The Bad Boy's Angel

Chapter Five - First Love Never Dies

Damian was getting aroused. His teenage hormones were deceiving him as he felt Angela’s soft body against him. Her cheeks turned red as Damian held her tightly, in case she changed her mind and got up from his lap.

The next hour was sheer torture, as both of them were acutely aware of their conditions. Finally, they got down to visit the Enchanted Rock State Park, which was a massive pink granite dome rising above Central Texas. They learned about the rock formations and completed a comprehensive bird study and nature resource collection for a project to be done later. Fun activities like geocaching and picnics were arranged, too. They laughed and enjoyed together while Freddie eyed them many times with jealousy.

They left the park and climbed onto their waiting bus. This time Angela hurried with Damian and Xavion to get hold of a seat. The ride this time was relaxing and more enjoyable. With Helena having completely shifted over to Brian’s group, Angela was stuck to Damian and Xavion. Damian always held her hand and ensured that she was near him all the time.

They reached their campsite in twenty minutes, but after one look at the size of the camps, Angela knew that she would have to share with another student. With Damian and Xavion sharing a camp, whom would she share with?

"Whom will I share my tent with?" complained Angela, when all the students started occupying the existing camps with their partners. She didn't mix with the other girls in the class as they were jealous of her friendship with the two hottest boys in the class, Damian and Xavion. To add to that, Freddie didn't hide his interest in her, and all the girls hated the sight of her.

"I'll share with Harry, you guys can share a camp," offered Xavion as he went to look for Harry, who was another classmate whom they liked. He usually loved to hang around with them. Angela wasn't exactly best friends with him, but she didn't mind him around. Since Harry's best friend didn't come along, he was left alone.

Damian turned towards Angela. "Let's share?" he asked and Angela nodded, but her heart started pounding at the prospect of spending the night with him. They were pretty close, but they had never spent the night alone with one another.

They selected a camp for themselves and kept their belongings inside.

"Are you excited?" asked Damian eagerly, and Angela nodded.

"Yeah, but don't snore on me," said Angela with an eye roll.

"I don't. You'll fall for me once you sleep with me tonight," chuckled Damian with a smirk.

"Ew, why should I fall for you, of all the people in the world?" she asked with an eye roll.

"Then whom will you fall for, Freddie?" growled Damian, green with jealousy.

"Good heavens! Aren't you overreacting?" asked Angela, walking away. They were supposed to report at the assembly point in the center of the property, where the paths from all the campsites merged. After freshening up at the common bathhouse present, Angela rushed to the assembly point, followed by Damian, hot on her heels. Xavion was already there with Harry.

"Why are you avoiding me, Angel?" asked a pissed-off Damian, noticing the way she was ignoring him.

"I’m not," answered Angela, without looking at him.

"I think you are," said Damian, catching up with her and grabbing her hand. Angela gave him a look.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have overreacted. Happy now?" he asked, holding onto his ears. Angela grinned at him while Damian groaned seeing the s**t-eating grin on the faces of his friends, Xavion and Harry.

"Are you guys dating?" asked an inquisitive Harry, looking from Angela to Damian and back. With his chocolate brown eyes and jet-black hair, Harry looked more sober and sensible than most in their class. He topped the class mostly and always stayed away from trouble. Being the nerd of the class, he had an answer to everything in the world and helped everyone who needed his help. Angela rolled her eyes at him. Being so intelligent, how could he ask such a dumb question? Did they look like they were dating?

Damian kept his arm on her shoulder, drawing her close just to give him a good idea that they were indeed dating. "No," said Angela, trying to wriggle away from his hold.

"Yes," said Damian as Angela tried to shrug off his arm. What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he just behave like a friend to her?

Harry chuckled, "I swear guys, you are meant for each other, " he said and Damian grinned. He already liked Harry, but now he liked him even more. Angela rolled her eyes and extricated herself from Damian's hold, walking off while the three of them followed her. The other girls gathered there snickered and gossiped about her, but Angela didn't bother with them. She didn't care what they said.

Their mentor and guide, Ed Simmons, was a strict disciplinarian with an unfriendly attitude and a hoarse voice. "C'mon kids, I hate tardiness. Everyone assemble here right now, " he yelled, making those present grimace and mimic him behind his back.

All the students came rushing from everywhere to the assembly point. "Why's he behaving like s**t? It's just a pleasure camp," Brian said, and Helena giggled. She met Angela's eye and gestured to her to join their group. With Freddie staring, Angela shook her head. Damian glared at Freddie and he glared back and Angela sighed. They were again up to their sh*t, even at a pleasure camp.

