You guys are amazing! fifteen reviews on one chapter, and here i was thinking no one liked this story any more :D
I've somehow managed to stick with my promise of weekly updates for all three of my stories, although it means the actual book I'm writing is n a sort of hiatus. Oh well.
"It was worth it."
"I hate you."
"It was worth it."
"I still hate you."
"Come on, admit it. It was totally worth it."
"Fine."
Jason, Piper and Leo were running the track outside the Wilderness School while the rest of the pupils sat inside, safe from the pouring rain. Piper and Leo were arguing, while Jason watched with an irked expression. He looked cute, with the water making his hair run flat and plaster itself to his head. He had shed his t-shirt because it was heavy with the rain, and Piper was trying really hard not to stare at his chest.
Trying. Not succeeding.
"I still don't know why I got dragged into this," he grumbled adorably. Leo snorted.
"Maybe falling out your chair with laughter when I nailed Isabel in the head?"
"Touché." He cast his eyes towards Piper, and she was suddenly self-aware that her own shirt was sticking to her chest with water. She felt a blush creeping up onto her cheeks, but thankfully Jason didn't notice. He just smiled and went back to running. It was pretty clear to Piper that the two boys were slowing down so she could keep pace, but she appreciated it all the same.
"One lap left," Leo panted as they passed the back of the dormitories again, where they had started running. Instead of detention or a note home like any normal teacher would, the coach had given them fifteen punishment laps of the four-hundred-meter track. It worked out to around six kilometers, more than Piper had ever run before in her life.
"Race you," Jason challenged, and the two boys took off through the rain, leaving Piper in the dust. She was too tired to chase after them so she continued at her jog, finishing a couple minutes later to find the two boys standing at the front of the track, arguing over who won.
"You cheater!" Jason argued, although he was grinning. Piper's heart did a little dance when she saw this.
"I played fair," Leo retorted, although his smirk suggested differently.
"Pushing me into a puddle is 'fair'?" Jason demanded. Piper noticed that he was splattered in mud and even wetter than he had been. There was a little speck on his chin and Piper resisted the urge to lean across and wipe it off.
"Survival of the fittest, man," Leo shrugged. He turned to go back into the building and Jason grabbed his wet t-shirt, winding it up and then snapping it out with a clean flick of his wrist.
"Ow!"
Jason grinned at Leo as he flicked the towel in the back, barely catching Leo in the arm. Enough to sting, but not enough to leave a mark that Coach Hedge could see. Leo yelped and glared at Jason, who smiled cheekily in response. Piper laughed quietly to herself as she followed a couple of footsteps behind them, definitely not admiring Jason's shoulders.
And yet she knew there was only a certain amount of time she could ridicule herself about not liking Jason. She pretended that she wasn't staring at him in class, or wondering what it would feel like to kiss him, or replaying their last conversation over and over in her head, but in reality, she was. She just had to figure out how to get him to notice her as more than a friend, and life would be good.
Coach Hedge appeared in the doorway as Leo shoved it open, rubbing his arm from Jason's flicks. "Grace!" Hedge yelled, which was completely unnecessary considering Jason was two feet away. "What are you doing?"
"Walking inside, sir?" Jason asked unsurely. Hedge narrowed his eyes ad Jason.
"What are you doing with your shirt, boy?" Jason looked down meekly and seemed to realize what the Coach was getting at as he looked at his dripping wet shirt.
"Oh."
"That's right," Coach said smugly. "Ten more laps, off you go." Jason looked up in disbelief, but the Coaches face said he better not argue. Leo stuck out his tongue as Jason dropped his shirt and began to jog towards the track, muttering a string of insults under his breath.
Linebreak
Piper couldn't help but laugh as Jason walked back in to the dorm, his face a thundercloud. He was completely soaked, and the scrapes on his arms suggested he had slipped on the track and fallen forwards. Piper asked him if he was okay, while Leo just laughed.
"I'm going to kill you, Valdez," Jason growled as he grabbed a towel from the bathroom shower and used it to dry himself off. They were seated in the rec room of the boys dorm, with the TV running. Piper had been thrilled to discover there was a TV at the Wilderness School, only to have her hopes crushed when she realized it only showed boring documentaries of wildlife and survival. Currently, the Bear Grylls All-Around Survival Marathon was playing with the volume turned down.
