"Do we really have to do this?!" I whined as I tugged harshly at my blonde locks.

"Yeah, Mrs. Santos said, we all need to go to the campfire, Michelle. I'm sure it'll be fun, just don't sweat it." Sebastian mumbled as he pinched the side of my cheek with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Sure, whatever." I brushed his hands away and began walking down the path leading to the beach. "Where's Mason, I mean after those locking lips I'd figure he'd be with you." He grinned as he nudged me in the arm playfully.

I pushed him away from me harshly, making him stumble back in astonishment and clutch his chest dramatically. "Girl you nearly made me see my death," he huffed out as he swiped his finger across his forehead.

"Do you think Mason likes me?" The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. "Do you want me to be honest with you sweetie?" He frowned deeply and I sighed.

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned towards him, giving him my undivided attention. "Yeah, Sebastian that's why I asked." His frown deepened and I knew it wasn't gonna be good.

"Michelle, I know how to read boys' feelings but I can't read him. He just seems reserved like he wants you but he doesn't want you, I don't know. that's the best I can give you," he shrugged apologetically.

I nodded in response and resumed my walking down to the beach.

The cool night and salty breeze washed over my face as I approached the beach. I smiled sadly as my feet sank into the yellow sand, and the sound of the waves crashing like a blue blanket over the yellowish sand made my smile grow. The moon sat comfortably over the dark blanketed horizon as the night covered the world in its warm darkness and the stars sparkled in the sky as they shed a glowing light down onto the earth.

Definitely a beautiful sight.

I shivered lightly as another gust of cold wind swept over me to the point where I feared that I would collapse.

In the distance, I could see a blazing fire accompanied with students surrounding it.

Sat on the logs were my fellow schoolmates with blankets draped over their shoulders, some of them engaged in conversations and others gazing at the sea that glistened under the moon and stars.

Sebastian was already ahead of me probably trying to escape the complete silence I fell into as I admired the earth.

I took lazy strides behind Sebastian but no one notice or seemed to worry about my presence so I made a b line for the sea and marched closer to the crashing water.

I lowered myself down onto the sand and pulled my legs closer to my chest, I wrapped my hands around my legs and laid my chin down on my knees.

I gazed into the distance where the sea appeared like a never-ending cycle. When I was little I always thought that there was a waterfall at the end of every beach.

I thought that when the sun was setting it was probably going down into the waterfall and rising back up when it wanted the world to wake up. It's like kids who thought that at the end of a rainbow was a leprechaun with a stack of gold.

I dug my toes into the warm sand and sighed a breath of relief. Sometimes moments like these gives me time to think of all the happy moments I had with my sister.

She was my best friend despite our age differences. We did everything together and I was devastated when she went off to university and that was partly why I went off the rails with Kaleb.

But when she finally came back she walked right into my mess of a life.

If I could go back in time I'd stay far away from Kaleb as possible, if only I knew that dating him came with a package he was carrying for me. I would keep Deborah as far away from me as possible because despite my dating Kaleb I was still a bad person.

I was somehow destined to cause havoc somewhere in my life. Whether it was with Kaleb, by myself or with someone else.

A tear slowly slid down my cheek and I quickly swiped it away when the sound of someone's footsteps grew behind me. I sniffled and wiped away the tears that continued to topple down rapidly.

I'm gonna embarrass myself. . .Shit.

Suddenly wrapped around my shoulders was warm fabric against my skin. It enveloped me in its complete warmth and for a moment I forgot I was even freezing. I sniffled, my eyes slowly trailed upwards until they locked onto Mason standing above me.

He shifted beside me and placed one hand on his knee and fidgeted with the other probably contemplating whether or not to comfort me.

I scooted closer to him and laid my head down on his shoulder. His body suddenly tensed up under my touch but soon relaxed as one hand slung over my shoulder and the other squeezed my thigh.

We sat in a comfortable silence seeing as I didn't want to talk about the death of a loved one I caused and seeing as he probably sensed that and respected my privacy.

He suddenly intertwined our fingers and drew small comforting circles on my back, I smiled softly, melting into his arms. "Look. . ." He sighed deeply after a moment of complete silence.

"I don't know what's going on with you but whatever it is. . .I'm here for you."

I didn't answer, seeing as I didn't need to, If Mason learnt anything about me by now it's that I like him and I already trust him.

For the rest of the night, we sat on the beach in total comfortable silence and I think that's the most decent moment that's ever gone down between the two of us.

