Shift (The Neturu Chronicles) (59 page)

               
She turns and glares at him.  “I take it off, you take it off.”

               
“Fine,” Jackson says, undoing his belt.

               
“No!” Kayla yells, grabbing his hands.  Spinning out of her grasp, he
turns his back to her.  Laughing, she exclaims, “Jackson, don’t you dare!”

               
He kicks off his shoes.  “Nope, you said so.  I expect you to pay
up.”  Then his pants drop.

               
Kayla squeals. “Put those back on!”

               
Jackson pulls them off and turns around.  “I have my boxers on, gosh.”

               
Covering her eyes, Kayla giggles. “Put your pants back on.”

               
“Nope, I’m sleeping in my boxers tonight.  I’m setting the tent up in them
too.”

               
“Jackson!” Kayla yells.  “Please!  Put them back on.”

               
“Oh, here goes the shirt!”

               
Kayla stomps her foot.  “I really can’t uncover my eyes now.”

               
“What’s the difference between this and seeing me in swim trunks?” Jackson
asks.  She senses him pull the tent out of the trunk of the car and walk
away.

His retreat leaves her
alone in silence.  Kayla moves her foot forward and feels his clothes
still on the ground.  “Jackson,” she whines.  “Please, put your
clothes back on.”

               
“Are you going to help me with the tent?” he inquires from a distance.

               
“Do you have pants on?” Kayla asks hotly.

               
“Nope, took the boxers off too.”

               
Spinning around, Kayla uncovers her eyes and screams, “WHAT!”

               
Jackson pulls the tent out of the bag.  “Made ya look.”

               
“You’re a punk!”

               
“I can’t believe you looked.  What would Damien say?” Jackson chuckles. 
“I can do this naked if you want.”

               
With a scowl, Kayla playfully says, “Shut your face.”

               
“Are you going to help put this up?” Jackson asks with a grin.

               
Kayla walks over to him.  “Yeah, tell me what to do.”  Jackson pulls
the poles and stakes out of the bag.  They laugh through most of the setup
since Kayla really doesn’t know how to do anything and Jackson proves not to be
the greatest teacher. He remarks about how it is probably taking them twice the
amount of time than it should.  Finally, the tent is up.  Kayla
throws her hands into the air.  “Score!”

               
“Okay, now you can put pants on in the tent,” Jackson says.

               
“What if I want to sleep in my underwear too?” Kayla teases.

               
With a smirk, Jackson replies, “You do whatever you want.  I won’t mind.”

               
“Yeah right, you wish.”

               
“I won’t lie, yes I do.” Jackson laughs as he walks to the car.

               
Kayla groans as she follows him.  She hears her phone ring and takes it
out of her pocket to answer it.  “Hello?”

               
“Are you guys going to sleep yet?” Damien asks.

               
“Soon. We just got the tent up,” Kayla replies.  “I’m kind of tired.”

               
“So you’re choosing not to run around in the desert?” Damien asks, sounding
hopeful.

               
Finding herself checking out Jackson while his back is turned, Kayla quietly
says, “Not sure yet.”

               
“What?”

               
Snapping out of her stupor, she shakes her head.  “Sorry, we haven’t
really talked about it yet.”

               
“Sleeping will also even you out,” Damien states.  “So I vote for
sleeping.”

               
“We’ll see.  I’m awfully tired, but the sky is so beautiful here. 
There aren’t really any lights, and you can see the Milky Way.”

               
“I wish I was there with you.”

               
“It would be cool.”

               
Damien says, “We should go on a camping trip of our own.”

               
“That sounds good to me.  So how’s Victoria?”

               
“Good, I can hear her calling for me.  I promised to read some of her book
tonight.  She’s a big reader.”

               
Kayla snaps her attention away from Jackson to totally focus on Damien. “You’re
such a great brother.”

               
“My family is a little ridiculous.” Damien chuckles.  “Hold on a
second.”  There is a pause and then he says distantly, “Victoria, I said
give me five minutes.  I’m saying good night to Kayla.”

               
“I want to say hello!” Victoria’s voice carries through the phone to Kayla.

               
“Uh-oh, Victoria wants to talk to you.” Damien laughs.

               
“That’s fine,” Kayla replies, smiling.

               
A giggly voice comes onto the line. “Hi, Kayla!”

               
“Hello, Victoria, how are you feeling?”

               
“Actually horrible,” Victoria whines. “My ribs hurt so
bad
and everything is bruised.  Damien is taking good care of me,
though.  He is the best brother ever!”

               
Kayla laughs. “That’s good to know.”

               
“Since you’re Damien’s girlfriend, does that make you like a sister to me?”

               
Not sure what to say, Kayla says, “Umm, I guess.”

               
A voice in the background says, “Victoria, you shouldn’t say that to her.”

               
“What…she’s your
girlfriend.
  I can ask whatever
I want.”

               
“She isn’t my girlfriend.” Damien sighs.  “Give me back the phone.”

               
“No,” Victoria states.  “Go away.”

               
Laughing, Kayla urges her on.  “Don’t give him the phone back.  You
can be my sister.  I don’t have any.”

               
“See, Damien.  She’s my sister now, so there!  So what are we going
to do when you get here, Kayla?”

               
“Well, you can’t go anywhere.  What would you like to do?”

               
“I want to play board games.  Damien played Yahtzee with me all day.”

