Day 2 – We're Alive And We Drive To The Center Of It
Emily awoke with a gasp. It took a few blinks before she could remember where she was. Sitting up, a world of discomfort crashed down on her. Her throat was dry, her morning breath could kill, her stomach was empty, her bladder was full, and she was in desperate need of a shower.
"Hanna." She nudged the sleeping blonde. "Hanna, wake up."
"What time is it?" The blonde groaned, shielding her eyes from the morning light that was seeping into the tent.
Emily searched for her phone, grateful that it still had some battery life. "It's close to nine. I have to pee."
"Five more minutes." Hanna mumbled as she kicked off her blanket. It was already getting uncomfortably hot in the small tent.
"I have to pee." Emily repeated as she pulled on her shoes.
"So go freakin' pee!" Hanna barked, rolling over and effectively ending the conversation.
Climbing out of the tent, Emily had to wait for her eyes to adjust to the bright sun before she could make any further decisions. Luckily, she could just make out Spencer and Aria's voices chatting away from within their tent. Emily sauntered over to the unzipped opening and peered inside.
"Good morning." Spencer greeted her with a concerned expression. "Em, you look rough. Did you sleep okay?"
"I passed out the second I laid down." She answered before getting to urgent matter at hand. "I have to pee."
Aria reached for her shoes. "I'll go with you. There are a few port-a-potties over by the trail."
"What are we doing for showers?" Emily asked as Aria tied her laces.
Spencer cut in. "Caleb has a portable shower thing for camping in his van. It's really neat actually, you just fill up the container with water and it pumps it out through a hose. There's a water refill station near the port-a-potties that we can use. We'll probably have to fill it up before every use, but feeling clean will definitely be worth the hassle."
"I guess it's a good thing we brought bathing suits." Emily sighed. She wasn't keen on the idea of showering in public, but Spencer was right. Hygiene was an issue of the highest priority.
The trip to the port-a-potties was anything but fun. Portable toilets for public use were always disgusting on their own, but on a morning after a long night of partying they were unbelievably revolting. Not only was the toilet nearly overflowing with literal shit and vomit, but the smell brought tears to Emily's eyes. She hovered and did her business as quickly as she physically could.
Back at the camp site, the showers were underway. Rather than fill up the portable shower's container before each use, Caleb, Toby, CeCe, and Holden had filled up gallon buckets and lugged them back all on their own. It was nearing noon by the time everyone had taken their turn with the shower hose. While it was a tedious and time-consuming task, feeling clean could work miracles in terms of morale. They used the left over clean water to fill up their empty bottles and brush their teeth, offering what remained to the married couple camping next to them.
The trek to the performance area was filled with excited conversation. King Kilos would be their first stop after grabbing lunch, then they planned on catching a few songs from Willy Was Freed before hitting up The Big Stage for the day's headlining act: The Copyright Cats. Come nightfall, the group would without a doubt find their way back to the EDM stage; Caleb already had a baggie of fun tucked into his sock in anticipation.
As they entered the crowded field, Emily scanned the passing faces around her. She hadn't forgotten about the dancing girl from the Unauthorized set. If she closed her eyes, she could almost still feel the girl's lips pressed against her own.
Before getting too far into the field, the group ordered veggie burgers from a vegan food truck. They found a quiet area to sit and eat. Unwrapping the foil from her burger, Spencer nudged Aria. "Any luck getting in touch with your Danby boy?"
"Yes, actually. Ezra texted me back a few minutes ago. His brother had him up early so that they could see Kristen Daniels." Aria turned to Caleb. "Thanks again for letting us borrow your portable phone charger."
He waved off her thanks. "No problem"
Hanna, who had made it her personal mission to get Caleb to like her, tossed a used napkin at him in order to gain his attention. It was a child's tactic, but it worked all the same. "You seem to have a portable everything."
"Kind of comes from the whole being homeless thing." He deadpanned before moving to sit near Lucas and Alex.
Hanna sighed dramatically, turning to her friends. "What is his deal?"
