Page 29
As anticipated, I fell asleep quickly last night. I woke up with an ice-cold nose, but other than that I slept a solid six hours.
I roll over to see if David is awake, and to my surprise, he’s still sound asleep. His neatly trimmed and usually well-coiffed dark hair is messy and sticking up in random places. One of his arms is thrown over his forehead and the other tucked beneath his blankets. Speaking of blankets, they’re in complete disarray.
As if sensing someone is watching him, David startles awake, spluttering and sitting up straight. I giggle, unable to help myself.
“Whath’s tho funny?” he demands, forgetting he has his nightguard in. He turns his head away from me and removes it before turning back around and putting it in its case. He clears his throat, “What’s so funny?”
I sit up, dramatically looking over his messy pallet, and then back at mine, which is still perfectly intact since I’m a sound sleeper. “Why did you make such a fuss about your bed last night just for it to end up like that?” I gesture toward his pallet with my hand.
He brings his hands up and starts to smooth the covers. “It’s not that bad.”
“Not that bad? David, it looks like you did parkour in your dreams.” I burst into laughter and he glares at me.
“I can’t help how I sleep, Isa,” He spits out before taking a deep calming breath. “I don’t sleep well in strange places, okay?”
He called me Isa again. My heart does a little flutter at the endearment. It seems so uncharacteristic of him to give me a nickname, but I kind of like it nonetheless. “I’m sorry, I was just teasing.”
He sighs. “Brooks teases me about it too.”
“Do you and your brother not get along?”
He slumps back onto his pallet and stares up at the roof of the tent. “We do get along, in our own strange way. But our relationship mostly consists of roasting each other incessantly.”
“I get that. I have two younger sisters.”
He looks over at me and smirks. “I know. We’re neighbors, remember?”
Of course he’s noticed my sisters coming and going, the world's nosiest neighbor. “So you’ve been watching me?”
His cheeks turn pink. “Of course not,” he says defensively. “It’s impossible not to notice all the people in and out of your house. It’s a zoo over there.”
“Riiiiiiiight,” I say in a teasing tone, throwing my covers off and grabbing my backpack. “Let’s go get some breakfast, stalker.”
I exit the tent and pull my shoes on. David follows closely behind me, looking irritated. He pulls his own tennis shoes on, muttering something under his breath about not being a stalker.
Anthony and Hannah are looking happy and refreshed as they walk by our tent. “Oh whew, you’re both still alive,” Hannah says with a smile.
Anthony smiles too. “Good morning!”
Chris, Nick, Eric, and Dustin are awake as well and are walking in the direction of the food tent. Something smells amazing, like bacon and eggs. The guys look up in my direction and smile, offering their hellos and good mornings. Except for Chris, who’s apparently still pouting that I didn’t want to share a tent with him. I literally just met the guy yesterday. Not only did I not want to sleep a foot away from him, but I also needed a break after he followed me around like a puppy dog all day.
Chris gives me a slight head nod in lieu of a good morning, then he glares behind me where David is standing.
Oh brother.
Chapter eleven
David
After watching Chris pout all throughout breakfast, I was actually more than thrilled to start hiking again today. And that’s saying a lot because my legs are pretty sore from yesterday’s hike.
Despite having the naturally slender build that all the Windells seem to have inherited, my body isn’t in great shape. And, unfortunately, working out with Drew twice didn’t give me bulging muscles. My brothers always played sports and worked out, earning themselves well-defined physiques, but I simply never had the desire to exercise my body when I could be honing my mind instead. And if I’m being honest with myself, I was never naturally athletic the way they are. Academics always came easier to me than anything requiring hand-eye coordination.
However, I now see the perks of being physically fit. Working out with Drew on a regular basis is starting to sound like a good plan after all.
I stay toward the back of the group again today along with Austin and Gerald. We have a nice pace going that I’m comfortable with. My physical fitness might not be on par with Chris and Eric’s, but at least I can convert miles into kilometers without using a calculator.
Imbeciles.
