Chapter Three

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More people arrived the next day and our floor was full before lunch time. Hannah was the only new person out of the eight of us that hadn’t been to Camp Holcomb before and I recognized two former campers, Mike and Cameron, from my own camp days.

The first and third floors were full of counselors, too, but we didn’t get a chance to interact with them as much. Throughout the week, we did all of our training by floors and so I spent almost all of my time with Hannah, Jordan, Drew, Christy, Cameron, Mike, and Joanne. We were trained on equipment usage for the lake, the obstacle center, every zip-line, and for all of the available sports. We spent a half day on equestrian training and the second half learning the different bike trails. We learned about different health procedures, camp procedures, and the schedules and activities were taught over and over until we all had it memorized. After that, we went through wildlife training and the proper procedures for what to do if you spotted a bear.

We were dismissed to the staff bunks on Thursday night, everyone exhausted, with the promise that we had one more day of training and then we’d get Saturday off. The campers would arrive on Sunday and we would only been getting one night off every other week until camp was over.

I leaned into Hannah tiredly as we climbed the pathway back to the building in front of us and let out a tired sigh.

“I’ve never really liked hiking.”

She laughed and shook her head as she wrapped an arm around me. “Me either. At least you’re in shape from running. Even being a swimmer did nothing to prepare me for that. I feel like my legs are Jell-O.”

Someone squealed next to us and we both turned our heads to watch the girl named Christy drape herself over Drew. Apparently Christy and Drew had met the summer before when they were counselors. When she’d arrived, she had been quick to tell Hannah, Joanne, and me all about their passionate love affair during those eight weeks. They’d wasted no time reconnecting and were officially obnoxious to be around.

We all ate the baked chicken that had been prepared for us before people broke off to shower and lounge around. I went for a run before joining Hannah, Joanne, and Cameron in a game of Bullshit using a deck of cards. After about an hour, though, I glared at the large stack in my hand.

“I suck at this game.”

Cameron laughed and nodded in agreement. “You’re a terrible liar, Shay.”

“Two aces,” I said as I slid two cards forward. I avoided looking at anyone in the circle because I’d actually put down an ace and a king. When no one called me out, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Hannah had proclaimed her hand and put her cards down when I felt someone at my ear.

“Bullshit.”

I turned to see Drew bending down as he looked at my cards and I pulled back with a frown. He loved invading my personal space, probably because he knew I hated it, and I was constantly flinching away from him. The unwanted attention he gave me didn’t go unnoticed by Christy, either. She’d decided she hated me because of it and had turned into a passive-aggressive bitch.

“Can I help you?” I asked him quietly with an expectant look on my face. Drew just grinned and shrugged before backing up and walking over to the couch where Christy was.

We continued playing cards until I’d officially lost so I showered and headed to my room. I packed my stuff since we’d be getting bunk assignments and moving the next day. After that was all done, I climbed into bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

I woke up with the sun streaming in my face and let out a slight whimper as I brought my forearm up to cover my eyes. An obnoxious knocking sound on the door had me groaning as I flipped around onto my stomach.

“Yeah?”

I heard the door open slightly before Joanne’s annoying, chipper voice sounded. “Come on, Shaylee. We have water training in thirty minutes.”

I groaned again and sat up, rubbing my eyes with my fist as I did. “This time change sucks.”

“But you’re handling it so well,” Joanne deadpanned as she stared at me. “Let’s go, sleeping beauty. Put your suit on. Breakfast is in the kitchen.”

She closed the door behind her and left me in in the room by myself. I sat on the bed for another moment before standing and grabbing my suit from the dresser where I’d left it. I put on the two piece red suit that boasted the word “Counselor” in white print across the front. Although it was a two piece, it still hid my stomach to keep us modest around the kids. I covered it with my white, lifeguard t-shirt and the matching red shorts. I gathered up my bathroom stuff and opened my door to head into the hallway.

After brushing my teeth and pulling my hair into a ponytail, I walked down to the kitchen where the sound of voices could be heard. As it came into view, I spotted Hannah, Cameron, Joanne, Jordan, and Mike all crowded in the dining area, plates of half eaten food surrounding them. I grabbed a bagel off the counter and smeared it with cream cheese before chewing it quietly, just listening to the conversations all around me.

Everyone was either dressed like me or wearing their bathing suits in some form. As I finished off my bagel, I contributed mildly to the conversation and helped clean up the kitchen. I walked towards the hallway to grab my swim bag to take with us when I spotted Drew and Christy on the balcony, their faces close as they spoke, obviously in their own bubble. I rolled my eyes and continued walking to my room to get the bag. When I returned, Christy and Drew had joined the others in the common area and we all filed out the door together.

