𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟒, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟓

"You scared of pussy or something?" Chauncey asked Dominique out of nowhere.

Furrowing his brows at his bizarre assumption, he sat there stuck wondering where the hell that question could've came from "Nigga what?"

Chauncey snickered at his reaction, before going into further detail with his question "The other day, I seen you and one of the girls up there on the cabin roof, looking like a nice little couple. Next thing you know your ass rolling off the roof to dodge the kiss." He told him before laughing even harder, letting him know he peeped everything.

Dominique sighed in embarrassment, thinking nobody saw his massive stumble from the roof top. He feels even more embarrassed for Angel though, being that they had wandering eyes on them while he avoided her advances. He know what that could do to a lady's ego, because he would've felt iffy too if the roles were reversed. He just wasn't ready for it at that moment, so he did what he had to do, which was nearly break his damn back to get away.

After that little odd situation, he hasn't really heard from or seen Angel around like he usually does. He may catch her in the dining hall or field house, sitting with Skai, but whenever they would make eye contact she would quickly look away. Just as she would before they became, friends. Other times he could tell she was trying so hard to keep her distance from him, but it's not like Dominique was trying hard enough to get her attention at the moment. Whenever she would look away or remove herself from the same area as him, he stayed put and didn't run after her.

Dominique knew she wasn't upset with him, especially over something like this. She just felt a little embarrassed and would show it on her face whenever the two would cross paths with each other. He hated how they were acting like strangers again, because he missed speaking with her every day. He missed kicking it with his buddy.

He figured whenever he come across her today, he would have to get a few things off his chest, even if Angel calls herself trying to avoid him. The cold shoulder attitude needed to stop today.

"If I really wanted to kiss her, I would've."

"So why didn't you?"

"I'm not trying to move that fast with her, we basically just started opening up to each other. Kissing on her would mean I got other plans in mind, and we never even discussed feeling each other like that. I just don't think it's the right time for either of us, and think we should just remain friends for a little while."

Chauncey sighed and shook his head "I understand where you coming from, but if her fine ass was trying to french kiss me!..." He trailed off and whistled "I wouldn't have held back."

"I'm sure you wouldn't." Dominique said, cringing a little at his words since he doubt Angel would wanna give him kisses anyway. That was the problem with half the dudes here whenever it came to the girls, they were just trying to have fun with them unlike Dominique. At least it was different with Angel. He wasn't just trying to fuck on her, he wanted to actually get to know her and connect with her on a deeper level.

Being that the camp were going on a field trip for the fourth of july, the campers were all dressed in their matching camp attire. Baby blue shirts so the counselors wouldn't lose anybody. Everyone was excited to get away from the forrest even for a little while, and see other people besides the ones they woke up to for almost a month now. They were going to six flags magic mountain to enjoy some roller coasters and fireworks later that night, being that it beats staying in the woods and looking at the trees for the day.

Entering the dining hall to grab himself some breakfast for the morning, his eyes observed the crowded room that was filled with loud campers. Almost the entire camp was in here trying to scarf down something to eat, since they were going to be heading out to the buses shortly. Getting in line, Dominique stared ahead and noticed Angel a couple of campers ahead of him, just minding her business as she grabbed some waffles.

Debating on if he should skip the line or not, just to speak with her, he decided not to feeling that she would still try to ignore him. That, and the campers weren't going to allow it since they were trying to grab as much food as they could before they ran out. Looking up behind the counter, Dominique could see counselor Bobby talking with one of the cooks, before glaring at him for a second.

Dominique figured he was letting them know to keep their precious alcohol locked up in a safer place, so a certain camper wouldn't have easy access to it. Luckily for them, Dominique hasn't been snooping back there since the day he got caught, and it surprisingly hasn't crossed his mind again. He just wanted to get Bobby of his case for now, but he's sure sooner or later he would go down that road again. Depending on which camper pisses him off next so he could have a reason to take a sip of the forbidden beverage.

While grabbing himself some food, Dominique seen Angel finally leaving the line with her breakfast. Keeping his eyes on her like a hawk, he watched as she didn't even bother to take a seat at a table inside the dining hall, she just walked outside with her food instead. Dominique wondered if she saw him behind her, and that was the reason she quickly left, but really she was oblivious to him even being in line.

Staring at her through the window, he could clearly see her take a seat at one of the picnic tables outside, along with a few other campers. She was still being friendly with other folks around here, and Dominique felt a bit jealous about it, because now she had other people to joke around and kick it with that wasn't him.

"What's going on with y'all two?" He suddenly heard and turned around to see Hakim giving him a clueless look, also staring outside the window.

"Angel ignoring me as you can see." Dominique chuckled while shaking his head, finally taking a seat at one of the tables inside the dining hall.

Hakim followed behind and also took a seat "Y'all not cool anymore? What I miss?"

"We still cool, we just had a little awkward moment the other day and she still hasn't gotten over it." He told him before pausing to dig into his breakfast before it got cold. Hakim patiently waited though, wanting to hear everything that might've happened "She tried to kiss me and I wasn't ready for it, so I avoided it. I guess that's making her feel some type of way but I understand, because I would feel shitty too after a moment like that."

