Chapter 33: Chapter 33

Isabella's pov;

Third day of the camp,

After finishing breakfast, Ms Devlin announced, "Since you went hiking and played scavenger hunt these two days, you would have known the outline of mount diablo by now so today we will be going on a field trip up the mountain which is the sole purpose we came here for. Note that every plant within the park is protected so collecting or destroying anything inside the park, including mushrooms, is prohibited so take things you need to note down like a note and a pen and when you're ready with your things, gather at the big rock at 8 am sharp." And left.

Sophia shook me and asked, "Why are you still standing here? Come on, let's go to the tent and grab our things."

I gave a nod and followed her to the tent. How could she be so normal like nothing happened? Is it because it happened many months ago? Did time really help us to be strong? But, still, losing someone close to our heart... Argh! If i was there in her shoes, I'm sure i would have struggled in trauma right now.

"Hey!"

I came back to reality and asked Sophia, "Huh? What were you saying?"

"What were you thinking about?"

"N-Nothing. Let's go." And walked to the tent.

She held my hand and asked me, "You seem odd since the morning. Is something bothering you?"

I smiled at her while saying, "You're proving everytime that you can see through me well, right? Let's get our things first." and continued walking to the tent.

After a while, everyone gathered in the place where Ms Devlin mentioned.

I asked Noah who was looking into his phone, "Where's Liam? Why can't I see him around?"

"He's in his tent. Sleeping."

"Sleeping? Why is he still sleeping in a tent and not being here?"

"He's sick."

"Sick of who?"

He gave me a smirk and said, "He's ill."

"How?"

He let out a sigh and said, "He got sick since he came back from scavenger hunt and he took medicines so he's taking rest in the tent. Probably he'll join us for lunch. And, don't ask me further questions since I've been answering every one in this class since last evening."

"Sorry."

I turned to Sophia and said, "Watch my spot. I'll be back in a minute."

"Where are you going?"

"To see Liam."

"But Ms Devlin is going to be here any minute."

"I'll be back. If she's here before I return, go with her. I'll catch up with you guys later." And walked to Liam's tent.

I stood in front of Liam's tent and asked, "Um, it's Bella here, can I come inside?"

While I was waiting for his permission, Harry came out of nowhere and asked, "Why aren't you with the others?"

I ignored him and tried to lift some portion of Liam's tent in the front but Harry held my hand and stopped me from doing it. I snapped his hand and asked, "What are you doing?"

He asked me back, "What about you? What were you trying to do to someone else's tent?"

"It's Liam's tent. Not someone else. And don't sound like I'm barging in."

"Why are you trying to go inside?"

"Argh! What do you want with me?"

"I want you to like me back." And left.

"Idiot!" I cussed him and lifted the sheet to find Liam sleeping inside the tent. I came out and looked around the camping site. There aren't very many people around. How can I leave Liam here alone? Some should have stayed back to take care of sick people, right? But no one is here to take care of him.

I made a call to Ms Devlin.

"Um... Ms Devlin, can I stay with Liam at the camping site?"

"How is he? Is he alright now?"

I checked his temperature and It was high.

"The temperature is pretty down now."

"Okay. Stay with him. And, make a call to me if there's any emergency. Understand?"

"Yes, Ms Devlin."

"About the information during the field trip, I'll ask the students to share with you. Don't you worry about that."

"Thank you, Ms Devlin."

She ended the call and I stayed back in the camping site to take care of Liam who is sick.

I pressed the towel which was soaked in cold water over Liam's head to decrease his temperature. While I was doing it, someone stopped me.

When I looked up to see who that person was, Harry again.

He said, "If you give him a cold bath, it's not going to help decrease his temperature."

He took the cold water bowl out and returned with lukewarm water in the same bowl. After taking the towel from my hand, he submerged in the lukewarm water and placed it over Liam's forehead and said, "Giving cold compress will only be an instant relief."

I took it from his hand and started pressing it on Liam's head.

"Why didn't you give me a chance?"

"What?"

"We all know he likes you and wasn't just fooling around with you. Why didn't you give him a chance?"

"I don't have to answer you."

"Just wanted to know why he didn't get a chance even if he was your friend."

"Why are you still here? Why didn't you go with the others?"

"You're not my teacher so you don't have the right to raise those questions against me."

Liam started to shiver so I tried to hold his hand but Harry stopped me and started rubbing Liam's hand with a dry towel and said, "Sit tight. I'll do it."

After sometime Liam stopped shivering and I came out since I couldn't stand Harry's presence anymore.

