Of course everybody was bummed out by the whole ‘nobody is a match’ thing. There was crying going on, people being mad and aggressive, and then there was me. I was there just judging everybody around me. You know, I just didn’t understand why people could get so upset about such a small thing. We all had breakups before, there was no way this could be worse, they couldn’t be that attached to each other yet. They all say that they would move on quickly, but here they were, whining like bitches. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.

Anyway, while they were all ‘sorting out’ their problems (really they weren’t doing anything and still kissing a person that was just proven wasn’t their match), I went up to what was my bed, although it was just a mattress on the floor, and just decided to read my book. It would have been so much easier if my mind wasn’t thinking of the most random and the most stupid stuff ever. Every time I would finish a page, I would realise I had no idea what I just read and I’d have to start all over again.

The one time I thought I might have made a friend, they decided to betray me as soon as possible. I wasn’t expecting anything else from all the people here, but it still was pretty annoying. Just as I was thinking of putting myself more out there, I immediately get stabbed in the back already. Great way to boost my confidence, am I right? Ugh, I could still hear that stupid giggle she let out as she skipped over to Vic. Oh, and the slight disappointment when he was staring at me the whole time, but then chose Aileen.

Haha, wait no. No, there was no disappointment. Not at all. I just thought it was weird that he first decided to make me feel uncomfortable, only not to go through with what he was doing. Maybe he realised in time that going on a date with me would not be fun at all. I wasn’t calling myself not fun, but I probably wouldn’t have been able to bare a couple of hours with only Vic. It was very possible that he realised the same exact thing. There was no need to worry about that, right?

Well, let me tell you, I couldn’t have been more wrong. No really, I was wrong.

It was a teamwork game this time. So, of course we had to work in couples of one boy and one girl (well, how else would the game have worked, you idiot?). Everybody quickly ran off to someone they thought they’d like to give a shot next. Of course everybody was giving their old fling a dirty look because ‘oh my god, why would he choose her/him over me’, not like this was a whole part of the game. So, people were quickly getting into pairs, but nobody came to me. Once again I was left with the leftover. But hey, maybe leftover and leftover could be perfect matches--

It was Vic. Of course it was Vic. I mean, how cruel would the world be if this hadn’t happened? It just had to, no complaining. No biggie, no problem. No, not at fucking all!

This time I was going to be stuck in a large barrel with Vic until we had completed the activity. I just wanted to hit the pins we had to knock over so we could just part ways already. He was always touching me in one way or the other, and I would always take a step away, but he would just continue. It was pretty fucking annoying. And now I had to be stuck with him in closed quarters for a while. But it had to happen and I wasn’t going to be that girl who didn’t do an activity for a stupid reason such as not liking the guy at all.

So, while everybody else watched, Vic and I stepped into the large barrel, ready to start running into the directions where the pins were standing (they were in three different places and we had to hit them all). I sighed as I was standing on the right side, already knowing how much we were going to fight about this.

“Just so you know, I don’t want to be in here,” I told Vic before we got started, “Let’s just do this as fast as possible so we can part ways quickly. Ok? You know I don’t like you, so there’s no point trying to hide the real reason from you.”

The whistle was blown, signifying us that we could start. So we both just started running like crazy, trying not to fall over and going right for the pins ahead of us.

“Why don’t you like me?” He calmly asked before adding a ‘left’ meaning that i had to stop running for a bit so we could turn the barrel.

“Ugh, you know exactly why. You go around kissing every girl like it’s no problem and then you even have the guts to kiss me without having any permission. If there’s one thing I absolutely hate, it’s that.”

“I’ll admit that I fucked up. I guess I was a bit excited about the whole thing, and mixing that with having too much to drink really isn’t a good idea. It happened, but I can’t change anything about it. All I can say is that I’m sorry for that,” he tried to apologize to me as we managed to knock over the first obstacles.

I shook my head, not really believing him, “you expect me to forgive you? Don’t forget about all the times you basically looked at me like an object, saying things that really make you seem like a creep who’s desperate.”

