Bruises in Miniature Form

Violently I pushed the heavy luggage case into the back of the car, grumpy that I was forced to spend a week and a half sleeping on the cold ground with Maxwell Green.

“This is ridiculous” I muttered when Ronnie slammed the large blue van’s trunk closed.
“Cheer up Nettie” Ronnie poked my side, giggling at the nickname he retained from the wedding.
“I just want to stay home” I pouted at the tattooed male.
“Well... suck it up” Ronnie tried again before climbing into the driver’s seat.

Groaning into the air I climbed into the back where Bryan, Omar and Robert sat.
Bryan was in the last seat, stretched out with a large pair of sunglasses that reminded me of Robert’s aviators from the previous night.
Omar was squished between Robert and myself, talking animatedly with Max up front.
Ronnie started the van’s engine right after buckling himself in, pulling out of the drive way and starting down the road.

“We near the lake again, this time?” Omar asked Max.
“Same place as last time, so it’s just a bit of a walk” Max answered him, looking at the fellow cars and passing houses.
Suddenly Robert started making choking noises, slumping forward into his lap as everyone turned in their seats, startled and worried.
“Robert?!” Max shouted with blue eyes wide like saucers.
Jolting up Robert grinned cheekily at everyone, “Sorry, the tension was killing me. You and your girlfriend wanna pull those sticks out of your ass and make up already?”
Everyone in the car howled with laughter, excluding Max and I of course.
“I’m not his girlfriend” I snapped.
Rolling his eyes Max leaned over to the back to punch Robert’s shoulder, “Fuck you too, man”

Laughing Omar buried his face into his hands, bouncing into my shoulder painfully whenever Ronnie made a loose turn.
It took a total of one hour and sixteen minutes to get to our camp site, plus an addition half hour for us to set up everything.
Omar refused to let anyone touch the food until we were done, though I was sure I had seen him sneak chips from a bag a few times.
Robert and Bryan were given the tasks of the tents, three in total; don’t ask me whose sleeping with whom yet, I’m worried enough.
Max was struggling to pump up mattresses, even though we all told him not to blow them up until they were in the tent and safe from being popped.
I swear if he pops even one I’ll kill him.
My job had been to pretty much sit and as Omar put it, ‘Look pretty’.
I didn’t mind though, I wasn’t in a good mood and doing work probably wasn’t the best idea.
Max stretched up from the first air mattress and grinned at his hard work, glancing up to see the tents already finished.

“So genius, how’re you planning on getting the blown up mattress into the tent?” Ronnie giggled his way into our area.
“Put it through the door” Max answered plainly.
Laughing Bryan took a seat beside me and swung his arm over my shoulder, “How about you and I go swimming while these boys fight with the tents?”
“I guess so”It was better than being stuck with Max.

Getting off the plastic white lawn chairs we moved to the van to collect our swimming things.
“Oi, you best tell her there ain’t any change rooms down there!” Robert called when we were on our way to the trails about the campsites.
Laughing Bryan tugged at his bleached hair, “She’ll be fine, right sweetie?”
Cracking a smile I allowed myself to enjoy the time I would be spending with Bryan, “Yeah, it’ll be fine”
“Don’t destroy anything without us!” Bryan called over his shoulder when we began our walk once more.
“Destroy something?”
“Every time we come camping here, Ronnie breaks something and Max is normally involved. Usually we can limit it to a few bottles but every now and again they get a chair. I’m sure Robert can handle them though”
“So Robert’s kind of like the mature one, huh?” I questioned for conversation.
Nodding Bryan continued playing with his long hair, “Sort of. He’s a lot like Rick some times. He knows how to party though. Good guy”
“So I’ve heard”
Grinning Bryan glanced down at me, “Got a crush?”
“No! Robert is not my type”
“Yah figures, I mean, if you like Max, Robert wouldn’t be on the list”
“Whoa. I don’t like Max either. I can’t stand him”
“Hey Newton, I gotta tell you. Though Max and I are best friends, I’m not going to tell you to avoid him or that you should excuse his actions like the rest of ‘em”

Shocked I stopped my pace to watch him take a few more before pausing like myself.
It seemed we were close to the river now as the flow of water reached my ears.
Bryan waved me forward and waited until I caught up to lead me down a small hill to the water’s shore.

