"Summer, if you don't wake up now you'll miss the sign in at your over night arts camp"
I groaned and sat up in bed. It was mid July. It was my first day of a 2 week over night arts camp. I don't remember how late it was when I fell asleep last night. But whatever time it was I was so tired. I looked down at my tanned legs and reluctantly got out of bed. Its not that I wasn't excited for arts camp, I love it. Normally, arts camp was never an over night camp. They got so many requests for it; they bought a huge property and made a new camp. It's just, this is the summer between eighth and ninth grade. Everyone is nervous, and I miss my friends like crazy, so it’s not exactly ideal that I go away for 2 weeks. But more than my friends, I really missed my...whatever he was, Carter. He was my year long fling I guess. Either way it had been 2 weeks since I last heard anything from him and I knew I wouldn't be meeting someone special anytime soon, so I wasn't too happy. I'm Summer. And not only am I named after a season, but my last name is a state of mind. Summer Bliss. Sounds like the title of a cheesy romance novel. I hate cheesy things. My friends always say I just have to wait for that one guy to come along and change that, but no one will ever change it. I'm not mushy, I'm not emotional, and I never will be. "Summer, now!" my mom called up to me again.
"Okay!" I yelled back. I changed into my new, expensive shirt from Aritzia. I squeezed a blue bandeau underneath and slipped on my too big, size 0, shorts. Why must I be too tall for 00? See, I'm 5'4 but I have a tiny waist, so I need a size 00 but then those are too short so instead of looking like I'm going to arts camp, I look like I'm going to Hooters for the 6 o'clock shift. I grabbed my mini suitcase and my duffle bag, and I followed my mom outside.
"This summer things could change for you." She said while driving. "You've got the big show in 2 weeks and all your friends are coming to see you."
"I know mom." Arts camp always has a huge show for all us talented people there. There's the artsy weirdos, the show off dancers, the stuck up drama queens, the overly-humble singers, and the geeky band kids. Unfortunately I fit into the stuck up and overly-humble category which doesn't make much sense if you really think about it.
"I'm just saying you've had these walls up all summer so far. Obsessively going to the gym, writing songs up in your room by yourself, going out with friends every single day...if you let it, the past will eat you alive"
"Mom- so not the time for a cheesy lecture. I want to get in shape, writing songs is fun and I miss my friends, it's not like I'm going to the same school as any of them, I'm going to high and mighty prestigious Allington Academy. They have that stupid slogan, about being a whole person. Sounds like they're talking about bread flavours."
"Oh Summer, your so short sighted. Allington Academy is a great choice, trust me, you'll love it! Unless you'd like to save us the 25 thousand dollars and go to that arts school you got into instead."
"No its ok. I just want to listen to my music and relax for the next 2 hours, okay?"
"Well...okay Summer."
And so I sat there. Staring out my window. I thought about all those years I'd gone to arts camp. I never once met an interesting guy. Last year there was a guy but he dated someone else at camp. But that just didn't make sense. Why date someone for 2 weeks, pretend its going to last, then never see each other when camp ends? Last year I was so damaged from bad relationships in grade seven, so I decided I wasn't going to let anyone close enough to hurt me anymore. So I wasn't even looking to meet a guy at camp. Not that I was what guys would call hot anyways. Like sure, many guys had said it, but I was never first, and I guess I have to learn to accept that I probably wouldn't be first. I was, like I mentioned before, 5’4. I’d say I’m not skinny at all, but everyone else would beg to differ. It’s an opinion I guess. I have big brown eyes, and long brown hair with blonde highlights, and auburn highlights. I wore makeup, but not to the extent where I look fake. Just a bit of straightening of my hair, some mascara and eyeliner and I’m set to go. Song after song on my iPod, memory after memory. Carter hadn't texted or messaged me in weeks, where was he? I guess he just didn't care anymore, not like I really cared either. After grad ended that was it. I picked who I still wanted to see, and who I was going to ditch. My sisters, close friends and some of the nice guys are good to stay. The bitches, jerks and losers can be ditched. I don't need those sorts of people in my life. My ex boyfriend, Robert has talked to me more than Carter has and I'm trying to get rid of Robert from my life, and keep Carter in it. That obviously wasn't working. How come I couldn't just say forget Carter, let's move on! Trust me, I've tried and it hasn't worked. I'm hoping I can just move on this summer. And if not, just a month and a half and I'll meet some new high school boys who won't be like Carter or Robert or the rest of them. I thought about the songs I'd been writing lately. Every step is a step without you. It was a line I kept repeating in my mind. I wrote Without You for Carter, and I keep thinking writing songs will get it all out, but it isn't working. I looked and saw all the trees and the beautiful scenery. We were close, I could tell. Arts Camp was located about fifteen minutes north of Blue Mountain resort in Collingwood, Canada. It’s apparently the most amazing summer camp. It looks like the Blue Mountain resort, with different buildings like hotels for the rooms, a village and a lake. I watched as my mom pulled the car around the bend. The buildings were all lined up, people were saying goodbye to there parents. I saw tall lanky guys with easels and smocks waving bye. I saw muscular skinny girls holding Pointe shoes blow their moms a kiss. I saw a girl slip Chanel sunglasses over her face and give a small wave to her dad as he closed the door to his Lamborghini. I saw a girl sling a portable keyboard over her back with a little book saying "Danielle's Songs" in bright purple letters. I saw another two boys both holding drum sticks giving a slight wave to their parents and walk in together.
"Here we go!" my mom said as she unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door. I opened the passenger side and stepped out too. I put my iPod into my front pocket and looked around at everyone. I met the eyes of a few random people and looked away. I saw a weird looking boy staring me down, so I just turned around suddenly.
"Oh ouch!" I said as I bumped into a tall guy.
"Oh my bad shortie" he said back, he put his hand on my back and walked away.
"Watch where your going" I said under my breath. My mom lifted my suitcase and rolled it up for me while I held my duffle bag.
"Summer Bliss" she said to the counsellor.
"Hello Summer, I'm Rachel, this is Sam we are your two main directors here at Arts Camp. So you are registered for acting!”
"Well yeah, I mean I love singing, but acting is my favourite. What’s the play again?”
"You’ll still be singing! The play this year is High School Musical 2, Broadway version. We’re pretty excited! We’ve heard a lot about you and we can't wait to get to know you more! It's going to be a fun 2 weeks!"
"Uh, yeah I'm pretty psyched for the show"
"So are we! Time to say bye to mom, and head to your room. You are in the Eagle Dorm, room 450. Your three roomies are there already, I'm sure your all going to get along!"
"Great thanks" I said while grabbing the key to my room.
"Thank you Rachel!" my mom said. "Alright sweetie, well I'll see you in 2 weeks and I'll call you when I know you can talk!|"
"Okay bye mom..." I hugged her quick and rolled my suit case up to the campus. I watched my moms car drive away, seeing the lake right behind her. There was a sign that said ‘Blue Jay Lake.’ It was a lake that was large, but not so large that you can’t see the other side. I couldn’t tell what was there but it looked like a camp site and a park. There were canoes all lined up by the dock. I’ve never been canoeing, that should be fun. There was a forest with a trail that led from here to the other side of the lake. I looked around the place. I was in the main village. It was a street with different places lined up. There was a fire pit right in the center with benches beside it. There were different rehearsal rooms with signs on them. There was a place called ‘the Cookhouse’ and it looked huge. Then, way in the back, there was a huge building with a large sign that said ‘the Loft’ the Cookhouse was right beside it. On the other side of the Loft, there was a place called ‘Bounce’ and it looked like a night club. Behind the Loft were three buildings. Two large hotel-like buildings and one medium sized building. The one to the right was Pelican Dorm, the one in the middle was Wolf Den, and the one on the left was Eagle Dorm. Bingo. Behind all the buildings was the main theatre, Collingwood Performing Theatre. I took a deep breath and walked into the Eagle Dorm. I walked into the Common and saw a TV, couches, tables, a radio and a few phones. I guess this was like the chill zone for the girls building. I went to the elevator and went to the fourth floor. It was a huge building and reminded me a lot of the Blue Mountain resort. I walked down the hall until I found room 450. I used my key and walked in.
"Uhm, hi" I said as I walked in. Three girls who were busy unpacking looked over at me and smiled. One of them was tall; she was brunette and had this soft pretty natural look about her. She was wearing a white tank top with black stretch shorts. She was an actress, I could tell. Everyone had there distinct style. The artists wore bohemian styled clothes with paint stains. The band geeks tucked in their shirts, and the girls wore pants or skirts. The overly humble singers wore trendy however extremely conservative clothes. The dancers wore tight athletic clothes and the actors wore sweats, or shorts and casual tops. I was the lovely cross between acting and singing. I registered as an actress because ultimately you get a bigger part in the big show at the end if your an actress, and if you can sing your doing better. If you register as a singer, all you get to do is narrate some parts of the show in song. Not as fun. The artists decorate the set and the art work, which usually ends up looking amazing. The dancers do their little background dancing throughout the show and the band kids play in the orchestra pit below the stage. It’s been a while since I’ve seen, or thought of High School Musical, and even though Gabriella wins, I wouldn't mind being the brat because everyone loves the brats. I'm always the brat and I always get the really good applause and then people tell me that I'm much nicer in person then I am when I act. Which is true. The other girl looked like a Spanish girl with a bright smile, dark eyes and curly hair. She was tall and had a really athletic body, but I could tell that all of these girls were actresses. And the third one was really pretty, short with wavy brown hair and dark eyes.
"Hey!" said the first girl. "I'm Selena, who are you?"
"Oh uhm, I'm Summer. It's nice to meet you."
"Hi Summer I'm Valerie!" Girl number two said.
"I'm Lana" said the third girl.
"Well nice to meet you girls."
"You a good actress?" Lana asked as she sat at the edge of her bed.
"I guess, and I sing. What about you guys?"
"We're all okay I guess" Valerie said.
"That bed is yours, if that's ok with you" Selena said as she pointed to the top bunk while unpacking a really pretty shirt. I looked up at the bed and shrugged.
"Yeah that's cool" I said. Selena smiled at me.
"Oh I love your shoes!" Lana said pointing to the metallic ballet flats I was wearing.
"Thank you! Hey if you don't mind me asking, but is that your natural hair?" I asked her with a small grin.
"Yes, isn't she lucky?!" Valerie asked, rushing beside Lana playing with her hair.
"Really lucky!" I said, fingering my own flat ironed hair.
"Oh come on, your like really pretty, do you get that a lot?" Lana asked.
"Well it’s debatable." I said rolling my eyes.
"No it's not. Your pretty. I don't like you." Selena said as she broke out into giggles. The rest of us giggled too.
"So you said you sing; are you any good?" Valerie asked.
"Well I hope so..." I said. I showed them the guitar I had brought along with me. "If not then me learning guitar was useless." I said.
"You play guitar too?" Lana asked.
"Oh yeah."
I started unpacking starting with my duffle bag. I put my song book under my mattress.
"What's that?" Selena asked eyeing the book.
"Just songs I've written." I said non chalantly.
"Wow! I sing too, well all three of us do but not to that extent!" Valerie exclaimed.
"I'm sure your great!" I said, paying a compliment.
"You know what, you should meet Jacob." Selena said nodding.
"She should!" Lana said.
"Uhm, who?" I asked. I've never known a guy who's actually worth meeting at these camps.
"Just a boy." Valerie said folding some shorts.
"Oh I'm not here to meet boys; I never meet boys at these places. Plus I'm just getting over some so I'd rather not"
"Am I the only one with a boyfriend?" Selena slapped her thighs and sat on the bed below mine. The three of us giggled.
"I dated Luke for three years! I am so done with him!" Lana said shaking her head.
"Three years?! Man, I'd get tired of the guy by a few months! I just like flirting and having fun." I told them.
"Well I'm like that now. Three years was too long." Lana shook her head.
Just then a pretty blonde girl taller than me walked into our room. She was wearing a pink shirt that said 'Floor 4-STAFF' on it.
"Hey girls! I'm Melissa; I'm the counsellor for the whole fourth floor of the Eagle Dorm. What are your names?"
"Hi, I'm Lana!"
"Valerie."
"I'm Selena."
"Hey, I'm Summer."
"Well it's great meeting you girls! I have many other rooms to visit but I need to remind you girls if you need anything you talk to me, and that you need to be in the Loft in 15 minutes. The Loft is the main room. It’s that big building in the Village beside the Cookhouse. It's where we hold meetings, a place to relax, talk, and hang out…just a general area.”
"Thanks Melissa" we all said over each other.
"She seems nice" Lana commented.
"So anyways do you girls know each other?" I asked the three.
"Well me and Lana go to the same school" Valerie started. "And we met Selena 3 years ago at camp. Have you been here before?"
"Uhm yeah, but none of my friends are here" I said awkwardly.
"Well it's a good thing you have us!" Selena smiled. I smiled back. I climbed my ladder and sat on my top bunk bed. I looked at my song book. I just listened to their conversation but didn't speak. Every breath is a breath without you. I recited those lyrics to myself quietly.
"So what part do you think you want?" Lana was asking.
"Oh I definitely want to be Gabriella! Remember last year I was the nice girl too?" Valerie laughed.
"So you must be pretty good then right?" I asked, looking up from my book.
"She's pretty good!" Selena said. "But I don't really care who I am, I just like having fun!"
"That's good! What about you Lana, who do you want to be?" I asked.
"Oh well, obviously I'd want to be Gabriella or even Sharpay. But I'm cool with whatever."
"Who do you want to be?" Selena asked.
"Well I've got this reputation in acting of getting the brat so I'd like to be Sharpay, it would be fun." I said nodding.
"Wow that's got to be a challenge though. So you must be fantastic." Lana added.
"I'm alright, I'm not too great." I said shrugging.
"Well we better head over to the Loft before we're late." Selena said while opening the door. Valerie followed while me and Lana climbed down from our top bunks and walked out the door too. I shut the door while giving once last look at my home for the next two weeks. I liked my room mates but if I was going to be missing Carter this much every day, we would have some serious problems.

The four of us walked into the already crowded Loft. It was a large room with some tables, couches and bean bags, and a small round stage. But it really just looked like what Melissa described- a hang out zone. There were so many people here. All different kinds of people. Shy girls, stuck up girls, awkward boys, immature boys, you name it. A random guy walked passed Lana and put a hat on her head. He looked over at her, smiled, and kept walking. It looked like the same guy I ran into outside, the one who doesn’t watch where he goes.
"Yes! Return of the hat!" Lana cheered while holding the hat on her head like it was a prized possession. I wondered why the guy didn't say anything to her, or to anyone else.
"I love the hat." Selena said.
"It's a cool hat indeed." Valerie added nodding.
"Alright everyone! Listen up! My name is Rachel." I heard over the chattering of everyone. Rachel was up on the small stage.
"And I'm Sam and we are your main directors of Arts camp this summer!" He said enthusiastically. "Now I know everyone is still getting to know the campus and each other so we're all a bit awkward right now but me and Rachel are just going to explain what's going on these next two weeks." He added.
"Now, as you all know this years production is High School Musical 2 the Broadway version. You are all registered for a certain art. Whether its visual, dance, music, vocal or acting."
"Every morning you will all be coming to the Cookhouse for breakfast. Then you'll be going to your separate quarters. Each art has a different building. It gets confusing, so after this meeting when we go back to our dorms, your dorm leader will give you maps and schedules for your personal time here at camp. All the girls are in the Eagle Dorm and all the guys are in the Pelican Dorm. All the staff stays in the Wolf Den which is off limits unless you need something. In that case, you just walk right in and go straight to the head office."
"Today will be an all day session of auditions and getting to know each other. Your separate directors will tell you what will be part of your audition process. Tomorrow everything will be cast. This includes who will be painting what sets and designing the costumes, who will be dancing solo or in groups, who will sing in choir or in duets or trios or during intermission, who will play what character and who will be playing what parts in the orchestra pits." I looked around at everyone. They were all listening attentively including random guy who gave Lana a hat. He looked like an actor. But I couldn't see him too well so I couldn't tell anyways. Lana was standing beside me with her hat which was nothing more special then just a hat, and she was listening too. So were Selena and Valerie who must have noticed me looking because she looked over at me and smiled. I offered a quick smile back, and then faced Sam who started talking next.
"So now we're going to separate you into your quarters. Starting with visual art. Follow Marcus and Laurie." There was a large cluster of teens following a short girl and a tall guy with a sign reading "VISUAL ART" They left the Loft and people started spreading out a bit more. "Next we will take all the dancers. Follow Lucy and Jolene." A huge clutter of girls with makeup followed the two dance leaders who were tall, skinny and muscular.
"Alright let's take all the instrumentalists now. Follow Luke and Darcy to the music room. And following that we'll take the vocal musicians. Your looking for Molly and Stan." I noticed that now all that was left was the actors.
"Okay you actors, your going to be following us!" Rachel stated. We followed her out of the Loft. We walked outside into the warm summer air.
"This is so awesome!" Lana giggled.
"I know! It should be a fun summer" Valerie added.
"Totally!" Selena followed. I flicked a bug off my arm.
"Yeah it should be fun." I added while looking around campus. There was that beautiful lake just a few minutes from the Loft and a dock. We kept walking through the village and then we got to a very large room. There were probably about 25 of us who were in acting. I saw more girls then boys. That sucked because that means competition.
"Okay everyone sit!" Rachel said. We all sat on the ground in a circle. "This is the audition process: you have to read off a script for a scene and you have to sing a song of your choice. Any song doesn't matter. We're going to start by handing out paper and I want each of you to write down your top 2 character choices, if you want a singing solo, if you want a lot of lines, medium or a little, and some facts about yourself. Oh and of course your name and age." Rachel started handing out paper and pens. I looked at the blank sheet and thought of what to write. I looked around seeing my new friends, and everyone else having the same sort of struggle. Let's see...Summer Bliss. 14 years old. My top 2 choices are Sharpay Evens and Gabriella Montez. I want a singing solo and I want a lot of lines. I write songs, play guitar, and I've been acting for 10 years. I like playing snobby and I think I'd do great. The end. I carved all the words in purple pen. I looked beside me at Lana's paper. Her words were curved and blue. She was stopping to think, and then she'd write. Valerie was writing sharply and quickly knowing just what she had to say. Selena was tapping her chin and hardly had any words down. I got up and bumped into 2 girls while putting my sheet down.
"Oh my bad!" They said around the same time.
"No it's my fault" I added.
"Hey I like your shirt!" One of them said.
"Is it Aritzia?" the other asked.
"Oh uhm yeah it is. I love your shirts! Matching? And from Aritzia!" I giggled.
"Yeah!" they laughed.
"I'm Auburn and this is Stephanie."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Summer." I said.
"Oh well, good to meet you Summer!" Then Lana came up to us after handing in her sheet.
"Ready to sing?" she asked me.
"Not really..." I said nervously.
"Well you have to be! Hi I'm Lana." She finally said.
"I'm Auburn"
"I'm Stephanie." The two girls went back to their spot on the ground and me and Lana walked back over to Valerie and Selena. We watched as Rachel and Sam collected the pens, and sat back down at their table at the front. They each had a notebook and the papers we just wrote.
"So now we'll call out the people who want solos, if you do you have to sing. If not, then you don't have to sing but you will not get a lead role. Let's start with Selena" Lana, Valerie and I cheered the loudest as Selena stepped a few feet in front of the table and started singing. She was decent actually. Had a little bounce in her when she sang, which was a good thing. She sang, she finished and the list went on. There were a few girls who I got slightly intimidated by. One who really stood out to me was some girl, Brigit. She had an amazing voice and she was really pretty. Then one of the guys went. I missed his name but he was amazing. It was the guy who gave Lana the hat. Soon enough they called Valerie. We cheered again, and Valerie was amazing. She'd be Gabriella for sure. I didn't really care though, as long as I got to be Sharpay. I just wanted something good to happen to me this summer. I've spent so much time with my friends this summer and that hasn't helped. I still miss them, and moving on from grade eight has been harder then I imagined. Right after Valerie it was my turn. My new friends cheered for me as I bravely walked forward until I was standing in the very center of the room.
"Okay Summer, whenever your ready." Sam said while reviewing my information.
"Alright." I said. I started tapping my foot and then with everything in me, started to sing Adele. The look on their faces while I was singing made me confident, and I hit every note perfectly. When I finished everyone burst into applause and I couldn't help but smile a bit. I walked back to my seat as my friends all high fived me.
"Now THAT is how you sing Adele!" Selena said while slapping me a high five.
"Your amazing!" Lana commented.
"Yeah, your really good!" Valerie added.
"Thanks but so are you guys, I'm not that much different." I said. I looked around the room and saw people staring at me, wide-eyed. I noticed Auburn and Stephanie trying to get my attention, as well as Brigit, who was beside them.
'You are AMAZING!' They mouthed to me across the room.
'Thank you!' I mouthed back with a smile.
"Alright, that was great everyone! Now we'll start reading off the script."
The auditions were such a blur from that point. The girls read the same scene, the boys read the same scene, and by this time I had already memorized it. Lana went, Valerie went, Selena went, I went and I was personally starting to get tired of auditions. I wondered what the other auditions were like. Art, dance, music, singing...were they all like this too?
"That's a wrap everybody. Now we are going to be going to the Cookhouse for dinner. After dinner you have the campfire jam and that's at 9. It's just like an open mic night. You can sing, do a dance routine, and play an instrument, whatever you please. We'll have s'mores and drinks out there. It's just a good welcoming party!" Rachel told us.
