CHAPTER 25

"Erìhe and Neteyam will watch you, alright, Tuk?" Neytiri was crouched down in front of her youngest daughter. Her and Jake were going to the party which was held for the adults, and she was setting some ground rules for the teenagers and Tuk while they were gone.

"Don't let her wander about on her own," Jake told Neteyam.

"Yes, sir," Neteyam nodded his head as he shot Erìhe a look.

His parents would never know - but they both planned on going to the party that Ao'nung had mentioned. After hours of pleading and begging, Erìhe had finally gotten Neteyam to agree to go with her - under the agreement that she would have to include him in whatever she did at the party. He did not fancy being a third wheel for Ao'nung and the girl he liked.

"Okay, be good," Neytiri said as she got to her feet. Tuk nodded enthusiastically as Jake turned to look at Lo'ak and Kiri who were both looking back at him with bored expressions.

When the their parents finally left, Lo'ak sprang to his feet. "Tsireya can come over like we agreed, right?"

Erìhe did not understand how that was a good deal, as Lo'ak and Tsireya could literally go into the forest and have more privacy than back at the pod with Kiri and Tuk - but still, it worked out for her and Neteyam.

Neteyam nodded to his brother, "Yeah, she can - apparently Rotxo is coming too."

"What?" Kiri demanded.

"He's a nice kid!" Erìhe pat her shoulder, "You'll have fun - you can play with Tuk and all that."

Lo'ak rolled his eyes, "That sounds so fun."

"Hey!" Tuk glared at him.

"Sorry, Tuk."

Tuk turned her eyes back on Erìhe, "We can paint my pa'li yellow, right?" She confirmed. In order to make the little girl agree to stay silent about their absence, all Erìhe had to do was say that she would paint the wooden figurine any color that Tuk wished once it was done.

"Hi!" Tsireya suddenly said as she entered the pod, "I saw that your parents left."

A grin immediately made its way onto Lo'ak's face and he walked over to stand beside her. Erìhe chuckled quietly to herself before walking over as well. "Please keep an eye on them," she whispered to Tsireya so that Lo'ak could hear her. He scoffed in annoyance but said nothing.

Rotxo set foot into the pod as well, "I can't believe I'm missing the party to babysit." That was the first thing he said when he looked over at them.

Neteyam narrowed his eyes at him, "Don't kid yourself. We all know your happy to be here," he nodded toward Kiri who rolled her eyes moodily.

Rotxo did not deny it.

"Alright! No getting into trouble - because it will be me and your brother who will get our asses handed to us if something happens," Erìhe said with a grin as she moved to stand behind Neteyam and began pushing him out of the home as the others bid them goodbyes.

"Is this really a great idea?" Neteyam glanced at her from over his shoulder as they headed out of the pod.

"I never said it was a great idea," Erìhe laughed, letting go of his shoulders to walk beside him. She waved at Tuk, who had hurried to stand by the opening of the pod to wave. "But it will be fun, no?" She grinned up at him when she turned away from Tuk.

Neteyam could not help but smile, "I hope so."

Erìhe and Neteyam were still relatively new to the place so they had no idea where the party was. Luckily Ao'nung had been kind enough to offer to show them the place. He'd told Erìhe to meet him by the edge of the village, close to the forest just before eclipse.

And that's exactly where they found him. Ao'nung was leaning against a tree as he looked up at the sky, his hand behind his back. Obviously he'd been waiting for a while.

Erìhe bound over to him - leaving Neteyam to walk alone at a normal pace. He sighed as he watched her approach the Metkayina boy. If it was not clear already, Erìhe had forgiven him and no longer wanted to beat him up.

Actually Neteyam was not sure if she'd even meant it when she said she'd love to punch him.

"There you are," Ao'nung said when he noticed Erìhe headed in his direction. He pushed himself away from the tree and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Let's get going, then?" He asked, squeezing her shoulders.

Neteyam took in a deep breath through his nose before he closed the distance between them. He hoped to do something about his crush that night, but he felt as though that would be impossible as long as Ao'nung was around her.

"Let's go," Erìhe agreed and the three of them started walking through the forest.

