•C h a p t e r T w e n t y - S i x•

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Song for chapter twenty six: Ring by Selena Gomez

|Skyler|

Within an hour, we had all been settled into our rooms and had changed into a new set of clothes, suitable for our first activity: kayaking. To me it was my blue raincoat and a pair of leggings. Aden's room was on a separate floor, as were all the guys' rooms. The few girls in the class were on the highest floor. It was totally intentional on Mr. Woods' part.

The only other people there were couples on a getaway or families with small children who didn't have school to miss.

My room was truly beautiful, rivalling that of a five star hotel. The bathroom consisted of a large jacuzzi tub and also a stand up glass shower, on the ceiling was a large shiny chandelier. The room contained a double bed, a large television and a refrigerator. There was even a balcony that overlooked the mountains and a river. Everything about the room was elegant, from its wallpaper, all the way to the paintings they had hanging on the walls. It was way too big for one person to have for themselves.

I met with the group at the front where the bus had stopped just an hour before, surprised to see that most of the class was already there.

The hotel we were staying in was near the national park that our hike would take place. Thankfully, hiking wasn't the only thing there was to do here.

I spotted Aden and Ryan with little effort, so I maneuvered my way there, seeing as how I was barely acquainted with the others in the class. Besides Austin of course, but we don't talk about him anymore, not after that party.

"Hey," I greeted Aden as he turned to face me with a crooked grin. "How was your room?"

"The best thing I'd ever stepped into," Aden replied. "The only bad thing about it is that I have to share with that idiot." He motioned to Ryan, who shot him an offended look as he chewed on a granola bar. Since there were nearing thirty guys in the class, they all had to share a room to reduce the costs, but since there were so little females, we each had our own room.

"I'm the best thing that's ever happened to you," Ryan pouted. "Besides, we get to miss conditioning for soccer practice. Coach can kiss my ass."

For good measure, Ryan smacked his backside.

Mr. Woods came out in that moment and ushered us all toward the lake where we'd be kayaking. It was a short walk to the lakeside, past a few houses that housed mostly retired couples, and a few souvenir shops. I was sure Aunt Claire would like a keychain.

Ryan slung an arm around my shoulder as we walked, cutting in between Aden and I, "So, I kind of need your help for something," Ryan started, his voice wavered compared to his usual confident, bubbly self.

"What is it?" I asked.

"So I'm sort of planning to ask Josie out..." Ryan began and I looked past his shoulders to shoot Aden an ecstatic look, which he returned with his infamous smirk that made my heart skip a beat. "But I don't know if she likes romantic, or like something chill. I just want her to say yes, but I also wanna make it hard for her to want to say no, you know?"

"Ryan, stop rambling," Aden placed a hand on Ryan's arm, and he let out a nervous chuckle.

"I know she'll like romantic. Don't make a huge deal out of it in front of others, but she would like some romance," I responded. Yeah, Josie would really like that, and I would never hear the end of it. I smiled to myself.

Ryan's face brightened with relief, "Thank god she likes romantic. I sort of had a plan already." I was excited for him.

When we made it to the docks, I was taken aback from the beauty. I'd seen scenes like these before, but it always surprised me. It was a large clearing surrounded by a forest that seemed to span for miles. The water was clear and glistened enough that I could see my own reflection in it. A line of kayaks sat beside the dock in the water.

Another man approached us, clad in a pair of black waterproof pants, a rain boots and a plain white t-shirt underneath a bright yellow lifejacket. His bright blonde hair reflected the sunlight.

"Hey all, my name is Kyle, and I'll be your guide today to teach you how to paddle correctly and maintain balance in the water," he introduced himself. Surprisingly, our class had stopped talking when he began speaking, which by Mr. Woods' astonished expression, he was just as surprised as I was.

Kyle gave out the life jackets that matched our sizes and we all put them on easily enough.

"Alright, I'll help you all into your kayaks, and we'll regroup there," Kyle announced. Our class rushed to the front of the docks to get into the boats first. First up was a football guy who's name was Jonah, he got on pretty smoothly and so did everyone after him.

"You're looking good," I teased Aden. He had on a blue lifejacket, and a pair of jeans — which was stupid on his part. Those would be a bitch to have on if he fell in the water.

