Becoming Ella: An Opposites Attract Romance

by Mia Evans

  Maddie is clearly checking out Matt the same way. Except, she's more obvious about it. As the boys walk towards us, she lets out a loud wolf whistle, resulting in Matt turning around and jokingly parading himself off for her.

  "Look at you, sexy!" Maddie shouts, clapping as Matt shakes his butt at her. "Next Calvin Klein model right here, ladies and gentlemen."

  She laughs as Matt backs his butt up on her, shaking it in her face playfully. Maddie swats at him and makes contact with his left cheek, which Matt playfully looks wounded at.

  "You slap Calvin Klein models, baby?" he asks, mock offended. "This right here is pure swimsuit royalty. Paws off."

  They laugh together, and I can't help but feel a little jealous. They seem to know all of the little twists and turns of each other. It's cute, but also sickening, how they are so clearly in love with each other.

  "It's sick, isn't it," Will murmurs, close to my ear.

  Though his breath is warm, chills run down my spine. I jump, not having realized that he was so close to me. Will smirks at my reaction.

  He is still leaning close to me, and I can smell the lake mixed with sunscreen and bug spray. Under all of that, I can smell his familiar masculine scent.

  I don't know what to say about his comment, but when I turn and look at him, I notice that he has tanned more even though we've only been out for a couple of hours.

  "It's not fair," I say, gesturing to his chest.

  "What's not?" he asks.

  "We've barely been outside today, and you're already like three shades darker."

  He nods and chews on the corner of his lip. I already know that he's thinking up a smart response.

  "Yea, your skin just seems to like to get shades of red. Maybe if you commit to more time outside, it’ll get the memo that you want to get tanner."

  I gasp, reaching out to smack Will against the shoulder, but he dances out of my way. He laughs as I chase him around the campsite, speeding every time I think I'm going to catch him.

  Right when I've nearly got him cornered between Matilda and a tree, he flings his towel at me. The heavy wet fabric blinds me for a second as I stand there in shock.

  "Ew, Will!" I laugh, "I don't want a face full of your used towel."

  "Oh, I'm sorry. You were looking at it like you did."

  My mouth drops, and I swear my face gets the reddest it's been this summer.

  Will comes up behind me, and I fling the towel back at him. I dry my face with the ends of my shirt, though I notice that Will is looking at me more intently than usual. As he continues to stare at me, I start to feel more self-conscious. I smooth my shirt down.

  "What? Do I have a mosquito on my face or something?" I ask, laughing and trying to get rid of the awkward silence.

  Will shakes his head and averts his gaze. I don't know why, but he seems to have been genuinely caught off guard.

  He clears his throat. "No, uh, just zoned out," he says.

  Before either of us can say anything else, Matt comes towards us.

  "Hey, you guys want to get a fire going?" he asks.

  Will looks a little annoyed at the interruption, but he smiles at his friend. "Yeah, sounds good to me. What about you, Ella?"

  I wish Matt had waited to walk up until a few moments later. It was clear that the air was charged with something, but now it's gone.

  "Yea, that sounds good," I say, upset that the moment has been ruined.

  "You bring any wood?" Matt asks Will.

  "Yea, I got a small bundle. It won't be enough for a good fire, though. We're going to have to find more."

  "I'm on it," Matt says.

  Will shoots me another look I can't decipher before heading around Matilda. I consider following him and continuing what was started, but Maddie waves me over.

  "Come sit and talk with me while they get stuff ready," she says.

  She pats the plastic chair beside her, so I sink into it, trying to distract myself from what felt like it could have just been a thing. Maddie starts asking me questions and answering some of mine. I listen halfheartedly, trying to catch Will's eyes as he tears into the firewood. He doesn't meet my gaze, though.

  Matt rushes around the campsite, gathering various sizes of sticks and bits of fallen wood. Will starts arranging thick pieces of wood along the bottom of the fire pit. Matt drapes his smaller sticks around the edges, and together they build what looks like a short and stout castle.

