Project Publicity || l.h

Chapter 29// Chaos

[UNREVISED]

Sorry guys, I had the biggest writer's block ever

I'll go back to the regular updating schedule, starting today.

So, enjoy this extra long chapter! It's got scream-worthy scenes (I definitely screamed while writing it)

BTW, there's a lot of POV switches

Luke's POV:

"I wasn't doing anything!" I blurt, holding my hands out in defense of a kicking Jade.

"Get out!" She shrieks, pulling the sheets over her skimpy tank top. She looks at me like I'm a pervert who just got caught in her bed.

"I'm leaving, I was leaving anyway...." I mumble, but it's not a false excuse. "Uh...I gotta go home and start packing up. For Sidrabene."

Jade quiets down, looking at me with exhausted eyes. "Okay," she says calmly. "I'll see you in a few hours...I guess." I swear I can hear the split in our relationship just from the distant conversation.

"Yeah. Bye," I reply awkwardly, then I slowly back out of her room feeling like I've been caught doing something wrong.

Before I close the door, I catch the last sight of her disappearing back under the sheets to continue her sleep.

And the paper rose I gave her, from what seems like ages ago, placed on her desk.

She's kept it all along.

...
I slowly turn the key into the lock, careful not to disturb the peace in my house. If I'm lucky, my father would still be asleep. It's 6 AM, after all.

Luckily, there is no sign of my father in the house. There are dirty dishes and utensils left on the kitchen counter, as well as the sign of an unmade bed and opened cases of beer by his bedside.

I start out by cleaning the mess he left behind, finishing the dishes one by one and folding all his clothes in a nice pile before doing my own chores.

As a teenage boy, there's not much I need to pack for a camping trip. I shove a notepad, a novel, (I can't seem to shake the habit of reading) a flashlight, sleeping bag and clothes enough for two days out in the wilderness.

And by mid-evening, the school bus picks me up and all of sophomore year crams into it. Soon, it's filled seat to seat with sweaty jocks and loud students and nerds with Gameboys and Mario Kart. I decide to be one of those loners who sit at the front; even though I'm asked to sit at the back with the loud kids, I prefer to put earphones in my ears and be in silence for once. Tiffany tries to bother me a few times, but one of her girlfriends get on the bus and I am quickly forgotten.

So there we are: two buses packed full of fifty sophomores and five chaperones, looking as if we're being sent to a concentration camp. Although everyone else seems to be, I'm not very thrilled, because I have this weird gut feeling that this might not end up being the best time of my life.

Jade's POV:

The campsite isn't too great looking. Trust me when I say it looks nothing like the Tumblr fantasies of a perfect campsite, it's basically an enclosed area containing an unkempt field of grass and two soccer nets, surrounded by the woods and a few cabins sitting side by side on top of a hill. (At least we aren't sleeping in tents.)

I can hear girls sigh when we get closer, and see that the cabin is literally made of wooden planks and nails and dusty spider webs. It's funny to see how many spoiled people have come on this trip expecting something fancy and out-of-this world.