Sundown Colors

Manny's unborn baby leads her to a lonely life

But still being the crush of JT, might change that

Contains; Romance, Drama

Main Characters; Manny, Emma, J.T., Craig

Chapter Five; Mistaken

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I haven't slept at all. I can't wait to go home. Paige came out of her tent last night, just minutes after Craig and I fought. I could hear Spinner snoring before she came out. We sat up and talked about our problems, even about Craig. I really didn't care if he heard me or not, it didn't effect me. I had fun talking to Paige; we just talked about everything, stupid things too. We were hyper for some reason. When the fire went out, we made Spinner get up and relight it. He was half asleep so we laughed when he would mess up. He stayed out there for a couple minutes, and he cuddled with Paige and such. But soon he got tired and went to bed. Now Paige and I are still awake and still hyper as ever. The radiant sun is just rising before our eyes. Over the trees and the birds are clearly visible when they fly from the treetops. Paige agrees it's a beautiful sight and we watch as it rises ever so slowly. I smile in delight as the light begins to shed on our area. It's just the right color.

"It's so beautiful," Paige says amazed by it's brightness. We continue to watch. I slightly nod.

"When I am home, sometimes, I sit on my roof and watch it rise in the morning," I tell her. She chuckles.

"Not me, I never really saw the sun rise before, I usually wake up after it has," she explains. "It would be so romantic if you saw it with someone you loved. That would have been the perfect date for Spinner and me but he isn't the early bird type," she says. I smile and stay quiet. That would be romantic. Sitting there, holding hands, you and your love watching the sun rise over water. I chuckle. The sun stops slowly as it reaches far up in the sky. I look at Paige. "Lets go by the lake," she suggests. I nod and we run and leave our blankets behind. We run carelessly through the pine trees and the colorful birds. We giggle loudly as we pass every color green and every kind of flower. We reach the lake where the breeze is slightly colder and the sky is bright. I can still see the sun. Paige and I run down to the lake and stop. It's not too cold. I can still feel the heat. We look at each other.

"I dare you to run in," I say to her. "I bet you would be so cold," I predict as I look over the waters. She giggles.

"I will, if you will," she makes a deal. We just stare at each other and almost reading each other's mind, we charge at the still water splashing as we go. The waters temperature isn't as cold as I thought but it isn't that warm. It hits my face as I hurry through it. It starts to reach my waist and I dive in the murky water. I come up. We laugh. "Oh my gosh, I promised I would never get in this water. It's so gross," she says laughing.

"Live a little, Paige! This is life," I say holding up my hands. She splashes me and I splash back. We scream in delight. "Paige! Paige, I am so soaked," I scream still splashing her.

"Live a little!" she screams over the sound of the splashing.

"Manny, Paige!" We hear our names and turn our heads quick. It's Jimmy, Spinner, and Hazel. The boys are in t-shirts and shorts while Hazel is wrapped in a blanket.

"Paige, that water is disgusting!" Hazel calls. Paige laughs as she removes hair from her face.

"C'mon, Hazel, it's fun," she says. Spinner runs fast into the water and dives carelessly in. We laugh loudly and we hear Jimmy laugh too. Hazels face stays firm. Paige claps for Spinner as he arrives. He's soaked, too. He grabs Paige and falls back into the water with her. I look over at Jimmy trying to convince Hazel to get in. She refuses and sits. Jimmy gets in anyways.

"Lets play chicken," Spinner suggests having Paige's legs around his neck standing up. I laugh as Jimmy approaches.

"Nah, Hazel doesn't want to get in," Jimmy says. Paige and Spinner look at me.

"Use Manny," Paige suggests. I fold my arms in silence. Jimmy looks at me. I shrug. He shrugs too. He goes under water and pops his head up between my legs and stands. I scream in enjoyment. Spinner charges at Jimmy and Paige grabs my arms as we wrestle. I can't hear Jimmy and Spinner whisper.

"Hazel and Manny, how hot are you?" Spinner says to Jimmy.

"C'mon, Manny is a friend, no one will care," he says. Spinner shakes his head.

"You can't tell me you don't think Manny is attractive," Spinner says.

"Manny is pretty, but she's my friend, no one said I loved her," Jimmy says. I watch Paige fall backwards into the water. Jimmy and I pull away and I raise my arms in victory.

"We won," I fall backwards purposely from Jimmy's shoulders. I rise. "I'm so good at this," I tell Jimmy. He laughs.

"You're my partner next time," he says turning around. I laugh. He swims over to Spinner. I fold my arms again and turn to find no one on the shore. Hazel is gone. I find myself confused. I turn back to the three.

"Hey, you guys, where did Hazel go?" I ask. They all look at me.

"I don't know, she's probably mad that we were having fun," Paige says removing herself from Spinner's arms. I bite my lip.

"I'm going to go see what's going on," I say starting to the shore. I can hear them behind me.

"All right," Paige says. Jimmy walks beside me.

"I wonder why she left," he says. I shrug with my arms still folded. We reach the shore and start walking a little faster. We find our way down a familiar path in silence until we reach the green tents. I see Hazel and Craig's back. I roll my eyes at the thought of Craig. Jimmy jogs but I'm in no hurry.

"Hazel, what's going on?" Jimmy asks. I finally reach the three.

"I came back. Since you and Manny were having such a great time," Hazel says to him harshly. I walk closer.

"We were just playing, Hazel," I say with a smirk. I look over at Craig who looks back at me. I move my eyes.

"But you're not his girlfriend, I am," she says firmly. I must look confused.

"Hazel, Jimmy and I are friends, we were just trying to have fun," I tell her. She shakes her head as she stands.

"Don't have fun with my boyfriend anymore, okay?" she tells me before she disappears into her tent. "I'm not Ashley," she says under her breath. Jimmy looks at me and he whispers 'sorry' before chasing after her. I sigh. Craig still looks at me. I roll my eyes.

"I should get my things together," I say walking to the tent.

"I know you're mad at me but I think it's stupid to try and get me jealous," I hear Craig say. I stop. I turn swiftly.

"Jealous? Why would I try to make you jealous?" I ask.

"Yeah, like Jimmy would ever cheat on Hazel," he says.

"You think I want to be with Jimmy?" I ask. He doesn't say anything. "We are friends, Craig. Something that you and I will never experience," I start walking to the tent again.

"Fine," he says.

"Good, I'm happy"

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"I so don't want to leave," Paige says looking at Spinner. I plop my bags down beside the roasted tree branches.

"I do. I've had enough of all the drama," I say. I look over at Craig, alone on the grass. I roll my eyes.

"Hun, don't worry about him, remember what we talked about," she reminds me. I nod. Spinner puts his hand on Paige's shoulder.

"Lets go," he says. We all start walking to the van slowly. Paige and Spinner leading, me behind them, Craig behind me, and Jimmy and Hazel in the back. I glue my eyes to the ground only to casually look up to see where I'm going. No one would let me know if I trailed off in to the distance. Once we finally reach the van, I remind myself that Craig and I must sit together. I hurry and push my things into the trunk and seat myself in the van. I'm the first one in. I cross my arms and sit as near to the window as possible. A minute after Paige gets in, then Spinner, and then Craig. He sighs and scratches his head as he finds himself next to me. I stare out the window at the trees I've memorized. The ride home is longer than expected. Craig did that annoying thing where he tapped his fingers on the seat. I let him do it until I got fed up and started flipping out. Everyone told me to chill. They didn't know anything about this, so they shouldn't be saying anything. As soon as I get home, I'm shutting my door, crawling into my bed, and sleeping forever.