A D A M
The bus got an engine problem close to the destination. At first I thought we were heading on a mountain trip, but I’m happy to see the beach location from afar where the bus stands by as the driver is contacting a mechanic to fix it.
Mrs. Lee instructed us to walk our way to the destination, since it will take us only ten minutes to get there. She didn’t mention the name of this town, but I am sure it didn’t take more than an hour to arrive here.
I wanted so badly to turn the bus around and go home and sleep on my bed for days, but when I caught Naya staring at me as I was pretending I was sleeping, I can’t help but laugh at her reaction. She almost jumps out of her seat as she’s covered in embarrassment. I halfway regretted it because she still is not talking to me. She just turned to the window and ignored as she walked out of the bus the problem announced.
She’s walking in front of me, next to Justin. I’m glad I’m not seeing anything unlikable between them, such as holding hands or something. However, she keeps struggling to keep her bag on her shoulder. She keeps lifting it up, but it keeps falling down.
Justin notices after I give him a quick kick on the leg and give him a signal with my eyes.
“Let me hold it for you.” He says. I’m surprised Naya doesn’t hesitate to decline him. When they smile at each other, I look away. I should have been the one who done it, but I know she will decline if it was me.
“Drink this.” I hand my water bottle for her. She looks at me with a doubt in her eyes. Her smile is no longer found.
“Can I have some?” Chloe grabs it from my hands and within seconds, she’s gulping it down.
Naya looks at her with disappointment in her gaze. I don’t know why she’s disappointed. For sure, she wasn’t planning on taking it. She’s just mad that I’m offering it out of nowhere.
“Here. I have mine. You can have it.” Justin offer his water to her. She takes it immediately and drinks it without the hesitation she was giving me a few seconds ago.
When I feel the pain in my chest, I fasten my walk until I walk past them. Until I walk past everyone. I think it’s a childish act or reaction. Seeing Naya torturing me this way makes me mad.
For once, I just want to get away from her. She’s so hard to read right now. She stared at me earlier as if she was curious or she was remembering something about us, but right now I just can’t take this much pain.
I arrive at the beach as my face is covering in sweat. I unzip my bag and take out a clean t-shirt. As I am drying my sweat off, I hear other’ voices coming near from the distance. In the class, we’re less than twenty students. I bet there are fewer male than the female population.
“Adam!” Chloe is panting as she makes her way towards me.
“Here. Wipe your face.” I hand her my t-shirts.
She takes it from me. “What’s wrong with you? Why did you leave me there alone? Didn't you hear Mrs. Lee said that we should be with our partners for the entire trip?”
“No, I don’t think I heard her. You're sweating, you should wipe your face. And remember, I still need you to explain to me what happened last night. I couldn’t remember anything.” I tell her.
She’s still pissed at me for bringing it up again. I know she doesn’t want to ruin this trip, but that’s the reason Naya is not talking to me, so I can’t take myself from it.
Speaking of Naya, Justin gave her his sports jacket and she tie it around her waist so when her shorts come up, it won’t show much of her skin. She looks good. She looks different, but I like her better when she doesn’t wear that short.
“Adam?” Chloe speaks while closing the water bottle with the lid on.
“What?”
“Do you like Naya?” she starts, while she fixes her eyes on me. She looks behind me. I follow her where her gaze is.
Justin just takes their bag to the ground. Naya wipes his sweat with a towel and I think about Chloe’s question. I think about when was the start of me liking Naya. And if I really do like er now. And if this is really me liking her after all.
I let out a scoff. “Why are you asking me this?”
“Because I like you, Adam.” Chloe is sternly looking me in the eyes as I freeze at her bluntness. She’s not taking off her gaze at me nor blinking at this moment. There’s a frustrated look in her eyes and desperation for the words in so long.
I laugh and shake my head. “You don’t.” I make myself believe. But to be honest, I always have the feeling she likes me, but hearing her say the words makes a difference. It makes me want her to keep it to herself instead of letting me know.
“I do, Adam. And I know you like her,” she blurts out. Her voice sounds hurt. She walks closer to me. She’s not crying or is about to cry. She’s just vulnerable about saying this thing to me. I wish I can say something. Something that will not hurt her.
“Chloe, I don’t want to talk about this right now. We’re in the middle of this trip. I just...” I can’t finish my sentence.
I’m only hoping she will not cause a scene in front of everybody.
“Just admit it, Adam. You don’t have to lie to me. You like Naya and you don’t like me.”
I put my hands on my waist in fear they will hear her. “Chloe, can you stop!” I raise my voice. Now, everyone is turning their heads to us in shock.
Thankfully, Mrs. Lee is not here yet.
Chloe scans her eyes to them but swiftly turns it back to me. Naya and Justin are in shock, too. They stay still on their spot and never taking their eyes off of us like everyone is. They’re just standing there waiting for the next to come out of my mouth.
When Justin reaches out to hold Naya’s hand, I completely feel shattered. My anger blows inside of me as I turn to face Chloe. “I don’t, okay? I don’t like Naya. She’s not my type. She’s boring and lonely and just the last person I ever want to be with. I rather die than to like her. I would rather like you. Because you always have been good to me and you cared for me. You listen to me, Chloe, and that’s why I like you. A lot.” I lie.
Everyone gasps at my words. But Naya’s gasp is the loudest I think I can hear.
I keep my eyes on Chloe. She's taken aback by my what I just said.
There’s a growing smile of hope on her face that I am guilty of. Then she drops her bag to the ground and runs into me. She circles her arms around my neck. I don’t stop her. She kisses me and I kiss her. That’s it. I don’t know what I’m doing and why I just said those words when I know it’s all a lie. But seeing her touching Justin with her hand is making me crazy. 
I know I’m only allowing this just to hurt Naya after hurting me. But I just don’t want to look at her right now, knowing I just cause damage to her with my words. And now, kissing Chloe in front of her doesn’t even make it all up.
When I pull away from Chloe, I feel someone grabs me by my shoulders and turns me around. When I see Justin standing in front of me, he punches me hard on the face that I fall to the ground with me touching the side of my lips.
“What did you just said to her?!” He is ranging in anger. “Take it back or I’ll kill you, asshole!” When his words hit me more than his punches, I look around to find her.
My face is still in pain. And so my heart. And I can’t remember what exactly her shirt color is, but as soon as I catch a glimpse of someone in a deep yellow t-shirt, moving, I know it’s her. She’s running away from the crowd with her hand, wiping off the painful tears I caused to her again.