4

Nick was blasting music while flipping burgers in nothing but a speedo and an apron. His friends roared with laughter as he shook his hips to Shakira and threw cheese on half the patties. Charlee sat across from where she sat last night, joking with the male couple to her right. They started collecting ones and shoving them down into Nick's speedo, prompting a coy response from him.

"Thanks, boys," He wagged his fingers at them, "I'll be sure not to spend it all in one place."

Though the atmosphere was joyful, I was nervous and hurt. Charlee didn't even seem to notice me. She sat on the edge of a log in cargo shorts and a button-down shirt unbuttoned halfway, a beer hanging from one hand and a joint up to her lips. She looked so good, and I wanted nothing more to be the one shotgunning her hit.

Nikki came up to me and wrapped her arm around my waist.

"I talked to Nick. He's going to talk to Charlee after dinner. You just need to relax."

I rested my head on her shoulder, "I know," I sighed, "I feel bad. Everything went down because I don't know who I am."

Nikki gave me a big hug, "None of us know who we are. So to say we do is foolish." Then, we walked together to get in line to eat. "We have too much life in front of us!"

After we had grabbed our food, the group sat down next to our tents to eat. Nora and I sat awkwardly across from one another, fidgeting and trying not to make eye contact. Casey rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, guys?" She pushed Nora, "talk to her, or I'll use a sharpie on your face in your sleep."

Nora winced, knowing that wasn't an empty threat. "Kendra, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner about what I saw."

"Sooner?" I snorted, "you weren't planning on telling me."

"Okay, okay, fine," Nora threw up her hands in surrender, "but I only hid it from you because you were constantly stressed and busy, and I didn't know about it until a month before graduation. If you knew, it would have thrown a wrench in everything!"

I pondered her apology. She was right. Dealing with such a betrayal would have thrown me off for a little bit, especially at the end of my senior year. In a way, I was touched by her thoughtfulness. I didn't NEED to know, considering I have been broken up with Devin for a while.

"Ugh, just," I pressed the bridge of my nose, "don't ever keep things from me again."

Nora let out a sigh of relief and scooted over to me, throwing her arms around me, "Oh, thank God."

We sat, chatting about our day and planning some activities for the next day. While Casey gushed about a trail she read about nearby, I glanced over at Charlee again. By now, another girl had sat next to her, and they were smiling, talking with animated gestures. I felt my face flush as my lips pressed into a thin line. I didn't like the idea of Charlee finding someone else. I have known her for a short time, but her personality drew me to her.

"Soooo," Nora poked me in the ribcage, "are you going to do damage control on your mess?"

Everyone in our group was staring at me. Great.

"I see nothing is private."

Nikki scoffed, "In this group? That's a sin."

"Yea, well, if you guys could not pester me about it, that would be great." I grabbed a mouthful of burger. "Nick was supposed to talk to Charlee later for me. I don't know when. I'm super nervous, so if we could turn the attention off me for a second, that would be great."

Nora cleared her throat, "Uh, I think he is now."

I turned to see Nick ushering Charlee into the house, making intense eye contact with Nikki and me. Nikki pulled me to my feet, fixed my hair, and gave me a tap on the butt.

"Go get her."

___

My heart pounded as I walked up the steps to where Nick said Charlee had gone. I knew she would be upset at first, but I really just wanted to skip over that to the part where she hopeful forgives me. I opened the door to a bedroom and came face to face with Charlee for the second time that day. She looked me in the eyes and pushed past me.

"Wait!" I grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the bedroom, "I'm tired of people not hearing me out!"

"I think I've heard enough," but she sighed and leaned against the wall, "but why not."

"I'm so sorry you think I was using you," I walked over to the bed and sunk down, "I just don't know what's going on here. These feelings are completely new to me."

Charlee rolled her eyes, "Yeah, Kendra, it sounds like you're using me to figure out whatever you feel. I'm all for people finding their sexuality and shit, but don't play with my feelings."

"No, Charlee," I said, "I'm not using you to "find myself." I like you."

I paused while she just stared at me expectantly.

"I'm not gay." I started.

"Yeah, we've covered that."

I held up my hand with a slight attitude, "but I'm also not straight, dude."

"So, what, you're bi, pan?"

I shrugged. I really didn't know. I never really thought of defining myself. But then, I noticed how Nora struggled with finding her' definition,' and I didn't feel the need to conform myself to any standard- sexually or otherwise.

"I'm just me," I slumped over, looking down at my palms, "I'm sorry if I'm not enough."

Charlee hesitated, then walked over to me. Picking up one of my hands, she brought it up to her face. "I'm sorry, you are enough. I jumped to the conclusion that I'm used to instead of hearing you out."

