...........

"Keya, come on, come on!" Three voices belonging to Kyle, Sav and Ned shouted for me. Sav was already at the back seat, her window rolled down. Ned took the driver's seat while Kyle helped pack my bags in Ned's family Jeep.

"I'm coming, jeez!" I shouted back, while hauling a bag pack on my shoulder.

Since it was boiling hot outside, I decided to put my hair into a messy bun, some curls still stuck out from the sides. I adorned myself in jean shorts, a tank top, a flannel shirt wrapped aorund my waist and my favourite white converse. It didn't look like camping-wear but then again, I went with what made me feel comfortable. I just hoped that wherever we were headed, there won't be mosquitoes or any other bite-nipping insects.

"Hurry up, Ryland and others are already driving to the rendezvous point." Sav impatiently whined, obviously annoyed at how slow I was walking.

I rolled my eyes and ignored her as I went behind the Jeep, intending to use the other door. I ended up bumping into Kyle whom was closing the boot.

I was still trying to get used to how my body reacted suggestively whenever he was near, so I was surprised when I froze within a spot. He hadn't changed clothes; he still wore his tight white t-shirt and khaki shorts. The only addition he added was a snapback on his head and sunglasses.

He smirked at me as he nodded his greeting and I was trying to get a hold of myself, trying not to picture his naked body on top of me.

I swallowed and returned his nod with a small awkward wave. I was still angry at him for earlier.

"Really?" He asked. "You're still mad?" He folded his arms across his chest.

I ignored the urge to gawk at his biceps as I concentrated on his face instead. I was glad for the barrier that was his shades; they prevented me from seeing those impeccable eyes.

"You're a jerk." I glared at him.

That increased his grin. "From that I guess you're still jealous."

"Jealous of what? Don't delude yourself." I said with venom.

He bit his lip, trying to hold his laugh. "You're cute when you're mad."

I gave him a glowering look. He held his hands up as if in surrender. "Don't kill me yet." He smiled. "If it makes you feel better, I didn't even get her number."

I hated how his new knowledge somehow did make me feel better. Seriously when had I ever become this jealous? It irked me.

I shrugged as a way to cut our conversation. I manoeuvred away from him, but before I could escape; I felt his hand at the skin of my waist. It was that small contact that resulted in a rush of heat coiling below my stomach.

I froze and slowly turned around. What I didn't expect was his closeness; it completely knocked the breath out of me as he leaned closer towards me. The smirk on his lips—although sexy—told me he knew exactly how he was affecting me.

"Don't be mad."

I swallowed. My throat was already dry so I knew I could not speak. I couldn't even think of what to say.

"I wasn't mad in the first place." I croaked.

"You keep denying it but your body says the opposite." The hands on my waist leave a burning sensation as they travel upwards.

"Kyle, stop." I whispered. My voice was barely audible from how husky it was.

He leaned closer and his smirk increased.

He was doing this on purpose; I knew he had done it all just to initiate a reaction from me.

Somehow, knowing his intentions made me snap out of his trance. I reacted quickly as I reached up and snatched his snapback from his head. I darted quickly into the Jeep, leaving him confused and shocked at my actions.

I held in a giggle because I knew Sav was going to start waggling her eyebrows at me, nudging me until I was embarrassed to even look at Kyle. To be honest, I regretted telling her about what Kyle and I shared. I had feeling that she was going to torture me for the rest of this camping trip.

I just hoped that her dilemma between Ryland and Ned will keep her occupied enough to leave me alone.

Speaking of her dilemma, I didn't fail to notice the shared glances between Ned and Sav as a grumbling Kyle got into the passenger side just as Ned started the ignition. Seriously, it was so obvious that something was up between them. Somehow, I sensed there was going to be a lot of drama during this camping trip.

"So where are we headed?" Ned asked Sav.

"Uh...I think we are meeting them at Peak Bank, at the end of Junction 12." She replied.

"That's like—what? An hour's drive?" Ned asked, stopping at the traffic light.

"Yup." She slumped on her seat, checking her phone when it beeped.

"Well, then, I gotta get comfortable." Kyle said. Because I was sitting behind him, he made things torturous for me when he slumped his seat back so that my knees became uncomfortably restricted.

