Chapter Five

ALL THE THINGS I'VE YET TO DO (3) : GO CAMPING

I end up taking Ariel up on her offer and, after sending a quick text to my dad, I decide to stay at her place.

“Good morning,” she says when I roll over to face her, a bit after 1pm.

I smile back lazily and jump up to go to the washroom. When I open her bedroom door, I’m greeted by the sight of two shirtless boys arguing in the hall.

“Listen, Naruto would one hundred percent beat Deku in a fight,” says the taller one.

The other shakes his head. “I’m not disagreeing, but I’m saying that with time, Deku will be insanely strong!”

They pause their conversation when they hear me close the door.

“Maya! Tell him! Deku has the potential to hold his own against Naruto one day!” exclaims the younger boy.

“Good morning to you too,” I roll my eyes. “I agree with Ace: Deku will be super powerful by the end of the series. That being said, I’m pretty sure Naruto would completely annihilate him, regardless.”

“Exactly,” beams the taller one. “This is why Maya is always welcome here.”

Ace scoffs, “It’s not like we could get rid of her, even if we wanted to.”

Instead of coming to my defence, Alex agrees with his brother. I laugh as they switch the topic to debating a different set of characters.

Continuing my trek to the bathroom down the hall, I’m happy to see that those two are back. I wonder if everyone’s home.

The Scott family has five children: Ariel, Adrian, Ace, Alex, and Adonis. Each of them are two years apart, the twins being the youngest. How their parents managed to take care of newborn twins with a two year old, four year old, and a six year old is beyond me. After brushing my teeth with the toothbrush that I always leave here, I return to the room to find Ariel missing.

I skip down the stairs and follow the various voices to the kitchen. At the large glass table are the four boys along with Ariel.

“Good morning Maya,” greets Mr. Scott from the stove.

The smell of breakfast invites me to grab a spot next to my best friend. “Morning!”

Mrs. Scott appears at the table, passing plates and cutlery around, before her husband joins us and sits down too.

“So,” Adonis starts, once we begin to shovel food onto our plates, “I’m thinking some time next week.”

“I have Monday to Wednesday off from work, so that works for me,” agrees Alex.

I stop gulping down my orange juice (bad drink choice after brushing my teeth, by the way), and join their conversation. “What’s happening next week?”

“Oh! I completely forgot to mention it!” says Ariel, turning to me. “The five of us are going camping.”

My mouth forms an ‘o’ shape.

“You should definitely come, Maya,” offers Ace.

“How do you expect to get rid of me when you keep inviting me everywhere?” I joke.

“That’s what I keep telling them!” exclaims Mr. Scott. We all laugh, and he adds, “No, but seriously, you should go! I’m sure you guys will have fun.”

I look around at everyone for confirmation. “Come,” says Adrian, “I’m gonna invite the guys later too.”

“Christian will probably come too!” squeals Ariel from beside me.

Before I can retort, all three of the older boys glare at me and say in unison, “Who the hell is Christian?”

“Woah! Calm down there bros,” I raise my hands in defense. “He’s just one of Justin and Eli’s friends.”

“A friend that clearly wants you!” adds Ariel.

Adrian snorts. “Yeah, but Maya barely gives him the time of day.”

“That’s my girl,” grins Mrs. Scott, “gotta make these boys put in a lil’ work every now and then.”

Mr. Scott smiles lovingly at his wife. “She friendzoned me for a good couple of months, but eventually she realized that friends couldn’t do what we wanted to do to each other.”

“Gross!” the kids all groan.

I, instead, smile. It’s nice to see two people who are so openly in love with each other. They make sure to set a good example for their kids and show them what a healthy and happy relationship is like. Together, they’ve created a safe place for not only them, but me as well. I don’t want them to ever feel disappointed in me. To be honest, they’ll probably miss me more than my mom will when I’m gone.

“I’d love to come,” I finally answer.

The family cheers and we finish up our breakfast before Ariel drives me home.

The week leading up to the camping trip is highly uneventful. Now, I’m fully packed and waiting for Ariel to come and pick me up. In the kitchen, I set down my duffle and backpack, before beginning to search for Mango. After a few minutes, my dad appears with the aforementioned cat snuggled in his arms.

