Dreams Not Reality

Macy's POV

I got the the clearing before anyone else did, even before Drew. I took a deep breath. I loved the smell of the woods, it was just so musky. I closed my eyes and felt the breeze drift into every single pore of my body. It was going to get cold tonight, perfect timing.

I set down the packages of marshmallows, boxes of gram crackers, and pieces of chocolate. I looked around the edges of the clearing for some left over wood from previous bonfires. Just as I finished setting them up, I heard footsteps behind me.

I turned around to see Drew walking towards me with a camera bag, a camera, and what looked like a box full of film cans.

I marched straight over to him, staring at his left hand. "Is that a Nikon d90?"

"Yeah?"

I stuck my hand out and Drew placed the camera in my hand carefully. I aimed it at the pile of wood and quickly snapped a picture. I looked at the result.

"Oh my gosh. I'm so jealous of you right now."

Drew gave me a funny look. "It's just a camera."

"Just a..?" I threw my free hand up. "This is not just a camera."

He gave me another funny look. "Well, I know that. I didn't think you did."

Then I realized just exactly what I was doing and saying. I cleared my throat. "Speak about this to anyone and we will fight, and I will tear your face off."

"Holy crap. You're a total camera nerd." Drew stomped his foot, he was laughing so hard. "That's awesome."

I glared. "I am not a nerd. Cameras are anything but nerdy."

"Well," Drew set his bag on the floor and knelt by it. "If you were excited about that, you're gonna faint when you see this."

And the next thing I knew, he was pulling out my dream.

I dropped to my knees next to him. "A Canon XL-H1 3CCD?" I looked up at Drew. "How long have you had this?!"

Drew scratched his head. "Came out in what, '05/'06? So for about four years."

I reached my hand out to touch it but quickly changed my mind. "How many cameras do you have?"

"Um, around one hundred or so, give or take, but that's counting digital. I think only about seventy of them run on film." He said it so nonchalantly as he put his Canon back in it's bag.

I almost asked him if he would show them to me one day, but I held my tongue. "That's amazing. You definitely are not an amateur."

Drew smiled to himself.

"So, everyone should be showing up soon." I looked around. "Is there anything you want to do or..?"

"Everything looks perfect to me," Drew answered after he looked around. "Do you want me to get the fire started?"

I shrugged, "I tried, but it just wouldn't. We could wait for James, he probably has a lighter we can use to get it started."

He rolled his eyes. "Watch and learn."

In a matter of seconds Drew started the fire, and it was huge.

"How did you do that without a lighter?"

"It's a secret." He pointed to himself. "Boy scout."

I laughed. He was surprisingly fun to be around.

We both moved closer to the fire and sat down on a sturdy log. The sun had just finished setting so it was completely dark except for some moon and fire light.

I took a deep breath. "Don't you love being in the woods. Even though almost every other scary movie takes place in the woods, I can't help but feel secure here."

"I feel the exact same way."

I looked over at Drew and when he turned towards me, we smiled at each other. I don't know how long we were sitting there, basking in the glow of the fire, just smiling at each other.

"Uhem." Jenny laughed, "Am I interrupting something?"

I looked back at her and I slowly put space between Drew and I. "Nah. We were just waiting for everyone to show up."

Jenny nodded slowly, looking slightly confused as she set her stuff down.

"Yo!" Kevin yelled as he barged in, James walking in behind him.

James looked up and winked at me. My cheeks felt a rush of warmth as I blushed. He walked straight to me and held his hands out. I placed mine in them and he pulled me up so fast that I had to lean on him to keep from falling.

He pushed my bangs back then ran his fingers across my cheek. I gave him a small smile that he returned. Taking my face between his warm hands, with mine on his chest, he gave me a soft kiss.

It was done faster than I would like, but I kept my eyes closed to savor the moment. I put my arms around his middle and rested my cheek on his shoulder. I got the chills as his hands moved down to the small of my back.

"Hey, beautiful."

"Hi," I whispered. If I wasn't a hundred percent sure before, I was now. Drew was wrong, James loved me just as much as I loved him. We were meant for each other.

"Let's get this party started!" James laughed as he put his arm around me, his fingers softly massaging my waist, as he turned to everyone else.

A few random people were still walking in from where our cars were parked, but that didn't stop Drew. He was already clicking away at his camera, getting shots of the people walking in, the ones sitting or standing around the fire, the guys roasting hot dogs, the girls making smores, and the couples that look like they're in a completely different world.

I was having a laughing fit watching him run around with his camera, then he turned on me. Before I could stop him he snapped a candid of me laughing.

I untangled myself from James and ran after him. "No! I bet it looks awful! You better delete it, Drew!"

"You wish, besides, I bet it looks fine."

I stomped my foot. "I swear I'll kill you."

He looks down at his camera really quick. "It looks fine, I promise."

"Let me see it." I hold my hand out.

Instead of giving it to me, he just steps closer so we can both look at the picture. He was right, the picture looked fine. Not to toot my own horn, it's more like tooting Drew's horn, but in the picture I looked just like a model. Not a strand of hair was out of place, my laugh looked cute, and there was a sparkle in my eyes that just seemed right.

"See," Drew whispered, looking at me. "Beautiful."

Practically the same context, but when Drew said it, it caused a different reaction then when James said it.

"Macy." James voice was hard, rude, and close. Close enough that he could have heard the conversation.

But I shouldn't feel bad, nothing happened.

"Yeah?"

"Come here."

I rolled my eyes at Drew, who laughed, and walked over to James with my arms crossed.

"Sup?"

He grabs my arm. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure I don't look bad in the picture Drew just took of me." I say it slowly, looking down at his hand.

"Really? Cause it looked like you were flirting with him." And his grip tightened.

I looked at him. "I don't have time for your self-esteem problems right now."

Tighter. "And I don't have time to watch you make a fool of me."

I looked down at his hand again. "You're making a fool of yourself, I don't have too." I try to wiggle away from him, but he only holds on tighter. "What's your problem?!"

"Shut up." He put his lips to my ear. "You're being loud."

"I can talk as loud as I want, now let go."

If it was possible, his grip got even tighter. He even gave a small, sadistic laugh.

"James, I said let go."

"No, we're leaving."

"I can't!" I practically scream, "This is my project, and really I don't want to go anywhere with you right now. So I repeat, let go!"

I don't really like to think about what he might of done next, maybe hit me, if Drew hadn't interrupted.

"Problem over here?"

James let go in less than a second, like my skin was suddenly burning him.

"Course not," He gave Drew a cocky smile. "Just talking to my girlfriend."

Drew nodded his head, but I knew he didn't believe it. "Well, I'm gonna steal her from you, if you don't mind."

And I couldn't help wondering, did he mean it in more than one way?