  "You lighting or am I?" Matt asks, wiping off his hands on the back of his pants.

  "Oh, babe! You just got dirt all over your butt!" Maddie laughs, reaching up and brushing off Matt's backside.

  "That was the goal," Matt says, playing along.

  Maddie laughs harder and brushes his butt, sending little clumps of tightly packed dirt flying. She doesn't get nearly all of it off, and by the time she is done, there are still massive streaks of brown all over the back of his pants.

  "I'll light it," Will says, shooting me a look as Maddie continues to brush off Matt's pants.

  I smile to myself and tuck my chin so that neither Matt nor Maddie see the look Will and I just exchanged.

  Will grabs a lighter out of the pack he brought and picks up one of the smaller sticks in the middle. He lights it and waits until the flames start devouring it before spreading it around the other pieces. Will makes sure that everything catches before he stands back and admires his handiwork.

  "And that's how it's done," he says, turning to Matt, who has resigned himself to sitting in the chair next to Maddie.

  "I'm gonna go get the rest of the wood from the car," Will says, nodding towards me.

  I nod back and sip my water as the flames start to warm my shins. I pull my chair closer, wanting the rest of my body to feel the warmth. I stare into the fire as Matt and Maddie start whispering to each other.

  I am glad that I came. Will was right; this is fun.

  I am lost in deep thought when I feel something being draped around my shoulders. I jerk and look up to see Will standing beside me, the back of my head now pressing into his stomach. He has draped one of his quilts around my shoulders. When he tucks it under my sides, I can't help but blush from the look that Maddie shoots me across the fire.

  Once he is done, Will sets the wood bundles on the table and cuts all of them open, making a pile ready to be grabbed whenever we need to keep the fire going.

  I admire how fast he got the fire going. I've never started one. It's cool to see Will do it so easily. Again, it reminds me of how different we are. He has more street smarts, and I have more book smarts. For the first time ever, I consider that maybe instead of being a bad thing, it would make us a good pair?

  I swipe absentmindedly at the mosquitos swarming around my face. I already have half a dozen bug bites, and I don't want to get more. I can't even remember the last summer that I was outside enough to get this many bug bites.

  "You want me to put some bug spray on your neck?" Will asks.

  I tilt my head back, and he smiles at me as I look at him upside down. I nod, and he reaches into his pocket for his travel size bottle. He sprays a couple pumps onto his hand and then sweeps my hair off my neck with his clean hand.

  I feel every hair on the back of my neck stand up as he gently rubs it into my neck. I revel in the feeling of his warm hand against my skin. I can feel the calluses on his fingers; I love the way that they gently scrape against me.

  After he puts my hair back, I suck in a breath. Where he touched my neck feels like it's on fire.

  "Thank you," I say as he comes around my side.

  I think that he is going to plop in the camping chair that's about a foot away from me, but instead, he picks up the chair and moves it right up next to me. My stomach flutters as he settles in next to me and starts working some of the quilt over himself. I feel his knee brush up against mine.

  I'm surprised no one else can hear how fast my heart is beating.

  "Alright," Matt exclaims, "it's s'mores time!"

&n
bsp; "Ooo, yes!" Maddie cheers.

  Matt stumbles up from his spot, his backside still covered in dark brown smudges, to get the s'mores ingredients.

  "Have you ever made s'mores over a fire before?" Will asks me quietly.

  His face is so close that I can feel his breath on my cheek. If I were to turn my head just a couple of inches, our lips would be touching. The thought catches me by surprise and makes my heart race. For the first time, I don't shut those thoughts down. Instead, I let myself indulge in them.

  What if I did turn my head right now and kiss Will? His friends probably wouldn't notice. They're so wrapped up in themselves.

  Would Will lean into it? Tell his friends that we need to go back to the van to get something so he could kiss me more?

  "I haven't," I say, turning so that my face isn't right against his. Even though I want it to be.

  I catch Will looking at my lips, which makes me feel tingly all over. I wish that he would take the initiative. If Will Keely leaned in to kiss me right now, I wouldn't back away.