"Well, I never look bad that's for sure," he shot back with a smug smile as he approached Kyle and I rolled my eyes. Can't deny that he's right though.

Ryan had gotten on before him, not without a struggle though. He'd let out a girly shriek, clutching onto Kyle's arm with a tight grip as he sat down into the kayak.

Aden got in smoothly, as did I after him.

Kyle demonstrated to us all a quick demo of how to paddle with our oars, which was easy enough to follow, and we were off. The plan was that we'd go around the lake a few times and then perhaps do a couple of races as a class.

"Oh shit," I snapped my head over towards Ryan, who was still near the dock. He had his arms stretched out beside him in attempt to balance himself, while his canoe shook violently under him.

"Kid, you gotta stop moving," Kyle shouted towards him from the front of the group.

"I'm not moving I swear!" Ryan shouted back, a panicked look in his eyes. I muffled my laughter, with a hand, and noticed Aden next to me doing the same, except he was bad at feigning his concern. He was full on guffawing.

"You obviously are," Kyle gave him a flat look as he began to paddle towards Ryan.

"No I'm not," Ryan said again, as his kayak began tipping violently side to side, his body mirroring the actions of his boat. "Fuc—"

My laughter stuck in my throat when Ryan's boat tipped to the right, a little too far, spinning around upside down, taking Ryan with it into the water. Ryan's blond head broke the surface of the lake water as he sputtered, coughing out water.

"Fuck the water's cold," his teeth chattered.

"Language," I heard Mr. Woods muttered hopelessly behind me.

Kyle reached Ryan a moment later, and hoisted him back onto the kayak, soaking wet and shivering — all without flipping his own kayak over. The man was skilled.

"What did you expect, it's October," Kyle said as he steadied Ryan. "There, just stop moving, and your kayak won't tip over."

He began giggling, "Oh yeah, you're right."

"Alright, lets get moving," Kyle shouted to the rest of us, who were also muffling their laughter. Some other jerks on the soccer and football team were outright laughing, even Austin was.

Aden and I paddled side by side near the back of the group as Ryan was somewhat in front of us, oddly silent as he concentrated on not tipping over again.

"Hey uh.. Clumsy?" Aden spoke next to me.

"What's up?" I peered over at him as I paddled. I'm really getting the hang of this.

"Is there supposed to be water in the boat?" he looked up at me, his eyebrows furrowed in a mix of confusion and concern.

"Um, no," I laughed, "that's why it's a boat," I said in the most obvious tone as a teasing smirk appeared on my lips. "I thought you were smart."

"No shit Sherlock. I'm just saying, does your boat have a bit of water in it?" Aden shot back, not without giving me an eye roll.

I looked into my boat, "Nope, it's completely dry. And it's not raining or anything."

Aden shrugged, "You know what, it's fine. Water probably just got in or something from before," I nodded in agreement and we focused our attention back onto Kyle who was explaining a couple other techniques and fun facts about canoeing.

A couple guys in the front were slapping each other with their oars and I chortled at that. Though it was pretty funny to hear the loud whipping noise it made when the oar smacked Jonah's back.

"Skyler!" I heard Aden his next to me. I looked over and immediately doubled over in laughter, clutching my stomach.

Aden's kayak was tipped forward into the lake, half his boat already filled with water, "There's a fucking hole in this boat!"

"No shit," I guffawed.

"This isn't funny!" his boat continued to tip forwards, filling up with more and more lake water. "Woa—" Aden was cut off with his kayak tipped forward, submerging into the water, him along with it.

"Aden! Oh shoot!" I panicked slightly. "Kyle!" I called to the front at the top of my lungs.

Aden's head popped back up from the water, shaking his head like a wet dog. The droplets from his hair splattered all over my face, "Aden stop that!" I covered my face with my hands as Kyle began paddling his way over again.

He combed his hair out of his face with a hand, a mischievous smirk on his lips as he swam towards me.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, my smile disappeared and my eyes widened. Aden only came closer. "Stop looking at me like that," I repeated, this time, panicked. I began to paddle away clumsily but I was too late.

I felt Aden's hand wrap around my arm as he tugged hard, pulling me out of the kayak and into the lake.

