Without a Compass

by Helen Juliet

  Kai rubbed the back of his neck, his grin big and silly. He touched his fingers to Riley’s for a fraction of a second. “Good, that’s good,” he mumbled.

  “I heard you almost died,” a voice drawled to Riley’s other side.

  He turned to find Sheena Patil at his elbow, her hair still wet from her shower and an amused sparkle in her eyes. Her t-shirt had a police line-up of Disney princesses on, all holding up different charges, from drug offences to breaking and entering to impersonating a member of the military.

  “Ha ha,” he said and rolled his eyes. He pointed at his feet, now happily wearing flip-flops to ensure his wounds weren’t aggravated any further. “I’m sorry to disappoint, but I’m still alive.”

  Sheena winked at him, then turned back to the nattering group. “Place is boring without you guys around anyway.”

  Riley allowed himself a little smile, and Kai bumped his shoulder conspiratorially.

  Sadly, his good mood didn’t last. While he’d been distracted, the Grinter twins had flounced over and were now inserting themselves into the circle with loud greetings to everyone. Like they couldn’t be anything less than the centre of attention.

  Riley felt like a glacier slid through his insides. He wanted to grab for Kai’s hand, but he couldn’t, so instead he just looked over at him. Kai’s expression was grim; however when he saw Riley looking at him he relaxed and stepped closer. “Ignore them,” he mumbled in his ear. “They don’t matter. Especially not fucking Daryl.”

  That was easier said than done though, as they bounced around the group until they slotted in between Kai and Brendon, who’d just been joined by Slady. “There you guys are!” Charlotte cried, clasping her hands to her chest. “We were so worried about you!”

  “Nothing to be worried about,” Kai said dismissively as Riley’s dad tried to get everyone’s attention.

  “You got stranded,” Charlotte carried on scandalously. “Riley, I’m sure you were so grateful to have Kai there to save you.”

  “I’m sure he was,” Daryl added. His expression and tone were both steely, and Riley did his best not to flinch away. His gaze seemed even more scrutinising than usual, but what Riley could have done to offend him in the past day from several miles away, he had no idea.

  “Riley didn’t need saving,” scoffed Kai.

  “Alright everybody!” Riley’s dad said loudly, almost shouting. That finally appeared to do the trick, as the gaggle around him on his rock fell quiet and gave him their full attention. “Excellent. Well, congratulations for all completing the first adventure of the holiday. I hope everyone had fun!”

  There was a cheer, and Riley realised they had been joined by several other families that had arrived since the hunt’s departure the morning before. Some of them were holding the same sheets of paper, but most of them just seemed to want to join in with the results.

  Riley recognised a few of the adults and one or two of the teenagers and kids. None of them paid him much attention, which was fine by him, so he went back to looking at his dad.

  “I think the best way to judge the winners will be to go through each question one at a time, have the teams present their answers, and I’ll decide on the best ones. The team with the most points wins!”

  “And we have the prize right here,” announced Pamela Grinter. She opened her hands out over the large gift basket by her feet like a glamour girl on a games show. From what Riley could see it had all kinds of luxury foods, drinks and pamper products. He sighed. He’d love to win it for his dad for a birthday present, but he figured his and Kai’s chances probably weren’t high.

  Although, as they started presenting their finds, his hopes crept up a little bit. Their Sundew flower may not have been as colourful as the sunset the Sidcups managed to capture, but Riley and Kai were the only ones to have found all three different types of fern, and their deer hoofprints were the rarest out of the tracks the others had been able to document.

  Most people had succeeded in finding the purple bell heather, either producing photographs or specimens they’d picked and brought back with them. The same went for the Sneezewort and Alpine Cinquefoil, which were both flowers that Riley would never have found without Kai’s know-how.

  As they came to the last few items, Riley gave Kai an excited glance. They had been the only ones to procure the lamb’s wool, not just take a photo of the flock from far off, so his dad had given them bonus points. They still had the feather challenge to go, which he and Kai had three great specimens for, and their photo for ‘something up high’. Surely no one had scaled the fell as much as they had. There was a real chance they could win this thing after all.

