Chapter 37 (pt. 2): Never Been Better

I ended up falling asleep surrounded by my clothes. I woke up when I felt my clothe-fort being taken apart. Kira was standing there, frowning at me. Instead of explaining, I rolled over and shut my eyes again. I hardly slept that night. I was too cold and paranoid to sleep.

"Kenzie?" Kira tapped my shoulder. "Why were you sleeping under your clothes?"

"I forgot my blanket at home," I sighed, finally opening my eyes and relaying what happened last night to them, leaving out the part about being watched.

"Why didn't you ask Griffin for a blanket? He brought an extra one," Julie raised an eyebrow at me.

I groaned and covered my face with my hands. There was only one answer to that question: I'm an idiot. I should've known Griffin came prepared. After all, his job is to look after me. Not only that, it's Griffin. He was always prepared for life.

I sat up and listened to Indie explain how the rest of the day would play out. We were going kayaking today since we forgot to yesterday. Then she planned on hide-and-seek in the woods. I immediately was against the idea. Hide-and-seek in Walmart is fun because you can't get lost. Hide-and-seek in the woods full of animals and poisonous plants with the majority of the group having no sense of direction wasn't fun. It was terrifying. Especially after the experience I had last night.

"C'mon, Kenzie! It'll be fun!" Indie smiled.

"Yeah, until it turns into a horror movie and I die first," I rolled my eyes.

"Uh, actually, I'd die first. I am the black one," Kira chimed in. "You'd be second."

"Not helping!" Indie scolded. "Kenzie, we're not playing without you."

"I guess you're not playing then," I shrugged, shoveling my pile of clothes back over me.

"Maybe we say Mackenzie can't be the seeker," Julie suggested. "That way, if this turns into a horror movie situation, you're always on guard. Or least, we make it that way for the first part of the game."

I furrowed my eyebrows, considering. She was right. Always hiding meant I was always on alert and aware of my surroundings. Besides that, chances of me getting lost aren't as high with Griffin around. I just had to call his name and I'd be fine. Suddenly, hide-and-seek didn't seem like such a bad idea. It could be fun after all.

I finally agreed and got dressed. I was in a pink shirt and shorts. I sprayed my hair with water and pulled it into a ponytail. After slipping into my Chucks, I joined the group outside. Immediately, I spotted Indie talking to Griffin. He didn't try to hide his growing frown. That is until he saw me. He took a deep breath and smiled at me.

Indie raised an eyebrow at him. Even after seeing me standing there, her expression never changed. She rolled her eyes and joined Bradley. I made my way to Griffin, still skeptical. Mostly, I was upset. He was hiding how he felt again, which was something I remind him time and time again isn't okay.

"What was that about?"

Griffin shrugged, "Bradley's cheating on me."

I frowned, "I'm serious, Griff. What's up?"

He let out a sigh, "Indie told me what happened last night. Why didn't you just come to me?"

"I thought you might've been asleep. Besides that, I don't like relying on you for everything," It was partly true.

Unfortunately, Griffin could tell it was only half true, "Mackenzie?"

As badly as I wanted to tell him, I didn't want to ruin the mood. We still had two days left and there was no way I'd be the one to ruin things. If I told Griffin, he'd become super protective of me and that would no doubt make things awkward. For now, I had t deal with it on my own.

"I saw a frog and it really creeped me out," I lied.

Griffin seemed both sympathetic and confused at the same time. He knew I had a fear of those slimy creatures, but even I knew my story didn't exactly line up. However, he was forced to let it slide because it was time for us to head out. We went kayaking first, getting all water activities out of the way for the day. There was no better time to be in the water than the morning.

Or so Indie says.

I climbed into my kayak once my life jacket was strapped on. Kira followed right behind me. Soon enough, everyone was in a kayak and in the water. Having done this before, I was far ahead of everyone. It was nice to be alone on the water. It gives you time to appreciate everything around you.

I took a deep breath, "This is so- AH!"

Indie was next to me smirking as my kayak spun. She had used her oar to push me. Once I gained control again, I glared at me. Before I could get my revenge, Julie floated right in between us. She was wearing a bright smile. Suddenly, her smile darkened, and she used her oar to push us both simultaneously.

Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, my kayak crashed into Bradley's. He gasped dramatically, "First, you try to take my man from me. Now you're trying to kill me?!"

"Bradley, it's not what it looks like! I-"

"I don't want to hear it!" He placed a hand on his chest, feigning his pain.

I rolled my eyes and shot Julie a glare, "This means war!"

"Catch me if you can!" I out her tongue and rowed away.

We spent the next few hours battling each other. At one point, Julie and I flipped Kira's kayak. Knowing she was after us, we fled as quickly as possible. Just when I thought the game couldn't get any more intense, Indie got Bradley and Griffin to join her. Battling with the girls was fun. Even Bradley was fun.

With Griffin, it was a fight for my life.

I hid behind Julie, fearful for my life. Griffin sent her barreling off to the left, leaving me exposed. I was quick to row away. Out of nowhere, Bradley appeared in front of me. As I tried to veer out of the way, I spotted Indie waiting beside him. Before I could go the other way, Griffin had caught up. The last thing I saw was the smirk on his face before my kayak was flipped over.

