Chapter 20// "Come on Cress, it was a dare, a joke"
I stare at the orange sunset, my hands are in between my legs and I shuffle around fixing my white bikini top, stopping my boobs from falling out. It's not like you can even see much of it, as I'm wearing a playsuit on top.
It's so uncomfortable sitting on these logs; I fix the bottom of my playsuit  so it is somewhat covering my ass, the top of my white playsuit sits off my shoulders, with long white sleeves with delicate lace frills at the ends.
I flip my hair behind me, I can see some unusually light wisps of brown hair in my usually dark locks, probably due to sitting in the sun for so long.
The light crackles off the fire Alec created which is keeping the campsite warm as the night has started turning cold. The orange and yellow flames are swivelling around and letting off smoke in to the midnight sky.
Someone decided to bring a small bunch of speaker and his phone is currently plugged in letting the music flow through the forest.
Around me everyone is chatting, some are dancing, and others are drinking their lives away.
Elliott, he is practically drowning himself in alcohol as well as Daniel. I don't think they'll enjoy the long hike we have tomorrow.
As for coach well he is at least half a mile away in a warm lodge for the teachers. Lucky bastard. Probably eating decent food and getting a bed to sleep in while we all have to camp out in tents. What a responsible teacher. Not.
I keep running my fingertips along the edge of the glass bottle in my hand, which is still completely full.
I keep forcing myself to look at the fire, because my eyes are darting towards a certain someone. One of his hands are leaning against a near by tree, and in the cage he is creating with his arms is a blonde.From my view his back muscles really are perfection, and if you saw his v-line, well it's enough to make you swoon.
Something feels weird inside me lately when I look at him. Is it jealousy?
I shake the thought out of my head and I try to picture when he was 8 years old and he was a scruffy mess. Anyway he is probably trying to seduce the poor girl. Probably trying to tick sleeping with a girl in a tent off his bucket list
I can't be jealous of Elliott talking to other girls, because it's like walking in to a dark never ending hole. I'll keep falling, and there will be no stopping my feelings. It's useless thinking anything of Elliott, he just enjoys playing with me, teasing me.
And I mean when there's so many gorgeous girls in the world, what am I?
My eyes can't help but look at him as he walks back to the fire, his face is filled with frustration.
"They're gonna play truth or dare, wanna join?" Emily asks sitting next to me.
"Nah count me out" I reply
"Cress live a little, you haven't even drank anything" She says taking the bottle out my hand, shaking it and handing it back to me.
"Have one sip"
"No" I don't drink anymore," Not after the time I woke up in bed with Elliott and Carter.
"I bet you have a low tolerance for alcohol" She narrows her eyes at me.
She must be joking; before the whole thing went down with Winter and Aribella I drank so much it was a matter of time before I needed my stomach pumped. I cringe as I think back to all the times I acted like a complete idiot, not caring how high my dress went or what rubbish came out my mouth. Not my best days.
"I bet your just..."
I take the bottle to my lips and begin gulping the continents down still looking at Emily, proving my point.
"Slow down their Cress, don't want to get the hiccups" Came Elliott's voice from beside me.
I take the bottle away from my lips and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. His arm is lazily hanging off a brunettes shoulder; she is gazing up at Elliott with puppy eyes. A different girl from who he was just with 2 seconds ago.
I take another large sip.
He give's me a complete once over and stares at my outfit for a second too long.
Really, what is wrong with this boy, how many girls does he go through in a week. Or is the question really, why are girls still throwing themselves at him?
It's like the female population has no respect for themselves or any other female on the planet?
Elliott's voice sounded huskier than usual and I can tell he's already drunk.
I actually can't stand the sight of him using this girl. He's going to use her then early in the morning he'll throw her out. I think we should emphasise the throw part, because he usually throws their clothes out his room before they can even get dressed.
"Elliott weren't you just chatting up that blonde over there" I point at the tree he'd been standing at. "You seemed to be getting quite intimate with her"
The brown haired girl looks at Elliott who just shrugs, she elbows Elliott in the ribcage and storms away. I snigger as Elliott watches her disappear.
"Looks like some one isn't getting laid in the woods tonight"
"What the fuck Dawson?"
"They're not toys, you can't play with them, and you might not know this but she was a virgin"
"Virgin's are my favourite" He whines.
"I'm actually done with you" I say putting my hand up and using the other hand to pull Emily to the circle of people.
"Truth or dare" Aidan grins. Aidan is pure evil when it comes to dares.
"Dare" The girl he is looking at tells him with confidence. I see Elliott join the circle, his gaze is on me but I look away.
Aidan puts a hand behind his back and pulls out a clear plastic cup, like who does that.
People look in to the cup trying to see what is actually in it, and from the glimpse I got it does not look appetising.
"Straight up vodka, a sprinkle of mud, some crushed up leaves that are probably poisonous and a secret ingredient"
She takes the cup from his hand and sighs as she brings it to her lips.
"What's the secret ingredient?" Someone asks.
"A big wriggly living worm" His eyes are gleaming and there is a full-blown smirk on his face. Elliott goes in straight away to give him a fist pump, at the same time the girl suddenly spits out a big worm.
