Chapter Forty Six

Call of Nature.

Anna

Clothes? Check.
Underwear? Check.
Phone charger? Check.
Swimsuit? Check.
Toiletries? Check.
Cosmetic products? Check.
Toothbrush and hairbrush? Check.
A book that I'll probably not read? Check.
Notebook??

I sigh and put the list and the pen down before I continue searching for my notebook. I don't know where it went. I remember writing in it yesterday, so I don't know how it suddenly disappeared.

Hearing a knock on the door, I turn my head around from looking under my desk, in case it fell when I wasn't looking and I find mum standing by the open door, smiling at me. "Hey, honey."

"Hey, mum." I stand up and give her a small smile.

"You're all packed for the trip?" She leans on the door, crossing her arms.

"Yeah. I just can't find my notebook. Have you seen it anywhere lately?" I look under the mountain of textbooks on my desk.

"No," she responds. "Where did you last see it?"

"That's the thing. I don't remember." I run my hands through my hair frustratingly.

"It's okay. Maybe it fell under your bed again," mum assures me. "Did you check your backpack?"

"No, I don't even-" I pause and press my lips in a thin line when I remember where my backpack is.

"I forgot it at Luke's house," I realize.

"Luke's house?" Mum asks in confusion and there's hint of playfulness in her voice.

"I must have been so caught up that I forgot to get it," I sigh.

"Wait, what were you doing at Luke's?" Mum asks.

I immediately understand what she means and I widen my eyes at her. "No! Not like that! We-"

"We? That's a good start." My mother sits on my bed, raising her eyebrow in amusement.

"No, mum. We just went to the aquarium yesterday and I left my backpack in his room," I explain. "He said it has been awhile since we really hung out, so we went to the pier then he gave me a ride home, but I was too caught up that I forgot about the backpack."

"At least you know it's at a safe place now," mum says.

"Yeah," I reply in relief.

"Anything happened at Luke's house or the aquarium?" She grins at me.

"No, mum," I give her a dry look. "Except for meeting Luke's dog and Clara being pregnant; nothing happened," I respond.

"Clara is pregnant?" She asks in shock.

"Yeah. For a month now," I tell her, closing the flap of the suitcase and zipping up the bag.

"I will have to call her later then," mum says, then she stands up before she walks over to me. "Be careful and make sure you stick close by your brother or your friends or Abby. I don't want you wandering off like you always do."

"Mum, you're making me seem as if I'm still a little girl," I joke, smiling.

"You are a little girl. You are my little girl. I have to keep you safe." She hugs me tightly.

"Don't worry, mum. I'll be okay," I reply reassuringly, hugging her back and tightening my arms around her.

My phone buzzes in my jean pockets and I pull away from mum to get it out, then I turn it on and see a new message from Sophie.

Tiana aka Soph: Riley's house. Now.

I frown at the text before I reply with an 'okay' and I slip the phone back in the pocket.

"Is everything okay?" Mum asks when she notices me frowning.

"Yeah. Sophie just texted me; I have to go to Riley's house," I answer. "I'll come back to get my suitcase."

"Alright. Bye, sweetie," she smiles.

"Bye, mum," I smile back as I head to the exit of my bedroom, then I go downstairs and leave the house.

I cross the street, walking to Riley's house then I ring the doorbell and Riley's mum opens the door. She gives me a small smile. "Hello, Anna."

"Hey, Mrs. Santos," I smile back.

"The girls are upstairs." She opens the door wider for me to walk in and I give her a nod before going upstairs to Riley's room.

I don't bother knocking on the door and I open the door, only to find Riley sitting on her bed, crying and Sophie and Colette sitting beside her, rubbing her back.

"What's wrong?" I ask her, frowning and closing the door behind me before I walk to the bed and sit beside Colette.

"Mom and dad are getting a divorce," she sniffs.

My eyes widen and I get up to grab her in a hug. "I'm so sorry, Riley." I soothe her, rubbing her back and she hugs me back, burying her face in my shoulder.

"I'm moving to Brazil with my dad," she sobs in a muffled voice.

"What?" I pull away from her. "When?"

"Today," Sophie answers sadly.

"Today? But what about the trip? And prom? And graduation?" I ramble, furrowing my eyebrows.