He came out after me saying, "What are you doing outside?"

I pointed my index finger towards his chest and asked, "What are you doing here?"

He remained silent.

I held him by his collar and asked, "Why are you being silent? Spit it out! Why are you here? Why didn't you go?"

"Because I don't want my girl to be alone with any other guy."

I let go of his collar and came into the tent again after saying, "I'm not your girl."

I thought Harry would enter the tent since he's a shameless guy but he didn't, to my surprise.

After some time, Liam woke up and asked me, "What are you doing here? Didn't you go on the field trip with our friends?"

"No, I... I stayed back."

"Why did you stay back?"

"For you ofcourse. How can I leave my friend like this?"

"Don't talk like that. If you do, then it'll look like you're giving me hope."

I remained silent.

He laughed and said, "Hey, I was just kidding. Did you get upset?"

I shook my head and said, "Ms Devlin said to inform her once you wake her, so I'll go and make a call to her."

He gave me a nod so I came out of his tent and made a call to Ms Devlin. After hearing Liam's condition through me, she said, "It's good to hear that, we're already on the way to the camping sites. Isabella, I want a favour from you. Can you do that?"

"Yes, Ms Devlin."

"Can you go along with Harry to the observation deck and collect the files that I asked from them?"

"I'll do it, Ms Devlin."

"Thank you, Isabella."

I ended the call.

I let out a sigh and looked around for Harry and found him near the campfire so I informed Liam about what Ms Devlin asked me to do and walked to Harry.

"Ms Devlin asked us to collect files from the observation deck."

"I'm not going."

What!?

"Okay. I'll go myself. Don't forget to inform her once she's here." And started to walk.

"Wait! I'll come with you."

I didn't give a response and continued walking to the observation deck.

When we reached the observation deck, he said, "The Beacon is lit every once a year on December 7 in memory of those who lost their lives at pearl harbour."

"And why am I hearing it now?"

"Don't you want to know about this place?"

"No" walked away from him.

Was he really telling the truth? I sneaked out and saw the Beacon and asked the person nearby. She said what Harry said to me a while ago.

Harry put his hand over my shoulder and said to that person, "My girlfriend doesn't believe me."

"Who's your girlfriend?"

"You. Bella."

I took his hand and said, "Don't call me Bella. That's how my friends call me. And you're not my friend."

"Yeah, I'm your friend because I'm your boyfriend." And laughed.

Suddenly, he grabbed my hand and took me to see through the telescope when the people moved away from the telescope.

He set the telescope and said, "Take a look."

"I don't want to."

"You're going to miss the amazing view."

I bent and looked into the telescope. I can't believe my own eyes. The view was fantastic like he said. I could see the entire mountain through the telescope. Wow.

"How is it?" Asked me in excitement.

"Not bad."

He moved his face closer and said, "I know you liked it. It's on your face."

I pushed him back and said, "I'm going." And walked down the staircase.

"Wait. Before we go, Let's look at this ancient marine fossil."

"Didn't you see when we came?"

"I did but... I missed to take a closer look at it since you were in a hurry to collect that data."

"Why do you sound like you're interested in them suddenly when you hate fossils?"

"How do you know I hate fossils?"

"Knowing the enemy's flaws helps in battle."

He laughed and said, "You're funny."

"Stare at those walls all you want. I'm leaving." And walked down the stairs of the observation deck.

"Wait, wait for me!" And ran after me.

When we came to the camping site, everyone was here already.

walked to Ms Devlin and gave the report she asked me to get from the guy in the observation deck.

While I was on my way to the tent, I saw Liam near the camp fire along with Noah and Sophia. What is he doing here? Wasn't he supposed to take a rest now?

"Liam, what are you doing here?"

He stood up and said, "Thank you for taking care of me."

"How did you know?"

"Harry. He told me that you're the one who took care of me."

"Okay. Okay. How are you? Are you feeling alright?"

He gave a nod and asked, "What do you want to eat today? I'll cook it for you."

"Stop it right there! I know how bad your cooking is. Are you really treating me back for helping you or are you trying to get back at me for giving you a cold compress?"

"You try to give me a cold compress?"

"T-That was a mistake. I didn't know what to do when you're burning like that. Argh! Why are we talking about that now? You're fine now so let's forget that one, huh? And, for dinner, don't try to kill me."

Liam laughed and said, "I was just kidding. I'll buy strawberry milk in the cafe near the school."

Noah asked Liam, "Are you talking about the Sundown cafe?"

