Chapter 21
Maria shot a darting look towards Michael before she looked back at Liz. “So what are we going to do, who’s going to share?”
The group of teens all looked a little nonplussed by this surprising turn of events. Even Michael had stopped laughing and was now taking the problem a little more seriously than he had been. As each teen looked at their nearest companion it became clear that they were each silently eyeing the other up with every person in turn being considered by the others as a potential tent partner.
When Alex’s eyes fell upon Isabel he could swear he saw her blush slightly as she gently dropped her gaze for a moment. Just as he fought to stop his trademark grin spreading across his face he caught a glimpse of Max giving him a cold hard stare. They may have just formed a clandestine pact with a promise to keep the girls safe, but it was clear that Max wasn’t going to be too welcoming to the idea of his sister sharing a tent with a teenage boy.
After fixing Alex with a look of death for even considering the possibility of him sharing with Isabel Max found himself drawn to look at Liz who was clearly lost in thought, no doubt trying to come up with a solution that would suite everyone. As he found himself simply gazing upon Liz he got the strangest feeling. When he broke his prolonged look at the object of his desire he saw Alex fold his arms across his chest in a defiant gesture. When he fixed his new tall friend with a proper look he could read in Alex’s face a look which simply said ‘You’ve got to be kidding me’.
Max dropped his head, slightly embarrassed at not only getting caught gazing longingly at Liz, but also at getting caught while thinking about the possibility of sharing a tent with her. It wasn’t as though he could deny it or even find fault with Alex’s silent accusation, he’d just warned Alex off of thinking the same think about his sister.
“Well I suppose Max and I could share.” Isabel finally stated, breaking the prolonged silence. It was clear Isabel wasn’t even going to try to hide her contempt for such an idea, but it was clear there weren’t too many workable options and with her and Max as brother and sister it at least made sure there was no hint of impropriety, which she couldn’t swear to if she was left alone in a tent with Alex all night.
“Actually, Isabel, I think I have a better solution.” Liz cut in with a gentle smile. “If Max and Michael share, you and Maria can share and I’ll share with Alex.”
“Really?” Isabel questioned in surprise.
“It’s not a problem. We all know there are certain pairings we simply can’t have, not least if it gets back to our parents.” Liz fought the urge and lost as she sent a brief glance towards Max. “Maria and I have known Alex forever and both look upon him as a brother, but the fact that he isn’t really our brother takes the ‘ewww’ factor out of us sharing.”
“Liz is right.” Maria added. “We’ve had many sleepovers with Alex and he wouldn’t dare try anything with us so it really isn’t a problem. Whether it’s Liz or me that shares, it doesn’t matter. It wouldn’t even be a problem if our parents find out, they trust Alex.”
“Erm…do you mind if I say something?” Alex softly broke in.
“Sure, sweetie.” Maria smiled at her friend. “What is it?”
“Would one of you kindly let me know if you happen to find my testicles lying around here somewhere!” Alex cried out loud, catching them all by surprise. He made a point of directing his next comments specifically at Liz and Maria. “I’m not quite sure if you girls are aware, but it isn’t too much fun having yourself emasculated in front of your new friends!”
Both girls went to speak, but Alex threw up a hand to stop them before he carried on. “I know you both love me and I know neither of you would ever want to hurt me, but you have to understand that being dismissed so readily doesn’t do my flagging reputation or my own self-belief any good. I would never, ever want either of you to feel threatened or uncomfortable around me, but in the same breath I wouldn’t want either of you to simply think of me as one of the girls and not look at me as a man who might have inappropriately checked out your ass from time to time or thought how hot you both look when you get all dressed up to go out!”
“You think we’re hot!” Maria asked, a broad smile spreading across her face.
“Don’t change the subject, Maria.” Alex scolded. “I’m very mad at you both so don’t think a cute comment or a sexy smile is going to get you out of this one!”
Alex turned to head back to the jeep, but looked back over his shoulder as he started to move away. “If you want me I’ll be giving myself a hernia trying to lift the remainder of our stuff out of the jeep while at the same time trying to prove to myself that in here…” Alex pointed to his chest. “…somewhere beats the heart of a man and not just some Bridget Jones wannabe.” Alex stopped abruptly and glared at both girls again. “You see! I shouldn’t know who Bridget Jones is nor should I have watched every episode of Little House on the Prairie with you guys.” Alex stormed off while still mumbling to himself. “…I should be watching Baywatch and learning how to fix cars…”
The group stood in silence for a moment. Even Michael was taken aback by Alex’s outburst, so much so that he knew now wasn’t the time for an inappropriate comment. “Can you guys give us a minute?” Liz asked gently as she turned to follow Alex, quickly shadowed by Maria.
