by Mia Evans
I settle back on my pillows and start to write. Where I left off, Kya and Felix had just been getting closer because Kya finally opened up to Felix about her writing.
Now, Kya is still struggling with her insecurities, but Felix stays by her side and keeps motivating her to open up and put herself out there. I feel the whole range of emotions as I bring my characters to life, writing out their personal development plot lines and love story.
I write chapter after chapter, and I get excited thinking of editing them later. I hope that my readers love it as much as I love it.
My favorite scene that I finish happens when Kya and Felix are on the playground. Since the beginning of the story, it was their spot, but now it means so much more because it's where they shared their secrets. And it's also the spot where Felix is planning to tell Kya that he loves her.
Even though I know it's just my words and my own made-up characters, my eyes water as I lay it on thick.
It's only after I type "The End" on Kya and Felix's story that I realize I made them kiss on the slide the exact way I wish Will and I had kissed on the playground last night.
10
TWO DAYS LATER
Matilda clunks up the hill, struggling as the incline increases. Will is still singing along with the radio. I can't help but laugh as he tries to raise his voice along with Lady Gaga's. Right when the longest note hits, Matilda must like it because we start to climb the hill easier.
After we get up the hill, Will slams on the breaks. I look out his window and see that we have pulled up next to a dark brown birdhouse. Will unbuckles his seat belt and leans most of the way out the window, so far that I'm sure he could fall out if he scooted forward just another inch.
He digs around in the box and reaches into the back pocket of his shorts, pulling out a couple of bucks. He tucks the money into the box and pulls out a parking sticker, hooking it expertly in the empty plastic holder around his rearview mirror.
Before putting the car back into 'drive,' Will opens his phone and scrolls through a couple of messages. I don't like myself for it, but I feel a twinge of jealousy, wondering whose messages he's reading.
When he finds what he was looking for, he tosses his phone back into the center cup holder.
"So we're just supposed to take a bunch of lefts, and then we should see them," he says, shifting Matilda back into gear.
Matilda makes a slow turn to the left, just missing a tree with how wide she is. Branches snap under her heavy tires as Will slowly coasts her to the left.
"We're looking for a black and gray RV," he tells me.
I nod and take it upon myself to turn down the radio. With the music quieter, I can hear the AC as Matilda works extra hard to pump it out of the vents. Will hums along with the next song, and I can't help it when my eyes drift towards him.
He'd know what the RV looks like better than me anyway.
"You're supposed to be helping me look for the RV. Not checking me out, Corren," Will smirks.
I blush, turning away, so I am looking out my window. Hopefully, he can't see my blush.
"I was just checking your side too. Don't want to miss anything."
"Oh, yea, thank you very much."
I cringe as I realize that I've been caught. Again.
Matilda makes another left, and we turn down a path with fewer trees. A low hanging tree branch scraps against my window, covering the entire thing with green. Thankfully the branch is padded with full leaves. Otherwise, Matilda would have just gained more scratches.
"Oh, there they are!" Will exclaims, quickly laying on the horn.
Matilda makes a pathetic little gurgle sound. The RV parked to the left toots back a much more impressive horn.
"Yea, I've got to get that thing fixed," Will mutters.
I laugh with him, and Will pulls Matilda on the opposite side of the RV. Will turns the keys in the ignition, and Matilda sputters off.
As soon as Will opens his door, a girl with black hair comes out of nowhere and tackles him in a hug, giggling as she does it. I watch as Will catches her, hugging her back just as tight. The jealousy that was in my stomach moments ago is back, full steam. Bitterly, I unbuckle my seatbelt and open my door, jumping out to make my way to the other side of the van.
"Long time no see!" the girl laughs, finally letting go of Will.
I watch as she straightens herself out, ruffling Will's hair though she is a good five inches shorter than him. She is tan and lean. Her long, wavy dark hair goes down to the small of her waist. From here, I can see that her teeth are perfectly straight and white.