My body vibrated with electricity from where she touched me. I sucked in my breath as she gently pinched my chin and angled me towards her.

"If you'll still have me, I would love to figure this out."

"Yes, please," I squeaked.

Dipping down to my face, she leaned in close, "May I?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

I nodded weakly, unable to speak. I met her halfway as we crashed into each other. Pressing my lips against hers, I threw my arms around her neck. Charlee guided me off the bed and sat down, pulling me into her lap. We broke away for a moment, breathlessly analyzing each other's faces. Her hands ran down my waist and onto my hips, pulling me in. Moaning, I devoured her lips with mine. We sat there for a while, enjoying the taste of each other, before we heard the door open.

"Oh shit." A male voice called out, "There are two chicks in here making out!"

The stampede of footsteps behind him caused us to break away and laugh.

"I think that's our cue."

I nodded, climbing off Charlee's lap and taking her outstretched hand. We darted out the door and back out to our friends.

"Yay!" Nora yelled to us as we walked up, my hand still in Charlee's. I took my place next to Nora, and Charlee sprawled out next to me, her arm draped over my shoulder while she popped open another beer.

"I'm not sure if you know these guys yet," I said to Charlee, "This is Casey, Nikki, Johnny, and Nora."

Charlee gave a little half-wave, "Hey. I know Nora from Nick, but nice to meet everyone else."

"So, what's the plan for tomorrow?" I asked, "I need to know what time to wake up."

"Well, the crystal front hiking trail is about a ten-minute drive from here, over by those mountains," Casey pointed to the distance where a small plateau crested the horizon. "Then the hike up the mountain to a hidden watering hole in the trees. The water is supposed to be super clear."

"I think I read about that online," Charlee piped up, "I'm so down."

Nora let out an excited squeak, "Alright! It's settled. We will leave at 10 am tomorrow." Then, she turned to Charlee, "I'll let you deal with waking up sleeping beauty. It's an experience."

"I look forward to it." She dropped her arm from my shoulders and pinched my cheek, "I'm sure she's adorable."

I grumbled as everyone laughed at my expense. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Micheal glaring daggers and Charlee and me. I wonder what he was pissed about now.

___

That night I went to bed early in hopes I would be able to drag my butt out of bed easier. Groggily I awoke in the middle of the night to my bladder protesting, so I lazily hauled myself out of the tent towards the cabin to pee. The living room was littered with sleeping people and popcorn while a movie title screen played on loop. I quietly tiptoed into the back hallway towards the half bath. I sat to relieve myself with a sigh, quickly finishing going back to my sleeping bag. As I turned off the light, I heard angry whispers further down the hallway. My blood froze as I heard the familiar name pop up.

"Charlee, I told you I called dibs on her." Then, a male voice whispered, "what are you doing cuddling up to her?"

"She's not something you can just call dibs on. She's a person. She made her choice, so back off her, dude."

I smiled a little at her response.

"Devin told me she's a good fuck, and I wanted in on that. Do you forget all the pics he sent us?" I recognized the voice, it was Micheal.

"Dude, I never looked at those. That's beyond disgusting to send those around without consent."

I felt sick. From what I was hearing, Devin had spread my nudes to everyone in the group. So, who hasn't seen my tits? Tears trickling down my cheek, I quietly rushed out the back door and back to my tent. It felt like my privacy had been completely destroyed. I thought about all the times I had sent him those in private, mainly because he claimed he loved me. Finding out it was all a ploy to show his friends how easy I was was utterly devastating.

My quiet sobs trickled off as I heard footsteps outside my tent. I suddenly felt entirely unsafe in my small fabric tent, remembering how aggressive Micheal had sounded. I shook as they stopped in front of my door and turned.

"Kendra? Are you okay?"

I whimpered at Charlee's voice, and she hurriedly unzipped my tent and crawled in, closing it behind her. She pulled me close and held me.

"I'm so sorry. Devin is an awful human." She whispered into my ear.

Sniffling, I looked up at her, "You promise you never looked?"

She wiped a tear off my face before it dripped onto my sweater, "I would never invade someone's privacy like that. Ever."

We sat like this for a while until Charlee looked down at me, "I will make this right, Kendra."

"How can anything be done? The pictures have already been sent. They're probably all over the campus." My eyes widened at the idea of the worst-case scenario.

"No." Charlee bit her thumbnail, "He needs to pay. Everything he and that brat have done to you is ruthless. Who uses their ex-girlfriend's vacation to announce your new girlfriend's pregnancy?"

I stopped crying at looked up, "I'm sorry, what?"

She smiled sheepishly down at me, "Yeah, I heard them talking about plans to make this into a baby announcement on the last day. I'm pretty sure Bethany just wants to make sure you never forget this trip."

