‘I know,’ Jeffrey said in a low voice. ‘It’s our secret. But I need you to help me, Aurora. What candy do I choose? I kind of want both. I know it’s wrong, but I do. Maybe I could kiss both of them — like at Baskin-Robbins when you sample the flavours? I need to do some taste testing before I choose which one to make permanent.’
I didn’t want to be too hard on him, as he was obviously reeling with shock at the novelty of his totally unexpected situation, but I wasn’t going to have him playing with the girls’ feelings either.
‘Jeffrey, this isn’t The Bachelor. You can’t play them off each other. Plus, your choice shouldn’t be based on pure physicality. You should choose the girl that you feel the best connection with. That’ll translate into your kisses.’
‘Jeffrey, you are not in this cooking group.’ Ms DeForest was suddenly standing behind him. She gave me an irritated look. ‘Unless you have a desperate desire to join in on the clean-up later?’
Jeffrey was up like a shot. ‘Okay, Aurora, I won’t do any sampling, I promise. I’ll try and work it out. They’re both amazing. Either one of them would be a treat.’
‘Right, kitchen duty it is,’ Ms DeForest said. ‘I’ll see you straight after dinner.’
Jeffrey was so high on cloud nine that he just shrugged and dashed off to his tent.
It became clear that the Leap of Faith had triggered people’s appetites. We had a dinner line forming within seconds of the announcement that the food was ready.
‘Mutiny!’ John from the soccer team shouted when he saw the raw food feast on display.
‘We need protein!’ Nathaniel yelled. ‘How are we supposed to build tone with this rabbit food?’
‘Protein, protein, protein!’ the entire soccer team shouted.
‘Legumes are protein,’ Ms DeForest said. She glooped some of the bean and onion mix onto John’s plate.
He sniffed it and mock-retched.
‘I’m starving!’ someone moaned down the line.
‘Sir, surely we can whip up something else for dinner?’ Jelena asked Mr Quinten. She looked extremely uneasy, as if expecting the hordes to rise up against her like the French storming the gates of Versailles at the start of the revolution.
‘It’s unfortunately a bit late for that,’ Mr Quinten replied. There was a chorus of groans at his response. ‘By the time we prepare another meal, it’ll be after ten. We need to be on schedule for bedtime so that everyone has enough energy for a full day of activities tomorrow.’
‘How are they meant to have enough energy with only grated carrot for sustenance?’ Jelena said.
‘This isn’t a school trip! This is a prisoner-of-war camp!’ John shouted.
‘I’m suffering from muscle wastage!’ someone else yelled.
‘Boys, cut the complaining,’ Mr Quinten ordered. ‘I’ll boil up some rice quickly.’
Most people ended up eating a plate of white rice with a drizzle of bean mix on the side. Hoping to talk to Hayden by the fire later, I deliberately avoided the raw onion. I had enough to stress about without adding bad breath to the list.
After we’d eaten, the clean-up took a ridiculously long time, even with Jeffrey’s additional help. Everything was stained with beetroot, and the hours and hours of simmering the beans had left a hard black rock-like layer on the bottom of the massive pot. The heat hadn’t let up either. Despite it being nine at night, sweat was trickling down my brow as I scrubbed at the pot base.
While I worked away, Ms DeForest sat by the fire, her hands nearly touching the NAD’s as they chatted. All personal issues aside, it was hard for me not to feel upset purely because of the way he’d allowed her to monopolise his time on the trip. He’d claimed that being a volunteer would give us some father–daughter time, but that intention had completely gone out the window the moment he’d spotted Ms DeForest’s long brown ringlets.
When I’d finally finished cleaning the pot, I headed over to the fire. My friends called me to join them. They were sitting in a group with Hayden, Scott, Hunter, Chloe and Johannes, some distance away from the flames.
‘It’s too hot to hang out next to that thing,’ Jelena explained, pointing at the fire. She’d changed into a midriff top, but was still fanning herself with a fashion magazine to cool down.
Hayden waved me over to sit next to him. It was hard not to start beaming.
‘We’re playing spin the bottle,’ Sara said as I sat down. ‘It’s Lindsay’s turn. Lindsay, truth or dare?’
‘Dare,’ Lindsay said.
