The Grim Reaper Effect

-T H I R T Y - S E V E N-

Chapter 37 (pt. 2): Never Been Better

I ended up falling asleep surrounded by my clothes. I woke up when I felt my clothe-fort being taken apart. Kira was standing there, frowning at me. Instead of explaining, I rolled over and shut my eyes again. I hardly slept that night. I was too cold and paranoid to sleep.

"Kenzie?" Kira tapped my shoulder. "Why were you sleeping under your clothes?"

"I forgot my blanket at home," I sighed, finally opening my eyes and relaying what happened last night to them, leaving out the part about being watched.

"Why didn't you ask Griffin for a blanket? He brought an extra one," Julie raised an eyebrow at me.

I groaned and covered my face with my hands. There was only one answer to that question: I'm an idiot. I should've known Griffin came prepared. After all, his job is to look after me. Not only that, it's Griffin. He was always prepared for life.

I sat up and listened to Indie explain how the rest of the day would play out. We were going kayaking today since we forgot to yesterday. Then she planned on hide-and-seek in the woods. I immediately was against the idea. Hide-and-seek in Walmart is fun because you can't get lost. Hide-and-seek in the woods full of animals and poisonous plants with the majority of the group having no sense of direction wasn't fun. It was terrifying. Especially after the experience I had last night.

"C'mon, Kenzie! It'll be fun!" Indie smiled.

"Yeah, until it turns into a horror movie and I die first," I rolled my eyes.

"Uh, actually, I'd die first. I am the black one," Kira chimed in. "You'd be second."

"Not helping!" Indie scolded. "Kenzie, we're not playing without you."

"I guess you're not playing then," I shrugged, shoveling my pile of clothes back over me.

"Maybe we say Mackenzie can't be the seeker," Julie suggested. "That way, if this turns into a horror movie situation, you're always on guard. Or least, we make it that way for the first part of the game."

I furrowed my eyebrows, considering. She was right. Always hiding meant I was always on alert and aware of my surroundings. Besides that, chances of me getting lost aren't as high with Griffin around. I just had to call his name and I'd be fine. Suddenly, hide-and-seek didn't seem like such a bad idea. It could be fun after all.

I finally agreed and got dressed. I was in a pink shirt and shorts. I sprayed my hair with water and pulled it into a ponytail. After slipping into my Chucks, I joined the group outside. Immediately, I spotted Indie talking to Griffin. He didn't try to hide his growing frown. That is until he saw me. He took a deep breath and smiled at me.

Indie raised an eyebrow at him. Even after seeing me standing there, her expression never changed. She rolled her eyes and joined Bradley. I made my way to Griffin, still skeptical. Mostly, I was upset. He was hiding how he felt again, which was something I remind him time and time again isn't okay.

"What was that about?"

Griffin shrugged, "Bradley's cheating on me."

I frowned, "I'm serious, Griff. What's up?"

He let out a sigh, "Indie told me what happened last night. Why didn't you just come to me?"

"I thought you might've been asleep. Besides that, I don't like relying on you for everything," It was partly true.

Unfortunately, Griffin could tell it was only half true, "Mackenzie?"

As badly as I wanted to tell him, I didn't want to ruin the mood. We still had two days left and there was no way I'd be the one to ruin things. If I told Griffin, he'd become super protective of me and that would no doubt make things awkward. For now, I had t deal with it on my own.