"Not every boy is going to love you, Han." Spencer teased.
Hanna smiled at the challenge. "We'll see about that."
Noticing Emily's eyes relentlessly scanning the crowd, Aria followed her gaze and found only an endless train of strange faces. "What are you looking at?"
"Nothing." Emily admitted gloomily. She had told the dancing girl to find her, but the odds were stacked against them on that actually happening.
Spencer grinned. "She's hoping to run into her mystery girl again."
"I never even got her name." Emily sighed, taking a break from searching the crowd to focus on eating lunch.
Hanna chuckled at her friend's misfortune. "Em, if you actually run into that girl again, that's not just a coincidence. That's fate."
Always one to be practical, Spencer spoke up. "Okay, but what if she turns out to be a psycho?"
"Then they'll be psychos who live happily ever after!" Hanna retorted before taking a large bite of her veggie burger. With her mouth full, she added, "True love can't be stopped, bitch."
The standing positions for King Kilos were less than pleasant, but the performance proved to be worth the distance. A whole slew of surprise guests made appearances, everyone from Big Vice to Alpacas In The Street. The show ran long though, cutting off what little time they had to get good spots at The Big Stage for The Copyright Cats. Their efforts of sprinting across the festival grounds were lost as they discovered the truly massive size of the audience. The location they settled for was so far away from the stage that they couldn't tell which band member was which.
"This sucks!" Hanna exclaimed. The Copyright Cats had been one of the few bands she hadn't argued about wanting to see.
"We can hear them just fine." Caleb pointed out, earning a cold glare from the blonde.
"You better be glad you're cute." Hanna sneered as she flipped her hair and moved to stand near Mona CeCe.
Throughout the show, Emily couldn't help but keep her eyes on the crowd. There was a good chance, considering just how many people had gathered there, that her mystery dance partner could be close by. Looking to her friends, she felt a small pang of jealousy. Toby and Spencer had their arms around each other, Hanna was busy being adored by her new fangirls, and Aria had been reunited with her older Danby boy. Emily was surrounded by thousands of people, yet she felt utterly alone.
When the set was finished, the group stole a picnic table from under the big tent. They were sweaty and tired as the afternoon heat stifled their enthusiasm. Emily was sitting in silence at the end of the table when a stranger unexpectedly sat across from her. He was an attractive boy, around her age. His presence attracted little attention from the rest of the group.
"Hi." His grin was smug, something Emily would have found to be a turn off regardless of his gender. "I'm Noel."
"Emily." She tried to keep her cool as his eyes travelled unashamedly to her cleavage.
"Where are you from?" He asked conversationally. The glint in his eyes was mischievously, as if he knew something that she didn't.
"Pennsylvania." She answered flatly, hoping her obvious disinterest would drive him away.
"In the Philly area by chance? That's where I'm at." The boy was hard to read. His intentions to hit on her had seemed clear in the beginning, but now she wasn't completely sure what it was that he was after.
Noticing Emily's distress, Hanna turned her gaze on Noel. "Hey. Buddy. She's not interested. Okay?"
He smirked. "No need to get jealous, sweetheart. There's plenty of me to go around."
Caleb, who had been paying more attention to his phone than to anyone around him, abruptly looked down the bench at their uninvited guest. He glared daggers Noel, his voice falling to a threatening tone. "You need to leave. Now."
Noel threw his hands up in mock surrender, a smirk still plastered on his face. "Chill, man. You can have the blonde." He winked at Emily. "I prefer my ladies exotic anyway."
Both Caleb and Emily shot out of their seats. Before they could even get a word out though, a short girl appeared at Noel's side begging for forgiveness on his behalf. "It's okay!" One of her hands gripped his shoulder, the other was stretched out protectively in front of them. "He didn't mean it. Whatever he said, he didn't mean it. He's sorry."
Caleb sat with an irritated groan, as if he had been looking forward to pummeling Noel's pretty face into the dirt. "Keep your lapdog on a shorter leash, would you?"
"I most certainly will." She elbowed Noel until he stood up beside her. "I am so sorry about this."
