“Why wouldn’t you feel tired? After all the walking you did with ‘Staniel’ yesterday!” Jeffrey Campbell seethed and kicked a rock aside, mimicking Nicky’s voice when he said Staniel.
Yup! That’s right. Nicky Winterfield got stuck with a six year old!
“You should really take acting seriously after high school. I mean, with all that talent??…. child actors will be out of jobs soon!” She yanked and ducked under a twig.
“Ho, ho, ho! So now he’s even taught you sarcasm?” He snarled and followed suit.
“Yeah, he did. For jerks like you!” She snapped and walked faster. Jeffrey gasped.
“Has he been filling your head with bad stuff about me?! Wait! Was that why you’ve been acting so cold?? I’ve always known that bastard was a cunning devilish snake!” He hissed and stomped his foot behind her.
“Watch your language, bozo! You might jus’ leave this forest with a missing tongue!” She threatened and glared at him.
“You…” Jeffrey’s eyes went wild with disbelief and he double gasped. He stumbled over quickly and held her back from moving.
“Have you been making out with him?! It’s obvious that devil has you under some kind of spell!” He pointed madly.
Nicky’s blazing eyes suddenly morphed into a taunt as she closed the gap between them, leaving only an inch of distance between hers and his enraged ocean blue ones.
“Actually, we’ve been doing a lot more than that.” She purred evilly and slowly slid his hand down her waist to her hip.
“More than you can imagine.” She whispered creepily and walked away, enjoying the tantrum he was throwing behind…
***
Ricky had been going through the complicated map for hours and still couldn’t understand a thing. He hated geography!
The young heir had always despised it but usually got at least of 20% in each class test. Which was better than an F9.
.
.
Right?
“Gosh!” He breathed out and took off his sweatshirt, leaving him in a rugby shirt over stonewashed jeans and trainers.
“Let’s take a break. You look tired.” The girl he was partnered with purred and wiped away invincible sweat off his head, slyly pushing her body against his.
“I’m fine, thanks.” Ricky dropped her hands and stepped away.
“No, you’re not. Let’s take a quick break.” She pressed again seductively biting her lip.
“I think we should move on.” Ricky stated, trying not to get distracted.
Whoever she was, she was a pro at seduction!
Everyone knew he was obsessed with girls but currently, he was trying to give justice to the search and then go back to his warm and cozy bed which any hottie was welcomed to afterwards.
She sidestepped Ricky again and tentatively slid her arms around his neck, leaning in further.
“Yeah let’s move on…. after we’ve rested and feel a lot more better.” She purred and ran a finger down to his sexy lips.
“What’s your name again?”
She curled a seductress smile. “Rihanna.”
“Okay. You see, if we don’t move faster and end this game, we’re not only gonna lose but also get lost, TOTALLY! So I need you to focus and be a complete helper. Can you do that for us?” He asked nicely. But she looked more interested in eating him up!
“We can get lost anytime.” She smirked, openly expressing her intentions.
“Are you good with maps?” Ricky asked again. Rihanna nodded distractedly and ran her hand through his hair.
“I get a lot of B’s in geography.” She shrugged.
“So can you help with the map?” He tried and forced a smile. She looked reluctant.
“There’ll be benefits later?” He naughtily gave her a quick kiss and ran his expert hands down her back. Rihanna gasped, her smile surpassing that of Miss universe.
“So where exactly are we??” She hurriedly took the map from him. Ricky breathed out in relief.
Thank goodness he was an A+ student in female anatomy…
***
“And why is that?” Becky asked as they moved on.
“Eagles are a show of strength and superiority while parrots are just so…. parrotic?” He said as they passed a mangrove.
Becky laughed out.
“You really are peculiar. I could’ve sworn that most boys preferred parrots.” She smiled.
“Why’s that?” He smiled back and stood on top a hill, looking through their map. Becky climbed up beside him, breathing heavily.
“Leonardo right?” She asked and he nodded. She brought out her water bottle.
“Brown haired boys are usually introvertive. So they probably prefer to talk more to parrots than humans.”
It was his turn to chuckle. “Where did you get that from?? You’re something…”
“Becky.” She answered.
“Becky, right.” He nodded and went back to the map.
“If we can make it past that ridge, we’ll be one step closer to winning.” The ridge he nodded towards was a couple of metres away. Leonardo walked down the hill and Becky followed slowly because it was sloppy.
Unfortunately, she stepped on some wet leaves and slipped!
“Ouch!” She cried, holding her ankle. Leo rushed back to her.
“Hey, are you alright? How bad is it? I’m so sorry.” He crouched but she clutched it tighter.
