Conspicuous Secrets

Chapter Thirty-Three

"We have climbed upon this hill and now I will die upon it," my brother groaned.

Kason chuckled. "Jaxon, we've been hiking for twenty minutes."

He nodded. "Yes, and it is winter. This isn't what you are supposed to be doing when there is snow on the ground."

"We just want to get pictures of the view before we leave this afternoon," Aria told him.

I silently agreed with my brother. Hiking halfway up a mountain was not on my list of favorite activities when there was a snowstorm on its way. I was shivering more with every step.

"Since when do you enjoy hiking in twenty-degree weather?" he asked her.

"Since I got thousands of followers on my social media accounts for my photography."

Jaxon looked at her in confusion and just stared as she trudged further up the mountain. Neither of us got on social media accounts. We had accounts from before we moved, but we stopped going on them when we Shaking his head, he followed after her, Holden and Marla. I found myself glancing at Kason before following after them. He gave me his usual, amused grin he has when he is entertained by my brother.

Kason and I haven't talked about what happened the evening before and we haven't kissed since. Not that we've had the opportunity though. Our friends seemed to be everywhere.

Later than sooner, we made it to the top of the small mountain and Aria pulled her camera out of her little black backpack. I found a boulder to sit on and rest while she took all of her landscape photographs over a ledge on the hill. The boys started pulling out waters and snacks out of a small drawstring bag my brother had carried upon his back. All three of them were digging in like animals.

Twenty minutes later, Aria had taken all the landscape pictures she wanted, and we all somehow ended up having a photoshoot. We took turns taking pictures of each other and with each other.

Aria was now shooting Jaxon and Marla. She crouched down in front of me to get a different angle with the sky behind them. I watched her subtly scratch her wrist. As her sleeve pulled up when she raised the camera, I saw that her skin was red and raw. "Hey, Aria, let me see your wrist."

She looked at me over her shoulder and chuckled. "Why?"

I pointed to her left hand. "It looks like you have a bad rash or something."

At my words, she looked down and pulled up her sleeve. A large red rash stretched from the tip of her wrist to the middle of her forearm. "What in the world?" she spoke.

"That looks bad," Kason observed after overhearing us. "Hey, Holden?"

Holden looks over at us and down at her arm. "Is that poison ivy?"

Kason shrugged. "It looks more like an allergic reaction."

Marla and Jaxon had both gathered around, too. "Are you sure it's not an allergic reaction to poison ivy?"

"I didn't think I was allergic to anything," Aria mentioned.

"Well, I think you are allergic to something," I told her, shivering from the cold.

She groans before clicking her camera and taking another picture. "I'll be fine."

"No, I think we should go get it checked out," Holden said, eyeing her arm. "It looks bad."

She rolled her eyes as Kason agreed with him. "Holden, go ahead and take her somewhere to get that checked out. "We can stay back and pick up our mess. We'll meet you back at the hotel." Holden nodded and reached for Aria's hand."