Today is our third and last day, everyone of us are seperated by partners, since we are on the beach it's easier for us to do our research when you have the proper clothes for the environment.
I chose to wear a black sports bra and some shorts, I also applied some sunblock and top it with a white lacy blazer to cover my chest since I'm working with Icer.
We're on top of a cliff like rock, taking a break after a tiring work and exploring, we are already done with our activities because we divided all the works which means we can do whatever we want for the rest of the day.
We also prepared the lunch in advance so there's no work left to do, as for our teachers, they are taking their time relaxing on the rest house's balcony while observing us.
"Wanna take a dip?" Icer suddenly asked.
"Hmm? Now?" I asked back.
"Why not? The sun isn't that hot, don't worry about getting tan or sun burn" he grinned.
"Really?" I asked sarcasly, he chuckled and took off his shirt.
Hey that's a violation! I look away and braided my hair to distract myself, it would be nice to see Ace being topless too- what the fudge cake are you thinking Belfour!? I finished my braid and tied it with a rubber band before turning to Icer who was staring at me.
I cleared my throat and stood up. "Why don't you go first?" I asked him.
"You'll leave me behind" he groaned.
"I won't, chill" I rolled my eyes.
"Let's just dive in together so I can make sure" he looked away, I grinned and removed my blazer and dropped it next to his shirt before walking over the edge.
"How high is this?" I asked him.
"Probably about 30 meters or less" he replied.
"Hmm, it won't hurt right?" He asked, I shrugged.
"It's worth a try" I chuckled and jumped off the cliff.
I closed my eyes when my body hit the water, I also felt Icer fell near me, I remained on the bottom for a moment before swimming up to the surface to catch some air.
"It's amazing!" He cheered, I giggled and swim towards the other direction, it feels relaxing.
"Hey look over there" he pointed at the shore.
My eyes widened and sank my body deeper on the water, his three friends are on the way to swim on the sea, not to mention my eyes have sinned once again.
"Argh I hate my life" I mumbled.
'But you did saw Ace's abs from being topless' my other half said making me want to drown myself.
'Oh come on Tine, since when did get interest to that guy huh? You also compared him to Icer a while ago' the other part of my head argued.
"Woah, didn't know you have a crush on-"
I immediately covered his mouth making him fall back to the water with me, why the h*ll does these moments keep happening to me?! I immediately swam back the surface and glared at him.
"I don't have one, I will have none, no one" I blurted out and he smirked before diving back down the water.
I gasp when I felt a pair of strong arms wrapped on my waist, I was about to punch that person but I stopped when he turn me around. His dark raven eyes met my caramel brown ones, hypnotizing me.
"Hey..." he softly said, my eyes flattered looking at him up and down then my face heated because of how close we are to each other.
"H-hey... uh- h-how, why are you here?" I asked, d*mn that stuttering.
"To have fun, I'm done stressing over the activities" he smirked and I pushed myself off his grip.
"That's great, I'm looking forward to the games- is Liz already there?" I asked, I saw how he clenched his jaw while looking at my chest- I sank deeper on the water to hide it and I'm still blushing as h*ll.
"Y-yeah, I'm actually looking for Icer because Liz needs his help there" he pointed behind him and I saw Liz, James and some of our classmates on the shore getting busy preparing for the games that we will be having after lunch.
"Icer is just here- a while ago" I glared at his figure which is currently walking towards the sand.
"Looks like he finally realize that he still have work to do" he sneered, I smiled before looking at Troy and Pierce who was busy splashing water to each other.
"Should we head back now?" I asked then he pulled me close to him once again.
I was about to complain when he dragged me towards underwater and I immediately held my breath at that moment, I have no choice but to follow him, we swim towards a random direction until I felt the my lungs starting to ran out of oxygen.
I pulled his hand back that made him stop swimming and turn to me, he brought me to his embrace and before darkness could cover my sight, I felt something on my lips and air immediately filled my throat.
I closed my eyes tightly as I could, my stomach reacted and my body stiffed, his grip from my waist became more tight. He dragged my weak body up the surface before releasing my lips then I felt my head got out of the water, I gasp out to catch some air while holding on to Ace until my breathing became stable.
My eyes widened when I saw his ears reddening, looking deeply into my eyes with his lips slightly parted, we d-didn't just- we didn't right?!
"ACE!~" I wailed while smacking his hard chest.
"Ouch! Hey stop it!" He caught both of my hands and I glared at him.
"That was my first kiss you son of a lemom square cheese cake!" I complained and felt my face heating up so is my neck.
"I have no choice, you were close to drowning. Besides, it's also my first kiss" he muttered and my jaw dropped, we're each other's first kiss?
I pushed myself off his grip and look over the place to avoid the tension forming between us, my eyes widened when I realized that we are inside a cave, an underwater cave and on the very top of the cave is a hole that gives light all over the place- at least it's not that dark in here.