“My ankle hurts. I slipped. It hurts a lot!” Tears stung her eyes. Leonardo gently checked the injury. A big red spot had appeared and it hurt Becky twice as much by just looking at it.
“It’s sprained.” He took off his bandana and tied it around her ankle making his curly hair fall around his face. Becky temporarily forgot about her pain staring at his posture. His fingers felt soft and feathery on her skin. She was lost staring, ignorant of what he was saying.
Becky was touched by the amount of care he was showed a stranger…. unlike a certain someone she knew, who was a snobbish douche!
“…. You got that, right?” He looked up and she flushed hotly. She didn’t listen to A word he just said!
“Um… Yeah?” She stuttered and Leonardo stood up.
“Okay, let’s try it.” He took her hands. Try what??
Becky mentally freaked and stood up but surprisingly, she didn’t feel any pain. Then she stupidly took a full step and the pain HIT HER HARD!
She winced and fell into his arms.
“Yikes! I told you not to put pressure on it. Now it’s gonna hurt more.” He tried to steady her as she almost cried out in embarrassment!
“I’m sorry. I… I’m so…” She started but paused, gazing into his eyes. Leonardo De Luca had grey eyes but what sunset did, made it more enchanting.
It was no longer plain grey but had added a rough edge to it. Like the color of steel and she gawked shamelessly. Leo creased his brows seeing her goof.
“Uhm… I’m sorry. B.. but you’ll have to get the trophy yourself. I’ll just slow you down.” Becky took her gaze away, biting her lip in embarrassment. Leonardo looked towards the ridge for a while before turning back to face her.
“Come on.” He said and helped her up. “The map has different directions to the trophy so other teams might’ve already gotten to it. I can’t leave you out here alone. It’ll get dangerous at night. Lean on me and hop on your good foot. The ankle will get infected if it stays too long without first aid. So if we start now, we have a better chance of making it back to camp before dark.” He held her and they moved.
Becky silently stared at him the whole time, slowly feeling her guarded heart lose some of its steel…
***
This female is such a handful! Arian De’ Argent concluded.
Why couldn’t they lie on the grass which had a beautiful view of nature and chill out while the others sweated it out?!
“Gosh, it’s so hot.” He moaned and face palmed himself.
Then he looked up and saw Natalia halfway into the water. The young French pouted and grudgingly followed behind…. not because he was scared of staying alone!
Natalia suddenly stopped and he did the same. He saw her shiver and wondered why, when he remembered their discussion at the beach.
~ ‘I… I c.. can’t swim ‘ ~
Arian’s eyes bulged in realization. She was hydrophobic!
As Natalia screamed and slipped into the water, he moved over quickly and caught her. The frightened princess held him tightly and shut her eyes, terrified! Arian could feel her heartbeat accelerate out of control as he carried her well.
When he got to the other side of the water, he kept on walking till the river was out of sight. Then he gently put her down.
“It’s okay. You’re safe now, I promise.” He mouthed after dropping her but she still held on tightly. Arian quietly hugged her back till her heartbeat slowly returned to normal.
Natalia let go after a while and muttered a thanks before they continued the hunt. This time, he walked directly behind her like a protective shield.
“Um… Should we head back? I really don’t think we’re on the right track.” Arian noticed the weirder woods.
“I don’t think the map’s wrong. We sh…” She suddenly stopped and screamed loudly.
“What’s wrong?” Arian flinched.
“S.. ssn.. snakes!” She whispered, shaking furiously.
Arian looked over her shoulders and almost screamed himself!
Rattlesnakes were all over the way, blocking their path. A bigger one crawled out a few metres from them and hissed viciously. His heart almost stopped!
“On my count, we run the opposite direction. Understood?” He whispered and slowly entwined their fingers. But Natalia’s eyes were frighteningly glued to the slithering monsters.
“Run!” Arian breathed and pulled her away before she could process his words. They kept running for minutes to nowhere in particular before stopping to catch their breaths.
“That’s it!” The young French yapped. “We’re turning back now and there’s gonna be no argument! I’m still too young to die, much less in some creepy jungle! Gimme the map.” He ordered.
“I… I can’t find it!” Natalia searched her bag. “Good Lord, where could it h…” She gasped and looked up at Arian’s confused face.
“Th… the… s.. snakes… s.. screamed… fe.. fell off… ba.. ck the.. there.” She stuttered with fright in her eyes.
Arian put the pieces of the puzzle together with a frown on his face and gasped too.
‘The map fell off when she’d screamed back at the snake’s nest’ Bottom line.
And as if that horror wasn’t enough, the darkened clouds opened up and rain began to drizzle…
Chapter 62