Chapter 29: Always.

Chapter 29: Always.

Valarie's POV.

"So, you have no idea where she could be right now?" I ask Hannah as I take a sip from my coffee.

"I don't. This is not like her." Hannah says with a worried look on her face.

"Well, she made her choice, might as well live with it." I say before I take a bite out of my croissant.

"Who's going to take care of Drew when we're gone?" She asks, staring at me.

"Mrs. Henderson has hired a nanny for him, so he'll be good." I assure her.

"Have you heard from Adam lately?" Hannah asks me as she picks at her salad.

"Yes, we talk every day. Why do you ask?" I ask her as I stare at the booth in front of us.

"Because Adam and I haven't really talked since the bake sale." She says, looking down.

"Well, you should call him." I suggest.

"I've tried. It's like I'm stuck in his voicemail." She tells me.

"I just had the craziest idea." I tell her.

"What is it?" She asks, her face lighting up.

"We should go camping. No cell phones, no distractions, just good ol' company." I suggest.

"That sounds great." She says, smiling.

"Can we invite other people?" She asks me and I think about it for a minute.

"Sure, why not? We're all leaving this devil town anyway." I say, smiling.

"Great." Hannah says already typing away on her phone. She's probably sending invites already.

***

"Adam, those are two thousand dollar pants. You're going camping, not to a Versace fashion show. Pick something else." I tell him as I lean into the sofa I'm sitting on.

"What do you want me to wear? My whole closet is full of designer clothes." He says, sighing in defeat.

Like that's a huge problem?

"You say it like it's a bad thing." I say, laughing at him.

"C'mon, help me, Vee." He groans.

"Alright Marshmallow Greg, calm your tits. How about those shorts laying on that chair over there?" I ask him.

"No way, those are a year old." He says in disgust.

"They're clothes, Adam. Not spoilt milk. You're going to wear them." I tell him as I walk across the room to grab the shorts.

"Not even on my deathbed." He says, over exaggerating.

"Must you be a William Shakespeare all the time? So dramatic for no reason." I tell him.

"I have a reason and so did William." He tells me and I fold my arms.

"Can you just shut the hell up and put these on?" I say before I throw the shorts at him.

"Rude." He says and I smile.

He takes off the pants he has on and wears the shorts I gave him.

"They look amazing. You're so wearing it tonight." I tell him.

"Make me." He says, daring me.

"Oh, I will." I assure him.

"Medusa." He retorts.

"At your service." I answer.

"Is Hannah coming?" He asks me as he tries on a floral shirt.

"Yeah, do you want her there?" I ask him.

"Of course, I haven't seen her in weeks." He tells me as he stares at himself in the mirror.

"She thinks you're mad at her for some reason. She said you haven't talked to her since the bake sale." I tell him.

"That's ridiculous. I've just been busy. It's nothing personal." He tells me.

"Okay, if you say so." I tell him in fake surrender.

"I say so. Now, come and help a brother out." He says and I chuckle.

"You're something else." I tell him as I throw a flannel shirt at him.

***

"We need to pitch the tents over here." Chad orders as some of the guys on the football team trail behind him with the tent gear.

"You really invited the whole school, huh?" I ask Hannah.

"What? You said I could invite anyone I wanted." She says, folding her arms.

Hannah and I decided to have the camping trip at Willow falls. It's just this waterfall on the outskirts of Langston.

"It's fine. There's just so many people here that's all." I tell her.

"Hey, guys!!! You need to try the punch, it's so good." Adam says, walking up to us with a red cup in his hands.

"Hey, Adam." Hannah chirps.

"Hey H. Like I was saying the punch is so good." He slurs.

"And you're so drunk." I tell him as I catch him to prevent him from falling.

Adam mumbles something incoherent and I laugh.

"He's long gone. I'll get him in a tent." I tell Hannah and she nods and walks away.

"Oh, come on." I say as Adam pukes on my shoes.

I drag him to the first tent I see and I put him inside. I zip up the tent as I leave it. I see a dirty rag laying on the ground beside the tent and I pick it up and wipe the vomit off of my shoes.

"Hey." I hear Zachary say behind me.

Oh, he's here too?

"Hi, I didn't know you were coming." I tell him as I start to walk back towards the huge campfire. He trails behind me as I walk in front of him. He grabs my hand stopping me in my tracks.

"What's wrong, Vee?" He asks me, pulling me to him.

"Nothing." I tell him with a smile on my face.

"What were you doing in that tent?" He asks me, staring into my brown eyes.

"Why would you want to know?" I ask, smirking at him.

"I don't." He says, tightening his grip on my waist.

"It was Adam, now can you let me breathe?" I tell him as I pull away but he holds me closer.

"You still smell like peaches, you know that right?" He asks me.

"No, I didn't know that." I tell him with a smile on my face. I place my hands behind his head.

He leans into me and plants a kiss on my lips. I kiss him back and he cups my ass in his hands. Here we are, in the middle of the woods making out like no one's watching, even though we know they are.

I pull away after some time to catch my breath.

"That was um..." I say trying to speak from my jumbled thoughts.

"Amazing." He says with a smile on his face.

"Well, I gotta get back to Hannah. I'll see you later." I tell him.

