escape the day

noticing the girl’s discomfort with their close proximity, murphy leaned back. “ ah, you magnificent spinster lady ! consider me touched with your honesty. truth be told, i was about to ditch them with the negativity they were getting. it would’ve been such a waste of six bucks.” she replied, her lips pulling into a smile. “ sadly, i can’t rock the ‘i don’t care what people think’ attitude. if people don’t like something about me, i lose it. ” 

althea chuckled at the other girl’s words, raising an eyebrow. “okay,” she said, her tone slightly inquisitive as she wasn’t exactly sure how to respond. “well, don’t ditch them. they work on you.” she listened to murphy’s little explanation, tilting her head slightly. “i think you could. or, at least, you should, because you seem alright.” she paused for a moment before adding, “i’m althea, by the way.”

“Ha-Ha! Getting a little cocky, are we?” Jett teased with a bright grin and then dipped his head beneath the water, brushing his hair back after emerging again. “Sounds like you’re wanting to take the lose now. You worried you might win and you won’t get to see this face all-day, everyday for a week?” He said in a playful tone, eyeing her for a moment before taking notice to her hand. Jett slowly reached for her hand and gave one firm shake before quickly moving around her and toward the shore. It was a cheap thing to do but he wanted that time with the girl.

“what? no! i’m just being realistic.” althea said innocently, tilting her head for effect. she watched jett submerge himself once more, a peaceful smile gracing her lips, but scoffed upon hearing his claim. “no way, i’d never forfeit, jett. i know i’m gonna win. and maybe i would see your face everyday, to remind you that you lost?” she cocked an eyebrow at him before shaking his hand - and suddenly he wasn’t beside her anymore, he was swimming out in front of her. she couldn’t contain the laugh that spilled from her lips as she realized he had used to opportunity to get a headstart, quickly moving after him. although she had been a little ways behind him, she did start to close the distance, but he reached the shore nearly ten seconds before she did. “cheater!” she laughed, splashing him with water as she made her way back onto the shore.

Jett smiled at her competitiveness and let out a quick and quiet bubble of laughter. “You wish,” he said with a shake of his head, slowly swimming a bit closer to her as she gave her prize if she won. “A piggyback ride? That’s cute,” Jett teased her in return and smirked as she asked for what his would be. “When I win, you have to spend the rest of the week with me,” his voice softened but the smirk was still there, curiosity for the girl driving his choice for that prize. “And we do whatever I want… could be some more extreme canoeing… could be… dinner…”

althea gave a low laugh at his retort, her eyes trained on him as he swam closer. she shrugged at his next comment, a smug smirk on her face. “i figured i’d be tired after beating you so badly.” his request for a prize took her by surprise. she wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but it definitely wasn’t that. although althea wasn’t entirely sure of her feelings on the matter, something about the idea of spending the week with jett made her excited, like she was about to open a christmas present. “well, i could never say no to more extreme canoeing and food, so... deal.” she held out her hand for him to shake.

“ a seven ! ” murphy quirked a brow and leaned in, inspecting the girl closely. “ oh my gods, it doesn’t even look like you’re lying, which is completely unbelievable since everyone else hates them. ”

althea leaned back as soon as she realized that the other girl’s face was getting much closer. “yeah? i’m a good liar, but i do actually like those glasses.” she took a step back to restore her posture, crossing her arms. “just wear whatever you want, screw what everyone else thinks.”

“aw you think my personality is dazzling? thank you. – hey, i am literally eating a stack of french toast right now. this is the least depressing day of my life. i could tell you some stories if you want depressing.”

“um, sure... i mean... okay, true, french toast is pretty great. but you are all alone, and that’s not fun. depressing stories? no thanks. it’s like you’re trying to bum me out.”

His eyes fell on her as his teeth grazed his lower lip, a smile appearing as her pleasant laugh filled his ears. “I don’t refer to myself as sunshine boy, trust me. Sunshine man? Absolutely,” he said with a quick bob of his head before letting out a warm and quiet laugh. As she picked the swim back, Jett glanced back to shore and though they were quite a ways away, he wasn’t worried they’d tire out or cramp up. “I’m definitely up for it. Lets make it a race… what’s your prize? I’ve already got one in mind.”

“oh, excuse me. sunshine man, i get it.” althea laughed at his specificity, running a hand through her wet hair. she followed his gaze back to the shoreline, realizing just how far she’d have to swim. still, she couldn’t back out now, and she figured she’d make it. she turned her eyes back to jett when he suggested they make it a race, her smirk returning. “a race, perfect. so i can kick your ass, and it’ll be official.” she thought for a moment about a prize before replying. “hm... when i win, you have to piggyback me all the way back to my cabin. what do you want if, by some miracle, you win?” she asked, her tone filled with teasing.

“ so on a scale from one to ten, how cool do these shades make me look ?? ”

“hm?” althea turned to face the girl who had questioned her. “oh. maybe, like... a seven and a half?” she shrugged. “i don’t know, i don’t have a baseline of how cool you looked before the shades.”