I freed my knees as I folded my legs on my seat. However, Kyle leaned on his seat, drawing his arms over his head. I knew he was doing this on purpose, in order to touch me. I leaned as far back as I could, not giving him the satisfaction.

"You okay, Key?" He asked in a pretentious innocent voice. "You don't mind me leaning back like this, do you?"

"Really?" I grumbled as I folded my arms across my chest. Although he couldn't see me, I sensed that he knew how much I was slowly losing it.

"I'll take that as a no." I sensed his grin.

At this point, Ned was smirking to himself behind the wheel. Sav was in a world of her phone, completely oblivious to what was happening inside the car.

"Oh no, I don't mind at all." I said in a sweet tone. I leaned forward and roughly grabbed Kyle's sunglasses from his eyes when he least expected it.

"Ow!" He howled. "Are you tryna blind me?"

I let out a small evil laugh as I put his shades on my eyes. Along with his hat I was wearing, I looked quite hip. I took out my phone and snapped a quick selfie before sending him the picture along with a message saying I wasn't going to return these items back to him.

His phone bleeped and that was when Sav somehow returned to our reality.

"What?" She asked. "What did I miss?" She returned her own phone back into her jean pocket.

"Just Kyle and Keya being...well, Kyle and Keya." Ned explained.

"Oh really?" Sav shot an eyebrow up when she caught my eyes.

"I guess you guys have sorted your problems out?" The smirk on her face told me of her impending plan.

"Yeah, what happened?" Ned asked. "It was like north-pole between you guys, last week."

He was in on it too? What game exactly where they trying to play.

Like me, Kyle had narrowed eyes when he looked at Ned. We didn't reply them and for a while we rode the jeep in silence. Sav and Ned gave each other a knowing look through the review mirror.

I cleared my throat. "Someone put some music on!" I decided to change the subject.

Sav twisted her lips to stop herself from laughing. "Yeah, some journey music would be nice."

Music was already blasting in the car by the time she finished her sentence.

I glared at her, my expression telling her how annoyed I was. But that was when my cell phone decided to ping, indicating a new message.

I took it out and instantly saw a picture of Kyle with his tongue out. There wasn't any caption but this didn't stop a grin surfacing from my lips. He looked adorable.

"Oooh, Keya got a love message." Sav leaned over to grab my phone. She winked at me.

Kyle turned around with a frown marring his features, he looked confused.

"A love message?" He asked. I didn't understand why he sounded worried.

"I think she has a new admirer." Sav leaned forward, towards him.

I gaped at her lie and nudged her sides with my elbow.

Kyle was speechless for a while. Our gazes locked briefly before he turned to face the front . He looked troubled.

"What admirer?" Ned asked but by the time his voice was heard, Kyle had turned the volume up. The music boomed more loudly.

I grabbed my phone from Sav and instantly typed a "what the hell are doing?" message to her.

She replied with "doing you a favour."

: What favour?

Boys are easily jealous, Keya. I thought you might want to know how Kyle feels after what you guys did. Well, if you're not so blind you might just see that he's dying to get into your pants again.

Yeah right Why would he? Sav please, you're just making this situation more awkward than it already is. We're just friends.

Whatever you say, Keya. But, you're being stupid.

I glared at her, deciding to stop texting her. She shook her head at me, her look reflecting exactly what she said in her text.

I faced the open window and stuck my head out of the car, turning away from the current situation for a moment. Ned and Kyle were oblivious to our silent banter. They've been nodding their heads to the music all along.

Then suddenly, their voice chorused in synchronisation with the music. Kyle was drumming against the head board, his hoarse voice screaming out of tune at Lady Gaga's Bad Romance.

"Noooo!" I howled, placing my hands to cover my ears. "Oh god, no!"

Sav was giggling uncontrollably but after a while she joined them in the signing.

"C'mon, Keya! Your voice is great!" Sav shook me.

"No! Don't make me! I've always hated this song!" I shook my head violently.

"Keya, Keya, Keya..." Sav and Ned chanted and soon enough, Kyle reluctantly joined them.

"...Keya, Keya, Keya!"