"You pig" She shouts chucking the drink over Aiden's head.
Her face is pale and I can't help but laugh like everyone else.
She finally regains her composure and looks at Carter "I dare you Dickson to kiss anybody here who has a boyfriend, or a girlfriend"
He swiftly turns to his right and clashes lips with the blonde who Elliott was trying to get with by the tree. Her face is filled with shock and her eyes are wide.
"This is totally going on snapchat" Daniel mutters under his breath holding his phone.
The girl quickly gets up and tries to grab my brother's phone but he's much faster than her "Come back here Daniel Dawson"
"Elliott truth or dare?"
"Truths are for pussies"
Carter signals for Elliott to come closer to him, for a second I think Carter is going to ask Elliott to kiss him but instead he whispers something in to Elliott's ear. Everyone gives him a frustrated look but Elliott's face lights up like a Christmas tree. He quickly gets up and rushes off somewhere.
Even I want to know what this weird dare is but I guess I have to wait.
"I'll go next" Emily announces.
"Truth or dare Aidan" Of course she would choose Aidan she has been crushing on him... well since the day I met her.
"If you could kiss any guy here who would it be?"
Aidan's quiet for a moment " Obviously it would be Daniel, who wouldn't want to run their hands down his chiselled chest"
Daniel snorts with laughter along with a few others.
Aiden looks around the small circle and his eyes land on me.
"Crescent Dawson I dare you to French kiss the youngest person in this circle"
My heart thumps in my chest. I put a blank expression on my face but instead my heart is beating out my skin, my first kiss is going to happen right here right now.
And what even is French kissing? Is that the tongue thing?
Everyone is comparing birthdays and by the looks of it so far my first kiss is going to be with Emily who is born in November.
"2nd of December" Someone says and it's someone with a deep sexy voice.
I look up and meet Conner's clear light blue eyes.
"Conner it is then"
'Oh god I don't know what I did good enough to deserve this' I think to myself as Conner gets closer to me.
He looks at me casually as if this is the most normal thing in the world.
I try and compose myself, shrugging casually as if this means nothing to me.
Maybe I can push myself forward while we are kissing and pretend I fell on top of him by mistake.
Or I could wrap my arms around his neck.
His eyes blink and his long blonde lashes hit his cheekbone each time, his blonde hair is styled perfectly on his head and he is getting closer to me.
His face is so damn near and I can see every gorgeous detail. I feel a sudden rush of cold air from behind my neck. I hear a gasp from someone in front of me.
It's a choice, go forward to Conner or look behind me.
I inch closer to Conner but then someone else screams in front of me, even Conner's eyes contain a hint of terror.
I whip my head around and my heart stops. No it didn't stop, my heart has leapt in to my mouth and my blood has ran cold.
I practically jump out my skin and I feel like I can't breathe. I throw myself backwards. As I do, someone close to me gives a terrifying scream. But it's me, a cold-blooded scream of terror.
I feel myself push Conner down to the ground with me; his arms are wrapped around me almost as if to save me as we fall.
Even the feeling of my life-long crush's arms didn't stop me from practically dying on the inside with terror.
The thing in front of me makes me shudder in horror.
The pale face, the bright red lips, my mind isn't thinking straight. I scramble up from the ground and take a few steps back but fall to the ground again, I cover my face with my hands, and my eyes are wet with salty water.
Silence.
"Cress it's me" The faint voice laughs. But I don't move my hands from my eyes; I'm so terrified of them, of clowns. I don't know why, but I'm scared beyond reason.
I gently remove my hands from my face to see Elliott. His hair is pressed against his head and he is holding something in his hand. Something plastic and an orange wig.
I just sit there shivering, trying to sink in what happened.
"Elliott you scared us all, look at her face she's gone white"
"Cress are you okay?"
"She looks like she's going to be sick"
Daniel comes storming up to Elliott, fuming "Elliott" Daniel's voice is harsh. Elliott's face drops.
"Elliott that wasn't fucking right, you know she's terrified of them. You had no reason to do that" Daniel shakes his head at his best friend like he can't look at him any longer and storms away.
It finally sinks in, the prank Carter gave Elliott, Elliott's absence, and Elliott holding the mask.
My eyes snap to look at him straight in his dark blue eyes.
"You bloody bastard" I shout, I get up and he does too because he knows the second I get a hold of him I'm going to kill him, I really am this time.
"You get back here Grayson"
He runs forward but I am not letting him get away, no chance.
"Elliott, I swear I want you to die, I want you to drown yourself, no wait don't do that because I want to murder you" I scream so loud, trying to breathe at the same time.
I look down and realised we have ran to the deck and  slow down, clutching my stomach, my head throbbing.
Ahead of me Elliott is standing at the very edge of the deck just by the water.
How convenient, death by water.
