Chapter 15

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"Let's gather 'round the campfire and sing our campfire song. Our C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E-S-O-N-G song."

As we sat around the fire, the seven of us sang the ever nostalgic song from Spongebob. I was surprised everyone knew the lyrics to the song after I suggested that we sing it. It didn't make me feel so geeky.

Niall had brought his guitar and was strumming the night away. We all sang different songs of all kinds of genres.

Everyone fell asleep quickly after singing and feasting on marshmallows, because they were exhausted from playing and swimming all day. They all went to their respective tents. Everyone had one each.

But I was wide awake.

I rolled around in my tent tugging at my blanket and squirming into different sleeping positions. But it wasn't working. I just wasn't falling asleep.

I can never sleep comfortably at night if I'm not in my room. I think it's kind of a mind control thing done by my parents to make sure I won't leave home.

As I looked around the inside of my tent while counting sheep, I heard footsteps right outside. They were quick and accidentally loud. I just hoped it wasn't the Slenderman or a bear waiting to rip the flesh off my bones. Wait, what am I, five?

It must be one of us, I thought. There really was no one on our side of the beach. I crawled over to the thin slit of the tent and looked through it.

I saw Josh putting on his shoes and looking to see if there was anyone behind him. He then finally started walking up to the street, still looking over his shoulder every few seconds.

Curious, I decided to follow him since I couldn't sleep. I slipped on my flats and very discreetly left my tent. I followed Josh's trail.

When I got to the street, I could see him walking into what looked like a cafe. What could he possibly be doing at a cafe at midnight?

I crossed the street and followed him from a distance. I realized he'd gone into a 24-hour cyber cafe. I walked to the cafe and watched from outside the large glass windows. I could see him sitting down and putting on some headphones. Thank god his back was facing me, I could get a clear view of what he was doing on the computer.

He then logged onto Skype. His webcam was on and suddenly, Odette appeared on the screen.

Odette is Zayn's girlfriend of four months. From what I've heard, he loves her to bits and his life practically revolves around her. But why would Josh chat with Odette at midnight? I couldn't help but doubt that it was a friendly chat.

Eventhough I couldn't hear anything, I could see Odette blowing kisses at Josh. Not so innocent anymore.

"Hey! You want to look, you pay!" A man working at the cafe yelled at me. Before Josh could turn to look, I sprinted.

I stopped at a bus stop nearby as I panted, slowly gaining back my breath. Was Odette cheating on Zayn with Josh? Zayn is actually such a sweet person once you get to know him and he doesn't deserve this. But whatever it is, I couldn't be a hundred percent sure about it without any solid evidence. I just hoped it wasn't true. Maybe they're just friends. But I just couldn't bring myself to believe that.

And besides, even if it is true, I couldn't tell Zayn about it since I'm not completely innocent either. Look what I'm doing to Daniel. I'm not actually cheating on Daniel, but it would still be so hypocritical of me to tell on Josh when I'm doing terrible things as well.

So I decided to keep my mouth shut.

I walked back to my tent and tried to fall asleep. But it just wouldn't happen. My eyes were wide open, like I've been on caffeine. But I didn't even have any coffee or anthing caffeine-related.

The soothing sound of waves crashing against the rocks filled my ears. The gentle alleviation of the sea got to me. I found myself being lured into the water by the tranquilizing sound of it ascending onto land, and then receding. I needed a quick dip to take my mind off things.

I know what you're thinking. Really, Helena? At midnight?

Yup, that is exactly what I needed.

You're nuts.

I changed into board shorts and a bikini top before I ran down to the water. I didn't stop to take a look at it first. I ran right into it.

It was chilly. Very chilly, I must admit. But I've always preferred the cold over hotness. The waves were strong. Stronger than I thought. I kept being swept from left to right, right to left. I wasn't in control. Soon, my feet weren't touching the muddy sand below anymore.

I started having regrets as a wave slapped me right in the face. My eyes stung and my mouth was filled with salty water. I couldn't see properly, everything became ablur.

I kicked my feet, in hopes of swimming back to shore. But the water kept pulling me further and further away from it. I shrieked.

Then another wave, a large one, hit me right on the head. I was dunked down deep into the water. I watched my limbs struggle, my arms pushing me up to the surface.

Then there was another wave. And another. And another. They kept coming endlessly, moving me to places I didn't want to go and cutting off any source of air. I kicked and screamed for help.

I was just about to pass out when I felt a strong grip on my arm. What now, an octopus? I was being pulled again. But in a different direction. A direction against the current. Was an octopus saving me?

Everything was blurry and dark. My head spun as I was pulled. I was still suffocating.  

Soon, I could feel sand below me again.

Although I was all out of air and couldn't think straight, in my mind, I was thanking my tentacled saviour for bringing me back to shore.

Then I could feel my body being lifted from the water. The octopus was somehow carrying me now. I was then placed down again, this time on dry sand. I could hear voices, familiar voices in the distance. But I couldn't quite make out what they were saying. But I felt safe now. I felt invulnerable.

The next thing I felt were lips.

Soft lips touching mine. I didn't know the octopus had lips. They were very tender lips too.

They were the lips that saved me. They blew life back into me. The horrid block in my chest was let out and I could breathe again.

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