Mandy was sitting there with her arms folded across her chest glaring at Katy from across the fire.  Ever since the stupid comment that she had made earlier Mandy hasn’t been able to even look at Joey without thinking about kissing him.  It was driving her nuts that she couldn’t kiss him and she totally wanted to know what it felt like.

            “Is Mandy okay?” Lance asked taking a seat beside Katy at the fire.  He had notice the two of them exchanging glances, but given the fight that the girls had the night before it wouldn’t be unheard of for there to still be some tension between them.

            “She’s fine.  I might have said something earlier that got her thinking about something naughty.” Katy explained taking a bite of her hot dog.  Justin was watching Katy as well but for a much different reason, why did they have to be having hot dogs for dinner.  His thoughts were all over the place as he watched her eat, for some reason he found that to be so hot. 

           “Naughty huh?” Lance questioned.

              “Well naughty for her, tame if it was me.” Katy said with a smile as she shifted to look at Justin.  The sun was just starting to set, but the air was already starting to get cool as they huddled around the fire.  The guys seemed pretty comfortable around the girls, no one had taken off yet which surprised the girls.  Chris took a seat next to Justin on one of the logs, shifting his attention slightly.

            “So, a little bird told me that you and Katy recently spent some quality time together.” Chris said, raising his eye brow toward his young friend.            “Maybe, I got your money though didn’t I?” Justin joked. 

           “Yeah well, that was rigged.” Chris responded. 

           “Yeah, you rigged it, just so you could get rid of me and spend time with your woman.” Justin explained.  Chris just nodded, he was guilty as charged.  That is when he felt Brandi take a seat beside him on the small section that was left on the log.  She politely waved at Justin. 

           “Hello, little bird.” Justin said taking a drink of his beer.  Brandi just looked at him dumb founded, she wasn’t following him but Chris just motioned to her to just ignore Justin.  “Why do you care what I was doing, the two of you disappeared there for a little bit as well.” Justin added.

            Chris just hung his head, Justin had a point, and he really wasn’t behaving much better.  But Katy had her Katana back now and that should concern Justin a little, Chris wouldn’t put it past her to use it on any one of them if they pissed her off right now.

            Katy watched the three of them talking for a minute when she had an idea.  She handed her plate to Lance and darted off into the house to get the video camera.  She knew the video was kind of a wash at this point but she didn’t have any good footage of Chris or Justin and she could always finish the video after the fact.  When she came back out the others were just happy to see her excited about something again so no one questioned her when she started barking orders at everyone.

            They hadn’t really talked about a shot for Chris but the campfire was pretty romantic so Katy shoed the others off the log and started filming him alone by the fire.  Brandi darted back into the frame to clear a little ketchup from his face; after all she wanted him to look good for this video.

              There were sounds coming from the woods around them and every once and awhile Chris was break from character to look behind him.  They were in the middle of nowhere and Chris had seen just about every horror movie ever made.  This totally had the makings of a massacre.

            “Are we done, yet?” Chris asked.  He was getting sick of filming, he was ready to have a beer and be with Brandi. 

           “You got some place else to be tonight, Kirkpatrick?” Katy joked.

              “No, but I have someone else I would rather be talking to.  Go film Justin or something.” Chris snapped in a mock angry tone, then got up and headed over to the cooler.  He didn’t care that she wasn’t done with him; this was getting to be tiresome.  Now he remembered why he had always hated video shoots all those years ago.  Those things took all day to do and were so draining. 

           “Fine, you little diva.” Katy joked then moved over to sit between Justin and Lance.  She flipped the camera off and set it aside.  She wasn’t sure how she wanted to do Justin’s shot yet.  She looked around and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, even Kim was putting her best face forward.  Katy snapped out of it when she felt Joey put his hand on her shoulder. He got down low to whisper in her ear. 

           “What did you tell Mandy?” He asked.  Katy glanced at Lance; they must have talked while she was fliming Chris.  How else could he have known that she was the reason for Mandy’s odd behavior tonight?  Katy thought for a minute and then whispered something into his ear.  Joey just smiled and then walked away.