               
Kayla smiles. “I know.  I heard, and I would be happy to play games with
you.”

               
“She’s coming to see me, you know,” Damien says to his sister.

               
“No, she’s coming to see me now,” Victoria counters.  “It’s going to be
Kayla, Courtney, and me.”

               
“Tell him he can cook for us.” Kayla snickers.

               
“Yeah!  Kayla says you can make us food,” Victoria states
matter-of-factly.

               
Damien chuckles. “She did, huh? Then I guess that’s what I’ll do.”

               
“Grilled cheese with tomatoes,” Victoria says.  “And chocolate peanut
butter cookies.”

               
“Ooh, I like the sound of that,” Kayla agrees.  “Can I talk to your
brother now?”

               
A long, “I guuuueessssss,” comes from Victoria.  “Talk to you later!”

               
“Okay, sweetie,” Kayla replies.

               
Damien comes back on the phone.  “So you’re ditching me?”

               
“Yup,” Kayla answers back.  “We’re going to have girl time.”

               
“I guess I will have girl time somewhere else,” Damien retorts, obviously
trying to get to Kayla.

               
Not finding it funny, Kayla says, “Go right ahead.  Go find some other
girl.  I
do
have Jackson with me.  We’re going to be alone in
a tent together.  I bet we could get into trouble.”

               
Jackson snaps his head up from the trunk.  “What did you just say?”

               
“We’re going to make wild passionate love in the tent,” Kayla replies.

               
His eyebrows go up and then he shrugs. “Okay.”

               
“Hey now!” Damien yells.  “There will be none of that!

               
“Weren’t you just the one talking about going to greener pastures? 
Jackson wouldn’t mind plowing my fields.”

               
“I was joking, Kayla,” Damien says seriously.  “That isn’t funny.”

               
Kayla rolls her eyes.  “It was only a comeback.  There won’t be any
sex between me and Jackson.”

               
“Good to hear.”

               
“I already have my clothes off,” Jackson murmurs next to her.  “There
isn’t much more to disappear.”

               
Glaring at him, Kayla mouths,
“
Shut up!
”
Speaking back into the phone, she says, “Well, if we want
to get up early in the morning, then I had better get to bed.”

               
“Okay, will you call me when you leave in the morning?” Damien inquires.

               
“Of course. I still have to call my parents and tell them I’m okay.  My
mom has been texting me all day.  It’s ridiculous.”

               
Damien chuckles.  “They’re your parents.  It’s their job to worry,
especially your mom’s.”

               
“I know.  Have a good night, okay?  Don’t get into any trouble.”

               
“I think you’re the one who needs to stay out of trouble,” Damien points
out.  “I’m with my family.  You’re alone, camping with another
boy.  I’m more worried about you.”

               
“There’s nothing to be worried about.  I’m going to sleep.”

               
“Good.  Have a good night, beautiful.  I’ll talk to you in the
morning.”

               
“Sleep well,” Kayla says.

               
“You too, bye, sweetie.”  And Damien hangs up.

               
She grins and puts the phone away.  “So,” Jackson says.  “How is
lover boy?”

               
“Stop.” Kayla laughs.  “Don’t pick on him.”

               
“Um, it’s my job to pick on him.  That won’t ever change.”

               
Kayla smiles.  “I’m going to call my parents now.”  She turns and
dials their number.  The conversation is long.  Her mom keeps asking
if she’s safe.  She shakes her head at her mom’s obsessive worrying.

               
Finally, everything is set up and Kayla is finished with her phone calls. 
Jackson put his clothes back on while she talked to her parents.  She
walks into the tent and slides into her pajamas.  “Okay, I’m ready,” she
says after a few minutes.

               
Jackson enters the tent.  “All right, time to sleep.”

               
“I’m tired,” Kayla says, crawling into her sleeping bag.  She lies
down.  “I’m glad you’re picky about pillows, because we would be really
uncomfortable right now without them.”

               
“I take my pillows on every trip,” Jackson states.  “I’m creeped out by
hotel room stuff.”

               
Kayla giggles. “I’m always thinking about what’s probably happened in that
bed.”

               
“Me too,” Jackson says, lying down next to her.  “It’s gross.”

               
They lie there for a little while gazing up at the sky.  “It’s so
beautiful,” Kayla whispers.

               
“I agree.”

               
“Have you ever tried to paint the stars?”

               
“Yeah, I can paint other stuff.  People are just my thing.”

               
Kayla turns her head to look at him.  “I wish I had talent like
that.  It’s so powerful.”

               
“It’s my…escape,” Jackson murmurs.

               
“What do you mean?” Kayla inquires, pulling her sleeping bag tighter around
her.

               
“Painting is almost spiritual. I may be successful academically, but painting
is part of who I am.  I connect in a place deeper than myself, and I allow
myself to feel everything I don’t permit myself to feel the rest of the time.”

               
Kayla shivers. “What don’t you let yourself feel?”

               
He looks at her.  “Are you cold?”

               
Kayla nods. “Yeah, even with the sweatshirt on.”

               
“Get out of your sleeping bag,” Jackson states, crawling out of his.

               
A little confused, Kayla says, “That’s not going to warm me up.”

               
“Just do it,” Jackson instructs.  Kayla complies and watches as Jackson
unzips both of their sleeping bags and then proceeds to zip them into
one.  “There, you can sleep next to me.  I’m usually an
inferno.”