  At some point, Bia had woken up and sat herself in between Kai and Riley’s feet. It felt right that they should offer up their last findings as a threesome, just as they had collected them.

  However, it quickly looked like they’d been trumped.

  “Our feathers and up-high photo is a combined entry,” said Charlotte, barely containing her glee. She held out her phone for Riley’s dad to inspect, and the way his eyebrows rocketed up made Riley’s hopes diminish.

  “Goodness me,” he said, lifting his glasses so he could peer at the image closer. “Is that an Osprey nest?”

  “You’re joking,” cried Pavan Patel, moving over to look at the screen.

  “How did you find that?” one of the other new leaders asked as they all crowded around to see the picture.

  “We were so lucky,” said Daryl, humbly.

  “Yeah,” said Kai.

  He folded his arms and glared at Daryl. Riley was tempted to touch his arm and try and remind him not to bring up old baggage. But he didn’t want to give anything away unnecessarily.

  “Really lucky,” Kai continued. There was a note of hostility in his voice. “There’s only one nest reportedly in this area, and it’s halfway up a cliff side.”

  There was a moment’s pause. But then Daryl smiled, although it didn’t reach his eyes. “These new iPhones have an incredible zoom on them.”

  “They must do,” said Kai with a laugh. “Enough to see all the way to Foulshaw Moss?” He whistled. “Impressive.”

  Sheena stepped forward and looked at the photo. “That’s about an hour’s drive from here,” she posited. “Maybe an hour and a half.”

  “Probably several hours walking,” Brendon agreed.

  Charlotte snatched her phone back from Pavan’s hands. “It wasn’t that far at all,” she said crossly. “The birds must have another nest.”

  Kai’s expression suggested he thought that unlikely.

  “Now, now. Don’t be bitter,” cooed Daryl with a smirk. “You two got that gorgeous photo of the waterfall, very impressive too.”

  Riley had forgotten he’d posted that yesterday. He thought about how much they’d looked like a couple in it, and took a step away from Kai. “Yeah, that was pretty high I guess,” he said lamely.

  Kai was shaking his head. “The only way you could have gotten this photo is if you’d driven out there and scaled the cliff. Ospreys build their nests in notoriously inaccessible locations.”

  Charlotte spluttered, outraged. “You’re suggesting we cheated?”

  “That’s low, Brandt,” said Daryl, his voice so quiet Riley almost missed his words entirely.

  “Come on, kids,” said Cameron, pushing through the people that had gathered around the photo on the phone. “There’s no need to squabble. Riley, Kai, you’ve earned yourselves a very respectable second place.”

  “Yeah, Kai,” said Daryl with a smirk. “Can’t you just be happy with what you’ve got?”

  His eyes turned to Riley, and despite his best efforts, Riley flinched away.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Kai. “If you cheated, it’s not fair. We’re all supposed to be Scouts here.”

  “You’re being completely out of order,” Charlotte squeaked, pink spots rising on her cheeks. “We took this photo fair and square. You’re just jealous, it�
�s pathetic.”

  “We worked hard to get our photos,” Riley piped up. He couldn’t look at Daryl, but he leapt to Kai’s defence against Charlotte before he could consider what he was doing. “I bled for them. If that nest is where Kai says it is, how do we know you just didn’t take that picture off the internet?”

  “Now, Riley, come on,” said his dad, looking anxiously between the four of them.

  “That’s grossly unfair,” said Pamela crossly.

  “Is it?” asked Riley.

  “You already got your prize,” said Daryl, his eyes narrowed at Riley. “You can’t have everything, it’s greedy.”

  Riley blinked at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “Oh come on,” snarled Charlotte. Her blonde bob had come free from behind her ears and she was looking a little wild. “We saw you walking back to camp, hand in hand. It’s bad enough you’ve bewitched Kai here, you can’t win the hunt as well.”

  Coldness rushed across Riley’s skin as dread washed through him. “W-what?”

  Charlotte was definitely flushed now, and wouldn’t look at Kai, only Riley. “If you want to have a fling, that’s fine, but don’t flaunt it in our faces, alright? There are children here.”

