The Dog Walker

Chapter 7 - Edited.

I frown as the fluffy white cloud of sugar that's called a marshmallow bursts into flames. I cursed lowly, blowing it out quickly but not quick enough. "Who wants another burnt marshmallow?" I grumble, waving it around until someone takes it - Adrian.

"Thank you," he mumbles, trying to talk through the sticky mess that's overtaken his face. I laugh, my bad luck with roasting deliciousness momentarily forgotten.

"How do I keep burning them?" It's amazing, really, at this point. There's only a couple more of the little clouds left in the bag.

"I don't know but don't stop what you're doing." He reaches over and takes the marshmallow that I was about to try to roast to perfection. I groan at him but he just rolls his eyes before plopping it into his mouth.

Glancing around, observing the campsite, it's dark now but the fires are keeping the shadows at bay. Everyone is more or less getting along, focused on eating after having spent hours on setting up tents - Adrian and I included. It had been a sort of torture, one that can only be achieved with humidity and flying insects that suck your blood.

There's a sudden commotion and I look over in time to see Katherin and Leo arguing. A moment later, he's pushing past her and walking into the dark forest. I hesitate for a moment before deciding to go after him.

Adrian looks up at me, a question in his eyes. Nodding in the direction Leo went, I walk into the forest where Leo disappeared. Leaves and sticks crunch underfoot as I walk, the crickets and other wildlife making its presence known through sound. It's almost peaceful except for the paranoia that comes with wandering into an unknown location where you can easily die.

I keep walking, pointing my miniature flashlight this way and that until I see him sitting on a rock overlooking a lake with his hands covering his face. I frown slightly. People at school call him a player but he's the one who always seems to get hurt. He and Katherin have been dating for a while now; it must be hard for him. I stride over and practically collapse onto the rock next to his, my arms wrapped around my knees.

"Hey." He looks over, clearly upset but not crying. His hands shake and when he notices that I've taken notice, he clasps them together shooting me a dirty look.

"Why are you here?" His tone is harsh but I don't let it get to me.

"I thought you might want someone to talk to or" - I glance over at him - "maybe someone to know your whereabouts in case you die a grisly death to wild animals." He chokes on a laugh but doesn't look over, too busy looking down at his hands, his knuckles that were once white now returning to their normal color. "I know how it feels." He looks at me in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Not that long ago I had a boyfriend. We'd dated for about five months and I thought everything was going fine." I shrug, gazing down at the water. There are soft ripples across the surface from little fishes and turtles. It's calming to look at. "But I guess not. He broke up with me. It was so cliché; I cringe to think back to that moment."

He laughs, white teeth flashing. "That bad."

"Yeah." I laugh. "It was pretty bad." My mind drifts back and I feel my lips tug down in frown to keep from grinning like a lunatic while my teeth grind together - painfully cringe-worthy.

"It wasn't like that... for me. She just didn't want to be together anymore. When I think about it, I don't even know why I'm that upset. It wasn't that great, us being together. I just wanted something to work out for once, I guess." He stops talking when a wolf begins to howl in the distance.

As the seconds go by, more and more wolves join in until I cup my mouth and let out a long howl of my own, putting my emotions into it and before long Leo is joining in.

"Wow, that was horrible," he snickers. I agree and start laughing with him, trying to smother it with my hand. When we stop, silence lingers but it's comfortable.

"Come on, we should go back. Mr. Burns is probably having a panic attack right about now." He nods and I hold out my hand to help him up. His hands are surprisingly warm. I pull him to his feet. When we arrive back to the camp, no one seems to of noticed our absence except for Adrian and Ruby. They're immediately on us.

"Did you hear the wolf howls?" I try not to, really, I do, but I end up grinning, Leo glancing over at me with his lips twitching. "You howled again, didn't you? You have to stop doing that, people are going to start avoiding you and calling you a freak."

I don't bother saying anything. It wasn't that long ago that she used to howl with me in my backyard. It used to be fun, funny, and we'd giggle in our reclined yawn chairs with throw blankets until the mosquitoes became too much. I guess not anymore.

"Well, I don't think she's a freak," Leo shrugs. "I think she's pretty cool."

It was getting a little awkward, just standing there while they talked about me so I decided to say something. "Thanks." Got it.

"Of course you think so," she scoffed before rolling her eyes. I felt something crawl its way up my throat, begging to be released. What was her problem? "Anyways, I'm going to sleep. Night, Y'all." She turned and walked to her tent, disappearing into it.

"You okay?" Leo looks at me from the corner of his eye, an expression on his face that I can't identify.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He lets out a big, long yawn and stretches, his shirt riding up a bit.

"Welp, I'm going to sleep. Thanks, Asena... for... yeah," he smiles, nodding at me once before turning away. It's not a second later when Adrian speaks up.

"What happened between you two?" He asks, raising a lone eyebrow. The sugar that had been previously decorating his face is now gone, no doubt smeared on the sleeve of shirt if what I'm seeing is true. I decide not to point it out but my smile doesn't go unnoticed.

"We just talked," I assure him. He nods. "I'm going to go to bed as well, I guess. It is pretty late and I don't want to be completely out of it tomorrow. Good night."

"Alright. Good night." Then he hugs me, his arms warm, fully encircling my body. I'm leaning into his warmth, breathing in the refreshing scent that is Adrian, before he steps back with a faint smile on his lips.

I'm grinning as I walk to my tent, trying to fight the high feeling. Dunking in, I zip the flap closed before falling onto my sleeping bag and cuddling into the blanket I'd packed with me - its soft inner lining resembling fur - until I'm drifting into an endless black.