Jason finally finished drying off and sank down into the chair opposite of Leo, still glaring. Leo had a cocky grin on his face. "Don't blame me just because you're not sneaky enough to beat me."
"You will die for this," Jason promised, relaxing in his chair and groaning. "Four more kilometers… I'm exhausted."
"What?" Leo feigned shock. "Superman can run out of energy?"
"He still has enough to punch you in the face," Jason muttered with his eyes closed. Unable to resist, Leo chirped:
"Just don't let Coach Hedge catch you," he teased. Jason cracked one eye lid and couldn't resist smiling, though reluctantly. He groaned as he straightened up in his chair and looked at Piper.
"What've you guys been up to while I was slaving out of the track?"
"Learning how to survive," Piper answered dryly, pointing to the TV. Jason seemed to notice it for the first time.
"We have a TV!"
"Don't get too excited," Leo smirked. "Unless you like watching documentaries about penguins, you're out of luck." Jason pouted, which was incredibly hot, and then shrugged.
"Eh. I don't need TV anyways."
"I do!" Leo cried, faking desperation. "I need my TV, Jason. You don't understand. I need it."
"You're the builder in our group," Jason shrugged. "Rig up a TV antenna or something with duct tape and tin foil. I read that in a book once."
"I'm good," Leo said indignantly. "But I'm not that good. If you happen to want a catapult or miniature helicopter, I'm your man."
"I'll take three," Jason joked. They spent a couple of more minutes in silence, before the bell sounded outside. This signaled that Piper had to go back to her dorm for lights out. Grumbling, she got to her feet and headed for the door, bidding the other two goodnight.
"Time to go face Isabel," she grumbled. Jason smiled at her, making her heart leap.
"Tell us if you need any help," he said, and Piper nodded, before slipping outside the door and heading to her dorm. She would have to put up with a long night of Isabel talking and making fun of her until all hours, and then probably waking her up early with talk of makeup and boys. But in the morning, she would get to see Jason again.
With that thought in mind, she headed back to her dorm, jogging down the boys stairs and up the girls ones. Technically, she wasn't allowed to be in the boys dorm, and for this reason she ducked into the washroom as Coach Hedge walked by, swinging his bat and yelling.
"Lights off, Cupcakes! I'm walking up the stairs and if the lights aren't off by the time I get up there, I'll put out your lights, personally!" Piper could guess that he was swinging his bat. He was right outside the washroom now and Piper was trying hard not to make a sound. If she was discovered, it would no doubt mean laps, and maybe a whack on the thighs with his bat.
Piper could hear scrambling around upstairs as the boys hurried into their beds, shedding clothing and turning off electronics. Through the din, she could make out Leo's distinctive voice:
"Quick! Hide the rum!"
Piper stifled a laugh with great difficulty as Coach Hedge paused for a moment, before sprinting up the stairs.
"Valdez!"
Piper slipped out of the washroom and quickly walked up the stairs and into her dorm, checking over her back to make sure Hedge wasn't coming back down the stairs. He wasn't, and Piper slipped into her dorm without much trouble. Of course, Isabel was still up, washing her makeup off with a mirror and a tiny flashlight for light. She looked up at Piper.
"Oh look," she sneered. "It's the native trash!"
"Oh look," Piper sneered back. "It's a walking Barbie doll!" Isabel just giggled and went back to her makeup as Piper undressed and got ready for bed, brushing her teeth and putting her hair in a bun. Isabel feigned shock when she came out.
"Is that a new look, Piper?" She mocked. "You could get some boys with that, yes you could." Anna and Lea laughed on cue and stared at Piper pityingly.
"Maybe that Grace boy," Isabel continued, wiping off her lipstick and tossing the red-stained makeup remover cloth onto Piper's bed. She grit her teeth. "I could see you with him… you know, the two losers of the camp."
"Shut up," Piper growled, plucking the used cloth off her bed and throwing it at Isabel, who just laughed. Piper really wanted to shut her up, and her two friends as well, but she settled for lying in her bed and turning her back to the three.
"What'd you do to end up here, anyways?" Isabel asked her back. "Police arrest you for looking too ugly?"
This was going to be a long night.
If I didn't end it there, it would have been really hard to end, so yeah. What did you guys think? The chapters are slowly but surely getting longer :D
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