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Seven

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"Why are you going to Harvard?" April asked Javier, wrapping masking tape round the trunk of a tall, slim tree to keep track of their path so far. It was her version of leaving a trail of breadcrumbs to help them find their way back.

They had been walking for about half an hour after finding the first berry tree and were doing nothing but asking each other questions in turns. It would've been a truth or dare, like he'd suggested, but April had insisted on keeping it completely random. In short, it was driving him crazy.

Her questions were as untimed as they were impact packed. First, she'd asked if he'd ever kissed a girl in a bath tub. After that, she'd asked how many favorite songs he had. After that, she'd demanded he listed three reasons to die.

Apart from constant poking, she had also been swinging herself off of tree branches like a gymnast and climbing on fallen tree trunks. While he was struggling with finding answers to her questions, she was doing nothing but playing around like nothing even mattered.

Why was he going to Harvard?

Because he wanted to prove he could be a good heir. Why? Because he knew he would never be supported otherwise. Why?

"Because I want to," he lied, keeping his voice cool.

"Why would you wanna go to a university full of ten-year planners?" She asked him, landing beside him from being on top of a fallen tree trunk. "Last I remember, you hated that stuff."

He placed a hand in his pocket, watching her as she held another tree with one hand, walking around it repeatedly. It was hard to follow her, even harder to picture himself doing that. "You're gonna get dizzy."

"You'll catch me." she smiled.

Before he could speak again, she was off. "Answer the question!"

"Because I want a future, and that's how you get a future," he said as seriously as he could force the words out.

She chuckled. "You're gonna be a Harvard graduate of what? Music? Do they even have that?"

He wished.

"I'm an Econ Major."

She paused in her stride and cocked her head as if giving him time to change his words. When he didn't, she barked a laugh. "Seriously?"

"Yes."

"What happened to Javstrings?"

He heaved a sigh. 'Javstrings', had been one of April's names for him during their time in highschool. She'd horribly named him that after his ability to play the guitar. He had objected to it at first, but when she'd stuck her pencil out at him and suggested the other options, he had no choice than to accept it.

"Would you prefer Jazzy Javier Or JazJav?"

"I chose not to carry it on."

She turned, looked at him for a while, then shrugged, dismissing the topic. "Okay then, ask me something." She leaped over a broken, dirty eyesore of what used to be a chainsaw.

His turn.

He trained his eyes on the back of her head, a swirl of potential questions brewing in his head. He could ask her why she wasn't in college, but he was afraid her answer could be something that led back to his own college situation. Deciding to steer clear of the topic entirely, he thought of something else. "Why do you date a lot?"

She stopped walking again. "What?"

"You heard me."

His question had caught her off guard. That much was obvious. All he had to do now was stay on top of his game.

"Why would you ask that?"

"Anything goes, right?"

She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Because I'm a good person."

"That's not a valid answer."

"Okay, then let's say because none of the guys I've ever been with know the first thing about relationships."

That stung like a bee. They had started walking again, slowly this time, and she'd taken a break from climbing and skipping, though she wouldn't meet his eyes.

"You think they're the problem?"

She shrugged. "Who else would it be?"

An uneasy feeling settled inside him. Of course she wouldn't blame herself. Who was he kidding? "Really? So it's not because you have no regard for people's feelings?"

She finally looked up, meeting his eyes. "That was not fair."

"To who? The millions of guys you've dated?" His gut tugged at him to stop and he obliged. His question had already been out though, so he might have as well dealt with the consequences.

"To me, Javier, it's not fair to me," she said.

He swallowed hard, feeling his chest tighten at the flash of hurt in her eyes. Things were going completely wrong. She was supposed to feel bad after that, not him. He wasn't supposed to feel guilty for putting her in her place.

Pull yourself together.

Through the bushes ahead of them, he could see an opening with rays of sunlight shining through the spaces between the leaves. He knew their direction led to the next lake, he just didn't know if this was it or not—not that he could ask, after what he'd just said.

Apologise. No.

He resorted to slowing down his footsteps to allow her lead the way, after all, she knew better. She stopped in front of the opening he'd spotted, and before he could consider warning for safety, she grabbed a handful of the climbing plants and pulled them all to one side, widening the entrance.

