„It's fucking cold, you bitch!" I yell as soon as I reach the surface and gasp for air.

„Don't be such a pussy. You were taking too long to get in the water, you might as well just stay on the chaise lounge the whole day," Norah shouts back at me, standing by the swimming pool with her hands on her hips and a triumphant smile on her face. Right now, I just want to wipe that fucking smile off her face and it's not in a very pleasant way. She can't just push me into the pool, that's rude! Sometimes I just need my time to slowly get in and get used to the freezing cold water, I can't help it if I'm so sensitive.

„Come on Chloe, lighten up. This was your Idea," I hear Daisy saying and I realize I've been glaring at Norah for a while. I imagine it might look as if I'm seriously angry, which I'm not, so I turn to the other girls in the pool (Yes I was the last one to get wet) and suggest we play a game. They look confused at first but eventually agree. Norah joins us by suddenly jumping into the water and splashing water everywhere including my eyes. I'm seriously gonna kill her today.

„Let's see who can hold their breath under water the longest. The winner gets to chose where we drive next," I say. The other girls agree and I start counting to three before everyone takes a deep breath and dips their head in the water. Since I was the one counting I had to inhale very quickly before dipping my own head under water.

A few seconds pass before I hear the first one getting her head out of the water. There's another movement next to me, signaling that Daisy couldn't hold her breath any longer either. Only two left and I still don't feel like I'm going to need air any time soon. Another couple seconds pass and Norah, on my right side, gives up. One more person left to beat. It's either Eleanor or Syria. At this point I can already feel how my lungs are starting to ask for oxygen, but not urgently, though. Just as I'm about to breathe some air out, I feel the last one taking her head out of the water, leaving just me. I WON!

I tilt my head slightly, still under water, to look and make sure nobody has their head left in the water. Yep, just me. So I decide to come back to the surface.

„Okay, you won Arielle, no need to get cocky about it," Norah starts to say as soon as I'm out the water.

„What? I didn't even say anything, I'm barely out of the water?!" I tell her confusedly.

„But you we're going to. We know you too well," she smirks. And she has a point, I was indeed about to get a little cocky about it. Just a little, though.

I look around to check the other girls and see that Eleanor is breathing irregularly, meaning that she might've been the second last to get out of the water. When she catches my gaze, she confirms my thoughts.

„Yea, I almost beat you!"

„Sure,sure. Maybe one day, in your dreams," I wink at her, telling her the same thing she'd told me yesterday when we were using the bathroom at the club. She just rolls her eyes before diving back and swimming away.

--

After enjoying another few minutes in the outdoor swimming pool, we went to take a shower, which was the main reason we came here. It's a cheap option. You get to have fun in the pool AND you can take a free shower. Just perfect. After everyone was ready, we headed back to our Van and ate some biscuits before driving to the nearest Rest Area to eat lunch. Well, Daisy and I ate biscuits because we were too hungry to wait until we got there. Arriving at our destination a few minutes later, we warmed up some canned food in the microwave and sat outside by a wooden picnic table. When everyone had eaten, we got back in our Van and continued our adventurous trip.

Now we're driving on a pretty deserted road. Since I'm the one giving directions, I'm sitting on the passenger seat. Eleanor volunteered to be the driver. Norah is taking over the music, deciding to play "Must Be Nice by G-eazy" at this very moment. The melodies of the song spread a nostalgic feeling within me and I get lost in the view outside the windshield. The weather is amazing today. It's sunny, the sky is clear and the temperature outside is just nice. So I roll down my car window and hang half of my forearm outside, letting the warm wind blow through my fingers.

Wow, I really made it. I'm really done with school now and I can do whatever I want. Well, I mean, not actually whatever I want but you know what I mean. But I'm free. I feel so free right now and it's not just because of how I feel the sun on my skin or how the wind almost gives me the feeling to be flying. It's a whole different type of freedom. I haven't been thinking about her. These last few hours have been totally Adriannafree. And it's honestly such a good feeling to finally be able to move on. The constant thoughts, that I had of her, are slowly fading away and setting my mind free. Therefore, I feel free.

I'm snapped out of my own little world, when we drive past a sign that catches my attention.

MOONSBED ▶️

„Turn right," I tell Eleanor. She obeys and turns right as soon as a small road, leading to the new town, appears on our right. The road is still deserted at first but we're soon met with a few trees before entering a forest. We keep driving for a few minutes before the trees start to disappear again, giving us a wider view on the landscape. Only dry fields. There's nothing here and I have a feeling that we're driving nowhere. The road seems to become smaller, like it's about to end at some point, soon. So I decide to turn around. But before I get to tell Eleanor to turn the car, Daisy speaks out.

"Guys, look!  Is that a house? There in the middle of the fields."

I turn back to look at her to see her looking and pointing in a direction. I follow her gaze and I see indeed a house.

„Why is there a freaking house in the middle of nowhere?! What freak would live so far away from society? That's creepy as fuck!" Norah exclaims. I'm asking myself the exact same questions and strangely, the whole thing makes me shiver. Who could be living there?