I chatted with Hannah and Jordan as we walked towards the dock where Howard stood with two other people. Our registered nurse, Anna, and the fitness trainer, Miles, were both in their suits and smiling when we all approached.

“Good morning, counselors,” Howard said with a grin. “As you’re probably aware, we already trained the other counselors on water safety yesterday and the day before. For some of you, this may be a refresher, but it may save a life in the end so suck it up.”

Miles took a step forward and gestured to a few of the practice dummies that sat in front of him. “Hi, guys. We’re going to do first-aid training first and then Anna is going to walk you through the steps to give proper CPR. Afterwards, we’ll talk about water rescues and the best ways to go about them. Once we have it in all our heads, we’ll practice some drills.”

First-aid was quick and easy, a lot of it common sense. Once that was done, we all crowded around Anna and watched her walk us through the steps for CPR. I could tell some of the others were already well-versed but each one watched as if they weren’t. Drew was the most surprising since I knew he would have been certified from the year before. He paid close attention and I tried not to stare at the way he mouthed the steps while Anna went through them.

We all practiced on the dummies for a bit until Anna had tested and watched us each perform the process thoroughly. Then Miles demonstrated a few water rescues with the dummies and had us practice on land before smiling and clapping his hands together.

“Okay, guys. We’re going to practice on the dummies in the lake first and then we’ll practice on each other. There is a big difference between lugging a body back to shore versus a dummy and I want you to be prepared.”

We lined up on the swimming pier as Miles swam around and left dummies in random spots in the lake. Once he made it back to the dock, he smiled at Hannah, who was first in line, and pointed at one of the dummies.

“Go!”

Hannah did a half-dive into the lake, her lean body at home as she glided through the water with swift strokes of her arms. When she reached the first dummy, she brought the floatation device so it was across her chest. Hooking her arms under the dummy’s fake armpits, she pulled it so its back was against her chest and swam on her back until she was at the shore. Once the dummy was in the sand, she administered CPR to it until Miles called time and we all clapped.

We all followed suit, listening to Miles’ critiques as we did and eventually we’d all rescued the dummy twice. Both Miles and Anna nodded in satisfaction and Anna stepped forward.

“Good job, everyone. Let’s run through it with partners and then we’ll dismiss for lunch. You all look starving.”

Miles ticked off partners until it was just Drew and I left, and when he gestured between the two of us, I wanted to groan. “Drew and Shaylee, you’re up last.”

We all watched as everyone ‘rescued’ one another in the group. Finally it was our turn and I jumped into the water to play the victim. I waded out into the deeper part of the lake and tread water as I looked at where the others stood on the dock. I heard Miles faintly say ‘Go’ before Drew jumped into the lake. I continued to stay afloat in the water, bored, as I waited for Drew to reach me. When he did, he flashed me a cocky smile before adjusting the floatation on his chest and hauling me against him.

My body’s reaction to being in his arms pissed me off. Chills ran up my spine despite the warm water and anywhere his skin touched mine felt electrified. I ignored the feeling and chalked it up to the fact that it’d been more than six months since the last time I’d had sex. That had to be it.

To distract myself, I examined his tattooed forearm silently and tried to sort out what the images were. His right arm was black and red, stopping at his wrist, and seemed to be a lot of geometric shapes and patterns that came together perfectly. The other arm had a bit more color on it and I knew from seeing it a few days ago that it had a red and black phoenix that stretched from his shoulder down to his wrist.

I remained lifeless and quiet as we swam backwards back towards the dock. We were about halfway there when Drew’s whisper could barely be heard.

“You don’t like me much, do you?”

I angled my head to look up at this face. His eyes were, surprise, on my chest where the angle of my body had caused my breasts to gather at the top of my suit. I didn’t respond and instead closed my eyes. Drew’s pace remained steady and unhurried, as if I was very much not a drowning person. When I reopened my eyes, his were no longer on my chest but on the blue sky above us.

When we finally made it back to shore, Drew was surprisingly gentle as he hooked under my arms and dragged me into the sand. I remained as limp as possible and let him get me situated for pretend CPR like everyone else had done. The difference between everyone else, however, was that Drew didn’t stop at just mimicking the actions necessary and I was shocked when his lips covered mine.

It took me a moment to get past the surprise and pleasure of the simple act but when I did, it was with my knee. It connected perfectly with his side and he let out a small groan as he fell backwards into the sand.