I quickly escaped and floated to the surface. All three of them were laughing loudly. Julie was apologizing in the distance. Kira joined in on the laughter. I decided in that moment that I was getting the last laugh. Without drawing their attention, I unclipped my life jacket. I took a deep breath and submerged myself. Griffin wasn't going to fall for it again unless I sold it with the lone jacket.

Ten seconds later, I was growing impatient and a bit faint. I knew I had about thirty more seconds before I passed out, meaning Griffin had ten seconds to "save me" before he was the one under water.

Why don't you pretend you're dead and float to the top? You'll be able to breathe and trick him.

That's actually a smart idea!

Yeah! Then you'll get CPR and-

And you ruined it.

Whatever, you know you want him to kiss you.

Why can't you be helpful for once?!

Where's the fun in that? It's way more fun to- Mackenzie?

What?

Why is everything getting blurry?

What do you-

I suddenly understood what she meant. My body was getting weaker and I was way fainter than before. My mouth involuntarily flew open, trying to get air into my lungs. I tried to resurface, but I couldn't for some reason. My body felt like it was being pushed down. I began flailing around, desperate to get their attention.

I could see Indie roll her eyes and laugh. I knew she meant nothing by it, but it still hurt. I fought even harder to get their attention as I sank lower. Eventually, I felt my arms get tired and my throat constrict. The oxygen in my body was being replaced with water.

Close your eyes.

My heart quickened at the sound of the voice in my head. It was unfamiliar to me. It was darker and more lifeless than the voice that belonged to Griffin. It kept repeating those three words. As my eyes began to get heavier, I felt my body slowly giving up. Just as I began drifting, I heard the water splash and arms enclosed around me. Try as I might, I couldn't get my eyes to stay open.

I didn't know how long it had been, but suddenly, I breathed in a deep breath of air. My eyes flew open, revealing the group surrounding me. I turned on my side, coughing and spluttering water. Once I was done, I rested on my back again.

That definitely wasn't forty seconds. That was hardly ten.

What?

Mackenzie, there's absolutely no reason for you to have started drowning.

I shut my eyes, dragging a hand over my face, "I'm such an idiot."

"You don't say!" Kira screamed. "You almost died, Mackenzie! What the hell?!"

"Yeah, sorry for scaring you guys like that," I chuckled sheepishly. "On the bright side, we can move on to hide-and-seek!"

Indie rolled her eyes and smiled, "I hate you so much."

"I love you too!" I blew her a kiss, sitting up.

As I sat up, Griffin gently guided me. I turned to him, completely forgetting how this affected him. His eyes were full of fear and guilt. He looked like he had just seen a ghost. I cleared my throat, signaling to Indie. She got the message and convinced everyone to get dressed and ready for the rest of the day.

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could say anything, I was enveloped in Griffin's arms. I could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He was taking short and shaky breaths. He seemed more afraid of me dying than I was. I returned the hugged, though not as intensely as him.

"You scared me, Mackenzie," Griffin sighed. "I thought I'd lose you. What were you thinking?"

"'Wow, it's hard to breathe underwater,'" I grinned to myself.

He pulled away and gazed deeply into my eyes, "Don't do that again. Please."

I nodded, "I won't. Now, I believe we have a game of hide-and-seek to play. I'll have you know, I'm one of the best hiders so... good luck, Ryder."

-*-

After a long game of hide-and-seek, we had dinner and headed began heading to bed. After everyone was settled in, I headed out to the lake. I took a seat on the sand, wanting to be alone. I needed time to sort out my thoughts. The last two days had been more than strange. Trying to ignore the problem didn't make it any better.

By now, I knew wasn't imagining things. It was more foolish to blame it on my imagination than to suspect some magical being following me. I pondered who it could be trying to get rid of me. Sure, Brooke and I got off on the wrong foot, but she wouldn't kill me. No matter how much she threatened, I knew there was no way she was going to go through with it. She knew it would crush Griffin to see another person he cares for leave him.

I hated that I had become someone he cared for. We both knew there was no avoiding the inevitable, yet he still grew to care for me. It was terrifying to think I'd do something so cruel to him like leaving. However, there was no avoiding it. Death had no loopholes. No matter how great of a poker face I had, I knew my cards were useless against fate.

I suddenly heard the crunch of sand behind me. I flinched, immediately snapping my head in the direction of the sound. Thankfully, it was Griffin. He offered a small smile and took a seat next to me. We sat silently, both observing the water with our thoughts weighing heavy on our minds. Griffin was the first to speak.

"I don't know what's been going on the past couple days-"

"Griffin, I-" He held his hand up to stop me.

"However, I want you to know I'll be here for you. When you're ready to talk, I'm here. That may not be now and I'm fine with that. I just wanted to assure you I'm 'all ears' as you kids say," He grinned.

I rolled my eyes, "Who're you calling a kid?!"

"The owl that said 'who.'"

"You're insatiable."

He shrugged, "Perhaps I am, Mackenzie. Perhaps I am."

We fell into a comfortable silence, watching the small ripples in the lake every now and then. For the first time since last night, I was at peace with the world. Not a single worry or obligation weighing me down.

//

AHHHHHHH! 1K?! REALLY?! I can't express how grateful I am. Thank you so much! Also, I made that cover up there for this special occasion! Once again, thank you. Anywho, thanks for reading! I love you all so much!

Tatty bye <3