Chapter 12 Party
The kiss becomes more passionate as he brings one hand to my face, pulling me impossibly closer. It feels good kissing him. It’s fun, the idea of being here with him, but it doesn’t feel right. There is chemistry between us, but it just doesn’t feel as good as it should.
I break the kiss, my panting being the only noise around us. His breaths come out fast as he looks over my face. His cheeks are flushed, and I can feel how excited he is about this against my leg. At least he seemed to really enjoy it. My face must convey my conflicting emotions, making him ask if I’m okay. He pushes my hair away from my face, looking at me intently.
“I’m okay, it’s just kinda scary out here alone.” I chuckle, trying to cover myself.
“You’re not alone. I can protect you from most everything out here.”
I give him an incredulous look.
“Seriously, they make us watch some training videos and practice self-defense against every type of threat.”
“So you could fight off a bear?” He tightens his arm around my waist, holding me closer to him, bringing his other arm up to flex it.
“The bear should be scared of me, not the other way around.”
I roll my eyes, splashing water towards his arm. His deep laugh overwhelms the silence. Somehow, we end up close again. I decide to get rid of my apprehensiveness and say fuck it.
I make the first move this time crahsing our lips together. It’s a faster kiss as he pushes his tongue through it, deepening the kiss. My leg wraps around his, pulling us even closer. The water slushes around us. I feel the same tinge of something being not right, making me pull away from him again.
I glance around us as he kisses around my mouth, going to each cheek. I can hear distant rustling in the woods around us. He kisses my jawline, making me look to the other side. Then my eyes catch something. Several sets of glowing eyes. My mind immediately goes to the large wolf. What if it’s watching us with the rest of its pack?
“I think there’s an animal out there.” I pat his shoulder, making him stop.
He looks in the direction I point. “I don’t-” He stops himself as he sees the eyes move.
“Let’s get back to the camp.” His voice is low, and I don’t waste a second on his affirmation that I’m not seeing things.
We swim back to the shore, he quickly throws on his shirt and starts throwing everything into his bag while I pull my clothes over my wet skin. I put on my sneakers without socks, ignoring the awful feeling of sand in my shoes.
“Come on.” He holds out his hand, guiding me back to the camp. What was watching us?
My bed shakes, making me almost jump out of my skin. I open my eyes, leaving the memory of last night behind.
“Wake up, help me pick out what to wear.” Beth holds up two options: one is a tiny dress with see-through panels on the stomach and back. The other is a pair of jean shorts and a cute top.
“Probably to shorts and top right? I doubt people are going to be wearing dresses in the woods.”
Her eyes widened before nodding. “You’re so right, it’s not a house party.” She takes the outfit I picked behind the partition to get changed.
“What are you going to wear?” I lay back on my bed, letting out a loud sigh.
“Whatever you or Cassie pick for me?” I offer.
“Good thing I have great fashion taste then. Cassie’s missing out on it.” She comes out of the partition, posing to show off the outfit.
“Looks perfect! You look hot, Bethy.” She rolls her eyes at my nickname.
Coming to my drawers, she digs through the shorts, finding a similar pair of jean shorts and a top that is short and tight like hers.
“Wear this.” She throws them on top of me, making me get up and change.
Cassie comes into our cabin while I’m changing, complimenting Beth’s outfit.
“Are you guys excited to party?” She teases.
“Yes, please, I need some excitement in this place. Anna’s love life gets boring after a while.”
“Oooh, what else has transpired in that crazy love life?”
“Well, Anna went on a date with him last night. Came back here through the window, soaking wet.” I come out from the partition, giving them an unimpressed look.
“Seriously guys is my love life the only thing we can talk about?” They ignore me.
“Anyways, a whole lot of kissing and touching happened at the pond, but apparently the big wolf that’s hunting Anna brought some friends, ending it early.” Cassie looks to me at the mention of the big wolf.
“A big wolf is hunting you?” She sounds disbelieving.
“I never said it’s hunting me. We just saw several pairs of eyes in the trees, and I didn’t want to chance it being the wolf from the other night.”
She gives me a look to continue.
“The other night, I found a wolf outside my window, like an insanely large bear-sized wolf. Beth doesn’t believe me, but it truly happened. I wasn’t dreaming.”
Cassie looks mildly concerned, looking back and forth between a serious me and a laughing Beth.
“I assured her that no wolves in this area are as big as bears. But she’s set on it.”
She joins in. “Yeah, I’ve never heard of wolves that big, but we do have a lot of them in this area.”
“Well, maybe one got hold of steroids or something.” This makes them both laugh, lightening the mood of the conversation.
“Enough about wolves lets go to this party.”
We don’t meander any longer, following Cassie out of the cabin. She leads us on a trail from camp, where the sound of music steadily grows. We pass at least one sign warning campers to turn back to camp before we reach the source of the music.
A large clearing with several tables set up, a big speaker, and more alcohol than probably nessicary sit at the end of the path. It’s full of people, some playing beer pong, others sitting by a fire, and some just dancing in front of the speaker.
This is a full-blown party.