S.M.S(Save My Soul)

Chapter 6: New friend

By the time the sun was setting we arrived at our campsite, which was at the base of a mountain. We usually camped at the base but this time we went a little bit higher, dad did most of the work to set up the tents since I wasn't the greatest at doing that. I helped him with setting up the other things before night fell, by the late evening everything was set so we relaxed around the fire, dad sat in our camp chairs making smores. I burned most of my marshmallows but ate them anyway even when my dad protested, it still tasted amazing though.

All through the night even while star gazing I felt like something was missing the feeling lasted even to the next morning, this overwhelming nagging feeling like I might've forgotten something and the feeling didnt light up throughout the day either.

"Fishing?" My dad excitedly asked me while I was reading my book

"Fishing?" I asked hoping I heard him correctly

"Yes fishing," he beamed like it was the greatest thing in the world

"Fishing right," I hummed looking back at my book not interested in the activity he suggested.

"Oh come on it'll be so much fun and a good stress reliever," for you sure but not me, reading was my stress reliever it helped me escape my damaged life.

"No thank you," I quietly said not looking up

"Oh I get it, probably too lame for you," he sighed sadly turning slowly with hunched shoulders like a kicked puppy, it made me feel awful of course the man was trying to guilt-trip me into fishing and unfortunately it was working.

"Fine let's go fishing," I sighed with fake enthusiasm

"Yes!" He exclaimed happily annoying me with a quick change of emotion. I placed my book on the chair before heading to the lake with my dad, it was a fairly beautiful day with sunny blue skies and a gentle breeze. The area was surprisingly quiet, eerily quiet but that didnt stop dads chirpy attitude as he whistled through our short trek. It was nice to see this more chilled playful side of him but I was still eerie of him no matter how cheery he was, not a mere ten minutes later we arrived at our destination which nearly took my breath away. Not far from the base of the mountain was a beautiful glistering dam that was slightly murky, we sat at the edge of the ledge sinking our feet into the water before dad set up his rod while I took in the sight before me. When I was a little younger I remember always gawking at the sight before me awing and oohing at the mesmerizing scene but now as I sat at the ledge I didn't get that same excitement I used to get, sure the sight was beautiful but that was about it.

I had no urge to take pictures and share them with the world, so what do I do when I lose interest in the things I used to love? I guess the only answer to that is to find something else to hold my interest. But going back to your old interests never hurt anybody so I took out one of the rocks I collected on our way to the lake and rolled it in my hand wondering if my heart will flutter as it used to whenever I did this.

With one last roll of the rock in my hand, I skidded it across the water watching it bounce on the water before making that popping sound and sinking. Weirdly enough to say my heart did skip a beat as I watched the rock sink slowly.

"You're not helping me catch anything you know," dad commented giving me a side glance

"I know," I said skidding another rock he merely scoffed waiting patiently for a poor fish to catch his bait. Sure the dam was large but my dad caught no fish in the first half an hour we were there but of course, he expected that he said fishing was a waiting game but if he knew me I was not very patient, to say the least. I just couldn't take all the aimless waiting so I laid on my back staring at the sky watching the oddly shaped cloud slowly go by, it resembled a bit of a rhino in my eyes. I reached out my hand to the sky imagining what it would feel like to touch a cloud, it would probably feel like touching cold air.

"You alright?" I faintly heard my dad ask but my mind was far away that I just said the first thing that came to mind without thinking about it.

"Nope," I said popping the pop while I swayed my hand in the air. It was so bizarre how we humans were shaped from our fingertips to the cells in our bloodstream, so intricately designed yet we don't take a moment to love and appreciate how beautiful we are no matter what we look like not take advantage of it.

"That's why we're here," dad said eyeing me from the corner of his eye

"Huh?" I asked dumbly not even sure what I said to start this conversation because once again I was stuck in my head.