"Remember my tent's the biggest one." He says smirking and I have a feeling he's not talking about his "tent".

"You're sick, Zachary." I tell him, chuckling.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Valarie." He tells me as he turns to head back to his tent.

I walk towards the campfire and I see Hannah making out with someone. Out of curiosity, I slowly walk towards her, so that I can't get a good view of the male in question. It's Chad. Good to know things are back to normal between the two of them.

"Whatcha looking at?" A voice asks behind me.

I shriek in fear before I turn around and see Devon's cute face. He is laughing at me and I can't help but join in.

"That wasn't funny." I tell him, playfully swatting his arm.

"How have you been?" He asks me.

"Been better." I reply, putting my hands in the pockets of my jeans.

"You look really pretty." He says, licking his lips. From the corner of my eye, I see Zachary watching me with a drink in his hand. Devon and I are in the middle of the woods less than an inch apart, he's staring at me like he wants to eat me for dinner. This doesn't look too good.

Devon leans in to kiss me and I know Zachary is watching me. For once, I try to make things work with Zachary and not stir the pot. So, I stop Devon from kissing me.

"What's wrong?" He asks me, looking a little bit frazzled.

"I'm just not feeling too well. Can you get me some water please?" I ask him and he nods.

"Sure." He says before he walks away. I look for Zachary but he's nowhere to be found.

I walk closer to the campfire and I sit on a log waiting for Devon to come back. I wait for a while then I get impatient. I'll just get my water myself. I walk over to the cooler where the drinks are and I see Devon and Zachary fighting up ahead.

Can't we just have one party without these pointless fights?

"Well, they're not pointless, they're over you." my subconscious adds.

I walk towards them and I just stare at them. I'm not getting into this fight not after I scraped my elbow the last time.

"Valarie, won't you do something?" Hannah asks, rushing over to me with a horrified look on her face.

"Do what? They're grown men. We're not High School students anymore. Devon's in college. They need to stop acting like children." I tell her.

"Well, if you don't jump in there, they will kill each other." She says with a worried look on her face.

"Won't be the first time I've heard that." I tell her, chuckling.

"You think this is funny?" She asks me.

"As a matter of fact, it is. Goodnight, Hannah." I yawn before walking away from her and the stupid fight.

I slip into Adam's tent and I see him sound asleep. I take off my boots and I lay beside him. I am about to drift off into dreamland when Zachary calls my name from outside the tent.

"Go away." I tell him as I adjust my pillow.

"Please, I just need to talk to you." He says and I don't bother replying. I just fall asleep instead hopefully by the time I wake up he's out for my hair.

***

I wake up and I roll to the other side and I realize that Adam isn't here anymore. I get out of the tent and I see that everyone is having breakfast by the lake. I walk towards them and then I see Zachary. His arm is around some blonde girl I haven't seen around here before. She's wearing his shirt from last night and Zachary is shirtless. My heart aches as I stare at them as they keep enjoying each other's company.

"Well, he's definitely out of your hair." My subconscious says.

"Hey, Vee." Adam says, walking towards me.

"There you are. I was looking for you." I tell him.

"Well, I went to take a shower by the lake, under the waterfall. The most surreal feeling ever." He tells me.

"Oh really. I should probably freshen up too." I say, sniffing myself.

"Whew, you should. I can smell you all the way from here." He exaggerates.

"Drama Queen." I retort.

"Be gone peasant." He says, with an English accent as I start walking towards Adam's tent to get my supplies. I flip him the finger and he laughs behind me.

***

Adam was not joking, the water from the waterfall was so warm and soothing on the skin. I had a pancake for breakfast and everyone's packing up and dismantling the tents now.

This was nice.

"We did it, Vee." Hannah says, giving me a big hug.

"Whoa." I say, trying to prevent myself from falling flat on my back.

"Sorry. I just got really excited." She says, pulling away.

"This whole trip was worth it. I just needed some time to go away and clear my head." I tell her.

"Same girl, same." She says, nodding.

"It was fun though, to have the crew back together and all that." I tell her and she blushes.

"And don't even say it, bitch, I already know. I saw the two of you making out in the woods last night." I tell her and she blushes even harder.

"Chad and I kinda rekindled our old flame." She says, biting her lower lip.

"Okay. I see you, Mrs. romantic." I say, teasing her.

"I'm going to miss you, Valarie. I'm going to miss us." Hannah says, tearing up.

"We still have two months together no need to cry." I tell her.

"You may not know this Val, but you're the very glue that keeps the friend group together. And with everyone going off to college, I fear that we won't be as close anymore. And I hate the thought of losing you." She says as a tear rolls down her cheek.

"Aww, H." I say as I hug her before I dry her eyes.

"Don't cry. I'll always be here for you. Always." I assure her.

"I love you, Vee." Hannah says, smiling at me.

"I love you more, Hannah Banana." I say, chuckling.

"You guys are having a heart-to-heart moment without me. No fair." Adam says, interrupting us.

I roll my eyes at him and Hannah laughs.

"Get in here." She says, pulling him close enough to trap him in one of her hugs. Adam willingly obliges and it's just three best friends hugging each other in the middle of the woods.

I wouldn't trade them for the world.