Chapter Nineteen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was exhausted but the need for revenge had reinvigorated me. So, I went for my run even though I really didn’t want to. I needed to do it just in case Drew was waiting to gloat and also to take a sweep by their cabin to make sure everyone was in bed.

Drew was nowhere to be found and their cabin was quiet when I snuck up to it in the shadows. Without being detected, I went back to our own cabin and got everything I needed together. I sat on my bed afterwards with my yarn and hook, working on the throw that was almost done. I made a lot of progress over the next two hours in an attempt to stay awake and put everything away shortly before one in the morning.

With my bag on my arm, I dashed across the campus until I was back at Cabin Seven. Listening outside the doors, I confirmed that both counselors were snoring before going in the back door. Even in the dark, I could tell all ten boys were asleep, too, so I dashed into the bathroom quickly.

Taking the showerheads off was harder than I thought it would be and it took me more than thirty minutes before each one had been taken off and replaced. I did the same thing in Drew and Jordan’s bathroom and made sure they were still asleep before going back into the main area.

I pulled out all three cans of open tuna fish and hid them under two beds and on one shelf, tucked behind things so they weren’t easily seen. I had to hold my breath at one point when one of the boys shifted in his sleep as if he was awake.

Once everything was in place, I went to where my backpack was on the floor by the back door. I pulled the disturbing clown mask out and tugged it over my face. Sucking in a deep breath, I took a step towards the first sleeping teenager.

Suddenly, a hand went around my waist while another clapped over my rubber-covered mouth, not quite concealing my surprised yelp. That set off a chain of events because one of the boys heard me and saw a scary, struggling clown in the corner, causing him to yell in surprise. The cabin was abruptly filled with startled yells, soft curses, and laughter as a light went on and the mask was pulled back up over my head.

“Hey, babe.” Drew’s breath tickled my ear as the arm around my waist tightened and I was pulled up against a warm chest. “What are you doing in here?”

“Oh, you know. I was just out for a midnight stroll.” I waved my hand dismissively and grinned at the teenaged boys in front of me. “Everyone having a good night?”

Jordan laughed as he appeared in the open cabin. “Trying to get one more prank in before the moratorium tonight?”

“Your girlfriend practically insisted when she came out of the shower stained red tonight.”

All of the boys laughed, including Drew behind me. I felt his nose skim my neck before he spoke again. “We’re still trying to figure out a way to top the toothpaste, Butler. The week off just gives us an opportunity to brainstorm.”

“What do we do now that we caught her?” asked a boy named Luka as he looked at me with his arms crossed. Another one of them, Spencer, grinned evilly.

“We could strip her down to her underwear and tie her to the flag pole.”

I rolled my eyes at the same time Drew’s body stiffened behind me. A third boy named Titus nudged the second and scoffed.

“That’s Drew’s girlfriend. He’d never let us do that.”

“Not just because she’s my girlfriend,” Drew said, his tone low and somewhat scary. “Humiliating people is not cool. Stripping women down involuntarily is definitely not okay. Remember that, Spencer.”

“Remember that everyone,” Jordan chimed in with a shake of his head. “As far as what we’re going to do with her, we let her go with the shame and knowledge that she’s been caught.”

I had to hide my smile. They thought my only prank had been the mask. I hung my head in shame and let out a long sigh. “Can I at least have my mask back?”

“No.” Drew pressed a kiss to the skin below my ear. “Come on, I’ll walk you back.”

“Fine, fine. This isn’t over, Cabin Seven.” I pat Drew’s hand and he let go of me so I could bend down to grab my backpack. If Drew and Jordan insisted on searching it, I was screwed. There were tools, lids to tuna cans, and wrappers inside. I offered the boys a wave and walked out the front door with Drew behind me.

“Okay, back to bed,” Jordan could be heard saying behind us. “Morning will be here soon.”

Drew’s fingers entwined with mine and I looked over at him with a grin. “You were sleeping. I checked. What woke you?”

“I’m not sure. I just woke up and thought I heard something. When I went to investigate, I saw this woman in a tiny pair of sleep shorts and a hoodie, grinning as she pulled on a really disturbing clown mask. I was torn between being horrified and being turned on.”

“Those were the two desired effects, honestly.” I had to resist sighing as I ran my eyes down his body. He looked almost too good in nothing but a pair of sleep shorts and flip flops. “You know it would have been amazing if I’d woken the boys up by standing over them, right?”

Drew visibly shuddered at the thought. “They would have nightmares for years. That mask is seriously terrifying.”

“It really is.” I nudged him with my shoulder. “Your girlfriend, huh?”

“I thought that was obvious, honestly. I finally have you and I’m not letting you go, Shay.” He placed a kiss on the side of my head and I had to resist swooning.

The rest of the walk was silent and Drew pressed another soft kiss to my lips when we made it to the side door of my cabin.

“You’re the only person who can wake me up in the middle of the night and I won’t mind.”

“Ditto, handsome.” I wrapped my arms around him and let my cheek rest against his bare chest. “Goodnight.”

He kissed the top of my head before letting me go. “Goodnight, babe.”

I waved to him before disappearing inside. Hannah was asleep and I didn’t bother waking her as I kicked off my sandals so I could slide under the covers.

 

“We found your can of tuna fish,” Drew declared after breakfast the next morning. We were all walking out of the dining hall and he caught up to drop his arm over my shoulders. “Nice touch.”