"Yeah, it's getting popular since a new waitress joined. I heard many boys in our school hanging out there during weekends. We should also pay a visit."

I flicked Liam's forehead and said, "I should have given you a cold compress."

Noah laughed while I was arguing with Liam.

Ms Devlin announced, "Everyone, gather here to get your breakfast!"

Noah and Liam left.

I turned to Sophia and asked about Evelyn's whereabouts, she said that Sophia is organising things for the lunch along with other students.

"Come on, let's go."

"Wait." Sophia stopped me and whispered, "What are you doing with Harry?"

"Harry?"

"I saw you both walking to the camping site together."

"Ms Devlin asked us to get some report from the observation deck and she asked to take him along with me."

"You're friends with him now?"

"What? Friends?" I laughed and continued, "We're rivals, Sophia. Did you forget that?" And walked to where Ms Devlin asked to gather for lunch.

When it was my turn to get the lunch on my plate, I asked Evelyn, who was serving the potato chips, for more.

"Can I get the plate for you too?" I asked Evelyn after getting chips on my plate.

She said, "It's fine. I'll join you guys once it's done. You can start eating without me."

"Are you sure about that?"

She gave a nod.

"Are you really sure about that? Don't come and whine like we left you."

"Move already. There's more in the line."

"You said yourself, class president."

"Just go." And shooed me away with a spatula in her hand.

I sat with my friends, and no one started eating. It made me feel suspicious about the food.

"Is food that bad?"

Sophia said, "No."

I asked Noah, "What about you? What are you waiting for?"

He didn't give a response. What's with him?

I poked Liam and asked, "What happened? Did those two fight?"

He shook his head.

"Oiii! Why are you like this? Are you waiting for Evelyn?"

They all shouted in sync, "No!"

"Wow!" Evelyn said while walking towards us.

"Hey! You came!" I turned and looked at the place where they were serving lunch.

"We switched"

"Oh, okay."

"Then, what were you guys talking about?"

They didn't respond to her either. I smiled and patted her shoulder while saying, "They're like this when I came back with my plate. I thought they'll react to you since you're a class president but it didn't help either." And laughed.

I took my first bite of the food and said, "The food tastes good. What more do you want?"

Noah started, "Liam..." But Liam stopped him from finishing what he was about to say.

Evelyn asked, "So it's regarding Liam, right?"

Sophia nodded her head which made Liam make faces at her.

Evelyn continued, "What is it? You're bad at hiding things from me. Come on, what was it about?"

Noah said, "Liam got confessed!"

I was shocked. I started to think about who that person might be. While I was thinking about the person, everyone looked at me. Why are they looking at me?

Evelyn placed her hand on my shoulder and said, "You said you're seeing him as your friend. Then, why did you do it? Why are you playing with his feelings like this?"

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything."

Noah continued, "Yeah, She didn't confess."

Evelyn bolted out and asked, "Then who is it?"

"Liam got confessed by some junior."

"What is her name?"

"We forgot to ask for the name since we're still in shock that he got confessed by a girl." And turned to Liam and asked, "What is her name?"

While they were talking, I thought about all the possible people he confessed to. When Noah said it's a junior. I narrowed down from our classmates and thought who it was. And it striked me in the end!

"Jenny! Right? Was she the one who confessed?"

When I told the name, everyone looked at me.

Sophia asked me, "Do you know her?"

"No, but I've met her once before."

"You remember the name for the first time you met the girl? Then why did it take one week to remember my name in middle school?"

I let out a nervous laugh and said, "You know that I'm a forgetful person back in middle school, right? More to that, let's come to Liam." I asked Liam, "Is it Jenny?"

He nodded at me.

I smiled and said, "So she did what I said in the end." And laughed.

Liam asked, "What?"

"I-I was about to say that..."

Liam stood from the place and said, "Did you plan this? What were you trying to do here?"

"What are you saying..."

"I stayed away when you said you're not interested in me then why did you do this to me? Making a girl confess to me? What are you trying to do? I'm not a pawn in your chess set to be placed however you want!"

I stood from my place and said, "That girl confessed to you! I don't understand why I'm the one who was getting the blame here?"

He shouted back, "Don't act innocent when you get caught!"

"Liam! Watch what you're speaking! You're blurting out nonsense! I bet you'll be sorry when you find out what really happened."

He shouted, "Stop acting! Bella! I can't believe you did something like this to your friend!" And left.

Noah and Evelyn ran after him while I was standing in confusion.

Sophia asked me, "What happened?"

I shook my head and walked out of the place. I thought of going to the tent but I didn't. Instead I strolled along the camping site.