“Only because you’re beautiful and I don’t--” he sighed, lowering his voice a little more, “I don’t know what to say.”

“Wait, what?”

And we had finished the whole course, causing us both to stop running. My spinning head still thought we were tumbling around, causing me to fall over in no time. The sound of my body slamming against the bottom on the barrel echoed throughout. I couldn’t help but start laughing. It must have looked to stupid, being able to stand upright for the whole thing, only to hurt yourself at the very end. Vic chuckled a bit as well, but it wasn’t a mean laugh like I would have expected him to do before we had started.

He helped me back up and allowed me to keep my balance by holding on to him as we stepped out of the large barrel and back onto the grassfield. I was pretty sure I would have embarrassed myself by falling again if it weren’t for him. Maybe I wasn’t 100% sure if I was going to forgive him, but I was always like that, especially with the things he had done. But, hey, it wouldn’t hurt to move forward, would it? And like this I’d at least have a friend…

Or maybe more than a friend. My determination to get out of the barrel as soon as possible so I could get away from him led to us getting first place. So much for not wanting to spend time with him. But I actually didn’t mind that much anymore. Maybe this was a good thing. I actually thought that I was going to have fun. Of course we probably were going to have to talk it out a bit more, but at least I now knew his intentions weren’t as bad as I thought they were.

In no time we were at the lagoon where our date was going to take place. The sand was a bright white, feeling soft and hot underneath my feet. Vic was walking beside me, trying to find a spot for us to sit while the other couples went straight for the clear blue water. We put our towels down just far enough from the water so they wouldn’t get wet, but still close enough for us to enjoy it. I wasn’t sure how things were going to go, but I was definitely going to give Vic a chance. If he fucked that up, well, then nothing was going to happen between us.

I sat down next to Vic, still keeping at least one foot of distance between us, “so, I guess we should start to get to know each other… so why don’t you just tell me the basics of your life.”

He smiled at me and shuffled around a bit so it would be easier to talk to me, “well, I have a brother who’s younger than me, his name is Mike, I grew up in San Diego and still live there, and I’m in a touring band.”

“A band?!” I gasped and sat up straight, not having expected this from him. He seemed like one of those people that looked like an adventurous person, but actually only worked a nine to five job at an office.

“Yep, with my brother and two of our friends. I don’t know if you’d hear of us, Pierce The Veil?”

I laughed, “once, but in a negative way. I have this friend who likes old rock music much more and hates new stuff. She was ranting about how it used to be about the music and now it’s just about young girls going through a phase. Apparently bands like yours are only famous because of your good looks.”

“But she did say we have good looks, so that positive,” Vic pointed out with a small playful smirk on his face.

“Right! That’s what I said as well! She just got mad at me, though.”

“What a good friend you have there,” he nudged, “what about you, what are the ‘basics of your life’.”

“Oh boy, are you in for a ride,” I sighed and got more comfortable, knowing this was going to be a much longer story than his, “well, I’m the youngest of two, I have an older sister, which you may or may not remember. Anyway, we were a relatively normal family except for my mom being an alcoholic and my dad taking my virginity when I was six years old.” I could see Vic’s eyes getting wide as he was trying to find words to say, but I just continued on with my story, “They got a divorce, but somehow my dad managed to get custody of me while my older sister stayed with my mom. I used to be pretty close with my sister, but from there everything went downhill. My mom managed to change her ways, but my dad not so much. So, I grew up being raped and beaten by my dad on a regular basis, but there was nothing I could do about it. When I was 18 got got the hell out of there and managed to get into college. I was going for a medical degree, but I just didn’t really like it, so I went for English instead. Now I have my degree in that, but a shitload of student debts because I have to pay them all myself. Umm, that’s all really. I work at an animal shelter and I’m still trying to figure out what I can actually do with my degree. The end.”

“I’m sorry,” Vic blurted out immediately, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him for him to elaborate, “I’m sorry for everything I did. I shouldn’t just have come up and kissed you like that. It’s completely unacceptable of me to do, especially with what you’ve gone through.”