  “Actually, there aren’t,” said Sheena without missing a beat.

  “What are you talking about?” demanded Jake. He’d picked up an agitated Bia and she was whining softly in his arms.

  “Guys, this isn’t the place,” growled Kai.

  Pamela shook her head and threw up her hands. “You’ve lost me.”

  “Just…keep it to yourselves,” snapped Charlotte. “I’m sure we’re not the only ones who don’t want to see you canoodling.”

  Riley could practically feel everyone’s gaze turning towards him and Kai. He was too busy focusing on breathing in and out and not panicking to look anywhere other than Charlotte. He could feel the tears pricking behind his eyes.

  “That’s bang out of order,” said Brendon, stepping in. “I don’t know what you think you saw—”

  “Oh, so these two weren’t snogging and holding hands earlier?” Charlotte demanded. Oddly enough, she looked like she might cry as well.

  “Not when we came through the town or the campsite,” said Kai coldly. “No. But thank you for outing us to everyone, that was really classy.”

  Charlotte’s face fell. “O-oh,” she stammered. Daryl’s expression remained mask-like.

  “This is none of anyone’s business,” said Riley’s mum, stepping up to place her hands on his shoulders. He raised his hand and squeezed her fingers gratefully. “We don’t care about the silly competition. You can take your prize and leave my son alone.”

  “Hang on,” said Riley. He turned to Kai, eyebrows raised. He knew he should be freaking out about the entire party being told about him and Kai, but something had just occurred to him. “The only way you could have seen us holding hands was back on the trail before we got to the town.” He nodded at Kai as his eyes grew wide with understanding. “The trail where we saw the drone.”

  Kai barked a laugh and pointed at the twins. “That’s it! The controller I found in your bag was for a drone. That’s how you got the photo, and how you bloody spied on us.”

  The group’s focus slowly swivelled from Kai and Riley over to Charlotte and Daryl.

  “That’s—” Charlotte spluttered, shaking her head. “Don’t be – why would we—”

  She seemed to run out of things to say.

  Daryl lifted his chin up. “You really think we’d fly a drone around to spy on you guys? That’s incredibly narcissistic.”

  “You’re the ones obsessed with us both,” said Kai smoothly. Then he took Riley’s hand. “Unfortunately, we’re off the market. Sorry.”

  Riley thought he might faint. Immediately, he looked around to see people’s reactions. Although there was a mixed lot of expressions, the majority were still focused on Darlottie, and they didn’t look impressed. The few paying attention to him and Kai included Jake, who was beaming, and Sheena, who gave Riley a wink when he caught her eye. There were a few that appeared surprised, and one or two wore frowns, but no one was whipping out their Bibles or edging away from the gay.

  In the end, Riley’s dad broke the sudden hush. “Guys,” he said heavily. “I hate to ask, but if you did use a drone, that’s really not very sportsmanlike. I’ll have to ask you to forfeit.”

  Charlotte rubbed angrily at her wet eyes and curled her lip. “Of course you’d believe them over us.”

  “By all means,” Brendon piped up. “If you can explain to us how you saw my brother and best friend on the other side of the town without a drone, go for it.”

  “And the ten-hour hike to get the bird photo on the side of a mountain,” said Sheena. “Let’s not forget about that.”

  “We don’t have to prove anything,” Daryl said calmly.

  His eyes were narrowed at Riley, but with his hand ensconced in Kai’s firm, warm grip, he found he didn’t shy away from the gaze. Riley could never change the fact that he’d allowed himself to be used by Daryl, but maybe now he could let it go. Move on and be happy.

  “Screw your stupid competition.” Daryl threw his and Charlotte’s sheet of paper to the ground. “Keep the prize.”

  “Oh, darling, no,” said Pamela. She fluttered her hands over the gift basket, but Daryl had already turned away and was striding back to the Winnebago.

  Charlotte sniffed and glowered at the group. “What are you looking at?” she snapped, following after her brother, their mum right behind.

