More Than A Summer

Chapter Eight

Him and I battled back and forth. Some things that we said neither of us had done. EmmaLee and Paige sat back and watched. Occasionally, they would laugh at our comments towards each other about something the other person had done. Other times they were shocked at how much I HAD done. Either way, they kept mostly quiet. Sometimes one of them would ask questions about when that happened or how it happened, distracting Tyler and I from the game. Tyler answered most of their silly questions. At times, I thought that they were just trying to embarrass me. It didn’t work.

Tyler and I had just argued about how I've never been on a real date with anyone when EmmaLee said, “Wow Keanah. You might lose this one too.”

At first, I thought she was lying. When I glanced down I noticed how much I had taken off. I only had my pants on. I couldn’t believe it. “How much clothes do you have on Tyler?” I asked slightly shocked.

He laughed a little and said, “Only my basketball shorts. I lost the rest earlier. And you?”

I sighed in relief, we were tied. “Same. I've only got my shorts left. Its kinda cold in here, ya know.” EmmaLee and Paige laughed. They had put their clothes back on once Tyler and I started against each other. I shivered.

“Ya know it's your turn right? And I would love to come cuddle and make you warm again.”

I was about to reply with how great that would be when I realized how I could win. “I have never cuddled with my bo--” I caught myself, “With my significant other.” I almost said boyfriend, but that wouldn’t have worked for Tyler. I smiled, “I win, don’t I?” I listened to his end of the line. I couldn’t even hear him breathing. “Tyler?” I asked, making sure he was still there.

“Dang girl. You played me.” EmmaLee, Paige, and I all doubled over in laughter. “Well, I lose. That was really fun. Maybe we can play it again soon.”

I took a breath and smiled, “Of course you'd want to play again.” Everyone laughed once more. “Well we're definitely not going to play 'I have'. I'll probably lost that. I hate losing so yeah, I refuse.”

Tyler was still laughing a little when he said, “Yeah, okay. I'll get that game outta you soon.” I just rolled my eyes. He could try, but he probably wouldn’t win.

As the night wore on and we grew more and more tired, EmmaLee and Paige kept dosing in and out. The sprinkle of rain over the tent kept me awake. It was a soothing sound, but extremely annoying. Tyler and I were still talking on the phone. Sometimes he'd ask questions about the future or about the game we had played earlier that he didn’t want to ask at the time. Other times we just enjoyed the comfortable silence between us.

Tyler asked, “Keanah, why haven’t we been talking? I've texted you, called you, and all of it. What's going on Baby Girl?”

I had forgot again. Well, I suppose now would be a good time to tell him. “ I got grounded. My laptop and my phone was taken away. I;m lucky I even got to come over here. Mom said I’d never have a phone again while I lived under her roof.”It hurt to say it. Saying it made it more real.

“What did you do?” Tyler asked concerned.

I sighed, like so many times I said “I didn’t” and I told him the whole story. I didn’t leave anything out. I even went into detail about one of the emails that Sierra sent. I knew Tyler would be mad at me for taking the fall just like everyone else was.

He surprised me though when he said, “You're a much better person than I am. I wouldn’t be strong enough to sit there and hear what she did and have it all blamed on me. I would’ve been like Sierra and let my friend go up in flames. I would’ve sat there and did absolutely nothing. Babe, don’t be upset, you’re stronger than anyone I know. Everyone in this universe wants a friend like you. Don’t be upset by your loyalty to your friends. Okay?”

He made me feel good about what I'd done. I didn’t feel bad for myself at all. I smiled, “Alright. And thank you. You make me feel better.” I yawned.

I could hear it in his voice, he was smiling. “No problem Babe.” He paused, “Why don’t you call me in the morning? I'm pretty tired.”

I rolled my eyes. He had heard me yawn and he didn’t want to deprive me of my sleep. He had said it a million times. “Alright. I love you Baby. Talk to you in the morning.” I yawned again.

“I love you too. Sweet dreams Babe!” He hung up.

I stretched and pulled the covers up over my body. When it started raining earlier, we found out the tent was leaking so we piled into the storage part of the tent. It was small and cramped, but we made it work. Now, as I stretched and got comfortable, I realized just how small the area was. I sighed. This wasn’t going to be very fun. I closed my eyes and drifted off, ignoring everything and everyone.