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Priya nearly trips on a tree root and a puddle of muddy water as she ran through the trees with ragged breaths. In front of her, Caleb leaps from the top of a small hill down to the ground. Priya gasps.
"Oh my god, Caleb, that's cheating!"
"Too bad, you're gonna need to catch up if you wanna win!"
Caleb was really fast, from her height to her massive build, of course her strides would be big too. Priya nearly stops in her tracks when the woman grabs a tree branch and swings across a river. Priya gapes at her, but smirks, knowing she can make that too. She grabs onto the same tree branch, and given her light weight, she lands right beside Caleb with a thump. The taller girl woke her up abruptly this morning, almost yelling in her ear to train with her, and by training she meant a race from one side of the island to the other. She knew bunking with her was a bad idea.
"Come on, season champion, what's going on? Aren't you supposed to be like, better than everyone at everything?" Caleb snickers.
"Are you making fun of me?!" Priya yells, finally on level ground with the taller girl. Caleb lets out a throaty laugh and shakes her head. "Hell no! I'm just trying to rile you up!" She chuckles, and Priya giggles with a faint flush of red on her cheeks.
Most people would argue that 6 am was too early for such a fast-paced training session, but nothing is too early when it comes to Priya. And for her, training with Caleb is never too early.
When Priya finally sees the dining hall in sight, despite being a few miles ahead of them still, she smiles cheekily at Caleb.
"Oh look, the finish line!" She turns to her as she continued to sprint, and Caleb turns to her partner with a smirk. "Mhm, glad I get to see you lose for once!" She announces as she speeds past Priya. The shorter girl sputters before also speeding up, sprinting with as much power her legs can give her. The dining hall was now fully in sight, and the two girls push against the ground with their heels for a brake.
And as most coincidences go, it just so happens Damien walks in front of both of them, making them trip over the boy as all three land on the ground with a shriek.
"Ow! What in the…? Priya? Caleb?" He asks confused, staring at the two girls who groaned in pain on the grass. Caleb shakes off any leaves and twigs that were stuck to her clothes and hair, while Priya dusts off some dirt and mud on her clothes. Thank god she didn't shower yet before starting the day off with a run.
"Sorry, Damien, we were going for a run at first, then it ended up becoming a race, anddd… You get the idea." Caleb scratches the back of her neck, and Priya stifles a laugh. "It was your idea to train, and your idea to make it a race, big girl." She punches her arm playfully, and Caleb responds with a nervous laugh. "Yeah, okay, that's fair." She chuckles.
Damien simply shakes his head at the two, watching their body language carefully and closely. He and Nichelle had a bet: Caleb and Priya have a thing for each other, or they don't. Damien thinks they do, Nichelle on the other hand doubts it.
Given the fact Priya wouldn't stop staring at the taller girl, and Caleb wouldn't stop eyeing Priya either, Damien is quite confident in his guess.
In reality, they didn't just have a thing for each other, but they were pretty much dating. Both girls agreed it would be kept secret for now, however, because they needed to test the waters of their own relationship. Caleb understood, and she's been handling everything slowly ever since their agreement.
This time however, her exterior sort of broke, because she grabbed Priya's hand and kissed it softly, almost completely forgetting Damien was there. Priya seemed to have forgotten too, because she replied with a lovestruck giggle and a warm flush on her cheeks.
Damien raised an eyebrow, hands digging into the pockets of his jacket.
"Alrightttt, anyway, breakfast is in a couple of minutes. I'll find seats for you two, yeah?" He announces, clicking his tongue with a wink and pointing finger guns at the two girls. They stare at him weirdly and then nod, wondering what that was about.
Damien rushes inside, and to his luck, he spots Nichelle almost immediately.
Outside, Priya and Caleb still stood idly, now turning their heads to look at each other. Priya noticed it immediately: Caleb was shaking and her hands were becoming sweaty.
"I- I kissed your- in front of-"
"Hey, hey, it's alright, babe. You completely forgot, but I'm not mad. It's okay, I promise." Priya coos, gently rubbing her hands over the other girl's bigger hands to soothe her. Priya then places a hand to Caleb's cheek, rubbing a thumb over the soft skin. "I mean, we can trust Damien, right? He can keep promises pretty well, honestly, and he's a good guy in general. I doubt he'd tell anyone. No one else will have to know." Priya murmurs.
Caleb thinks about it for a while, sighing and running her fingers through her short hair. She looks at Priya straight in the eyes, then nods. "Yeah, I think you're right, we can trust him. I'm just really sorry I did that, I didn't mean to. I just did it impulsively because you're so amazing and…" She stops, realizing she's started rambling.
Priya merely giggles at her girlfriend, hitting her arm playfully. "You're amazing too, you big goof. Now come on, it's all going to be fine. We can just go get some breakfast, talk to him, and try to be more careful next…" Priya trails off, staring to the side when she notices movement.
Behind Caleb, Julia and MK stood, eyes wide.
Julia. And MK. The island's most mischievous pair.
Julia looks at MK knowingly, while MK snorts.
Caleb turns behind her and also sees the two girls standing there. Priya immediately rips her hand from Caleb's cheek and clears her throat.
"It's rude to stare, you know." She grumbles, glaring at the two girls. Julia giggles, and MK just rolls her eyes.
Oddly enough, however, they don't say anything and just walk inside the dining hall with neutral expressions.
Caleb's eyebrows furrow, her stance now straightening up. "Uh, okay, I don't like… whatever that was." She says softly. Priya looked at her girlfriend carefully. "You think they'll say anything?" Caleb asks her. Priya thinks, then shakes her head. "No, I don't think so. They're evil, but not that evil." She chides. Caleb doubts it, but tries to believe her partner anyway.
"Besides, what's the worst that could happen?" Priya says, holding onto Caleb's hand again with her own smaller hands, which does soothe Caleb's anxiety a tad bit. Caleb never really worried about what others thought of them, but knew that that type of thing was a big part of Priya's boundaries. Breaking those boundaries is the last thing she wants to do, so she takes it cautiously when she notices that Priya is actually optimistic about showing off their relationship a little bit more now, being careful not to break any other boundaries the smaller girl may have.
When they enter the dining hall hand in hand, Damien spots them immediately and waves over, patting a spot beside him, then his eyes lay on their hands which were intertwined quite tightly.
He then gasps, then smiles, then screeches happily and points at Nichelle.
"HAH! I was right, they're dating! Pay up, girl!" He splays out a hand in front of the blonde cheekily. The celebrity groans, digging into her pockets to find her loose bills. From the table across from them, Julia and MK smirk.
"Knew it." MK whispers carefully into Julia's ear, the blonde nodding as they both fistbump.
The two girls by the doorway just stand awkwardly, and Priya stares in disbelief.
"YOU GUYS MADE A FUCKING BET?!"