They walked for a while - Neteyam remaining silent while Ao'nung and Erìhe started conversation. Ao'nung explained that the teenagers could be quite loud at times, so they had chosen a site that was rather deep into the forest.

"And the adults know nothing?" Erìhe asked as they ventured further into the forest.

"They do know," Ao'nung shrugged, "Well - we always have these parties at random times, so they wouldn't suspect when we'd do it. Like today, they wouldn't have guessed that we'd go out while they're partying too," he chuckled, "Adults are stupid like that."

Erìhe frowned, "They just have trust in you."

Ao'nung shrugged again before letting his hand fall from around her shoulders. "Here," he beckoned both of them to follow him.

The trees on the island were a lot different than back at the forest - there was not a lot of plants covering them. Ao'nung pulled himself onto a low branch of one of the thin trees before looking back at the two Omaticaya. He offered Erìhe his hand - as if she'd need his help.

Erìhe laughed before gracefully leaping onto the branch, maintaining perfect balance as she did so - unlike Ao'nung. He looked impressed before he saw Neteyam mimicking her, getting up just as easily and steadily. This caused Ao'nung to roll his eyes before he turned his back on the boy, "Alright, let's move on."

The site was on higher ground and apparently it was quicker getting there from the trees. Erìhe and Neteyam could have made it there in a quarter of the time that it took them to make it to the clearing - if only it wasn't for Ao'nung slowing him down.

Ao'nung was quick in the water whereas they were not, but he was clumsy and unbalanced as they leapt from branch to branch, from tree to tree. On multiple occasions Neteyam had to grab onto his arm to prevent him from falling. He got to smile at him smugly and that made those Neteyam's favorite parts of the journey - those and the moments when Erìhe would glance back at him and grin.

She would flash all her teeth, showcasing her beautiful smile and making him realize how excited she was for this party.

It made him happy he'd come.

When they finally made it higher up the mountain and onto the clearing, they arrived at the party. It was obviously already in full swing - teenagers were drunk and some were singing while others were dancing silly dances that had no meaning. They merely moved to the melody of their friends awful singing.

Erìhe's eyes sparkled as she met Neteyam's eyes. It was then that he'd realized she'd never been to a party either.

Parties had been pretty much impossible to have back in the forest - everyone was under the Olo'eyktan's eyes at all times. And that one time that they did have a party, Erìhe had not been invited as she was too young - and it got busted within the first hour anyways.

"I'll get us some drinks," Ao'nung said, briefly placing a hand on Erìhe's shoulder before walking off toward a group of teenagers who seemed like they could not stomach another drop of alcohol.

"I don't think he meant me," Neteyam chuckled once Ao'nung had gone.

Erìhe grinned at him, "I'll steal his and give it to you."

Neteyam had thought she had been kidding, but when Ao'nung returned with two wooden cups of some suspicious liquid, Erìhe beamed at him as she held out her hands for both of the cups. "Thank you so much," she told the confused boy as she turned to hand Neteyam the other drink.

Ao'nung watched her with his mouth comically agape, his hands still held out as they had been when he'd been handing her the two cups.

Erìhe snickered before patting his hand, "I'm sorry, fish boy," she practically cackled, "Let's get you another drink."

As she lead the Metkayina back toward and the drunk teenagers, Neteyam could not even find it in himself to glare at Ao'nung. He merely sipped his drink with a gleeful smile on his face.

"Neteyam?"

Neteyam turned to look at Aluva who was approaching him with Riik'o and Níawi.

"Is Erìhe here too?" Aluva asked as the three girls halted before him.

Neteyam nodded his head toward Erìhe who was just laughing with Ao'nung over his spilt drink.

All of the girls eyes widened as they turned their head to look at the two. "No way!" Níawi gushed. "She's here with him?"

"No," Neteyam disagreed with a frown, "She's here with me."

Riik'o did not look away from Ao'nung and Erìhe. "I hate to break it to you - but she's not here with you." Then she turned to Aluva and pointed at them, giggling as she pointed out Erìhe's hand that rested on Ao'nung's arm.

This time Neteyam glared as she chugged the last of his drink.

His mood had been ruined with just one sentence from the girl.

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A/n:
School can suck my dick

Anyways I can't wait for y'all to read the next chapter 🤭