"It's good to see you too, Maddie," Will laughs, straightening himself out.
I know that Will said they were just friends, but the jealous part of me can't help but wonder if that's the full truth. They look pretty peachy. Too peachy.
"William!" a booming male voice calls off to the side.
I turn and see a tan man — (why does it seem like everyone who does van life is so tan?) — come around the other side of the RV. He is around Will's height, but he isn't nearly as lean or muscular. He is wearing a pair of navy blue swim trunks, a gray muscle tee, and brown Birkenstocks. He is completely bald, and the second that Will turns to him, he bursts out into a huge smile, his teeth equally as perfect as Maddie's. Guess perfect teeth are another requirement.
Will sprints to the man, just as crazy as when Maddie sprinted to him and tackles him in a hug, nearly sending him toppling to the ground. They wrestle around, clapping each other on the back, laughing. When they let go of each other, they laugh, talking animatedly.
"They're always such goofs together," Maddie says, coming up next to me.
I try to control my face. I don't want her to see my reaction to how she was with Will.
"I'm Maddie," she says, holding out her hand.
I pause for a second. "Ella," I say, shaking her outstretched hand.
She smiles at me, and I try to smile back. "How long have you known Will?" I ask.
Maddie has piercing blue eyes and a dainty upturned nose. Deep pink colored lips and a smattering of freckles across her high cheekbones. She looks like a model.
"For about a year or so now. My boyfriend, Matt," she says, pointing to the man Will is talking to, "and I were traveling around Wisconsin, but we're not from here. Neither of us had actually seen snow before, but we really wanted to. We camped out at this spot, and we were so ill-prepared. Will was a couple of spots over, and he saw us, could tell that we didn't know what the hell we were doing, and offered to help."
I smile, relieved to hear she's with the guy that Will is talking to. Also because it's nice to hear another example of what a genuinely good person Will is.
"How long have you two been together?" Maddie asks.
I chortle, her question catching me off guard. Maddie looks confused.
"Sorry, I'm not laughing at you. It's just Will, and I aren't together."
Her eyebrow raises, and she gives me a weird look. "Oh," she says, "sorry, didn't mean to make things awkward."
What was that look for? Also, I'm surprised that Will wasn't clear that we're just friends. He's made it clear to me that that's the only thing he wants us to be.
"It's all good," I quickly say, "definitely not awkward at all."
Will and Matt start towards us, huge grins on their faces.
"Uh oh, those grins mean trouble," Maddie laughs, squealing as Matt comes up behind her.
"Trouble? Me? Never," Matt jokes, kissing her on the cheek.
Will slowly walks up to my side, rolling his eyes at them, and I smile.
"Matt, this is Ella. Ella, this is Matt," Will says, nodding to each of us.
"Hey there," Matt says. He wraps his arms around Maddie's waist and rests his chin on her head.
"Hi," I say.
It's clear how comfortable and in love they are. I wish I had that. I sneak a glance over at Will, see that he's looking at me, and quickly look away.
"How was the drive?" Ma
ddie asks, leaning back into Matt.
"It was interesting," I say, laughing with Will.
Maddie's eyebrow raises, and Will laughs harder. "Ella has never been on a good ole fashioned road trip. Had to show her everything she was missing out on," he shrugs.
"You've never been on a road trip?" Maddie gasps, her eyes wide with shock.
I shrug, trying not to feel embarrassed.
I realize that I am the only one in the group that doesn't do many adventurous things. Everyone else here lives in their vehicles, doing what they please when they please. Because of that, they have all of these cool experiences that I will never know anything about.
"Hey, first time for everything, right?" Will says, saving me from the awkwardness.
"Yea, absolutely," Matt says while Maddie nods.
Suddenly, Maddie's face lights up. "You guys, we should go swimming!" she exclaims.
"But babe, we were swimming just a couple of hours ago," Matt says.
