I woke up Wednesday morning with a smile on my face, expecting River to be next to me, but when I looked over, he was nowhere to be found.

As I looked around the room, the door burst open, startling me.

"What's up?" Nadia said as she trailed into our room.

"Nothing. How was your night with Jess? I'm assuming it went well since you were not here last night," I said, wiggling my eyebrows and trying not to think about wherever River went.

"It was amazing. We went on a sunset picnic and then went back to Jess's apartment to have sex," Nadia bluntly said as I smiled. I was happy for her, but I was also jealous of the fact that she had found someone. I wanted to have a sunset picnic and sex with someone too.

I was more than ready for a boyfriend. Hopefully, Daniel would be that soon.

*****

I didn't see River at all on Wednesday or Thursday. We both had classes and needed to study, so I was glad when Friday came around.

River asked me to another party at some guy's cabin tonight. I was definitely going since he said there was a pond next to the house for skinny dipping.

"Are you wearing a swimsuit?" Nadia said as she picked out her clothes for the party.

"No. I don't even have a bathing suit, and even if I did, I'd still be going in the water naked."

"Wow. Scandalous. I won't bring one then," Nadia said as she placed her swimsuit back in her drawer.

"When is Jess coming?" I asked.

"About an hour," She said. It was already getting pretty late, but that's when the best parties happened. My last party experience was not too clear since I got drunk for most of it, so I was hoping this party would be better.

"I'm not drinking tonight," I declared.

"You're not?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"I want to remember this party. Plus, I don't want to get drunk and do something stupid."

"You didn't do anything stupid last time."

"Not that I know of," I said as Nadia headed into the bathroom to get ready. I got dressed in Jeans and a tight-fitting black shirt with heeled boots. When Nadia came out of the bathroom, I went in and did my makeup and hair.

I knew that I would see Daniel tonight, and I hoped we would get to make out again. Hearing about Nadia and Jess made me realize I longed for physical contact and was ready for it.

When I got a text from River, I went down to the parking lot and got in his car.

"Do you have a problem with my outfit this time?" I teased.

"Nope. You can wear whatever you want," He said, contrasting his statements from last time. He must have learned the error in controlling what girls wear.

"Wow, okay. I think I'll wear a banana costume next."

"That would definitely be something."

"So, you were gone when I woke up a few days ago," I casually threw into the conversation.

"Oh, yeah. I had to do some schoolwork," He said, and I couldn't read his face.

"I'm sorry I pressured you to stay. You didn't have to. You were probably uncomfortable in such a tiny bed anyway."

"The only reason I was uncomfortable was because you were hogging the covers," He smiled. I was relieved he wasn't making a big deal about it.

When we got to the party, we got out and went inside.

"Are you drinking?" I asked River.

"No. Are you?"

"Nope."

"Okay, I'll get us some soda," He said before walking away.

"Hey," Daniel said, coming up to me.

"Hi."

"Are you here alone?" He asked.

"No. River and Nadia are here somewhere."

"I was hoping to get you alone tonight," He whispered in my ear. Maybe he did want to kiss me again. Alone this time. Would it be going further than that? Did I want it to go further than that? I was sure I did earlier, but now, nerves were bubbling to the surface, which I pushed as far down as I could.

I continued to talk to Daniel for the next hour, chatting about random things like our frustrations with teachers or how many siblings we had. We got to know each other a lot better, and I was glad that we had the chance to do so. River was nowhere to be found. He said he would get me a soda but never came back.

"Let's go outside and get in the water," Daniel said, leading me off the couch and into the darkness of the night. We walked over to the pond where peopling were already getting undressed and lounging in the water. Daniel started to pull his shirt off. I looked at his naked chest and began to feel uncomfortable. He was going to get naked. This was what I wanted, though.

This was something on the list that I needed to accomplish, so I started getting undressed. I pulled off my shirt, leaving me in a black bra. Next to go were my pants as I stepped out of the fabric. Right as I was about to undo my bra, an arm pulled me off to the side.

"What do you think you're doing?" River asked, scanning me.

"Getting naked."

"Oh, no. No way," He said, looking up and down my body, lingering longer than necessary on my breasts that were basically popping out of my bra.

"Why? I thought this was what we planned on doing?" I asked.

"You really want to do this here, with Daniel?"

"Yes," I said.

"With all these people around?"

"I'll be in the water."

"Alani, we can do this in private when it's just you and me."

"No. Now is the perfect opportunity, River!"

"Please don't," He said.

"River, you don't control me."

"Alani."

"I'm doing it, so either join me or go away," I said before River sighed, stomped away, and headed back into the house.

"What was that all about?" Daniel asked.

"Nothing," I said as I got closer to the water. Daniel and I quickly removed the rest of our clothing and hopped into the water. It was cold on my bare skin, but it also felt exhilarating. I was so close to a naked Daniel, and Daniel was so close to a naked me. It felt weird and made me nervous.

"Alani?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah?"

"Will you go on a date with me tomorrow?"

"Of course!" I said, smiling like an idiot. He finally asked me to go on a date with him, and I couldn't have been happier.

After swimming around in the water for a while, we got out, dried off, and put our clothes back on. Daniel walked with me back into the house with his hand on my lower back.

I looked around for River, but I didn't see him anywhere.

A few minutes later, I found him. He was in the corner, making out with Harper. I watched as his hands roamed all over her and their tongues tangled together. A weird feeling presented itself in the pit of my stomach. I didn't like it all.

River was just a friend, and I had no right to tell him who he could or couldn't make out with, just like he couldn't tell me who I could and couldn't make out with.

But that didn't stop me from feeling jealous.