Chapter 15 (Riley's POV):
I quickly arrived to the camp and Emily went to Jane's office to talk about what happened. I went to our cabin and put my pajamas on.
"I can't do any activities for three days." Emily informed, entering the room. I remained quiet, determined in not saying anything to her. "Riley, come on. You spent the entire trip without saying anything. For how long do I need to have the silence treatment?"
I lied down and pulled the blankets, still in silence, I heard Emily sighed and I notested she went to bed as well.
In the next morning, I was the first to wake up and, before I left, I watched Emily sleep. She looked so calm. Hum... Calm... That was something I wanted her to be. I don't even know why the hell she did that. I mean... I know it was because of Kyle.
"Riley, good morning." greeted Nate, approaching me.
"Isn't it a bit early for you to be up?" I said, checking my watch. It was six o'clock.
"It's a bit early for you to be up too, you know... Hey, I heard somthing happened yesterday with Emily and Kyle."
"Where did you hear that?"
"News travel fast. Specially, when Gwen is the one who spreads them."
"That bitch..." I said, raising my fist. Nate frowned and I sighed, lowering my head. "He took her to a dam, do you believe that?"
"What the hell were they doing in a dam?"
"Don't make me answer that, because I think I know what Kyle wanted to do there... Oh well... I punched him."
"Riley..."
"Hey, I had every reason to do it! He seems like an expert in getting in trouble, and Emily doesn't need that.
"Maybe she likes him enough to ignore that."
"Humn... Well I don't like him not even a bit and I told that, if he laid eyes on Emily again, I would kick his ass."
"Aren't you exaggerating?"
"Which side are you on, anyway?!"
"I'm just saying..." he defended. I sighed. "I know this might seem hard, but you need to let Emily go."
"Not with Kyle! She never fell in love in her life, why did the first guy needed to be him?!"
"You talk about Kyle, but you're a rebel too. Or do you think I forgot about the bar?"
"You were there too!"
"Oh, please, Riley. In a bar, alone, after curfew? You were totally looking for trouble."
"I wasn't looking for trouble! The trouble came to me!"
"By saying 'trouble' you mean me?" he asked, in a tone that made me feel sorry for him.
"I didn't mean to offend you, but, that day, you were a little... Dude, you know?"
"I was just trying to impress the others. I know I shouldn't have done it."
"You know, I think that's the smartest thing you've said all morning!" I joked, making him laugh. "Well, I need to go and control Emily now."
"She must be really pissed with you."
"I'm giving her the silence treatment."
"That's bad."
"It's nothing she doesn't deserve. We'll talk later, Nate."
"I'll make sure that happens, General." he teased, smiling. I blushed and little and walked away. I went to our cabin to see if Emily was there, but I only found Ashley.
"If you're looking for Emily, she just left. She went to the cafeteria." she informed.
"Okay, thanks."
I went to the cafeteria and I found Emily sitting with Hayley. I grabbed a tray, picked my food and sat next to them.
"'Morning, Hales." I greeted.
"'Morning." she smiled. She stared at me and then at Emily. "Hum... Do you two...?"
"I'm giving Emily the silence treatment. But you can say "hi" to her for me."
"But-"
"That's okay, Hayley. Tell Riley I don't need her greetings."
"Riley, she says-"
"Tell her I insist." I interrupted.
"Explain to her that I, however, refuse. The day was being good until she got here, so she doesn't need to greet me." Emily said, before Hayley could talk. I smirked, pissing Emily off.
"You two work this out, okay?" Hayley said, a little mad, going to the same table as Ashley. I laughed. Apart from the fact that I was angry with Emily, that was fun.
"I'm glad you find my misery so entertaining." she commented, in a low voice.
"Oh, don't be such a drama queen, Ems. It's just a guy, you can't be that miserable."
"It's the guy I love!"
"You don't even know what that is."
"I thought I didn't! But then I met Kyle and that changed."
"Emily, even if you're in love with him, you can't be sure that he feels the same."
"He loves me!"