Emily was still fuming as Noel strutted away. The girl walked around the table, looking up at Emily directly. "I don't know what he said, but it's my fault. You shouldn't blame him."
"What?" It was too hot and Emily was too tired to be dealing with unnecessary drama.
The girl smiled, curling into mild embarrassment as she talked. "Well…you see, we noticed you sitting here and we were talking about…well, how attractive you are. Noel was convinced that you're straight, but my gaydar is never wrong. I tried to tell him, but he took it as a challenge. I egged him on, it's my bad. I knew what he was going to do, I should have stopped him. I'm sorry. I'm Maya, by the way. And I'm rambling, so this is getting awkward. I'll just…retreat now."
"Emily." She was conflicted. The girl before her was cute and nice, but she lacked everything that her mystery dance partner had possessed. There was a mischievousness about the girl, but there was an undeniable innocence to her as well. She was like a tiny forest fairy, one that could pull little tricks and pranks but was incapable of doing any real harm. She was a good girl; that much was clear. Had Emily met her in Rosewood, the two probably would have hit it off. But this wasn't Rosewood, and there wasn't a single dangerous thing about the smaller girl.
"It's nice to meet you." She smiled, unaware that Emily had already made the decision not to pursue anything with her. "So…was my gaydar right?"
"Yes." Emily nodded. She could feel the eyes of her friends on them. "You, uh…you should probably go back to your friend and make sure he doesn't get into any more trouble."
Understanding dawned on her. "Oh, yeah. Sorry, again." Maya fled to a table across the tent where Noel and a few others had their eyes trained on her. Emily guiltily took her seat again.
"Damn, Em." Hanna laughed. "That chick was practically drooling on you and you're just going to shut her down like that?"
Caleb shook his head. "Anyone who is friends with a piece of shit guy like that isn't worth your time."
Hanna beamed across the table at him. "It was totally hot how you were going to defend our honor."
Much to Hanna's displeasure, Caleb ignored her comment as his eyes returned to his phone.
Emily rolled her eyes. "I can defend my own honor, but I appreciated the backup Caleb."
He gave Emily a weak nod of acknowledgement, probably with the sole intention of further annoying Hanna—which it did. After dinner and a dreadful trip to the port-a-potties, the group made its way over to the EDM stage in anticipation for the night's big show. Music was already playing as they arrived, and a good sized crowd had assembled. They weren't as close to the stage this time, which worried Emily. If her mystery girl actually was looking for her, the place they had met the previous night would have been a reasonable place to search.
Emily shifted her weight from one foot to the other as they waited. Her feet were sore from two long days of standing, but with two more days still to go she would just have to suffer through the discomfort. She lowered her sunglasses over her eyes as the sun started its descent. The sunset was pretty, she couldn't ignore that, but night promised a break from the heat that she greatly needed.
"Is that her?" Hanna's voice snapped Emily out of her daydream and had her craning her neck in every direction.
"Where?" She asked eagerly. "Where is she?"
Hanna chuckled. "Oh, my bad. That's a dude. I didn't see the beard at first."
Disappointed, Emily crossed her arms and tried to contain her annoyance. Hanna had only been trying to help after all.
When the sun finally fell behind the trees, the real party kicked off. The lights and lasers and special smoke effects, though the same as the previous night, were nevertheless amazing to witness. Caleb passed out the goods that had spent the day in a baggie tucked into his sock. Staring at the small object in her palm, she turned to Hanna and mouthed, "What is this?"
Hanna simply laughed, popping the object onto her tongue and gesturing for Emily to do the same. Considering how none of the others had questioned what Caleb had given them, she decided to take a leap of faith and see what happened. At first, nothing was different. The music was fun and they danced like normal, but that was it; just normal.