"Damn for real? That's why she scurrying away whenever you come around?"

Dominique slowly nodded his head "Yeah I guess she giving me the cold shoulder for now, but only cause she's embarrassed. She don't have to be though, because I would gladly kiss her whenever the time is right, just not right now."

"So when you plan on holding another conversation with her? You know girls can give a nigga the cold shoulder for a few weeks or so." Hakim chuckled to himself.

"I'll try to talk to her today, even if she try to avoid me. It's gotta happen though, cause I don't like her acting this way with me."

"Well good luck."

Dominique chuckled at his dramatics while shaking his head, thinking it wouldn't be that hard to get another conversation out of Angel. It's not like she was giving him the death stare whenever he was near, just distanced herself so there wouldn't be any awkward small talk between the two. Dominique was free to actually go up and speak to the girl, but he hasn't found the right words to say yet, and didn't wanna make things worst.

He'll come up with something though, just so she won't go another day without speaking to him.

When the entire camp got food in their stomachs for the morning, everyone lined up outside ready to board the two buses. While standing in line, Dominique glanced towards the other group of campers and spotted Angel conversing with Skai. The duo were stepping onto another bus from his and at this moment Dominique felt a little jumpy. He glanced between the people in front of and behind him before gliding out of line.

Strolling over towards the other group of people boarding the second bus, he cut into the line without a care in the world "Let me hop on here." He told the campers behind him, but they just let him go ahead seeing that he seemed to be in a rush. They were all going to the same place though.

Stepping onto the bus, he walked down a couple of seats and seen Skai and Angel sitting together, but Angel had her attention outside the window, once again oblivious to him being in her presence. Skai looked up at the right time and seen Dominique passing by, before drawing attention to him "Hey Dominique." She greeted and held her hand out for a dap.

"Wassup Skai." He said and gave her a dap anyway, like she was a dude. They were cool like that though.

Hearing his name prompted Angel to peer up at him very quickly, the two making eye contact as he passed by their seat. Like she's done for the past two days, she didn't say anything to him, but pursed her lips before giving a shy and uneasy grin. It only lasted three seconds before she removed some of her hair strands from out of her eye, and focused back on the window.

He'll take it.

Seeing two dudes occupying the seat behind them, Dominique kept it moving towards a seat further in the back. He wanted so badly to ask Skai to switch seats with him, only for a little while but didn't wanna become overbearing or anything. She looked back and caught where he was anyway, staring at him for only a couple of seconds with furrowed brows, before turning back to Angel.

Dominique knew they were probably discussing him now, but didn't think too much of it. It's not like Angel is up there slandering him or anything. When they reach their destination, he was definitely going to pull her to the side and say a few words though.

"Are you still mad at him or something?" Skai asked, seeing that the two were still at odds.

Angel knitted her brows "I never said I was mad at him.."

"Well you two still haven't said one word to each other, how long is that going to go on?"

"I don't know, whenever I'm ready to hold another conversation with him without things turning sour."

"All because you two didn't kiss? You don't think it's a bit much to be giving him the cold shoulder because of that? I can't really handle rejection either but I think your taking this a little too personal. No?"

Angel rolled her eyes and sighed "I'm not upset that he didn't wanna kiss me, that would be ridiculous. I just thought it was something he would have wanted in that moment, but since he didn't and jumped off the roof to avoid it, I'm just trying to live down my embarrassment." She assured her.

Skai couldn't help but to snicker at the shenanigans between the two, from Dominique falling from the roof and Angel being embarrassed from all of this. It was funny because she didn't think all of it was that serious, and was sure the two would bounce back sooner than later.

Peering over the seat towards the back of the bus, Angel could see Dominique sitting by himself in his own world. Just staring ahead looking as if he seemed to be having a deep thought, and completely clueless to the set of eyes watching him from afar. Angel could've pouted right then and there, feeling that he must've felt lonely at the moment, or worst for the past two days.

Maybe she was being a little childish by basically disappearing whenever the two were in close proximity, and not even bothering to speak with him. It looked as if he was starting kick himself in the rear over something so small, all because of her. She hated that and wished she could've dealt with it in a better way other than ignoring him.

Feeling the bus pull off, she turned back around and leaned her head against the window, trying to calm down her thoughts at the moment.

When they arrived at six flags, most of the campers were making the bus shake, bouncing up and down in excitement like children would. Seeing crowds of people entering the amusement park along with the tall roller coasters in the distance, put them all in a good mood. Though all of them weren't in a good mood.

"Were here!" Skai squealed with excitement, causing to Angel giggle "I can't wait to get on the batman!"

"Ok we know you all aren't children so you don't need chaperones, move around and have as much fun as y'all want! Just be sure to meet the counselors back in the front so we all can enjoy the fireworks later on tonight!" Counselor Delilah said as she stood in the middle of the bus.

"Don't worry y'all ain't gone lose us, not with these bright ass shirts on." One of the campers said, earning a couple of cackles.

"That's right, now lets head out." She agreed anyway, before being the first to step off the bus.

