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“Jor? Jordie? Yo’ Jordan!”
“What?” Jordan snapped in annoyance, being yanked out of his daydream.
“We’re here.” Jarred said simply. Jordan looked up, watching as the rest of the group started to surround a decent-sized cave. Bret disappeared into the mouth of the cave, followed closely by Zach. LeighAnne was trying to start a fire with a few blades of grass and two sticks. Mandee, Claudia, and Amanda were heading out to find decent fire wood. Jarred followed Claudia out into the woods, “for protection”. The girls objected at first, but they gave in after they realized that Jarred had no intention of backing down.
It seemed as though only Kristen stood unoccupied. She sat on a small boulder, her eyes stared blankly into the woods where they had come. Her silk pajamas hung loosely on her, ripped in places. She seemed to be the best dressed of the group. For the girls it was mostly tank tops and boxers, with a few T-shirts and old jeans thrown in. The guys had even less, wife-beaters and boxers being most popular. Bret had the most clothing, he actually had pants on. Despite the partial-nudity, no one made any attempt to cover themselves. The reasons are too obvious to bother explaining them. Sean was dead, they didn’t know where they were, somebody wanted them dead. These matters were a little more important than the dress code.
Jordan looked around, hoping someone else would come and relieve him of the only duty left. Seeing that no one was coming, Jordan sighed and made his way over to Kristen.
“Hey,” he said softly, hoping for some kind of reaction. No such luck, she didn’t even look up. Jordan sighed again and settled on the hard ground next to her. “You okay?”
“He’s so stupid. I have to watch over him, so he doesn’t do anything he’ll regret later. He’s such an idiot, doesn’t have any patience. He can only hold out so long before he does something irrational. I should have been there, to take care of him. He’s just so stupid....” she trailed off, tears streaming down her face. Kristen dropped her head into her hands, moaning.
Jordan stared at the ground, unsure what to say. “There’s nothing you could have done.”
His lame response only seemed to anger Kristen. “Nothing I could have done? Nothing I could have done??!!” she repeated furiously, “How can you say that? He ran in after me, Jordan. Me. If I had been there, he would have stayed put!” She was standing now, her lean body trembling, though whether from anger or suppressed sobs Jordan couldn’t tell.
“Excuse me, Miss Priss. I was trying to make you feel better. Remind me next time to just ignore you the next time you decide have that poor-me attitude. It isn’t my job to pity some stupid bitch who bites off the head of anyone who tries to interfere with her precious ego!” Jordan regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. He had only been trying to help, why had he let her anger him so? Some time during the screaming, Jordan had moved so that he stood right next to Kris, their bodies nearly touching. When he finished, Kristen stumbled back, surprised. She stared at him in shock for a minute or two, averting his eyes quickly, nursing her hurt pride.
“It’s nice to know that I can always go to my friends if I ever need to talk.” she said quietly, turning her back on Jordan and rushing towards the cave that Bret and Zach had disappeared into not long ago.
Another sigh escaped the pale pink lips of the pop star. Jordan dragged himself up, almost too tired to do so. He walked heavily towards LeighAnne who had yet to make even a few sparks.
“Need a little help?” he stood easily looking down on her from his six feet.
She raised an eyebrow at his cocky stance. “And what would you know about building a fire?”
“Well,” Jordan said after a moments thought, “I spent two weeks in Boys Scouts.” He watched her reaction with one of his trademark smiles plastered all over his childish face.
“Well now! That’s different! I didn’t know you were an experienced woodsman!” she laughed, gently mocking him.
Jordan pouted, “In that case, maybe I’ll just leave you to fend for yourself.” He turned slowly away from her at this, waiting for the call that he knew was coming.
“Wait! Couldn’t a survival expert like you help little old me build a fire?” LeighAnne’s eyes danced in merriment. At that, Jordan turned around and made his way back to the little pit that his best friend’s wife had built.
“I suppose so. Since I’m just so wonderful and all.” he grinned teasingly at her, crouching beside the pit.
She rewarded his smile with a light kiss on the cheek. “You know I love ya, Jordo.”
“Everyone does.” Jordan laughed when LeighAnne made a feeble swipe at his head, and bent to work.