Lake Emerald Chronicles: The First Summer: A Reverse Harem Romance

by Melissa Adams

  Ok, you know when they say to never meet your favourite celebrity because you might get disappointed?

  I guess it works with your boy crush too: I know Justin is a disgusting human being, I could tell as soon as I met him by how he talked and carried himself but Joel...

  I have been pining for that boy, admiring his good looks, wishing that he’d noticed me but the more I get to know him, the more I think that his looks are everything that there’s to like about him.

  If Lucy and Hayley are sluts, Joel’s even worse: if he wants to sleep around just for fun, fair enough but using girls and passing them around like you hand me down old clothes is just dirty.

  ‘Clary, have you told Brie about that thing you told me yesterday?’

  Asks Hazel, worry clouding her blue eyes.

  I shake my head no and Austin asks what’s going on.

  ‘So... She’s going to...’

  We explain about Brie’s promise ring and Austin thinks quietly for a second.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell her about what you saw?’

  He asks and I explain that Brie does what she wants anyway.

  ‘She’s so smitten with Justin, I don’t think it would make a difference, to be honest.’

  ‘If she’s looking for more than a casual hook-up, it might have...’

  He considers.

  ‘For what it’s worth, I think Clary is right and it would not change Brie’s mind about that idiot. It was the same with Matt, last summer. If I had thought that it would have made any difference, I would have told Brie myself.’

  I yawn, suddenly very tired, between waking up early every morning and the painkillers, I am wiped out.

  Austin notices because he helps Hazel putting everything away and then he comes to kiss me goodnight.

  ‘I hope you feel better tomorrow, my princess. I shall see you at the bonfire. I already miss you.’

  He places a soft, lingering kiss on my lips, hugs Hazel goodnight and leaves.

  ‘Dude, how is it that Brie and I managed to have a crush on two assholes and you get not one but 3 amazing guys?’

  Asks Hazel settling down on my bed and closing her eyes as exhausted as I am.

  My last thought before falling asleep isn’t only about my complicated dating situation but mostly about Joel: the Ancient Greeks had a theory called the double monster.

  Basically if you were ugly on the outside, you must also be evil, so ugly on the inside.

  I am starting to think it’s a naive way of seeing life: after all Joel is one of the most gorgeous people I have ever seen on the outside but on the inside, I don’t think he’s much better than Lucy and Hayley.

  7.

  Bonfire night

  I wake up at 7 yet again and the first thing I do is try to walk on my injured ankle and I am relieved to feel just a little discomfort but I can walk on it without those intense waves of pain I felt yesterday.

  I take a shower and I can’t help but think about being in there with Xander yesterday: I think showers are going to trigger that really hot memory from now on.

  I wear a t-shirt and some jeans shorts, a pair of slip on ballet flats and I step on the front porch to let the fresh air finish the job of waking me up.

  It’s a bit cooler than normal but I enjoy the fresh air and stretch my arms while yawning with my eyes closed.

  I wish I had never opened my eyes: I scream and run back inside, into my room and on the bed. I shake Hazel awake.

  ‘What? What?’

  She says frightened to be woken up so abruptly; I shush her and drop one sheet of A4 photographic paper between us on the bed.

  The sheet is a print out of 3 different photos and they are all of me: in the top one, I am kissing Xander behind the kitchen, the second one is of me and Logan kissing near the arcade at night and the bottom one is from yesterday morning, me and Austin kissing by the oak tree in the woods.

  They are all dated and time stamped: evidence that I kissed three different guys in the space of 24 hours.

  ‘I don’t understand...’

  Says Hazel, suddenly awake.

  ‘...Has some creep been following you? Why?’

  I am shaking.

  ‘I don’t know but it gets worse.’

  I say turning the sheet and showing her the back: someone has written SLUT with a red wax crayon.

  ‘WTF?’

  She’s as shocked as I am.

  ‘Who would do this and why?’

  She wonders.

  I tell her that I don’t know but the fact that someone was watching me, creeps the hell out of me.

  ‘I bet I know who this was: one of those 3 bitches. They did threaten you...’

  ‘It can’t be Hayley, she’s at yoga early in the morning and the one of me and Austin was taken yesterday early...’

  Hazel cuts me off.

  ‘They might have been working together...’

  She’s right.

  ‘But why? I mean it’s not like there’s any point to show me that, unless there’s other copies around camp...’

  ‘I think whoever took the photos is just jealous. After all, it’s not like you have been trying to hide. Yes, you thought you had privacy but in all 3 occasions, you were out in the open. I wouldn’t worry if this doesn’t go any further... And if there’s been other copies around, we’ll know soon enough. You know gossip here spreads like wildfire.’

  Hazel is right but there’s a knot at the pit of my stomach.

  ‘I might have to talk to the guys before they see this...’

  Hazel tells me that if I want, I can do that but even if they did see the photo, I could just say that I am getting to know each of them and that’s the truth.