Now.

I'm just hoping it stays that way.

•••

"Come on move, move, move!"

I take everything I said back, Brandon is hot but he's definitely not a nice person. "Come on you lazy asses, work together! that's why we're here. . .to bond!" He shouted once again.

I stumbled over and fell onto the ground resulting in Mason toppling over me in the process. He placed both hands on either side of my face and propped himself up so he wouldn't drop all his weight onto me.

His brown hair fell on his face, tickling mine from the close proximity between us. Mason let out an exasperated sigh and frowned. "Damn it, Michelle, do you have two left feet!" He hissed loudly.

"Well not when one of them is bounded to yours!" I exclaimed back. He flickered his eyes shut and sucked in a harsh breath.

Rolling his eyes he propped himself up and grabbed my hand to help me into a standing position as well. "Look, they've already won and we keep tripping over." He sighed deeply.

Well if you wouldn't stop looking so damn hot maybe I'd stop falling for you.

Get it?...No!? okay then.

"I see that the two of you aren't working so. . . extra task!" Brandon bellowed out angrily as he slid his menacing gaze towards us.

"The rest of you untie your feet and go get something to eat or screw each other for all I care. The two of you follow me." He grumbled lowly.

Who took a shit in his cereal?

I leaned over to undo the ropes which were tightly bounded around my right foot and Masons left foot. This is ridiculous, how the hell was I supposed to bond with him by tying my feet with his I mean come on!

"We've done seven tasks for the day and the both of you haven't bonded yet!" Brandon shouted as he began walking away and gestured for us to follow.

Why is he constantly shouting!

"So for punishment on not trying to work harder, I'm giving you guys a task." He smirked mischievously. What's going on in that assholes head, I mean he's darn cute so he can't be all that delusional.

"What's the task?" Mason asked from beside me. We finally came to a halt at the end of the beach where a huge basket sat filled to the brim with fish, besides the baskets were two logs and two kitchen knives.

"The task is," he smirked as he turned to fully face us.

Oh no, do not say it.

"The two of you have thirty minutes to clean all the fish in that basket for dinner tonight, no gloves, just your bare hands and knives."

"What the fuck!" Mason, I exclaimed simultaneously, I flickered my eyes towards Mason and took in his morbid and horrified expression which nearly made me snicker at our current predicament.

But this was seriously not justifiable.

"Get to work love birds, if you don't complete this task then I'll make the both of you jog up and down that mountain." He winked venomously before pivoting on his heels and sauntering away from us both.

"Oh hell no!" Mason cried in frustration as he placed his face in his hands, mumbling incoherent words under his breath.

"My mom always does this, I don't even know how to clean fish," I whined as I sauntered towards the basket that had the most horrific sour stench that has ever been greeted to my nostrils.

"You're worried about never cleaning fish!? We don't even have gloves!" He exclaimed in exasperation once again. I took in his horrified expression once more before giving in and bursting into a fit of laughter.

I don't know why I find this amusing but it just is.

"What's so funny doll face?"

I shook my head lightly and sat down on one of the logs. "Stop acting like a bitch Mason, it's just fish." I snickered softly.

He stared at me quizzically for a second before muttering another round of incoherent words under his breath. "This is bullshit," he mumbled as he lowered himself down beside me.

"Who says we have to clean the fish?" I asked as a malicious smile slid against my lips as I faced him. "What's going on in that cute head of yours doll face?"

"Let's go for a swim." I smiled sweetly. Quickly something flashed through his eyes but he quickly covered it up with a light snigger.

"Skinny dipping?" He grinned, I snickered lightly and shoved at his chest playfully. "No asswipe, let's just go for a swim."

He appeared hurt by my insult as he dramatically draped his hand over his chest and scoffed rather extensively. "If I was an asswipe I'd be wiping that a–"

I scrunched up my face in disgust, preparing to cover my ears but his loud laugh sent me into a frenzy of laughter. "You have no filters Mason," I mumbled quietly.

I pulled off my shirt and didn't miss the shocked expression on Mason's face when his eyes landed on my chest.

I mean it's covered with a bra but oh well.

"Damn, doll face," he howled lowly as his piercing gaze found its way onto mine, I couldn't hide the heat rushing up to my cheeks as he kept his gaze intact with mine.

"Maybe this is a bad idea." I murmured nervously. He appeared a bit taken aback for a moment as he leaped forward excitedly and snatched my hands in his grasp rather frantically.

