Remember Me

Chapter Eleven

The rest of week two goes pretty much the same as it did during week one. Everyone is nice and treats me the same, except Nathan of course. He is continuing to keep himself distanced from me day in and day out. I try to catch his attention by waving or giving small smiles but more times than not I am met with no response or at the very least a small head nod. As the days pass I become more irritated by the lack of acknowledgement. All I want is to make things right and apologize and he's not letting me speak to him. I get he's hurt, but he can't still be holding a grudge from four years ago.

The one positive contact at the beach consistently replayed in my mind. He stood up for me; said something to get the kids off of me because he saw that I was struggling. I try my best to remember what I had done to crack his angst exterior. Those couple of minutes kept me invested, determined that Nathan would give in eventually. I would make sure of it.

Today, the last day of week two, our whole crew is once again down at the river. I sit on a towel, notebook in my lap, and pen in hand as I watch my friends splash each other, roughhouse, and swim in the river that runs almost perfectly through the campground. Everyone else's things scatter around me; shirts and shoes, towels, cameras, and drink bottles shoved haphazardly into a beach bag. Once I had said I wasn't going in the water I had been given the job of 'guard dog' as my father put it.

Me, my siblings and most of the crew, minus Nathan, arrived at the river earlier that afternoon, and after helping set up all the cover tents, barbeques, and chairs were cleared to go do whatever they wanted; on the condition they were all back to "basecamp" by seven thirty for dinner. Everyone but me is adamant about going in the river.

I am perfectly fine with sitting on the riverbank by myself, I am freezing cold even with all the coats I had grabbed from the kids and thrown on, and the river wasn't about to help that problem, and, quite frankly, I don't like the idea of swimming as it got dark. Even though normally I am a risk-taker and a spontaneous person, I am smarter than that. As the days go by I notice my swimming skills and ability to catch my breath decreasing significantly, and I don't trust my abilities enough to swim in the near dark. I am perfectly content sitting on solid ground with my manuscript. Besides, there are going to be plenty of opportunities to go swimming, in the daylight, over the next two weeks anyways.

"Charlotte! Take a photo!" Lizzie calls from the water as she grabs Roman and Luke by the arms, dragging them closer to her and wedging herself between them. I grab the phone closest to me. We will all send each other the photos at the end of the month anyway, and hold it up.

"Smile!" I yell from behind the phone as I take the photo.

I put the phone down, giving a thumbs up to the group before looking back down at my manuscript, putting the pen to my mouth as I rack my brain for inspiration.

"Hey," A voice comes from behind me. I jump, whipping myself around.

I am met with a boy. A cute boy for that matter. I give him a once over, and he was definitely someone I don't know, standing a little over a foot behind me.

"Umm...hi?" I say back, offering an awkward wave.

"Sorry if I scared you. You seemed lonely and I just...do you mind if I sit?" He asks sheepishly. I shake my head, gesturing to the spot next to me. He gives me a tight-lipped smile and takes a seat beside me, close enough that it sends my heart racing in a way I never had experienced before.

"I'm Ben," he says, sticking out his hand for me to shake, which I take with a shy smile.

"I'm Charlotte,"

"I know." I pause, raising my eyebrows at him. He flushes red, gaping and wincing momentarily before rushing out an apology. "I'm sorry, that was weird. It's just, that girl in the river sorta just screamed it a minute ago."