"You guys can walk back to your dorms now. There's a lot to do around here. You can go for walks, hang out in the Loft, and rehearse in the different rooms, whatever you want." Sam said casually. "Cur few is mid night, so by then everyone has to be in their dorms. The night guards stay out for a while. Girls no sneaking into the boy cabins, boys same goes for you." He continued. We all looked around and broke out into sly little smiles. I thought it was a little ridiculous. Boys and girls dating or hooking up at summer camp? How many times must I repeat, you never meet anybody at these places. I've gone to this camp for years and everyone I've met has lost contact with me a year later. Now that it’s overnight, it’s more fun but still. Personally I'm not sure why I still come here knowing that the friends I make won't be my friends anymore. It never really bothered me because I have so many friends at home anyways. And every guy I've met has always just disappeared after camp. But in all honesty, I have never had a summer fling. I've always wanted to though. I've had tons during the school year, and the great part is no one has to get emotionally invested. Well Carter was a bad fling, too many emotions got involved there, but this summer when I go on vacation in a few weeks, I want a one week summer fling with absolutely no emotions involved. That's the best way to keep it. Of course when I go to high school I'll date guys and stuff, but I still don't want a real, serious relationship. Not until grade 11 for sure. I'm only 14, why so serious? But to be honest, I haven't even had my first kiss. I keep waiting around for the right guy before I let it happen. But how long am I supposed to wait? Forever? My mom's first kiss was with my dad, but really you don't always have your first kiss with the person you marry. Actually- about 98% of the time, that won't happen. But that leaves high expectations for me to have an old-fashioned romance. I've learned how to act with my parents. Just like I plan to stay a virgin forever. In reality, until my wedding night is probably the longest I'll be able to last. But it helps to act like I'm just going to grow up, join a convent and keep my lips (and legs) to myself.
"You guys can go to your dorms now." Rachel said. "Your personal dorm leader will be coming around 5:30 to remind you of your evening activities. It is 4:30 right now. This is how the days will go. We wake up at 8, have breakfast, and we start rehearsals at 9:30 until 4:30 with a lunch break. We go to our dorms and meet back in the Cookhouse at 6 for dinner, and each night there's a different activity. We have movie nights, jams, camp fires, dances and more so after a long day of work you'll have some fun. 14 days until the big show everyone, so let's get moving. We'll tell you your parts tomorrow."
At that, everyone got up and started talking. I heard many chats of 'who do you think will be Sharpay?' 'I don't know but I want to be Gabriella.' 'I want to be Sharpay so bad!' 'Good luck with that!'
"So who do you think will get Gabriella?" Lana asked us.
"I don't know, Valerie you were really good! I think you'll get her" I said.
"Yeah I have to agree." Selena agreed.
"Really? Thanks! Summer I think your going to be Sharpay, no doubt. You seriously have the best voice here! Your going to sing tonight at the camp fire jam right?" Valerie asked.
"Oh I don't know..."
"What? Come on! You have to!" Lana pressured.
"Maybe, I'll see how I feel." I finished.
"Okay, well let's go get ready for dinner." Lana started walking out of the acting room. The three of us followed her. As we walked back through the village and passed the lake I kept looking around. The scenery is so nice here; it's hard to not get caught up in it. I saw more clusters of people in their own little clans heading back to their dorms.
"You were really good." Brigit said as she walked passed me with Stephanie and Auburn.
"Oh thanks. So were you! I think you'll get Sharpay." I told her.
"No way, your way better than me." And she smiled and walked away. I smiled to myself because part of me believed I was actually going to get her. Maybe, if I'm lucky. But probably not. We finally reached our dorm and we all walked inside. I climbed up my ladder and sat on my top bunk.
"Jacob will probably get Troy. He always gets the lead." Selena said.
"Yeah probably. And then Jason will get Chad." Lana confirmed.
"Who's Jason?" I asked, lying on my stomach. Valerie walked to her drawer and pulled out a new shirt.
"Jason is Jacob's best friend. I think they'll chill with us at dinner, maybe you can meet them." She said while trying to close her stuck drawer.
"Nah not interested." I said while changing my position so my legs were dangling off the side of my bed.
"Ha-ha, I like you your funny." Selena said with a little wink.
"What are we wearing to dinner?" Lana asked.
"Well I think I'll just wear my white shorts and a top." I told them.
"No, no! Dress to impress, Summer! Your singing at the jam after, you want to look like a star!" Valerie laughed.
"Okay then how about this sequin top?" I said while I jumped down from my bed and went over to my drawer. I pulled out a black tank top completely covered in sequins.
"Perfect!" Lana stated. "So tonight we're all wearing sequins?"
"Sure!" Selena agreed. I liked the idea of starting a trend in my dorm. The four of us could be the coolest clique here and the best dressed. Perfect.
“What do you think you’ll sing tonight?” I asked them.
“Who knows?” Valerie rolled her eyes.
“Maybe some of the Biebs!” Lana giggled.
“Omg, I love the Biebs!” I smiled.
“Okay yeah you and Lana can sing Justin Bieber, me and Valerie will sing someone who isn’t homo.” Selena laughed at her own joke. We laughed along too.
“No actually I think I’m going to sing a song I wrote or something.” I said calmly.
“Wow, someone is gutsy!” Valerie said.
“Nah, I’m used to performing I don’t really get nervous.”
“I couldn’t imagine singing a song I wrote…”
“Lana is right, I couldn’t either! I can’t even write songs!”
“Well, if everyone is so judgemental maybe I’ll sing something else…”
“No sing a song you wrote! Everyone will love it, trust me!” Selena reassured me.
“Well if you say so…”

Everyone was talking like no tomorrow at dinner. It was hard to get a word in. Dinner wasn’t too bad though. I’m a vegetarian and I don’t really eat much. The Cookhouse is a large room with many wooden picnic styled tables, but with chairs not benches. It’s buffet styled. Tonight’s dinner consisted of burgers for everyone, and the vegetarian selection was grilled cheese. There are actually quite a few vegetarians so I didn’t feel so out of place. I was talking to Selena the whole time because Valerie and Lana were consumed in these two guys who I assumed was Jason and what’s-his-name with the hat.
“So you have a boyfriend huh?” I asked.
“Yeah, his name is Bradley.” Selena cooed.
“Ooh, so how long have you been together?”
“About a year now. It’s a complicating story actually.”
“Tell me.”
“Well we dated before that and it didn’t go well. I broke up with him because I liked someone else. So I dated someone else for a bit and he broke up with me. Then I missed Bradley so much.”
“Mhm…” I nodded.
“So anyways, Bradley missed me too but neither of us would say anything. So he said to me one day on facebook chat ‘Selena, I don’t want to ask you out over facebook, but tomorrow, I have something to ask you.’ And so I knew I was about to get him back.” Suddenly this story was sounding too cheesy and too happy for me.
“Awwh that is SO cute! Then what?” I faked like I actually appreciate a good love story.
“Then he asked me out and I said yes and we’ve been dating ever since!”
“Have you kissed?”
“Yeah, I had my first kiss on the last day of school. And we made out again last week during a movie. Isn’t that hilarious?” I frowned a little but tried to disguise it.
“Yeah…hilarious.”
“So what about you? Why no boyfriend?”
“Oh it’s a long story, you don’t want to know.” I warned.
“Come on I’m sure it’s not bad. Just tell me!”
“Well okay so…I dated this guy in grade seven, Robert. He broke up with me after four months so then this guy Carter asked me out and I said no even though I really liked him. So me and Carter had this amazing fling and we both promised we’d date in grade eight because by this time it was already late in the year. Then this guy Jake came along and he liked me and he messed everything up. So in grade eight I had been through 5 guys already, and I wanted Carter back. I tried but after I lied to him that was it. So we just had this confusing complicating rollercoaster relationship for all of grade 8. It ended well, but after grad, I talked to him once and I haven’t spoken to him since the beginning of July.” I finished. “The end.”
“Oh wow…”
“And that’s skipping all the details. It’s a nasty story.” I said, starting to look down, suddenly not feeling hungry anymore. I blinked a few times to keep from crying. I hid a lot of details. I tried to forget those details. I was weak. I pushed my plate away and took a sip of my water to calm down.
“That sounds awful. Don’t worry, you’ll meet someone soon.”
“Thanks but no I won’t. I’m too closed off for anyone to be able to like me.”
“Trust me; sometimes you can meet an amazing guy, who can change everything at the most unexpected time. Like you could meet someone here!”
“Oh yeah, that’s definitely going to happen!” I said sarcastically. Her comment was so funny I just had to laugh. There was no way I’d meet a guy at summer camp, or this summer at all. When it all came down to it, I just wasn’t ready to meet anyone right now. The damage of Carter was lingering still and I wouldn’t be able to actually open up to anybody.
“Okay campers! It’s now 7 so you can go back to your dorms. We meet around 8:45 by the camp fire for the camp fire jam tonight! We already have a good list of people performing so make sure you sign up! It’s a great welcoming party and it ends at 10:30. You can go to the Loft, or for a walk on the trail but you need to be in your dorms by mid night. Your personal dorm leader will make sure your in your dorm. Wake up time tomorrow is at 8 so I highly suggest you don’t stay out until mid night because you’ll be really tired tomorrow if you do!” Rachel stood up on the small stage again as she spoke.
“Your free to go!” Sam said as we all stood up and started walking back to our dorms.
“Can’t wait for the jam tonight!” Lana squealed.
“I know! It’s going to be so fun!” Valerie commented.
“Totally! And I can’t wait to hear your song!” Selena said turning to me.
“Oh it’s not that great, it took like an hour to write.” I said, looking at the ground.
“Just an hour?” Valerie questioned.
“You sound puzzled…” I said looking at her. “Yes just an hour.”
“I’m definitely puzzled….I couldn’t write a song if you gave me all day.” Lana said.
“Whatever it really isn’t a huge deal.”
“What’s it called?” Selena wondered.
“Long Live.” I answered. Long Live was the song I wrote and sang at my graduation just last month. Feels like I graduated forever ago, but it was just the end of June. About three weeks now. Three weeks since I’ve seen Carter. Three weeks since he left, just turned his back and walked away without saying anything like ‘I always liked you’ or ‘I forgive you for everything’ or ‘I need to see you this summer.’ Just a simple ‘I’ll miss you. Keep in touch.’ Then he walked away. He hugged me and left. And that was that. The last time I ever saw him. Probably the last time I ever will see him.
“What’s it about?” Lana asked.
“Its about….my grad. Well it was about my grad. About moving on and letting go of everyone…hardest moment of my life. But I sang it there, at grad, and it sure gave everyone something to remember me by, as if they didn’t have enough already.”
“Well I can’t wait to hear it!” Selena said. I smiled at her. The four of us reached our dorm. We pushed the door open and sat on our beds. For the next while we just sat and talked and talked and talked. We shared funny stories and heartbreaking experiences. And before we realized it, it was 8:30.
“Crap! I need to redo my eyeliner!” Lana said as she realized the time.
“I need to redo mine too!” I commented, springing up from my top bunk and climbing down the ladder skipping every other step.
“You guys should relax!” Valerie leaned on her elbow on her bottom bunk. Out of the four of us, I had learned that Valerie and Selena were the athletic type who didn’t wear makeup or stress about hair. Lana and I weren’t very athletic. Besides cheerleading, I wasn’t athletic at all. Sure I was slightly flexible, I danced and I was physically strong, but when it came to sports I didn’t have a clue. I ran to the other side of the dorm. Our dorm looked like this: You walk in and you see two sets of bunk beds across from each other. If you go left you walk into the bathroom which has a full shower and tub with a sink and a toilet and space for makeup and hair stuff. On my side of the room where mine and Selena’s beds are, there are two dressers, with a vanity in between them, which we have to take turns at to get ready. The other side of the room was the same, two dressers and a vanity in between. The vanities have a mirror and three small drawers on each side of the vanity. I keep my makeup in those drawers, and Selena keeps her things in the other three. I hardly had enough room to fit all my lotion, eye makeup, powder, body spray, hair brushes, curling and flat irons. But somehow I made it all fit. I ran to my vanity and I took out three different eyeliners. A blue pencil for my upper lash line, white pencil for my water line and blue liquid for my lower lash line. I applied all my eyeliner and Selena watched me, amazed.
“What?” I asked while curling my eyelashes.
“Your so good with your eyes. How do you apply makeup that well?” She asked.
“I just do. Practice.” I said as I applied about three coats of my vibrating mascara.
“All I can do is put black eyeliner on.” Lana commented from across the room at her vanity while she was putting on black liquid liner on her upper lash line. “And I can’t put it on my water line, it freaks me out!”
“Yeah that took practice!” I giggled. “I used to get really freaked out when I’d put it on and the water from my water line made the eyeliner fall into my eye. Then I’d just see black eyeliner floating around in my eye.”
“Gross!” Valerie laughed. “This is why life without makeup is simple!”
“That is pretty nasty! But you’re so good at it now so it was worth the eyeliner in the eye right?” Lana asked, turning on her stool to face me.
“Yeah I guess so.” I said while applying bright pink lip stick. Then I turned to face the three other girls who were all watching me get ready. “Your eyes look gorgeous!” I told Lana. She blushed a little.
“Thanks but yours look better.” I smiled a little.
“I like your lips! So pink!” Valerie said.
“Thanks! I love your top; it’s really pretty on you.” I said, eyeing her pink top with sequins on it. She looked down at herself while fingering the sequins outlining the bottom cinch of her top.
“Yeah I like it too.” Selena smiled at her.
“Oh well, thanks! But we should get going!”
“Definitely.” I said, hopping up from my stool. I slipped on my 2 inch wedges and slung my guitar over my back. “Let’s rock this jam!” I laughed.
“Honey we rock it as soon as we walk in!” Lana giggled. The three of us laughed. We laughed for a while about that. I felt good having some friends there with me. It reassured me that I do have people who care about me. Whether I have a guy in my life or not.
When we got to the camp fire jam, most people were there already. Including guy with hat and his best friend. He was still wearing a hat even though it wasn’t sunny and Lana was wearing the hat he gave her too. What was with these hats?
“Hello campers! We’ve got some great entertainment for you all so let’s get this party started!” Rachel exclaimed. We all cheered. We started with some dancers who were amazing, but seemed really snobby. I was standing with Lana, Selena and Valerie. We were all eating a s’more.
“Hey! Are you singing tonight?” Auburn asked me as she came up to me with Stephanie and Brigit.
“I think so! Are any of you?” I asked knowing Auburn and Stephanie probably weren’t. They sang a duet at the auditions because they don’t like singing.
“No way! I’m way too nervous.” Stephanie said.
“Yeah, but good luck to you! I know you’ll be great.” Auburn touched my shoulder.
“Thank you! How about you Brigit?”
“Yeah I’m singing. But like they said, you’ll be great.” She offered up a small smile. I smiled back.
“Thanks Brigit, but you know your amazing too! Good luck!” Before Brigit could respond Rachel called her name.
“That’s me.” She said with a shy smile. She walked up to the jam stage which was outside. It was right in front of the lake. There was a huge pit with a fire going and benches around it. There were two tables behind the fire, one with drinks and one with food for the s’mores. Then on the other side was the stage. It was just a small round stage placed by the lake, so when you watch someone on it, you can see the lake and the moon behind them. It’s quite nice actually. Performing in the moon light. Sounds like a musical name. Something cheesy, that’s for sure. I listened to Brigit sing and knew she was my prime competition. Lana, Valerie and Selena watched her too, also knowing she was competition. I looked and saw hat boy and his friend laughing about something with two other girls I hadn’t formally met yet. I think their names were Macy and Taylor. But I’m bad at names, so I wasn’t entirely sure. Brigit finished singing, and Rachel announced that I was next. Everyone clapped and I heard Lana, Selena and Valerie cheering the loudest for me. I walked passed boy in hat with his friends and my guitar nudged him by accident. He turned to look at me.
“Sorry.” I muttered without really looking at him.
“It’s fine” I heard him say. Why do I keep running into this guy? Does he ever pay attention? I hopped up onto the stage. I looked at the audience and noticed boy in hat looking at me a lot. I wasn’t too sure why. Maybe he thought I was incredibly rude for bumping into him and barely mumbling a sorry. I took my guitar out of my case, put it around my back and got ready to sing.
“So I wrote this song called Long Live. I wrote it about graduating grade eight and I hope you guys enjoy it.” I started to sing, and after the first verse people started getting into it and clapping. I felt confident as the song went on, but I also couldn’t help my stinging memories of Carter. Once I finished, I got a thunderous applause as I walked off the stage, hardly being able to contain my tears. I put my guitar back in its case and walked back to my group, getting many high fives and compliments from the crowd along the way.
“That was amazing!” “So fantastic!” “You wrote that?!” My group commented all at once.
“Thank you, thank you, and yes I did!” I said. “Excuse me I’m going to go put my guitar back.” I said. They were all still talking to me and I saw hat boy and his friend come towards me but I was gone before either of them could tell me anything. Walking back to the dorm was a lonely, sad walk. The tears were really coming down and I couldn’t stop them. I just needed to talk to him. I just needed to know he was there and he still knew my name. I walked into my dorm, dropped my guitar onto the floor, put my song book under my mattress and got my cell phone out. We aren’t supposed to use them too much at camp but this was an emergency. ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ I texted to Carter. About a minute later I got a reply. ‘hey nm u?’ I always hated his texts. So short and he can’t even be bothered to use punctuation or real words. ‘I’m at arts camp.’ I replied. ‘Cool.’ Was his response. I took my phone with me and left the dorm. ‘how’s your summer been?’ I texted. Once I reached my friends again he texted me back. ‘good u?’ oh finally, a question for me. Thank you so much.
“Hey!” Selena said when she saw me. The other two girls turned their attention from the stage to me.
“You okay?” Lana asked, I guess being able to see the anger on my face.
“Yeah I’m great!” I lied. I took my phone out and texted back fast, hoping they weren’t paying attention. ‘It’s been good. I’m going on vacation soon.’ I texted.
“You can’t text now!” Valerie whispered.
“Why not?” I asked.
“No phones at camp, it’s the policy. Didn’t you read that part?” Lana whispered pushing my hands down so my phone was hidden.
“That’s ridiculous!” I whispered angrily.
“Of course it is. We bring our phones anyways but not to these jams, people notice and some people tell.” Selena warned.
“If by people you mean nosy bitches then I hear you. I’ll put it away.” I said slipping my phone into my front pocket, just as I felt it vibrate with another text from Carter. Well talking to him for the few minutes was nice anyways.
“Alright campers that is how we get things started! What a great night of talent and fun! Its 11 now so you have an hour before you must be back into your dorm. If you aren’t, there will be consequences! We might possibly cook you in the fire next time!” Rachel said as she stood on the stage. Not many people laughed. See that sort of joke may have been funny if we were all 10 but we’re not. We’re teens now and that just isn’t funny.
“LAME!” Some of the guys yelled. That made everyone laugh, even Sam couldn’t help but crack up a bit. Rachel loosened up too.
“Okay I admit, not a good joke, you guys are too old. Don’t go so hard on me!” I snickered. The people around me looked over at me.
“That’s what she said.” I said while cracking up. The cluster of people around me laughed, which meant the joke ended up getting passed on, which made more people laugh and soon everyone was laughing.
“Did I miss something?” Rachel asked, confused.
“No no, it’s okay.” People were yelling. Rachel shook her head and smiled.
“Alrighty then campers, break!” And on that note we all left to do our own separate things. I pulled my phone out of my pocket pronto to check the text. ‘Cool where r u going?’ he had asked. I wrote back immediately, ‘I’m going on a cruise.’
“Who are you texting so urgently!?” Lana asked, trying to see my phone.
“That guy Carter I mentioned earlier.” I told them. “Just catching up…” I said, drifting off into old memories of Carter’s arm around me or laughing as we teased each other. It’s no wonder I don’t trust anyone, my relationship with him was so messed up. He lied, and then was nice, then he lied, and then was nice, it didn’t make sense.
“So you and this Carter guy still flirt?” Valerie asked clueless.
“Uhm, no actually things are just…I haven’t seen him in three weeks. And when we talk it’s not really anything special…just small talk until I run out of ways to keep up the conversation. Because if I don’t, no one does.” I said, looking down. Everyone was silent for a few minutes. My phone vibrated again and everyone just looked up at me as I read it. ‘Cool’ it said. I rolled my eyes and let out a sarcastic snicker.
“What?” Selena asked.
“Cool. The text says cool. God I am so sick of his one word answers.” I said grasping my phone so tight, it might have broken.
“So just stop responding.” Lana said shrugging like it was nothing.
“I’m not strong enough.”
“Sure you are.” She said. She took my phone out of my hand. She closed the text and held my phone. “Just don’t respond. Close the text, put the phone down and walk away from it. You even said he walked away from you so many times, so now you should do it. Just walk away.” I thought for a minute. It made sense. Lana was right. He walked away from me because of the stupidest things. So why can’t I just walk away this time? I should be able to be strong enough to walk away.
“Your right, Lana.” I took my phone from her hand and turned it off. “I’m done.” I said, knowing I would probably crack eventually but I wouldn’t let myself respond anymore.
“Good girl!” Valerie said.
“Now where should we go?” Selena asked.
“To bed. I’m freaking exhausted.” Lana said, yawning.
“Boo, you whore.” Valerie laughed.
“Quoting Mean Girls! I appreciate that!” I said, high fiving her. “I don’t get it!” I said in my best Karen Smith voice. The three of them laughed. “But seriously, I’m tired too. I say we go to bed then stay out tomorrow night. We need some sleep. But I’m showering first. We need a shower schedule!”
At that the four of us walked back to our dorm. Once we got inside, we each showered and changed into our pj’s. Then we took our turns in the bathroom. I stared in the mirror. I could get used to this. Well unless I get a crappy part tomorrow, then that might suck but it’s not like I’d have any options. I’m stuck at this camp for 2 weeks. I guess I just had to stick it out.

“Summer! Rise and shine!” I woke up to Lana’s voice. I opened my eyes to see her face right there, telling me to wake up.
“Ugh, screw you.” I said, pulling the sheets off and hitting her with my pillow. She laughed.
“Well good morning to you too!” She joked after. I cracked a smile and giggled too. I climbed down from my ladder.
“OUCH!” Selena let out a yelp. “Way to kick me in the forehead!” She said rubbing her head.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” I apologized. She laughed a bit.
“It’s okay, I’m sure the bruise won’t stay too long.”
