Tale of Arcillana

Chapter 28

Cam’s Point of View:

"Woah! You are all sexy! Good thing we rented the whole pool for tonight. We might indulge in a fight if we did not to." Thelonious said and laughed. His reaction was as if he just saw the three wearing that kind of clothing for the first time.

I threw a glance at him and immediately pulled it back when I saw him looking at me. I mentally cursed when his topless body still appearing on my mind.

"Are you okay Cam?" Hytham ask. I smiled at him pushing awkwardness away.

"Gosh Cam, get a grip!"

"Guys! Let us have a group picture!" Mitch suggested and everyone agreed.

We gathered in one place and get closer to each other. I glared at her when she intentionally pushed me at the side so Nicolai will be in my side.

"I will set the timer." Mitch said. She went to her phone and set the timer and joined us again. She placed her hand in front and the camera recognized it. The timer was set in ten seconds.

Ten

Nine

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One.

Everyone smiled in front of the camera. I am about set myself aside to avoid a body contact with the guy beside me when Mitch suggested to take another one photo.

"Let's put our hands at the back of each other's. That's closeness overload!" She said and giggled. I closed myself to calm myself. She is obviously doing it intentionally! They are indeed serious when they say they are going to be the waves and will make sure that the ship will sail and not shrink.

I tried my best to avoid my hands from shaking. Yes, my freaking hands is shaking right now! This is the first time happened this to me. I did not even experienced it to Christian and in fact, I was vocal that I like him that time.

I felt the warmth of Nicolai's hand at my lower back on my waist part. I bit my lower lip to control myself. I extended my arm and put my left hand at his lower back in his waist as well.

Ten

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"You are shaking. Just chill." Nicolai whispered while slightly leaning himself on my ear. I can feel his breathing!

Three

I looked at him to rebut and defend myself but I regret it. I did not even have the chance of opening my mouth to utter a word because I was stunned!

Two

I should not have done that! We are now looking at each others eyes. His eyes were telling me something but I have no idea what is it because I can also see that he is stopping himself from being transparent. I cannot read him!

*dug dug dug*

*dug dug dug*

One.

"That's it!" Mitch exclaimed. I immediately looked away when Mitch's voice snapped me. I also pulled my hand back. It is cold right now because it is getting dark and my swimsuit only covers some part of my body but despite that, I feel so hot. I can feel myself burning.

"Are you going to post it in SoLife?" I heard Alliah asked Mitch.

"Yep, I am actually thinking of a caption." She replied and act like as if she's thinking.

"We will get back. We will just get some drink. Do you want some?" Thelonious suggested. And I immediately said yes. I think I will be needing some alcohol on my body right now.

"A wine?" Thelonious said and even chuckled. That is so girly. I am not new at alcoholic beverages if that he is trying to say. Students at my former school are party goers. Since everyone was born with a silver spoon on their mouth, they do not worry on other things like serious matter on how to deal with life but rather on how they are going to enjoy the day, how they are going to seize the day.

"A beer will do Thelonious." I said and gave him a wink. Everyone laughed after they heard me saying Thelonious name. Ow right, he hates it when someone called him in his name. I never heard someone calls him Thelonious.

"Oh please Milady, stop calling me that. That is a sin!" He said that made me laugh. "Call me Theo." He suggested but I gave my rebut too.

"That is your dad." I uttered and chuckled.

"Then T. Yeah, call me T. That will do." He said and waved his hand before I saw their back slowly disappearing in my sight.

The rest of us jumped to the pool. I let my body enveloped by the water for a while before moving up to have some air. After that, I just let my body float for a while and closed my eyes. I love how the water embraced my body. It is very calm and gentle. It feels like, it is giving me comfort that I need.

I was like that for a while before someone called me.

"Come on Cam, let's have some drink first." I heard Thelonious' voice. He will surely react if I am still going to call him that. So I swam to reach the side of the pool and went up.