"No, no this is a great idea." He smiled, nodding his head vigorously. He hopped off the log then quickly pulled his shirt over his head, giving me a good view of his defined abs.

Damn, Mason.

I didn't even realize when he pulled his pants down, only to be left in his Calvin Klein boxers that hung loosely under his v-shaped torso.

I ran my fingers down the line of my jaw to see if I was drooling and let out a breath of relief when I realized I wasn't. He looks like a snack, you can't blame a girl for that. "You coming or not?" He chuckled with outstretched hands.

I took his hands in mine and let my feet sink in the sand as etched closer towards the water. "Aren't you going to take off your pants?" He arched one of his eyebrows as he stared down at me quizzically.

With a smirk I slid my pants off of me, leaving me in my Victoria secrets laced pantie. Crap! I didn't remember I was wearing laced panties! "Wow," he mumbled in awe as he bit down onto his lower lip and allowed his cat-eyed gaze to trail up and down my body with the hungriest gaze I've ever encountered in a while. I coughed nervously and snapped my head away from him

"You look hot!" He smiled as his eyes interlocked with mine. "I mean beautiful. . .You look beautiful." He chuckled as he nervously scratched the nape of his neck.

I bit down on the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from cracking a smile. He suddenly intertwined his hands with mine and pulled my flustered body into the surprisingly warm water with him.

He immediately let go of my hand and dived under the water only to resurface seconds later. "Are you just going to stay there and watch me or swim with me?" He asked with a playful glint in his eyes.

I swam closer to him, thinking that we were going to 'swim' but he grabbed a hold of my leg quickly and pulled my body under the water.

I gasped as the sky disappeared from my vision when my head got pulled underneath the current of the water. My eyes burnt from the salt swimming in my freaking eyeballs and from the shock of his sudden action I swallowed a great deal of most likely contaminated water.

His grip on my leg loosened and I peered up, with enough strength I kicked outwards and swam to the surface of the water, I gasped as my face broke the surface and the hot sun splattered against my skin.

Masons laughter roared in my ears and I grinned my teeth together in anger, the blood beneath my skin boiling to the point where if a thermometer were to touch me it'll crack. That asshole just tried to drown the shit out of me.

"Mason, that wasn't funny!" I screamed loudly as I ran my hands over my face once again and spluttered out the excessive water contaminating my mouth.

I turned around to look for him but realized he was nowhere to be found, I relaxed for a moment and let my hands float above the surface of the water gently. For a moment I was thankful that he decided to take a plunge but then–

"Boo!"

I jolted upwards in shock, only to fall back down into the salty water and resurface with the most distasteful glare I could muster up. He doubled over and clutched his stomach as he burst into a fit of laughter. His eyes crinkling slightly and lips wide in a smile. "Asshole!" I shouted as I thumped him in the head.

His laughter soon died down and I wish it didn't because his smile easily slid off his face and was replaced by this intense gaze focused on me for the longest while. He moved closer to me rather quickly then grabbed me by the waist, pulling my front flushed against his.

He let out a deep throaty chuckle as he took in my baffled expression. I could feel my heart thumping widely against his chest but to my surprise, his heart rate was at a steady pace like he wasn't embarrassed or affected by what went down. . . down there.

"You see what you do to me, Michelle?" He mumbled deeply. His voice raspy and seductive, almost like they willed me to follow him into the darkroom where I knew I did not belong.

"Uhuh." I hummed as his hands trailed from my waist, down the curve of my back and hovered over my butt. "You drive me crazy, ever since the day I laid my eyes on you." He whispered softly as his teeth grazed my neck softly. I flinched when his teeth and lips came in contact with my skin and I rather – not so subtly–curled my fingers into his neck.

He began leaving open wet kisses on my delicate skin, probably leaving evidence of some sexual encounter with him for someone to come bite me in the ass.

I wrapped my hands around his neck and let his mouth move from my neck and onto mine.

His tongue easily slipped into my mouth as he kissed me like his life depended on it.

All the while his hands travelled away from my lower body and found comfort in the warmth of my upper body as he gripped under my arms, slowly–but I knew–sneakily towards my chest.

He parted our lips hastily and pressed his forehead against mine. "I have absolutely no idea what to do with you." His minty breath fanned over my face as he sought to catch it, I smiled and made sure that his eyes were trained onto mine.

"All you have to do is ask."