"Should we check if it's saf—"

She launched herself through the hole, ignoring him. Following her, he went through the space, leading him into a wide, open area with more rocks than he could ever count. The ground beneath his boots was covered in pebbles, leading all the way to the small body of greenish water at the side.

"April?" He called, darting his head left to right to find her.

"They don't need me," her voice startled him from beside the lake. He gulped, realising she was still affected by what he'd said.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, feigning ignorance.

She shrugged and looked up at a flock of birds, perched on one of the huge rocks. "The millions of guys I've dated," she explained, kicking a random rock into the water with a glump, watching as it rippled in vibrating circles on the water.

"April, I shouldn't have said that."

"It's not your fault I look the way I do. People see me, they think 'oh, she's cute', or 'she's hot' or 'she's funny', and the next thing, they're slipping me an invite somewhere. I attend parties and all guys do is make stupid bets and try to make moves on me."

His heartbeat quickened. Did she say bets? What did she know?

"All I know is that they don't need me, they need the validation that dating April O'Brien gives them, or they're dating my last name. They don't care about my own feelings so why should I feel guilty when the breakup comes by?"

He took a deep breath, completely at a loss for words. She knew a lot more than she'd been letting on all that time. She wasn't as stupid as people pegged her and he felt even worse for not knowing until now.

There had been an actual poll in the boys bathroom concerning April back in highschool. Bunch of guys, jocks particularly, trying to see who could hold her attention the most, possibly get her to go out with them, just so they could say it. He was never a fan of it, he never took part of it, but he'd never said anything because he'd assumed she was better off not knowing. When he'd finally gotten to know her, it became an even bigger obligation of his to make sure she never found out about it.

He gulped. "You knew?"

"If I didn't then, I do now, and to be honest, I don't give a damn. I moved on just like they did, every single time."

Just when he thought he couldn't resent her more, she did something to shove his plans in the trash.

"Come on, this one isn't it," she turned around on her heels, heading back towards the opening they had come from.

The new lake wasn't like the other one, it was less rocky, the water body was bigger and almost crystal clear, reflecting the sunlight in the most beautiful way. It was shielded from one side by a group of large rocks, which could make for good-enough diving platforms.

"This it?" He asked April, looking for a reaction—anything, really, to change the air between them.

She bit her lip, turning in a circle. "I don't know, it probably has a lot of visitors. We should question its motives a little bit."

He exhaled, running his hands through his hair, a cold sense of failure seeping through him. He couldn't hold back his next words. "I'm sorry."

"Sure, you are." Her voice held a hint of amusement, but he couldn't be sure yet. Instead, he offered a small smile, immense relief washing over him when she smiled back. "And it's perfect," she said with a shrug and point of her finger at the banks, near a huge, greyish black rock. "It has the huge rocks I could break Nathan's head with."

He laughed a little more than necessary. Probably more because she'd forgiven him than anything else. He hurried to her side when she began climbing again, resisting the urge to grab her by the waist and bring her down before she hurt herself. She turned around and jumped down, sending his hands down to his side.

"Wanna test the water?" He asked.

"Why? We already know this is it," she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but I'm sure you at least want to jump in, just once to make sure."

She pushed hair back and spurted a laugh. "You know I'm afraid of drowning."

"This isn't the ocean, princess."

"Still no. I'll have the same reaction."

"How's that possible? You've never even been in the ocean."

She chuckled. "Can you hug a lion?"

He shook his head. "That's different."

"Not for me."

A smile crossed his lips, bringing with it the perfect idea. If wild was what she wanted, he could be wild. Just this once.

"What are you doing?!" She shrieked when he started.

He simply chuckled and tugged his shirt over his head. He was never a stud in his teens, but he'd gotten some gym time in over the years and toned a barely visible set of abs. He was glad he did, now more than ever, as he could sense April's eyes on him throughout the process.

"Shall we?" He asked, a fat feeling of euphoria coating him at the sight of her flushed cheeks. To see that he still had this effect on her after all this time was refreshing.

