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9. KISSING TIME









Yani





'Yani I thought that maybe-who are /you/?' the last part was said with distaste.

'Uh Diego, this is Matt. He's a... friend, from home,' I said, swallowing awkwardly.

The two guys watched each other, hostility in their eyes.



'You guys look you're about to fight,' dad suddenly interrupted, sticking his head through the door, 'now come in here and sit down for dinner. Diego you'll join us won't you?'

Diego nodded before I could say anything and brushed past me.

Matt did the same, watching the other man as though distrusting him.

'Uh guys...' I tried.



But no one paid attention to me.

And dinner was every bit as awkward as I'd expected.

Matt seemed to be competing with Diego with everything-how long they'd known me, how long they'd been with me, how well they knew me...



'Thanks for dinner,' Diego said as quickly as he could, 'I'd stay longer but I've got a couple of things to do this evening.'

He didn't even say good-bye to me.

And what was worse was, Matt was still here.



I wasn't angry at him.

I was annoyed.

Annoyed that when things were starting to get better with Diego, it seemed as though we took a hundred or more steps backwards...

Dammit!



Finally though Matt got tired with jetlag and went to sleep.

'Yani, you have a visitor!'

'What another one? Let me guess it's my grade six boyfriend,' she muttered.

'I can come back another time,' a deep voice replied.



'Diego! No, I didn't think you'd come back tonight!' I grabbed his arm instinctively to keep him from leaving.

'So you actually want me here?'

He sounded unsure.



'Of course I do... I didn't invite him you know,' I reached up to put my hands on his arms, wanting him to believe me.

'That's good,' he said, touching my cheek.

It was only then I realised how near we were... only when he kissed me.





Rach





It was hard to find time alone with Poppo.

But the truth was-I couldn't find ANY at all.

It was like he took everything I told him seriously.

Didn't he know that girls always change their minds!!!



'I take it lover boy's still not talking to you?'

'Hey Bishop, and yes he's not. Not that I expected anything differently, after all...'

It always happens to me.



'Okay stop with the self pity! Just let it go. Why don't you just go up to him, chain him up and tell him what you really meant?'

'Uh... that's a bit kinky isn't it?' I couldn't help laughing at the imagery that popped up with the idea.

'So the girl CAN laugh.'

She gave me a quick hug.



I HAD to do it.

I HAD to fix things, if I had to wait til the next time we came back from the remote camps, I would go crazy.



'Poppo, uh can I talk to you?'

The gorgeous dark blond looked up, his eyes not smiling, not welcoming as they usually were-even the teasing looks were sorely missed.

'I'm kind of busy right now...'



'Wait! It'll only take a moment.'

He tried to side-step me, but I blocked his way.

'Get out of my way!'

'NO. JUST LISTEN TO ME DAMMIT!'



He stared at me.

I stared at him.

'Are you crazy?' his eyes widened.

'I'm sorry. That's all I wanted to tell you!! I'm sorry. You're right I should have believed you about Bishop-I don't know why I didn't, but I promise...'



'Don't make promises you can't keep, Rachael.'

And then he began to walk away.

'CALL ME RED DAMMIT!'



But he barely even paused as he walked on.

Bishop waited a few good moments before coming up.

'Uh... dude, you know, you catch more bees with honey than with vinegar.'

'Ah stuff it, if he's going to be childish about this... I don't want to be his friend!'



I ignored Bishop's comment of "who's being childish now?"





Emi





'I guess we're stuck here for the night.'

'NoooOoOOOOOo,' I groaned, 'I need a shower. Bad.'

'Fine, lets go.'

'What are we doing?'

'We're going to go look for a lake or something-,'

'Uh... should we divert from the main road? I mean, isn't that how those horror/thriller movies happen?'



'You're not scared are you?' his grinned.

'If we die out here...'

'You /are /paranoid aren't you?' he put his arm around me again, 'but really, you smell-I'm willing to take a risk and die.'



I shook my head.

I don't know if I was going to understand this bolder version of Armaud.

'Are you sure that you're not Armaud's twin brother?'

'Very sure... why would they make two versions of a perfect specimen?'



My eyes widened, 'I don't think I'm ever going to understand you.'

'That's okay,' he said before grabbing my hand and dragging me through the forest.



'Here we are!'