"Okay-okay! If it'll stop your ridiculous chanting." I shouted.

They stopped chanting and singing period and waited for me to sing.

I didn't.

I remained as silent as they were.

"Oh c'mon!" Kyle flailed his hands, turning his body to look at me.

"Oh-oh oh-oooh whoaoohh-ooooh! Caught in your bad romance!" I reluctantly sang.

"That's more like it!" He grinned at me.

"I want your love and your lover's revenge and you need to write a Bad Romance!" Kyle sang.

"That's not how the lyrics go!" I shouted at him near his ear. "It's; I want your love and I want your revenge, you and me could write a bad romance!"

Kyle turned his head and once again I was submerge in the sea of green. He shot an eyebrow up, the look on his face as if he just figured out an inside joke. That's when I realised how those lyrics reflected our situation perfectly. Well, to me it reflected my internal battle with these feelings for him. I didn't know about him and what he felt.

"I thought you hated this song?" He grinned.

I leaned back, away from him because to see his smile was to feel butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

"I do!" I said in defense.

He shook his head and turned to face the front again. I exhaled and closed my eyes.

"Oh-oh-oh-ooh whooaoooh-oohh, caught in your bad romance!" Sav and Ned sang in unison, completely unaware of the moment I shared with Kyle.

The drive to Peak bank went just like that. In that hour, I was glad when we put our difference aside and became a unity like before. It was a glimpse of what I had missed from the past. It had been a long, a very long time since all of us hung out like that.

There were two more cars waiting for us at Peak Bank and the party were all out of the cars.

I counted seven people as Ned stopped the jeep near them. All of Ryland's friends—including Ryland—were there; Dave and his girlfriend Ciara were busy making out behind a black SUV; Sam was once again busy with his cell phone and Sally was trying to get his attention; Ryland was talking to James and Mandy near his car.

As Sav instantly got out, she ran towards Ryland's waiting arms. They shared a kiss briefly. My eyes darted towards Ned and although he seemed composed, I didn't fail to notice the annoyed clench of his jaw.

I waved back at everyone who waved at me, while Ned and Kyle got the formal introduction to those that didn't know them. James, once again, did the introductions. I was in between Kyle and Ned and though I was fairly conspicuous besides the two giants, James pretended to not notice me as he talked with them.

We began to disperse into two groups of guys and gals, so I found myself amidst the overly excited Sally, fairly ignorant Ciara, confused Mandy and effusive Sav.

"So, where exactly are we going?" Mandy asked warily. She was next to me.

"Dave said it was deep in the woods, but near a lake." Ciara contributed.

"I just hope there won't be any creeping creatures." Mandy replied.

"Don't worry Mandy, it's a safe place, the only creeping creatures are probably going to be squirrels or bunnies and maybe flies." Sally quipped, offering Mandy a huge friendly smile. She was besides Mandy and she linked arms with her.

I shared a look with Sav. She was trying to hide her smile.

"Right-right! Ladies are you ready for the time of your life!" It was James's raucous voice that broke our circle.

"YEAH!" Sally obviously would be the one to match his enthusiasm.

I caught Mandy smiling contently at James and though I didn't really care about their relationship, the double date incident still stung.

She caught me glancing at her and gave me a small wary smile. As if she wanted to say something but was unsure how to approach me. I forced out a smile.

That was enough invitation for her approach. Whilst the rest of the girls joined the boys in some discussion, she and I lagged behind.

"Hey." She smiled, placing her hands behind her denim jean pockets.

"Hey."

She looked away frowning at the ground, unsure of something. That was an un-Mandy thing to do. I decided to cut her some slack.

"How are you?" I asked her.

She looked across at me. "Good." She replied. "Better actually."

"That's good. Happy belated birthday, by the way." I said to her, remembering when she mentioned how she was moving out of her family house when her birthday came.

"I know everyone was expecting me to throw this huge birthday bash." She rolled her eyes. "I'm surprised you even remember, well after..." She trailed. "Keya, I'm sorry...I felt bad when you left."

I shook my head. "No, you shouldn't apologise. It wasn't your fault. I guess I was just overwhelmed that's all."

She smiled, somehow relieved when I told her that.

