Nina and Nona locked arms, grinning at each other. Pair number one.
"Lynn, can I be your bunk buddy? It'll give us some one on one time," Keith winked.
Alex slowly turned to Keith, letting hostility and infuriation beam onto his face. Keith took a step back, blinking at Lynn in fear.
"Ummm, Lynn. Help," Keith whispered.
"Alex, don't worry. I'll be totally in control!" Lynn said, reaching to grab his arm.
Alex shifted his piercing grey gaze to her and shook his head.
Her jaw dropped. "But I'm nineteen now! You can't baby me anymore," she said, poking her brother in the chest.
It wasn't fair. She was old enough, and she liked Keith. She trusted him...what more does anyone need?
"You'll always be my baby sister, though. My baby sister isn't going in off with some guy I barely know," Alex said, unconvinced.
She pouted, and took her sunglasses off to reveal the sadness in her eyes. "It doesn't matter if you know him, you can trust me. If you can trust me, you can trust Keith," she whined.
"Alex." Mindy interrupted. "Let her go. She'll be responsible for anything that happens," she said, leaning on Nick's shoulder. "Right, sweetheart?"
"Yeah!" Lynn quickly answered.
"Fine." He shot Keith a dirty look. "Do whatever you want," he said, walking off towards the motel rooms. Pair number two.
Everyone was silent as Alex walked away, alone. It was genuinely heartwarming that he was concerned, but Keith didn't seem like a womanizer. She was going a little overboard by asking to be in a room alone with a stranger, but Lynn wouldn't do anything stupid. There was nothing to worry about; she had common sense, if not anything else.
"Guys, I think I'll go talk to him," Rochelle whispered, as she started off toward Alex. She called out his name, waving.
"Alex, wait up!"
He turned around, and when she caught up he started to rant about how unbelievable Keith was. The ranting continued as they picked their room, and went inside. Pair number three.
Coach looked at Jamie, Jamie looked at Ellis, Ellis looked at Nick, and Nick wondered why Mindy was still on his arm.
"Nick, let's share a room," she smiled up to him.
"Uh." he said, rubbing the back of his head.
"Come on, don't be like that!"
"It's not like I was hoping you wouldn't ask, so sure Mindy." he smirked.
She smiled, and the two started walking together.
"Wait...what did you say?" she frowned.
"Nothin'," he said as her pulled into their room. Pair number four.
Coach felt the air between the three of them getting tense. As much as he didn't want to get involved, he asked anyway.
"Are you two gonna be ok?"
"Is Jamie gonna stop starin' at Nick like I don' notice?" Ellis spat.
"Ellis, what the hell! I was not-"
"Yeah you were! You were prolly jealous 'cause Mindy was all over him..."
Jamie remained quiet, with her jaw open. It didn't seem right having her feelings stepped all over... not by Ellis. She did stare at Nick and Mindy, but it wasn't out of jealousy...it just seemed like Mindy was doing it to get at her nerves.
But, why would it get on her nerves?
...Exactly.
"I'm sorry Ellis, but it wasn't like that," she said, looking off into the night sky. "You can trust me, I would never lie to you."
Something fired up inside her, striking her with fear. She couldn't believe herself; she was lying already.
He tilted her head back toward him with a finger. "Promise?"
Coach crossed his arms, pleased.
"Promise," Jamie said, smiling.
Ellis pulled her in for a hug, squeezing tight. He kissed her forehead, and locked his hands with hers.
"We'll be alri'," Ellis said to Coach, and smiled all the way to their room on the second floor.
Ignorance is bliss.
Coach picked the room next to Rochelle and Alex's, and was happy to hear that Alex felt better; there was laughter coming from next door. He headed straight for the bathroom, so he could hurry up and get out of his filthy clothes.
Lynn sat at the foot of the bed, combing through her hair with her fingers. She picked at her fingernails frantically, trying not to worry about what would happen when Keith got out of the shower. Before she had any more time to think about it, he flung the door open, flashing her a smile.
"I dunno why my brother was worried earlier, sorry about that," she blurted out, still fiddling with her fingers.
"Its alri', I wouldn't want some guy tryin' ta sweet talk mah pretty sister either." She raised her eyebrow, and the laughter following warmed his heart. He decided from then on he wanted to make her laugh more often.
"Is there a' airport nearby, or is that jus' my heart takin' off?" he grinned.
It made her laugh even more; she had to cover her mouth with her hand so it so wasn't loud.
"Don't cover your mouth. I love your smile, an' your laugh is cute," he said, looking into her eyes. He hadn't noticed from across the room- but one of her eyes was a really light shade of blue. The other was grey, like Alex's. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference if you weren't staring very hard.
"Was your daddy a thief? 'Cause someone stole the stars from the sky and put 'em in your eyes."
"Oh my god Keith, stop it!" she laughed. Tears were running down her cheeks, and she let out a snort.
