I managed to get some sleep, but not for very long as I heard someone getting sick in the bathroom. I sat up, and ran to the bathroom, knocking on the door.
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“It’s Ethan,” Alex mumbled from behind me. I turned around, looking at the clearly hungover girl. I kissed her forehead and ruffled up her hair. She grumbled and fell into me.
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“Why don’t you have a hangover?” she whined. Shrugging, I unwound her from my arms and went to the kitchen to get her a glass of water.
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“The only way to cure this feeling is to start drinking, people,” Taylor announced, coming into the room with beers in both hands. She was drinking from both of them proudly. I mean, she wasn’t wrong. Alex made a disgusted face at the sight of alcohol and just as Ethan emerged, he saw the beer and ran back in.
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“Who’s Marissa?” Taylor asked aloud, holding my phone in her hand. My eyes widened and I pulled it from her hand, seeing texts flowing in from Marissa. Alex peered over my shoulder and narrowed her eyes. I waved it off, reluctantly putting the phone in my pocket. I urged to read her texts and go meet up with her, but Alex had told me numerous times that this weekend, her and I would be hanging out before she went back to work the following week.
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“You met someone?” Alex asked, her voice breaking slightly. I closed my eyes, trying to keep my cool and I took a deep breath. I slowly began to sign to her:
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We just met, she’s a cool girl, but nothing else. You’re my best friend and I told you we’d spend this weekend together, and we will. You have nothing to worry about, I’m a big boy now.
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She stewed in her crossed arms stance and looked up at me with a pout.
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“I just don’t want you to get hurt or taken advantage of because of your-”
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“Alex, lay off him, would you? He’s a grown adult with a fucking degree. I’m so sick of you trying to baby him and control his life,” Ethan grumbled, holding his head as he came out of the bathroom. Alex’s jaw dropped while Ethan rolled his eyes. I didn’t even know where to start, but I looked down at Alex who was clearly affected by his words. I waved my hands and shook my head.
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It’s fine, ignore him. I appreciate you immensely. Don’t listen to him.
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But she wanted nothing to do with us anymore. She stormed out of the camper and I glared at Ethan. Taylor shook her head, bolting out of the camper to chase after her. I clenched my jaw and wanted to slam Ethan to the ground and give him a piece of my mind, but I had bigger things to worry about. I briefly flicked him off before I hopped out of the camper and started searching for Alex. It felt like a nearly impossible feat, and where the hell would she have gone anyway? In the midst of my search, the most beautiful sound in the world stopped me in my tracks.
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“Ash!” Marissa chimed and I turned to see her beaming at me and waving wildly. Again, a blush coated my skin as I waved back slightly. I jogged over to her and she visibly was excited.
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“Did you finally get some sleep?” she asked as I noticed the beer can in her hand. I nodded, rubbing the back of my neck and looking around to see if I could spot Alex. She placed her arm on my bicep and looked at me with concern. It was almost like we were communicating silently. I pulled my phone out, quickly filling her in.
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My friends are in a pretty big fight and Alex, the drunk girl from last night, ran off. I’m trying to find her now.
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Marissa showed genuine concern and she set her beer down.
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“Come on,” she demanded, grabbing my wrist and pulling me down the aisle of campsites. I stared in awe at the determined petite blonde as she dragged me with ease. She glanced back at me, a small grin on her face. As we moved further down, Marissa took a sharp turn and we ended up inside of a huge air-conditioned tent. Marissa stopped walking and then pointed over to the corner where I saw Taylor huddled over Alex. If Alex hadn’t been there, I would’ve planted a kiss right on Marissa’s lips, but instead and gave her a hug before jogging over to Taylor and Alex.
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“Oh, what do you want?” Taylor snarled and I sighed, kneeling down with them. Alex sniffled, wiping her eyes and nose. She wrapped her arms around my neck and sobbed into my shoulder.
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“It’s not him, it’s Ethan,” Alex blubbered and Taylor sighed, rubbing Alex’s back. Alex pulled back and looked at me with a sad smile. She brushed my hair out of my face and I smiled.
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“I just don’t feel good, Ash. You know I love you with all my heart and I don’t want to see you get hurt or taken advantage of because you’re mute. I want you to be happy, I know I’ve been overbearing, but it’s out of the goodness of my heart,” she whispered and I nodded, kissing her forehead. I swallowed hard and looked back to see Marissa still standing there. She smiled with a wave and I waved her over. She bounced over and knelt down beside all of us.
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This is Marissa. She’s super cool and she helped me find you!
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I signed to Alex and she looked at Marissa and held her hand out.
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“Thank you, it means a lot that you’d help him,” Alex admitted and Marissa grinned with a shrug.
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“Hey, no problem. He looked super worried,” she replied and Alex smiled up at me sheepishly. I helped her, Taylor, and Marissa up while I stretched. I pointed back to the direction of our camper and then looked at Marissa.
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“We’re gonna go back to the camper and eat, but you can come hang with us,” Alex piped in and Marissa beamed.
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“I’ll definitely take you up on that offer,” she winked, squeezing my hand before she skipped off.
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“She’s a fucking catch, Ash,” Taylor smirked and I rolled my eyes and nodded, wrapping my arms around the girls and walking them back to camp.
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