New Reality✖

IX-Drunken adventures

"You really do have talent Codi.." whispered Jack as he looked at me with his brown sparkling eyes.

Jane, Sam, Lilia, Adam and Dani had gone off to sleep in the vans leaving Chloe, Jack and I still sitting by the embers of the dancing flames.

"So do you. Your guitar playing is great!" I smiled, "So where are you actually headed if you don't mind me asking?"

"Portland. So not too far away from Seattle." He looked at the ground and sighed,
"My dad lives there, at least that's what I've heard. I've never met him, and my mom doesn't exactly want me to meet him so I decided that if no one is going to take me, I'll go myself. It's not like my mom would miss me when I'm gone anyway."

As I looked at Jack I could feel the frustration inside of him, he seemed tense and on edge, weary of the future and uncertain about the next chapters of his life.

"Well I'm getting cold." Interrupted Chloe, "I'm going to go to sleep." She smiled.

"Goodnight Chloe" I whispered as she slowly climbed into the green van wrapped in her warm fuzzy blanket.

"And then there were two." Laughed Jack."

He handed me the half empty bottle of vodka and winked. I rolled my eyes at him jokingly and took the bottle. He turned around to hand me some Coke to mix with the vodka but when he turned back I opened the vodka and took a large gulp as I watched his eyes widen.

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We talked deeply that night around the dying campfire about our past, our problems, our interests, our opinions. Jack seemed to loosen up a bit and i realized that he was actually a really funny and interesting guy. As I was becoming more and more drunk I noticed that I was getting more and more loud unintentionally. So was Jack and I was getting worried about waking up the others.

"I have an idea." Said Jack, noticably wasted just like me.

"What?" I asked.

"Let's go on a walk in the forest." He laughed as he carefully scrambled onto his feet trying not to stumble.

Even with the alcohol altering my normal thought process, I still knew that this was a stupid idea but I decided to go along with it because he seemed so happy with himself for coming up with it.

"Let's try not to get lost. Please." I whispered, realising that we had been talking really loudly.

We tiptoed our way into the forest, Jack holding onto my wrist so that I wouldn't lose him.

We walked up what seemed like a big hill in the darkness and walked for a while through the thick trees until we arrived at a large lake that was covered by a blanket of mist, giving an eerie, spiritual vibe as the moonlight hit it.

I tugged on my thin oversized sweater that I had changed into earlier in the van as I looked up at the billions of tiny stars dotted around in the nights sky.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Whispered Jack as I felt his presence close to me.

His deep voice, mixed with the nights vibes gave me accidental goosebumps.

"Don't be corny."

He stuck out his tongue at me and we sat on the edge of the lake, our feet dangling below, almost touching the water.

"Ahhh such a lovely night." Jack said as he raised his eyebrow, "Shame if something unexpected was to happen." He winked.

"Wha--?"

Before I could ask I felt Jack's hands push me into the lake below.
I gasped as my head emerged from under the dark water and yelled at Jack as I laughed uncontrollably

"OH MY GOD JACK. It's freezing what the fuck!" I yelled as I giggled, "GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!"

He smiled at me, "If you say so!" He yelled as he took off his sweater and his t shirt revealing his muscular build.

"That's not fair, I didn't get a chance to take off mine." I said jokingly.

He raised his eyebrow and dived in, he emerged slowly from the water next to me.

"DAMN you weren't joking when you said it was freezing Jellybean!" He said as his lips shivered.

"Jellybean?" I said as I raised my eyebrow.

"I don't know, you're just cute and colorful like a jellybean." He laughed.

We splashed around in the lake as we tried to dunk eachother's heads under, which ended up in a full blown wrestling match in the water. Jack was strong but he didn't use his strength on me, he was gentle and playful.

"You're an asshole Jack." I teased as we started swimming around.

"Why, thank you."
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We stopped and sat on some rocks that lay on the surface of the lake, the water completely covering our lower bodies. The sounds of nearby crickets and owls in the forest seemed to have a calming effect on us along with the noises of the water. The atmosphere was almost therapeutic.

"Do you think everything will work out?" Jack whispered softly, "For you and your sisters.."

I sat back on the rock and looked at the stars above, "I hope so." I whispered back,
"I can't go back there Jack, and I can't let my sisters stay there any longer. As soon as I find something stable I will go back for them. I don't care what Frank says, I'm taking those children with me."

"I really want everything to work out for you Codi, I know we just met but I worry about you."

Jack eyes softened and I caught him staring at me as he let out a sigh.

"I hate when awful things happen to such good people." He whispered, his voice sounding emotional.

"Well we all have a story. We all had bad childhoods and bad experiences but it's what happens now that counts. We are all here together, trying to make it better, trying to rewrite our future." I replied, my voice calm and peaceful.

"You have such a way with words.." He said as his voice became even softer.

I turned round to face his big brown eyes and started to run my fingers softly around his abdominal muscles tracing every line without realising it.

Slowly he leant in. I didn't realize until we were so close, skin almost touching skin.

No, this was all too fast, I hardly knew him, I didn't know what I was doing.

He kissed me, and I kissed him back as he put his hands around my waist and pulled me in closer, our lips moving together in perfect harmony. I wrapped my arms around his neck and leant up against him as he pulled me into his lap, his hands still around my waist.

In that moment I forgot all of my worries, nothing else mattered but that moment, I forgot all the world around me and felt a funny feeling surge through my body, a feeling of passion and adventure.

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When we arrived back at our camp site, the fire was completely out and we were soaking wet.

I looked at the time, 3am.

"I don't know what to do, I smell like lake water because of you." I smirked.

"I saw showers over there on the camp site where the tents are." Replied Jack.

I grabbed some pajamas from my backpack and a towel then we made our way over to the showers.
The hot temperature of the water was so calming against my ice cold skin.

I washed my hair and body, the whole time thinking about Jack and how that moment just felt so unreal, like a movie, those kinds of moments didn't happen to someone like me.

I felt a feeling with him that I had never experienced before, a feeling I can't explain.

Definitely a feeling I couldn't wash away.