When it hit, it hit hard. Emily could feel every cell in her body come to life, the lights were in doubles and triples and lines and fragments, the lasers were living streams of particles flying through the air above them, her lungs felt like they weren't her own as they expanded and emptied rapidly inside of her chest, her heart thumped to the spastic rhythm as if a tiny drummer was banging away at it, she felt the eyes of a hundred strangers on her despite knowing that no one was paying any attention to her. Her feet moved on their own, her arms danced in the air. A body pressed up against her and for a moment she thought it may be her mystery dance partner, but it was only Hanna. The girls danced together, grinding and touching just as Emily had with the stranger. It was different with Hanna, though. There was no attraction, no burning desire. It was harmless fun.
Hanna's hands may have been on Emily's hips, but the blonde's eyes were on Caleb. The boy was actually smiling for once, his eyes on her as well. Hanna abruptly left Emily to dance with him; a move he didn't run away from. On her own again, Emily wasn't bothered. She was happy her friend was able to dance with her newest infatuation while she could.
Two hours flew by before the girls, Toby, Ezra, and Caleb escaped the crowd for a break. They traveled to the port-a-potties, rejoicing when they discovered how small the lines were. The group found a nice grassy spot to lie out on the outskirts of the crowd for The Big Stage where Rhode Island Blues was performing. Emily fell on to her back, staring up at the cloudless starry sky and the three full moons that danced together. An occasional blast of color or flash of light would show up in her peripheral vision from the varying stages that surrounded them. The scene was so beautiful that it took her breath away. She felt like she was in the middle of a psychedelic music video.
She sat up, turning to her friends ready to chat about how beautiful everything was when she realized that she had become a seventh wheel as each of her friends was busy making out with the boy they had connected with. Trying her best to remain undeterred, she watched the faces that walked by. It hit her that all of these people weren't just passing faces, they had lives and stories and desires and dreams and maybe they too even had a mysterious dancing partner looking for them. She was deep in thought about this when someone sat beside her unannounced. Hoping it was the girl she had been thinking about all day, Emily glanced over to see a girl who was equally familiar and unfamiliar.
"Hi." The girl greeted with a friendly smile. Emily couldn't recall her name.
"Who are you?" She asked, noting how odd her voice sounded. Is that always what her voice sounded like?
"Maya." The girl answered politely. "From earlier? My friend Noel failed miserably at hitting on you?"
The story sounded somewhat familiar, but in that moment she just couldn't remember if it actually happened or not. "Oh."
Maya laughed. "You look really fucked up right now. What are you on?"
Emily couldn't remember that either. "I don't know."
Maya's brows drew together in genuine concern. "Who gave it to you?"
"My friend." She smiled, proud of herself for being able to answer one of the girl's questions.
Maya raised an eyebrow. "Was it shifty beanie over there? He looks the type."
"Shifty beanie." Emily nodded, unable to remember his actual name.
"Is he selling?" Maya grinned. "Because I definitely want some of whatever you're having."
"It looked like this." Emily held up her fingers, doing a poor job at relaying the size of what she had consumed. She stretched out her legs, loving the way the grass felt against her skin. "This grass is so cool. It's like…a million little high-fives on your legs."
Maya doubled over laughing. "You are so gone, my friend. It's Emily? Right?"
She nodded, squinting across the moonlit field. "That dude in the booty shorts looks like my first grade teacher."
"Must have been an interesting year if your first grade teacher came to class in golden booty shorts." Maya joked. The girl was nice, Emily couldn't deny that. She was cute and her smile was infectious. There was nothing wrong with her, but the fact remained; she just wasn't what Emily was looking for.
With her mind jumping from one thought to the next, Emily found it incredibly difficult to keep up with the conversation topic. "Who?"
"Uh…" Maya narrowed her gaze, scrutinizing the way Emily swayed back and forth. "Are you okay? Do you need anything? Water? Food? If you feel like you're going to puke let me know ahead of time, even just a few seconds of a warning can save a pair of shoes. Don't be embarrassed to warn a girl."
Emily shook her head, trying to get her thoughts to turn into the words she needed. "Good. Good—I'm good. I…am good."
A hand fell on Emily's shoulder, making her jump. She whipped her head around to see Hanna staring down at her. She extended a hand to help her up. "Come on, Em. We're going to see SpaGhetto and Roxy Roulette. They're doing a surprise show on that stage by the butter sculpture."