"W-what place is this?" I asked him.
"My favorite spot, I call this, illuminous cave since there's not enough light to brighten up the whole cave" he explained while walking towards the surface and I followed him.
"Come on, this way to the hot spring" he pointed at a narrow space.
"There's also a short cut here?" Okay, I'm literally forgetting what happened earlier because I'm thrilled to experience the new adventure here.
"Yeah, I just figured out recently" he answered and walked carefully through the narrow space while I trail behind him.
After a few minutes of walking I suddenly felt hot, steam was everywhere but Ace still manage to guide me out the place until I saw the sunlight comming out at the end of the tunnel.
"Almost there" he informed me and I nodded.
We reached the exit and paradise welcomed me, there was a small waterfall and below it is a crystal clear lake, it may be steamy but the water isn't hot, it just fits my normal temperature, there's also a lot of plants around a perfect place to have a relax-
"Achoo!" I accidentally sneezed.
"Are you okay? Are you feeling cold? Should we head back to camp now? Sorry I drag you here, you caught a cold" He said nonstop.
"I'm fine, I'm not feeling cold- well maybe a little, and yes we should head back to camp before everyone notice our disappearance and it's not your fault, I willingly came with you" I answered all his questions with a smile and he sighed in relief.
"Let's head back together, I have to make sure you're safe" he said once he calmed down.
I didn't objected on his idea and followed silently, who knows if I'll collapse anytime soon? I may have a high stamina but you can't really control yourself when you're body is the one who's dragging you to something.
When we reached the camp, Sam greeted me with her sly smirk but I put that aside first to get my towel inside the tent, I'm really feeling cold right now.
I quickly changed into my dry clothes before joining them outside, looks like everyone is just waiting for me, I apologize to them and James repeated the rules once more before starting.
"You know you're also dumb sometimes" Sam frowned, I raised my eyebrow at her and Liz chuckled.
"She still holds the top rank Sam at least give her consideration" she sneered.
"What the h*ll are you talking about?" I asked irritately, they both look at each other dumbfounded before shrugging and left me.
How great, so great, very great, I took deep breath to calm down before sitting next to where the others are. We were about to start when the 4th Cards came- obviously James forgot to count all of us again.
Sometimes he's really not doing a good job as the class president, tsk. Ace sat next to me and on my other side was Icer who was also sitting next to Sam, Icer handed me my blazer from ealier and I felt a thrilling aura coming out of nowhere when I entended my arms to get it.
"T-thanks Ice" I chuckled awkwardly, he smiled before turning to Sam and talked to her casually.
"Guys let's start" James announced.
"Me against Tine, we'll go first" Ace suddenly said, James grinned at me before smiling innocently to the rest.
'Oh how plastic' I mentally hissed before standing up and walked over to the front.
"Okay first one to guess 5 item inside these boxes wins- the points of course will be listed as girls v.s. boys" he reminded us and we nod.
"You're losing this time Belfour" he smirked, I smirked back.
"Karma's a b*tch Salazar" I gleed and ran towards the first box, I didn't hesitate to put my hand inside the hole.
It's quite wet and slippery, and it's kinda small, I tried squeezing it and I think my first guess was right.
"Oyster" I answered then James gave me a thumbs up, I didn't wait any second and ran towards the next box.
This time it's a hard solid kinda thingy, it's also rough and has a lot of spikes- nope branches.
"Coral" I answered and received another thumbs up from James.
The next box is full of leaves, this gets difficult huh. I ran my fingers through the leaf to feel the lines, it's quite long and I don't know the answer, so I just blurted out a random answer, I have no time to think cause Ace ran up to his 4th box already.
"Mango leaves" I answered and James nodded making me sigh in relief before running to the 4th box.
"Water lily" I answered and James gave me a thumbs up then I rushed to the fifth and last box.
I took my time on observing the thing inside the box I bit my lower lip when I felt it move, well sh*t this maybe the most disgusting thing I've done today.
"Starfish/Salmon" my eyes widened as I turn to Ace, he glared at me and I did the same.
"H-hey stop it you two, it's a tie" James announced and I sighed before walking back towards my seat.
"Good game" he pat my back, I chuckled.
"Yeah, I guess whatever happens, we'll still end up a tie" I gave up and he nod to agree.
The game went on until lunch was called on. Me, Sam and Liz are now resting near the shore, we found this big rock and decided to take shelter from the sun for a while after taking a stroll, we just finished our lunch and later on, we'll be going to the hot spring to the a bathe- just us girls of course because the boy's decided to stay here and swim on the beach instead to give us privacy.
"Ah the day passed so quickly, we'll be back to school after dinner" Liz frowned.
"Stop frowning, we still have a lot of work to do there" I pinched her nose and she whinced in pain.
