I needed to get over my crush on Alani, so I did the one thing I knew how to do well. I made out with Harper. It didn't help, though. I was still thinking of Alani and how she looked standing there almost naked.

I stopped the kiss with Harper the second I realized I wasn't into it.

"What?" Harper asked as I pulled away.

"Not tonight," I said since it wouldn't be fair to lead her on.

"But you said-"

"I know what I said, but now I'm saying not tonight."

"Jerk," She mumbled as she walked away.

I spent the rest of the night talking to people and mingling with my peers. I tried to look for Daniel and Alani, but I could never find them. All I hoped was that they weren't in a closet somewhere, making out, or worse. The thought caused me to cringe the hardest I had cringed before. Needing to find Alani and get her home soon, I looked around until I spotted her talking with Daniel. Relief passed through me that they were only talking.

"Time to go," I said, walking up to them.

"Daniel offered to take me home," Alani said, smiling.

"No," I said instinctively.

"What do you mean, no?"

"I mean, no." I considered letting her go, but my fear that they were going to hook up overpowered me.

"Why?"

"Because you came with me."

"So? Why does that matter?"

"Alani, will you just come with me?"

"Fine. I'm not in the mood to argue," She said, throwing her hands up before saying goodbye to Daniel.

We drove back to her dorm in awkward silence.

"Bye," She said, opening the car door.

"Alani, wait," I said, grabbing her arm.

"What?"

"I'm sorry about tonight. I just care about you a lot."

Her scrunched face softened as she said, "I know, River. I care about you too."

"So, are we still going camping tomorrow?"

"Of course."

"And we're good?"

"We're fine," She smiled before getting out of the car and going inside.

"You're cheating," I said to Nelson as I played him in Call of Duty.

"No. I'm just good. Maybe if you played with us more, you would be better."

"Bull shit," I replied as I heard someone rummaging around in our kitchen. It had to have been Daniel since Victor and Nelson were both sitting right by me.

"Daniel?" I asked.

"Yeah?" He said, coming into the living room.

"Nothing, you're not usually down here with us."

"I won't be here for long."

"Why?"

"I have a date," He said as I tensed.

"With who?" Victor asked.

"Alani," He said.

Alani never told me anything about a date. Hurt that she kept it from me, I tried to ignore my jealousy also creeping in. "What are you doing?"

"Lunch date."

"Okay," I said, clenching my teeth, "Have fun."

I spent the rest of the day worrying about Alani and Daniel's date. What were they talking about? Where were they going? What were the plans after lunch?

It was around 4:00 when Daniel came back, and I was meeting with Alani in an hour to go camping, so I was getting ready when Daniel walked in.

"How was your date?" I asked, grabbing a water bottle. Having Daniel back made me relax.

"Great. I fucked her," He said as I froze.

"You what?" I asked.

"Had sex with her. Back at her dorm."

My head was speeding out of control as anger raised through my body. Alani wouldn't do that yet. Would she? Maybe she would? She had been eager to lose her virginity.

"You're messing with me," I said, still in denial.

"Nope."

"Why would you do that so soon?" I exclaimed, walking toward him. I hadn't been expecting them to have sex on the first date.

"Chill, man. She's the one who wanted me."

I took deep breaths as I tried not to think about Alani and Daniel together. About another guy making her moan his name. About Daniel getting to see her bare body. It all made me furious.

Daniel walked back up to his room, and it took everything in me not to strangle him.

I wasn't sure if I still wanted to go camping with Alani. Anger wasn't what I was feeling. It was more of disappointment, but I calmed myself down and kept on packing, putting all thoughts of Alani out of my mind.

I left exactly when I was supposed to and went to pick up Alani for our camping trip. I didn't know what I was going to say to her. Did she even want me to know that she and Daniel hooked up?

When she got in the car, she said hi.

"Hi," I replied.

"Are you excited?"

I didn't answer. I didn't know what to say to her. Luckily she took the hint as we drove in silence all the way to the campsite.

As we were setting up our tent, Alani started talking again.

"Why aren't you talking to me?"

"I am talking to you."

"Why are you mad? Is this about the whole skinny dipping thing? I thought we were over that?"

"No. It's not about that."

"Then what is it about?"

"Do you have anything you want to tell me about you and Daniel?"

"We went on a date. It was fun."

"You're leaving something out."

"What am I leaving out?"

"The part where you slept with him."

"What?" Alani exclaimed.

"Yeah. I know about it. He told me."

"River, I have no clue what you're talking about."

"What?"

"I didn't have sex with him! Is that what he told you?" She asked, a million emotions crossing her face as she tried to make sense of everything.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"He said the words-"

"He said, 'I fucked her.'"

"Are you messing with me right now?"

"No. I promise I'm not. Wait, so you didn't sleep with him?"

"No!" She exclaimed

"So he lied?"

"I thought that Daniel was a nice guy. Is he going around campus spreading that he slept with me?"

"I don't know, but when I see him next, I am going to punch that guy."

"Are you okay?" I asked, sitting next to Alani near the pond. I had given her some time alone to process what kind of person Daniel was.

"I'm fine. I just want to move on from that jerk. I can't believe I ever liked him."

"Are you still up for camping tonight?" I asked. "We can go home."

"Of course!" She said, getting up.

"Are you feeling better?" I asked.

"No, but being with you will help."

That night we made smores on a bonfire and talked until it started to get dark.

"Ready for bed?" I asked as Alani yawned.

"Okay," I said before we went into our sleeping bags in the tent. After zipping the opening closed, we turned off the lantern and tried to fall asleep. I couldn't drift off, though. Not with Alani so close to me. I felt bad for her, and I wanted to hug her and make her feel better.

"River?" I heard her say after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah?"

"Can you sleep?"

"No. Can you?"

"No."

"What are you thinking about," I asked, sitting up and turning on the lantern.

"Just stuff."

"What kind of stuff."

"Just how much I enjoy spending time with you," She said before sitting on top of her sleeping bag like I was.

"I like spending time with you too."

"River?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think I'll ever meet a nice guy?" She sighed.

"I do."

"How do you know?"

"Because you're awesome. Anybody with a mind would want to be with you."

"A lot of people don't," She said after a pause.

"Nonsense."

"You can't be so sure."

"Alani, look at you. Add your beauty to your amazing personality, and I bet you could get any guy you wanted," I said, scooting closer to her as she looked over at me.

"Not any guy."

"What do you mean?" I asked as she looked at me seriously.

She didn't answer, and I was confused about who she was talking about, but then it dawned on me. Was she talking about me? Did Alani like me the same way I liked her? The way she was gazing at me definitely led me to believe that she liked me as more than a friend. As I looked back at her, her eyes were glued to mine. There were a lot of unspoken words between us. Words that neither of us wanted to say. Words we were too scared to tell each other. I noticed she had scooted closer to me and was tracing my knee with her finger. She had done that before, but this time, it was different.

"Alani," I said.

"What?" She answered after a moment.

"Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"You're looking at me like you want me to touch you."

"Maybe I do," She said, unfazed. Meanwhile, I was getting hard at the thought of touching her as more than a friend.

I leaned forward so that our foreheads were touching as we looked into each other's eyes.

"We shouldn't," I whispered as Alani's minty breath fanned my face.

She didn't answer. She just kept looking at me, and I cracked.

"Screw it," I said, crashing my lips onto hers.