I could hear laughter from the dock but I didn’t look back at them. Drew was rubbing his side, still on his ass in the sand, and a smile was on his face as he chuckled. That just made me even madder and I stood up with my hands on my hips.

“You’re an asshole.” I turned and stalked back towards the dock. Anna was frowning in disapproval while Miles looked annoyed. Howard had reappeared and I could tell from the twitching of his lips that he was trying not to smile.

“Come on, Drew,” Miles said as he folded his arms over his chest. “Everyone is hungry and Shaylee still needs to do the rescue.”

I stood on the edge of the dock as Drew swam out, further than anyone else had, and raised his hands in the air in mock drowning. I really couldn’t stand that guy.

On Miles’ signal, I dove into the water with the floatation skimming the top as I made long, purposeful strokes. When I made it to Drew, I adjusted the stupid floatation and grabbed him more forcefully than I needed to. I knew my nails were digging into his skin but Drew didn’t acknowledge the pain at all as I swam us backwards.

“Why do I get under your skin so much, Shay?” he asked quietly as he stayed limp with his eyes closed. “There has to be a reason.”

“I’m just not a fan of cocky assholes.”

His warm chuckle washed over my body and I hated that it had any effect on me. As if he could hear my thoughts, he opened his eyes and looked up at me.

“Maybe you like me but you don’t want to admit it.”

“God. You are so arrogant,” I scoffed as I kicked my legs even faster, wanting to rejoice when we neared the shore.

We didn’t say anything else to each other as I pulled him onto the shore. I didn’t bother pretending to do CPR on him and instead walked away as I left him lying in the sand. No one said anything to me about it and Miles just dismissed us for lunch. I grabbed my stuff and fell into step next to Hannah as we walked towards the staff bunks.

“You’re bleeding,” Christy said behind us and I glanced behind me to see her inspecting Drew’s shoulders. He was bleeding slightly from where my nails had dug into his skin and I immediately felt like shit. That moment passed when Drew looked up and caught my eyes, sending me a smirk as he did. I knew what he was thinking- he’d managed to get to me.

All feelings of guilt disappeared and I scoffed as I turned back around. Hannah nudged me with her elbow, giving me a questioning look, and I just shook my head.

When we made it back to the staff quarters, Hannah and I sat out on the deck in our bathing suits while we ate our sandwiches. She had asked me what the deal was between Drew and me but I couldn’t answer because I had no idea. She didn’t push me, though, and we finished eating in silence.

After lunch was done, I changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt before heading down to the lake alone. I walked around it, taking the long way and slowly making my way to the other side. When I got over there, I climbed up into the tree fort and sat at the very top of the outpost so I could see the whole camp. I don’t know how long I was there before I heard a voice behind me.

“I thought I’d find you here.”

I looked down to the main level and smiled at May. “This is the best spot in the whole camp.” I moved to my feet and walked down the small, wooden stairs until I was on the platform next to her. She just nodded with a similar smile on her lips. I watched as she sat near the edge, under the rail, with her legs dangling over the edge and she gestured to the spot next to her. I sat and she immediately put her arm around my shoulders.

“You seem sad, baby girl.”

I inhaled a long breath and shrugged my shoulders. “I love this place but there’s not a single part that doesn’t remind me of her.”

“I’ll never forget that first year you arrived. I don’t think there had ever been a child as homesick as you were, Shaylee.” She chuckled and increased her hold on me. “It didn’t matter that we were practically family and that you’d known me your whole life. You just couldn’t acclimate at first. I was afraid we were going to have to send you home when Kira came traipsing through the door, all carefree and happy. She looked at you, shook her head, and said, ‘Suck it up, Lee.’”

I laughed softly and nodded my head. “She was quiet but bossy as hell. She dragged me out of your office until I was at my cabin. She stayed with me for two days, May. Didn’t leave my side once until she knew I was comfortable and ready.”

“She loved you so much.” May looked up to the sky with a small smile on her face. “You were her favorite person in this entire world. I know she’d be proud of you today.”

“I hope so.”

She pat my thigh before slowly moving to her feet. “I know so. Now, come on. We’re going to go over the rules and do cabin assignments. We’ve already moved all of your stuff. I think you’re going to love your position.”

I smiled as I watched May go towards the slide and she let out a gleeful yelp as she went down it. I followed her and she took my hand in hers as we walked across the camp to the unlit fire pit.

“Give Drew a chance, baby girl,” May said quietly as we neared the crowd. “He’s a good boy and you might find that he surprises you.” She pat my hand before releasing me to go stand with Howard.

I stayed rooted to my spot for a moment as I tried to figure out why she’d tell me that but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to take her advice.