"Emily..." I said, but she left the cafeteria really angry. I punched the table and I notested that everybody was looking at me. I smiled and left too.
I went to my cabin (that was empty) and I started to work on my song. As I began playing the guitar, someone knocked at the door. It was Kyle.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, coldly. He looked surprised.
"I... I... Hum..."
"You were looking for Emily, weren't you?"
"What if I was? It's not like I can't see her."
"Ah... Actually, you can't."
"You can't do that. You're not my mom."
"Thank God for that!"
"Hey...!"
"Look, Romeo, Emily has been though enough. The better thing to do for both of you is to leave her alone."
"Both of us?"
"Yes, because I believe you haven't forgot the punch I gave you yesterday."
"I love Emily."
"Sure you do. Now leave and stay away from her." I said, coldly, as I shut the door to his face.
I heard him leave and I sat on the ground, playing my guitar.
- I'm standing on the bridge. I'm waiting in the dark. I thought that you'd be here, by now. There's nothing but the rain. No footsteps on the ground. I'm listening but there's no sound. Isn't anyone trying to find me? Won't somebody come and take me home? It's a damn cold night. I'm trying to figure out this life. Won't you take me by the hand? Take me somewhere new. I don't know who you are, but I... I'm with you. I'm with you... – I sang. When I finished, I sighed. It was the first time I played that song and I didn't realize how true those words were.
"Really, really good." Nate commented, coming in. I was surprised to see him, but, somehow, he made all my anger go away.
"Thanks. What are you doing here?"
"I was bored and I decided to come and see you. Was that guy Kyle? You know, the one who left your cabin a while ago."
"Yup, that was him."
"What did you tell him?"
"The same thing I told him yesterday: either he stays away from Emily or he and I are going to have serious problems."
"Humn...
"'Humn' what?"
"Can't I mumble anymore?"
"Not that kind of mumble. What's on your mind?"
"I'm thinking about you and I going out tonight."
"Again?"
"Well, at least, I'm giving you a heads up now."
"Good point. But... Ah... I don't know... Tonight..."
"I'm glad you accepted. I'll see you tonight, then." he laughed, heading for the door. I stared at him, surprised.
"What's the point of you giving me a heads up if I can't even say 'no'?"
"You just answered your own question."
"I did?"
"Yes. When I do that, you can't say 'no'. See you, Ri." he said, leaving. I frowned, trying to convince myself that I wasn't excited about that 'date'.
I spent the rest of the day without seeing Emily but I knew she was in the soccer field with Hayley. I also knew that she was watching Kyle play, but I guess I couldn't really control that part.
After dinner, someone knocked at the cabin's door.
"Good evening!" greeted Nate, appearing. I smiled.
"Can you, at least, tell me where we're going?"
"We're going to the bar."
"To the bar? Hum... Very romantic. But... Are you sure that we can be back before eleven?"
"I doubt it. But that's the fun part. Come on." he said, starting to walk. We talked a lot on the way and we got there really fast. We ordered our drinks and kept on talking.
"Nathan Walker, is that really you?" someone asked. I turned around and saw a girl with blonde and curly hair smiling at Nate.
"Alicia! Hi!" he greeted, hugging her. I stared at them and then I drank my shot in less than two seconds. Something tells me I'm going to need more than one of these.
"So, Nate, aren't you going to introduce us?" she asked.
"Yes, of course. Ri, this is Alicia, my ex-girlfriend and friend. Ali, this is Riley... My... Hum..."
"Yeah, that's exactly what I am. Nice to meet you." I said, forcing a smile.
"Well... Since you're not his girlfriend or anything, you don't mind I steal him for a while, now, do you? We have a lot to catch up." she explained, not waiting for my answer. Nate just stared at me, but I ignored him.
"Uh... Another one of these, please." I asked. The barman nodded. I turned around and I saw the two of them talking. "You know what? Just leave the bottle."
"Bad night?" he asked.
"Trust me, dude, you have no ideia how bad this is going to be."
