It’s getting quite late but the game goes on: the bottle points at Xander and it’s Leah’s turn to ask.
‘Truth of dare?’
‘Dare.’
Leah is about to say something but Lucy whispers in her ear and she nods and dares:
‘I dare you to go to that changing room over there and have 7 minutes in heaven with Clary. And we need proof that you at least kissed her!’
‘Hey, what the heck? Why does this dare involve me?’
I protest but Lucy and Leah retort that many other dares involved other people.
‘If she doesn’t want to, pick another girl...’
Pleads Xander.
‘No. It’s with Clary. And now the dare is for both of you and I actually triple dog dare you both!’
Lucy folds her arms in an unyielding stance.
‘Hold on, the bottle pointed at Xander, why are you involving Clary into this?’
This time is Logan that voices his annoyance.
‘Everyone else has accepted their dare, even if they involved other people. I knew it was wrong to invite you kids...’
I am about to reply something but I meet Joel’s eyes: I know he’s always considered me and my friends kids and even though he’s always going to be out of my league, I want to prove that I am not a kid. That, and Lucy triple dog dared me, so if I don’t get into that changing hut with Xander, everyone will expect that I shave my head. Apart from the fact that I love my long hair, a bold head would be hard to explain on Sunday when I have my weekly Skype video call with my mom.
Of course this means that my first kiss will be on a dare and with Xander but even though I don’t like him, I admit he’s a very attractive boy in a douche bag, bad boy kind of way.
‘Ok, let’s get this over and done with. We’ll see who’s childish. Come on, Xander...’
I say marching towards the changing hut and he follows me quietly: we get in, shut the door and turn the dim light on.
‘Your seven minutes start now!’
Yells Lucy from outside.
We stand there quietly and I have my arms folded around my chest, I am looking at the wooden floor at my feet.
‘Clary... You don’t have to do it, you know?’
His tone of voice irks me: here we are, the usual Xander is back.
‘I have no intention to shave my head, let’s get it over with...’
I let my arms fall and take one tentative step towards him.
He comes closer, the tips of our shoes touching and our chests close; I can feel his body heat and his scent of sandalwood and amber invades my nostrils.
He puts a finger under my chin, lifting my face towards him: his eyes stare into mine, aqua green and gold flecks and then his gaze drops down to my lips.
I have waited for my first kiss for at least the last two summers and I would lie if I said that I don’t feel a thrill right now.
He lowers his face towards me and his soft breath brushes my lips: I close my eyes waiting for the contact but it never comes.
I reopen my eyes and look at him, his eyes still on mine but now darker.
‘Xander?’
‘I can’t!’
He takes a step back but doesn’t take his hands away from my elbows: his words hurt more than all his cruel remarks and jokes.
‘Seriously? I know that you don’t like me but I didn’t think you found me this repulsive...’
I say looking away and trying to control the tears that I feel coming.
‘Is that what you think? That I don’t like you?’
He asks putting his finger under my chin again to get me to look at him.
‘You couldn’t make it more clear by the way you treat me, with all your taunts and snide comments...’
Xander’s hold on my elbows gets a bit tighter and he shakes his head in confusion.
‘Clary, you have it completely wrong. I do like you... A lot. From the first time I saw you a few days ago at the airport. I wanted to talk to you but you looked lost in your own little world, so... I tripped you.’
‘Ha! You admit that you did it on purpose?’
He smiles, his eyes twinkling in the dim light.
‘Of course, I did. I had noticed you before security when you were saying goodbye to your mom and I had overheard that you were headed here at camp too. I couldn’t wait to talk to you and so... I tripped you. I’m sorry.’
I shake my head in disbelief:
‘But... but... If you like me then why were you so insufferable?’
‘Was I? I thought we had some good banter going on...’
I will never understand boys, never!
‘Xander, I seriously thought you hated me.’
‘I’m so sorry, Clary. Teasing you was my way to get you to notice me. But I like you... A lot.’
‘I don’t know what to say... What about Lucy? She already has it out for me...’
‘What about her? Don’t worry, she’ll leave you alone.’
‘Not if she perceived me as a rival...’
He looks confused again.
‘Come on, Xander! I know you hooked up with her on the beach the first night of camp...’
‘I never hooked up with Lucy.’
I protest that I saw them on the beach and that she was adjusting down her dress and he was closing his jeans when they came out from a bunch of trees.
‘She called you a jerk for some reason and that kind of fitted the idea I had of you...’
He explains that Lucy had asked him on a walk and he had only followed her because he had seen me and Logan going towards the beach.Then Lucy tried to kiss him and open his jeans but he turned her down and she didn’t take it very well.
‘I talked to Joel later on that night, I thought he and Lucy were an item but he said that they only sleep together occasionally and that it’s a bit of a tradition at camp that every new young instructor and apparently some of the waiters sleep with her. It’s kind of an initiation thing.’
Wow! Lucy is even more of a slut than I thought: and I don’t judge her for being free with her sexuality but I do judge her for not giving it any value whatsoever and for using it as a means to an end, to be popular.