"Come on Cress, it was a dare, a joke"
"Elliott you know what you're a joke, you're like a bag of pampers. Self absorbed and full of shit"
"You're a wasted jerk who only cares about himself, you're so big headed just because you're the Quarterback. Your body is damn fine but you have no brain to go with it" I'm up in his face, shouting at him "And you're a cocky bastard"
His face is so close to mine "But isn't that your type of guy"
"You're just pissed off cause you didn't get the chance to shag Conner"
My face burns up, "That's absurd, how dare you and it was a kiss"
"Well you look at him like you'd pay to shag him"
I look at Elliot incredulously, is he jealous? No, he can't be.
Deep breaths, I tell myself. I want to punch the stupid smirk off his sexy face. The moonlight is emphasising the tiny flecks of black in his eyes, which you can only see if you're really close up.
I groan out loud throwing my hands up in the air, I am so done with this boy, I'll just kill him in his sleep at least it will be peaceful. I turn around ready to walk away.
"God I want to kiss you so bad"
My eyes widen and my instincts make me turn around. Did I really hear that right?
It's not me that talks next, it's definitely the alcohol "Maybe you should"
The deck is so slippery that I feel myself lightly bump in to him as I am about to get close to him, resulting in a loud splash.
I bite down on my lip and my eyes are wide, oh god great timing Cress.
I get down on my knees to look in to the water, but there isn't a sound.
The night sky is so dark that I can't see in to the water, only the moonlight reflecting in it.
"Elliott" My voice comes out soft and kind.
"I don't know how long you think you can breathe underwater, but eventually you'll have to come up"
I stand up and begin stomping my shoes against the wooden deck, marching on the spot "Well I guess I'm leaving then"
Still silence.
"Grayson are you alive? No of course he can't talk if he's dead" I say speaking out loud.
I slip off my playsuit, leaving me in my bikini top and bottoms and I quickly throw my hair in to a ponytail.
"Elliott I know I say I hate you, and I always describe the many different ways I want to kill you but I really would miss you if you were dead" I'm just speaking out of nerves, it has to have been a few minutes.
"And my life would be so plain without you making it a misery"
I go back down on my knees, the water looks really cold.
"Even though you can be an angry drunk, you can sometimes be really cute and you're the only guy that has ever paid attention to me"
I think I'm drunk with all the rubbish that's falling out my mouth but I can't help it.
I don't know why but a tiny tear slips out my eye as I begin to seriously worry.
"And I would have liked to tell you, you have really, really pretty eyes"
There is a small distance between the deck and the water, so I attempt to look under the deck, but before I can get a full glance, I see something pop out from beneath the water.
The action catches me completely off guard that I fall straight in to the water headfirst.
The second I am in the water I swallow a mouthful of it and begin to choke, but the only thing that comes out my mouth are a bunch of bubbles.
While I feel like I'm going to sink to the depths of the water, a strong pair of arms wrap around my waist and pull me up.
When my head gets out the water, I splutter out water and rub my eyes.
In front of me is a specific blue eyed boy, who doesn't look like he just drowned.
"You don't look dead " I tell him feeling dazed.
He gives me his sexy grin "So you'd miss me if I died" I stare at him with my mouth open. No he really didn't have to hear that.
"Come on Dawson I was under the deck, so I heard every single word"
"Elliott I didn't mean..."
"And am I really cute" He says in a girly voice that sounds nothing like mine.
I want to say something, but I still feel Elliott's arms tightly holding me up, holding me really close.
"I didn't mean any of that, now help me out the water it's freezing" I mutter, on the inside my heart is beating, which he could probably feel because the top half of my chest is pressed against his naked chest.
"I think it's really hot"
Damn that smirk.
He gets out the water first and pulls me up as though I'm as light as a feather, which I am not.
I bend down to pull up my playsuit and slip my shoes back on. Elliott watches my every movement carefully.
I feel a hand brush the back of my neck, then he's pulling out my ponytail, my brown hair falls on to my shoulders in a wet mess.
"Do you mind?" I ask.
"It looks better" is all he shrugs; water droplets are falling off his now black hair.
"Where did you get that dress?" His voice is low.
"This?" I ask tugging at the sleeves, "Well it's not really a dress, but I ordered it online, I could get you one if you want" I tease him.
He doesn't smile back.
"Well you look really nice... no not nice... you look enchanting, alluring"
I look at him, I should say thank you, but no words come out, so I just walk.
We walk silently down the deck as I ponder on his words. My brows are furrowed as we keep a distance between us.
"So do you really think my eyes are pretty?" He asks grinning at me like he's forgetting about the conversation we just had, his cheekbones standing out more than usually and his hair is sticking up in all sorts of random places.
"Shut up Elliott before I shove you back in the water" I reply forgetting our previous conversation aswell, because the more I ponder over it the more chance I'll end up getting hurt.
"Yeh and somehow you end up drowning" He pushes me playfully.
Yeh I definitely would miss Elliott's annoying voice.
Author note:
Yeh I know its been like for everrr, but in my defence I love this chapter, things are getting steamy between our two fav characters. This chapter is huge, I'm not joking, and anyway ill try and update soon, I promise I won't leave it a month again, also sorry for any mistakes they're is probably tons, but I really wanted to update and I haven't proof read yet x
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P.S I am nearly about to hit 50,000 reader, You guys are legit the best *hugs you all*
Edited