"We are here to destress," he confidently said like somehow this place was going to chase all our troubles away. Wishful thinking never got you anywhere in life dad, you of all people should know better. Another half-hour later and he finally caught a bass it sure as hell made him happy while I was just a wet blanket not excited in the least. We headed back to our campsite more slowly taking in the scenery while I just wanted to go home and I couldn't believe I was saying it but go back to school. But of course, all dad wanted to do was camp because he had nothing better to do.

By the third day, we just explored the slightly dense forest at the base of the mountain and did a bit of rock climbing which I do admit was fun to help pass the time. By the evening we were packed and on the road heading back home.

"Now wasn't that fun?" Dad asked me with a grin

"It was," I answered politely having had better ideas on how to spend my weekend like sleeping in for example and completing From Dust till Dawn: The series.

"Good I'm glad you enjoyed it maybe this weekend we can go to that water park you loved so much," he suggested, loved past tense dad I used to love it there now not so much it's for all ages sure but I am more insecure about my body now then I was back then so going there would be like asking me to dress up like mother Gothel cover my entire body to the point where you only see my eyes, I was that insecure half my closet consisted of hoodies and sweatpants twice my size.

On a Monday night by ten in the evening, we arrived home tired to the bone and ready to pass out on the spot.

"You can miss school tomorrow if you don't feel up to it, "Dad said with a yawn seeing my exhausted figure drag myself into my room.

"No, I'll be fine by tomorrow," I yawned kicking my shoes off and practically crawled into the soft bed that I missed so much.

"Alright night then," he said

"Night," I softly said already half asleep, before I fell asleep I felt a gentle kiss on the top of my head before descending footsteps and my door being closed.

***

"And where have you been?" That shrill annoying voice belonged to non-other than Angelica Bloom.

"Busy," I robotically said taking out my book from my locker before turning around to head to my next lesson.

"I wasn't done with you," the girl reminded me more of Raquelle than Barbie always pretending to be nice but stabbing you behind your back.

"But I'm done with you," I mumbled dodging everyone in the hallway, every time someone accidentally bumped me my heart would skip a beat so I stayed near the wall to avoid having to feel like that.

"What the hells wrong with you?" Anji asked me noticing my weird demeanour.

"You are," I harshly said sighing in relief when I got to my class in one piece seeing no one in the class.

"Are you trying to hide from someone?" She asked with a scranched eyebrow

"No, now get lost," I said through gritted teeth

"For the record, we have the same class if you hadn't noticed that for the past couple of years," she said obnoxiously fluttering her eyelashes like she got something stuck in her eyes.

"Do I look like I give a f**k, just get out of my face," I angrily said heading to sit at the back-fed up with the fake barbie doll.

"What crawled up your ass?" She scoffed sitting right beside me,

Lord have mercy on my soul before I mutilate her annoying ass

"So you busy this weekend?" She asked chirpily putting on such a blastic smile that would make Barbie herself jealous.

"If I say no I don't suppose you will leave me alone will you?" I sighed resting my head on the desk

"That's a yes then, so me and a couple of my friends," If you could even call them that," Are going to a haunted house wanna come and I'm not taking a no for an answer?" She asked her eyes shining like diamonds creating some menacing images of me pissing myself in this haunted house she invited me to.

"Then why ask me in the first place?" I said with a confused scowl

"I'll see you there then," she smirked," I'll text you the address," she added.

"And how are you going to do that without my number?" I asked her with a raised brow, taking my book and pencil case out of my bag for class. Anji got up in my face with a tight-lipped smile with mischief in her eyes, her face was a mere inch away from mine and my heart and brain took that as a cue to jump out the window.

"I have my ways," she lowly said scanning my flustered face with a satisfied smirk

"W-what?" I stuttered mesmerized by her alluring eyes and perfect oval blemish-free face

"Nothing," she smirked with a glint in her eye

What just happened?