            “Do I even want to know?” Justin asked.  Katy just shook her head no, of course she was starting trouble, hello it might be their last night there.  Mandy was watching her as she interacted with Joey and knew that it couldn’t be good.  That’s when Mandy heard something pelt the side of the cooler that was near her.

            “Oh my god, what was that?” She snapped and without even thinking she jumping into Joey’s awaiting arms.  Joey just smiled at her, but he hadn’t heard anything.  He had still been processing what Katy had just told him and was on his way to ask Mandy something.

            “It was probably just a chipmunk.” Joey offered as she clung to his forearm.

            “Do they have those up here?” Mandy asked before looking up and realizing that Joey was so close to her.  She stared at his lips for a minute, cursing Katy in her head.  Joey just shrugged in response to her question.  Brandi was laughing at her paranoid friend, and that is was when a second rock bounced off the tree behind her, which caused her to jump onto Chris lap.  Chris tried to play it off, but in truth the noise had startled him too.  He embarrassed her as if to protect her from whatever it was. 

           A third rock bounced off the ground and struck Katy in the calf; she jumped up and was cursing to everyone. She picked up the rock and examined it.  There wasn’t really anything special about it .

           “What the hell?  Who is throwing shit?” Katy snapped.   She glanced around the circle but no one was confessing to it.  They heard a familiar laugh coming from around the side of the house and then JC stepped into the light.  The others stared at him mystified.  No one had expected him to return.  “You hit me, you jerk!” Katy snapped and then tossed the rock back at him, breaking the silence of the rest of the group.  JC flinched as the tiny pebble stuck his arm.

            “Sorry I was trying not to hit anyone.  It’s nice to see that you guys missed me so much.  Maybe I shouldn’t have come back.” JC joked.  But the thought had been on the back of his mind since he had climbed out of the cab at the end of the drive way.  It had been a long walk back up the lane to the house and the whole time what Kim had said him earlier was haunting him.  He wasn’t sure they would even still be there.

            He heard them around back and had been using the increasing darkness to watch them. His mind was telling him to turn around and run but his legs weren’t responding.  It was like his body had a mind of its own and for some reason it wanted to be here.  That’s when he had seen her; she looked beautiful in the flicker of the camp fire.  Kim had been right she wasn’t like the girls he had dated, but maybe that was a good thing.  She wasn’t a tooth pick but she still had all the right curves.  JC closed his eyes moaning a little and laughed to himself.  He had totally been stalking her, how creepy was that?

          Lance quickly got up and gave him a hug.  At least now they knew that he wasn’t just lost in the woods somewhere, he was safe.  The next hug that he got was from a person he was expecting.  It was Kim, who had managed to make it from the other side of the fire in a record time.  Lance had no more than stepped aside and Kim was in his arms.  He pulled her close and willingly embraced her, pulling her tightly against him.  Katy was so shock by what she was seeing that she tripped on the log that she had been sitting on and fell to the ground.  But she never turned away from the couple.

            JC lifted Kim’s chin slightly so that she had to look at him, there were tears building up in her eyes about to break free, but before they could escape JC captured her lips with his.  His heart was in his throat and his palms were sweaty, he felt like a nervous high school kid.  This was so worth coming back for.  Justin looked at his beer and then at Katy, who was still on the ground.

            “This stuff must be stronger than it taste.” Justin joked, but maintained a straight face.  He got up and helped pull Katy back on to her feet, but kept an arm around her waist in case she went down again from shock.  But Katy never looked away from the couple that was now practically making out.

              “I am confused; I thought they hated each other?” Katy finally asked.

              “Don’t even try to understand it, just go with it. That’s what you are good at, right baby?” Justin sighed.  Katy thought back to the compass that she had found on the counter and searched for it in her pocket.  JC finally broke the kiss and glanced at the others.

              “Is there room around the fire for me?” He asked.

            “Always!” Brandi answered.  Katy approached JC, who still had an arm around Kim, and flashed him the compass.

            “How long have you been here?” Katy asked.  JC looked at her and then at Kim, who just hung her head, maybe leaving the compass on the counter hadn’t been such a good idea.  Kim’s body langue suddenly made him uncomfortable.  He let his arm fall away from her and he clasp his hands together.  It was clear to him that the two of them had not talked about it.

