in a cool manner.
” Boring,” Caleb and Rhea remarked in unison, which made them look at each other and start laughing.
” What is the recommended activities in this campsite?” I asked them.
” Well, according to the reviews I have read, there is a beautiful spring here where you can rest by bathing,” Rhea explained, full of excitement in her voice. Hmm, that was a good idea.
” Maybe there is something floating over there,” Caleb commented.
” You are really a scaredy-cat,” Rhea harshly remarked.
” I did not mean that way. What I mean was something dirty might float,” Caleb explained himself. I could not help but smile while seeing them. They really suit each other.
” You are dirty-minded. According to the reviews, what you think will not happen since the water there is crystal clear. Also, there was an old story by a resident near that spring stating that if the lovers dunked together in the spring, they will never be separated,” Rhea narrated. This girl is driving me nuts. She really believed that story.
” But —”
” We will only know if that is true when we are there already,” Ken cut off what Caleb was about to say.
” Ken is right, You are really judgmental, Caleb. But will you admit this Ken? You was also intrigued about that old story, right?” Rhea tried to tease Ken.
” You are overthinking too much. Whether is hot, so it will be great if we dunked on a fresh water,” Ken explained.
” Really? Why your ears turned red?” Rhea asked and laughed. It seemed like she would not stop teasing Ken.
” It is because it is hot. Just move fast and lead the way towards that spring,” Ken instructed while frowning.
” Psh, hot-headed,” Rhea whispered and grabbed my hand.
” Let’s go, beshy. Let’s change clothes,” Rhea exclaimed while she started walking and pulling me.
Rhea only stopped pulling me when we already reached the restroom on this campsite. Woah, they have it here. I was overthinking how I would survive not using a toilet while staying here. While Rhea and I were changing clothes, no one dared to speak. I do not know, but I still do not have the energy to talk right now.
” Caleb and I did our best to remove the awkwardness between the two of you. I hope you will both make an effort to make it remain that way. Caleb and I would not agree that our friendship will disappear simply because you two broke up,” Rhea reminded me before we went back to where Caleb and Ken at.
When we had already made sure that our things were secured, we started walking towards the spring that Rhea mentioned earlier. While we were walking, there were a few times that Ken’s eyes and mine met. Still, I immediately looked away when I realized it.
” Wow!” I exclaimed in amusement when I saw the spring Rhea mentioned.
The ambiance is lovely, and the water is really clear. The place is not hot since there are big trees surrounding the area. If I describe this place in one word, it will be a paradise.
” What are you waiting there, let’s go.” Rhea shouted, who was currently in the spring already. It made me back to my senses.
I did not let anyone notice that I was surprised and immediately ran towards the spring. We spend a few hours in the spring, so I am sure my skin color will be tanned, but it is alright since I really enjoyed this day. We are like children happily playing in the spring with no problems and pain carrying inside. Maybe, in some way, what Rhea mentioned to us was true because I could not imagine my tomorrow would be without these three in my life, especially Ken. Maybe it will be fine for me if we remain friends as long as he is on my side. The sun was already setting when we decided to go back to the campsite.
” Oh, Ken and Beshy, can you two get some woods we can use later? The thing we will be using in cooking is consuming some woods,” Rhea explained.
” Huh? Why not do it together then, so it will be faster?” I disagreed. This girl seemed that she was plotting something the way she looked at me.
” Caleb and I need to go back first to the campsite to assemble our tent. It will be difficult for us to assemble it if it is already dark,” Rhea remarked.
” We can assemble the tent together, or we can get some wood by ourselves,” I replied and widened my eyes at her.
” That is not possible since the tent is heavy, we need a guy. The woods are also heavy, so it will not be really possible,” Rhea responded.
” But—”
” Let’s go, Lex. It will be late if you two continued fighting about it,” Ken interrupted me.
I could not do anything but follow Ken. However, before I followed him, I hurriedly hit Rhea. Rather than feel pain, she laughed at me. It seemed like she really planned this well. I was not really complaining that she did; however, I still did not know how to talk to Ken causally if we were only two.
” Ouch!” I shouted and hurriedly held my knee. It had a wound and currently bleeding because I stumbled into something.
” Are you all right?” Ken worriedly asked and approached me.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
” Y-yes, I think I stumbled into something,” I replied and looked away. I did it because there was only a few inches gap between our faces due to the fact that he kneeled down to check my knee.
” You are not cautious, tsk,” He irritably stated while searching for something in his pocket. He took his handkerchief from his pocket and carefully tied it to my knee.
” S-sorry,” I whispered because my knee was really painful.
” Are you able to walk on your own?” Ken asked. Rather than answer his question, I tried to get up and walk alone. However, I would almost fallen to the ground again if Ken did not catch me.
” Hop in my back. I will carry you,” He instructed and turned his back to me. I remained standing where I was because I was uncomfortable when a man carried me in any way.
” Do it faster, Alexa. It seemed like it would be raining after a while,” He said slightly irritatedly. I looked at the sky because of what he said. He might be right because I felt how cold the air was. I could not do anything but hop on his back, so we could quickly go back to the campsite.
While Ken was carrying me, no one actually dared to talk. The only sound I heard was the deep breath of Ken and the fast beat of my heart. Ken started panicking when raindrops started falling. He tried to run, but the way towards the campsite was too slippery. Aside from that, it was already too dark where he was walking.
” I saw an old house over there earlier, we could stay there until the rain stopped,” Ken stated while slowly walking to where he was pointing out earlier.
After a few minutes, we arrived at the old house he was talking about. It seemed too old and maybe abandoned, but Rhea did not mention anything about this old house earlier. Ken slowly put me down in a chair inside the house.
” Stay here for a while, I will try to find something we can use as a source of light,” Ken remarked, but I hurriedly held his hand.
” Do not leave me,” I begged.
” I will be here, just wait for me,” He assuredly said and smiled at me. I slowly let go of his hands.
I let out a heavy sigh when I could not see him anymore. Sometimes, fate is too playful. The rain is pouring hard outside, so maybe we will stay here until the following day. I cannot imagine how I can survive this night with my ex-fake boyfriend.
TO BE CONTINUED!