"You're on your own," she said stubbornly.

"It's not that hard."

She turned to look round again, heightening the experience for him. She was trying to avoid checking him out—too late, he'd already caught her.

"If I go first, will you join me?"

She shrugged, all but smiling at him. "Maybe."

That was all he needed. He boosted himself up to the 'small mountain' and readied himself for the jump.

On three.

He cursed as the water made contact with his skin, freezing him in places he didn't know could be frozen. He waved his arms back and forth to ease the tightness, relieved as his body began to adjust to the temperature.

"Are you okay or should I go report your death by bad decisions?" April stepped closer to him, showing no signs of interest in joining him.

He laughed and pushed a clog of wet hair off his forehead. "Very funny. Get in."

She shrugged. "No."

He bounced up and down in the water, swinging his legs slowly back and forth to keep balance. "It's not that bad, I promise."

She smiled at him. "You have a twisted sense of judgement, you know that?"

"Take that back!" he demanded, fighting the urge to get out and toss her in by himself.

"No." She flashed him another smile and took a step backward, holding him completely captive as his eyes followed her movements.

"Please?" He tried.

"Make me."

A smirk tugged on his lips as he realised what he'd have to do. He swam to the end closest to her and boosted himself out, noticing she didn't move away as he did. He took it as a sign that was going in the right direction.

He grabbed a hold of her right leg and she adjusted herself to allow him pull it toward him and tug her boot off. She smiled but stayed silent as he repeated the process with the other leg, then she ditched her jacket.

"Ready?" he asked her.

"Pretty sure I'll never be ready for this," she replied and chuckled, allowing him to take her socks off, revealing the green paint that coated the nails on her toes. He wondered how she managed to add stars to the tips, but didn't bother asking about them. She was letting him get close.

He held her ankles, supporting her as she inched slowly, closer into the water and toward him.

"I'm so gonna regret this," she whispered when his hands were on her knees with her feet barely grazing the water surface.

"No, you won't."

"I already have to worry about if I'm gonna regret college, don't make me—" She interrupted herself with a piercing scream the second she hit the water.

Javier found himself laughing at the way he'd pushed her in.

"You freakin' asshole! You said this wasn't that bad!" she screamed, inching closer to the edge to get out. It was pointless, given as he had his hands on her waist for support, if not, he knew there would only be a twenty percent chance she stayed afloat. She couldn't swim, even at her age.

"It's not. Calm down," he said, struggling to hold eye contact. "Just give it a little time. Breathe." She took deep breaths, clinging onto him for support. She slowly began moving her legs like he was doing.

See? Easy.

"What was that about college?" He asked as the thought occurred to him. He'd heard her say something like that earlier.

"I'm not going to college," she said, spreading one hand out beside her. "You can easily join the list of people who judge me for that. I don't really care what you guys think, anyway."

Judge her? All he could think about was how she was getting to live her dream. She hadn't been kidding when she'd always talked about wanting to dance instead of college. She was actually doing it.

"And of course, you'd join them. Sometimes I think even Hannah thinks I'm crazy going up against my Dad."

He shook his head slowly. It was what he wanted, and he couldn't judge. If anything, he was jealous of the fact that she was getting what she wanted, unlike him. It should've made him resent her, but what he felt was far from resentment. "You know I've always supported you."

Her brows raised in brief surprise, followed by her lips curving into a wary smile. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

They held each other that way, and for the life of him, Javier couldn't get his eyes off her lips. He wanted to kiss her so badly, and not just because of his mission. His heart pounded against his chest like a hammer to cloth as they kept the stare down, clung to each other.

He couldn't resist. He'd melt in his pants if he didn't do something.

He leaned in closer, holding both sides of her waist tighter to himself under the water as the line began to blur. The closer he leaned, the more difficult it became to separate the two sides of April again. In this moment, it wasn't the selfish, entitled girl he saw, it was the one who never gave up on her plans for the future. He didn't see her big ego, instead, he saw a girl who trusted him enough to let him take her swimming, and he couldn't describe how important it made him feel. Even more when she placed her hands on his chest and closed the remaining gap between them.