"Aw, aren't they cute?" A voice said.
"Yeah." Another answered back.
Taylor jerked his hear away from her, and spun around. "Oh, hey guys." He said, breathing a sigh of release when he saw who was there.
There, standing about fifty feet away, were some juniors from another fraternity on the campus, who were friends with the frat Taylor was rushing for.
"Taylor, who are those guys?" She whispered, as they climbed down the rocks to the shore where they sat.
"Just some guys I know. They're fine. I think." He whispered back. He turned his attention to the three guys who were quickly approaching.
"So what are you doing Taylor? Getting your freshman ass some fun?" One said.
"Nah, Mike, we're just hangin out…" Taylor said, immediately irritated. He was determined not to show it, for fear of making the three large guys mad.
"Yeah, that's what it looked like." Mike said.
"Nah, really….so, what are you guys down here for?" He asked.
"Aw, we're just having some fun, you know, just walkin around, you know." Mike said, throwing a beer bottle down on a rock below them, smashing it to pieces.
Great, Taylor thought, it's only midnight and he's already drunk. "Well, we'll be up in a minute, we're just talkin." Taylor said, giving them a wave.
"All right then little buddy, you just have yourself some fun tonight, and remember what we talked about…" He said, pointing to Taylor with a giddy grin.
"Okay, I will." He said, not wanting to push the issue any further.
"Well you make sure you do, and while you're at it, would you mind sharing? Tell me later man, I need some." He said.
Taylor said, nothing, but Christina could feel his arm muscles moving on her back, and she could hear him taking in a sharp breath every time Mike spoke.
The three boys staggered away, slipping and stumbling on the rocks, and finally they were out of sight.
They both let out sighs of relief, then they both spoke. "I'm really sorry for them-"
"I didn't know what to say-"
They both stopped.
"So what were they about?" She asked.
"Aw, don't take them seriously. They're just drunks that could ruin my college career, so I put up with them. Just ignore them. I'm really sorry they said that to you." He said, rubbing his hand in circles on her back.
"That's okay…I just didn't like them." She said.
"Neither do I." He said.
She was silent for a moment, then she spoke.
"Why don't' you like them?" She asked, just out of curiosity.
"Oh…they were teasing me about stuff…" He trailed off.
They sat in silence again, before Christina spoke. "I think we should be getting back." She said.
"Yeah, I think we should to." He said, jumping up. He held out his hand to help her up. Then they proceeded to walk to the edge of the rock. He jumped down to help her, with only having her bare feet. She jumped, then screamed when she hit the ground.
"AAAHH!!" She shrieked, collapsing with pain.
"What, what?" He asked, trying to hold her up from the ground.
"Ow, shit, shit shit!" She said, biting her lip.
"What happened?" He said, now panicked.
"I stepped in something sharp." She said.
"Let me see." He said, taking the flashlight. She put her arm around his shoulders to balance herself, then he gently picked up her foot. He shone the beam on her foot, seeing that it was indeed three little pieces of glass stuck in the ball of her foot. He grimaced.
"Yup. You stepped in some glass. I'll bet it was those damn drunks!" He said, more to himself. He looked up at her. "Will you let me take it out?"
"Yes, yes, just get it out, it hurts!" She said.
"Okay, okay, just come over here." He said, leading her back over to the rock, his boots crunching in the glass. "I should have known that was there. I saw them throw that bottle." He said.
"No, it's okay." She said, grimacing in pain.
Twenty minutes later, he had carefully removed the glass from her foot.
"There." He said, pulling her sock down over the little cuts. "I don't have any band aids with me, but I have some in my tent. I brought a first aid kit." He said.
Christina's heart melted. What kind of guy would insist to bring a first aid kit on a skinny dipping trip? He had been so gentle when removing the glass. She smiled at the care he took, then started to get up.
"Here, you can't walk on that." He said, backing up to the rock so she could get on his back piggy -back style. "Get on." He said.
"Taylor, I don't think-" She was cut off when he grabbed her legs and hoisted her up onto his back.
"Taylor!" She shrieked, mostly out of surprise and embarrassment.
He said nothing as he held onto her legs and walked into the woods.
They finally reached the campsite around ten minutes later, where only around ten people were still sitting out. Christina felt so incredibly stupid to have to be lugged around the woods in her nightgown on Taylor's back. He carried her over to his tent, where he unzipped it and laid her down on his sleeping bag.
He let out a big sigh and sat down beside her. She looked at him sheepishly.
"You didn't have to do that you know." She said.
"Nah. No problem." He teasingly gasped, reaching for his water bottle.
She smacked him lightly on the shoulder, then looked at her foot.
"Oh, here, I've got something for that." He said, reaching into his backpack. He pulled out a few bandages and tape.
Once her foot was taken care of, he laid down on the sleeping bag with her.
"Long day." He said.
"Yup." She said.
They were silent for a moment, then she spoke. "This quite the um, tent." She said.
"I know, I know, but I didn't bring mine, and this was all the store had. I can't help it!" He said. It was true, the tent was on the small side. It was probably eight feet long and four feet wide. It was around three feet tall, and barely was standing. All he had in it was his cooler, his bags, and two sleeping bags.
"Oh, David took his stuff, so I guess he's not sleeping here." He said.
"He's probably in my tent with Michelle." She said. "And that's just fine."
Taylor laughed. "Do you want to stay here?" He asked. "He left his sleeping bag."
Christina paused. What the heck, she thought. "Sure." She said, stretching.
"Okay. Great." He said, grabbing the other sleeping bag. "Let's just put them together, so there's more padding. I get a stiff back if there isn't." She said in a moment of bravery.
"Okay." He said, unrolling it. They laid back on it, shoulder to shoulder. "You know, I've never done anything like this." He said with a small laugh.
"Neither have I." She said, chuckling.
He sat up, removed his boots, socks, and jeans, leaving him in his boxers and his shirt. He laid back down beside her, after pulling up his quilt up to their waist. "Just in case we need it during the night."
"Okay."
They were silent again, until the spoke. "What did that Mike guy mean when he said 'you know what we talked about.'" What was that about, anyway?" She asked, looking over at him.
"Oh…" He paused. "Earlier him and some of the other guys were talking to me and David about girls and stuff…"
"And?" Christina prodded, wanting to know more.
"and they were just telling me stuff that I will never need to know…well, not anytime soon….and they were just bugging me about stuff…." He said. She sensed that it wasn't a comfortable subject for him, so she stayed quiet.
"They were just telling me stuff about girls and sex and what they want, and what you should do, and how far you should go…things like that. Nothing important." He said, looking at her.
"Oh." She said, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.
"Chris, relax, I never take them seriously." He said.
She didn't say anything. "Chris?" He asked into the darkness. "Yeah?" She said.
"I'm not…I mean…I won't…I wouldn't' do that do someone, okay? I didn't mean to scare you." He said, nudging her foot with his.
"Okay, if you say so." She said. She picked up her flashlight, and then started shining it on the top of the tent, making letters and words.
"Hey, me and my little sisters used to play with out flashlights too on camping trips…you do that too?"
"Yeah, I always thought I was they only one!"
"No, we used to do it all the time!" He said, reaching for his flashlight.
Half and hour later, they were laughing hysterically at nothing at all and making battling flashlight puppets. She had never seen Taylor laugh so hard, and the other people were starting to yell at them to be quiet.
"Taylor…." She gasped between laughs. "We need to go to sleep…I mean, since we're depriving so many other people of theirs!" She said, and they again blew into another fit of laughter and giggles
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