“Everyone ready for breakfast?” Valerie asked as she walked out of the bathroom.
“Does it look like we’re ready for breakfast?” I asked motioning towards me in my pj’s and Lana still in hers. I guess aside from being athletes, Valerie and Selena were early birds too.
“Guess not.” She shrugged. Lana and I went to our dressers. I pulled out a blue and white top from Aeropostale, with a cinch right under my boobs. I wore white shorts, which made me look tanned. That is exactly the purpose of me owning white shorts. I’m normally pale, but this summer I’ve been already getting a wicked tan, and the shorts help.
“Wait, we’re getting our parts today!” Lana said, freezing from her routine of changing.
“Oh right!” Selena said. “Almost forgot.”
“Lana could you pass me my sneakers?” I asked motioning to my converse by the door.
“Sure.” She said as she passed them over. “Aren’t you excited for your part? You are going to be Sharpay, I guarantee it!” I shrugged.
“Nah, I really doubt it. But whatever, let’s go to breakfast.” I said realizing that it was already 8:30.
“I haven’t done my makeup yet!” Lana complained.
“I haven’t done my makeup yet!” Valerie mimicked.
“Oh crap, she’s right. I haven’t done mine either.” I mentioned. Me and Lana sat down at our separate vanities and did the routine. Eyeliner, curl eyelashes, apply mascara, lip gloss, done. I used to take forever. I’d put on toner, concealer, foundation, powder, blush, eye shadow, mascara and lip gloss. Then I learned how to put on eyeliner and I also learned I had no acne so I didn’t need all the powders. So now I just stick with eye makeup and the occasional concealer if I have a really big pimple. After I finished, we were all ready to go to breakfast.
Breakfast was in the Cookhouse again, and we each got two slices of French toast, and orange juice. I love French toast.
“Alright so today is a big day everyone! Your finding out your part in this production. As soon as you find out, you’ll start rehearsing for it. Dancers, you’ll practice in your studio, artists, you’ll start doing your art and making sets in the workshop, singers, you’ll be practicing in the vocal music room and musicians you’ll be in your music room. Actors, you’ll get to practice on the big stage. Now just because your only actors doesn’t mean you won’t be singing or dancing. It’s a musical so you will have a lot of dance numbers and singing numbers as well. Just different from the dancers or singers here. Now we’re going to split up into our classes, actors we’re taking you into the theatre so hang tight for a second while everyone else goes to their separate rooms.” Rachel spoke like each day. You know, I liked Rachel, she seemed nice.
“You can go.” Sam said waving his hand. Sam was the funny one, always making sarcastic remarks and joking around. He was a cool guy.
We were led to the theatre. It was huge. I had been there before but they change camp locations often so I don’t remember this. There were so many different curtains, buttons, doors, lighting systems and strings. There was a little light that was on in the front of the stage.
“Everyone sit.” Sam demanded as he and Rachel walked to the front part of the stage. It was the part known as the apron. It drops down as many feet as you want it to, just to give the stage more levels. They moved the little light to back stage. Suddenly all the lights went on so we could actually see.
“That was the ghost light.” Rachel explained. “It’s there so no one falls off the stage if they come in here.” We all nodded knowingly.
“So you know the rules already, don’t touch ANYTHING! Do not stand under the fly, if we say move-MOVE because that means something is falling and your about to get hit. Right now all the flys and curtains are up, but on show night all those curtains,” he motioned to the sides of the stage where the wings normally were, but at the moment were pulled up, “Those will all be down. So for rehearsals don’t stand under them because at the show, you won’t be able to, it hurts, trust me.” We laughed a bit.
“So I guess it’s time for you to know your parts. We’re going to read off the list now, in no particular order, just in the order you had your auditions in.” Rachel said. I started biting my nail, a habit I was working hard to break, and I was doing pretty well actually. Until now of course. I stopped biting it and instead started to fidget with the zipper on my sweater. Zipping it up then down, up then down. She started reading different random people, no character too important.
“Selena you will be playing a pool girl.” Rachel said. Lana, Valerie and I all high fived Selena, even though her part wasn’t exactly what you’d call good.
“Lana you’re going to be Taylor.” She continued. We high fived her too. It was a decent part. “Auburn you are going to be a Sharpette. Stephanie you will also be a Sharpette.” The Sharpettes were those girls who follow Sharpay around everywhere. If I was lucky, they would be my Sharpettes. “Jason your Chad. Jacob your Troy.” Everyone looked over at Jacob. I was too nervous to pay attention so I just sat staring at my zipper, still moving it up and down. “Valerie, your Gabriella.” Valerie blushed as I gave her a big high five.
“Great job!” I said. Lana and Selena high fived her too.
“Thanks” she whispered.
“Brigit…” Rachel started. I held my breath. This was my one competition. If she didn’t get Sharpay, I don’t know anyone else who would over me. “Brigit your going to be playing Ryan. We didn’t think there’d be any guy who could play Ryan better than you, so we think you’d be great at the part. Is that okay with you?” Rachel asked considerate. I let out my long breath. I had hope now.
“Uhm yeah that’s fine.” Brigit said trying to force a smile. Some of the guys let out sighs of disappointment that they didn’t get to be Ryan.
“Great!” Rachel smiled. “Summer, your going to be Sharpay.” I smiled.
“Cool.” I said calmly. Everyone turned to look at me. I heard little whispers and chatters. Lana, Selena and Valerie all high fived me and congratulated me. I was pretty excited too. This was what I wanted. And I was so excited. Rachel read more names but all I could think about was how awesome this was going to be. High School Musical 2 and I was Sharpay, the part I wanted so badly.
“Okay so we’re going to learn the dance for All For One. Even though it is the last song, it’s the hardest dance so we’re going to start with that one.” Rachel said standing up. Sam stood up too.
“Everyone stand in a line at the back of the stage.” We all did as she said. Sam went and sat on the apron, doing something on his Mac computer. I walked to the back and stood beside Lana.
“Your Sharpay, right?” Someone asked. But it wasn’t Lana. I turned to the left and looked up to a tall guy with these piercing green eyes. Then I realized it was hat boy who I kept bumping into everywhere. Oh my god, when did hat boy get such green eyes?
“Uh yeah.” I answered.
“I’m Jacob.” He said, offering a small smile.
“I’m Summer.” I said back, looking toward Rachel now to hear the instructions.
“Summer as in the season?” He asked jokingly. I looked forward still.
“Jacob as in the lingerie store for women?” I asked with a straight look on my face.
“Touché.” He said nodding. I laughed a little bit and so did he.
“I need Troy, Gabriella, Taylor, Chad, Sharpay and Ryan front stage please.” We all lined up. “I need Ryan, Chad and Gabriella on stage left and Troy, Taylor and Sharpay on stage right” We split into the side she gave us. “Just step to the side, you guys are going to be on the apron of the stage.” She said. Then she turned her attention to everyone else to put them into lines.
“So you’re Summer, huh? The girl with the voice. You’re great. Your song was amazing last night at the jam.” Jacob whispered to me while we were standing back stage.
“Oh, thanks. I try.” I shrugged. He laughed a bit.
“Well your good.” I smiled and drew my attention to Lana. I figured it was a good time to ask about these hats.
“Guys, what’s with the hats?”
“Oh, I just love his hats so he lets me wear them.” Lana said, taking the hat off, looking at it and putting it back on.
“Maybe you could wear one someday.” He said, looking at me with this look in his face like he was trying to figure me out or something.
“Maybe, but they really aren’t too special. Just a hat.” I said.
“Ouch. Come on, the hat is amazing, you love it!” He said nudging me a bit.
“It’s okay; don’t get full of yourself now!” He laughed a little, so I did too. I think I could be friends with this named-after-a-lingerie-store-guy.
“Alright, so we’re going to have Taylor go into this wing, and Sharpay and Troy in the wing in front of Taylor. First Troy then Sharpay.” Rachel said pointing to the spots we were supposed to stand in. I watched as she did the same to the other side.
“You should move over a little.” Jacob said eyeing me mysteriously.
“Why?” I questioned with a smirk.
“Because if this were the real show, you’d be hit by the wooden wing.” He said pointing to the wing I was standing directly under, instead of in front of.
“Oh…” I said walking to the side a little. I was still a bit shy with this guy. Is it really my fault though? I wasn’t good at being open with guys; I hadn’t had the easiest time with them.
“Okay let me show you some choreography now.” Rachel said walking to the front of the stage facing us. She showed us all the steps. The other leads and I were in the front with everyone else behind us. Then we practiced it again, and again and again.
“Let’s try it from the top.” Rachel said. “With the music!” We all walked back to our positions. I walked toward my spot in the wing with Jacob. He was already there, waiting for me. He stepped out of the way slightly.
“Out of breath?” I asked him, noticing he was panting.
“Hey, it’s a difficult dance and it requires effort!” He said with a knowing look.
“Oooh, effort!” I said imitating his whining. “God forbid!” He laughed a little bit. I flashed a shy smile and looked down. I could feel his eyes on me. I looked back up to see him watching me so very slightly. I gave him a quick eye brow raise and felt the first few beats of the music start. We started the dance. As we walked in our line from the wings to our spots beside each other in the front, I studied him. I looked him up and down, then down and up. He didn’t seem like he was full of himself or like he was a jerk. Maybe a small friendship for these 2 weeks would do. I know after I won’t see him ever again so no big deal. I kept doing the dance, with these thoughts circulating. Yet I could still hit each move. I was the part I wanted, I wasn’t going to take it for granted. I was near him during every step, and we kept exchanging glances like we shared some sort of secret. Which of course we didn’t. He just knew me as girl who stood behind him in All For One. Girl who was named after a season, who had a voice, who didn’t like his hats, and who was completely closed off, already not liking him because of every other guy in this world. He didn’t know that about me, but he never would. Like I said, just a friend for two weeks. Or maybe I’m over thinking this whole thing, maybe he’s just being friendly, but we won’t actually end up talking much at camp, or eating lunch together or anything like that. Maybe I’m getting way too ahead of myself.
“So it’s break now, when we get back we’re going to continue the dance. This is the hardest dance and you’re doing really well so far! Break is 10 minutes, in the Loft. Lunch as you know is in the Cookhouse, as usual.” Sam said, finally leaving his Mac computer. He and Rachel led us out to the Loft. I was talking with Lana again.
“Why is this theatre always so cold?” I asked her, tugging on the sleeves of my sweater so they covered my hands.
“I don’t know!” She replied, doing the same.
“That was way too much effort for me.” Jacob complained, walking right beside me, pretty much giving me a heart attack. I looked up at him and smiled a little, then looked away and turned my attention to Selena and Valerie who joined us.
“This is hardcore already.” Selena complained.
“I like it!” Valerie cooed.
“Of course you do, your Gabriella!” Selena said. Lana and I laughed.
“I bet you have more lines then me.” I said turning my head to her.
“Oh I doubt that!”
“At lunch we’ll count them!” I challenged her.
“I accept!” She said. I turned and noticed Jacob had left. Just what I suspected. Another guy who just leaves places without saying goodbye.
After break we continued doing the dance. I can’t count how many times I got into that stupid line, with Jacob, and how many times I walked on, clapped, snapped, ran, sang and a whole bunch of other things. After a really long time of practicing, we all sat on the edge of the stage, out of breath.
“Oh God…” I said letting out a breath.
“Effort.” I heard Jacob whine as he plopped down beside me.
“I know.” I agreed, refusing to meet his eyes.
“Ehh…” His friend who I hadn’t formally met said sitting on the other side of Jacob.
“Ehh?” I said like it was a question.
“It’s like, the new word now. I’m Jason by the way. Your Summer right? The girl with the voice?” He asked.
“Yeah I’m Summer. Like the season apparently. And why do you guys keep saying the girl with the voice?” I said giving Jacob my signature glare. He smiled at me.
“It’s okay, I’m named after a lingerie store remember? And because when you auditioned yesterday Jason and I said you had the best voice there.”
“Hey I never thought of that!” Jason said laughing. “Ahh…tragic.” He said, laughing.
“Ahh, tragic.” Jacob repeated. I looked back and forth between them.
“I don’t get it…” I said, probably sounding like a total Barbie doll.
“…you haven’t heard that?” Jason asked looking confused.
“I haven’t heard a lot of things.” I said looking down. “Don’t be too surprised.”
“I’m sure you’re smart.” Jacob said giving me a nudge to the shoulder.
“I’m not…” Jason said rubbing his head. “You’re funny though!” He said with a smile. I glared at him, using the lovely signature glare.
“Why do you have to do that look???” Jacob asked, tilting his head away from me as if I was shooting lasers out of my eyes.
“Added affect.” I shrugged.
“Summer, let’s go to lunch.” Lana motioned.
“Alright.” I said hopping up, following Lana. I looked behind subtly to see Jacob and Jason get up as well, and meet up with the two other girls they knew from before. We walked to the busy Cookhouse and sat at our normal table, in our normal seating arrangements. I missed my friends so much. One of my best friends, Elena had surgery in her mouth and I was calling her tomorrow since it’s the first day she can talk. Though she couldn’t talk too much, I still wanted to talk to her. Elena, Sandra, Taylor and I have been best friends for years now. We’re like sisters. Then of course I have my other sisters, Savannah, Courtney, Molly, and everyone else. It was a long list, but Elena, Sandra and Taylor were my main three and I was having issues living without them. Taylor and Sandra were at an over night camp with no internet or anything, at least I had internet. But the internet hours were between 8 and 12, which I didn’t mind because no one was on facebook or instant message during the day. At least this camp accommodates us. Elena is out of commission because of her surgery, so I can’t really go out with her much. She’ll be okay by my show, so her and a few other friends are coming. When high school starts, Sandra is going to Spain, for four months. She’s Spanish and she’s taking half of grade nine there, so she won’t be in my high school until grade 10. As if that doesn’t suck, she’s the only one who’s going to the same school as me.
“After lunch, you will be learning the vocals for the song we just did the dance to. So prepare to sing!” Rachel said. A few people moaned. I let out a little sigh. I was used to the hard work, but honestly, I hate waking up early and working all day long, and then going to bed passed mid night. I love staying up late, and I love sleepovers and parties but then the morning after I need my sleep.
The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. We learned vocals, and put it all together and I forgot what time it was by the time we got back to the dorm to prepare for dinner and the rest of the nights activities. Tonight was Miami night. We were all supposed to wear white, and we were getting glow sticks. We were going to be around the camp fire again. I guess it should be fun.
“So what’s everyone wearing tonight?” I asked as we walked into the dorm and dropped our bags containing our scripts and water bottles.
“Well it’s supposed to be white, so I’m wearing white jeans and a white tank top.” Lana said.
“I’m probably going to wear my white athletic shorts since I don’t really have anything else white, and I’ll wear a white t-shirt.” Selena said shrugging.
“Oh no darling, you can’t wear athlete clothes to Miami night.” I said, sitting beside her, putting my hand on her arm.
“What am I supposed to wear?” She asked looking at me.
“Just wear it, no big deal.” Valerie said rolling her eyes.
“No she has to look good!” Lana said, going to the other side of Selena. “What are you wearing?” She asked looking at me.
“White shorts, and my white Abercrombie tank top.” I said with a smile.
“See, that’s cute!” Lana said.
“I have two pairs of white shorts. You could wear a pair.” I suggested.
“Let me guess you’re a size 0?” She asked.
“Well, yes. One pair is 00 so I’ll wear that and you can wear the 0. It’s going to fit, I promise!” I said, taking her hand and helping her up. I walked over to my drawers. I opened the top drawer and pulled out two shirts. The white one I was wearing and another Garage t-shirt I had that we were apparently tie dying next week. But for now it was still white so I gave it to her. Then I opened up the second drawer and got my two white shorts, both on top of each other right at the top. Everything was in colour order.
“Here.” I said handing her the outfit with a smile.
“Thank you…” she said, taking it and putting it on her bed, pushing her athletic clothes out of the way.
“No problem!” I smiled.
“Well, I’m just going to wear a white skirt with a white shirt.” Valerie said, getting the clothes from her drawer.
“What time is it anyways?” I asked.
“It’s five.” Lana answered.
“Oh my god!” I panicked. I rushed to change. Then I plugged in my flat iron and started doing my makeup while it heated up.
“You put makeup on this morning didn’t you?” Selena asked.
“Yes but we need to reapply our eye makeup since it comes off with all the work.” Lana said, knowingly as she sat down at her vanity to do her makeup. I did the same eyeliner as usual, then my mascara. After I was done, my flat iron was heated and I starting straightening my hair. I slipped on my charm bracelet and a pair of silver earrings.
“You look awesome!” Selena said to me.
“Thanks! Your outfit is fabulous! How does it fit?” I asked noticing it was a little small.
“Just a bit small, but I managed to get into it. I’m normally a 1. And my shirts are a small, not an extra small!” She said, frowning a little.
“Sorry!” I said, throwing my hands up and then dropping them to my side. The four of us broke out into giggles.
“We ready?” Valerie asked as she starting putting on a pair of white ballet flats.
“I’m ready!” Lana said, going to get her typical sneakers. I grabbed my brown wedges with black straps. In those I was finally Valerie and Selena’s height. Almost.
“Let’s go!” I said, after getting my shoe on. We opened the door and stepped out into the hall. We left the Eagle Dorm and stepped out into the cool night air. Even then, it was still pretty warm outside.
Tonight’s dinner consisted of pizza for everyone. Miami night meant pizza apparently. I looked around the tables and saw Jacob and Jason with those two girls he knew, Macy and Taylor. Jacob looked around a little bit and met my eyes suddenly. I looked away quickly. Way to creep out a new friend. He excused himself from them, and he and Jason got up and walked to our table. He took the seat next to Lana, and Jason sat beside Selena. Lana put her hand on Jacob’s arm.
“Ah, you’re still so warm.” She said, letting out a sigh.
“I don’t get it…” I said.
“I’m not surprised.” Jason said, everyone laughed and I had to join in.
“Lana likes my arms because they’re warm and she’s always cold.” Jacob explained. I nodded. Then Jacob shared some joke I didn’t understand.
“What?” I asked, looking confused.
“You know…from Inception?” He said, looking at me unsurely.
“Oh I never saw it.” I said casually. Jacob and Jason just stared at me. “What?” I asked, suddenly noticing the silence.
“You’ve never seen Inception?” Jason asked, amazed. I nodded no.
“Oh boy…” Jacob said. “How about the Dark Night? You’ve seen that right?”
“Oh the batman movie? Nope.” I said.
“Ah….tragic.” Jason said, repeating the joke from earlier.
“Your jokes don’t make sense.” I stated.
“It’s okay, it’s okay…maybe you’ll get better…” Jason said, not giving up on me yet.
“That’s hawkward.” Jason said. I didn’t get that either. Lana and I shared a confused look.
“Don’t count on it.” I told him honestly. Everyone laughed again, and as usual I joined in. Lana was still clinging onto Jacob’s arm.
“Can I hold your hand?” She asked with a cheesy smile.
“Yeah go for it.” He said casually, as she held his hand which was still, not intertwined with hers.
“Why are you always cold?” Selena questioned.
“I don’t know. I’m weird.” Lana said. We laughed. I took a sip of my water as Jacob took a sip of his coke.
“So Summer, I notice last night you had a grilled cheese.” Jacob said as he finished sipping his coke.
“Oh yeah I’m a vegetarian.” I informed him.
“Really? BACON.” Jason said to bother me. I made a sad face.
“I don’t like bacon. I like cow though.” Jacob said, emphasizing cow to upset me. I made another sad face, using my obviously hypnotizing puppy dog eyes.
“Whoa…” Jacob said, staring and clearly getting lost. “What’s with the eyes?” He asked, still mesmerized. I burst out laughing.
“Works every time.” I said through my giggles.
“Campers! It’s now time to move outside to the camp fire for Miami night! We’re going to be in the Village where the fire pit is! We’re going to have music, drinks, the camp fire, and your free to just chill out with each other. It’s an all request night, so whatever song you want, we play! Remember, this ends at 11 and then you need to be back in your dorms by 12 because tomorrow is another long day!” Rachel stated. We all got up and started walking outside.
“Well this should be fun.” Lana said, walking beside me.
“Yeah I guess so. Hey what time is it?” I asked her.
“I don’t have a watch…ask Jacob.” She said. I crossed over to where Jacob was with Jason.
“Hey uhm, what time is it?” I asked awkwardly.
“It’s just after 8.” He answered. “Hey so,”
“Thanks.” I cut him off, patted his shoulder and ran back to the dorm. I looked back once to see him watching me run off. I stumbled in fast and ran straight to my bed side table. I grabbed my iPod and logged into my Facebook. Since it was after 8, the Wi-Fi was free. Thank God. I had 16 notifications and 4 messages. People trying to make plans. Sorry everyone I’m in Collingwood with 100 other campers. See you when I’m back. Nothing from Carter. Nothing at all. But I noticed he was online.
‘Hey’ I typed.
‘Hey’
‘Wazup?’ I asked. My heart was beating way too fast. Why did I still care so much about him? After everything he did to me. I closed my eyes and remembered. I was weak. I did what he said, I let him control me. I wanted him so badly. I wanted him more than anything in the world. All I ever thought about was him. Just him. I wasn’t strong enough to tell him the truth. I wasn’t strong enough to ever fight back when he knocked me down.
‘Nm u?’
‘Just at camp.’
‘Cool’ he replied. What was with the one word answers?
“Hey!” Lana said, barging into the dorm. “Jacob had said he saw you run to the dorm. Everything alright?”
“Uh, yeah.” I lied. “My mom just wanted me to call her to tell her I was alright.” I said, realizing I had to call her.
“Oh okay. Well we’ll be at the camp fire, hurry up! They’re giving out glow sticks soon!” She said. I nodded and smiled. She smiled back and left, closing the door behind her. I looked at my iPod. Carter was now offline and I hadn’t responded. I locked my iPod and got my phone. I started dialling to my mom.
“Hello?”
“Hey mom it’s me. I don’t have long, but I got Sharpay, my room mates are great, the people here are nice and I’m having fun!” I told her.
