He looked at me, then down at his feet. I followed his gaze and through the clear water I could see his feet were bare. In his haste to save my one flip flop he had lost both of his. I started giggling and then it broke out to a full laugh. At first Nathan looked shocked but then joined in with me. I had taken my other flip flop off and we were both standing bare foot in the stream. Nathan sloshed over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist and drew me into him. Our lips connected immediately and I felt Nathan's hands move up my back and slide back down. He broke our kiss and his smile was infectious.
"That did not go according to plan, but the result was better than I hoped for. You have a beautiful laugh Peanut."
"I have lots of sandals anyway." I smiled back at him and tangled my hand in his as we finished our way across the stream. When we got to the other side Nathan brought out a towel from his back and dried my feet and put my socks and shoes back on.
The rest of the hike was uneventful compared to the stream crossing. I saw the parking lot up ahead but Nathan veered off the path to a clearing with picnic tables.
"I thought we could have a snack before we head back. We made pretty good time so we are not in a rush to get home." I knew he was stalling going back to his house because Gabe and Luke had texted us that they would be there. Meanie wanted to get me ready for my date tonight and Luke had gone in to the diner for a few hours.
We sat at a table and Nathan opened his backpack and brought out two granola bars. "I still can't believe what you and Gabe discovered yesterday." This is the first he had mentioned anything related to Volto all day. I thought maybe he didn't want to bring him up on our date.
"I know. Hopefully Gabriel can remember what he looked like or they can pull a picture off the cameras."
"I'm sure he will have a drawing or print out when we get home." He paused, furrowed his brows like he was thinking about something, and then said "I'm sorry you felt like you had to hide your feelings and doubts from us Peanut."
"It's okay Honey. They were my doubts to figure out, not yours."
"You're wrong Sang. Your doubts are ours, we are family."
"I know, I know. What Kota and Mr. Blackbourne said though helped. It made me feel like I am normal for feeling this way instead of feeling guilty. Once the guilt lifted I felt less stressed about what Volto told me."
"Good. Kota was telling the truth too Sang. I was there with him a lot when Erica would drop a hint about where his father went. I could see how hard it was for him to keep some things a secret from her, and from Jessica, but telling them wouldn't help anything. We went away to boot camp a few months later and when we came back Kota was different, but in a good way. He was team leader and that confidence showed. He was still the same Kota that she knew when he left, but now he had that extra something that proved to her that he knew what he was doing. I didn't hear any other questions or hints about his father from her after that."
"How did everyone agree that Kota would be team leader? Not that he doesn't deserve it, it's just that…" Just what? North is bigger and stronger? Victor has more money? What did I think determined who the leader should be?
"Just that out of all of us he is not the one that people think will be team leader." Nathan finished my sentence. I nodded, feeling embarrassed that I was talking about Kota that way.
"I understand Peanut, you don't have to feel bad for thinking it. Actually we didn't really decide, not the way you think. We didn't vote or anything like that. Everyone had the chance at being team leader at the start of boot camp. After about a week it was really down to North, Kota, and me. By the end of it though it was definitely Kota that won out. It was hard for North to handle at first, he thought he deserved it just as much, but in the end he realized that Kota had everything a leader should have."
"How was it decided though?"
Nathan smiled at my question. "To be honest I am not sure if I can tell you about boot camp. I don't think it is a secret, but I'd rather double check with Mr. B. first." He must have noticed the disappointment on my face because he continued "Plus, I think it is something that we should tell you together. I can only do it justice from my point of view, but even I would be interested to know how everyone else saw it. We didn't talk about it too much after we got back."
"Fair enough. The next time we are all together I am asking for the story." It seemed like I had a lot of stories to look forward to. I wanted to know how they all met and how Owen and Dr. Sean got them to join the Academy too.
Nathan picked up our wrappers and stuffed them into the bag. Holding out his hand for mine we walked back to the car and headed back home.