"So did you move out?"

"Yes, I did." She shrugged. "James and my brother helped me. I'm completely free."

"As long as you're happy."

She gave me a genuine smile. "I am. I really am."

I offered her another smile before we finally joined the group. James looked over at us with a deep frown before Mandy joined his side. I watched him kiss her forehead lightly.

I narrowed my eyes at him. His genuine was not sitting well with me. Did he really like Mandy or was this all just an act to get into her pants. I really hoped it wasn't the latter.

"Right, so the camping place is ten miles away from here." Ryland was telling the group. "I think the best thing to do, is just follow my car in case any of you get lost." As he said the last part, he was staring pointedly at Ned.

Ned's response was to ball up his fist. I moved over to him and linked my arm with him. He looked down at me and I gave him a reassuring smile.

"So are we going or what?" Sally broke the silent tension that fell between them.

"Yeah, let's go!" James's shout revived the group.

Ciara and Dave were already inside their SUV and Sally and Sam followed them. Ryland dragged Sav into his car while James and Mandy followed behind them.

"Sav just ditched us?" Kyle asked, looking over at me and Ned.

Ned was out of it as he grudgingly got into his jeep. For a moment I followed him with a pitiful look, I wanted to offer him some words but I knew I shouldn't get involved with their drama.

We drove for ten miles in a narrow road, following the SUV in front of us. Kyle and Ned were discussing something I couldn't hear because of the music, so I ignored their conversation while gazing at my window.

The road got bumpier and trees were soon surrounding us. That's when I began cheering up. I don't know what it was with nature, but every time I saw green I was a goner.

The cars stopped at a clearing. It was more of a huge meadow than clearing. Everyone parked there and got out of the cars.

The soon I was out. I was bombarded with sight, smell and sound of nature. All around me, the smell of earth engulfed my nostrils. Moss green, tall trees, exotic flowers were seen everywhere. The birds were chirping vicariously and other animal sounds were heard as if they were welcoming us into their world. A faint trickle splashing sound of water hitting rocks was heard in the distant and that's when I soon figured that a lake was somewhere near.

"This is the place?" I heard Sav ask Ryland as we moved into the group.

He grinned at her and nodded.

"Do we set camp now or?" Dave asked.

"Pretty much yeah. Just do whatever you want. But first I think we need wood fire, it's going to get dark pretty soon." He instructed, pointing towards the almost setting sun.

Kyle snorted behind me. I looked back, frowning in question.

He shook his head and just smirked.

"What?" I asked him as I moved closer towards him at he same time ignoring the effect of feeling him close.

"I didn't realise this was going to be boot camp." He said.

"Oh." I replied realising what he meant. Everyone was looking at Ryland as if he had all the answers since they had no clue what to do.

"Well, it was him that called for this trip." I said.

He shrugged, as he began moving behind Ned's jeep to unpack.

"And he just said we can do whatever we wanted." I told him, following to help him.

He got the bags that had the tents and left the rest for later.

"Want help setting up the tent?" I asked when he moved to a spot where he wanted.

He grinned but then frowned as he looked back. "No, I think you're mostly needed over there." He said, pointing behind me where Sav and the rest of the girls were flailing her hands, waving for me to come over.

I looked back at Kyle and shrugged. He ignored me as continued to unpack the tent equipment.

I ran over to them. "What's up?"

"Well, the boys challenged us to look for wood while they set up camp...and if we got back on time when they're still not finished, we win." Mandy's face contorted into fear.

"So why are we not going there?" I asked, suddenly liking this challenge.

"Well, they didn't tell us where to look for wood." Sally replied with an equal frightened look. "Plus the sun is almost setting, what if we get lost?"

"Guys, c'mon, even a five year old knows this. We just have to hoard up any dry fallen sticks of wood." I told them as if it was the most obvious thing.

"You guys are still here?" I heard Dave's shout of disbelief, followed by laughing from the rest of the guys.

We all looked behind them and gave them our glowering looks. Kyle smirked at me, I guess he caught up with what was going on, before he went back to setting up the tent.

"C'mon, let's go!" Ciara coaxed us to move while giving her boyfriend a warning frown.