I pushed away from Charlee, "Why does she hate me so much? She won. She has him. Isn't that enough?"

She reached over, pushing my hair back, "And she could only do that by getting pregnant. So she tried a lot to get him away from you. And then when she saw how unbelievably gorgeous you were in person, she had her answer."

"Answer to what?"

"Why he didn't want to leave you."

I stopped to think about it. On paper, we were the perfect couple with the best pedigrees. Devin's parents loved that we were together and especially liked me. They would gush about how we could be a power couple in the future. I used to count on those remarks and even enjoyed hearing them. After everything, it just made me feel like a piece of jewelry he wore to improve himself. But, despite what all the fairytales say, love does not solve all problems. He may have loved Bethany, but I was his most promising future.

"Are you… friends with her?" I asked tentatively.

"Oh god no," Charlee shook her head in disgust, "she's a gross human. From when Devin would visit, I just know things would get weird."

"Meaning?" I asked

"She always brought you up. It was almost like an obsession. Even when she was dating Micheal and sleeping with Devin, I could hear them arguing about some girl."

My jaw dropped, "She dated Micheal?!"

Charlee nodded, "Oh yeah, she fucked him up. That is partly why Devin kept you around as well. She refused to break up with Micheal at first. So Devin stayed with you as a 'fuck you.' When Micheal found out, he was so upset. He's never really been the same, and we just kind of stopped being close."

I thought back to how Micheal started out so chivalrous and had turned into such a creep. He clearly had issues with women now and needed to check his behavior.

I looked up, deep into Charlie's eyes. "Let's get back at them for everything they've done."

"I'm so in, beautiful."

I beamed from ear to ear, hearing such a genuine compliment come from someone so honest and fearless. Having Charlee on my side made me feel like I could face anything or anyone. I can't believe I settled for the way Devin treated me. Sure, he called me beautiful, but usually, that was to get into my pants. Charlee just offered it up like I was a goddess deserving of her praises. I wanted to give myself to her, physically and emotionally. Then, finally, I sat up, gathering my things.

"Can I sleep in your tent tonight? I don't feel safe in here."

Charlee picked up the last couple of things, "Of course! I've got tons of room."

I followed her over to her medium-sized tent. It was short but wide and had excellent ventilation and an extra liner to make it darker inside. We piled all of our sleeping pads, blankets, and pillows together to create a nest. I was tucking my phone away when Charlee flopped back, grunting as she made herself comfortable. She was wearing a tank top and flannel pants. Her hair was out of the usual ponytail and messily fell over her face.

I took a deep breath and removed my ponytail, allowing my hair to cascade over my shoulders and tickle my thighs. I was in my usual spaghetti strap top and tiny shorts. Crawling slowly towards her, I let my strap fall off my shoulder. Hovering over her, our lips almost brushed. Our breath mingled as Charlee's eyes darted from my eyes to my lips hungrily.

Finally, she reached up and pulled me down on top of her. She started to sit up, so I moved my legs and straddled her lap. She pulled me closer and kissed me with so much passion that any type of restraint left my body. I grabbed a fistful of her hair with one hand while the other tugged desperately at her shirt.

As my hands slid up her scalp and tightened, she smiled into my mouth and sucked on my lower lip, moaning as she fell backward. Then, without warning, she flipped me over, so she was on top. She buried her face to my neck and kissed down my chest, stopping right above the hem of my shirt.

"May I?" She murmured between kisses on my lips. Her fingers were fidgeting with my clothes.

"Please," I begged breathlessly.

My breath caught as she pulled my shirt down, exposing my breasts. She kissed down to my nipple, swirling her tongue around it. Her fingers ran along the waistline of my shorts, and she walked them down, finding my wetness.

I grasped onto her back and moaned as she found my clit, and expertly played. It wasn't long before I felt a warm sensation building up inside me. She sensed my change and slightly made more rapid circles. She kissed me deeply, and I released it all over her hand, slightly shaking at my intense orgasm. My moans quieted down as she kissed my shoulder softly.

My heart pounding, she paused as she backed away, smirking down at me.

"That was incredible," I said breathlessly.

"Yeah, crazy how I know what a gal wants." She pulled my shirt up and kissed me tenderly on the head.

I blushed, "I don't know how to do that."

She chuckled, "You just do what you know you would like. But you don't need to do anything tonight. We can some other time."

I felt relieved at her words. I wanted to repay the favor, but with everything else happening today, I just didn't have the energy to make a complete fool of myself. She bent down to kiss me on the forehead.

"Goodnight, Charlee," I muttered sweetly. She sucked her teeth and bit her lower lip.

"You're a goddess, Kendra." I sank down next to her, and she wrapped me in a blanket.

"Goodnight."