“Morning, MyMy,” he kisses my forehead.

“You two seem close,” I laugh. At the sound of my voice, Mango jumps down and begins to circle and nudge my legs. I pick him up and his purr fills the room. “Glad to know someone will be looking after him while I’m away.”

My dad passes me to start a pot of coffee. “Your mom doesn’t like him being in our room, but when she falls asleep I sneak him in.”

I laugh quietly. While I look to be a splitting image of my mother, clearly, I am my father’s child. It’s always been this way; he’s chill and laid back, while she always acts like she has a stick up her ass. Since I was young, I’ve never been able to connect with her like I do with him.

When Ariel finally messages me saying that she’s outside, my dad picks up my bags and follows me out the door. In the driveway is a blue van, big enough to hold eight people. Ariel’s mom let her borrow her car so that everyone could just ride together.

We approach the van as she hops out to greet us. “Morning, Mr. King!”

My dad places my bags on the ground and envelopes her in one of his famous bear hugs. “Hello, darling.”

As they catch up, talking about how school went and what he’s up to at work, I go to the trunk to put my bags in. When the door flies up, I’m able to see into the car.

“Hey!” I beam, receiving various greetings in response.

In the front seat is Adrian. In the two middle seats are Justin and Eli, the latter asleep against a pillow that is resting on the window. All the way at the back, closest to where I’m standing is a certain dark haired boy.

“Mornin’,” says Christian in a raspy voice.

Oh, how I wish I could bathe in the sound of a boy’s morning voice. The vibrations flow through my body and straight to my core. I slam the trunk shut, trying to forget how his voice makes me feel. After hugging my father goodbye, I open the front passenger seat.

“Nuh-uh,” warns Adrian, “I’m not moving for you today. Get in the back.”

Ariel smiles sheepishly from the driver’s seat, causing me to groan and shut the door. I have to walk all the way to the other side because if I open Eli’s door, he will surely fall out, and I don’t think he’ll be too happy about that.

Justin hops out and pushes his seat forward, allowing me to crawl in next to Christian. When I buckle my seatbelt, Ariel pulls off.

“How’ve you been?” yawns Christian, swatting his hair from his eyes.

I shrug, “Same old, same old. You?”

“Same,” he replies shortly.

I nod and slouch down in my seat, getting comfortable for the long ride. After a few moments, I feel a sudden weight falling onto my shoulder.

Christian sighs contently as he adjusts his head on my shoulder. His eyes are closed and I take a moment to appreciate the fine details of his face. Soon, he fixes his seatbelt and moves to lay his head in my lap.

“You smell nice,” he says quietly.

“Thank you,” I chuckle, “I bathe.”

He snorts and his eyes flutter open. “You’re a weird one for sure.”

“Hey, don’t make me tell Natalie that her dear Chrissy is being rude to me,”

To my surprise, he doesn’t scoff at the nickname. Instead, he looks up at me silently. His eyebrows knit together while his eyes dart around my face.

“What?” I ask, suddenly self conscious.

He shakes his head before his eyes fall shut once again. “I can’t find one flaw in your face. Maybe you really are perfect.”

I’m glad that he can’t see me because I’m sure that I’ve turned the colour of a tomato. Rather than replying, we fall into a comfortable silence. At some point, he falls asleep, and remains that way the whole two hour ride.

When the car turns into a little dirt parking lot, I nudge him slightly. Upon waking up, he stretches and sits up straight. Ariel parks next to two other cars.

Adonis rolls down his window and asks, “You guys ready to go?”

We all nod and exit the car. It’s only around 10am, but already, the mid-May sun shines down on us, promising good weather for the day.

From the car furthest from us, five girls pile out and join our group. I take note of the fact that they made sure that the girl to boy ratio is even, and resist the urge to roll my eyes.

*

I sit on my chair, sipping a cooler, and admire the boys’ work. Around me, four large tents are set up: two for the girls and two for the boys.

“At least one of you girls could have helped us,” grumbles a shirtless Justin, coming to sit on the bench next to me.