  "You're killing me, Corren. How have you not been kicked out of Wisconsin yet?" he asks, mock horror on his face.

  I giggle, and he gets up and grabs two long sticks from the table. He also grabs a pack of marshmallows, chocolates, and graham crackers.

  When he sits next to me again, it feels like he scoots even further up against me. Probably just my mind imagining things, though.

  But I don't imagine what happens next.

  Will lifts his chair and moves so that the edge of our chairs overlap. He pulls my chair so that I am right next to him, and he wraps his arm around me as he works on opening our s'mores ingredients.

  Will and I are so close that our shoulders are touching. His cheek is only a couple of inches from mine. I force myself to be bold, and so I lean in and put my head on his shoulder.

  Will tightens his arms around me, and his fingers fumble with opening the graham crackers. Maybe he's just as flustered as I am about being this close. At least, I hope that's the effect I'm having on him.

  Will hands me a stick, and I hold the rubber end while he slides a marshmallow onto the tip. He assembles his own stick, and we hold our marshmallows over the flame.

  Matt has his stick into the middle of the fire, and I can see that his marshmallow is already charred black. Maddie is just eating her marshmallows plain.

  "Have you ever had s'mores before?" Will asks, still pressed close against me.

  His question is directly whispered in my ear. It sends shivers down my spine.

  "Microwaved," I say, laughing when he gives me a repulsed look.

  When my marshmallow is the perfect golden brown color, I pull it out from the fire. I sort through the other ingredients that are spread on both Will and I's laps. I pull two graham crackers off mine and reach for the chocolate on Will's. When I press down, Will jerks, and I feel my fingers brush against something harder under the quilt that definitely isn't just chocolates.

  I gasp, and Will looks at me with a fiery look in his eyes. My core heats, and I squeeze my thighs together under the quilt, trying to stop the desire that immediately starts there.

  Will Keely is hard under the blanket and sitting right next to me.

  Will clears his throat, and I break out of my trance and continue making my s'more. Once assembled, I bite into it. It's so much better than the microwaved version.

  "How is it?" Will asks, clearly deciding to ignore that I just felt his hard member under the blanket.

  "It's really good," I say, daring myself to make eye contact.

  His eyes are just as warm and intense. The thought of kissing him goes through my mind again. I know that Maddie and Matt wouldn't notice. Maddie is in Matt's lap now, and they're laughing as he feeds her bits of messy s'mores.

  "Look up at the sky," Will murmurs in my ear.

  I shiver from his warm breath but follow his command, looking up at the sky.

  The night sky is dark, clearer than I've ever seen it in the city. Tons of stars dot the sky. It's beautiful. I've never seen so many before.

  I know that there must be more stunning sights. However, right now, this feels like the prettiest thing I have ever seen.

  An overwhelming sense of calm bathes over me, and I sink more into my chair, appreciating, and taking everything in.

  "It's all so beautiful," I whisper.

  Will is watching me intently. "Yes, it is," he says, not looking away from me.

  I look away from his intense eye contact and blush. Will reaches out and grabs my chin, tilting my head so I look at him again.

  "I want to kiss you, Ella," he murmurs, his voice raspy and low.

  I look over at his friends, worried that they are watching us. To my pleasure, they are still occupied entirely with themselves.

  "I don't care if they see," he groans, getting even closer.

  His breath washes over my lips, and instinctively, I lick them. I know that it's stupid, but I want to kiss Will Keely back. Maybe even do more with Will Keely. And that scares me.

  Will is looking at me with more heat than ever, and I find myself burning up under his gaze. I wish that we could be alone, in his van, no quilt covering us. I wish that he would follow through on his desire.

  Somehow I know that we will have to go camping again in the future, just the two of us.

  "Later in the van, I'm going to kiss you. You okay with that?" he asks, his voice gruff.

  My heart speeds up so fast that I think I'm going to have a heart attack. I manage to nod.

  "Oh, Ella," Will smiles, quickly kissing me on the cheek.