“Hey, big fella.” Liz greeted the back of Alex as he struggled to lift a large backpack from the rear of the jeep. When he lowered the bag to the floor he turned to look at Liz and he noticed Maria slowly come up to join them. Both girls could see the sheepish look on his face and the feelings of regret that were oozing out of their friend.
“Please tell me I just didn’t do what I just did!” Alex dropped his head and stared at his shoes as he continued to speak. “I didn’t mean for it all to come spewing out of me in the way that it did. I just meant to pass comment on the fact that I would once, just once, like to be looked upon as the opposite sex. It’s not like I want to start dating either of you or anything else for that matter, I love you both too much for that, but for my egos sake I could do with you both pretending to be a little coy around me.”
Maria reached up and rubbed at Alex’s arm affectionately. “We stopped getting changed in front of you, sweetie, and it wasn’t because we suddenly got all coy or anything. You stopped being this geeky little ten year old that we could share a bed with and became this geeky big man who we love and desperately want in our lives, and always will.”
“It’s not that we don’t see you as a guy, trust me you’re nothing but a guy to us, but you’re our guy and we want you in our lives, every minute of every day given the opportunity.” Liz added. “We were worried that you would think we were shutting you out if we changed things so as long as it didn’t get uncomfortable between us we wanted things to stay the same. Sure, we can’t share a bed together anymore, but I hope it won’t stop us from sharing a room…”
“Or a tent?” Alex cut in, realising how much he had overreacted. He had taken Liz’s original comment about sharing a tent as a slight on his manhood when in fact it was testament to how the girls both felt completely and utterly comfortable in his care, something he had strived to achieve over the years. He wanted them to feel safe with him, he wanted them to be at their ease when he was around and he had succeeded so what did he have to complain about?
“I feel rather foolish now.” Alex stated softly. “I’m sure Isabel, Max and Michael will be hugely impressed by my outburst, they probably think I’m some sort of lunatic.”
“Oh, I doubt that somehow.” Liz offered. “You forget that Max and Isabel are brother and sister so I can’t imagine their relationship being much different to ours and from what I have learned about Michael he spends as much time at the Evans house as at his own so he’s almost a surrogate brother to Isabel as well.”
“What does that mean?” Alex pressed.
“It means that they probably have the same obstacles and hurdles to overcome in their relationships as we do.” Maria added. “You are starting to get to know Isabel better than any of us so can you honestly tell me that you don’t think she has made Max and Michael watch a chick flick or two in their time?”
Alex visibly perked up at hearing his friends reasoned explanations. “I suppose you’re right. And even if you’re not, I think I am so keen to blank this embarrassing event from my memory that I am willing to lie to myself so I can believe what you have said is true.”
At hearing movement behind her Liz glanced over her shoulder and noticed their three friends slowly moving to the jeep to join them. She quickly looked back at Alex and leaned in close before whispering. “Trust us on this, Alex. We know girls and it’s clear that Max and Michael are as much a part of Isabel’s life as you are of ours.”
“And we wouldn’t have it any other way.” Maria added.
“So are you guys ready to get started?” Max questioned as the group reformed. “If you just give us a couple of minutes for me, Michael and Alex to load up the rucksacks we can head off.”
Alex was thankful that his new friends seemed willing to simply ignore his outburst and more than that he caught Isabel giving him a secretive smile that was clearly meant for his eyes only, which caused his heart to leap. With a sudden sense of bravery and with the knowledge that Isabel was still behind him he decided to start his new friendship as he planned to go on…with honesty. “Can I just say I’m sorry for my diatribe back there? I’m sure I probably scared the hell out of all of you, but despite the rumours I’m not some neurotic teen working through his issues in broad daylight, simply a guy who forgot his place in his friend’s lives, but is now happily back on track.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Max tried to reassure Alex. “You should meet some of Isabel’s so called friends from school. I know what you were talking about isn’t quite the same thing, but some of her cohorts would simply dismiss Michael and me as though we weren’t even there.” Max saw Liz and Maria go wide-eyed at that comment so he moved quickly to appease them. “I don’t mean you dismissed Alex, I mean that even though sometimes you know it shouldn’t matter how certain people react to you it can still hurt. Just like you two, obviously you never meant to hurt Alex and I’m sure deep down he knew that, but it can still touch a raw nerve.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.” Alex smiled at Max. “It’s not even as though I want Liz and Maria to look at me that way just…”
“…you want other people to.” Isabel interjected. She paused for a moment, solely looking at Alex. “I know exactly what you mean.”
That revelation surprised everyone even more than Alex’s comments a few minutes ago, but it seemed Isabel was happy with her openness as she didn’t blush, didn’t shy away or drop her head. She simply looked around the group, making sure she got her point across.