Ariel whispers something in his ear which causes his eyes to widen. After looking her up and down for a second, he wipes the sweat from his forehead and asks an approaching Eli to hand him a drink.

The others soon join us, all taking a seat around the unlit campfire.

“What should we do now?” asks Alex, putting his arm around a girl named Hailey.

“I wanna go for a swim,” she answers.

“How about skinny dipping?” he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

Ariel and I grimace. “Four of you are my brothers, and I’d rather not see you all naked right now,” she says.

Adonis scoffs. “Who’s idea was it to bring those two again?”

“Come, Maya! The guys will be there, it'll be fun!” I do my best to mock Adrian’s deep voice.

He rolls his eyes before taking his shirt off and throwing it at me. Us girls return to our tents to put on our swimsuits. While I change, I wonder if the boys can see us through the thin fabric of the tent walls. I chuckle, knowing that I’m safe since their little sister is also changing next to me.

I grab my beach towel and walk over to where the boys are gathered. At the sound of my footsteps, they all turn towards me. I begin to feel a bit awkward. Not because of the Scotts, I’ve been swimming at their house for as long as I remember, but because of the way Christian is watching me.

I’m not the skinniest girl. My thighs are thick and I’m a bit pudgy around the middle. My bust makes it almost impossible to find swimsuit tops that fit correctly and don’t threaten to let everything slip with one sudden movement. That’s why I’m wearing the most basic black bikini out there.

I ignore his gaze and shift my attention to the other girls, now coming to join us. All of them are shaped beautifully with flat tummies and toned bodies. Subconsciously, I raise my towel up around me. When we’re all ready, we begin the short walk through the trees that leads to a small lake.

Hailey is the first to kick off her flip flops and run towards the water. Her blonde wavy hair flies behind her as she grabs Alex. They make an attractive couple. I’m sure they’ve gotten together recently, because although I’ve heard him mention her a few times, I’ve never actually met her.

The rest of the group follow them while Ariel and I place our towels on two broad rocks and take a seat. It’s gradually gotten warmer since we arrived, and the feeling of the sun on my bare skin is unmatched. I plan to soak up a bit of sun before I freeze my ass off in the water.

“Do you think they work out, or are they just God’s favourites?” asks Ariel, voicing my own previous thoughts.

We watch as Eli and Justin splash the girls. I grab my stomach playfully and say, “I’m not sure, but if they want some fat, I’ll gladly loan it to them.”

After a few minutes, Justin calls Ariel. I assure her that I’ll join in soon and she runs off to meet him in the water. Of course, my eyes find their way to Christian, who happens to be chatting with one of the girls. Her name is Olivia and, if I remember correctly, she’s the same age as him.

She has long, slim legs, and she looks like she could be a model. Standing there together, I can already see them on the cover of a magazine. I only realize I’ve been staring when Christian catches my eye. I plaster on my best fake smile, but to my dismay, he starts walking my way. Olivia pouts slightly as she watches his retreating form. My fake smile turns into a real one.

What happened to giving back to the less fortunate, huh Maya?

“What’s up?” Christian asks once he’s in ear shot. I lean forward and rest my arms on my thighs in an attempt to hide my rolls. He looks as if he has something to say, but decides against it.

It was probably just a fat joke, you know how guys are.

“Just soaking up some Vitamin D,” I answer.

He smirks and says, “I know you know what I want to say, and you set yourself up for that one, but I’ll let it slide.”

See what I mean?

“You really left Olivia over there just to come and antagonize me?” I sigh.

“Is someone jealous?”

“I’d have to actually care in order to be jealous,” I shoot back.

Rather than giving me a smartass response, he reaches his hand out to me. “Come on, Amaya. Live a little. I’m sure something like this is on your little list.”

He couldn’t be more right. Camping is on the list. Still, I shake my head and say, “I’ll come soon, you go ahead.”

Before I can process it, he scoops me up and starts heading towards the water.

“Since you always wanna be so damn difficult,” he mutters.

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I'm so used to writing in past tense that I accidentally end up switching between that and present tense. Sorry for any errors that I didn't catch!