Just as he'd said, there was a small lake in the clearing, less than a kilometre from where they'd diverted.

'How did you know this was here?' I looked at him suspiciously, 'I knew it, you really are some sort of serial killer and this is where you kill your victims.'



'Come on!'

'What the HELL are you doing?!!?!'

He was taking his clothes off... fast.

Very fast.

'Shit,' I spun around when he began to shuck off his underwear, 'what are you, crazy?'



'Come on Emily!!! The water's so nice and cool!' he said, and then splash.

'You REALLY think I'm getting in there with you! You'll drown me!'

'Uh... it's only knee deep. And you smell. I'm not going any further with you until you wash yourself off.'



And then the smell started to rise.

And I sighed.

Smell like the pungent scent of jail or skinny dip...

'Fine, but close your eyes! And get in the water, I don't want to see anything!'



'You are a prude Miss Emily, but fine,' he sighed and submerged himself, 'now strip.'





Camie





Sergio Emilio Delozzo.

John Sandy Delozzo.

Even their names were similar.



'YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU WERE COUSINS!'

'I'm sorry...'

'You're /sorry/? You better be glad that you're on that side of the fence!!! If January didn't tell me we could still be going through this over and over!!! And what, have you been feeding him information that I told you because I thought you were my /friend/?'



No wonder I liked him so much.

I can't believe I didn't realise that they looked so alike.

Bloody hell, how could I not know-even their eyes squint the same way when they smile.

'WHY ARE YOU SMILING?!?'



'You're just so cute,' Sergio replied.

'Oh and let me guess, you speak excellent English.'

'Yep, but I did have fun pretending otherwise. I found this place through Johnie, he told me he had a friend living here-your cousin as it happens, so here I am.'



'I told you secrets,' I lunged at him over the fence.

'Hey, I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you-anything.'

'PLEASE. PLEASE just tell me that you didn't tell John what I said.'



'Why not?'

'Because...'

'Because?'



'I changed my mind. You can make it up to me by taking me out today.'

'What?' he looked surprised, 'okay, where do you want to go?'

'Tivoli Gardens...' I said, 'I saw it on the Lizzie McGuire Movie...'



He smiled indulgently, told me to get ready in thirty minutes, and then we were off.

It was great day.

Sergio was different from his cousin but I could see the similarities.



'I really do like you Sergio.'

'That's good.'

'You know why I can't start anything... but I wasn't, I wasn't just using you... I really do think I could like you.'

'Don't worry yourself too much,' he said, hugging me lightly-a hug which was supposed to make me comforted but not to the point that it put pressure on me.

Still, it made my heart thud.



I was now more confused than ever.





Kei





Should I call Jed?

No, if I call him he'll ground me again.

So what? If I get grounded, he'll have to stop ignoring me to see if I'm actually still in the house.

No, but he'll have more reason to hate you even more.



'Let's go.'

'J-Jed?'

'You really are stupid aren't you? You thought I wouldn't follow you to see if you'd gotten yourself into any more trouble?'

'Jed, thank goodness you're here,' I hugged him.



He could push me away if he wanted but the hug was now had, he couldn't take it back.

I would always have this hug.

'Are you okay?' instead of pushing me away, he gripped me tight.



I'd made the mistake of going to a club with my friends I'd made at the beach.

It was my fault that I didn't realise it was at a place laced with all the nasty stuff-most of the people was high or agro on alcohol.

'Yeah,' I said, muffled against his sweet smelling shirt.



'Let's go home.'

'You're not going to ground me again are you?'

'You'll just get into trouble again. Maybe the best way to do it is to not let you out of my sight.'

I stared at him.



Why was he doing that?

Why was he pretending he liked me when he didn't really?

He's just confusing the crap out of me and I really, really don't like it!

'You know you shouldn't do that,' I said hotly.



'Do what?' he asked.

We were now walking back through the beach.

'Flirt.'

'You think I'm flirting with you?'

'No.'



Crap, what the hell is wrong with me?

I really should think before I speak.

'I am.'

'No you're not.'

'I am. Look-could you stop arguing with me for just one moment?'



'But-,' I didn't get to say anymore.

But only for about a second.

'Okay, let's go,' he grabbed my hand and began to drag me along.

'Hey wait a minute! You can't just grab me, kiss me and then pretend it didn't happen!'