“I don’t even know why I told you, to be honest,” I shook my head with a sigh, “I’ve never really told anybody about it. Most of my closest friends don’t even know.”

“I didn’t mean to force you to--”

“It’s not your fault. It doesn’t really matter,” I stood up and started looking for the zipper of my white dress, “do you mind if I take my dress off?”

“Umm… I’m afraid I’ll say the wrong things if I see you half naked again. You’re too beautiful for my mind to comprehend,” Vic mumbled, embarrassed by the fact that I had such an effect on him.

“You already said the right thing,” I smiled softly down at him and let my dress fall to reveal the bikini I was wearing: a floral top with lime green bottoms, “so, you wanna go in the water or not?”

He looked up at me and let his eyes travel down my body for a second before he just straight up and threw his shirt off, “hell yeah!”

So off into the cool water we went. I immediately cooled down from the heat the sun had left on my skin, and started splashing Vic lightly. He let out a fake gasp and started splashing me back, making sure not to do it too hard. This small action of mine led to us having a full blown water fight while the other couples were just looking at us in astonishment. I mean, it could look like we were mad at each other and trying to hurt the other with water, but that just didn’t make any sense. Just a day ago I was really to throw a punch at this guy, but now I was actually already starting to really like him.

We found a cave off at the side of the lagoon and swam towards it. There was a small skylight in the roof, allowing light to sprinkle throughout and reflect on the calm water. Vic was just a couple of feet in front of me, his back toward me. I swam up quietly and wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist so he was basically giving me a piggyback ride.

“So, you said you were in a band, but what exactly do you do?” I started making conversation with him again as he already relaxed in the hold I had of him.

“Well, I play the guitar and sing,” he answered, softly holding one of my hands that were dangling against his chest.

“Oh, like backing vocals?”

“No, like center-stage, sing the whole song as loud as I can, type of singing,” he turned around so we were now face to face. I still had my arms around his neck and my legs pulling him against me, while his hands went to my waist instead.

“No way!” I exclaimed in astonishment, “that is so cool!”

Vic shrugged with a small smile on his face as we were left in silence, the only sound being water gently rippling and hitting the walls of the cave. I stared at him, taking notice that even though his eyes were just a normal brown, there was still something weirdly special about him: a feeling I couldn’t quite describe, a smile hidden in plain sight.

“I am strangely attracted to you right now,” I whispered while I continued to inspect his face. From the way his hair rested against his forehead to the way his eyebrows arched.

The corners of his lips curled up as he raised his eyebrows in, what was now to me, a seductive way, “well, aren’t you straight forward with your feelings?”

I shrugged, “I am a strong believer of saying whatever’s on your mind unless it’s not relevant.”

“Do I have permission to kiss you?” He mumbled, his eyes flickering from my eyes to my lips and back again.

I nodded without saying another word. Vic closed the space between us and gently let his lips press against mine. I pulled him closer and started kissing him back as soon as I could. His lips were softer than they looked at first glance, feeling like they belonged against mine. The way his nose pressed up against my cheek felt so delicate and careful. I started tugging at the roots of his hair lightly to try and make him come even closer to me. He responded by letting his hands move from my waist to the small of my back, slowly running them up my spine.

I pulled away calmly and chuckled as I felt the knot at the back of my bikini untie, “did you just…”

Vic eyes went wide when he realised what he had accidentally done, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry--”

“Just tie it again. You’ve got to wait a bit longer before I’m going to allow you to see what’s underneath this top,” I told him with a hint of enticement, but also with a small laugh.

When Vic was done fumbling with the strings, I pulled him in for another kiss.

That night, at the matchmaking ceremony, it was the girl’s choice again. I had chosen Vic, and not because I was last to chose. No, I actually liked him this time. I was showing him off to everybody. The whole situation had flipped around.

And we actually managed to get four out of nine matches. I just hoped I had chosen right.

Notes

I have not read through this because I am so behind on writing right now, so please excuse the countless amount of mistakes I just know are in there. I'll probably read through it and the mistakes will be taken out (what is for me) tomorrow, but there will probably still be some left...