Between Us

Chapter 39

I knew myself better than he did. For a long time, I didn't. I needed his help, after all. But now I knew. I wasn't going to fall for Leo so I didn't need to 'stay away'. He wasn't going to hurt me. Not how Caden had done.

That night was an awkward one. I didn't know where to look or what to do. Thoughts of his lips on my skin, the way my body reacted to his slightest touch...I hated myself for it.

I tried to busy myself by speaking to Leo, knowing that the tingle on the side of my head wasn't just because of what had happened moments before. Even if my faith in Caden was starting to dwindle, if he was so adamant about this, maybe taking a break away from both of them was the best thing I could do.

My eyes were swollen as I cried myself to sleep. Not just hating Caden and cursing him in my head, but angry at myself for losing all sense of control, for doing what my parents feared. For being who I feared I would turn out to be—my sister. Caden was a jerk. He was trouble, complicated and everything a person shouldn't be.

I had made up my mind. I was going to ignore Caden. After everything, that had been enough to throw me over the edge and not in a good way.

The next day was a long day as we decided to hike and trek through the dark forest. Apparently, there was a story that it was 'haunted' so, of course, Trixie and Sai wanted to go.

I, on the other, hand, didn't want to die. But hey, peer pressure was a thing. Just to spite him even more, I stuck by Leo and didn't even look in Caden's direction. Not once. And I wasn't going to the rest of the day, either.

Well, that was the plan.

"I don't think we can go through this way," Leilani said, one hand on her hip. The other arm had formed a dark, purple bruise, peeking out through the strap of her khaki tank top. None of us had proper hiking apparel—the girls had either shorts or leggings and the guys were wearing shorts. Me? Underpacked me had to wear jeans until Paris came to my rescue and offered me her spare leggings.

"What do you mean?" Trixie panted, brushing a hand through her clipped hair. I was bent over, trying to collect my breathing by leaning against a tree. How was neither of them sweating?

Leo put a hand on my shoulder. "You dying over here?"

I swallowed so I could form a coherent response. "Is it that obvious?"

"Guys, come on," said Paris, following the others. "We gotta cut through the river to get to the other side."

What? I thought. "Is that safe?" I asked Leo.

"I have no clue." He turned to look over his shoulder. "There's no one behind us so I'm guessing we're lost. What else can we do, right?"

"We're lost?! This is a hiking trail. Isn't this the way we're supposed to go?"

"Relax," he said. "I'm joking. We're either way ahead of people or way behind."

Leo let me walk in front of him so I wouldn't be scared of the occasional shuffling in bushes or trees above me. Sai made ghost noises, wagging her fingers at me and I stuck my tongue out at her.

"You're still as much of a wuss as you were when we were younger," yelled Sai from ahead.

"Har-har," I mumbled to myself. The last time when we went trick or treating before I moved came to mind; a man was dressed as Freddy Krueger out his door. Thinking it was a statue, I had gone to grab the candy from his basket and he'd boo'd me. I'd peed my pants and ran away screaming, leaving Sai behind.

I had no doubt that she was telling Trixie that who looked over her shoulder at me, a grin on her face.

We walked further ahead before the sound of trickling water turned into a full rush of it. To the left was where the bushes parted to show us a clearing of a river. On the other side of it were flashes of red and black rain jackets and backpacks—people—trekking through the trees.