“Oh that’s so great to hear! What’s the food like?”
“Not bad! We had pizza tonight. It’s Miami night and everyone is wearing white. I helped my friend Selena with her outfit. But I have to go; we’re getting glow sticks soon! Can I talk to you later?”
“Sure thing, I’m so glad you’re having fun!”
“Thanks! Bye!” I hung up. I dropped the fake smile, and contained the tears. I wanted to see Carter more than anything in the world. So why couldn’t I see him?

Waking up the day after was painful. I was the first awake this time. I shut off our alarm clock which rang every morning at 8 in the freaking morning and I sat up. Lana, Selena and Valerie were still sleeping, but were clearly stirring, about to wake up. I saw my now unlit glow stick on my vanity and tried to remember last night. I was upset about Carter; I went back to the Miami party. I pretended I didn’t care; I got a glow stick, ate s’mores, talked with my friends and didn’t speak to Jacob again. He was just a friend, so why was I analyzing my every move with him?
“Well good morning.” Lana said, breaking my thoughts.
“Hola.” I responded, mono-toned, while rubbing my eyes. Valerie and Selena then got up too.
“Ugh, morning comes way too fast here.” Selena whined, also rubbing her eyes. Valerie yawned. She was the first to actually stand up. She approached her drawer and pulled out her clothes for today.
“Well better get ready!” She exclaimed.
“Where do you get your energy from at this time of day?” I asked, falling back to my warm pillow.
“Yeah, seriously.” Lana said, mimicking my action. Selena was second out of bed and me and Lana finally climbed down our ladders and started to get ready too.
“Why must we start at 9? We have a long day, why 9?!” I asked while going through my drawer for something to wear. I decided today I’d wear my TNA brand shorts and a pink Abercrombie t-shirt. Lana, Valerie and Selena all wore shorts like mine and t-shirts. So I guess we all dressed athletic today. Not that I had an athletic bone in my body, besides cheerleading. I somehow looked the part though. After applying just a little makeup, we all put on our sneakers and left the cabin. When we got to the Loft, Jacob and Jason came up to us.
“Morning” Jacob said, nodding at me.
“Ehh…” I replied, looking away.
“Ehh….” He said with a wink. I couldn’t help but crack a small smile.
“HAT!” Lana cried, grabbing the hat off Jacob’s head and putting it on her own.
“You are so odd.” Selena said, giving her a weird look. Valerie laughed.
“So how was your dorm last night?” Jacob asked me.
“It was okay. I don’t really remember, I was so tired.” I answered.
“You forget a lot, don’t you?” Jason asked, hearing mine and Jacob’s conversation.
“Yeah I guess.”
“It’s okay, I forget things too.” Jacob assured me, smiling. He seems way too friendly to be real. He’s probably just a backstabber or something along those lines. But why was it that something about him captivated me? I wanted to learn more and more about him. We walked over to the Cookhouse and we all sat down to breakfast, and today he sat with us. He sat right across from me. I could feel his eyes on me as I ate my pancake.
“What?” I asked him, wide eyed.
“Nothing, you just hold your knife really funny.” He said laughing. I was well aware that I didn’t know how to properly hold my cutlery, but I didn’t need him pointing it out.
“Wanna make fun of me some more?” I said dropping my knife and giving him the evil eye. He laughed.
“Sorry! Go ahead, eat how you want!” He said, still laughing a little. I kicked him under the table and continued eating. “Ouch!” he yelped, obviously from my kick.
“Perfect!” Lana said, holding a pen.
“What?” I asked.
“Last year we all wrote on each other and now we get to do it again!” Selena said, taking a different pen writing ‘I love Selena’ on Lana’s leg.
‘Lana is my life and I love her so much.’ Lana wrote on Jacob’s leg.
“Oh, wow!” He said, giving her a look. I took the pen and got out of my seat. I went over to Jacob. “Oh no…” He said, seeing what was coming.
‘I like boys. Don’t judge.’ I wrote in purple pen. I started giggling as I observed my work.
“No!” He complained, at the same time as laughing. Jason, Lana, Selena and Valerie all laughed.
“Yeah I’m cool.” I said, still dying of laughter.
“Why?!!?!” He complained. The four of us were still laughing.
“I’m sorry, you learn to love me.” I said, putting my hand on his knee, smirking at him.
“Ah, it’s okay. I’ll wash it off later.” He said, being nice again, which made me feel bad. I got the pen again and started scribbling it out.
“You just ruined it!” Jason said. I shrugged. Jacob looked up at me and smiled.
“You’re so unpredictable, you know that?” He asked with a quick eyebrow raise.
“Well you’re so predictable! You know THAT?” I asked, returning the eyebrow raise.
“Yeah I figured.” He responded, shrugging a little. I giggled a bit and he looked at me, letting out a small chuckle.
“Alright guys, time to get into our separate rooms! Actors, back in the theatre today. Let’s go!” Rachel announced. We all started to stand up, Jacob just sat there.
“Do you need help?” I asked him, smirking.
“Yes!” He said extending his hand. “You don’t even know how tired I am.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him up. “Wow, you’re strong for a girl.”
“Yeah I know. I work out. And cheerleading makes you like, ten times stronger!” I told him as he followed me to the theatre.
“You seriously work out?” He asked, amazed.
“Oh yeah all the time. Well when I’m not at my cottage or with my friends.”
“You have a cottage?”
“Yeah not too far from here actually. I bring my friends up a lot.” I told him, recalling the two times I was up this summer. Once with Savannah and once with Courtney.
“Well that’s cool. See I worked out a lot at the gym at our school, but since its summer I work out at home.”
“I go to a gym.” I told him. Just then we walked into the theatre and I went with my other friends. Why was I talking to Jacob so much about my life? Why was I so interested in talking to him? Why did I suddenly want to go talk to him more? Potential summer fling? No way. I was getting way too ahead of myself. This was just going to go like this: I’m going to misinterpret his friendliness for interest, then I’ll flirt, he’ll flirt a little back, then reveal he actually didn’t realize he was flirting and I was always just a friend, not a fling, and then I’ll never see him again. That is exactly what is going to happen. Then I’ll go on vacation and have summer flings with hot boys at sea. We started learning the choreography for the first song, which was only slightly less work then the one we learned yesterday. I had a cool part though, so that was awesome. Each time my path crossed with Jacob’s during that song, we looked at each other. This was definitely who I wanted as my first summer fling ever. He was nice, talented, and sweet. Perfect for a short fling. Though I hardly knew the guy, what I knew about him so far impressed me and intrigued me. I wanted more of him, and a summer fling was the perfect way to get it.
After practicing about a million times, going on a very short and random break, it was lunch. These days were going by really fast.
“I have your solo stuck in my head!” Valerie said, singing my part of the song over and over. I giggled.
“Sorry!” I replied. “Oh hey, did you count your lines?” I asked her, remembering what we had said yesterday.
“Yes! I have 75.” She told me. My jaw dropped.
“I have 113.” I told her. Oh my God. I had more lines then the supposedly biggest part in this play. Well I guess it wasn’t exactly the biggest part considering I had more lines, and apparently more songs.
“You have 113 lines?!” Lana asked. “I have like 50!”
“I hardly have any!” Selena said.
“Hey 113 lines is going to be really difficult to memorize! I’m actually worried!” I told them truthfully.
“Still, I’m sure you’ll be fine!” Lana reassured me.
“Yeah, your going to be great, don’t worry!” Valerie said.
“Thanks guys, but we’re all going to be amazing, no doubt!” I told them with a smile. These were my new camp friends, and I actually really liked them!
When we got to the Cookhouse, we lined up in the buffet line. See for every meal, we don’t have a prepared meal. We just line up at the buffet and get our food. Today we had subs. We just line up to get bread, and things to put on it to make a sub. I usually just get cheese when I get subs from Subway. Actually not usually, I ALWAYS get cheese.
“I look forward to seeing what you’re going to put on this sub.” Jacob said as we both reached for Italian bread.
“Believe me, it’s an interesting sub!” I sarcastically told him.
“Oh I bet.” He said as he started putting things on his sub. I reached out and placed four pieces of cheese on my sub. Then I closed it and started walking away. Jacob stopped me, shocked. “Cheese?!”
I smiled brightly. He got my cheesy joke instantly. “Really? Just cheese? Nothing else?!”
“Nope. Just cheese.” I continued walking away.
“You just continue to amaze me.” He said after me. I flashed a thumbs up to him as I continued walking to my table with the other girls.
“Is there anything in that bread?” Lana asked inspecting it.
“Yes!” I said defending myself. I lifted the bread to reveal the cheese. Jason got to the table at that point. Him, Selena, Lana and Valerie all just stared at my lonely looking sub. “Stop staring at it, your making it feel insecure.” I said, quickly putting the top bread down so it looked like a regular sub again. Just then Jacob came and sat beside me.
“Can you guys believe she just gets cheese?” He asked wonderstruck.
“YES! All I get is cheese! Can we move on now? Are we all on the same page?!” I asked. Lana, Selena, Valerie, Jason and Jacob all laughed.
“It’s okay; it’s cute that you just get cheese.” He said patting my arm. I looked down and blushed a little. I looked back up at him and smiled a little.
“Yeah I guess.” I said shyly. I was normally so up front and flirty with guys, but this was just my first day of making the decision to have a fling with this guy, so I was still shy.
“So you guys excited for tonight?” Jason asked us.
“What’s tonight?” I asked looking at everyone.
“Tonight is the lake party.” He answered.
“What?” I asked.
“It’s like; we get to go out in canoes and stuff. Actually we should all share one!”
“Its only three per canoe.” Lana told Jason.
“Oh true….” He said, looking down.
“Well okay then, maybe me, Lana and Summer can be in one and you, Valerie and Selena can be in one?” Jacob suggested eyeing me.
“I’m fine with that.” I answered.
“Well you have to be in the middle.” Jacob said.
“What? Why?” I asked. I’m that girl that likes being on the outside of these things. Boats, rides at Disney, bus rides, I always like sitting near the outside.
“You’re the smallest!” Lana said.
“Oh well, okay.” I agreed.
“It should be fun!” Selena said.
“So we go in canoes, and what?” I asked.
“Well on the other side of the lake, there’s apparently a park and cool stuff like that. It seems cool. Then at the end of the night we just walk the trail back.” Valerie answered.
“So dress code is what?” Lana asked, looking at me for the answer.
“Your bathing suit of course. But obviously with clothes on top, because not everyone goes in the water, but in case you do.” Jason informed us.
“Perfect!” Lana expressed. We finished lunch and started going to the theatre.
“See now that is Captain America. You know him right?” Jacob was explaining to me who was on the hat he was wearing because I had asked about it.
“Who?” I asked, clueless.
“Oh gosh…you don’t know him either do you?”
“No…”
“Of course…” He put the hat on my head. “It looks good on you.” He told me, nodding.
I blushed a little.
“Thank you.” I said, smiling. “You know, I kind of like it!” I said.
“Wear it for the rest of today.” He said. We got into the theatre and started learning the vocals for the song we learned today. Even though we knew the basics, we had to get split up into all these parts and it was all confusing but we got it by the end. Once we had our break, Jacob, Jason, Valerie, Selena, Lana and I went to the Loft like usual. We all stood around and talked about how we knew each other and stuff. Well how THEY all knew each other.
“So me and Jacob met when we were really little. We went to the same elementary school but we went to different high schools.” Jason explained. Wait a second-WENT to different high schools? He isn’t my age…this is better then I thought!
“Wait so what grade are you going into?” I asked, looking at Jason and Jacob.
“Grade 10.” Jacob told me. “You’re going into grade 9 right?” He asked.
“Yeah, grade 9.”
“So anyways, we met Lana, Selena and Valerie 3 years ago at camp. And that’s pretty much it.” Jason finished.
“Oh okay, well that’s cool.” I said, feeling weird since they all knew each other and I knew nobody. “Then I came along!” I said.
“And you’re awesome!” Lana said, Valerie and Selena agreeing.
“Yeah you’re decent.” Jacob winked.
“You have crappy taste in movies, but other then that you’re alright!” Jason said. I laughed a little.
“I’m glad!” I said. Lana was holding Jacob’s arms again. I decided to give it a try. “Oh wow, your arms ARE really warm!” I said, amazed.
“I know, aren’t they?!” Lana asked, clearly excited by his arms.
“I know, I know. I don’t know why, but I know.” He said. I let go just as quickly as I grabbed on. I didn’t want to seem desperate.
We went back to the theatre, practiced yesterday and today’s progress and then left rehearsals. I was actually quite excited for tonight. I’ve never been in a canoe so it should be funny.
“So I have three bikinis.” I said as we started walking into the dorm. “Which one should I wear?” I walked over to my drawer and pulled out three bikinis. One was purple string, with flowers. One was white bandeau style with the ocean pacific logo all over it. The last one was white string with flowers and palm trees.
“I like the purple one.” Lana said, going into her drawer pulling out her blue bikini. Selena and Valerie agreed and got out their bikinis. Selena’s was brown with little white circles and Valerie’s was hot pink.
“Yeah I thought so too.” I said, putting my other two bikinis back in the drawer. I walked into the bathroom and started to change. I looked at myself in the mirror before changing. I studied my dark brown eyes, my brown highlighted hair. When I met new people they told me I looked like an exotic brunette, different from the stereo typical blonde. Sometimes I wished I was blonde. But then I realize I’m somewhat happy being brunette. I have a lot of blonde high lights, because it’s the closest thing to being a blonde. But now I wouldn’t ever change how I look. This is me, and of course I have days where I feel so insecure, and of course in my past I’ve broken down and felt so upset about my looks. But when it comes down to it, why would I want to be anybody else? Or be a bobble-head blonde? No thanks, I’ll keep my long brown locks. I started changing into my bikini. As I tied the top as tight as it could go, I turned and looked at myself in the mirror again, now fully changed into my bikini. For all the working out I did, I didn’t look too bad. I tightened the sides of my bottoms so they wouldn’t fall off, and I stepped out of the bathroom. The other girls turned to look at me.
“Screw you.” Lana said throwing a pillow at me.
“Hey!” I giggled, dodging the pillow. “What?” I asked.
“You are so skinny!” Selena said, putting her hands around my bare waist.
“I work out, that’s all.” I shrugged. That was actually a complete lie. Yes, I did work out…but along with that I also restricted what foods I ate. I was lucky if I could go a day eating more that a mere 1000 calories. At home I always skipped lunch. I only ate it here because with all the extra workouts, I could use some food. I had to always remind myself I worked out though, because otherwise I felt like a fat pig eating. I also hated people who watched me eat. Honestly eating in front of people is a huge insecurity of mine. I wasn’t quite sure why, I just didn’t like it. I walked back over to my drawer to find something cute to wear over top of it. “So I think tonight we should all wear dark t-shirts and denim shorts. We up for it?” I asked.
“Yeah I like that.” Valerie answered. “That way no one can see the colour of our bikinis underneath.
“Exactly!” I said, winking at her.
“Alright, well I’m going to go change into my bathing suit now. Not sure if I still want to after seeing you in yours!” Lana said, grabbing her bikini and going into the washroom. I shrugged a little and got out my dark navy blue v-neck from Hollister, and my denim shorts. Valerie and Selena fished through their drawers for similar items. Lana stepped out of the washroom, half hiding her stomach with her other clothes.
“Oh stop!” I said, going up to her, taking her other clothes so we could see her stomach. “You look perfectly fine! You have absolutely nothing to feel insecure about!” I told her truthfully. “Now pick what you want to wear!”
“Fine!” She sighed and went over to her drawers, picking out a black t-shirt and denim shorts. Valerie was next to put her bikini on. After she came out, Selena went in. We all changed and Lana and I did the nightly makeup routine. By 5:45 we were all ready. We each wore flip flops tonight, and I was starting to think everyone at this camp was jealous of how awesome we looked each night.
“Hey guys” I said as we walked into the Loft and Jacob and Jason automatically approached us.
“Hey!” Jacob said, eyeing me up and down, very obviously. This reminded me of the time at my birthday party this year where Carter very obviously checked me out. Carter! Why was it that I had gone the entire day without him crossing my mind once? Was this what it was like to not think of Carter? Maybe a summer fling with Jacob was just what I needed. Then when camp is over, I go on vacation so I’ll have more and I STILL won’t be thinking of Carter! Then when I go to high school, I’ll meet more guys, date around, and Carter will have been completely erased from my mind by this time. This was just perfect. “You excited for tonight?” Jacob said, winking at me.
“Yeah I guess I am.” I replied with a shrug. Jacob took his hat off his head and put it on mine. “What was that for?” I asked with a smile.
“I know you like it.” He said, smiling back.
“Let’s not get over confident now!” I said, starting to walk away. We went into the Cookhouse. I went and sat beside Lana at dinner, and Jacob followed and sat next to me. I put my hand on his arm. “Still so warm!” I let go.
“Yeah I know. It’s weird isn’t it?” He asked.
“Nah, I like it. Very handy!” He laughed. We got our dinner served. Three cheers for grilled cheese. I took a sip from my water. “So we still game for the canoe plans tonight?” I asked, looking around the table.
“I definitely am!” Lana said, excited.
“Yeah it’s going to be fun! We should have a race!” Selena suggested.
“No way, if we have a race I’m going in Jacob’s canoe!” Jason said.
“That’s not fair!” Valerie said. “Why would you do that?”
“Guys against girls!”
“It’s three to a canoe.” I reminded him.
“Well you can stay in it; you’re the smallest girl here so it won’t make much of a difference.” He said.
“Only if Lana is okay with it.” I said, turning my attention to her.
“Yeah I guess that’s okay.” She agreed.
“Well okay so it’s a race. Winners get to push losers into the lake!” I said with a smile.
“Fine, deal!” Selena agreed.
“Well this should be fun. We are so going to kick your asses!” Jacob told the other girls. I looked over at Jacob.
“You know even if we win, I’ll probably still push you into the lake, right?” I asked with a completely straight face. Jacob’s expression dropped.
“But it’s freezing!” He said.
“I don’t care!” I replied laughing.
“We’ll see about that!” He responded, also starting to laugh. Is it possible to actually feel this way about someone you just met? Why do I actually want to have a summer fling with this guy? Is this just for flirting or is it something else? Am I going to miss him once he’s gone? If so, I want out! But somehow…I can’t seem to stop this. Because as much as I hate admitting it, I’m happy like this.
“There’s about twenty minutes left of dinner, and then we’re going to take you out to the lake! It’s almost seven; you have until eight to get whatever else you need from your dorms before going to the lake.” Rachel told us. We all looked at each other with little smiles. Tonight was going to be so fun. I sat around listening to Jacob and Jason tell jokes I didn’t get, so I started picking at my grilled cheese crust. I never ate the crust. It just ruins the whole thing. But at the same time, without crust it would just be weird. I couldn’t imagine bread not having crust on it. It’s like pizza without crust. What would you hold onto? That’s like the point of crust. And then you eat it if you so desire. I usually eat my pizza crust, unless it’s the really, really thin kind. That crust isn’t as good. But I love Pizza Hut crust, it’s better then the actual pizza. I only eat my grilled cheese crust if I’m still hungry, like if it was a long day and I didn’t eat anything all day long. But I ate lunch today, so I wasn’t hungry for crust. I must have been picking at it more than I thought though, because Jacob noticed.
“What are you doing?” He asked, picking up my destroyed crust and showing me my work on it.
“Oh, I didn’t notice.” I answered; not realizing my thoughts led me into a daydream, which made me forget what I was doing.
“Yeah I saw. You were like off into space. Do you do that often?” He asked with a grin.
“If I said yes would you hold it against me?” I asked, grinning back. He laughed a bit and I laughed too.
“Alright campers, you have an hour! Go do what you want for this one hour, then meet at the lake and we’ll start tonight’s adventures.” After Rachel finished speaking, we all got up.
“I need to go back to our dorm.” Lana said. “My mom wants me to call her.”
“So does mine.” Selena said, and Valerie nodded. “How about you?” She asked me.
“Oh I called mine last night. I think I’ll just walk around and check the place out a bit.” I said shrugging. “I don’t really need anything.”
“I’m going back to the dorm. You coming too, Jacob?” Jason asked.
“Uh, no I think I’ll chill with Summer.” He said nudging me.
“Alright, works for me.” Jason shrugged and walked away. The girls left too and it was just me and Jacob.
“Well I don’t know about you but I want to walk in that forest.” I said, eyeing him.
“There’s like, bugs and stuff in it!” He complained.
“Ooh, bugs! I’m so scared! Let’s go you little baby.” I said, grabbing his wrist pulling him out of the Cookhouse and towards the forest.
“You’re just full of adventure aren’t you?” He asked.
“Yeah pretty much!” I answered. “And let me guess, you’re a bit more cautious then me aren’t you?” I asked, still leading the way.
“You’re right on!”
“You are so predictable, it’s cute!” I told him with a giggle.
“Well you’re so mysterious it’s cute!” He responded.
“Yeah get used to it.” I said, winking. We finally reached the entrance of the forest. I started walking, hearing leaves and twigs crunching under my feet. “And this isn’t that bad!”
“I can get used to it! And I guess not…squirrel!” He said, mid-sentence pointing out a brown psychotic looking squirrel.
“Wow Jacob, that was so ADD of you.” I said. He laughed and so did I.
“You’ve seen the movie Up right?” He asked.
“Of course!”
“I cried at the beginning.” He confessed.
“Ooh so you’re one of those sensitive types?” I said.
“Yeah I guess.”
“That wasn’t a question.” I said with a smirk. He smiled back at me and we kept on with the walk. I saw a log and walked across it, keeping perfect balance.
“Oh a tree!” I said, spotting a tree perfect for climbing.
“Yes, Summer, it’s a tree, good job!” He joked, clapping for me. I turned to him and gave him the look.
“Let’s climb it!” I said, starting to grab a branch.
“That’s it? ‘Let’s climb it!’” He mimicked me.