"I don't know," Riley shakes her head. "They didn't tell me anything. Dad just told me to pack my bags and that we're leaving in a couple of hours."

Nobody says anything. The four of us stay quiet. I didn't know what to say. For the first time, I feel as if there's no hope, that I won't be able to see Riley again. She will go to Brazil and start a new life with new friends and new plans.

I shouldn't think of that. Riley needs a lot of support right now and thinking about her life in Brazil will only worsen things.

"It's okay, Riley," I assure her, smiling. "Everything will be alright. You will still be able to visit your mum right?"

"Yeah," she answers, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

"Then it will be okay and maybe you can ask your dad to let you stay with your mum sometimes," I suggest.

"But what about you guys?" She questions in a low voice.

"We will FaceTime four times a week," Sophie beams.

"And we will text and call whenever we get the chance to do so," Colette joins.

"But you promise you will update us on everything that happens in Brazil," I state.

"And if you get Latino dick, you also have to tell us." Sophie places her hands on her shoulders and stares her dead in the eyes.

"Sophie," I scold her and Riley lets out a snort through her tears, then she pulls on a firm straight face.

"I promise I will tell you if I get any Latino dick," she pledges, doing a cross with her finger over her chest and the four of us burst out laughing before we squeeze each other in a huge group hug and we fall back on Riley's bed, hugging each other.

"You guys are seriously the best," Riley smiles.

"Aw, babe." Sophie places her hand on her chest.

"If anything happens with Luke; FaceTime me, got it?" Riley points at me.

"Why do you think anything will happen with Luke?" I ask her.

"Because everything happens when I'm not there, like that one time I skipped school and they freaking made an assembly about sex education. This school doesn't give a shit about me, I swear," Riley complains.

"Trust me, it's a good thing you weren't there that day," I grimace, remembering the presentation's contents.

"You're too innocent for this world, Anna," Sophie pats my head.

"She's a real badass though," Colette says.

"True," the other two agree.

"Stop," I laugh, reaching over to smack them and they laugh along.

"Wait, what's the time now?" Riley questions, her face morphing into realization.

"7:23," I answer.

"Guys." She pushes herself up, sitting. "The bus is leaving in seventeen minutes. You have to get to school now."

"Shit, I forgot." Sophie sits up as well and so do Colette and I.

"What about you?" I ask Riley, feeling the need to comfort her more. She's my best friend after all. She deserves everything.

She shakes her head. "I'll be fine. You-" she points at us, "you have to go now."

"Okay," I affirm, nodding my head and standing up.

"We will text you later," Sophie tells her, hugging her and Colette and I join in the hug.

"Have fun and seriously, if anything happens, tell me. I want to be updated on everything," Riley orders us, pulling away and grasping on my shoulders.

"We will," Lottie replies.

"If you find any available sexy Latinas or Latinos, call me so I can buy a ticket to Brazil." Sophie pats Riley's bottom.

"You will be the first to know," Riley responds.

"Good."

| | | |

"We're going on a trip in our favourite rocket ship. Zooming through the sky, Little Einsteins-"

"Zach, if you don't shut the fuck up right now," Luke threatens.

"What are you going to do, dumbass?" Zach shoots back.

"It's better if you don't find out," he hisses, narrowing his eyes at Zach and Zach gulps and sinks in his seat next to Alex.

We've been on the trip bus for an hour now and so far, it's going good, except for the fact that Zach is over-enthusiastic and he keeps singing random trip songs that Luke resisted the urge to throw him from the bus window and apparently, the Little Einsteins' theme song was enough for him to go off at Zach.

I shift a bit, so Colette's head doesn't fall off of my shoulder as she sleeps. "Luke, just let him be," I tell him.

"Thank you, Leni," Zach grins at me before he narrows his eyes at Luke who just rolls his eyes at him and flips him the bird.

"Anna, can you switch up with me? I need to change places before I throw up," Jennie asks from beside Luke.

"Yeah, of course," I agree. "But what about Lottie?"

"Don't worry. I'll let her sleep on my shoulder."

I nod, then I hold up Colette's head as I switch places with Jennie and I let her head drop on Jennie's shoulder. Colette doesn't seem to be bothered by the little switch up because she just snuggles in Jennie's shoulder. Jennie tilts her head back and closes her eyes and it takes her five minutes before she's out cold. It's truly a talent in her.