‘I dare you to go over to that tent and steal a pair of Travis’s boxers.’ Sara was laughing before she finished the sentence. She pointed at Travis’s tent, which was only a few metres away and seemingly without occupants.
Lindsay hesitated. ‘I don’t know … Mr Quinten said if we step into a boys’ tent, we’ll get suspended.’
‘Mr Quinten headed for the long drop two minutes ago,’ Sara replied. ‘Come on. You have a lot to prove in the bravery stakes today.’
‘Sara!’ I chastised.
Lindsay set her jaw, stood up and marched over to the tent. She disappeared inside and we heard the sound of rummaging, before she emerged triumphantly, waving Travis’s boxers in the air like a flag.
Travis spotted his Family Guy boxers from the other side of the common area. ‘Hey, they’re my favourite pair! You know, Lindsay, I’d have given you the ones I’m wearing.’
Travis came running towards us, unbuckling his belt. Lindsay let out a shriek and tossed the shorts at Sara, who screamed and batted them away. Fortunately Travis tripped in his enthusiasm and sprawled flat, meaning he was embarrassed enough to head back to his former spot.
Lindsay spun the bottle and got Sara. ‘My turn. Truth or dare?’
‘Truth,’ Sara said, obviously worried at what Lindsay might choose if she said dare. Her comment about Lindsay’s bravery had been pretty uncalled for.
‘Do you find Johannes attractive?’ Lindsay asked.
We all held our breath. Cassie and Scott were giggling silently. I tried not to laugh myself.
‘Well, you know …’ Sara stumbled over her words, looking at the ground. She was one of those people who pride themselves on being scrupulously honest, so she was obviously struggling with an answer.
‘Tell the truth,’ Lindsay said.
Johannes looked like he was only just holding himself back from nodding furiously.
‘Well, when it comes to general opinion —’
‘In your opinion, Sara.’
‘Fine, yes, yes, I do. In a completely impartial, it-doesn’t-make-an-iota-of-difference-to-me-as-I’m-staying-single way, yes, Johannes is a hottie,’ Sara burst out. ‘Are you happy now?’
Yes! I knew it! A couple more weeks and she’d crumble.
Lindsay shrugged, giggling. She knew she had the upper hand. ‘Well, I know Johannes is.’
‘The Swedish word for happy is lycklig,’ Johannes said. ‘And I am feeling it!’
‘Okay, me next,’ Jelena said, and spun the bottle. ‘Cassie, truth or dare?’
‘Truth,’ Cassie said. Last time she’d chosen one of Jelena’s dares at a slumber party, she’d had to go pick up pizzas in her bikini. In winter.
‘What’s your ideal kiss?’
Our group seemed to go deathly quiet.
Cassie looked down at her fingernails. ‘This is kind of personal.’
‘Cass, you picked truth, and if you switch to dare I’m just going to make you demonstrate your ideal kiss, so choose your poison.’
‘I’ll do a prototype kiss,’ Johannes said, smiling at Sara.
Cass sighed and kept her eyes down, not daring to look at Scott. ‘Soft and slow. Really romantic. Minimal tongue. If there is some tongue, then it should be relaxed — you know, soft, not pointy.’
‘“I love it when your tongue’s relaxed,”’ Sara whispered to me and snickered.
Well, hopefully that was unsubtle enough that Scott would get the hint.
; ‘Hope you’re following those instructions then, Scott!’ Jelena said, and elbowed him in the ribs.
Or so blindingly obvious he couldn’t miss it if he tried.
Cassie looked like she wanted to elbow Jelena in the face. Thankfully Chloe, who was next, sensed the tension and quickly grabbed the bottle. She got Hunter, who chose truth.
‘Why did you leave your music school for Jefferson?’ she asked.
‘I fell too hard for a girl and then half-lost my mind when she ended it,’ Hunter replied. ‘Losing my mind meaning I foolishly trashed a practice room one afternoon.’
The circle was totally silent as we all studied Hunter. It was hard to believe someone so quiet could be so destructive. I was worried for a moment that he was going to get up and leave, but he seemed at ease with his confession. Maybe, like Chloe, he’d come to terms with his out-of-character behaviour.