“Yeah, let’s climb it! Unless you’re worried a demon squirrel will be hiding in it.” I said, grabbing hold of another branch and lifting myself up using my almost non-existent upper body strength.
“You’re going to hurt yourself!”
“Nah, and if I do I have a tensor band in my cabin, no big deal.”
“You bring tensor bands with you?”
“Yeah, I get hurt a lot.” I told him, honestly. I was now on a high branch, looking down at him still standing there. “Come on! You’re so boring!” I said. “Just do what I did!” He shrugged and started climbing too. Soon enough he was sitting on the branch right below me.
“That was scary.”
“But here you are! And look at the view.” I said, gesturing to the view from the top of the tree. You could see the whole lake.
“That’s true…it is an amazing view.” He said, looking around then looking back at me.
“Well we better go; I want to go back to the dorm before we have to go to the lake.”
“Alright….” I started climbing down. “Uh….Summer?” He asked.
“Yeah?” I asked, looking up at him.
“I don’t know how to get down.” I started laughing, which made him laugh, which made me laugh more, so we were just two people in a tree laughing.
“Just follow whatever I do.” I said, stepping on the easiest branches and reciting out loud what branch I was on. We eventually got to the bottom and he let out a long, deep breath.
“Thank God.” He sighed. I laughed more.
“Whatever, that was fun! I’m going to run back to my dorm now, I promised my friend I’d call her, but I’ll see you soon by the lake.” I told him, starting to turn away.
“Yeah, see you there.” And with that, I ran back to my dorm. When I walked in, Lana, Selena and Valerie were all sitting on their beds and Lana was on the phone.
“Yeah, Selena and Valerie are in my dorm” She looked up at me, smiled and waved. “So is this new girl Summer.” She was talking to her mom on the phone. “Yeah she’s really nice!”
“Where did you go?” Selena asked me in a whisper.
“Jacob and I climbed a tree.” I whispered back.
“Well that’s fun!” Valerie said, sarcastic or not, I couldn’t tell.
“Okay, bye!” Lana finally hung up.
“Well I need to call my friend Elena now, so just excuse me.” I said, grabbing my cell phone and slinking into the bathroom. I dialled her number.
“Hello?” She croaked on the other line.
“Hey girl! How are you feeling?”
“Summer! So great to hear from you! I’m okay; I can talk much better now!” She explained. “How’s camp? What part are you?”
“Camp is amazing! And I’m Sharpay!”
“Of course you are! Any guys?”
“Well there’s this one guy, Jacob. He’s so nice and funny and I think he may be a summer fling. The one thing to help me move on from Carter.”
“Ooh la la! I wish I had a summer fling. I think I’m going to break up with Travis. He is such an ass hole to me.” Travis was Elena’s boyfriend. He was Sandra’s first, then she didn’t like him anymore, then he dated Elena. I thought it was a bit messed up, and it caused many problems in our little foursome for a while, but it’s okay now.
“Go for it. I hate him anyways and so do Taylor and Sandra.”
“I know you guys do. And I think I’m going to. I’ll probably call him.”
“Well text me as soon as you do, and as soon as I get the text I’ll call you, even if it means breaking the rules!” I told her. Elena was truly one of my best friends; I couldn’t leave her in a break up.
“Thanks! This is why I love you!”
“Love you too! But listen, I have to go to the lake now, we’re going canoeing! I’ll call you soon though!”
“Okay! I miss you, can’t wait to see you next week!”
“I know me too! Bye!”
“See you!” Elena and I hung up and I left the bathroom.
“We ready?” I asked the girls.
“We’re ready!” Selena answered. The three of them got off their beds and got their flip flops on. I did the same as well as putting two hair ties around my wrist. We started walking to the lake. Jacob was already there with Jason. He waved at me with a nod. I waved back.
“Hey guys!” Lana said, as we walked over to them.
“Hey” Jacob said, only looking at me.
“Hey” Jason said as well. “Ready to be dominated?” He said looking at Selena, Valerie and Lana.
“Are you?” Valerie challenged.
“Yeah, you and Jacob are going down!” Selena said.
“What about me?” I asked.
“Well we like you, so we don’t want to take you down! But in this, you’re going down with them!”
“Eh, works for me.” I shrugged.
“No way, we are crushing them!” Jacob said, eyeing me again.
“Yeah, prepare to die!” Jason said in a creepy voice.
“That sounded EXTREMLEY pedo, Jason.” I said, rolling my eyes. Everyone burst out laughing around me.
“I have to agree with Summer!” Jacob agreed, still laughing.
“Hello campers! Are we ready to begin the canoe to the other side of the lake?” Rachel asked, using a mega phone. We all cheered.
“Well let’s get into our life jackets and we’ll start with each different quarter because there isn’t enough space in the lake for everyone. So let’s start with the artists.” The artists all got into little groups of three. They all got life jackets on and started loading up into the canoes. The lake was nice. It was big but not so big that you can’t see the other side. There was a wooden dock that stretched far out, and on each side of the dock there were canoes. We watched the artists start to approach the other side. It was a lot of waiting, but there were so many different kinds of canoes. Probably about 50 canoes. The only issue was the space in the lake. Next they took the musicians, then the singers, and then the dancers and the actors were last. I slipped on my life jacket beside Jacob and Jason.
“So the rules are no starting until we say go!” Jason said, obviously very into the competition.
“Whatever, let’s go.” Selena said. First she stepped into the canoe, then Lana did and Valerie was last. Jacob went into our canoe first, then took my hand and helped me into it. And after me was Jason. The canoe was very unstable and I wasn’t sure how I was going to work this thing.
“Okay so everyone ready?” Jason asked, getting into prepared position.
“Ready!” Valerie answered.
“On your mark…” We all got ready with our paddles.
“Get set!” Lana continued.
“Go!” We all said at the same time. Then with that we all set off. But somehow both canoes started getting off track and lost, and we were all sort of slow. First, I didn’t know how to turn in a circle so we would go forwards, and Jason wasn’t doing very well at steering us.
“Jason, you’re lagging here!” I said.
“Come on guys!” Jacob said after me. I turned around sharply and my paddle hit Jason. It flew out of the water as I turned around to yell at him, and it hit his arm. The canoe rocked around a lot and I held the edges so I wouldn’t fall out.
“Oh my gosh!” I yelped. Then Jason lost balance and as I turned around to try and stable him, I accidentally hit him and he fell out of the canoe. I quickly took his place before our canoe became so out of balance that we tipped too.
“Jason!” Jacob laughed. I looked over at him in the water. He looked at me with an annoyed and exasperated look.
“Go on without me! Make me proud! I’ll hitch hike another canoe!” He said.
“You sure?” I asked.
“I’m sure!” He nodded. I shrugged and Jacob and I kept going. We ended up going in circles. The other canoe wasn’t too far ahead though, they were having problems too. Jacob and I started laughing.
“I don’t think we’re doing this right!” I laughed.
“Definitely not!” Jacob said, also laughing. We laughed for a while before figuring out how to go forward, and in the end we both got there around the same time. Jason got there in a different canoe with Sam.
“So I guess no one really won huh?” He asked.
“Not really, but I had a blast!” I said.
“Me too!” Lana said.
“Alright everyone, now you can do whatever you want around here! We’ll have ice cream in about an hour, so just chill by the lake! You can swim or do whatever you want!” Rachel said as she started to walk toward Sam and they started discussing something. Lana, Selena, Valerie, Jason, Jacob and I started walking around checking things out. A few feet away from where we docked the canoes, there was a tire swing on a rope.
“Who wants to go first?” I asked as the six of us stood in a line, all staring at it.
“Are you insane? What if it falls off?” Jacob asked.
“It won’t fall off! And if it does who cares?”
“I could go first…” Valerie said unsure. “I sort of want to just see.”
“You brave girl!” Lana expressed, taking a step back trying to avoid the tire swing at all costs. Valerie stepped toward it and sat on it. She started swinging back and forth and then as Jacob predicted, the tire just fell off and Valerie was on the ground. She started laughing, so we all laughed too.
“Ouch!” She said, rubbing her collar bone. She continued laughing anyways.
“Who was right?!” Jacob said, looking over at me, obviously rubbing it in my face.
“You were.” I admitted. “So who wants to jump in the lake?” I asked, noticing a few people inching their way into it slowly.
“Yeah, you are absolutely insane.” Lana said, backing away even further.
“You guys are boring!” I said.
“We aren’t boring, the water is cold!” Jacob said.
“I would know. Some crazy girl whacked me off the canoe and I had to swim to Sam’s canoe to get out.” Jason said with a straight face. I giggled a little.
“Well, suit yourself.” I said. I started taking off my shirt, revealing my purple bikini top.
“Whoa, what are you doing?!” Jacob asked amazed.
“I don’t care what you do, I’m going in and you’re coming!” I said as I unbuttoned my shorts and let them fall to my ankles. I stepped out of them and took off my flip flops.
“No I’m not…” Jacob said, backing away from me. I got close to him and started pushing him towards the water. “What are you doing?” Jacob asked as I bit my lip, laughing a bit. I kept leading him up to a rock by the rope and with everything in me I pushed him in. “Holy s***!” he cried out as he hit the cold water. Lana, Valerie, Selena and Jason all laughed behind me. “What the hell?!” He asked, while laughing too.
“Alright, funs over. How is it?” I asked him stepping back to the rope.
“Cold! You don’t want to come in!” He said, treading in the freezing water.
“You kidding? I wasn’t going to push you in then leave you there!” I said. I grabbed onto the rope. My friends behind me screamed out no’s and were all gasping. I swung on the rope and landed into the freezing water beside Jacob.
“You’re crazy!” He said.
“You love it!” I responded. I splashed him with water and he splashed me back.
“Yeah, you guys have fun in there!” Lana said, starting to walk away.
“Oh come on, if they can do it, so can we.” Jason said. He took off his shirt, which I just realized Jacob forgot to do, might have something to do with the fact that I pushed him in. Oops. Jason picked up Lana and jumped in with her screaming the whole way.
“Ass hole!” She screamed to him. She splashed him as he laughed. He splashed her back and the four of us were just splashing each other. Then Jacob picked me up, and threw me in again. I let out a girly scream. Valerie and Selena finally jumped in too. And then the six of us were all laughing and having a good time.
After about twenty minutes of immaturity in the water, it started getting dark and they were having ice cream soon so we decided to get out. Selena and Valerie were first. Jason picked Lana up again and carried her out of the water, because she demanded he owe her for bringing her into it. Then it was just me and Jacob. I turned toward the rocks and started to climb them. I could swim over to the dock and use the latter, but that just wasn’t as fun. Plus I got in by jumping off a rock, so might as well climb back up it. I put both hands on the rock and started to pull myself up it. It was oddly silent, but I could tell someone was staring at me. I turned my head back slightly and saw Jacob staring at me.
“What?” I asked. He shook his head.
“You’re something. Seriously, Summer you are definitely something.” He said, smiling.
“I know!” I shrugged. I kept climbing and grabbed his hand as he climbed up too. I started shivering. As soon as Jacob got out Lana ran and hugged him.
“And somehow you are still warm.” Lana let out a long sigh. I grabbed onto Jacob’s arm.
“Oh true you are!” I said. I let go and started putting my clothes back on. I found I was still freezing. “I’ll be right back I need to get a sweater.” I said to my friends.
“Want me to come?” Jacob offered. I hesitated for a minute.
“Sure.” I finally answered. He followed me as we went into the forest and walked all the way around the camp site to get to the dorms. We made small talk the whole way. About movies, school, whether I’ll like grade nine or not, music, TV shows, passed summers, you name it, and we talked about it. “And here we are.” I said, turning the knob to my dorm. He followed me inside. While fishing for a sweater, he sat on Selena’s bottom bunk. I opened my drawer and took out my Victoria’s Secret sweater. I slipped it on and checked my phone. I had a few texts so I checked them. Just messages from friends, nothing of huge importance.
“You have a phone?” Jacob asked, obviously noticing.
“Yeah.” I answered as I slipped it in my pocket and walked over to my iPod for a quick Facebook check.
“What’s your number?” He asked pulling out his phone. I thought for a minute. Keeping contact with him after camp would mean that this wasn’t just a summer fling. We’d have to cut the flirting completely after camp and just be normal friends.
“Here, I’ll add myself.” I said, putting my iPod down and going towards him for his phone. I gave him mine and we both added each other into our phones. “There you go.” I said with a smile.
“Thanks.” He said, also returning my phone. “I hope you know after camp I’m going to text you every day!” He said, half joking.
“Yeah, well I look forward to it!” I said, smirking a little. “I’ll have to add you to Facebook.” I said hoping I didn’t sound too stalkerish.
“Well do you have connection now? I’ll add myself.” I hesitated again, a little caught off guard. Lana, Selena and Valerie had already added themselves to my Facebook. I even had Auburn, Stephanie and Brigit.
“Uh, yeah, here…” I said, unlocking my iPod and going onto my Facebook. He searched for himself and sent himself a friend request. “Thanks.” I said as he gave it back to me. “You ready to go?” I asked, slipping my hood on before leaving into the cold night, still being cold from the lake.
“Yeah I’m ready.” He replied, getting up and following me, holding the door for me.
“Thanks.” I said casually, stepping out to the hall. We walked into the cool air. I crossed my arms to keep as warm as possible. “I can’t believe you aren’t cold.” I said to Jacob while we started walking through the forest again.
“I was but I don’t know, I’m just not anymore!” He said.
“You weird creature.” I said, shivering again. We continued walking, talking about camp and how much fun we were having. Nothing too serious, simple topics. When we got back they had already started having ice cream. Jacob and I walked to Rachel and Sam who were distributing it.
“Chocolate or vanilla?” Sam asked.
“Chocolate please.” Jacob and I both answered. Sam got it for both of us, Jacob passed me my cone. “Thanks.” I said, half to Jacob and half to Sam. We walked over to Jason, Lana, Valerie and Selena again with our ice creams.
“Hey you two, you were gone for a while!” Valerie said, nudging me.
“Oh no, I just got my sweater and that was it. Jacob just kept me company.” I said, keeping it casual. The last thing I needed at camp was rumours and drama. I had enough of that at home. And plus I was pretty sure Jacob liked Lana. Jacob’s face showed a little disappointment at how casual I made everything sound. But he didn’t have any feelings for me, I could tell clearly. Everyone fell silent as if it was all tense now that Jacob and I were friends.
“Who cares right? Let’s just enjoy our night!” I said, encouraging everyone to loosen up a bit.
“Summer’s right. We work all day, might as well enjoy our nights.” Lana agreed.
“I’m still mad I keep missing episodes of Pretty Little Liars.” I said, angrily.
“Oh my god ME TOO!” Lana agreed. We laughed about the similarity while Jason and Jacob agreed it was a stupid show. For the rest of that night though, nothing else mattered except having fun.

I woke up the next morning first again. I had a smile when I woke up, because this summer fling was turning out to be really fun. Last night was great and free and fun. I climbed down the ladder and shut off the alarm sitting on my bed side table.
“Wake up!” I yelled to my whole dorm. Selena, Valerie and Lana all blinked a few times and then sat up.
“One of these days…” Lana said as she turned toward the alarm clock, with a strangling motion. “One of these days I am sleeping in, and I don’t care what anyone says.” She said, rubbing her eyes.
“Well on weekends we get to sleep in until 9:30, so that’s good.” Valerie looked on the bright side.
“Each night we stay out till cur few at 12, and each morning we realize that was a bad idea.” Selena pointed out as she hopped out of bed.
“True story.” I agreed, standing watching them all get out of bed. “Well we better start getting ready.” I said. We each did our morning routines. “Ugh, my hair isn’t dry yet.” I complained. Each night we all showered, and each morning I flat ironed my hair but this morning my hair hadn’t completely dried yet. I showered last yesterday night so it was super late by the time I fell asleep.
“Your hair looks fine wavy. I actually think it’s really pretty. Just leave it.” Lana said, pulling out the clothes she was wearing that day.
“Yeah I guess it’s okay.” I said, shrugging while looking in the mirror. I went into my drawer and pulled out my gray Roots sweat pants, and a blue top from Aritzia. Like the first day, I squeezed into a bandeau to keep the clothing appropriate. It was one of those tops that showed about an inch of skin right above your shorts when you wore it. It didn’t show was far as my bellybutton, just about an inch. We got ready silently this morning. I assumed it was because we were all so tired. That’s why I wasn’t talking much. We all put our sneakers on, and by 8:45 we were out. We were so into routine now that we didn’t even really speak while we were leaving. We just sort of noticed the time, and left. When we got into the Cookhouse, I saw Jacob and Jason. My stomach did a little flip flop when I saw him, and he obviously noticed me. I looked away quickly, trying not to look too desperate. Instead, I turned to the table for breakfast. This morning I just decided on having some cereal. I felt something on my head and turned around to see Jacob had just placed his hat on my head again. Lana went and took the one off his head and put it on herself. I smiled at him and he sat down beside me for breakfast.
“Hey!” He said like we’d been friends forever.
“Hi.” I said totally casual. It was Thursday; the show was a week from today. This meant a week and a day left of him and then that was it. Saturday morning I’d be on my way back to my small town, two hours away from the beautiful scenery in Collingwood. I started eating my cereal. I brought the spoon of Nesquik cereal to my mouth just as all the milk on the spoon fell off, and the spoon hit my lip and didn’t even go into my mouth. “Well that was a fail.” I said as I dropped the spoon down and pushed my cereal bowl forward, suddenly not wanting to continue; worried I’d humiliate myself further. Jacob laughed.
“You’re over tired.” He told me. “Must have been jumping into that freezing water last night. You all tired out?” He joked.
“Ha-ha, so funny. But we made some good memories last night!” I said, sipping some orange juice instead.
“Yeah we did.” He agreed, smiling. I smiled back, and his eyes went from his normally green-green shade, to a baby blue with a hint of amber. I could feel blood rush to my cheeks as I blushed at the effect I had on this guy. As soon as I broke his gaze, he looked down and so did I. I snuck a glance back and saw his eyes turn to green again.
“What’s tonight’s theme?” Selena asked.
“Apparently its Vegas night!” Jason said.
“Which means what?” Valerie questioned.
“Well…” Jason started.
“It means dress to impress.” I said, cutting him off, winking at Lana, Selena and Valerie.
“She speaks the truth.” Jacob confirmed. I started getting tired of my orange juice and no food so I took a bite of Jacob’s plain toast. “Sure, you can have some.” He said sarcastically after I already took a bite.
“Thanks. But God, don’t you put anything on it? This tastes like card board.” I commented. “I miss peanut butter sandwiches.” I complained. That used to be my breakfast but because of the no peanuts rule at camp, I wasn’t getting my peanut butter sandwiches. Jacob laughed.
“I’m sure you do. Hey guys, I brought cards today, so at break we can play President.” Jacob said, turning his attention to everyone else.
“Yes! I love that game.” Jason said.
“What’s president?” I asked, clueless. They all looked at me.
“God save this girl. You haven’t heard of President?!” Jason asked shocked.
“No…” I said, sadly.
“It’s alright, I’ll teach you.” Jacob said with a smile. I smiled back.
“That would be great!” Just then, Rachel made an announcement to go to rehearsals so our discussion ended.
Today’s rehearsal consisted of learning a new dance, reviewing the old ones and learning some lines.
“Come on guys, let’s practice that song one more time, I know we can get it!” Rachel said, slapping her forehead in frustration. I started walking back to my spot, Jacob tickled my stomach a little and I completely flinched and giggled. He tickled me again and I kept on giggling.
“That’s just too cute.” He said, after my giggles.
“Stop tickling me!” I complained, still giggling a little. He raised his eyebrows and I bit my lip, laughing.
“Focus guys! One more time and then we can all go to break. Ready?” Rachel asked, as me and Jacob broke off and went into our positions. I snuck a peek at him and he was looking at me. He smiled and I smiled back. We started the dance, and I couldn’t help but smirk every time my path crossed with his. We finished the dance, and I must admit that was probably the best it had ever gone. “Good! Now you can go on your break. Finally.” Rachel said as we broke off into our separate groups. I felt Jacob before I saw him, and in saying that I mean he tickled me from behind and then I turned around and saw him. I tried tickling him back but it didn’t work.
“Well…that’s depressing.” I said, frowning.
“You’re so ticklish!” He said, still tickling me.
“Stop it!” I said, fighting back.
“Bet I can lift you up.” He smirked. “You look so light!” He added.
“Bet you can’t…” Before I could even finish my sentence, he lifted me from my waist way off the ground. I screamed out and he put me back down, laughing.
“I told you!”
“Dammit!” I laughed.
“So guys, ready to play President?” Jacob asked as we all sat down on bean bags in the Loft.
“Bring it!” Jason challenged. Jacob started handing out the cards, explaining to me each step. I kept questioning it, this game sounded complicated.
“So you have to go in order.” He explained.
“Why?” I questioned.
“That’s just the rules. So seven’s, two’s, one-eyed jacks, suicidal kings and queens of spades are called nukes.” He told me.
“Nukes?” I asked, clueless.
“Yeah, if you use it, you blow up the whole pile and then you get to start a new card.” I stared at the floor, puzzled. “You don’t understand.” He clarified. I nodded no while still staring at the floor. He patted my leg, “it’s okay, you’ll get it.” He nodded; he left his hand on my leg for a few more seconds before letting go. “How about this first round, I’ll play with you and help you, and then you can see how it’s done?”
“That sounded pervish.” I pointed out, finally looking up from the ground. Jacob smiled at me, and I smiled back. “But deal.” I agreed. We started playing and I started getting the hang of it.
“So now you can either play the three or use the nuke. If you use the nuke then you blow up the pile, and you can start a new one with your three and be done. Then you’ll be at neutral.” He was telling me near the end of the game.
“Why neutral?” I asked.
“Well Jason is President, I’m Vice, and now it’s between you, Lana, Selena and Valerie. Two of you will be neutral. Then it goes to vice-ass and ass. Which is what you got last time.”