"Okay... I'll give one more on the house, then."
"At least someone here knows how to treat me right..." I commented, drinking the shot right away. I did for a while and, when I 'woke up to the world', I was totally wasted and I had a guy in front of me, talking.
"So, I'll just start my car and we can go." he said, leaving. I stared at him, confused, and I turned to the barman.
"Uh... For how long was I talking to that guy?" I asked.
"Almost fifteen minutes. You're friend's still there, so you got busy with this one."
"And what's that about his car?"
"You said you were going for a ride with him."
"I did? Wow, I must be really drunk, then." I commented, laughing. He stared at me, with a concerned look on his face.
"Look, I know you're mad at that guy, but maybe it's better if he'd take you home. Because you look really bad..."
"No need, he's busy with his ex-girlfriend and I don't want to interrupt anything. And that's only because I'm too stupid to kiss him when I'm supposed to. So... Now he's back with his ex. How convenient..."
"Yeah, but-"
"I'm Riley, what's your name?"
"Okay, this is too much. I'm calling your friend."
"Riley, are you ready?" the boy from before asked. I looked at him, then to Alicia and Nate and I frowned.
"Yeah, let's go." I nodded. As I got closer to the door, I heard Nate calling me.
"Riley, where are you going?!" he asked, grabbing my arm.
"Out. You're busy with your girlfriend, so I don't want to interrupt you guys."
"You're totally drunk... Come on, let's go back to the camp."
"Hey, man, she was just fine with me." the boy interrupted.
"Hey, MAN, she's drunk and she can't think for herself, so, I advise you to stay away from her."
"You can't make me do that." he teased, pulling me by my wrist. After he said that, Nate punched him right in the face and took me outside.
"Why did you do that?" I asked, after a few minutes of silence. He looked at me, clearly confused.
"Are you kidding? I wasn't going to let that jerk take advantage of you!"
"He wasn't taking advantage of me, I agreed with everything he said."
"Riley, come on, we both know you're wasted as hell."
"Yeah, but that's not my fault. If you didn't go talk to Alicia, none of this would have happened."
"Are you jealous?" he asked, teasing me. I blushed (at least, I think I blushed. I was too drunk to be sure).
"Shut up..." I mumbled, tripping. Nate grabbed me and laughed.
"You're really bad, we better hurry."
We remained in silence for the rest of the way (I tripped a few more times) and we got to the camp real quickly. He walked me to my cabin, where I stopped walking.
"You should get in." he said, heading for the door. I, however, grabbed his hand before it reached the knob and I stared at him. "What?"
"Were you upset that I didn't kiss you? Is that why you left with Alicia?"
"Is that what you think?" he asked, surpised. I shrugged my shoulders. "Riley, if you remember, I never said I wanted to talk with Alicia, I was just being nice. It was our date."
I lowered my head. I regretted not kissing him so much... I stared at him again. And I kissed him. It was so fast I didn't even had time to think. I put my hands on his chest and came closer to him. I assumed it was because of the effects of the alcohol and maybe that's why Nate pulled me away.
"Riley, I can't do this. You really don't want to kiss me." he mumbled.
"You don't know that."
"You didn't want to yesterday, so I doubt that you changed your mind. Riley... You know I like you. And you have no idea how bad I want to kiss you... But just not like this..." he said, touching my cheek. I nodded and we entered my cabin.
"Nate?" Emily asked, getting up. Then, she saw me. "What happened?!"
"We went to the bar and she drank too much."
"But don't worry, it's okay. I missed you, sis." I said, tripping and falling on her.
"Okay, you're going to bed." she ordered, putting me on my bed. Then, she turned to Nate.
"We'll talk tomorrow, okay?"
"You bet we will!" she threatened, as he left. After that, she turned around to face me. "Who is the older sister here, anyway?"
"I love you, Ems."
"Go to sleep. Tomorrow, everything's going to be okay." she guaranteed, covering me with the blanks. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, hoping that the events of that night were all part of a big, weird dream.