  Then he straights himself, settling against the back of his chair, pulling me closer. I am tucked cozily into his side, and he holds my hand. His rough calluses trail over the back of my hand, and I nestle in closer to him.

  When I look across the fire, I see that Maddie is staring at me. I was so caught up in Will that I didn't notice when she and Matt stopped laughing. Instead, Matt is quietly making another s'mores, and Maddie is looking at us over the flames. Will is looking up at the sky, so I don't think he notices.

  I feel embarrassed. I wonder how long they've been watching us.

  Maddie smiles at me and winks. She holds my gaze for another second before reaching for her own s'mores stick to make her first actual s'mores.

  The four of us are quiet as we enjoy nature, s'mores, and each other's company.

  After another hour passes, Maddie and Matt announce that they will be retiring for the evening. They pack up their s'mores ingredients and chairs. The way they are looking at each other, I can tell that they are excited to do something that doesn't involve sleep.

  "Night, guys," Maddie says, tucking their remaining graham crackers into our box.

  Matt slings both of their chair straps over his shoulder and wraps the excess quilt around Maddie, turning her into a walking burrito.

  "Yea, night, guys!" he exclaims, "see y'all in the morning."

  He shoots a look at Will, which I catch before he slaps Maddie's butt playfully. She giggles as she makes her way up into the RV. Matt hauls in behind her and then closes their door hard, locking it.

  Now it's just Will and I.

  Wordlessly, Will starts packing up the rest of our stuff too. I know that we are about to head back to Matilda. I'm excited but also nervous.

  Will folds up our chairs and hands me the quilt, which I wrap around my shoulders. He pours the rest of his water bottle out on the fire, and the fire screams and smokes as it dies. Will pours the rest of my water bottle on it for good measure until the only thing left is ashes and smoke.

  Will grabs the rest of the s'mores sticks off the table, and we silently make our way back to Matilda. I take one last look at the stars as Will opens the van door.

  I feel so excited that I could barf.

  When Will asked me to camp with him, I never imagined things could end up like this.

  A part of why I'm nervous is because I'm sure that Will has tons of e
xperience. With being on the road, I would be foolish to believe that Will doesn't mess around and take advantage of the fun, no-strings-attached lifestyle that living in a van must bring.

  Will carefully puts everything away, and I straighten the quilt out on the passenger's seat. It already smells like smoke from the fire. I am just finishing folding the quilt when I feel two warm arms wrap around me, and then I am gently pulled back against a solid chest.

  Heat spreads throughout my entire body, and I try to take small breaths, not wanting to sound like Darth Vadar during what will probably be the sexiest moment of my life thus far.

  Will starts cradling my front, running his arms in trails absentmindedly along my arms. I can feel his desire pressing into my backside, and that causes a bloom of heat between my legs. Will leans down and presses his lips against my neck, sweetly trailing up. I feel like I could pass out from desire and anticipation.

  "Can I follow through on what I said at the fire?" Will asks, kissing my ears. I shiver against him, and he tightens his grip.

  "What was that?" I ask, playing dumb.

  Will chuckles against my neck. One of his hands presses against my front, where I accidentally touched him by the fire. I gasp, and I can feel him smile against me. It feels so good that I don't care about how I must sound.

  "I want to kiss you, Ella," he whispers, his voice growly.

  I shudder against him. I don't get how he has this effect on me.

  "Okay," I breathe. I feel dizzy as he continues kissing along my neck.

  "Just okay?" Will teases, not stopping his sexy torture.

  "I want to kiss you too," I whisper.

  Will groans softly before he turns me around to face him. I see the hungry look in his eyes. His chest is rising and falling fast, just like mine. He grabs my cheeks, and I reach up on my tiptoes to meet him as he leans down to me. We meet in the middle, and when our lips meet, heat explodes through my entire body.

  It feels more than right.

  Will kisses me hungrily, and I match his pace. He reaches and wraps his arm around my back, trying to pull me even closer to him. He bends down to wrap my hands around his back, and he reaches down and picks me up, so we are flush against each other.