Being one of the last to step off the bus, Dominique followed the group with his hands in his pockets and his head down. He wanted to get out of his head for the time being and actually enjoy this outing, though he had a hard time doing just that. He hated how whiny he could be in his head about certain things and let them get to him, when it really wasn't that deep. It could be exhausting sometimes, which is why he liked to talk it out.

Once they entered the park, half of the camp didn't waste any time to scatter away and enter the lengthy roller coaster lines. Dominique could see Angel surrounded by a group of others, wondering what ride they should get on first, and actually walked closer this time to get her attention.

"Angel.." He called out with his deep voice, catching her attention. Staring at him with raised brows in curiosity, he nodded towards a different direction "Let me talk to you real quick."

Skai nudged her a little further with a smirk, wanting the two to talk out their little situation and not waste any more time. Angel walked over anyway, but couldn't seem to make eye contact for more than two seconds, feeling a little shy which was such a foreign feeling to her.

Looking pass her, Dominique caught one of the guys giving him a questionable look, wondering what he needed to speak with Angel for. Dominique wasn't gonna play the staring game with him, so he and Angel just left the group standing there, to converse amongst themselves while they had a well needed to talk.

"I'm not gone act like I haven't missed you for the past two days." Dominique started, getting it off his chest already. He missed his buddy and didn't feel a way about telling her that off bat "Did you miss me as much as I missed you?"

"I did miss you." Angel answered truthfully, still looking down though. A small grin was fighting to appear though.

"Well why you been treating me like a stranger all of a sudden? Every time I would try to come around, you would disappear like the flash or some shit." He joked, just trying to lighting the mood a little.

"It's been kind of hard to show my face after the incident on the roof."

"Why? I'm the one that fell off that motherfucker and almost broke my neck? If anything, I shouldn't be showing my face because everybody saw that." He told her, earning a small snicker.

"I just became embarrassed after the kiss didn't happen, because you clearly didn't want it to. I kinda feel like a fool though, because that was rushing it a bit and I know it caught you off guard. I don't know why I was so eager to do that anyway." She sighed and shook her head, looking else where as the embarrassment creeped up on her once again.

"Because we admitted we liked each other." He answered for her, knowing thats why she went in for the kiss "I still like you though, even though I ran away from the kiss." He admitted and chuckled for a second "I just figured if I went along with that you would've got the wrong idea and it would've turned into something else. Something I don't think the both of us is ready for."

"What like us catching deeper feelings for each other and trying to test the waters?"

'Yeah, and I feel that would be happening too fast since we only been here for a month. I gotta be honest with you and say I didn't come here looking for a girlfriend, so I'm not trying to get into something serious with anybody." He admitted and Angel took it with a grain of salt though she understood where he was coming from. it made perfect sense.

"I understand, because I'm not here looking for a serious relationship either, though I tried to kiss you. I guess I just read too much into that little moment on the roof and got in over my head." She put herself on the spot and they both chuckled "I'm sorry for coming onto you like that, and basically started acting weird when you didn't go along with it."

"You good, I would've been acting the same way though if the roles were reversed, because rejection sucks." He told her truthfully, not taking her behavior for the past two days to heart, though it bothered him just a little bit "I do like you though. You attractive and I think our personalities go well together, but unlike the rest of the campers here, I don't wanna treat you as some type of fling for the summer. You deserve better than that, and I think we should have a deeper conversation before locking lips, to figure out a little more about each other."

Angel gave a warm smile after listening to his words, liking that he truly liked her for more than her looks and didn't just wanna have some fun with her. He wanted to get to know her on a deeper level and that was a turn on to her.

"What's deeper than telling each other about our fucked up families and drugs?"

"I meant about ourselves. Yeah we like each other, but we still got a lot going on in our lives at the moment." Dominique started as she listened closely "Some days I'm depressed, and some days your depressed and we both got our own ways of coping. I'm still sneaking around trying sip alcohol, so that should tell you I don't really give a fuck about myself for real. At least not now. If I don't love myself how can I love someone else, who also got issues? That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, you feel me?"

"Yeah...I do." Angel nodded, seeing where he was going with this.

He was obviously the kind of dude to try and give his all in a relationship or even an friendship, and din't want their personal demons interfering with that. So it would be better off to stay as friends until the two of them got on the right track in their personal lives. Otherwise they'd be two depressed people trying to make each other happy, when they're not even happy with themselves yet.

"That's why I think we need to get to know each other better, and work on ourselves before trying to start something up. That's all I'm saying."

"I feel you one hundred percent when you put it that way, and I'm okay with that." Angel agreed.

Dominique grinned and showed his pearly whites at her finally coming around "Good, so we bestie's again?" He questioned her with a silly look.

She locked her arms in with his, returning the same goofy smirk "Besties." She assured him with a giggle.

Dominique was relieved that they made up or whatever, though it's not like they were arch enemies for 48 hours. He was just glad she stopped giving him the cold shoulder and decided to hear him out, seeing where he was coming from and agreeing with his words.

Now that the two were back to being inseparable, they joined the rest of the crew and walked around the amusement park trying to