Childhood Sweethearts

Chapter Twenty Two

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Thank you to Staryynight who said the song Soldier by Before You Exit reminds her of this story. :) 

Dedication: 17serenity for the amazing cover!

Recap:

"I'll get some marshmellows ready for you." He grinned, smirking at my lack of enthusiasm about nature. I rolled my eyes and ducked into my tent. I began rummaging through my bag, grabbing all the essentials I needed. It was evident that Anna had already beat me to it and was already heading off to shower.

The showers were extremely disgusting here. The floor was full of grime, the curtains were stained and the walls had mould accumulating across them. It smelled like wet, old clothes that had been locked in a room for too long. Wrinkling my nose, I entered. I could see Anna's toiletry bag on one of the stools outside, along with her signature red towel that she takes everywhere. The was another shower running somewhere around the corner, but I preferred not to go around there, as it was even worse than these ones and the lightbulb had blown. I went to enter the cubicle next to her when she giggled. I paused. Why was she laughing so flirtatiously? 

"Stop, you're going to get us caught," she breathed with another teasing laugh. My eyes bulged out of my head as I looked down and saw that another pair of legs was in the shower with her. I quickly turned and exited the shower block, unsure how to feel. I was marching back to my tent when I realised I had dropped my shorts. With an exasperated sigh, I headed back. Just as I was walking in, I ran head first into someone's chest. I stumbled back in surprise.

The person quickly steadied me. I looked up and locked eyes with Aiden. His hair was wet and his chest was glistening with water. His cheeks were flushed red. My stomach fell. No. He couldn't have been the one in there with Anna.

This trip suddenly just got a whole lot worse.

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The rest of the trip had gone painfully slow but I was finally home. As soon as I stepped foot into my house, I sprinted to the bathroom and scrubbed myself clean of the grime and dirt that was spread over my skin. After spending an excessive amount of time shampooing and exfoliating, I emerged from the bathroom feeling one hundred percent more human.

I was wringing my hair when my phone rang. I sighed, knowing it was Anna without having to look. I had avoided her like the plague the rest of the trip, which had been hard since we were in a tent together and placed in the same group. I couldn't believe she would betray me like that. Out of all the boys she could be with, she had to choose him. I spent as much time with Carter as I could, even sitting with him on the bus ride home. She knew something was up and decided constantly calling me was going to make me talk to her. I know I should answer and talk this through with her, but I was too afraid of the answer. Honestly? I was afraid to lose her. Anna is the first friend I have genuinely gotten along with and trusted for the first time in a while. I didn't want to risk knowing she had been with Aiden. It would ruin everything between us.

I turned my phone off, eventually unable to stand the constant vibrating. I tried to distract myself in more ways than one. I went for a run, had another shower, read for an hour, watched a movie, but my thoughts still went back to Anna and Aiden together. I felt sick and betrayed. I knew there was only one person that could distract me from my turmoil of thoughts. Conveniently, he lives next door.