What the hell was that and why did my heart feel like I just ran a marathon, and my whole body littered in goosebumps and to my utter surprise, not from fear. I knew what these signs meant and it was not going to end well if only my heart listens to me this time instead of listening when the damage is already done.

Before I knew it the class began to fill up but that didn't help stop my racing heart, for the first time in days I felt relatively ok in a classroom full of built boys because for once I wasn't stuck in my head. The only thing running through my brain was the girl sitting next to me who was practically plotting my demise.

***

"Hear me out, for reals though it could work," Mason one of the best football players of our school said. I was somehow herded into sitting with the most popular bunch of hooligans in our entire school, in the cafeteria, on their special table, you could thank Angelica for that. She didn't know how to take no for an answer even if it hit her directly in the face. Mason was contemplating a prank he wanted to pull on some poor kid like myself but it was quite a stupid idea considering he was mostly all bronze then brains.

"Good luck with that," Evangeline said rolling her eyes at Mason, she was the only normal down to earth person I have had the pleasure of knowing out of the popular group. She was a straightforward girl, a little taller than me with mesmerizing hazel eyes and a caramel slender body that any girl would envy, she was easy on the eyes but her attitude was the downer since she always spoke her mind and practically had a foul mouth. But I liked her she was real unlike the majority of people in this school and because she treated me like I was here equal.

"f**k you," Mason cursed at Eve.

"Wouldnt you like that," she nonchalantly said not batting an eye in his direction so she didn't happen to see the blush on his cheeks. I snickered under my breath glad I was sitting next to her, she turned her head in my direction staring openly at me.

"You should smile more, you look beautiful," she complimented me loud enough for the gang to hear.

"Thanks," I shyly said feeling my skin grow goosebumps by everyone staring at me.

"You're welcome," she gently smiled.

"Hold the mother f*****g phone did mother gothel genuinely smile just now or am I dreaming?" Kevin is the only black gay guy in the gang.

"Go suck a d**k, b***h," Eve grunted giving Kevin the stink eye.

"Ooh someone's blushing," Kevin teased making everyone laugh.

"Leave mother gothel to baby rapunzel we have bigger fish to fry," Angelica chimed in, her pink lips glistering with a vivid red lipstick that drew a lot of my attention when she spoke, just imagining her bite her full lips got my blood flowing.

"Talk about what? This is going to be s**t easy. They probably going to throw some whack ass s**t like walking skeletons on strings or something," Michale said while eating an apple so you could see bits of the apple fly out of his mouth.

"Have some manners you caveman," Anji said cringing, her forehead creasing

"You say that now," Michael smirked having double meaning behind his words, Anji looked composed as ever but I could tell that something was up with those two with the way the tips of her ears turned pink, she was embarrassed which was a first.

"Keep it in the sheets you freaks," Amanda fake gagged with a scowl, she was just another good hockey player and one of Anji's goons who never left her side.

"First intelligent thing you have said all day," Eve said to Amanda who gave her a stink eye

"Kids listen up no fighting at school," Jared calmly said, he was an Asian guy who played rugby and was well built and easy on the eyes, if I wasn't gay he would be my type. It explained why I was staring at him constantly hoping that something would spark in me that having feelings for girls was just a phase because I was sick and tired of being told who to love and being mocked for who I want to be.

But also no matter how much I willed my mind to find some romantic interest in Jared nothing happened, my heart didn't skip a beat nor did I sweat profoundly when I'm around someone I find interest in, in fact, the only thing I felt was goosebumps all over my body the more I stared at his built form, just looking at him brought unwanted memories.

"You ok?" Eve asked me, her dark hazel eyes glistering in concern

"Yes" I lied, I practically could taste the bitter lie I just told

"You sure?" She asked lowly next to me

"Positive," I said with a forced smile

"OK I'm here if you wanna talk," She offered sincerely, I knew she was genuine and meant well but I wasn't going to squeal to every nice person who offered me to talk.

"Thanks," I said still staring at my hands on my lap, munching on some chips I got from the cafeteria.