  It was quite amusing to watch everybody staring in mild shock after them as they left. Riley suppressed a nervous giggle.

  Cameron let out a long breath of air. “Sorry about that,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m sure they’ll calm down soon enough.” He nodded at the people gathered around. “Enjoy the rest of your evening, folks.”

  Riley noticed there wasn’t exactly an apology there, but he didn’t care, not really. The Grinters weren’t what mattered. What mattered was that Kai was still holding his hand, in spite of the fact that eyes were now turning back towards them after Cameron and his family vanished from sight.

  Riley looked over at Kai, aware his family was watching them. “Are you okay?” he murmured.

  “I’m fine,” he said quickly. “Are you okay?”

  Riley smiled at him. That hadn’t exactly gone to plan, but he could only answer honestly. “I’m great.”

  “I’m hungry,” Jake announced.

  “And I’m Dad, nice to meet you.”

  The people around them groaned, but the atmosphere was lighter again.

  “Alright,” said Pavan loudly with a clap, grabbing everyone’s attention before anyone could make a comment on the outing of Riley and Kai’s relationship. “It’s curry night. Who wants to help? These pakoras aren’t going to make themselves.”

  “Oh curry night,” cried Jake. He lowered Bia back to the ground so she could trot back over to Riley. “Curry night is my favourite, I’ll help.”

  “Me too,” a few other people chimed in. Riley wasn’t surprised. Even from the few events he’d attended over the years, he knew how legendary the Patels’ chana masala and chicken biriyani were.

  “Oh man, I’m starving,” Kai, his eyes bright at the prospect of a proper meal.

  “Just let me grab my apron,” said Mrs Sidcup.

  Mr Sidcup came over to Riley’s dad as he hopped down from his rock. “Thanks for a great game, Phil,” said Mr Sidcup, clasping his arm. He looked sideways at Riley and Kai, managed a sort of nod, then shuffled off. “See you ladies and gents later.”

  Riley didn’t mind. A lot of people were more comfortable not having their kind of relationship dangled in front of their noses. But Kai stayed true to his word and didn’t let go of Riley’s hand despite Mr Sidcup’s obvious discomfort. In fact, he did separate their hands, but only so he could wrap his arm around Riley’s shoulders.

  Happiness came over him
in such a strong wave he felt tears in his eyes again, but this time for all the right reasons.

  “Well, this is unexpected,” said Slady with a laugh as she and Brendon moved to stand in front of him and Kai.

  Sheena snorted. “Not really,” she said. Considering how slim she was she managed to give Riley a solid slap on the back. “Congratulations, dude.”

  Jake changed his mind about following Pavan right away and instead hefted the prize gift basket from the floor where Pamela had left it. “Looks like this is for you guys!” he said in delight.

  However, that was when Riley’s parents joined them, completing their little circle.

  “Actually,” Riley said, glancing at Kai and raising his eyebrows. “I thought it would be a really nice birthday present for you, Dad?”

  “Oh,” said Kai quickly. “Yeah, that’s a great idea. Phil, we’d love you to have it.”

  Riley’s dad looked like he might protest, but everyone else was making appreciative noises and Jake spun to push the basket into his hands. “Oh, well,” he said bashfully. “If you insist. Then, I guess we can share it this week, can’t we?”

  Riley laughed, and so did his mum and Brendon. Of course his dad couldn’t accept such a gift outright, but it would be lovely if they could all share and enjoy it.

  His parents carefully placed the basket on the grass, and Riley watched Kai looking warily at them. He swallowed, bobbing his Adam’s apple, and squeezed Riley to his side. “So, um. I wanted to talk with you guys first about this. Us. I’m sorry.”

  Riley’s mum shook her head and took his free hand in hers. “Nothing to apologise for,” she insisted. “Riley explained everything.”

  “See,” said Jake to Riley, raising his eyebrows and dishing out a fair amount of sass. “I told you everyone would be fine. Kai’s going to make an awesome boyfriend.”

  “Oh, no,” said Riley hastily. He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. “Not boyfriends, not yet.”

  “Can’t we be?”