“Oh ok. So I’ll nuke it, use my three and now I’m neutral?”
“Took you long enough.” Jason complained.
“Wait so now, I can use my four and I’m neutral too!” Valerie high fived me.
“Thanks for teaching me. Though I’m still not that great.” I said looking at Jacob with a little smile. I high fived him.
“Your welcome.” He said.
“Alright, break is over, back to work!” Rachel announced.
“Great.” Jason said throwing up his cards. Lana, Selena, and Valerie all did the same. Then they got up and started walking away. I picked up all of their cards and put them with mine. Jacob and I both went for the same card and our hands brushed against each other. I looked into his eyes and he looked into mine. I wonder if he was thinking the same things as me. I wondered if he was thinking about how after a week and a bit, we wouldn’t get to see each other ever again.
“Uhm, here.” I said, handing him the cards I collected.
“Thanks for helping.” He started. “Everyone else ditched.” He pointed out. He started putting the cards back in the pack.
“Oh it’s no worries. I don’t feel like going now anyways.” I shrugged. He stood up and offered me his hand. I grabbed it and he pulled me to my feet. I let out a little shriek at his strength. I fell toward him and he gently put his hand on my back to keep me from falling.
“You good?” He asked.
“I’m good, thanks.” I started walking. Why was he actually acting into me? He better know that after camp he has to stop all the flirting, because if I get any closer to him, I could risk getting hurt and that can’t happen. You don’t get hurt in flings, whether it’s a summer fling, or a during the year fling. Flings are to prevent yourself from pain. I’m tired of pain, so I can’t let him make me feel any. He followed me to the theatre again.
“Okay everyone, let’s keep on practicing.”

Lunch time came faster than usual today. The rehearsals were going by quick. I only remembered practicing dances, being tickled by Jacob, flirting backstage, having tons of scenes with him, talking about everything possible and getting in trouble for all the whispering.
“I have a better game for lunch.” Jacob said as we were in line for our subs again.
“What?” Jason asked. We all turned our attention to him in the line.
“Ten fingers.” He said.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“I’ll explain it after we eat. Maybe we could invite some of the other girls.”
“I’m up for it I guess.” Lana commented, shrugging.
We all sat down at our table and ate and then we left the Cookhouse and went to the Loft. The chill zone, with cushions and bean bags and little stools. We all sat on cushions.
“Hey, can we play whatever you guys are playing? We’re kind of bored.” Auburn was saying. Lana, Valerie, Selena, Jason, Jacob and I all looked up to a group of girls we talked to sometimes in our cast. Auburn, Stephanie, Brigit, Macy, Taylor, Emma, Kelly, and Courtney.
“Well sure, we’re playing some game called ten fingers.” I told them. “Guys make some room.” We all lied on our stomachs in a big circle. Jacob was right across from me and we kept sneaking glances at each other.
“So basically, I have to say something I haven’t done, and if you have done it, you take away a finger. When the game ends, we just see who’s taken down the most fingers. It’s just about getting to know each other.” Jacob explained.
“Oh well get ready.” Auburn joked.
“We’re about to unlock some pretty sick secrets!” Stephanie joked. I giggled a little. I was a bit uneasy. Did I really want these people-especially Jacob-to know things about me? Things that were secrets?
“I’ll start.” Jacob said. “I’ve never been to Hawaii.” Selena took a finger away but she was the only one. The circle continued.
“I’ve never had my first kiss.” Someone said. A whole bunch of people took a finger away, including Jacob. I felt ashamed. I tried to hide the fact that I hadn’t had my first kiss yet.
“I’ve never dated anyone.” Someone else said. I took a finger away, so did Jacob. It all continued. “Never been in a love triangle.” Finger gone. “Never taken a guy from my best friend.” Finger gone.
“You have?!” Auburn asked, seeing one of my fingers drop down. Everyone had their eyes on me.
“It’s complicating.” I said, not feeling very proud. It was now Valerie’s turn.
“Never cheated on someone.” Everyone looked around. Jacob put a finger away. I gasped. Every girl in the circle gasped. Jason even gasped.
“I didn’t even know that about you.” He said, looking at Jacob disgusted. At that moment, I felt disgusted. I tried to ignore it, but as the questions got worse, I realized what other things he had done.
“Never made out with someone in a movie theatre.” He did that. And the list kept going on and on and on. Things he’d done that I hadn’t. Things that just disgusted me.
“Never had sex with someone.” One of the girls said. I looked directly at Jacob.
“What?” He asked, realizing all eyes were on him. “I’m not that horrible; seriously how old do you guys think I am? I wouldn’t do that. I’m only 15.” He explained. Oh thank God, there’s one answer right. If he had, I would have ignored him for the rest of my life. I was disgusted by him, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue anything with him.
“Never been hit by a guy…” Auburn said. I dropped a finger down slowly. I closed my eyes and remembered. Carter was never nice to me. He held some sort of grudge on me from when I broke his heart. And then it was never the same. One wrong move, I’d get hit or I’d get violent words, or threats.
“You have?” Stephanie looked concerned. Jason and Jacob both looked at me, Jacob’s eyes turned blue.
“Yeah, no big deal though. It was just for jokes.” I lied.
“Alright, before we go back to rehearsals we’re going to play a game called Pulse. Everyone has to line up.” Rachel announced. We all got into a huge line.
“I think we know too much about you.” Macy said to Jacob.
“Way too much.” Taylor agreed.
“I didn’t think you were that disgusting.” Kelly said.
“Hey bro, I didn’t even think you were that experienced!” Jason laughed. “Ah, tragic.”
“You don’t care, right? I mean, past is past.” Jacob said to me.
“That was before the past was you cheating on girls, making out in movie theatres and hooking up at parties.” I said, as I turned my back and walked away. He followed me in the line.
“Summer, come on, all that stuff happened a while ago. You gotta forgive me.”
“Whatever.”
“Alright, everyone has to hold hands now.” Rachel announced. “What’s going to happen is the beginning of the line will receive a pulse which they have to send down the line. Everyone has to close their eyes. Whoever is at the end has to grab the cell phone placed at the end before the other line. Whoever has more points wins.” Jacob grabbed my hand. I held on just slightly. As the game went on and on, all I could think about was how his fingers were laced through mine. I opened my eyes slightly and saw that he was holding Lana’s hand on the other side, but he didn’t lace his fingers through hers like he did with me. Just held on loosely. I smiled a little bit, and then frowned. Who was this guy? When the game ended, my hand felt warm from his.
We went back to rehearsals and I avoided him the entire time. By the end of the day though, I was getting sick of it.
“Ready to go?” I asked Lana.
“We should start getting ready for Vegas night!” Valerie continued.
“So you forgive me for ten fingers?” Jacob was asking Lana.
“Of course! See Jason, this is why he’s my best friend! I forgive him!” Lana said, giving Jacob a high five.
“How about it Summer? Do you forgive me?” Jacob asked, looking at me with those green eyes that turn blue. He opened his arms for a hug.
“No.” I pushed away his arms and walked around him.
“Burn!” Jason said.
“Ouch…” Jacob said, following me.
“Come on!” I ignored him. I kept walking with Lana, Valerie and Selena following.
“We’ll meet you in the dorm.” Lana said, walking ahead with Valerie and Selena. Jason left Jacob too.
“What’s the problem?” Jacob asked me as I tried losing him to get to my dorm.
“Nothing! I just find it kind of gross.” I said, honestly. I kept walking while he kept asking for forgiveness. I got to my dorm.
“Look, I followed you to your dorm! You got to forgive me!” I turned and looked deep into his green eyes. They turned blue again, and his expression changed completely. He looked saddened by the fact that I couldn’t forgive him. I took a deep breath without saying anything. In my mind I wanted to say this: You could hurt me. You have a past. You could hurt me so badly, and that can’t happen. I thought I was actually falling a little for you. Just as a fling, but now I don’t feel safe with you. And that’s that. But instead of saying all of that, I just looked at him.
“Goodbye.” I said, I walked inside my dorm and shut the door.
“Summer…” He started, but he couldn’t finish because I slammed the door.
“Wow, he followed you?” Selena asked.
“Yeah I guess so.” I said, casually.
“Do you like him?” Valerie asked me.
“No! What? That’s absolutely ridiculous.” I said defensive. The three of them looked at me.
“Does he like you?” Lana asked.
“Doubt it!” I answered.
“I don’t.” Valerie snickered.
“Whatever. What are we wearing tonight?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Well I guess something fancy?” Selena suggested.
“Perfect.” I said. I went into my drawers and pulled out a white tank top and a yellow cheetah print skirt. It was a tight fitting, high waist skirt.
“Damn, that is so hot!” Lana commented. She pulled out something similar. A white top with a longer black pencil skirt. “I want it!”
“I like yours too!” I said.
“So cute!” Valerie said, coming closer to see my skirt.
“Okay so I’m wearing this.” Selena said, laying out a high waist blue skirt with a white tank top.
“I guess we’re all wearing white tank tops.” Valerie joked, pulling out a white tank top and a pink skirt.
“Well I need to curl my hair so I’m going to start getting ready.” I went into the bathroom to shower before Vegas night. I listened in on the conversation going on in the dorm about me.
“Jacob TOTALLY likes her.” Lana whispered.
“And Summer is totally into him.” Valerie continued.
“Well, don’t assume so much, she’ll get mad and she’s a cool girl we don’t want to fight with her.” Selena whispered back.
“Fine. But it’s just so odd!” Lana commented.
“Guys she might be able to hear us. Just shhh.” Valerie said. At that moment, I turned the water on. Jacob might actually like me? Weird.
After my shower, I changed. I looked pretty good in that skirt. I tied my hair in a towel and started going into speed mode.
“Okay, I’m next.” Valerie stated. While she showered, I was blow drying my hair straight. Then I started straightening it. She came out; Selena went in, started curling little parts of it. She came out, Lana went in, and I finally finished curling my hair. Then they all naturally dried their hair while I did my perfect makeup.
“Is it seriously ten to six?” I asked, shocked.
“Wow.” Valerie said, finally seeing the finished product of me.
“Oh, thanks. It was nothing.” I said. I ran to put my other earring in, and then I slipped on my small heels. “Wow, you guys look awesome! We all look so cute!” I said, looking up after strapping my heels.
“We do look fabulous!” Lana said, quoting Sharpay, or me, I guess.
“That is my favourite song!” I commented.
“Of course it is! It’s yours!” Valerie said. We all giggled.
“Let’s go girls!” Selena said holding open the cabin door.
“We are definitely the best dressed girls at this camp.” I said. I pulled my yellow skin tight skirt down just a little bit. I don’t want to look slutty, just hot. And boy did we all look smoking.
“Hey guys.” Selena said as we walked into the Loft. I had my eyes drifted away from Jacob and Jason. I just kept them on the wall.
“Hey…wow.” Jacob said. He hit Jason and Jason looked over at me too. I realized they were both gawking at me.
“Oh hey.” I said casually. I crossed my arms to my chest.
“Summer, let’s talk.” Jacob said. He took my hand and we walked outside. I could feel the tension in our group as he singled me out and took me outside.
“What?” I asked.
“Do you forgive me yet?” He asked with a big cheesy smile.
“Hmm…sure.” I agreed. His face fell.
“That’s it? Simple? Just like that?” He asked.
“Yeah.” I answered, knowing I’d confused him. But really, that was the fun part in all this. I love confusing guys, it makes them chase more.
“There you go with that cute mysteriousness again.” He said with a wink.
“Now let’s go inside. They’re going to think we’re up to something out here.” I said, motioning to the door.
“Oh hey there guys.” Lana said, as Valerie hit Jason as if telling him to shut up.
“Hey, we ready to eat?” I asked like nothing happened.
“Yeah…” Selena said. Everyone seemed on edge, and I couldn’t help but notice all the eyes on me and Jacob. We walked to the Cookhouse together.
“Your arms are so warm!” Lana commented as we sat down at the table, me on one side of Jacob, Lana on the other.
“I know.” He responded. I put my hands on his arm too, taking in all the warmth. My hands were extremely cold and his arms were so warm.
“They really are.” I commented, still holding on. I used my other hand to eat my pasta. Lana let go of his one arm, so I started to let go too. We ate, silently for some reason. Like there was nothing to say. When we finished, Lana put her hand back on Jacob’s arm. I put mine on his other arm too.
“They aren’t warm anymore!” She complained. She then took his hand and held it limply.
“Well that sucks.” I said. I started to let go until Jacob stopped me.
“My hand is warm now.” He said. Then he proceeded to hold my hand. I didn’t say anything because no words came out. I craned my neck to see how he was holding Lana’s hand. She was barely holding onto his hand, where with me, it was a strong grip. Then he let go, and laced his fingers through mine to be more comfortable I guess. My heart jumped.
“Yeah…” I said, since it was the only word that came to mind. I stuttered but couldn’t come up with any other words. Where did my words go? I always think about what I’m going to say but then when I’m actually around him, the words all slip away. I sat still, looking around feeling his hand tighten every so often. Then I’d tighten my hand more, and he’d respond by re-lacing his fingers through mine.
“Alright, you guys have about an hour before Vegas night starts! Tonight will be a night full of games, loud music and dancing! So go chill for a while, do whatever you want, we’re meeting in the Loft in an hour.” Rachel announced. I let go of Jacob’s hand, finally, and we all got up.
“What do you guys want to do?” I asked the girls after standing up.
“Well I think we learned enough at lunch about each other, so I have no clue.” Jason said, referring to Jacob.
“Yeah I agree.” I said rolling my eyes a bit. What we ended up doing is exchanging numbers and Facebooks and things like that. By the time we were done, we still had thirty minutes to kill.
“Now what?” Lana asked.
“I’m going to the dorm, I’m gonna call my parents.” Jason announced, patting Jacob on the back and getting ready to leave. “Wanna come?”
“Yeah I think I’m going to curl my hair, since SOMEBODY was using my outlet the whole time!” Selena said, giving me a look. I looked down, apologetically.
“Sorry but I had to straighten my hair AND curl it.” I told her.
“I’ll go with you.” Valerie said. “You girls coming?” She asked turning her attention to me and Lana.
“No it’s okay I think I’m just going to go for a walk.” I said.
“Jacob, wanna come or not?” Jason asked, realizing Jacob hadn’t answered yet.
“Uh, no it’s okay. I’ll chill here.” He said.
“Well I, for one, am going back to the dorm. So I can also fix my hair.” Lana said, following Valerie and Selena. “Sure you don’t want to come?” She double checked.
“Yeah, well, maybe I will.” I said, changing my mind. I didn’t want to spend too much time alone with Jacob. I followed them, not saying anything else to Jacob, just leaving him behind me.
When we got to the dorm, I had a different idea. I got my guitar.
“I think I’m going to go play my guitar.” I told the girls who were all getting ready.
“Okay.” Lana said, barely paying attention. I snuck out of the dorm without much notice. I went by the lake and sat on the dock. It was pretty silent out, and everyone was either in the Loft or in their dorms. I decided to start writing a song about Jacob. After all, I do want to document my summer flings, just so I can remember them. I wrote the title at the top of my page. ‘Flawless’ I titled it. I started playing a few chords, coming up with a few words. I looked around the lake, the blue sky with the sun still shining. That’s why I love summer. It’s bright until around nine, and even then it still isn’t pitch black. It doesn’t get pitch black until around ten, but it’s still warm at all hours. I felt the slight breeze in my hair. Night time in the summer was seriously the best. Not too hot, not humid, and there’s always that nice little breeze which makes night time the best.
“Meeting you was flawless. Something magical, something unexpected…” I started, I wrote my thoughts down on the paper as lyrics.
“Fancy meeting you here.” I heard a voice behind me. I looked and saw Jacob.
“Oh God!” I let out. “You scared me!” I said.
“Sorry!” He laughed. “Wouldn’t want you falling in the lake now.”
“Not funny.” I said. “Anyways, what’s up?” I asked.
“What are you singing?” He asked me, ignoring my question.
“I’m just writing another song.”
“Oh really?” He leaned over to read the lyrics. He mumbled them to himself. “Meeting you was flawless. Something magical, something unexpected.”
“Yeah, it’s not that good.”
“What’s next?”
“Knowing you was….sparkling. Something wonderful…” I started. “That leaves me blushing.” I finished.
“That’s good.” He said. “Play it.”
“Oh no. No way.” I clicked the button on my iPod to check the time. “It’s getting late, we should go.” I got up and put my guitar away. Then I slung it over my arm and he followed me fast.
“Where are you going?” He asked.
“To put my guitar back in my dorm.” I answered, walking briskly. He followed.
“They’re probably at the Loft already. It’s eight; I’ll go to your dorm with you, if you want.” He offered.
“Sure, if you want.” I said. I walked to the dorm in my short yellow skirt, holding my guitar, still not looking back at him. I couldn’t let myself seem even the slightest bit vulnerable. If I did, I could get hurt, and no matter what, I can’t get hurt. I opened the door and he followed me in.
“It’s a mess in here.” He said, looking around at the clothes we had lying around, our vanities which were messy and our beds which weren’t made.
“Yeah I know.” I agreed. “But why make a bed if you’re not sleeping in it yet, right?” I said, making a point.
“I guess so.” He agreed just slightly.
“Well, let’s go.” I said after dropping my guitar off.
“Alright.” We walked back to the Loft together, and as predicted, Lana, Selena, Valerie and Jason were already there.
“Where were you guys?” Jason asked.
“I was playing my guitar, he saw me and we walked here together.” I said quickly, leaving out the details of writing a song, or having any conversation.
“Oh, well let’s go, we’re going to the club!” Lana said, excited.
“She’s over excited about this.” Selena said rolling her eyes.
“Oh hush!” Valerie said. “Let’s go!” At that, we all went to the night club, ‘Bounce’, located in the Village. When we walked into the club, there were many people there already. They were playing Last Friday Night by Katy Perry, which was my favourite song by her.
“I love this song!” I exclaimed.
“Me too!” Lana agreed.
“Let’s dance!” I said. Selena, Valerie, Lana and I joined hands and rocked our way onto the dance floor. The guys sat with some other guys we didn’t know on the couch in the corner, being totally boring. On the dance floor, the four of us had all eyes on us. We were grooving to the beats of the song, in our gorgeous clothes, swinging our hair around. The best part for me was all the laughing and having fun.
“Hello campers!” We heard over a loud speaker. “Welcome to Bounce, this is Vegas Night! You’ll have other theme nights here as well, but this is your first and doesn’t the place look great?” Rachel continued.
“Yeah!” We all yelled.
“Well the music will be going all night long, with the disco. The bar over there has pop and water, and there’s some chips there too. The section to the very right of the room is all the couches, just chill there if you’re tired, and the section to the very left of the room is the tables to play cards. Enjoy Vegas everybody!” Rachel exclaimed. We all cheered as the next song came on. It was the very famous Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO.
“Wow, the guys can’t sit out for this!” I exclaimed. I ran to the corner and Lana followed. I pulled up Jacob and she pulled up Jason and we all went on the dance floor.
“You guys are boring!” Lana yelled over the thumping of the music.
“Yeah, come on, dance!” I said, shaking to the beat. Lana, Valerie, Selena and I started a grind line. That thing girls do at clubs where you pretty much just form a line and shake your asses. It was Vegas night, when would I get to do this again? All the boys were staring at us, I could tell. We did look pretty good though, I must admit. Finally the guys were having some fun! After that they played more songs, and we finally got tired and went to sit down.
“What a good party!” Lana exhaled as we plopped onto the red leather couch in the corner. The guys remained on the dance floor with some other girls, and some other guys.
“What are you talking about? Girlies, we ARE the party!” I said, laughing.
“For sure! We make guys go crazy!” Selena exclaimed.
“Oh true. This is the most fun I’ve had all week!” Valerie said.
“Me too! All the waking up early has paid off. For now at least.” I shrugged.
“Alright campers, what would Vegas be without just a little male-female interaction? We’re going to slow it down a bit.” Sam said in his funny way.
“Uh-oh!” Lana giggled. Just then we heard the first few beats of Apologize by OneRepublic. We all giggled too, and didn’t think much of it. Girls and guys started pairing off on the dance floor.
“Hey Lana, let’s dance!” Jason approached Lana. Lana got up and followed him and they started slow dancing, standing a decent distance away from each other. More like he was a brother rather then a lover. That would make a great song.
“Summer…” Jacob approached me. He offered his hand. “Want to dance?” He asked, smiling shyly.
“Uhm…yeah, why not?” I said, taking his hand. He led me to the dance floor and we started slow dancing beside Lana and Jason.
“Hey Summer!” Jason said, while dancing with Lana. “Looking good!”
“Thanks Jason!” I said, giggling.
“Yeah you look…wow.” Jacob said, eyeing me up and down. “If I do say so myself.”
“Why thank you!” I responded, gracefully. “You don’t look half bad yourself.” I winked.
“Lana!” I yelled over the sound. She looked over at me.
“Hey Summer! Having fun there?” She asked, winking.
“Yeah, this party rocks!” I answered, knowing she was talking about my dancing with Jacob, not the actual party.
“Right, that’s what I was talking about.” She said, winking again. I could feel myself blushing.
“You know, camp is really fun this year. I’m glad I met you.” Jacob said, smiling down at me. Oh, the height difference.
“Yeah, I’ve met a lot of cool people this year.” I said, trying to keep things civil.
“Well we still have just over a week left, so we’ll still have fun.” He said.