‘That was an intense question, Chloe, so I’ll ask one back. What do you honestly think of me?’ Hunter looked at her like he could see through any façade she might put up.
To Chloe’s credit, she didn’t look frightened by the question. ‘I think I recognise a kindred spirit. And not just in a losing-your-mind-over-your-ex way.’
Hunter spun the bottle and it stopped at Lindsay again. This time she picked truth. ‘Are you actually missing your boyfriend?’ he asked.
Obviously they’d talked while being buddies that first day. Still, that was a pretty personal question.
‘Well, it’s Tyler, I love him,’ Lindsay replied, almost automatically.
‘But do you know what love is?’ Hunter pressed. ‘Because it doesn’t sound like there’s passion there. A passionate woman is decisive — there’s no hesitation in her answer or lack of emotion in her voice when she’s questioned about the man in her life. Maybe Tyler hasn’t been showing you the true meaning of love.’
‘It’s one question per turn, Hunter,’ I said, trying to make the point in a joking way. I could tell Lindsay was shaken even though she was trying not to show it. ‘Time to spin the bottle again.’
Jelena gave it a quick spin and I hoped it wouldn’t stop at Hunter again. It stopped at Hayden.
‘Goodie!’ Jelena clapped her hands together. ‘Hayden, truth or dare?’
‘Dare. I can handle what you dish out.’ Hayden laughed.
Hopefully she wouldn’t make him wear a bikini.
‘I dare you to kiss Aurora,’ Jelena said. ‘Show her the meaning of passion, just like Hunter was going on about.’
My face was as hot as the fire. Everyone looked at Hayden and me expectantly.
Hayden gave me a long look. ‘I don’t think it’s appropriate for the situation,’ he said, and stood up. ‘I’d better leave you guys to it. I can see Mr Quinten signalling.’
‘What were you thinking?’ Sara hit Jelena on the head with her empty water bottle. ‘For someone who professes to be a leader, you don’t put a lot of thought into the consequences of your actions, do you?’
‘I’m sorry!’ Jelena virtually yelled at Sara, yanking the water bottle away from her.
After what had happened with Hayden, I’d made a break for our tent and my friends had followed. We were now all sitting on Jelena’s oversized mattress.
Sara gave her a wry look. ‘You might want to direct your apology to the person whose love life you’ve ruined.’
‘I didn’t ruin anything,’ Jelena shot back. ‘Aurora, I’m sorry. I honestly thought it would help you guys get a little bit closer. I wouldn’t have said it if I’d had any doubts about him doing it. You know I don’t bet on unlikely odds. The whole thing doesn’t make sense. What about the Leap of Faith? He was literally begging you to leap into his arms, so what the heck happened the moment I offered him an excuse to do just that?’
‘The arms he was holding out were obviously meant to be platonic,’ I replied, trying my best to keep my voice from shaking. ‘It’s not your fault, Jelena. Things have been weird all week. I’d kind of thought things were turning around after the Leap of Faith too, but Hayden’s obviously made up his mind that he’s not interested in anything more than friendship with me.’
‘You know, being stupid enough to reject you is one thing,’ Jelena ranted. ‘I’d have forgiven him for that because he’d deserve our pity for being severely short on brain cells and completely without taste. But I’m furious at him for publicly rejecting you.’
To be honest, I was too. Not sitting next to me on the bus had been bad enough, but scorning me in front of my friends, as well as Johannes, Scott, Hunter and Chloe, was beyond embarrassing. If he’d lost interest in me, why couldn’t he have told me in person? It was infinitely kinder than turning down a kiss with me in front of eight people!
Jelena twisted the corner of her pillow angrily. ‘He could have at least given you a peck on the cheek or the lips as a token gesture. He had no right to embarrass you in that way.’
‘It doesn’t seem like Hayden at all,’ Cassie said. She looked as upset as I felt. ‘Maybe we’re taking this all the wrong way. I’ll ask Scott to talk to him man to man. Maybe —’
‘No. I’ll talk to him.’ Jelena’s lips were thin with displeasure. ‘Not only is he rejecting my friend, he’s messing up the romantic image of Aurora and Hayden that I’m trying to promote on those T-shirts —’
‘Guys, please don’t bother. He flat out refused to kiss me in front of everyone!’ I broke in. ‘It’s obvious. The Hayden–Aurora story is over.’