My scream was muffled as I submerged into the water, the frigidness imitating pinpricks all over my skin. I kicked hard and my head broke through the surface of the water, as I sputtered.

"What the fuck!" I glared at Aden who was guffawing next to me in the water. "It's so cold in here."

Kyle came up next to us in his own kayak, though he was trying to suppress his annoyance, I could tell how irritated he was at us. He skillfully hoisted me back into my kayak before taking Aden back to the dock a few meters back, getting him a new one after apologizing about the hole. The rest of us floated around aimlessly in our kayaks.

"Can we all get through the rest of this lesson without falling in the water again?" he addressed the class, as he paddled to the front, but I could tell he was talking to Aden, Ryan and I. The rest of the class muttered "yes", eyeing us and chuckling under their breaths. My cheeks heated up from the unwanted attention, even though my teeth were still chattering and I was still trembling from the aftermath of falling into the water.

As promised, the rest of the lesson went by in a smooth blur, besides my glares that I shot at Aden every time we made eye contact, which he returned with a guilty smile. Yeah that's right, hope you feel like an asshole.

Believe it or not, Ryan won the race Kyle made us all participate in at the end of the class. Talk about a redemption.

As the lesson came to an end, Kyle assisted all of us out of our kayaks. Apparently, he would be staying with us as our guide tomorrow for our hike, much to his dismay. I was still shivering as we made it back into the hotel, my arms were crossed over my chest, partly because I was cold but more because I was still angry at Aden. I had ignored him the whole time we were on the water.

He chased after me, his wet sneakers squeaking with every step he took. "You're not really mad at me are you?" he pouted, tugging on my arm.

"No," I deadpanned, staring at his face that brightened. "I'm furious." He frowned again, his shoulders slackening as we entered the elevator.

"You know you can't stay mad at me," he smirked, giving me a light nudge and I rolled my eyes. Unfortunately I knew he was right, but I was not giving in just yet. The elevator doors opened when it stopped at the floor his room was at, but he stayed  rooted where he was, the door closing again as it ascended to my floor.

"You didn't get off."

"Not until you stop being mad," he raised an eyebrow at me, smirking.

"Keep trying then," I narrowed my eyes at him as the elevator doors opened again. I left the elevator without waiting for him, practically dragging my soaked leggings and raincoat along.

Aden trailed behind me down the hall as I gave him the cold shoulder. Again, his shoes squeaked as he fell into step with me. I eyed his Adidas sneakers as I scanned my room key at the door. Was it bad that I wanted to chuck those out the window?

I swear one more peep out of them...

I unlocked the door to my room and stepped in, spinning around quickly in attempt to shut the door in Aden's face, but I was just a second too slow. He slipped in through the half closed door smoothly.

"Ugh, Aden," I groaned.

"Skyler," he mimicked me.

"I need to change," I rolled my eyes, grabbing a clean pair of jeans and a sweater from my duffel bag that I'd thrown onto the bed when I first got the room.

Aden leaned against the wall, his lips stretching out into a sly smile, "I don't mind."

My mouth fell open slightly in shock, but I closed it back immediately. "Not here you pervert," my cheeks burned at his comment as I hurried into the bathroom. I spun around to see a smug Aden, watching me from where he was by the door. "Come in here and I'll rip your baby making tool off," I narrowed my eyes at him before shutting and locking the door behind me.

I heard Aden's obnoxious laughter from the other side of the door as I quickly took off my clothes, throwing them into the tub and making a mental note to shove them back in my bag after they'd dried up.

I threw my sweater over my head and then my jeans, sighing in relief from the warmth of my clean, dry clothes. There was a loud knock that sounded from the door and my eyebrows knitted together in confusion; I definitely wasn't expecting anyone.

"Aden can you get that?" I called out to him as I glanced at myself in the mirror one last time. I looked good enough, besides the mess my hair was in. But at this point, it would be weird if my hair wasn't a mess.

I opened the bathroom door and stepped out, almost cringing. Aden stood at the door, his eyes narrowed to slits at the person who was on the other side of the threshold.

Austin.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hey all! Hope you liked this chapter, please do vote, comment and share if you did!

What do you think Austin wants??!

And seriously though, who can stay mad at Aden.

~SweetnessInTheSalt

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