"True, but Will and Ella haven't gotten to swim yet. If this is Ella's first time camping, she needs to experience everything. And the best part about camping in the summer is the swimming!"
"Yea, that's true," Will says, piping in next to me. "Plus, this is my second favorite lake in the entire state," he says, turning towards me.
Everyone looks at me, waiting for an answer, and I feel my cheeks flushing from all of the attention.
"Yea, swimming would be nice!" I say, trying to muster up as much enthusiasm as possible.
Swimming does sound nice. I've always liked swimming since I was a kid. My mom used to take me to pools and sit at the side, saying that I looked like a mermaid and telling me what types of tricks to do. When I was younger, I could spend hours at the pool.
However, I am nervous about doing it now. Will will see more of me than he ever has, and compared to Maddie, I know I'll feel insecure. It will probably only convince him more that he's not interested and that we're better off just being friends.
But, before I can talk myself out about it, I agree. Maddie cheers and jumps up and down, clapping. Immediately, she flings her shirt off and races towards the water, Matt right on her heels.
I watch as both of them shed the rest of their clothing in the race to the lake. They speed up when they get closer to the water, and then both bend their knees and jump, launching themselves as far out as they can. When they come up from the water, they are a couple of feet away from the shore. Matt latches onto Maddie and twirls her out of the water, her black hair spraying around the couple like they're both majestic mermaids.
"You guys coming or what?" Matt shouts, jumping with Maddie on his shoulders.
"Yea, come on! The water's perfect!" Maddie shouts, squealing with laughter as Matt starts running them backward. Before Maddie can prepare and jump ship, Matt flings himself over onto his back, and Maddie only has time to squeal loudly once more before both of them are underwater.
They seem to be entirely in their own world when they come up, which leaves Will and I to change.
"You can have the van first to change, if you want," I say, heading back to Matilda's other side.
"Sounds good," Will says, rushing in.
I hear him banging around, and then just a couple moments later, he's back out, wearing a pair of dark gray swim trunks. He also whipped his shirt off. I try not to let my eyes wander over every muscle on his chest, but it's hard.
"I'll meet you down by the water, okay?" Will asks, already heading towards his friends.
"Sounds good," I say, grateful to have a couple of moments alone to give myself a pep talk.
I sink onto the bottom of Matilda as I listen to the sounds of Maddie squealing and Matt and Will laughing and splashing around in the water. I know that I'm being weird taking all of this time, but my anxiety feels over the roof. I don't know what it is. Both Matt and Maddie seem like really nice people, but going out there with them feels really intimidating.
Normally if I was feeling like this, I would jump ship. There have been plenty of times in my life when I was on the verge of doing something exciting and out of my comfort zone. However, I would get in my head at the last second and talk myself out of it. It feels like I'm about to go through the same process again, but before I start spiraling, I snap myself out of it.
Violet was right. If Will thought I was boring, he wouldn't have been so insistent on me going camping with him. And besides, the only way to get more fun stories under my belt will be to actually go out there and do them. I need to do this, regardless of what my anxiety is saying.
With this newfound determination, I strip out of my clothes and change into my bathing suit. I'm glad that I followed Violet's advice and went shopping for a new suit after she hounded me about what I would bring for the trip.
Now, instead of my old simple black one-piece, I have a new hot pink bikini that makes me feel awesome. Usually, I would never wear a color like this. But when I FaceTimed Violet in the fitting room with it on, she said that she wouldn't talk to me for a week if I didn't buy it. That's how good she swore I looked in it. She said it would be a shame and a shot right through her hopeless romantic heart if I didn't put myself out there and make Will see me in it.
I try to tap into some of that confidence I had when Violet was on the line with me, hyping me up in the dressing room. I go through affirmations as I apply sunscreen to my arms and chest. I rehearse the flirty phrases I practiced with Violet to get Will to apply sunscreen to my back.