“Yeah.” I agreed. The song ended and I dropped my arms from his neck and he removed his from my waist. “Now let’s get some fast songs going!” I yelled. Everyone cheered to that. Jacob looked slightly hurt, but this was the plan. Don’t give in! There were a few rules to this whole game called playing hard to get. Don’t give in. Don’t be insecure. Don’t show vulnerability. Don’t ever show emotion around them, meaning do NOT cry. Don’t talk about emotional things. Don’t respond to their messages right after they send them. Wait a while. Don’t be easily accessible to them. And the list just goes on. But I couldn’t stand to violate any of those rules, so sorry Jacob, no being emotional for me. He’s a guy though, guys get over it. Guys don’t have feelings; guys don’t have the same state of mind for longer then a week. Sometimes not even longer then a day. One day they love you, the next their making up an excuse to why they need to break up with you. One day they want to date you, the next they tell you they aren’t ready. One night online, their so sweet and say the nicest things. The next day in person they act like the guy talking to you through the computer screen wasn’t them. One day they’re flirting with you like crazy and you think they’ve changed, the next day they’re yelling at you, hitting you and being mean. Bottom line, boys are so confusing, so I have every right to be the same. They started playing More by Usher. I love Usher, he’s so sexy.
“I love this song!” Lana screamed out, we started dancing in our little group again. We sang loudly to each song we knew. And the night went on and on. By eleven, we were exhausted and decided tonight, we’d pack it in early, not till mid-night, because tomorrow was Friday and we still had to wake up early. But I can go to bed with a smile, because tonight was one of my best nights of the summer.

“Morning already?” I groaned when I heard the alarm clock Friday morning.
“How long were we asleep for?” Lana asked, sitting up in bed.
“Ten minutes.” Valerie answered. Selena went to go shut off the alarm clock.
“Really? Felt like five.” I said, rubbing my forehead.
“Oh well, let’s get ready.” Selena said. She was already getting clothes out of her drawer. I put my head back on my pillow and closed my eyes again. I must have fallen back asleep without realizing though, because I didn’t hear anything after that, and then I heard Valerie.
“Summer? Lana? Guys, we thought you were awake! Its 8:30!”
“Wait what?!” I sprung up.
“Are you serious?” Lana asked, springing up in bed also.
“Yes! Hurry up!” Selena said.
“Why didn’t you wake us?!” I yelled.
“You guys were so peaceful.” Valerie answered.
“Ugh.” Lana complained. We both hopped out of bed and I quickly did a double take at myself in the mirror.
“Are you serious?! My hair is a mess and I have no time to straighten it!” I complained.
“It looks fine! You look like a hot mess.” Selena commented.
“Fine!” I went to my vanity and quickly put on eyeliner and mascara. I put some lip gloss on then rushed to my drawers. I picked out denim shorts and a top with sleeves down to my elbows that said ‘Hottie’ on it, with red sequin lips. By the time Lana and I were done changing it was 8:55.
“Are you ready yet?” Valerie asked impatiently at the door.
“Almost!” Lana answered, tying her sneakers.
“Wait!” I said, trying to tame my wavy locks. “Okay, I’m good.” The four of us left and got to the Cookhouse five minutes late.
“Cut it any closer!” Jacob teased as we ran in out of breath. He then placed the hat on my head.
“Hey, Valerie and Selena were the ones cutting it close!” I said, blaming it all on them, adjusting the hat.
“What?!” Selena gasped.
“How is it our fault?” Valerie asked.
“Think about it- if you woke me and Lana up we’d all be here on time!” I said.
“Yeah!” Lana sided with me.
“Well you guys were so peaceful.” Selena said.
“You guys are so confusing.” Jason said, telling the absolute truth.
“Well, what are you going to do?” I said, sarcastic.
“Whatever, I’m hungry.” Lana complained as we sat at our table to eat.
“So at break, we are totally playing President again.” Jason announced. “I need to keep my President spot.” He said, trying to look professional.
“No way, I’m getting President today.” I announced, totally serious. Everyone dropped their forks and looked at me. I was still staring at my piece of French toast, trying to cut it with the fork. “What?” I asked, finally noticing all the eyes on me. Jacob and Jason burst out into laughter.
“Yeah, that’s going to happen.” Jacob said. My face fell and I dropped my fork to cross my arms to my chest. “Oh I’m sorry.” He said, patting my leg. “You’ll do fine.” He said, still chuckling a bit. I picked my fork back up and tried cutting my French toast with it again.
“No offense, but you got Ass three times yesterday.” Jason pointed out.
“No I didn’t! I got Ass ONCE. Then I was promoted to Neutral. Then I got Vice-Ass, but you know…I’m still climbing the ladder!” I kept attempting to cut my French toast with the fork, with no luck. Just making my French toast look like a total mess, not food.
“Why don’t you try this magical invention called a knife?” Jacob asked pretending to be amazed at the object.
“Knives are sharp. I cut myself with scissors once, so I won’t use pointy objects. I don’t trust myself.” I said. I remember cutting myself. I was probably about nine or ten. I was trying to cut a hole into cardboard. I was making a model of what I wanted my bedroom to look like. I was going through one of those phases where you want to grow up, to have a change. Well needless to say, my room remained the same. For a while anyways. So I was cutting cardboard to make a cardboard bed for some reason, I don’t know. And I was stabbing the scissors into the cardboard to poke a hole and bam, scissor right into index finger. Blood, pain, loss of consciousness for a few minutes. Then I came around, put a band-aid on it, realized the blood was still coming, told my mom and she wrapped it up properly. Oh how the memory rushes back. Everything was easy when I was that age. I liked one guy who was two years older, and hardly noticed me. But when he noticed me, I jumped to the conclusion that he liked me. I miss the days of high hopes and positive thinking. Now I’m not used to guys liking me for long, or guys having the same thoughts about me for more then a day, so I’ve given up on hopeful thoughts and positive thinking.
“Oh ouch. How did you cut yourself with scissors?” Jacob asked. Then I realized my story was in my mind and I hadn’t said any of that out loud.
“Cutting card board.” I said, cutting the story very short.
“But Summer…that’s a butter knife.” He said, pointing to the knife beside my plate that I hadn’t touched.
“Screw this.” I said. I tossed my fork down and picked up the French toast with my hands.
“There you go!” Lana laughed, noticing what I was doing.
“You’re hysterical.” Selena said, looking up when she heard Lana’s laughing. I missed my old friends. As much as I loved camp and my new friends, I missed them too. Grad was definitely a night of events. Everything happened and I was a complete train-wreck, I cried so much.
“Wow…you’re just…there aren’t even words for you.” Jason said, stuttering trying to describe me.
“I’m hungry, I hate knives, the fork wasn’t doing the job and God gave me two hands.” I explained, still eating with my hands.
“So tonight is movie night!” Selena explained.
“Boring, why would they make Friday night movie night, but Thursday night Vegas night? Does that even make sense?” I complained.
“Well it’s like a sleepover theme. So we all wear our pj’s and stuff.” Valerie continued.
“Oh yippee, that oughta be fun.” I added sarcastically.
“It will be!” Valerie said, not sarcastic. I don’t get it. I’m just not a movie person. I’m a party person though, that’s for sure. But dressing down into my pj’s? Not my type. After we ate, we went to rehearsals. Today, Jacob and I got to practice our duet. We got to come up with the dance and everything. It was the You Are The Music In Me reprise. The one Sharpay and Troy sang together. I always liked it better. It was louder, faster, the dance was more outrageous. We got to choreograph it. It was hilarious. The way I circled around him, using the song as an advantage to flirt a little, touch his shoulder and his hand. It was exactly like in the movie. It was cute, and I loved performing with him. I liked this. I liked being just a fling, being able to play the games, play hard to get, and know that after camp it won’t matter. All the flirting will end and we won’t have to see each other. And if we did see each other, we wouldn’t flirt. This was awesome.
“Well, so far so good. You have break now. We just wanted to talk a bit. So after today, we’re starting to practice scenes and lines, not just the songs. We’ll include those but we’re going to start with all the lines. Next week, Tuesday we’re off script. Wednesday is a full rehearsal with the other arts here. Thursday is going to be all day rehearsals of the show, and then at seven its show time! Now off to break!” Rachel announced.
“Thank God.” I said, sitting on the edge of the stage.
“Yeah I know. I love that dance with you!” Jacob, who was sitting beside me, said. He got up and offered me his hand.
“I can get up.” I said coldly. Not that I didn’t totally want to take his hand and let him lift me up, but I didn’t want to seem too desperate. I had to be mysterious. It was cute, remember?
“Okay…” He said, taking his hand back, with a hint of disappointment.
“Let’s go. I have to beat you at your own game!” I said, referring to the card game, President, but also referring to the game we were playing. That’s most of the fun. Beating someone at their own game. Think he has me figured out? Think again, Jacob. Chances are, you have no idea.
“In your dreams!” He joked, tickling my waist again. I giggled and flinched.
“Stop!”
“Do you guys want to get a room?” Jason asked, walking passed us.
“Nah, I’m good.” I responded, smiling. Valerie, Selena and Lana caught up to us all.
“So what are you doing after camp?” Jacob asked me. Valerie, Selena, Lana and Jason were walking a little ahead of me talking about other things.
“I’m going away.” I answered.
“How long?” He asked, like he really cared.
“Just eighteen days.” I responded, like it was no big deal. His eyebrows rose.
“That’s a long time, where are you off to?”
“I’m going to Florida for a bit, and then I’m going on a cruise. Should be fun. Then I’m back for two days, and then I leave for Boston, but just for two nights.”
“Wow, I went on a cruise, you’ll love it.”
“Will I?”
“Yeah well when I went I was twelve, so I didn’t appreciate it as much as you will.”
“Cool.” I nodded. I was pretty excited, but I was also having fun at camp, and I didn’t want to leave my friends again, that sucked.
“Yeah, where’s your cruise to?”
“Bahamas, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. It’s on the biggest cruise ship in the world right now. It’s called The Oasis of the Seas.”
“Oh I’ve heard of it! Sounds amazing, you’ll have fun. Just sucks you have to leave. We won’t be able to chill for a while.” He said. My heart immediately did a huge flip. Chill with him? After camp? Of course with our other friends, but seriously? Wait, I’m over thinking. He said chill, he didn’t say marry. I was definitely making a big deal out of absolutely nothing. We got back to the Loft for our break, and we started playing President.
“Damn, I’m out of nukes.” Lana complained. “I’ll probably be last again.” We all laughed.
“It’s okay, I suck too.” I said. It was my turn and I realized a great strategy. “Oh hey…double nuke, play the four…out of cards…oh my gosh…” I said my play out loud.
“Whoa…did she?” Jason started, and then trailed off.
“Did you just beat us all?” Jacob asked.
“I think I did! I’m President! Yes!” I exclaimed. I high fived all of them.
“Lucky round, lucky round.” Jason said. “Now it’s my turn, I nuke it; play a five and I’m vice. No big deal, just a lucky round.” He said, stuttering a little. The next round started a few minutes after with Jacob finishing in Neutral with Valerie, Selena being Vice-Ass, and Lana sticking at Ass again.
“Alright, round two.” Jason said, dealing the cards. “You know, it’s supposed to be President shuffling and dealing the cards, but since that’s technically my position, I’m perfectly happy to do it.” I shrugged. Since I was president, I got to take two cards from Lana. Jason took one from Selena, and neutral did nothing. We started playing.
“Can I triple nuke?” I asked.
“No, but if you’re left with all nukes, you’re automatically Ass.” Jason explained.
“Oh okay.” I said. I played one nuke, then a three. I was left with an eight and two more nukes.
“And now I have one card left, and at my next turn I will be President, and I will prove that you just got lucky!” Jason said, obviously too caught up in the competition.
“Okay…” I said, uneasy. When it was my turn again I said my play out loud. “And I double nuke, play my eight, and I’m President again. No big deal.” I said, looking up after placing my cards down. Jason’s jaw dropped, so did Jacob’s. The other girls just looked wonderstruck, like I couldn’t possibly be capable of winning two times in a row.
“This is an abomination.” Jason said. “Jacob, you’ve created a monster.”
“Sorry, I didn’t know she’d be any good! She sucked at first.”
“Hey!” I said. “Unfair!” Jason got Vice again, and the rest went like the first time. Then it was time for rehearsal again.
“I should sue for this! You can’t get President twice in a row; you don’t even get our jokes!” Jason complained.
“Because they don’t make sense!” I argued. Jason threw his cards down. Lana, Selena, and Valerie did the same and they all got up and started walking. I sat and helped Jacob with them, like last time. I got up all by myself this time, and helped him up instead; just to change it up a bit. I started walking ahead, so I didn’t seem like I was trying to be near Jacob. That would just seem too needy, and needy is one of the worst things ever to me. You should know I hate girls who are needy, clingy, desperate or fake. Those girls just bother me. And of course I hate sluts, but that might just be a personal preference.
“You know what I hate?” Jacob said, catching up to me.
“What?” I asked, acting like I didn’t care that much.
“Girls who dress like sluts, but are actually so nice.” I looked down at my choice of clothing today. Denim shorts and the Hottie top, which revealed an inch of skin, and if I lifted my arms which unfortunately I did a lot today because of the dances, you could see my whole stomach. Memories flashed through my brain. That word, I hate it. It’s so….it just didn’t have good memories for me. I looked at him, and I guess I looked really torn up. “What’s wrong?” He asked, noticing I wasn’t myself.
“Who are you referring to?” I demanded.
“This girl at school that I know…it was just a comment. What’s the big deal?”
“You don’t know the half of it.” I said with a sharp tone in my voice. I kept walking and he followed, looking slightly puzzled.
“Okay everyone, buckle down, and time to keep rehearsing.” Sam announced as we walked in the theatre. I took all my anger for Jacob’s comment and put it into my singing and my dancing. I put it into the acting, the lines, and the frustration my character showed. I put all my anger into that. I walked back stage when my scene was done. I sat on the chair back stage and watched the one scene I wasn’t in. I had a stressful part. Most of the time when I was off stage I had to run to the other side of the stage because I was on again. Since these were just rehearsals I didn’t have to run back and forth, I could just relax until I had to go on again. Jacob walked off stage and joined me.
“You stole the chair.” He said with a smirk. I got up and motioned with my hand for him to sit there instead. “You sure?” He asked, suddenly feeling bad.
“Yeah.” I nodded. He sat down and offered a bit of the chair to me.
“We can share it?” He suggested. I looked at the small space he was offering me. Too close, just way too close. Who did that before him? Carter did. It finally rang a bell in my memory. Sharing chairs with Carter, and multiple other guys, I must admit. Wow, it had been a while since I thought of Carter. It feels like his name hasn’t echoed in my head since Wednesday…since I admitted to having the slightest feelings for Jacob. This was definitely my ticket out of Carter sadness.
“It’s fine.” I said, sitting on the stage floor beside the chair. Jacob reached down and felt my freezing hand. He offered me his hand and I looked up at him.
“You’re freezing.” He pointed out. I reluctantly, but not that reluctantly, took his hand.
“Awwh, that is so cute.” Auburn commented.
“Are you guys dating?” Stephanie asked.
“No way, my hands are just cold.” I assured them. Jacob’s face fell a little bit. I guess I sounded a little more defensive then I intended to when I said we weren’t dating.
“Oh…but that’s still cute that he’s warming your hands for you.” Stephanie said, smiling.
“I’m not the only girl.” I said, referring coldly to his very close friendship with Lana. I wasn’t special, just another girl. He looked defeated.
“Next scene. We need Sharpay, Troy, the Sharpettes, Fulton and Ryan.” Rachel announced from on stage. I was in many scenes with Jacob, way more then Valerie was, and she was Gabriella. In this play, he gets farther with me then her. I let go of Jacob’s hand, and went on stage, not waiting for him.
“There’s definitely something there.” I heard Auburn mutter to Stephanie trying to be subtle.
We started practicing this scene, then one more, and it was finally lunch.
“I’m actually starving today.” Valerie commented as we met up to leave the theatre.
“Me too.” Selena agreed, holding her stomach.
“I’m not really.” I said.
“You’re never hungry.” Lana said. “You don’t eat!” She finished.
“She speaks the truth.” Jason agreed.
“Well I’m…” I started.
“You’re a vegetarian!” Jacob finished, mimicking me.
“How did you know?”
“Didn’t you tell us?”
“I don’t remember….” I thought. Did I tell them? Yeah, I definitely told them…but when? Why can’t I remember this simple detail?
“Oh well anyways, you told us.”
“Okay we get it, she’s a vegetarian! Are we done now?” Jason asked. I’d say we each had our spot in this group. Jason was the smart, comedic, sarcastic rough guy. Always making comments, very opinionated. Selena was the easy-going athlete. Had a boyfriend, very jumpy and happy, just very laid-back. Valerie was the motivator and generally the happiest. She was always bright and in a great mood, even when no one else was smiling. Lana was the shy but somehow fun girl. She’s usually more quiet then us, but when she has something to say, she won’t hesitate. Jacob was the funny, sensitive, and slightly gullible type. I mean come on, I was messing with him at every angle here and he was going for it. Don’t get me wrong- I DO like him. He is a nice guy, but seriously if he’s expecting more then a summer fling, he’s barking up the wrong tree here. And me? What was I? I wasn’t entirely sure what I was in the group. All I know is all day Monday, and most of Tuesday, Jacob and Jason were around Macy and Taylor. Now their all about us, and that happened after they met me. So I guess I was decent in this group. I wondered exactly my place. Dare-devil? Leader? Dramatic? Confusing? A nightmare? Probably all of them combined into one. How about the girl who dresses like a slut but is actually nice? I might be that one too, according to Jacob.
“We’re done.” I said. “Now all this arguing is making me crave a cheese sub, let’s go.” I urged toward the Cookhouse. We all lined up with our plates and we each got our subs. Like usual I brushed passed the whole line, just sneaking between people for a few slices of cheese, then stepping out of the line, walking all the way to the end, picking up a glass of water, and going to sit, by myself for the time being. Jacob came and joined me.
“You alright?” He asked, doubtful.
“For sure!” I lied. The slut line was still in my head. Why would he even JOKE about something like that? Why would anybody?
“Summer…” He started. He put his hand on my hand, which gave me major butterflies. “Summer, what I said earlier, had nothing to do with you. I don’t know where you made that connection, but it had nothing to do with you. Do you believe me?” He asked. He was staring into my deep brown eyes, and I was trying hard to break the gaze of his now blue eyes.
“Yeah, we’re cool.” I said, removing my hand from the table and having enough strength to break his gaze.
“Are you sure?”
“Oh yeah.” I nodded, trying to break the serious mood. “Now stop being so serious, you’re ruining the mood!” I joked, nudging him. Lana, Selena, Valerie and Jason joined us at that minute.
“We interrupting?” Jason asked, placing his plate down. Jacob and I shared a look.
“Nope, sit.” I urged casually. Lana, Selena and Valerie each placed their plates down and sat. Selena beside me, Lana, Valerie and Jason all on the other side.
“So…how about that movie tonight?” Jason asked awkwardly. That’s when I noticed no one was talking. Was it because of me and Jacob? I really hoped we weren’t causing tension.
“Uh, well I’m wondering what movie it is.” Lana said, taking a sip of coke, trying to carry on the conversation.
“I think they’ll let us pick between a few.” Valerie guessed. She took another bite out of her sub. I saw hints of chicken and south west sauce in it. Gross. How could anyone eat innocent chicken?
“Well it should be okay. We get popcorn.” Selena said, taking a big gulp form her chocolate milk. I took a big sip of my water. Then I sat and picked at my bread, not taking a bite yet.
“Why aren’t you eating?” Jason asked as I felt him kick me slightly under the table.
“Oh, I forgot.” I said. I picked up my sub and took a small bite to satisfy them. Everyone at the table shrugged and dismissed my weirdness.
“How do you forget to eat?” Jacob asked, obviously not dropping the subject yet.
“I just lost my train of thought and forgot what I was doing for a minute.” I said, taking another bite out of my sub.
“Makes sense.” Lana supported me. I was thankful for that at that moment. Today I wasn’t at my best. I had a reel of memories from grade eight going off in my head and I kept forgetting things. We ate in silence for a while, and then broke out another game of President in the Loft. I pushed my bangs to the side and remembered that I was wearing the hat. I watched everyone play the game silently. As much attention as I got at this camp, I still wished I could see my friends. I missed them so much. I miss teaching Sandra how to properly curl her eyelashes, I miss trying to reach full splits with Savannah, I miss gossiping and climbing trees with Courtney, I miss shopping with Elena and I miss eating Peek Frean cookies with Taylor at the group sleepovers we had. I miss everyone.
“Summer?” I realized Jacob was calling my name.
“Yes?” I asked, snapping back.
“You there?” He asked me, waving his hand in front of my eyes. I guess I must have not been paying attention.
“I’m here.” I assured him.
“Well it’s your turn.” Jason said.
“Oh…” I played my last two cards and finished off with Vice-President.
“Yes! In your face! See, I got my President spot back!” Jason said.
“Dammit, now I need to get neutral.” Jacob realized.
“Can I help it that I’m so good at this game?” I joked.
“Jacob it’s official, you created a monster.” Jason pointed out.
“Guys this game is getting boring.” Lana complained. And frankly, I agreed with her.
“I agree. We play this game too much.” Valerie agreed.
“Well what else is there?” Jason asked, obviously enjoying this game for the sole purpose that he keeps winning it.
“Anything!” Selena pleaded. Then, Lana, Valerie and Selena all argued against Jason about what to play.
“Well then, they’re sure a barrel of fun right now.” Jacob said, sarcastically.
“Yeah I know.”
“So you’re going to watch the movie tonight right?” He asked.
“What time is it?” I asked, noticing his watch.
“Oh it’s uh, 12:58.” He answered.
“Fine then!” We heard Lana yell to Jason.
“Are we done yet?” I asked, impatient.
“She’s just mad I keep winning!” Jason said, pointing at Lana.
“You’re being annoying!” Lana fought back.
“You’re both being annoying.” Selena rolled her eyes.
“Guys let’s all stop fighting!” Valerie tried. See? I’m not making this stuff. She really is the happy-go-lucky one in the group.
“How about we all just chill out, go back to rehearsals, and next time we play cards we’ll play a different game, then President. We’ll rotate to be fair. How’s that sound?” I offered, looking between everyone. They all looked around at each other, shrugging like they could agree.
“I’m good if he is.” Lana said, signalling to Jason.
“Fine. Deal.” Jason agreed.
“Good.” I said.
