ISOLATION

Day 10

I watched as the sun peeked out over the trees, the sky glowing a brilliant gold. There was something about sunrises that made me smile. Maybe it was because no matter what was going on in your life, the sun would always rise the next morning. And it was always beautiful. The sun didn't care if you watched it or not, it just put on a spectacular show every day, twice a day, and so many people didn't appreciate it.

I wasn't on the tire swing this time though. I was lying like a starfish in the middle of the grass, staring straight up at the sky. I watched as cotton candy clouds drifted past, the sky turning from a bright gold, to pink, to purple and eventually to blue. I could never get sick of watching this progression of colours. A perfect ombré.

"Morning," I heard Lauren's voice say from beside me.

I quickly sat up, turning to face her. She was standing a few metres away, looking at me amusedly with two plates of food in her hands.

"No tire swing this morning?" she asked.

"I thought I'd change things up," I smiled.

I stood up and took a plate of breakfast from her hands. I thanked her quietly and walked over to the patio table, sitting down and beginning to eat. Breakfast this morning was toast and scrambled eggs with a side of fruit and yoghurt. As I ate, I thought about how crazy and eventful the past five days had been. Going into this cabin I was expecting the absolute worst, and I was definitely not expecting us to have kissed. Twice.

"We get out of here in two days..." Lauren said casually.

"Yeah...I know," I replied, not really sure how to respond to her statement.

"Do you want to leave?" she asked me curiously, and my heart skipped a beat.

I didn't know how I felt. I missed my friends and I wanted to see them again, but I was still worried that the progress Lauren and I had made would disappear as soon as she went back to her friends.

"I don't know," I admitted, and she nodded slowly.

"Me either," she confessed, and I looked at her curiously.

"You don't want to go back to your friends?" I questioned.

"They're not my friends, Scar..." she sighed.

"Then why do you spend time with them?" I asked.

"I don't know," she said shortly, picking up her plate and taking it inside without another word.

I groaned frustratingly, upset that I had annoyed Lauren without even trying to do so. I finished my breakfast in silence, and walked inside to wash up my plate. Lauren was standing next to her bed as she pulled her ponytail through her baseball cap. She was dressed in the same bikini too and board shorts she had worn the other day, and it took everything I had within me to not stare at her flawless body.

"I'm going in the spa," she said.

"Okay," I replied.

"Join me? Please?" she asked, and I nodded.

She walked it the back door and I heard her turn on the jets to the spa. I walked over to my suitcase and pulled out the swimsuit that I had brought with me. It was a burgundy bikini top with matching bottoms, and I grabbed some old running shorts to put on to hide my scars. As I changed in the bathroom, I couldn't help but compare my body to Lauren's.

I wasn't as tan as her, and my breasts weren't as big. I was probably a C cup, but I wasn't complaining. My hair was a lot longer, falling down my back. Her hair was a beautiful brown and it fell in waves, whereas mine was straighter than anything and a boring mousy colour. I didn't have a bad body. I was fairly toned from the running that I did, but I wasn't as muscular as Lauren. The only thing I actually liked about myself were my eyes. They were a bright blue, like the sky, and framed by long dark eyelashes. My dad used to say that he could never refuse me anything, because all I had to do was look at him with my eyes and he would cave.