Show Them What it Means To Be Alive

soaring through, through the night.

Melanie’s ocean-blue eyes snapped open to a reason unrenowned to her at the time. She swallowed—piercing pain followed. So that’s why. Melanie’s lack of drinking had finally caught up to her, thanks to Jack’s who needs anything to drink when you can have ice cream? attitude, she was sure.

Forgetting where she was, Melanie’s heart jumped. She was just getting used to the whole ‘Calm down Melanie, you’re at camp’ thing, but if she remembered correctly, this wasn’t her cabin.

The limbs strewn across her body brought her back to the reality that she was in the boys’ cabin. This time, apparently Alex had decided to be the one to ‘fall’ on top of her. His leg was completely across Melanie’s body; his boxer-clad crotch a bit too close to her bare thigh. She had to admit that the way he unconsciously dug his head into her shoulder was adorable; The way his hair got in her mouth – not so much.

Pulling herself from the bed, Melanie carefully released Sleeping Beauty’s death-grip on her arm. Awkwardly, she padded her way down the bunk bed’s ladder and towards the bathroom. Just as she got close to the door, it swung open, casting a triangle of light and revealing a half-asleep Jack Barakat.

“Can’t sleep?” He mumbled

“Not when your best friend’s trying to sleep-fuck me,” She smiled all her tired body would allow

Jack nodded; meaning either he was too tired to care, or that he knew how she felt. Most likely the latter, from what Melanie had seen of the two of them that day.

Her bare feet hit the smooth tile as she made her way into the bathroom – thankfully Jack had left the light on. She filled the closest cup she could find up with water from the sink, too tired to care about the last time it had been washed, or what its previous contents even were.

Melanie slowly but safely made her way back to the ladder of the bunk bed and climbed up, this time a little bit quicker. Climbing over a sleeping Alex, she took her previous place under the covers. Almost instantly, Alex rolled over on top of Melanie again. She tried to push him back, which was counterproductive, seeing as the second she touched him, he finished rolling over all the way. He was now on his stomach, swirled out over Melanie, who was on her back.

She gave up, and eventually fell asleep to the thought of how fucked she would be if Alex hadn’t been so scrawny.

*

Melanie woke up a little while later feeling weightless (no pun intended). She soon figured out the cause – Alex, rather than being on top of her, was now sitting on one of the bottom bunks, talking to everyone else. The brunette stretched and climbed down the ladder, fixing her hair as much as she could without a mirror present.

It wasn’t until she sat down until it hit her how tired she was. Not in an ‘about to pass out’ way, but the way people get at sleepovers: Sure, you slept fine, but now you want nothing more than to lay down in a bed you’re used to without anyone bothering you.

And no thought was more appealing to Melanie than her own bunk, right now.

“Hey, I heard they locked you out.” Kara greeted with a slight giggle as soon as Melanie sat down next to her. Rian was on her other side, his arm around her waist. Alex and Zack were seated on the bottom of the other bunk bed, which although was across the room was really only 5 or so feet away. And Jack was laying down on the floor between us.

“Yup. They just love me.” She smiled “Wait, why were you and Rian in different beds?” Melanie asked, remembering that was the cause of all of this.

“Cause it was really hot and Rian had too much body heat,” Kara laughed. “And usually Alex and Jack won’t mind if I steal one of their beds. They’d just share. I didn’t know you were sleeping here.”

“Oh, well that’s fine,” Melanie told her, just glad her and Rian were fine. They were seriously the cutest couple Melanie had ever seen. What they had was definitely better than any relationship she could get herself into, she thought .

She continued, “Kara, do you think we can go back to the cabin? I’m exhausted”

“I am too,” She nodded, quickly kissing Rian on the cheek and getting up.

“Why are you tired?” Alex asked, “You slept like, two hours later than the rest of us”

“Coming from the kid who was trying to make babies with me in his sleep,” Melanie laughed, so did everyone else.

“Untrue!” Alex quickly exclaimed, his voice screaming ‘embarrassment’.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” Melanie fought to keep a straight face while getting up and patting him on the shoulder, “I’m sure you don’t know any better.”

The two girls said their temporary goodbyes as they made their way out the door,
“Bye Zack,” Melanie called, “Bye Ri, Bye Jack. Bye Cuddle Boy!”