"Hi," I smile at Luke.

"You forgot something at my house," is the first thing he tells me.

"Yeah," I reply, letting out a chuckle awkwardly. "I suck at remembering. Do you have it?"

"It's in my suitcase now. I'll give it to you when we get there," he answers and I nod.

I get out my earphones and I almost groan when I see the tangled mess that the wires are in. Bluetooth headphones are less complicated than that. I start unknotting the earphones, using my nails (long nails tend to help with that a lot) until I completely unknot them and I place a bud in one ear. Looking over at Luke, I see him staring out of the window, watching the trees that pass by us and I tap his shoulder. He turns his head to me and I offer him the other bud.

He raises an eyebrow in question. "Come on, my music taste isn't that bad," I say, jokingly.

Luke chuckles. "I know it isn't." He takes the bud and puts it in his ear.

I play Five Seconds of Summer's 'Sounds Good Feels Good' album and I lean my head back on the seat and close my eyes, the voice of Luke Hemmings at the back of my mind as I doze off.

| | | |

"This place is amazing!" Sophie comments and Colette, Abby, Zoey and I nod, agreeing with her as we watch the scenery that lies in front of us.

Trees like skyscrapers of the glades reach up, their green tips poking the fluffy white clouds and their braided branches stretch out. The scurrying of the squirrels, the scuttling of the rabbits, the crunching twigs and the tweeting of the birds chime in the mahogany place as if it's a song.

The waterfall is Caribbean-blue, the water is of a crystal, clear blue color. It gushes over the rocks and the water flows off of the thirty feet tall cliff as if it's syrup and hits the serenity-pool at the bottom with a splash, making it foam at the bottom as if there's clouds of bubbles at the end. The refreshing scent of the water and the chlorophyll swirl through the air together, making me take a huge breath in.

I'm moving here. I just have to make sure I have enough internet data and enough food.

"Everyone, please move faster so we could head to our cabins!" Coach Taylor yells at us, urging us and everybody hurriedly walks faster.

"Please quiet down!" She shouts at us and we all shut up. Coach Taylor is a very scary person.

"Okay, so..." She starts calling a bunch of names and I feel Abby tugging on my arm and I turn to her.

"What's up?" I ask her.

"Can you come with me? I kind of need to see to something," she requests.

"But what about our cabins?"

"Don't worry about it. We're rooming up with the girls. I already checked the list," she replies, her brown eyes gleaming.

"Okay," I nod, my hair falling over my face before I tuck the straight strands back behind my ear. I really don't get my hair's condition.

"Let's go," she gestures for me to follow her.

I wanted to check out the place anyway.

Abby and I slip away from the crowd and we disappear into the leafy paradise. The crackling leaves and chirping birds echo in the empty teak-brown forest. Sometimes I wonder why do people care about artificial monuments more than natural ones? Nature existed longer than any other man-made buildings and places. It's the one that should get more appreciation, not any statue or pillar or tower. Do people really like manufactured things more than real ones? Is that how is it? The fake over the real? Just the slight thought of it makes me come to the terms of how much everything really changes.

"So, what is this thing that you want to see?" I question as we amble, our feet crushing every dead leaf that falls under us.

"Tyler's school is camping near us and I wanted to see him," she answers.

"You have two Tyler's in your life. Your best friend or your cousin?"

"My best friend, of course." She rolls her eyes. "The only example of a camping trip that would come any close to Tyler's private school is a trip to Beverly Hills with a couple of plastic raccoons." I instantly know that she's talking about our cousin, Tyler. They're loaded.

"Plastic raccoons are a thing?"

"Yeah, my dad bought one," she explains excitedly, giggling a bit. "He put it in the backyard to scare away the neighbors. Mrs. Naidoo always freaks out when she sees it and her reaction is priceless. He even installed a security camera, so he could record her reaction." Abby laughs and I join in, cackling.

"Remember that one time when we were vacationing in Puerto Rico in grandma's cabin and he went around blowing Chris's air horn to wake everyone up?" I remind her, howling from laughter.

"Your mom was so freaked out that she fell off of the bed," Abby adds, laughing along and I laugh even harder if that's possible.