“If you guys have finished this whole ‘opening up to everyone’ moment we need to get a move on if we are going to get where we are going and set up camp.” Michael stopped abruptly and suddenly started to shake his head as he turned away mumbling. “You see what they’ve done to me! I’m all ‘let’s get going, we have to go camping’ I don’t want to go camping, I want to be at home in front of the TV watching sports…who the hell goes camping?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Twenty minutes later they were moving through the woods, keeping to the well worn path. Max and Liz had taken a look at the maps that were on display back at the parking area before they left. It was decided that as it was their first trip out that they would not stray too far from the beaten track, but also that they would try to find somewhere a little quiet without too many fellow campers about.
It hadn’t taken very long for the bitching and moaning to start and unsurprisingly it was Maria, Isabel and Michael who were the main voices to dissent. The three boys were carrying the main burden of equipment, but to Isabel’s chagrin there was still enough gear left over to mean that each girl had to carry at least some tools and equipment.
“Are we nearly there yet?” Maria called from the back of the line of wanderers. She had tried to start off all up beat and enthusiastic, mainly because Liz had told her to, but after the first few minutes of traipsing through the woods it had soon lost it’s appeal and she had slowly fallen to the back of the line as her little legs showed less and less willingness to continue.
“It’s really not far now, Maria.” Liz called from the front where she was travelling along beside Max. “We’ll be there in a couple of minutes and then we can set up camp.”
“Set up camp?” Maria repeated, Liz’s words filling her with dread. “I thought the guys were going to set up the tents, isn’t that what guys do? It’s why we brought them along.”
Liz couldn’t help but let slip a laugh at Maria moaning. She glanced over her shoulder to look back at her best friend who was being shadowed by Alex in an effort to stop her falling completely behind. “If the guys are setting up the tents that means we have to get some wood for the fire and start preparing food.”
“Did someone mention food?” Michael cut in, clearly having missed the earlier part of the conversation.
“We have plenty of food, Michael.” Liz replied to the large boy’s unmindful question. “In fact half of the weight of our bags is taken up by food so it means it will be that much easier when we leave tomorrow because I don’t doubt that you guys will have it all eaten.”
Now that the mention of food had refocused Michael’s mind he decided it was time for mischief. “Are there any bears or snakes in these woods?”
No sooner had the words come out of his mouth when he felt a shove in the back. When he turned slightly and looked down he found Maria pinned to the back of him, clinging on for dear life. “Do you say bears and snakes?” She asked nervously as she glanced around frantically.
“Maria, ignore Michael. He’s just trying to scare you.” Isabel offered, trying to reassure the fraught young girl.
“Well he’s doing a very good job.” She replied breathlessly. “That’s it! I don’t want to offend either of you girls but I am not sharing with you if there are bears or snakes about, I’d rather share with one of the guys.”
That comment caused everyone to stop and turn to look at Maria. “What makes you think you will be any safer with one of the guys rather than me or Isabel?” Liz asked out of curiosity.
“Oh, I don’t.” Maria countered while still looking apprehensive. “It’s just us girls always smell so sweet and pretty, which no bear in his right mind is going to want to eat. They like rotting, horrible things to eat so I think I’d rather share with someone like Michael.”
“Hey!” Michael cried, finally levering Maria off of him.
“Serves you right.” Isabel smiled smugly as she brushed past Michael. “You got Maria into this state and now you can deal with her.”
As the group moved the last few hundred yards to their camping area all Liz, Max, Isabel and Alex could hear was Michael, still back down the path with Maria, trying to convince her that he was only joking.
“There aren’t really bears here, Maria. It was only a joke.”
“Oh, no! You’re just trying to calm me down. If I thought it was an option I would turn round and go home now, but Liz would never let me. As far as I’m concerned we’re all sleeping in the same tent with me in the middle.”
As the forward party reached their destination and dropped their bags they took a look round the clearing. “Not that I have any camping experience to go by, but this looks as good a place as any to pitch the tents.” Max stated, trying to muster some confidence within the group.
“Looks good to me.” Liz agreed. “So I guess we should start setting up the tents.”
After a moment Liz glanced over at Isabel while both Max and Alex were busy starting to unpack the equipment. With a silent nod of her head she gestured towards the unsuspecting Alex and smiled gently.
Isabel stared at her for a moment, unsure what she meant and then it dawned on her. “Erm…Alex, I wondered if you would like to give me a hand collecting some fire wood?”
Both Max and Alex stopped what they were doing and looked back at Isabel. Slowly lifting himself up from his crouching position, a smile quickly spread across Alex's stunned face. “I’d love to.”
To be continued…
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I'm nearly at the end of this one now, one maybe two more parts and it will be done. As with every other story I have written I already have a new story in mind so as one finishes another will begin. Finally, best wishes to Empress_Luci and the Australian football team who take on Brazil tomorrow. I'm English so my life would not be complete without some sledging from an Aussie lol.