"We'll be graduating soon, where are you going after this?" Sam asked.
"Probably back to my home country" I answered, just like what I planned in the first place, I'll start training on the military academy as early as possible.
"Not sure, but my parents wants to send me to dad's home country for college" Liz answred.
"How about you Sam?" I asked her.
"Maybe in Europe? My parents wanted me to go back home there" she smiled faintly and I hugged her.
Sam's family- excpet her mom and grandparents who always have her back- didn't support her dream career because they wanted her to take law just like all of her cousins did that's why she end up here in the Academy, she would just travel to Russia every summer vacation to visit her mom and grandparents who truely loves her but she visits secretly.
"Youre changing courses?" Liz asked with a hint of sadness in her voice, Sam shrugged.
"Whatever makes them happy" she smiled bitterly and we are left with silence.
Sam is the sunshine of our group so it's a little challenging for us to cheered her up, so I just decided to hug her until she gets better, I'm not also good at comforting other people by words because I don't know what to say or how to say it without offending them more.
"Okay let's get to the hot spring" Sam changed the topic making me groan.
"What a mood swing you got" Liz sneered.
"Well I do miss my family and besides, I'll prove to them that even if they accept me or not, I'll live my life my way" she confidently say.
"Yeah do that, but at least hurry up there cause the rest of the girls are ready to head out" Icer face palmed.
"Oh there they are, you three should meet up with the other ladies already" Troy added.
"Yeah, yeah whatever bye!" Sam dragged the two of us back to our tent.
I gave them a wave and Icer rolled his eyes and the certain guy who stole my first kiss today just looked away, totally ignoring my charm, tsk.
I took my towel, some new set of clothes and toiletries before setting off the tent with Sam and Liz, the girls are waiting for us on the entrance of the forest.
We made sure that all of us are present on the line before taking our leave. It was a 15 minutes walk til we reach the hot spring, evryone was so excited to take a dip so I simply let them be.
I tied my hair up into a messy bun before turning to everyone, who was already ready to head up to the water fall.
"I brought my water proof camera, I can set a timer here while we climb up the falls to get it on record" Louanne said.
"Great, let's go ladies" Sam called and we started to climb up to the water falls.
"Careful, it's slippery" I assisted the others with Sam while Liz lead the way.
Just like what we planned when we saw the camera blinking one by one of us started to jump of the waterfalls and Louanne was the last one to jump, we splashed water towards each other and some of us are doing water wrestling.
I sat on a rock watching them have fun, yeah, we didn't get along very well when we were still in our first year up to our third year, all of us were thinking about who to get the highest rank.
But after what happened to me and that psychopath, everyone started to get along, just like how James and I usually interact with each other, he would tease me and stuff but this year it's kinda different, everyone became so different.
This year, our final year- everyone is trying their best to interact with each other to have good memories to hold and write down the story book, I'm looking forward to it.
"A penny for your thoughts? Liz popped up beside me.
"Nothing, just thinking how the time flew by so quickly" I answered.
"Yeah, we met when we were still 13 or 14 years old and now were already on our 17 and 18's" she giggled.
"Have you talked to Troy?" I asked her, she sighed and shook her head.
"Grades first before boys" she grinned.
"Alright I'll let you off, don't come to me crying when he and Sofia announce their relationship" I threathened her but she raised her middle finger at me.
I took a handful of water and poured it over my shoulders alternately on both sides before walking over to the others. The water isn't that deep, it's just over my collar bone so it didn't trouble everyone who can't swim.
"After this, we'll be getting busy for the examinations then sports fest, christmass ball, new year party, red hearts day (valentines day), also the preparations for our graduation and finally graduation" Sam counted all our remaining activities.
"Nah I don't feel like attending parties" I complied.
"You haven't attended even one party since first year, you need to experience it too" Liz complained.
"Says by the one who encourage me not to attend any parties" I sarcasly rolled my eyes.
"Alright stop it you two, we're all going to attend the remaining parties this year okay?" Sam devoted and most of us agreed.
"We'll try our best to clear our schedules" the others said.
"This is already our last year, I hope that everyone of us can make good memories" A classmate of ours said.
"Of course, a lot of fun and exciting memories to share for the next generations" They cheered.
Memories, I suddenly feel like drowning myself underwater when I remembered what happened earlier, I can almost feel the heat of his soft lips up til now, argh! This is all his fault! If he didn't just drag me anywhere, we wouldn't have ended that way.
But on the other hand, he did save my life back there- but still! Every woman should treasure their first kiss! Mine has been taken away so easily like stealing a candy from a kid. I sighed and cleared my head off, I should forget about it and act like nothing happened.
I still have a long year ahead so should make the remaining days worth to remember- that is if ever I could come back here again, this place- this place made us realize that either we hate or like each other, our section is still the best when it comes to team work.