Disease

Logan and Elora lead the way to the lake as the rest of us follow them. Elora has her arms wrapped around Logan’s arm as they walk side by side. Behind them was the rest of the girls all paired up as I was left in the far back walking alongside lo and behold Aspen. I just ignored him and just appreciate the beauty of nature surrounding the both of us. A few moments later I could finally smell the lake from the distance and the next thing I knew we were now at the docks.

“Wow.” I said seeing the body of water for the first time. I only see it in pictures but if it was beautiful there it was breathtaking in person. I just stood there for a few seconds just taking in everything as the rest of the gang finally submerged themselves in the lake. Logan and Elora are seated at the end of the docks holding hands as they lean their heads with each other.

“It looks different than I remember.” someone muttered waking me from my trance as I saw Aspen standing beside me with his hands inside his pockets. I have forgotten about him.

“You’ve been here before?” I asked not wanting to be rude. As much as he annoys me with his expressions, maybe it wasn’t his intention at all. He must just be perpetually bored. Besides, the beautiful sight calmed me down.

He nodded, “Logan and I went there every summer along with our parents when we were kids”. Right, I’ve forgotten about it. Elora did mention he and Logan being family friends earlier. “I was surprised that he brought people here.”

“What do you mean?”

“This place was empty for years; he never came back because of the memories it holds.”

“Well she brought Elora here.”

“That’s different. He loves her.”

“He does.”

We were then surrounded by silence as the gust of breeze wafted to our direction making my hair flutter.

“Aren’t you going to swim?” Aspen asked.

“Right.” I said about removing my coverup when I stopped midway looking at him, “How about you?”

He just looked at my face without saying anything before removing his shirt out of nowhere, making me blink a few times seeing how straightforward he is. I was so shocked that I just stared at his form. Wow. If Logan has the body of a Greek god I don’t know how to describe him. I just froze there until I saw his scowl again. I just looked away from him and back to the lake subtly sneaking a glance at him to see if he is looking, and he is! It made me feel uncomfortable to remove my overalls but I just took a few steps forward away from him and forced myself to strip until I was just left with my bikini. I feel so exposed!

I feel him behind him as I stop myself from shaking before turning around to face him smiling pretending to act normal, “Let’s go?”

He just nodded while walking past me to the lake as I followed suit. I can see the girls playing in the water even though the couple is already with them.

“Myla join us!” Elora squealed as I smiled, waving at her testing the water before finally submerging entirely and walking to where they were.

We stayed in the water playing, splashing at each other’s faces, and swimming. A few minutes later the boys joined us walking in the lake like supermodels wearing only their trunks showing their bare chests.

“The fun has finally arrived!” Sebastian shouted as the other boys cheered. They ran at the docks jumping one by one as the whole place got chaotic with their arrival. They emerged from the water shaking their heads like dogs as droplets from their hair splashed at us.

“Well rested already?” Natasha who was just beside me teased as Sebastian smirked.

“Oh, I am.”

We splashed at each other girl vs boys and because they have larger hands they beat us with the game so we all ended up playing marco polo seeing that it was obviously an unfair fight. Everyone agreed that Jaden would be the one playing as we swam away. We shouted ‘polo’ waiting for him to catch us as the boys tried to tease him by intentionally splashing in another direction where we actually are. We laughed as Jaden had a hard time catching us but minutes later he finally caught Natasha.

“Cannonball!” Sebastian shouted when we were done playing Marco polo as the rest of the boys followed suit. We stayed at the water as the boys lined themselves in the docks starting to have a cannonball competition, who had the biggest splash.

We cheered as they took their turn. Even Logan who didn’t join the Marco polo because he and Elora are flirting with each other then started acting cocky trying to impress my best friend by challenging everyone. A few moments later Sebastian won the game as everyone booed him. The boys who felt cheated ask for another competition, this time a swimming race.

“Hey, Aspen! Join us.” Jaden shouted at Aspen who was just quietly standing at the side. He didn’t join the cannonball competition so the boys wanted him to be included this time.

Aspen just looked at them boredly. He didn’t say anything as we were surrounded by silence. I can hear insects in the background cricking. When Aspen noticed everyone was staring at him he just sighed before walking below the dock where the boys are lined up. Everyone finally returned chattering as Elora who was standing at the docks was waving her ‘flag’ which is actually her tunic.

“Are you boys ready?” she asked as the boys howled, “Ready Natasha?”

“Ready!” Natasha shouted who was standing at a boulder at the end of the docks where the finish line will be.

Elora waved her tunic, “Ready... set... go!”

The boys began swimming as the water splashed at us who were seated at the rocks watching them. We giggled before cheering as the race continued. Olivia who has Theo’s Bluetooth speakers then started to play some music as we sang along enjoying ourselves. A few moments pass as the boys are finally arriving at the finish line Logan and Aspen are trying to fight for first place as the other boys try to gain on them. We cheered as the boys finally finished the race. Aspen won in a close win with Logan. We congratulated the boys as we continued playing games. The best is the chicken fight where finally Logan and Elora won against Olivia and Jaden.

We stayed at the lake until we got famished. I along with Natasha and Erica prepared the frozen pizza that we bought along with Vince and Theo. The rest stayed to continue the fun. Erica and Natasha prepared the nacho as I baked the pizza. Vince and Theo helped prepare the paper plates and napkins along with our drinks.

When the timer dinged I wore my mittens and took out the pizza at the same time I heard the door open and Aspen came to join us. Our eyes met as he walked towards my direction. I felt uncomfortable as the space between us became smaller and I was bent over. My cheeks flushed as he stood beside me.

“Do you need help with that?” he asked nonchalantly.

I nodded slowly as he stepped closer to me, making me step back as he took the mittens from me and he carried the pizza and placed it on the counter where the bowl of nachos and the plates and drinks were already prepared. I just looked at him still shaken before joining the others to carry our food back to the lake where the others were waiting. They cheered as they saw us with our food. There is already firewood in the middle just waiting for it to be lit for later.

We ate and chatted about in the logs surrounding the firewood enjoying ourselves. Olivia played loud music again as we danced around wearing only our swimming clothes and drinking beers until everyone got tired and we ended up relaxing in the logs.

The sky slowly turned into darkness. Logan then started to light the bonfire as Aspen helped him. The boys went to the cabin to get the ingredients for barbeque and s’mores. When they returned they were already wearing a shirt and the fire was already lit. The boys carried the marinated meat, marshmallows, chocolates, and graham crackers along with a guitar and blankets.

Logan led the barbeque along with the other boys as Jaden started playing and the rest of us waited for our food. Olivia who was seated beside Jaden sang and the rest followed after humming and swaying as we enjoyed the rest of our evening’s peace after the fun activities earlier.

Finally, the barbeque was done cooking and we had dinner. Once we were finished we cleared our leftovers and cleaned putting our paper plates and disposable utensils in the trash bag. As the night got deeper the rest of us began to tell horror stories trying to scare each other but ended up laughing at how comedic it is.

Little did we know those would be the last time that we’d have fun for a very long time.