“I’m just being real about it,” he said in return before giving a slight roll of his eyes. “Is using the word juvenile supposed to make me feel bad about it?” Carter asked with an arched brow. 

“yeah, okay.” althea gave an exaggerated eye roll at his words. “well, you are nineteen, so...” she trailed off with a slight shrug.

“No raisins, got it–I actually hate them too so there won’t be any reason why raisins should be anywhere near you, or at least not from me. No, come on, you gotta promise if I’m keeping raisins away from you.”

“thank gods,” althea’s smile widened as she laughed lightly. “i don’t know, dylan... you’d be fun to scare. but, since you’re stuck catering to me every morning, i guess i won’t.” she stuck her pinky out, her features hardening as if she was locking down a life or death negotiation. “deal.”

“Only when it’s beauty sleep.” He mentioned. “Do you think it’s possible to use magic in an ulterior way from the standard. I’ve been trying to incorporate it into my hand to hand combat, but it’s tricky. Since spells usually take some time.”

“who’s to say it wasn’t?” althea retorted, raising her eyebrows with a slight smile. “magic in hand to hand combat... well, i can usually incorporate my hallucinations. i’m not a magic expert, but i might be able to help you with your fighting techniques. hand-to-hand combat is one of my favorites.”

“You’re probably going to be a bad influence on me,” Jett stated with a loose shrug, an amused smile permanently stretched over his lips. “I’m okay with that though. I mean, I might lose my title as sunshine boy but it’s something I’m ready to live with,” he joked through a light bubble of laughter. When they both emerged from the water and she swam over to him, he threw his arms proudly into the air but caught himself as his nose dunked below water and he began to tread again. “Apparently. This is test number one, we’ll try something else another day until we have the actual definition of the sport,” Jett nodded and wiggled his brows a bit, pushing his hair back out of his eyes. “Now we have to get back in the canoe… and paddle it back… or we can just swim it back…” he offered the few ideas. “Or we let it sink to the bottom and live with the guilt.”

althea smirked at his comment, heat rushing to her cheeks. “maybe,” she replied, suddenly feeling bashful for reasons she couldn’t quite pick out. “oh, i don’t know about that.” she glanced back at him, resting her hand on the water’s surface and letting the small waves they’d created lap at her fingertips. “you’re warm and bright. you can still be sunshine boy if you want to.” she laughed at his attempt at celebrating their victory, watching him sink briefly before he popped back up. “trial and error, got it.” althea nodded, weighing their options.”hm... i’d say we swim it back, that seems like the most extreme choice. go big or go home, right?” she tilted her head, eyeing him almost competitively. “are you up for it?”

“Relax, princess. It’s just a firecracker. It won’t harm anyone unless they put it inside their mouth… or a different entrance…” Carter laughed but squinted at the thought, cringing a bit. “I think it is.”

“oh my gods,” althea let out an exasperated sigh. “you’re disgusting.” she shook her head at his insistency, her voice taking on an ever so slightly defensive tone. “it’s definitely not - i wouldn’t do something so juvenile. and don’t call me princess.”

“Oh my gods! Is your name Chiron now?” Carter teased with an amused grin. “Where do you think I got it? Come on, Althea. You’re just mad I thought of tossing around a few harmless firecrackers before you.”

althea rolled her eyes, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “i don’t know, carter, i don’t have connections to the explosives blackmarket like you do.” she furrowed her eyebrows at him, shaking her head. “yeah, that’s definitely not what’s happening.”

Jett listened with a smile as he stroked the paddle through the water, the canoe beginning to move at a steady speed. “Wow, impressive,” he chuckled and gave a slow shake of his head. “You’re pretty hardcore,” he added with a glance over his shoulder, his gaze slowly turning downward to the water as he watched his paddle. “That’s all I get? There’s definitely a lot more to you then that but we’ll take baby steps,” Jett teased with a playful grin. “For now…” he trailed off, glancing around at the lake and seeing that they made it out far enough. Jett tucked the paddle beneath the seat and quickly rose up to his feet, wobbling a bit as the canoe rocked from side to side, and he placed his foot on the edge before jumping in; the canoe tipping from his weight.

althea shook her head at jett’s comment, a smile tugging at her lips. “i mean - i don’t know if you could call me hardcore. i just... don’t have a particular fondness for rules.” she chuckled at herself, watching the shoreline become more and more distant. “yeah, that’s all you get,” althea replied playfully, “oh, baby steps, okay.” her smile widened as she rolled her eyes. when jett stood up, althea grabbed one side of the rocking boat for support leaning back as he dived in as to not get splashed. her efforts, of course, were all in vain; as soon as the canoe tipped she was flipped over into the lake. she swam over to where jett was, her laughter creating bubbles under the water. reemerging back to the surface, althea pushed her hair back from her face. “so this is extreme canoeing.”