For a moment, I think about how nice it feels to have someone to laugh and talk with. It reminds me of how Anastasia and I were. We would always spend hours giggling about the stupidest things and talking about the weirdest topics. I wish I could have this back. The talks and the laughs and the discussions. I wish I held onto it tight, even if it hurt. I know it's easier to let go, but I don't want to. I want to hold on to it, pull it back and wrap my arms around it, but it already slipped away.

"Found them," Abby says, pulling me out of my thoughts. I find her peeking from a bunch of bushes and I join her to help with searching for her best friend.

"I don't see Tyler anywhere," I tell her as my eyes scan the people-filled area. It looks exactly like a replica of our campsite even their cabins look the same, only they don't have a waterfall.

"Wait, I found him," I point at Tyler who's busy talking to a blonde girl.

"Since when he's into blondes?" Abby questions, raising her eyebrow. "I thought he was into black-haired ones."

"I wonder," I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

Even though Abby is really smart and all of her classes are AP ones and she even takes extra courses, she is probably one of most oblivious, stupidest people ever. Tyler was into black heads before she dyed her hair blonde, then his type switched to blondes after that. If this isn't the biggest hint of the year that he likes her, then I don't know what is.

The real reason to why Abby dyed her hair blonde in the first place is that wherever she went, everyone used to tell her that she looks exactly like her mother with her black hair. She didn't want that, she was already hurt by her mother's death. She doesn't need another thing to remind her of her mum, so she dyed her hair blonde and the whole family immediately got the message that she didn't want to talk about her mother.

Her mum died in a war in Syria. She was in the Navy SEAL and she fought for the country, but she got shot and died. Abby's mother and another woman who was a friend of hers were the only two women on the team and they made her a huge memorial. Big enough that it lasted for two days.

Her mother was honestly one of the best people ever. When she wasn't busy with military trainings, she would spend time with Anastasia, Abby and me and we would have lots of fun with her. She was an amazing person and everyone in the family knew that.

"Come on," Abby tells me and we round the bushes until we're close to Tyler.

She sticks her head between the bushes. "Tyler."

Both of Tyler and the blonde's head turn around at the sound and the girl immediately freaks out. "What was that?"

"Uh, call of nature," he replies quickly and Abby and I snort. "Gotta go. I'll talk to you later."

Before the girl says anything, Tyler rushes away and ducks in the bushes then he walks towards us and shoots us a cheeky smile.

"Call of nature, huh?" Abby teases, crossing her arms.

"Shut up and hug me," he orders her and she laughs, then she wraps her arms around his torso, hugging him.

Tyle's eyes slide to me and he does a double-take as if he just realized that there's another person he knows. "Holy fuck, Anna?"

"Please don't curse," I grimace.

"Yup, you're Anna," he says and grabs me in a hug too and I hug him, chuckling slightly. "Puberty hit you like a damn wrecking ball."

"I could say quite the same about you, Scott," I comment.

"Baby, I don't want puberty to look good," he brags and I raise an eyebrow at him.

"You're right. You need puberty," Abby retorts.

"Why do you have to embarrass me every time?" He whines, his head falling back and I let out a laugh.

"It's my job as your best friend, honey." She pats his cheek.

"But seriously, Anna, you're looking good," he grins at me.

I smile. "Thank you."

"You guys are camping near?" Tyler asks.

"Yup," Abby nods. "About a kilometer away."

"That's...?" Tyler trails off, not knowing how long is that.

"Ten to twelve minutes," she responds in an automatic tone.

"I feel like she's indirectly personally attacking us, don't you think?" Tyler whisper-asks me, leaning in.

"Yup," I agree with him.

"I can directly personally attack you instead," she says cheekily.

"She loves me," he grins, throwing an arm over Abby's shoulder and she rolls her eyes with a smile on her lips before she leans into him.

"You guys are cute," I comment, smiling at them.

Before any of them can respond, a firm voice pops up. "Mr. Scott!"

"Shit," he curses quietly. "I'm here, just having some alone time!" He replies and as he does, he gestures for us to go.

"Why could you possibly be having some alone time behind the bushes?" The teacher states.

"I'm responding to the call of nature!" He answers, winking at us and Abby and I stifle a