The majority of the time was spent with Javier watching me like a hawk. His mom was with us the entire time since our chaperone had to follow their group, but even she was not watching me as closely as her son. Javi was acting like I was a puppy that would run away the moment I got a chance.
Was I ruining his trip? No matter how much I told him that I did not need a babysitter, he continued to make it his mission to hover over me. I appreciated his care, but this vacation was supposed to be fun for him too.
I was exhausted by the end of the day, but so was everyone else. We had to have walked multiple miles and that was something I never did. My condition made it ten times worse,but everyone was patient with me and let me take the breaks I needed. I counted the day as a win, and so did Anita and Javier.
Now we were back at the hotel. We had already had dinner with our class and had gotten ready for bed, so we were relaxing in the room until we fell asleep. Anita was with the other chaperones in one of their rooms planning for tomorrow. Paxton and Ricky were fighting over what to put on the TV.
Ricky ripped the remote out of Paxton's hand. "I amnotwatching a true crime documentary. That crap is disturbing."
Paxton gasped dramatically. "It is not! I can't believe you just said that."
"The unsettling-ness of the crime doesn’t do a good job at hiding the fact that the documentary is boring, either." Ricky finger shot in my direction. "Eli knows what I'm talking about."
I laid my head against the pillow. "I have fallen asleep every time I've tried to sit through a true crime documentary. Any documentary, actually.”
Paxton's mouth formed an 'o' shape, not expecting anyone else to disagree with his love of true crime. He looked to his friend for support. "Okay, well Javier agrees with me. Right?"
"True crime is the best," Javier agreed. He was laid back on his pillow with his hands behind his head and his eyes closed, but he opened them and glanced at Paxton. "Remember Paxton, this is coming for two guys that rewatch Five Nights at Freddy’s YouTube playthroughs annually."
I scoffed, a smile forming on my lips. "What's wrong with FNAF?"
"Nothing's wrong with it." He turned onto his side, using his elbow to prop his head up. "It's just not better than true crime."
"I rather hear interesting facts about murders than watch adults get jump scared in a game." Paxton stated his option with pride.
I sat up and Ricky and I met each other's eyes with astonishment. I snorted. "So many wrong opinions in this room."
Ricky nodded and frowned. "I'm not so sure that I can handle sleeping next to people with such awful entertainment preferences."
My eyes fell on Javi who was already looking at me with a playful smirk. I feigned shock. "All of the time we’ve spent together and I’m just now finding this out?"
Javi sucked in a breath. "Are you mad?"
"Very."
"That's okay, I’ll make you like it. We’re watching one tonight so that you and Ricky can learn to love crime documentaries."
I rolled my eyes as I scooted close to him. "I guarantee I will fall asleep."
"Good." The playful edge in his tone was still there but it was small. "We will watch it tonight so that you'll sleep."
An eager gasp was heard from Ricky as his face lit up at his phone. "Bella says they bought pizza."
“This late?” Javi asked. “We just ate.”
Paxton hopped off the bed. "Let’s go get some!"
Ricky’s fingers pressed against his phone as he typed. “They wanted a snack and convinced their chaperone to order them some. They invited us to get some, but we aren’t allowed to stay. Are you two coming?”
Javi and I shared a look before I shook my head. “We’ll figure out what to watch.”
They left without a care that they were in their pajamas. Kailey and Bella’s room was two floors below us, but it was on the same side as ours, so the boys knew they’d be back quickly. No need to put on real clothes.
Javier had the remote and he was serious about forcing me to power through a true crime documentary. As he struggled to figure out how to work the television remote because it was so different from the one at his house, I took in the fact that this was one of the few times we would be alone. It felt appropriate to bring up my concerns, despite how difficult it was to do so. That was what my therapist told me on our phone session earlier this morning.
Wow, I was listening to my therapist.
"What's up?" Javier asked as clicked the buttons on the remote. I did not even have to speak for him to know I was itching to say something.