I’d briefed everyone on my accomplished pranks and my not-so-accomplished pranks from the night before. All of the girls teased me for getting caught and Hannah had declared that we had to find a way to get the mask back before they decided to turn the tables and use it on us.

I grinned and turned to wink at Lizzy on my other side. They’d only found one can. “I was hoping you wouldn’t realize it was there until after a nice, warm day.”

“We gave you points for the clown even though you were caught,” Jordan told me from the other side of Hannah, who was trying to push him away. “A couple of our kids admitted that you still scared them.”

I smirked and nodded slightly. “I knew it.”

“Don’t be mad, Han,” he said to my friend, whose face was painted with irritation. “You can’t even tell your skin was red.”

He was wrong. Hannah looked like she had a really bad sunburn all over her body. I didn’t say that, though, and instead kept the kids with me as she stopped to chew out Jordan.

Our campers wanted to spend all of Sunday at the lake as usual, but Hannah and I were able to compromise with them. We rode bikes before lunch and spent the afternoon in the water. The girls were getting really good at both the kayaks and the paddleboards.

Cabin Seven swam with us for most of the time and I was happy to see the kids bonding. By the time we were getting out of the lake, Kevin had worked up the courage to ask Thalia to the dance and I hid my pleased smile really well. One down, nine to go.

“We’re going to head back and shower before the movie,” Jordan told Hannah as we began to amble back to the cabins. “Smelling like the lake while sitting next to a bunch of kids for two hours who also smell like the lake isn’t too appealing.”

“Good idea,” I replied, keeping my poker face securely attached. “We should do the same. We’ll see you guys at dinner.”

Drew squeezed my hand and dropped it so they could head off in the direction of the boys section. As soon as they were out of earshot, my grin broke free. I was really glad that we were coming to the moratorium of pranks because the boys were going to be bloodthirsty for revenge.

After doing a test run in our bathrooms to make sure they hadn’t been tampered with, everyone took a quick shower. I didn’t bother drying my hair and chose to let the wet strands fall down my face as I dressed in a pair of shorts, my camp shirt, and my hoodie. The last girl was ready with five minutes to spare and we headed to the dining hall.

Cabin Seven showed up for dinner fifteen minutes late and Drew narrowed his eyes as soon as they met mine. I offered him up a sweet smile, playing innocent, and I could tell he was trying not to smile. He gestured for everyone to go get food before walking over to where we were sitting.

“Imagine our surprise when we walked into our cabin and the smell of tuna was overpowering.” His hands squeezed my shoulders gently when my girls started to snicker. “How many cans are there?”

I twisted my head so I could look up at him, batting my eyelashes as I did. “Just the two.”

“Uh huh. Well, once we finally found that can, we started showering. Weird how we were all sticky when we got out.”

“You have to use soap, Moore,” I said sarcastically. “That’s how you get clean.”

“It wasn’t until after my own shower that I started investigating,” he continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “Lifesavers in the showerhead was smart. The water ran clear and if there was any sort of odor, we couldn’t detect it thanks to the tuna. Everyone was insanely sticky no matter how much they washed.”

Everyone at our table started giggling and I snorted as I tried to hold in my own laughter. “I was busy last night.”

“It would seem so. You ladies are a force to be reckoned with.” He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and didn’t say anything else as he headed to the buffet line to get some food.

We all exchanged victory high-fives and went back to eating our dinner. We were done before the boys were and went ahead to the media center without them. I noticed that the girls saved seats once they were sitting and I couldn’t help but smile.

When Cabin Seven showed up, they didn’t hesitate to sit with the girls. Some of the kids ribbed each other and a few sent scathing glares, but they were already getting along better than they had in weeks.

“The moratorium was a good idea,” Drew murmured behind me and his warm arms came around my middle seconds later. “My sources tell me that two more of my boys are planning on asking some of your girls to the dance tonight.”

I let my head drop to the shoulder behind me. “Good. I’m pretty sure Cate is going to ask Luka, too.” I turned so my nose was pressed into his throat and let out a small huff of laughter. “You smell like candy.”

“Still? I scrubbed my skin at least four times.” Drew dropped a cheek to the top of my head and sighed. I kissed his warm skin and pulled myself from his hold.

“It could be worse. You could smell like the tuna fish.”

He laughed loudly, drawing attention from all around us. “Touché, babe. How many cans are there really?”

My only response was to twist my head and shoot a wink in his direction, earning me another laugh.

We settled into seats behind our kids and Hannah took the spot next to me, offering up the bag of popcorn she’d taken from the snack table. I shoved some of the buttery kernels into my mouth as the lights went dark and Moana started.

“I love the girl power in this movie,” my roommate murmured to me about halfway through and I nodded in agreement, lifting my hand so she could high-five me.

The best part of the movie was how the majority of the campers sang along to the songs. It didn’t matter if they were third graders or tenth graders- they loved the soundtrack. Hell, a lot of the counselors were singing, too.

When we went to bed later that night, I was hit with the overwhelming realization that the campers would be gone four weeks from that moment. Time was passing by too quickly, just like when I was a child. I missed my friends, my family, and my own bed but there wasn’t any point in trying to deny that camp made me happy. The kids, the counselors, the activities, and… the guy.

How the hell had Drew come to mean so much to me in such a short period of time?

Despite my exhaustion, that question swirling around in my head kept me up until well after midnight.