"We will start with a trip to Urban Agro Farms nearby and check out everything about sustainable farming. We will take a 40-minute tour of the farm and then there will be hands-on fieldwork. Any questions?" barked Ed Simmons.

He turned towards Steffi, another batch mate of theirs. "No stilettos to a farm. Go, change, " he growled and Steffi took off her shoes and ran towards her camp to change. Angela sometimes interacted with Steffi, whose best friend Emily just left school and moved to Canada. Ever since Steffi kept to herself.

They all dispersed to the buses, waiting for them. After five minutes, Steffi joined them and they drove off. She sat beside Angela and groaned. “I didn't know we were going to a farm. I hate farmwork. Will you help me?” she asked hopefully.

"Sure," Angela grinned. With her golden hair tied up in a bun, and florescent pink top, Steffi looked like a rebel, but after talking to her, Angela liked her instantly.

They worked together and toured together, laughing and enjoying while Damian glared at them while working with Harry and Xavion. It was already 2 p.m. when the tour was over and they returned to the campsite for their lunch.

Steffi, Angela, Harry, Damian, and Xavion sat together to eat. Damian sat on one side of Angela while Steffi sat on the other side. "I don't have a partner to share my camp with. Will you share with me?" Steffi asked Angela.

"She's sharing with me, " growled Damian. He disliked Steffi the minute she snatched Angela away from him since she sat beside her on the bus ride. Ever since she had Angela's attention while he looked on with jealousy. He was grumpy the whole time and Xavion and Harry chuckled at his state.

"Actually, I want to share with Steffi, please Damian," said Angela and Damian banged the table hard and walked off angrily.

"I'll handle him, " said Xavion, rushing after his best friend.

Angela felt guilty for not wanting to share with Damian, but he was her friend and he had developed feelings for her. It would be awkward with him in the same camp. She could relax more in Steffi's company. But Damian couldn't see her point and kept getting upset.

Xavion returned with Damian, and they silently ate their lunch. No one said a word apart from Steffi and Harry staring at one another. They all went to freshen up to their respective camps. Xavion, Damian, and Harry wanted to share one camp. Ed upgraded them to a larger camp that would accommodate all three of them.

They went to the nearby museums after lunch and had a virtual tour of their 3D cineplex. After an evening of stargazing in the adjacent hills, they returned to the campsite for dinner and a bonfire. The five friends stayed together singing and enjoying until it was time to retire for the night. Damian wanted a word with Angela, but with everyone around, it was an impossible task. He reluctantly left for his camp to sleep.

The next day was no better for Damian. As much as he wanted Angela to himself, the more she drifted apart, giggling and chatting with Steffi. His dislike for Steffi turned into hatred and he felt like throttling her. Xavion and Harry tried to calm him down with crude and silly jokes. They visited a local winery in Fredericksburg. Then they set off to Texas Hill County, having organic and bio-dynamically farmed vineyards and its processing units.

Afterward, they visited a horse ranch for a detailed study of how horses were reared along with free riding sessions for those interested. Damian and Xavion and Freddie opted for it while Angela sat with the others to watch. From the loud cheering of the girls in their batch, it was obvious Freddie was everyone's favorite. Angela was quiet. She didn't cheer for anyone. Damian and Freddie were up to some sort of competition and Angela didn't approve of it. Given that the three of them were good, but still couldn't support their showing off.

"You love him. Don't you?" asked Steffi, looking into her eyes.

"Who?" asked Angela, feigning ignorance. She knew that Steffi was asking her about Damian.

"Damian, who else?" she said with a shrug.

"Yes, but only as a friend. We grew up together, " she informed him.

"Oh, but he doesn't treat you only as a friend. He's crazy about you, Angie," said Steffi.

"He's just fourteen. Maybe his hormones are playing up. When he grows older, he'd know how foolish and childish he'd been. He'll fall out of love then," said Angela, as they sat and watched the boys.

"I doubt that, Angie. First love never dies, " she told her and Angela closed her eyes. She didn't know what the future held for her, but currently, she only loved Damian as her friend.

The hectic day ended, and they all retired to their camps to sleep.

The next day was more adventurous than before, with a dam visit, heritage tours, and a visit to a botanical garden. They returned in the afternoon and spent time at the camp learning about the galaxy and the universe at their in-house planetarium.

When they went to sleep at night, Damian was too frustrated by that. The entire trip was a failure, as he never once got a chance to talk to Angela alone. Tomorrow was their last day and they would return after lunch. He went to sleep with a heavy heart.