            “Awkward.” JC simply stated.  Katy glance between the two of them, none of this was making any sense to her and though confusion was normal for her lately she didn’t like it. 

           “I found this on the counter earlier, if you didn’t put it there then who did?” Katy asked, rising her voice a little more that she had intended.  JC was about to say something when Kim interrupted.

            “I did.” Kim said softly. 

             “When were you going to tell us that you had talked to JC?” Katy asked.  She sounded a little hurt; it wasn’t like Kim to keep secrets.

            “How did he even get your compass?  I gave it to you, it was a gift.” Kim asked.  Katy realized that she shouldn’t have said anything; she couldn’t call Kim out on it without confessing that she had talked to JC as well.

            “I stole it.” JC confessed.  He hated to lie but he didn’t want to see the two of them fight. 

             “You stole it?  Why would you do that? Were you planning on running away?” Kim asked her eyes begging him for answers.  JC put his hand on his forehead; this is what he got for trying to help.  Now he just looked like an ass.

            “He didn’t steal it; I gave it to him last night.” Katy confessed, she appreciated what JC was trying to do for her but it went against her no lying rule.  And she could handle Kim’s wrath far better than he could. 

           “Wait a minute you gave it to him?  Is that why you have been acting so weird?  You said you didn’t find him last night.” Brandi yelled coming into the conversation.  Katy turned and faced the other, letting her eyes roll a few times as the other began to chatter among themselves. 

           “No, I said that I couldn’t get him back.  I didn’t say that I didn’t see him.  And I gave him the compass so that he would get lost.  I wasn’t about to drug him and drag him back here.  He is probably heavier than he looks.” Katy explained.  Kim smirked, he was heavier than he looked, she remember how much trouble her and Brandi had getting him into the SUV.  There was no way that Katy, as strong as she was, could have gotten him through the forest by herself.

            “Why would you lie?” Kim asked turning to JC.  He could see the hurt on her face, he hadn’t wanted to lie to her and it was stupid any way, it was just a compass. 

           “I didn’t want you to fight; Katy told me last night that she was worried about you guys.  I guess you had a fight or something and she was pretty upset about it.” JC answered.  He realized that Katy would probably be mad at him for his confession but she was all about being truthful.  The girls all hung their heads; the fight had been pretty upsetting for all of them.  “And it was my fault; I shouldn’t have left like I did.” JC added.

            There was silence as they all thought about it, but it was broken when they heard Katy start to laugh.  Katy knew it was inappropriate but it was just too funny.  Everyone was looking at her but she just waved them off, made her way to the cooler and then fished a beer.  After a long swig she turned back to the others.  She had a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye.

            “Why are you laughing?” Mandy finally asked, but everyone else was thinking it. 

           “You guys think I am nuts but ya’ll as just as crazy as me.” Katy laughed and took another drink before explaining further.  “JC coming back to the just proves it.  If you want to know what JC and I talking about during our little therapy session in the woods, then I’ll tell you because apparently you all need a little help.  Now I am thinking that the two of you are more than ready to film the love scene.  We should do it before you change your minds and start fighting again.” 

           JC wrapped his arm around Kim and pulled her close again, he hoped that she wasn’t mad at him.  No one wanted to admit it but Katy was right, they had all lost whatever common sense they had.  Kim couldn’t be mad at Katy any more than she could be angry with herself; she had done the same thing more or less.  She had found JC but returned to the house empty handed. 

           “If we are all being honest, what the hell did you tell Joey?” Mandy chimed in.  Katy smiled and met with Joey’s stare.  He was a little concerned now that Katy may have lied to him. 

           “I told the truth, I told him that you were thinking about kissing him.” Katy explained.  Mandy made a series of random noises before giving up on speaking all together.  She took a defensive stance and just pouted.  “Is that not what you have been thinking about all night?” Katy questioned.  Now Joey turned to Mandy for her answer. 

           “Yes, but… it’s your fault.  If you hadn’t said anything earlier I wouldn’t be.” Mandy explained. 

             “Fine, blame it on me, what do I care.” Katy said with a smile, they could all blame it on her.  But the main thing was, they were all smiling again and things were back on track.