The rush of being pulled to her feet sent Emily's world spinning like she was on a carnival ride. Maya stood beside her, asking a question that Emily couldn't understand.
"What?" Emily asked, the word feeling strange in her mouth.
Maya shook her head. "Don't worry about. Maybe I'll catch you around later. Have a nice night, Emily." The girl left without waiting for a reply, and Emily wondered if she had done something to offend her.
Shrugging it off, she linked arms with Toby and Spencer, and the trio led the way; skipping as they went. They attracted a lot of attention, mostly just people pointing and joking about how intoxicated they must be. Emily was doubled over laughing as they reached the back of the crowd. The show had already started, leaving them on the fringes craning their necks to see. The lights weren't as pretty as the EDM stage, but they were amusing enough to hold Emily's attention. By the time that the set was finished, Emily had sobered up considerably. She found herself stifling a yawn, ready to make the trek back to the campsite and take a much needed rest. They hit up the port-a-potties on their way back, Spencer taking the longest as an unfortunate wave of nausea had her puking up the entire contents of her stomach. Quite the gentleman, Toby gave Spencer a piggy back ride as they hiked to the parking area. Emily wasn't sure what time it was; but the color in the sky seemed to be brightening the closer they got to their tents. Dawn was upon them as they walked the final aisle.
Innocently looking around at all of the tents, Emily stopped in her tracks when she locked eyes with the very face that had consumed her thoughts since she'd seen it last. There she was, as clear as the rising sun. Emily smiled, nerves filling her stomach as the other girl stared back at her apathetically. The group had walked on without her, but Hanna had glanced over her shoulder in time to see Emily strolling up to her mystery girl. The blonde simply smiled, knowing that Emily didn't need a babysitter for this particular encounter.
Emily stopped a few feet away from the girl, suddenly very nervous. "Hi."
"Hi." The girl repeated back. Her voice was just as enticing as her stoic expression.
"I'm Emily." Truthfully, she didn't know what to say to the girl. It had been over twenty-four hours, did the girl even remember her?
"Paige." She replied.
Emily gestured to the tent that Paige was standing in front of. "Is this yours?"
She shook her head, pointing to the smaller tent beside it. It looked to be a children's tent. Emily doubted that Paige could even stretch out in such a small space.
Emily bit her lip. "It's cute."
"It's small." She deadpanned.
From inside one of the tents to their left, a voice shouted for them to shut up. Wordlessly, Paige began walking. Unsure on what to do, Emily trailed after her. They reached the empty road at the edge of the parking area, crossing it without exchanging any words to each other. Emily knew it was careless and stupid to follow a stranger into the woods, but the danger thrilled her. As soon as they were deep enough to where no one on the road could see them, Paige turned and pressed her up against a large tree. Shocked and speechless, Emily could only stare at the girl.
"I looked for you." She admitted quietly, her eyes roaming Emily's body freely. "I looked everywhere."
Emily swallowed hard, the other girl's gaze giving her chills. "You found me."
"I did." She muttered as their eyes locked. There was an unspoken intensity about the girl that sent shockwaves of pleasure coursing through Emily to her center. She nearly groaned when Paige's eyes fell to her lips.
Boiling with lust, Emily lowered her voice seductively. "So what now?"
Paige closed the space between them, kissing Emily hard. Their lips roughly danced together as their hands travelled over each other's bodies. There was no romance, no subtly. No awkward small talk or fake "get to know you" conversations. There was only desire.