I still don’t understand why Xander said he can’t kiss me though and I ask him.
‘You intimidate me. You are so beautiful, smart, so sure of yourself... You make me nervous.’
‘Are you sure you aren’t saying all this stuff just to make me feel better about the fact that you find me ugly?’
He kisses my cheek very lightly and takes me in his arms, the tips of our noses touching and his fresh breath fanning my lips.
‘I like you, Clary. And you make me nervous and if I kissed you now, I would probably not do a very good job of it. Also, I don’t want our first kiss to be on a dare. But I will kiss you, if you will let me. Just not tonight. Will you let me, my beautiful Clarissa?’
He asks, eyes twinkling again and hand cupping my jaw.
How did this happen? I thought Xander hated me and that it was mutual but if I have to be honest with myself, I did find him very attractive from the beginning, I just thought that he disliked me and now that I know that this is not the case...
We had fun this morning at archery and he was so incredibly thoughtful about the book.
I look into his eyes and nod slightly.
‘I am sorry for completely misunderstanding you... We can definitely try to be friends.’
He smirks, playing with a lock of hair and tucking it behind my ear, tracing my ear lobe with his finger and making my heart beat faster.
‘Friends with benefits, I hope...’
This is one of the jokes that up until 5 minutes ago would have made me furious but now I giggle and say:
‘The benefits have to be earned, my dear friend...’
His smile widens.
‘I’ll be your knight in shining armour and earn all sorts of benefits...’
I admit that a lot of Xander’s jokes are quite funny but
I don’t want to give him the satisfaction quite so easily so I shift my focus on a problem we haven’t solved.
‘I hope you’ll feel the same way when I will have a bold head, since you won’t kiss me...’
‘True, those idiots out there want proof and we don’t even have our phones on us to try and manufacture a fake kissing photo...’
‘Well, the seven minutes are almost up and this is the best I can do...’
I say wiping the lip gloss off of my lips and getting the tube from my back pocket and applying some gloss to Xander’s lips and then smudging it with my finger.
‘This might work...’
He approves and takes me in his arms again, lowering his face towards my neck and placing his lips softly just under my ear lobe.
‘Stay still, so when they open the door, they’ll find us like this...’
His lips barely touch my skin but his breathing tickles me and sends goosebumps all over me: I’m glad that he’s holding me because if he weren’t, I think my knees would give out.
The door opens suddenly and everyone is whistling and laughing.
Xander lets me go and we step out of the changing hut.
Lucy and Leah are there and when they see my lipgloss smeared all over his lips, Lucy challenges:
‘So, how were 7 minutes with a little girl?’
Xander’s gaze doesn’t falter and he puts her in her place:
‘Clary is not a little girl, Lucy. And I think you owe her an apology, we won the dare.’
5.
Boys and girls
That night my last thought before falling asleep is for both Logan and Xander: I came to camp dreaming of being noticed by Joel and even if of course it’s not the kind of attention I was hoping for, he now seems to know that I exist. I could never have imagined that two gorgeous guys would like me and I would like them back.
The problem is that I will have to make a choice between the two of them and I have no idea how I am going to do that: Logan seems the obvious choice, seen as up to this morning I couldn’t stand Xander but now things have changed and I really want to get to know him better before making a final decision.
I wake up at 8 feeling quite refreshed and very hungry since I have only eaten one meal in the previous 24 hours.
I look at Hazel and she’s still sleeping and Brie and Jemma’s door is still closed, so I decide to go by myself and enjoy a quiet meal for once.
I wear a bikini under a little white gauzy tunic so I can go to the beach after breakfast and I’m sure my friends will meet me there when they eventually wake up.
I serve myself some fresh fruit and a heap of scrambled eggs and a glass of OJ and settle down at a little table.
I’m eating without thinking about anything in particular but I must be miles away because a voice startles me:
‘Is this seat taken?’
Xander is standing by the empty chair with a plate in his hand and he’s smiling at me: how did I never notice that he has an amazing smile that reaches his eyes and makes his already gorgeous features look even more stunning.
I tell him that the chair is free and he sits down and asks me if I slept well.
We chit chat while we eat our food not mentioning last night and our 7 minutes in heaven.
‘What are you doing this morning?’
I tell him I have no particular plans and I was thinking about going to the beach and he offers to go with me later if I go on a little walk with him first.
‘I am going up to the media room and I could do with the company: I have a Skype date.’
I narrow my eyes: he has a date? Don’t tell me that he has a girlfriend and he’s been declaring his fondness for me despite being taken. I open my mouth to say something and he must read my facial expression pretty well because he puts his hands out, palm towards me in a defensive gesture:
‘With my mom. I have a Skype date with my mom. You could say hi, if you don’t mind, so she’ll be reassured that I am making friends and having a good time. She’s had a bit of a rough year and I don’t want her to be worried about me too.’
‘So... Just to clarify things, you don’t have a girlfriend, right?’