„Let's drive closer to the house. To see IF anybody even lives there," Syria suggests. Eleanor turns to look at her, then at the other 3 of us.

„What if it's a crazy old man that comes out of the house with his gun as soon as we get closer and starts shooting at us?" she asks worriedly.

„Oh my god, why do you have to go and come up with the worst-case scenario, Eleanor? Just drive, don't be such a Cry-baby," Norah tells her.

Eleanor seems to think for a while before looking at us again like she's waiting for approval. Daisy and I nod to give her the cue to go ahead, so she begins to make her way towards the house. Approaching the house and finally having a better view of it, I realize that the windows of the house are broken, meaning that nobody could possibly live there. Well, not anymore.

„Drive closer," I tell Eleanor when she stops the Van. She does as I say until the Van is a few meters next to the house.

„Let's go inside," I say spontaneously. 

"What?" Eleanor looks at me like I just said the dumbest thing anyone could ever say.

"Let's go inside," I repeat. " Seriously, there's no way that somebody could possibly live there. Just look at the missing doorsteps, the broken door and the shattered windows."

I look behind me to see what the other girls think of my idea. None of them looks as scared as Eleanor so I guess they're going to agree.

"Let's do it! It could be fun, Eleanor. Nothing is gonna happen, don't worry," Syria says, trying to calm Eleanor down. Norah and Daisy still haven't said anything so I decide to step in.

"What's wrong, Norah? Are you scared?" I tell with a smirk, knowing exactly what to say to her, to make her do something, since she likes challenges. The following look on her face tells me that I managed to change her mind. Bingo.

"I'm not. We're going in, right Daisy?" it's her turn to persuade Daisy. 

Daisy just gives us all a look before sighing and shaking her head.

"I don't even know why I'm friends with you guys," she finally says before unbuckling her seat belt, showing us that she's willing to go with us. The rest of us do the same after me and Syria let out a victorious 'Yes!' , then we all get out of the van and start walking towards the front of the house. Norah is the first one heading into the entrance. Since the bricks from the doorsteps are missing, she has to jump and pull herself up. After she manages to stand on the porch, I follow her and she helps me up. Then we help each other out until the five of us are standing on the entrance.

"There isn't anything interesting inside," Syria says while looking through a window next to the door. To see it for ourselves, we head towards her. There is another window next to that one, and since four girls are blocking my view I decide to look through of the second window. But it's showing the same room, which seems to be a kitchen. It looks pretty old and rather empty. Only a few chairs and a small table with a few porcelain cups and a small ceramic vase on the left of the room, a gas range on the right next to the wall, and an old kettle on the stove. The floor looks dirty, same goes to the walls and the roof. The yellow wallpaper has bits that are peeling off from the upper part of the walls. The ceiling light is missing. There are three doors leading to other rooms, two of them open and one closed.  Seeing the doors, I'm reminded that we wanted to go inside and not just stand here, so I walk back towards the entry door, which is already slightly opened due to the fact that it's broken in the middle. I step inside and I feel the other girls following me.

An empty, white hallway with four, old fashioned wall sconces and a few wooden doors.  The first door appearing on the left leads to the kitchen that we already saw through the windows. The door appearing on the right leads to a bigger room. A living room. We step inside to see more furniture in this room than in the room before. And the atmosphere instantly changes and the house comes to life as soon as I detect framed pictures and paintings. I approach a dark-wooden coffee table, standing in the middle of the room, with a porcelain vase and a framed picture on it. I grab the black and white picture and hold it closer before blowing off the dust so I can study it. An old bearded man wearing an ivy cap, a suit, and serious expression on his face, standing next to an old lady, that's sitting on a chair. The lady, with her hair in a low side bun and a floral dress, is smiling kindly, the wrinkles on her face showing off her kindness. It's like there's a contrast between them, at least that's what I feel after examining the picture. I look around to see the same two people on the rest of the pictures. So that's the couple that lived in this house, I suppose. I place the picture back on the coffee table and examine the rest of the room.

A large red linen couch with a few ripped holes in it and two similar-looking armchairs on each side of the couch. A fireplace parallel to the coffee table, with half-burned wood in it. Candles and more framed pictures over the fireplace. An old-fashioned and expensive-looking chandelier hanging from the ceiling, with a few shattered lamps. A beautiful, antique grandfather clock. A dark-wooden bookshelf with dusty books and pictures. On the light pink walls, more framed pictures. The same two people. There are paintings of landscapes, too.  And a wooden Christian cross, right over the fireplace. The whole room was neater and more preserved than the kitchen, making it look quite cozy. 

"These books are mostly about musical history. That's so cool!" I hear Syria talking next to me, reminding me that I'm not alone in here. It's only both of us in this room, though, so I wonder were the other girls are. I walk up to Syria, who's flipping through a book and analyzing the content with curiosity. As I'm about to grab myself a book, I hear a loud scream.