Abruptly, Paige turned Emily around so that she was facing the tree. Paige's lips journeyed to her neck as her hands reached around the other girl to cup her breasts while her ass grinded against Paige's front. A moan escaped her throat when one of Paige's hands smoothly slipped down her shorts. With one hand against the tree for support and the other tangled in Paige's hair behind her head, she was all but begging for Paige's touch. When a finger grazed over her clit, Emily gasped. She had never been more turned on in her life. Knowing that they were in a public area, in the woods no less, where anyone could stumble upon them at any moment, only added to how erotic everything was. Paige's fingers moved with skilled accuracy, quickly finding the perfect motions that had Emily breathless. Pure ecstasy washed over her as Paige slipped a finger inside, her thumb dexterously rotating her clit in the compact space between skin and underwear. Paige slid the hand that wasn't preoccupied in Emily's pants under her tank top to fill her hand with a bra covered breast. Emily was helpless under Paige's touch; she would have done anything to make it last forever.
All too soon, and yet somehow not soon enough, a surge of pleasure erupted from Emily's clit and had her moaning loudly into the morning air. Her senses returned to her slowly as she recuperated. The shade of the forest was cool, sending shivers down her sweat-soaked spine. She could smell her own arousal, the scent growing stronger as Paige's hand glided out of her shorts. Her fingers glistened in the early sunlight with evidence of just how turned on Emily had been. She turned around to face Paige, pulling her in for a long kiss. She was panting, and still recovering from the best orgasm of her life, when Paige swiftly broke the kiss. She stepped away, giving Emily one last look up and down before heading back toward the road. Confused, Emily followed.
"What are you doing?" Emily called after her. Being ignored only confused her more, this time anger swelling up inside her. "So that's how it is then? You just take girls into the woods to fuck 'em and leave 'em?"
Paige stopped sharply, spinning on her heels to face Emily with a glare that could kill. She opened her mouth, ready to throw out a string of harsh words, but remained mute. Gritting her teeth, she spun back around and continued the hike to the road.
Emily followed closely behind, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
Paige stopped again, groaning when Emily moved to stand between her and the direction of the road. "Isn't this what you wanted?" She asked, shaking her head.
"To be abandoned in the woods?" Emily laughed in disbelief. "You're joking right?"
She crossed her arms with a scoff. "Oh, I'm sorry. Would you have preferred it in a giant crowd of people?"
"I would have preferred if you didn't just walk away after." Emily admitted.
"I'm not looking for a girlfriend." Paige sneered.
Emily shook her head, fuming with anger. "Neither am I! That doesn't mean you can just leave me standing under the tree you fucked me against."
They stood there, both infuriated with how the other was acting. Despite herself, Emily's eyes flickered down to Paige's lips and without a sound they were back to kissing and she found herself suddenly walking backwards until her back found another tree. They kissed hard and rough, expressing all of their animosity with each meeting of their lips.
Emily held Paige's bottom lip gently between her teeth, daring the other girl to make a move. Paige's hands gripped Emily's hips tightly as she leaned against her. Pinned between the tree and Paige's front, Emily tangled her hands into the other girl's hair. She moved her lips to Paige's neck, enjoying the small noises of pleasure that vibrated in her throat.
"Two days." Paige's voice was quiet as Emily kissed a sensitive area near her collar bone. "There are only two days left. This can't…be anything. This can't leave the woods. You—we can't get attached."
"So in the woods it will stay." Emily whispered the words against Paige's skin, wanting nothing more than to rip off the girl's clothes.
Paige dipped her head down to capture Emily's lips again. When the kiss broke, she whispered, "You are so fucking beautiful." Rather than waste time with words, Emily delivered her gratitude through a long, soft kiss. They stayed there kissing for a long time before eventually accepting the reality that they both needed some sleep.
As they stood in the aisle of the parking area that held both of their camps, they hesitated.
Emily offered a small smile. "Find me tomorrow."
Paige shook her head. "I thought we agreed that it would stay in the woods?"
Emily shrugged. "Doesn't mean we can't be friends for two days."
Paige had already started walking to her small tent when she glanced over her shoulder and said, "I'll find you."
Emily managed to slip into her tent, kick off her shoes, and change into her designated sleep clothes before Hanna stirred. The blonde rolled over, squinting over at her giddy friend. "Well you definitely got laid." She chuckled, snoring before Emily could even come up with a reply. Cuddling up to her pillow, Emily welcomed sleep like a dear old friend.