I knew they meant well, but I was dangerously close to losing it. I was at a complete loss as to why Hayden would want to make me feel this bad. But that didn’t mean I wanted my friends cross-examining him about it. There was only so much a girl’s pride could take.
‘For the remainder of the camp, I need to focus on the matchmakees,’ I went on. ‘If I end up unable to function due to grief over Hayden, then all of our work goes to waste.’
Sara turned to Jelena. ‘You see why I want to stay single? It’s to avoid situations like this. You really like a guy, he seems completely into you, things are going great, and then bam! He hits you with a blow so brutal and so out of the blue that you’re left seeing stars and completely unable to focus.’
‘Guys, please.’ I got into my sleeping bag and lay down. My jaw was so tense my cheeks were aching. ‘I don’t mean to be rude, but can you leave me alone for a while? I just want to go to sleep and try to forget about today.’
And yesterday. And the last two weeks. And every moment I’d ever spent with Hayden. I’d never have them again and that knowledge was killing me. I couldn’t even take solace in the memories, because it hurt too much to know that Hayden had also experienced all of those moments yet obviously hadn’t valued them. The person I’d thought I was getting to know was totally different from the real Hayden. And I’d given him my first kiss! That precious moment, which I’d never get back, had gone to someone totally unworthy of it. Someone who hadn’t even had the decency to initiate an honest conversation with me once he’d changed his mind about our relationship. He had that little respect for me.
I felt like a complete idiot. I’d been so caught up in my seemingly storybook ending that I’d been blind to the fact that my Prince had been planning his exit for the past week or so! I almost started to cry, but held back. What Hayden had done proved he wasn’t worth my tears. I sat up and took a few deep breaths to calm myself. I wasn’t going to hide in this tent like a victim of heartbreak. I’d lost confidence since the lip-lashing incident and hadn’t been my usual forthright self the past fortnight, but that was about to change.
I thought back to when Hayden had just been my interfering next-door neighbour. I’d never hesitated to let him know my opinion of his behaviour if I believed it was out of line. A month or so ago, I would have charged on over there and given him a piece of my mind.
I stood up and shrugged off my sleeping bag. Hayden might have rejected me, but I wasn’t going to lie down and take it. For whatever reason, he’d decided
to publicly embarrass me tonight and that was not okay. It was demeaning and undeserved and I was going to tell him that face to face. After all, he’d already rejected me and humiliated me in front of my friends, so I had nothing to lose now.
I grabbed my torch, unzipped the tent and marched determinedly over to the campfire where Hunter, Chloe and Johannes were sitting. Hayden sat on a log off to one side, having what looked like an intense discussion with Scott. Obviously Cassie hadn’t heeded my plea to keep her boyfriend out of my business. Well, I didn’t need Scott to take control of this situation; I was capable of doing that myself. I was a modern princess and would defend my own honour.
Hayden looked up as he heard my footsteps marching towards them.
I grabbed his arm. ‘I need to talk to you now.’
‘Aurora, of course; I was just going to come find you.’ Hayden jumped up from the log. ‘Why don’t you take Scott’s seat? Would you mind, Scott?’
‘I’m not talking to you in front of everyone.’ I gestured for him to follow me as I marched away from the campfire. ‘There are certain things that I have the sense,’ I threw him a look over my shoulder to make my point, ‘not to conduct in public.’
I switched on my torch and headed down the path towards the toilets, but instead of turning left, I turned right into a clearing I’d spotted that afternoon. Sure, there might be bugs, but at least this way we didn’t have to worry about any busybodies listening in.
A huge moon had risen and the clearing we now stood in was drenched in its light. I would have to end up in just about the most romantic locale ever while wanting to kill my date. Like I’d always suspected, my fairytale was running slightly askew.
‘Aurora, be careful.’ Hayden grabbed my arm to steady me as I stumbled on a tree root.
‘I don’t want you to touch me,’ I said, and pulled away. For some reason, the physical contact had spiked my infuriation levels to a new high. I felt hot tears forming and hated myself for it. ‘You don’t get that privilege any more.’
‘Aurora, I know this is about the truth or dare. Let me explain, please —’
How to Convince a Boy to Kiss You Page 27