He smiles and takes my hand in his for a moment, looking in my eyes:
‘No, Clary. I am single. I would never tell someone I liked them if I was dating someone else, I am nothing like my dad. For full disclosure: I was dating a girl my whole senior year but after we graduated she ended it because I was coming here for the summer and in the fall she’s going to Princeton and I am going to Stanford. My mom thinks that I took it way harder than I truly did, probably projecting a little...’
I don’t have to ask what he means because he tells me the whole story:
I already heard from Joel that Xander’s dad is a tennis pro and twenty years ago, when his dad was only 19 and he was one of the youngest stars of the pro circuit, ranked in the top 10, he met Xander’s mom, a young French super model. They fell in love, got married, had Xander 2 years later and the little family lived the jet set lifestyle; Xander grew up living in California during the winter and Niece, France during the summer.
He would travel everywhere with his mom until he got to school age and since his mom wanted him to have a childhood as normal as possible, she didn’t want him to be homeschooled but have friends and sports activities and a normal life, she retired from modelling and settled down in LA with young Xander.
‘I don’t know if it was a change in their relationship with her being around way more, if they just grew up being different having gotten married that young or if my dad had always cheated and with my mom not around it was easier to hide his indiscretions but she soon realised that my dad couldn’t stay faithful. He cheated all the time, he had a different girl on every tournament.
My mom tried arguing, following him everywhere, ignoring his cheating hoping he would get tired of chasing a different girl every week, she got depressed, she started using and misusing painkillers but dad wouldn’t change his ways and kept cheating on her and of course his type hasn’t changed: blonde, young models. Which worsened my mom’s depression because she felt that at a certain point she couldn’t compete with 20 something girls, even though my mom is still absolutely drop dead gorgeous.
Finally last Christmas, she decided to get divorced and they are still going through it. This is why I didn’t want to come working here for the whole summer when Joel offered, because I didn’t want to leave her alone while she’s so vulnerable.
But she thought I didn’t want to come because I was wallowing about my ex and I decided to do it because I realised I was just another worry for her right now. I hate my dad, I haven’t spoken to him since they decided to get divorced. My mom on the other hand is the most important person in my life and we are best friends. Would you like to say hi to her? I know she’ll like you...’
I agree to go with him and we walk up in the woods towards the media centre: I don’t know if it’s built on a hill for better internet reception, since we are literally in the middle of nowhere but it’s the most out of reach building here at camp.
We walk side by side, chatting about my family and my hobbies back home.
When we get in the computer room, we sit side by side and he logs into Skype: his mom’s online and she answers his video call straight away.
Evangeline: bonjour, mon amour, comment ca va?’
Xander: hi mom. In English, please. I have a friend here and... Do you speak French, Clary?
Clary: no, sorry...
His mom is absolutely stunning: I can see where Xander got his unique aqua eyes, his high cheekbones and his dazzling smile.
Xander asks how she’s doing and his mom tells him she’s ok but even I can see that she’s sad but she’s trying to look cheerful not to worry her son.
Xander: has dad done anything bad to you? Has he tried to take the family home from you?
Evangeline: no, mon amour. He actually agreed to every unrealistic demand that my lawyer
has talked me into putting in the divorce agreement...
Xander: that’s good, right?
Evangeline: yes...
Xander: what aren’t you telling me, mom? I know that look in your eyes, something is going on... Will you tell me or do I have to email that asshole? If this is your way to try to get me to talk to him, mom, it isn’t really solving anything because I still fucking hate him...
His mom shakes her wavy blonde hair: she looks like a younger Cate Blanchett and has a kind smile even if veiled with sadness.
Evangeline: I guess you’ll find out sooner or later: he wants to accelerate the divorce because he’s got engaged to a 22 year old model from Argentina and he’s got his fiancée pregnant. So he wants to marry her before your stepsister is born...
Xander covers his eyes with his hands, he seems speechless.
Evangeline: Are you ok, mon amour?
Xander reassures her that he’s fine and just needs time to process the news and just wants to make sure that she’s ok.
Evangeline: Oddly, I’m good. I guess this is the push I needed to move on. Don’t worry about me, Xander, enjoy your summer and your gorgeous new girlfriend...
Xander and I look at each other for a split second and I see the silent plea in his eyes and I don’t confirm nor deny our relationship status.
We say goodbye and they tell each other “I love you” about 5 times and I find it the sweetest thing ever: I can see how much he adores his mom and that makes me like him that much more.
We vacate our chairs and Xander cups my jaw with one hand and places a soft kiss on my cheek:
‘Thank you for coming, Clary. You don’t know my mom but seeing that I have a friend made her feel much better in such a tough moment...’
‘It’s ok, Xander. I just hope she or you didn’t feel embarrassed talking about family stuff in front of a stranger...’
He shakes his head and reassures me:
‘If I’m fine with you being here, so was mom. She trusts my judgment and she knows I wouldn’t bring just anyone to our Skype date.’
His words and his kind smile make my heart feel warm and fuzzy and a bit confused at the same time because until last night, warm and fuzzy weren’t feelings I would have associated with Xander.
Lake Emerald Chronicles: The First Summer: A Reverse Harem Romance Page 8