Just as I am finishing applying the sunscreen to my legs, there is a knock on Matilda's door. "Are you alright in there, Ella?" Will asks, sounding concerned.
I take a deep breath. I've got this.
I am a badass. I am a money maker. I am powerful. I am fearless.
"Yea, I'm good, be out in a second."
I do a once over in the small mirror strapped to the back of the passenger seat. I look good.
I am a badass. I am a money maker. I am powerful. I am fearless.
I swing open the door and come face to face with Will. When I step out of Matilda, the look on his face makes me heat up from the inside out. I don't feel bad at taking in every dripping muscle on his stomach with the way he's looking at me.
A couple moments pass in silence between us as he looks me over from head to toe. I wonder what he's thinking. I know what I want him to be thinking, but clearly, I was wrong about what I swore he was thinking on the playground.
Finally, Will clears his throat. "You look awesome," he murmurs. And for the first time since he rolled into town, he's the one to blush instead of me.
"Thanks," I say, reveling in the flush of color that spreads across his cheeks. It makes me feel beautiful and sexy—my heart races.
We're about to head away from Matilda, but before we make it a couple of steps, I remember the flirty lines.
"Hey, Will?" I ask, reaching out to him.
My fingers wrap lightly around his arm, and both of us look down to where we are connected. His green eyes get even darker, and I almost forget my lines. Luckily, I rehearsed them at least a hundred times with Violet.
"Yea?" he asks, clearing his throat again. His voice sounds strained.
"Could you rub some sunscreen on my back? I don't want to burn."
Without waiting for his answer, I turn and press my arms against Matilda. Just like the way I practiced on the line with Violet. Instead of Violet erupting into cheers and hollers when I did on FaceTime, Will sucks in a breath of air, which I think feels even better than Violet hyping me up.
"Yea, let me see the sunscreen."
I pass him the small bottle, and I feel absolutely magical as he takes his time rubbing it into my shoulders. Every part of my body feels on fire and tingly. I can't believe I actually went through with it. Violet is going to freak when I tell her. I'm so proud of myself. It's such a small thing to a lot of people, but it's huge to me. I'm actually going for it. I'm actually flirting.
Will steps closer, and I can feel th
e warmth radiating off his chest and onto my back. My throat feels tight as he rubs his fingers into the sensitive spots of my neck, and I have to hold back a moan. That would make it weird.
"There we go, that should do it," Will murmurs, and I feel his breath trail along my back. Instinctively, it makes me shiver. I don't mean to do it, but the motion closes the space between Will's front and my rear, and we brush against each other. Will sucks in another breath, and even though I'm a little embarrassed, a soft gasp falls from my lips too.
When I turn around, Will's cheeks are red, just like I imagine mine are. But, instead of being mortified and wanting to run out of the woods, I enjoy it. I feel high on touch and pride.
"You ready to go swimming?" Will asks.
We both turn and see Maddie and Matt waving to us from the lake. This time, Maddie is struggling to take Matt onto her shoulders like he was doing before. They laugh as Maddie's knees buckle, and they both topple over into the water.
"Absolutely," I say, running with him to the water.
I feel giddy. Just like I did when we were on the playground.
I chance another look at him before I jump in.
Maybe, however, this giddiness will actually result in something, unlike the playground.
11
Will and Matt come out of the lake, water flying off their bodies and hair as they shake off like dogs on each other, laughing.
"Gosh, those boys," Maddie laughs, taking another sip of her water.
I'm glad that I have sunglasses on so no one can see that I am staring at Will, watching water droplets slide down his perfectly muscled body. His navy shorts hug his lower body. He shakes his long hair out, trying to get it on Matt. Matt laughs and shoves his chest as Will keeps flinging water droplets at him.
When Will stops, he runs his hand through his hair like he always does, but this time it slicks back messily. I watch as he grabs his towel off the tree he left it on and wraps it around his shoulders.
How does he manage to make something like drying off look so good?