"Ha! Even your snort is cute," he said, flicking her nose with his finger.
She slowed her laughter into a grin, batting her eyelashes at him. "Whatever."
Lynn liked Keith a little more now. She thought his sense of humor was already pretty charming from when they'd first met- he was singing a song called Love to the World, during a zombie apocalypse, as he knocked the head of a Spitter off its shoulders with a baseball bat. Now she'd made her first friend among the last people on the planet, and he might be a little more than that.
"Those two better not start bumping above us," Mindy snarled.
Nick rolled his eyes, and headed for the bathroom. "Ellis doesn't have the balls," he muttered.
"Don't close the door, I have to wash my clothes." she called.
He shut the door, and quickly undressed.
"Nicolas, I asked you not to close the door."
"So?" he spat, and hurried into the shower. She burst into the room, disappointed. That was fast, she thought to herself. "You want me to try to wash your suit?"
"Nope." he quickly answered.
She turned on the water in the sink, and pulled up the knob atop the faucet. The water from the shower slowed as the water in the sink rose.
"Cut it out, Mindy." he said, in a fatherly tone.
"Quit acting like you don't know me anymore," she hissed back.
"I don't. And you know there's a laundry room outside? You don't have to wash your clothes in here."
"Asshole..." Mindy slammed her fist down on the knob, draining all the water in the sink. She snatched up his suit, and stormed out of the room. The door creaked in pain as she pushed it closed and spun around, cursing to herself. She noticed Ellis looking over at her, with he and Jamie's clothes in his arms.
"What are you looking at," she said, watching him with a scowl as he strolled past.
"Jus' wonderin' why you look so mad. Sorry," he said, not looking back.
She followed him into the laundry room, watching him wave at Rochelle, Alex, and the twins.
"Hey Ellis," Rochelle smiled, purposely ignoring Mindy.
She turned her nose up, and walked to the far side of the room.
"Hey Rochelle." She smirked at Mindy, and he noticed the cards in their hands. "Where'd you guys get cards?"
"They were in the top drawer of our nightstand. I think every room has some," Nina said, trying to peek at Alex's hand while he was so content with staring at Nona.
Ellis walked over to the washing machine next to the one that had the others' clothes inside. "What're you guys playin'?" he asked as he pulled the door open, and put the bundle of clothes inside.
"Bullshit," Nona said, focused on her cards.
"And Alex has already lost." Rochelle chuckled.
He looked away from Nona, startled. "Huh...what do you mean!" he frowned.
"Nothing, nothing." Nina laughed, holding her cards close to her face.
Ellis tightened his towel around his waist again, and walked up to the table to watch.
Nick darted his head left and right, making sure no one was outside. He jogged up the stairs on the far right side of the motel, and began looking for their room number. He scanned the doors as he passed, not realizing he'd already found it. He took a couple steps back, and twisted the doorknob to room twenty-five. He walked in gripping the towel around his waist, carefully closed the door of the room, and listened for a shower. Nick sat down on the bed, and looked to the floor as he realized what he was doing. He had less time than he thought to prepare an explanation before Jamie would be done- he heard the water stop and it was silent for a few moments before the door swung open, steam following. Jamie emerged, rubbing a towel over her head of messy curls. She turned, and her eyes widened as she stumbled backwards onto the tile of the bathroom floor.
Nick hurried across the room. "Are you ok?" he laughed. He stood in the doorway and caught an eye-full, letting out a "holy shit...!" as she slammed the door in his face.
"Sorry kid," he chuckled.
Jamie was on the floor, naked, cheeks burning with embarrassment. She stood up, rubbing the pain in her elbows from where she fell. "Give m-m-me my towel," she stammered.
He searched the room, then spotted the stack of towels on the dresser across from the bathroom. He cracked the door, and slid the towel through. She took it, wrapped herself, and exhaled before she opened the door.
Oh, this is just perfect.
She opened the door, and looked up at Nick. He stood expressionless, peering down into her golden eyes. Almost as if what just happened was normal.
"The hell are you doing in my room!" she shouted. "No- me and Ellis's room! If he sees you in here, half naked, it'll make everything worse!"
"Shut up, you'll make everything worse if you keep being so loud," he whispered as he shook her by the shoulders. "I'm not staying in that room with Mindy. She's trying to...talk to me now."
"When does this become my problem?" she asked, pushing his hands off.
"She hated me when she left me. Now all of a sudden she's-"
"Wait, never mind, Nick, I don't care," she interrupted. "Go talk to Coach about it, he's in a room by himself. And I'm screwed if you don't leave now."
"Fine, but I think this is your fault. Gim'me a kiss goodnight, kid." he ordered.
She slapped him upside the head, and pushed him toward the door.
"Alright, you don't have to be so rude." he hissed.
He opened the door with a smile, wondering if Jamie would think about this later on. His thoughts were interrupted-
there was none other than Ellis, standing in the doorway.