  ‘I know... I just feel so disloyal to all 3 of them because I am starting to have feelings for all of them and I’m worried that whoever I pick, it will break my heart anyway to let the other two go...’

  Hazel hugs me tight:

  ‘Clary, give yourself some time to get to know them better, the answer might be in front of you. Just don’t lie to them if they ask any questions or you might lose them all.’

  ‘What have I done to deserve the best friend in the world?’

  I ask her hugging her back.

  Since we are both awake, Hazel and I decide to go have an early breakfast and to go to the arts centre to finish that jewellery set for Brie’s birthday.

  I also want to thank Mrs Taffar for all the delicious food and let her know that I feel better.

  So, after breakfast, we knock at the back door of her kitchen.

  There’s no answer as usual and we are about to give up when we spot Justin sitting just around the corner from the restaurant building on a bench, smoking a cigarette.

  He’s wearing his red Speedo and his hair looks greasy and in need of a good brush, his eyes look red and vacant as if he couldn’t see out of them.

  We walk past him but I stop in my tracks when he calls my name.

  ‘Hey, Clary!’

  I roll my eyes at Hazel but since Brie is so fond of him, I do my very best to be civilised.

  ‘Good morning, Justin.’

  He smiles wide and I notice that his teeth are starting to yellow, a sign that he probably should quit smoking.

  ‘Are you going to the bonfire tonight?’

  He asks and I answer that I am, like everybody else at camp.

  ‘Make sure you save me a dance.’

  I don’t think I would dance with him if he were the only boy in the whole resort by I don’t tell him that and I opt for a more polite:

  ‘I am flattered by the request but won’t you be too busy working and dancing with Brie?’

  ‘Well, since all your friend is good for is giving head, I want to see if you are a bit more...Open minded...’

  His sleazy smile makes him look like a snake and I shudder in disgust.

  ‘I am not open minded, especially when it comes to guys who are clearly not much of a gentleman...’

  I retort
.

  He stands up and throws the rest of the cigarette on the ground, stomping on it with his flip flop clad foot to extinguish it.

  He then comes closer and before I can move away, he grabs my chin between his fingers, squeezing hard and hisses:

  ‘Now, don’t act as if you were the only girl with a pussy in here! Little cockteases like you end up raped and thrown in a ditch!’

  He says the last bit with his face really close to mine as his stench of stale cigarette invades my nostrils.

  ‘What the fuck is wrong with you, asshole?’

  Joel is right behind me and pushes him away from me putting a hand on his naked chest and shoving him.

  ‘She’s behaving like her little twat is made of gold!’

  ‘Justin you are out of line and whatever you had to drink and to smoke is obviously not agreeing with you. Go sleep it off before I kick your ass and apologise to Clary!’

  Justin’s expression changes into a smile as if he realised something:

  ‘Oh, I see. You want to fuck her first! Just let me know when you are done with her...’

  ‘Don’t talk this way about Clary! She’s not one of the pity fucks I throw you. Just go sober yourself up and leave the little kids alone!’

  I was stunned by him defending me but his last few words hurt like a sharp knife to the heart: he still sees me like a kid.

  He manhandles him away, towards the instructors cabins but before he’s out of earshot he turns and says to me and Hazel with a cold look in his dark blue eyes:

  ‘You two just go wherever you were headed to!’

  I feel tears trying to escape: the photos, Justin’s advances and threats and Joel’s words... It feels all too much.

  Hazel hugs me tight for the second time since we woke up and asks me if I want to report Justin to Mrs Angie but I freak out: if I do that, she will call my parents and my mom will have me back home on the next flight and never let me see my friends and the guys ever again. That thought makes me freak out even more and cry harder. Hazel knows my mom would totally do what I just said and probably even lock me up in a nunnery and throw away the key, so she comforts me and says with a soothing voice:

  ‘Clary, it’s ok. If Joel hadn’t been here, I would have kicked that asshole in the balls. But we need to talk to Brie and tell her what kind of guy she’s going out with. And make sure you are never alone with him, tell the guys what he said to you, so they can also watch out for you.

  I really don’t like the way he was looking at you. He was drunk and probably on some kind of drugs but just stay away.’

  I calm down and we head to the arts centre.

  When we enter the craft room, we find Austin there and he leaves his chair as soon as he sees my red eyes.

  Hazel and I explain what’s happened with Justin and that we haven’t seen Brie since she went out with him last night.

  Austin is fuming: pure rage making his emerald green eyes glow.

  ‘I have seen Brie at breakfast, she seemed ok. But, Clary, I will kill that motherfucker! If he only dares looking in your direction, I swear to God...’

  He clenches his fists and I put a soothing hand on his arm.

  ‘Don’t worry, I think that Joel is going to take care of his ass...’

  Reassures him Hazel.

  He shakes his head, still trying to calm down.

  ‘Joel has tolerated and to some extent encouraged his disgusting behaviour so far, I think I need to talk to him and make sure that he keeps that sorry excuse for a human being away from you, princess.’