Why did he get mad at me in the first place?

Ms Devlin came out of nowhere, "I heard you had a fight with Liam."

"I don't get why I'm the one to blame. I don't know why he got mad at me."

"I don't understand."

"Liam got confessed by a girl whom I know a bit. He thinks that I made that girl confess to him."

"And, why does he think like that?"

"Because I told the girl to confess to him. But, not like he said. It's a different story." And told what happened during the event to Ms Devlin.

"Don't take it as advice, I think you should have to talk to him. Talking can solve things than being mad at each other without knowing what really happened."

"But he's mad at me. Will he talk to me?"

"Are you mad at him that he shouted at you in front of everyone?"

I shook my head and said, "I was only upset that he misunderstood the situation."

"The problem has been resolved. Go and talk to him."

I gave a nod and walked to Liam's tent. He was on his phone so I waited for him to finish talking on the phone.

When he looked at me, I walked to him to explain but before that he ran towards me and hugged me.

"I don't get it. Aren't you supposed to be mad at me?"

He broke the embrace and said, "I called Jenny. She said what happened that day."

"So you know now that I'm not the reason for that confession?"

He gave a smile and nodded while apologising to me.

"It's fine."

Sophia came out of nowhere and said, "Is everything okay between you two now?"

I gave a nod to her.

Noah jumped in front of us and said, "Then, why are you still standing here? Let's go to the campfire place."

"Campfire?"

"Yeah, they would have started it by now. Let's go."

We walked to the campfire where everyone was gathered around the fireplace keeping each other warm. Somewhere dancing in front of the fire while some were singing to encourage them.

Noah shouted, "Peter, did you get it?"

Peter gave a hands up.

I asked Noah, "What was it?"

"A small surprise?"

"For me?"

He hit my head and said, "For everyone."

Everyone?

Peter brought a guitar with me.

I smiled and asked Peter, "Where did you get this in here?"

Noah got the guitar from Peter and said to me, "I'll answer that for you. We got it from a guy in the camping site. It's yours for tonight." And gave it to me.

"What do you want me to do with it?"

"Play it. Sing for us."

Ms Devlin asked me, "I didn't know you play guitar. Why did you never say that to me?"

Noah answered for me to Ms Devlin, "She didn't tell us too Ms Devlin. We got her when she played Sophia brother's guitar secretly. She plays well. And, more to that, she sings well while playing guitar, Ms Devlin."

I pinched Noah to stop him.

"Ack! Ouch! Why are you pinching me?"

Ms Devlin asked me, "Can you play a song? I would like to hear your voice?"

Even though I asked for excuses, none of it worked in front of Ms Devlin's excitement. I looked at everyone who's gathered in the fireplace. They looked like they're waiting for me to start singing.

I took the guitar and strapped it around my shoulder and sat with the guitar in my lap.

I let out a breath and placed the pick on the guitar and started beating the strings. I played "love you hate you" on the guitar while singing along with the music I was playing on the guitar.

When I finished with the song, I raised my head and looked at them.

"How did it go?" I asked everyone.

Soon everyone started clapping their hands and shouted that the song was good which made a smile on my face.

Sophia came and hugged me and I screamed, "Ouch! The guitar! It's poking."

She laughed and said, "Oops! Sorry."

I removed the guitar and said, "You can hug me now."

She smiled and said, "You did great."

After Ms Devlin came, Sophia left.

"It was really a good performance, Ms Garcia." Ms Devlin complimented me.

I smiled and said, "Thank you, Ms Devlin."

"Why didn't you say that you sing and play guitar this good?"

"You didn't ask me."

She smiled and said, "It was good. You have talent. Don't waste it." And left.

Each person took turns and told stories in the campfire and made it fun.

"Your voice is good."

When I turned to look who it was. Harry. I ignored him and looked at the people in front of me.

Harry sat beside me with a distance and said, "Who teaches you to play the guitar?"

"I learnt it on my own."

"Wow! You did great with the chords. It didn't look like you learnt on your own."

"Why do you sound like…"

"I play guitar too. I learned it when I was five."

"Five? Are you kidding me? Are you like a professional now?"

He laughed and said, "Don't make a sound. No one here knows that I know guitar too."

"I hid it because… why do I have to say it to you? Okay, why did you hide it? Don't you like attention?"

He moved closer to me and whispered in my ears, "Because I wanted only to play in front of the person i like." and kissed my cheek.

"W-What…"

He smiled and held my hand while saying, "Do you want me to play guitar for you?"