They brought a big ice cooler box that is full of beer. Thelonious opened a bottle and gave it to me. Without further ado, I drank the beer he gave me and I almost have it half.

"Woah, chill Cam! Are you that thirsty?" Hytham reacted. I just laughed at him. This is just normal. This is the first time they saw me drink after all and I can't blame him to react like that.

"Wow. You are a hard drinker Cam." Alliah exclaimed. Amazement is evident in here eyes.

"Nu uh. This is just normal. Well back in Manila, clubs and bars are everywhere. And we are always there to give ourselves a break." I said and chuckled. Well that is true but not your typical clubs and bars that is full of call girls where you can f*** anytime you want and anywhere you like. Those are high end clubs that are exclusive for rich people only.

"But you are just minor!" Mitch exclaimed. She also have a sip of her beer.

"Geez. Connection! My friends," I smiled when I remembered how Agatha smashed a guy who don't want us in, in a club before while saying, "I am Agatha Monticillo and I will f****** burn this place if you won't let us in!" Agatha, instead of being penalized and reported, she received an apology from the guy who almost at the verge of losing his job. "... they are freaking rich and have a lot of connections! They can do whatever they want." I laughed. That club was owned by her cousin and her cousin allowed us to enter there because we are not other people to him. Maybe the bouncer was new to the club and he did not know who Agatha is. I know that was ill, the guy was just doing his job for not letting minors in but we are in real world, situation like this really happened.

"That's abusive." Nicolai commented. I already expected him to react that way. He is 'great' after all and everything to him should be according to the rules and regulations or the law in wider sense.

I took another bottle before hovering Nicolai a sight and answered him. "Not really. You need that sometimes to survive, in deeper manner. If you do not have connections out there, you will crawl to survive." I said and gave him a wink. That is how life works. In reality, sometimes perseverance and hard work is not enough. This is not just about character. Those who wear good character, and have excellent performance sometimes were left behind because of connections. Good for those who could stick to what they are looking for, looking for someone that could really helped them in the loads of work, perseverance and hard work will be highly appreciated.

While we are drinking, we are having a conversation. I shared to them what life I had back in Manila. I am your typical brat who gets whatever I want. I admit that I throw tantrums when I can't get it. I know that is not good but like what I am saying, for my defense, I grew up like that. If in the first place I was taught to be contented and taught of having a self discipline for the things I should and not should have, maybe I would not grow like this. I am not blaming everything to my parents though I can say they are also responsible for this but I also understand that they just want the best for me so they give me everything more than I need. They also did not spend most of their times on me, unlike my brother, he had all the guidance and attention. My parents were too busy on the company way back then especially that the company were just starting. They spend most of their time thriving for more and developing it until it expands and became one of the most well known AI company not just in Philippines.

"You already involved in a fight?" Hytham unbelievably asked when I told them how I met my witches friends. That was way back in seventh grade when I transferred to a new school.

"Yes but not serious, just a cat fight. You know, we are still kids back then." I said. That is true but when you grow up, you become mature. Every time we, Hannah, Agatha, Maxyne and I reminisced that moment, we are just laughing because we are ignorant and still immature on that stage. However, we cherished that very moment. Because of what happened, we found each other.

"How about you guys here?" I asked. I am the one who shared to them my life back in Manila and I think they have to tell me theirs too. I am also curious of what kind of life they had here. Is it different from today?

"Like the luxury you had, we also have that kind of lifestyle but the sad part is, Arcillana is the only place we know. We were not able to have a chance to explore the world outside the barrier but we do understand why." Alliah said. I feel bad for them. They were imprisoned in a place which they only knew the existence of.

"But anyway, I will never barter the life here in Arcillana. This island is wonderful." Mitch said.

"I agree." I said. "My brother said he would love to settle here. This place is amazing but at the same time, this island is mysterious to me. I have a lot of questions and I want to know more about this place. I won't let myself just drown on its beauty."