Sam's POV

We reach the lake after roughly ten minutes. It's a different part of the lake, and there are two large boulders taller than a two-story house on either side. We put our stuff down and I take off my shirt. I hold my breath when Victoria takes off hers, her bathing suit fitting perfectly around her body, and I try not to let it distract me.

"What did you want to see again?" I ask.

"I'll tell you later. First I want to show you this." She waves me over, and I follow her as we climb up a small hill.

"Where are we going?" I say as we finally slow down. Victoria grabs my hand, almost yanking me over the edge.

"Woah." I breathe. We're at the edge of a cliff, looking down at the crashing waters below us. Around the lake, the rest of the forest surrounds us, giving me a sense of protection.

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" She says, grinning.

"Yeah, it's-"

Victoria suddenly steps closer and puts her hands on my waist. I look at her with wide eyes and she studies me for a second, then bites her lip and shoves me hard.

Victoria's not that strong. Don't get me wrong, she's not weak either, but she just caught me so off guard that I didn't have the time to defend myself. Which is why I'm falling through the air into the water awaiting below, the last thing I saw being her grinning face.

I crash into the water a few seconds later, but it's okay because I can swim. I decide to stay underwater for a little while longer, knowing she doesn't know if I'll drown or not.

I hear a crash somewhere nearby and I swim to the surface, only to be met with a gasping Victoria. I pull myself out of the water and sit on the rocks, letting my legs dangle in the water as she wipes the water from her eyes.

"Sam! Are you okay?" I grin at her and she frowns. "Not funny, Sam. I thought I'd killed you."

"Don't worry, you couldn't even if you tried," I say.

"I'm much stronger than you think." She says, folding her arms.

"You sure?"

"Yes, I am. Watch."

She swims over to a large tree branch that reaches low over the water and is long and wide enough for a human's weight. She slowly pulls herself onto the log and sits on it like a horse.

"What are you-" I stop, watching her as she straddles the log. I groan and run my hands through my hair. I have never wanted to be a piece of wood so badly.

Victoria reaches up, grabs the branch above her and attempts to do a pull-up. Then turns and looks at me, smiling. I look back at her. "What was I supposed to see?"

Victoria frowns. "Sam . . . "

"I'm kidding." I was joking, and I need to get the dirty thoughts out of my head.

Victoria swims over to me and pulls herself up out of the water. I watch the droplets run down her face and neck and into her swimsuit top. She looks at me curiously as she sits down next to me.

"What?" Victoria says.

"Nothing," I say, looking away. She raises an eyebrow.

"So, um, don't hate me for this, but I didn't actually have a real reason to come here." She says.

I laugh. "I didn't think you did."

"I just wanted to get out and, you know, have fun for once."

"Well, I'm glad you brought me along, Victoria. I really needed this."

She sighs, leaning back on her hands. "Me too."

Victoria's POV

I lie on the warm rocks. I move closer to Sam, bringing my lips next to her ear.

"I might just push you in again," I say in the scariest voice I can manage.

"Now why would you do that?" Sam says, turning to me.

"Maybe I like scaring you." I shrug.

"Hmm." She says. "Well, I'll be ready this time."

I shove her, but she was ready. Grinning, she grabs me, and in one swift motion she flips me over her and I land on top of her, my legs on either side of her waist. My eyes fly wide open, and my heart beats a hundred times per second. I can feel her body beneath me, the hardness of her abdomen making me squirm.

"I-I didn't mean to do that," Sam says, breathing heavier than normal.

I put my hands on the rocks beside her, slowly pushing my body up and off of her.

"What the hell?!" A voice says.

I turn sharply, seeing Chlo standing next to where I left my shoes, and Gunnar next to her. Her face is full of utter shock and disbelief. Shoot.

"It-It's not what it looks like- !" I say quickly.

"What the f*ck, Vicky! This is what you've been doing behind my back?" Chlo yells, her face red with anger.

"What? We weren't doing anything!"

"Chlo, we really weren't doing-"

"Shut up Sam! This is all your fault!"

"Oh, so now you're lying to me?"

Sam's POV

Victoria picks up her shirt and yanks it on angrily, then grabs her things and storms off, leaving me with Chlo and Gunnar. He stands there, looking just as perplexed as I am.

Chlo takes a deep breath. "Can you tell me the truth?" She asks me.

"Nothing happened, Chlo. It really isn't what you think."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. We were hanging out at the lake."

⚢

When we get to the campsite, Victoria's not there. I search around, finding her inside one of the cabins. I lean against the doorframe when I see her. She's sitting on a bed and writing something in a notebook.

I shift to get her attention and she looks up, putting her pen down.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long," I say. "Hey, . . . are you mad at me?" Why am I nervous?

She sighs. "No."

"Okay, 'cause . . . you kind of yelled at me back there."

She closes the book and sets it beside her. I take that as an invitation to come in, and I stand by the bed.

"Sam, it's a lot for me, what happened. I know you're strong, but you didn't have to do that."

I push my hands into the pockets of my sweatpants. "It was an accident, I didn't know you would fall like that. I never meant for that to happen."

She looks away. "I know, but when Chlo and Gunnar saw . . . the look on Chlo's face- it made me feel weird."

"Weird how?" I say, feeling a small sliver of hope.

"I don't know. Can we talk about something else?" She says, moving over to make room for me. I sigh as I sit down.

"You're very hard to read, Victoria."

"I am not."

"And stubborn," I say. She narrows her eyes, looking me up and down. "But I don't mind."

She looks at me. "You're so annoying." She sneers. Then she looks away. "But I have to thank you for being there for me when Chlo wasn't."

"What do you mean?" I say.

Victoria bites her lip in thought. I have to tell her to stop doing that. "Well, you make sure I'm not lonely, and you keep me company, and act like you care about me." She says, fiddling with her hands.

"Oh."

Victoria narrows her eyes. "That's it? That's all you're going to say?"

"What do you want me to say?"

She grabs the front of my shirt, pulls me towards her, and our lips connect. My eyes widen and I sit there, not knowing what to do. Then she pulls away, her hand still tightly gripping my shirt.

A/N:

Uh oh. Perhaps impulsively kissing Sam wasn't a good idea.

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