  His eyes are now shining with a different emotion, he’s concerned for me and protective.

  Hazel slips out of the room mumbling something about the bathroom and Austin sits down and grabs my hand, settling me on his lap.

  ‘Are you really all right?’

  He whispers, his lips very close to my ear.

  ‘I am now. Thank you for being...’

  He touches his lips to mine just for a brief moment, overcome by emotion.

  ‘Clary, I know we have known each other just for a couple of days and I know you are younger than me but...’

  ‘I am not a kid!’

  I say with Joel’s words still ringing in my ear.

  ‘...Trust me, I know you are not a kid. I am just merely saying that you have some important years ahead of you still... And so do I, I am not implying that I am a grown up. I am saying this because... Well I led with the wrong opening here. What I meant to say is that I am falling for you, Clary. Faster and harder than I have ever thought it was possible. You don’t have to say anything, you don’t have to say it back and I was pointing out at the age difference only because if things did change for you and you realised you didn’t want to be with me at any time, I would try to understand.

  But I really, really like you, Clarissa. I care about you, about what you think, about how sweet and beautiful you are. And let’s not even mention that brain of yours, which might be your sexiest quality...’

  I look into his eyes, now lit from the inside and I touch my lips to his.

  We stay like that for a few moments and then his lips start moving softly against mine, his hand cupping my jaw, his heart beating so fast that I can hear it and feel it against my chest.

  Austin’s kisses are always intense but this one is different: it seems to come purely out of emotion rather than stemming from physical attraction.

  We part and I look at him with a smile forming on my lips: it’s my first smile today.

  ‘Austin... I feel the same way you do. I feel like I have known you forever. And you know, feelings can change at any age, not just now that we are young. But I am starting to have feelings for you too...’

  He kisses me again, this time with more purpose, his hold on my waist tightening and pushing me closer.

  When we break apart, he smiles.

  ‘You have this dizzying effect on me, princess, you almost made me forget...’

  He hands me a little brown cardboard box, tied up with a ribbon and with a little fabric bluebell on it.

  ‘This is something I made for you. I got up early to make it so you could wear it tonight... If you want, of course.’

  I open the box and inside there’s the most stunning pair of earrings I have ever seen. They are drop shaped, with a light purple stone but there’s a cascade of tiny, very detailed metal roses going from the hook to the base of the drop, holding the stone in place.

  ‘They should match your dress tonight...’

  I am speechless: he made them for me and they are beautiful.

  ‘Austin, thank you. I love them. Can we already put them on? I don’t think I ever want to take them off...’

  He smiles and helps me wear the earrings, his fingers caressing my skin.

  ‘You make them look really good, princess.’

  He kisses me again and we almost don’t hear Hazel coming back into the room.

  ‘Ehm... Guys, if you need me to go...’

  We laugh and apologise for getting distracted by the task at hand and we spend the next couple of hours working on Brie’s present and Austin helps so that we end up with a beautiful set of jewellery in time for her birthday next week.

  ***

  Xander

  I have breakfast and exit the restaurant with the intention of finding Clary and remind her of our date later on.

  I have to help setting up for the bonfire and with the food: we’ll be grilling burgers and dogs but after that, I am free until cleanup tomorrow morning.

  I walk to her cabin but there’s no answer when I knock on the door. Instead I find Joel sitting on the front steps.

  ‘Hey Xan, were you looking for Clary?’

  I confirm I was and Joel asks me to sit down and tells me about Clary’s brush in with Justin earlier this morning.

  I can’t even describe the anger that bubbles inside me when I hear the way he talked to her and that he tried to put his hands on my Clary.

  ‘He’s a dead moth
erfucker!’

  I declare getting up but Joel pushes me back down on the step, putting a hand on my shoulder.

  ‘Calm down, dude. Justin had too much to drink and I think he might have used something: coke I think, the way he was twitching his nose... I know the signs of that... Look, I scared the crap out of him and I think it will be ok. I am just telling you so you keep an eye on the situation, I cannot keep Justin from drinking and I don’t know where he got the drugs from but if he ever gets that way again, I want to make sure Clarissa isn’t wandering around on her own too much... I don’t know if Justin was just in a high and drunken stupor or if he really thought that he could do with Clary what we did with Hayley and that girl from town, Tatiana...’

  I narrow my eyes: I know the rumours but I want to hear it from him.

  ‘What did you exactly do, Joel?’

  He shakes his head a bit embarrassed.

  ‘Look, dude, please don’t judge me, I...’

  ‘I am not going to judge you, but what happened? It might help me to understand Justin’s intentions.’

  He sighs, eyes dark, a storm brewing behind their dark blue: I have known Joel since we were kids, we went to school together until he moved in with his aunt, Mrs Angie and he went to a different high school for his junior and senior year but we have always hung out.

  He hasn’t always been into sleeping around and I am no saint myself but I have slept with 3 girls in my whole life, while he’s been doing more like 3 girls a week these last two years.