“So would you tell me why he treats me like he does?”
Glancing up at me from the towels he was unfolding Bryan shrugged, “Are you asking me to?”

Tempted as I was, I just couldn’t quite place the words onto my tongue.
Here it was; my offer to find out exactly what was wrong with Max.
To find out why he was so angry that he had to treat everyone horribly and yet I couldn’t bring myself to ask.
Wringing my hands together I watched Bryan pull his blue shirt over his head, and discard his shoes.

“There’s a spot behind the tree there to change, or I can hold the towel up. I promise not to look”
Glancing around I waved him off, choosing instead to put the bathing suit top on underneath my shirt then discard everything else.
I simply switched my pants for shorts and was ready to go before Bryan had even finished working on his belt buckle.
Laughing as he struggled on his pant leg I skipped to the water, content that Bryan was a nice guy and Max wasn’t around.
“Fuck its cold!” I shouted when the water hit my thighs, tricking goose bumps to form all over my skin.
Bryan almost had tears in his eyes from laughing as he walked in after me, “Course it is Newton, get over it”

“Nettie!!” Ronnie’s voice shouted from the hill we had previously come down, hands waving above his head.
“I see Ronnie decided to come?” Bryan joked.
“What’s up Ronnie?” I shouted back and waited until he was closer to the shore so we wouldn’t have to yell.
“We’re trying to figure out who shares what tent. Robert and Omar already grabbed one, and since its two to a tent we wanted to know who you’d rather share with?”
“Omar’s already taken? Damn” I laughed, secretly frowning at my own luck.
“Yup, So who do you want to share with?”
“Hey Bryan, would it be cool with you?” I turned to my blond haired companion who was sinking into the water until his nose was covered.
Poking his mouth out he answered a quick, “Cool for what?”
“Sharing a tent?” I laughed, unable to help the flow every time my mouth opened.
“Yah no problem”
“I’ll share with Bryan” I called back to Ronnie who confirmed and ran back to the trail.
“I’m surprised you didn’t take a tent with Max” Bryan teased me, kicking his feet to get further.
“I’d kill him, or he’d kill me”
“Nah. One of us would’ve woken up and stopped either of you”

“When you want to head back to set up our tent?” Bryan asked after a few minutes of diving into the water to jerk at my feet.
“We just got in, it’ll be fine for awhile”
“Alright, but don’t say I didn’t warn you”

Warn me?
Confused I glanced back at the shore where our clothes and towels lay, or at least I was staring back until my vision turned water logged.
Kicking myself up to the surface I coughed out water and wiped at my eyes, glaring at the laughing male.
A war soon ensued between us, screaming and splashing water haphazardly until the other begged for surrender.
By the time we were ready to go back to the camp site my fingers were wrinkled and Bryan was complaining about his hair being a sponge.
It felt strange that I was getting along so well with Bryan when he was Max’s friend, though I suppose that was because he offered to tell me things instead of keeping secrets.
Of course, that probably meant I shouldn’t tell him anything personal for fear of it getting back to Max.

“Hey Bryan” I called when I was finished changing back into my clothes, dying my hair out with the towel and eyeing him as he struggled with the zipper of his jeans.
“Yah?” he mumbled out, eyes focused on the metal that refused to come up.
“Do you always have problems with your pants?”
Turning his grinning face up to me Bryan nodded numbly and held his arms out as if expecting me to do the job for him.
“Wanna help?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his cheeky smile, moving closer to see what was wrong with the stuck zipper.
“How the hell did you jam this?” I clucked my tongue when the zipper pinched at my skin, refusing to move a single inch.
“Clothes don’t like me” He answered simply, “I think I was born to be a nudist. Maybe I should just start now”
Laughing I bent down to my knees to give a violent tug at the zipper, trying not to notice how close my face was to his crotch.
Bryan laughed above me through my struggles until a violent zip got his pants in working order, “Why thank you Newton. I think I’ll have to keep you around just to get my pants on and off”
Blushing I got up to my feet, “Your gonna have to start paying me”