“Alright everyone, rehearsals are starting again, let’s get going.” Rachel announced. We got up, took the cards, and left.
“How’s that song going that you were working on?” Jacob asked referring to the song I was writing about him by the lake.
“Oh, I don’t know. Haven’t really thought about it. But I had a good start.” I said.
“Well, it seemed pretty good from what you told me.”
“Thanks.”
“Alright everybody, we’re going to pick up from where we left off.” Sam said as we all filed into the theatre.

Getting ready for dinner that night, I wasn’t sure what to put on. I mean, we didn’t want to go to dinner in our pj’s, but that just meant we had to come back to the dorm after dinner to change for the movie.
“Why don’t we look pretty since after we’ll be looking like we just came out of bed?” I suggested, seeing that no one else was coming up with anything else.
“I’m up for it.” Lana shrugged. “How about black skirts?” She suggested.
“Sure, I’d go for that.” Valerie agreed, keeping everyone happy.
“Perfect.” Selena agreed.
“I have a black high waist skirt.” I told them, going to my drawer pulling out a black, high waist skirt that poofed out from Forever21.
“Oh! That’s cute!” Selena said, running towards it fingering its lace.
“I like that!” Valerie commented.
“It is really cute!” Lana agreed. “I have a black pencil skirt.” She said getting her skirt out. We all started changing into our black skirts. I wore a hot pink tank top from Aritzia with it. Lana wore a white tank top, Valerie wore a fuchsia tank top and Selena wore a blue tank top.
“We ready to go?” Lana asked as I was applying my pink lipstick.
“Yup.” I said, smacking my lips together to rub in the colour.
“I love when you use that lipstick! What’s it called?” Valerie asked. I turned it over and read the bottom.
“Enchantress.” I answered. “It’s just Cover Girl, they sell it everywhere.” I remembered buying that lipstick. I don’t remember what drew me to such a bright pink colour. I think it was because it was summer and I wanted to try out new fun colours. So I picked my favourite pink shade from every makeup brand, put a dab on my wrist, and then debated which was best. Enchantress beat them all, with Pink Candy by Revlon at a strong second. I love makeup; it makes me feel pretty and polished. I walked to the front and slipped on my black strappy heels. “Hey girls, tonight we should paint our nails.” I said noticing my totally chipped blue nail while strapping my sandal.
“I’m up for it. My nails suck.” Lana said, looking down at her nails which were half painted. I took another look at my neglected nails. I usually keep them looking nice. I used to bite them but before grad I was told if I didn’t stop, I couldn’t get a French manicure for grad, so I stopped. I haven’t bitten since then, and now they’re nice and long, but my blue nail polish is all chipped.
“I want to, but I didn’t bring nail polish.” Valerie moaned.
“Neither did I.” Selena joined in.
“Don’t worry; I have lots, I’d be happy to do them for you.” I told them with a smile.
“That’d be so nice!” Valerie smiled. Selena and Lana smiled at me too.
“Now let’s go!” I urged. We left the dorm and went to the Loft.
“Whoa, you guys got all dressed up huh?” Jason teased.
“Shut up Jason, we look good.” Lana said, hitting him.
“Yeah…” Jacob muttered looking me up and down. I looked at him smirking, rocking on my hips back and forth slowly, and looking just a bit flirty. Tonight, I decided I’d flirt with Jacob a bit more. It’s just fun messing with him. Being really flirty one day, then not responding to his Facebook messages. He messages me at night, and sometimes I respond, sometimes I don’t, sometimes I take fifteen minutes.
“You guys gonna bring your blankies tonight too?” I asked with my cutesy voice. Jacob nudged me a little.
“Oh shut up, you gonna bring your teddy bear?” He teased back.
“I might, why? Are you bringing yours too?” I asked, totally serious. He looked at me funny. “I’m joking.” I smiled, putting my hand on his shoulder.
“I knew that…” He said.
“So we gonna eat or what?” Selena asked, gesturing to leave for the Cookhouse.
“Yeah, I’m starved.” Lana commented, holding her stomach.
“So let’s eat!” Jacob said. We walked over the the Cookhouse. We all grabbed our plates and lined up at the buffet. Jacob, Jason, and Valerie were having a burger and Lana and Selena were having a hot dog. I was having yet another grilled cheese.
“Don’t you get tired of those?” Lana asked, watching me take a bite out of my grilled cheese. I chewed for a minute, as if my answer took thought.
“Not really. I can’t get enough of my bread and cheese.” I laughed.
“Of course you can’t.” Jacob said, implying how special I am.
“Shut up, I’m special, don’t be jealous.” I pushed him.
“Yeah you are pretty special I guess.” He said, putting his hand on my knee. I looked down at his hand, just chilling there, holding on a second later before letting go.
“So any idea what movie we’re watching tonight?” I asked, taking a look around our table.
“No clue.” Lana shook her head. “Hopefully Aladdin!” She smiled.
“Why Aladdin?” Jason asked.
“It’s the best movie ever!” She answered, sounding shocked he was even questioning her.
“Never seen it.” Jacob said casually, taking a sip from his mountain dew. We all stared at him. “What?” He asked.
“How could you have never seen Aladdin?” Valerie also sounded shocked.
“What happened to your childhood?!” I asked, also shocked. I love Disney. I was going in a few weeks, and as childish as it sounds it was my favourite place on Earth. Well, that and the beach, the mall and my friends houses. Especially Sandra’s. She lives in a freaking mansion.
“I love Disney, I go all the time, but I haven’t seen any princess movies.” He said, chuckling a little.
“You love Disney?” I asked, a bit shocked a guy was admitting this.
“Yeah are you kidding? It’s the best place on Earth!” He said, this time being the one to sound shocked I was questioning him.
“I’m going soon! I love it too! Winnie the Pooh is my favourite. But you know what I also love?”
“You’re going? I’m so jealous! And I love Winnie the Pooh! My favourite is Toy Story.”
“That’s what I was just about to say!” I said, sounding amazed at our similarities.
“Awesome! Toy Story 2 was the best in my opinion.” He said, reading my thoughts.
“I agree!”
“You guys have a lot in common.” Selena pointed out, watching our conversation.
“Yeah well anyways, I doubt we’re watching Aladdin!” Jason said, looking over at Lana.
“Don’t insult Aladdin, it’s the best!” She said defensive. I laughed.
“It is pretty good.” I agreed. “I like the Little Mermaid more though.”
“That’s my second favourite!” Lana gushed, smiling.
“Can we stop talking about princess movies?” Jason asked.
“It’s an interesting conversation.” Jacob pointed out, running his fingers through his naturally messy-in-a-good-way brown hair. Probably not realizing I’m studying his every move, all the little things I know I’ll miss just a bit after we leave. No doubt I’ll be okay, but I’ll still miss him. He taught me how to move on. I smiled at the thought.
“Oooh, what’s on your mind that’s getting you all smiley?” Lana teased. I snapped out of it.
“Nothing!” I replied fast. “Just day dreaming I guess.” I shrugged. I turned back to my half eaten grilled cheese. I picked it up and realized it was getting cold. I put it back down and pushed my plate forward symbolizing that I was done.
“Do you ever finish your meals?” Jacob asked, pointing to my abandoned plate.
“Nope, not usually.” I answered honestly.
“Hey campers! It is now seven but since tonight is Friday, we won’t be starting the movie until nine, so you have two hours to chill out and do what you want. We’ve opened up the internet connection early tonight if you wanted to use it. You can go for a walk, you can go swim if you want, and you can ride the canoe to the other side and go to the park or hang out in the Loft. It’s all up to you. It’s Friday night, you have two hours of freedom. Go for it.” Rachel said, rewarding us. We all cheered. Two hours of freedom? That would be fun!
“So I have to call my mom.” I told them as we got up. “Anyone else?”
“I do.” Lana said, Selena and Valerie both nodding behind her. “I guess we’re all going.”
“Wanna meet up later?” Jacob asked. Then I looked at him and noticed he was only looking at me.
“Sure.” Lana answered, obviously not noticing what I had.
“What do you guys want to do?” Valerie asked.
“Canoe rematch!” Jason yelled. “This time, since we can do whatever we want, it’s two to a canoe and I want to be with Jacob!” He said, eyeing my especially for the last part.
“Go for it.” I said, defensively.
“No!” Jacob snapped. We all gave him a weird look. He took a small step back. “I mean, me and Summer had a blast last time, we should share it again. It’s not fair if two boys go against two girls.” I felt my stomach do a flip flop.
“Okay…” I agreed.
“So we’re meeting by the canoes?” Lana clarified.
“Yeah, meet back in about…forty five minutes? Is that good?” Jacob asked us.
“Yeah well we’ll have to change into proper canoe attire first.” I pointed out, using fancy words like attire.
“Oh good job Summer, you used a new variety of words!” Jason said, clapping. Jacob laughed along with the joke. Then he saw my fake puppy dog look.
“Oh we’re just joking.” Jacob teased.
“Yeah well anyways, we need to each call and change and we’ll be out.” I said, rolling my eyes.
“How many times do you guys have to change?!” Jason asked us.
“I’m not going canoeing in a skirt!” Valerie pointed out.
“We need proper wardrobe changes!” Lana said.
“Just leave us be!” Selena added. “We’ll see you guys later.” And with that, the four of us turned the opposite way and left.
“So Summer, be honest, do you like Jacob?” Lana asked out of the blue, giving me a small grin as if she could just tell.
“No! Why, does Jacob like me?” I asked, secretly hoping he did, already knowing he doesn’t.
“We think so.” Valerie told me.
“Yeah, it’s a bit obvious you guys like each other.” Selena said.
“I’ve known Jacob for three years, and you are the first girl I’ve seen him act this way around. I’m pretty sure he likes you!” Lana said.
“You sure you don’t like him?” Valerie questioned sceptical.
“Yes!” I snapped. “And anyways, it doesn’t matter; soon I won’t even see him.”
“You don’t know that. If you guys wanted, you could see each other. I still want to see you!” Lana said, hugging me. I hugged back, Valerie and Selena joined in.
“Yeah we can’t lose touch with you!” Valerie said, referring to me. The three of them all knew each other and all kept in touch, now it was up to me. I helped bring our fabulous little group together, and I was going to try my best to keep it that way.
“Don’t worry; I’ll definitely see you girls!” I said, actually finding myself meaning it. “Now let’s call our families and get ready to meet the boys, who I do not have feelings for!” I said, exaggerating the last part.
“If you say so!” Lana sing-songed. I ignored her tone and got my cell phone out. I saw I had a few text messages. I checked them quickly, ignoring most of them, and then started to dial home. I had a fairly normal, short conversation with my over-enthusiastic mother and my dad before hanging up and checking my Facebook.
“Fancy seeing you online” Jacob sent me with a wink face. I thought for a while before responding to him. “Helloo?” He tried again, with a smile face.
“Do you really miss me already that you can’t bear to spend minutes apart?” I asked, throwing in a wink face and a heart.
“Yeah, I miss you already.” He joked back using another wink. After that I checked the rest of my thirteen notifications. Comments, status likes, wall posts from my friends about how much they miss me. I wrote back to them saying I missed them too. Then I got another notification pop up as I was responding to all my wall posts. ‘Jacob Swift has posted on your wall.’ The little screen read. My heart flipped. I opened the notification and read his post. ‘Hey Sharpay. You ready for that movie tonight?’ said the post, with a few wink faces and hearts involved. I decided not to respond.
“So what are we changing into?” Lana asked, hanging up her phone.
“I say blue t-shirts and denim shorts. Hair tied back!” I suggested.
“That’s quite specific.” Selena said, going to her drawer.
“I like it, very casual but cute!” Valerie expressed.
“Alright, so that’s settled!” Lana said. We all went to our drawers and picked out our clothes. I got a light blue t-shirt and my denim shorts. The other girls wore the same. I went to my vanity and looked in the mirror. I took the elastic from around my wrist and started pulling my hair up. I pushed my bangs back so that the pony-tail was sleek and smooth. I tied it back and fluffed it a little with my right hand. Then I eyed myself in the mirror. I swung my hair around, seeing flecks of blonde in my brunette hair. I had a lot of high lights which was why I didn’t mind putting my hair back. You could really see all the different colours.
“We ready? We’ll be about five minutes early. Those boys are probably still lazing in their dorm.” Lana said.
“Yeah I’m good.” I said, turning away from the mirror getting my flip flops on.
“Let’s cream them with that stupid canoe race!” Valerie said.
“Hey! Feel sorry for me, Jacob’s claimed me as his.” They all stared at me when I said that. “I meant in his canoe guys.” Realizing what they must have thought.
“Right…canoes.” Selena grinned sarcastically. They each slipped on flip flops and we left the dorm. I looked at the other three girls. We were each identical. Valerie, Lana and Selena each had on a blue shirt and denim shorts. They each had their hair tied back as well.
“Hey guys, maybe we should surprise Jacob and Jason at their dorm.” I said, slyly.
“Ooh, I like how you think.” Lana smiled, nudging my arm a bit.
“I think their in dorm 319.” Valerie said.
“Well what are we waiting for then?” Selena asked. We picked up the pace to their dorm. We crossed Wolf Den to Pelican Dorm. I saw it coming up in the distance. We took the elevator to their floor.
“Okay everyone shhh….” I said. We starting tip toeing until we were right at their dorm. We crouched down a bit and tip toed even more. I went over to the door next to theirs, and ushered the other girls to follow me. I stood on my toes and peeked into the door of another dorm. I saw four boys I knew from rehearsals. I banged on the door.
“Hey Summer, what’s up?” One of the boys, Garratt asked.
“Hey, your room is beside Jacob and Jason’s, can we just go on your balcony and chill? We’re trying to scare them.” I said. I looked behind and Saw Lana, Valerie and Selena giggle a little.
“Sure why not.” He agreed. He stepped out of the way and I whispered thanks as I waved at the other three boys. I went out on the balcony and craned my neck to peek into the dorm Jacob and Jason were in. At these dorms, the rooms are pretty big, especially for camp, so the balconies were big and it made it very easy to look into the next person’s window. Also, the rooms here were connected, so I could easily go to the balcony if I wanted to. Our room was beside Auburn’s and her three roomies, so sometimes at night they crossed onto our balcony and hung out with us. I saw Jacob spraying himself with Axe while talking to Jason, who was sitting on his bed, listening attentively to Jacob. I bent down and we all giggled. Then I opened the small gate and walked over to their balcony. If this was a real hotel that would be considered stalking. But this is camp and they provide cool things like this so we can ‘interact on a better level’ according to Rachel. I banged on their sliding door.
“What the hell?” Jason yelped from the inside. We bent down and giggled more. We heard Jacob get off his bed and run to the door. We ran to Garratt’s dorm again, holding in our giggles. We heard mutters from in the dorm. “What was that?” Jason was asking.
“Dude relax, it was probably a squirrel or something.” Jacob assured him. We laughed even more when we heard this. Lana and Selena banged on the back of the cabin.
“That’s one psychotic squirrel! And why would it be on our balcony? Did it climb in from Garratt’s dorm?” Jason yelled.
“You’re overreacting. Come to the door, I will show you!” We heard Jacob say, walking towards the back. We panicked at that moment. Lana, Selena and Valerie all ran to the corner of Garratt’s balcony, while I climbed on top of the balcony and stood very still.
“Summer! Are you insane? You can’t climb a balcony to a dorm!” Lana whispered loudly from the other side.
“Yes I can! It’s wood, you can always climb wood!” I whispered back, holding on tightly and using all my upper body strength. I felt like I was going to fall, but the balconies being connected really helped me keep balance. My hands were getting red and hurt.
“See? Nobody there!” Jacob said to Jason. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“Fine. Let’s just go meet the girls, we’re late.” Jason urged.
“S***.” I said under my breath. I gripped onto the wall harder and heard the loud noise my body impact made. “Ouch, that’s going to leave a mark.” I muttered to myself.
“Okay, so now what Jacob? Is the squirrel climbing our balcony?” Jason asked sarcastically.
“Yes, probably! Nobody else in their right mind, besides a squirrel, would climb the balcony! Let’s just go, we’ll be fine.” Jacob said. I climbed the pole of the balcony and sat on top of the small roof right above the balcony, aware of the noise my knees must be making on the thin ceiling. “Look, there’s probably a bird on the roof of our balcony. They made this place weird anyways, what building has connecting balconies?”
“It was built this year Jacob!”
“How modern can these dorms be? It’s like, in the middle of nowhere. They’ve probably had plenty of camps here. Just the rooms and the Loft are new.”
“The dorms are new too, Jacob! Someone is up there!”
“No one is stupid enough or talented enough for that matter, to climb on the roof.” Jacob pointed out.
“Ass hole.” I whispered to myself.
“Seriously Summer, you’re insane!” Selena was calling from below.
“Wait for it…” I said, anticipating Jacob and Jason leaving their dorm. I lied on my stomach on the roof and hung my head down in front of their door, so as soon as they open it, here I am!
“Summer, you’re going to fall and hurt yourself!” Valerie shrieked.
“Shh…” I warned, hearing Jacob and Jason shuffling around inside getting ready to leave.
“Let’s go dude, you’re being ridiculous. We’re keeping the girls waiting.” Jacob urged.
“By girls do you mean Summer?”
“Shut up. Here want me to prove no one is back here? Let’s go on the balcony I will prove it!” Jacob and Jason started to walk toward the sliding door. I heard the door fumble.
“Oh boy…” Lana said, shielding her eyes with her hand. Just then Jacob slid the door open and as soon as I was sure I wouldn’t get hit in the face, I hung my head down.
“Well speaking of Summer!” I laughed, recalling Jason’s last comment about me. Jacob and Jason both let out an extremely girly scream. Lana, Selena, Valerie and I all started to laugh. “Gotcha!” I said through the laughter. Jacob and Jason both still looked awestruck by me. We all kept laughing.
“I TOLD you there was something! I TOLD YOU!” Jason said, rubbing it in Jacob’s face. I propped myself up on my elbows and kept on laughing, watching this all play out.
“Okay fine. But seriously, who, other then Summer, would climb on our balcony roof?” Jacob asked, looking up at me. “Very funny.”
“Come on, you loved that!” Lana said.
“This was all my idea!” I pointed out from the roof.
“Speaking of which, you getting down?” Selena asked. I looked around and realized I had no clue how to get down from here.
“Oh yeah…” I said, unsure.
“That was a good joke, gotta admit.” Jacob said with a wink. “You’re insane though!” He said, laughing at me.
“I know! Oh my God Jason, I’m going to hold it against you forever that you thought it was a psychotic squirrel!”
“Shut up! You have no clue how to get down…do you?” Jason asked.
“Not really, no.” I said. I sat on my butt, with my legs dangling down from the roof.
“Whoa…be careful.” Jacob said, suddenly wide eyed.
“Relax. I do crazy things all the time.” I shrugged. “Catch me.” I said.
“Wait, WHAT?” Jacob asked, completely caught off guard.
“You heard me! Catch me!” I leaned even more forward and started to edge toward the end. With one final smile down at Jacob, I leaped off the roof, and Jacob caught me.
“See? No big deal. It’s not like it’s a REAL roof. It’s a balcony roof.” I snickered.
“You’re still crazy!”
“Whatever, let’s go canoeing, not that anything could be more fun then that!” I said. Lana, Selena, Valerie and I led the guys to the canoes. Each time I looked over at them, Jacob was flashing me a smile and Jason was shaking his head like he was still freaked out by the psychotic squirrel, which of course I kept teasing him about. We walked in the dusk lighting of summer to the lake with all the canoes lined up. I bent over and picked up six life jackets for us. “Life jacket…” I muttered, handing each person one. As I handed Jason one I pretended to be scared of something behind him.
“What?!” He panicked.
“Psychotic squirrel, Jason! It’s right behind you! Maybe it will follow you to your dorm tonight!” I laughed. Lana, Selena and Valerie laughed too but Jason just stared at me with his annoyed expression. He ignored my comment.
“Okay so it’s Jacob and Summer, me and Lana, and Selena and Valerie right?” Jason clarified.
“I don’t see how this is fair.” Selena complained.
“Well you girls are athletic and know what you’re doing.” I said, honestly. “I’m clueless.”
“Me too.” Lana agreed.
“Well let’s get ready!” Jacob clapped his hands together and we started getting into the canoes. He got in first and reached out his hand to help me in.
“Thank you.” I said, taking his hand and stepping in. “Alright guys, winners get to pick what the losers wear to move night!” I suggested.
“Oh boy…so if I lose…which I won’t…I might have to wear like, something pink?” Jason realized disgusted.
“Yes sir!” Lana confirmed. “But you won’t lose, because if you lose, so do I!”
“Deal!” Valerie and Selena said at the same time from their canoe.
“Okay…ready…” Jacob started. I put my paddle in the water beside me and raised my eyebrows at Jacob who was sitting in front of me.
“Set…” I continued.
“GO!” Jason yelled. We all took off, paddling as fast as we could.
“Come on Jacob, we have practice!” I said, paddling vigorously.
“I’m going, I’m going!” He said, doing the same.
“I am NOT wearing pink tonight!” Jason said, focusing solely on his paddle. I looked around a bit and noticed we were about half way and it was pretty fair right now. Then, Selena and Valerie started going backwards.
“What the hell, Selena?!” Valerie yelled.
“I’m not doing anything! It’s the current!”
“Well try!” At that point, we knew they were out, and it was down to me and Jacob, and Jason and Lana.
“Paddle, paddle!” Lana encouraged Jason.
“I’m going!” He snapped.
“We are so going to win!” I giggled.
“Oh for sure!” Jacob agreed. We kept going. “Almost there Summer, paddle a bit more!”
“How is this possible?!” Jason yelled, realizing me and Jacob were in the lead. Then, we hit the dock and I dropped my paddles and stood up, almost tipping the canoe.
“WINNER!” I yelled, throwing my fist in the air.
“IN YOUR FACE!” Jacob yelled pointing across the dock to Jason in his canoe.
“Oh whatever man, what could you possibly make me wear tonight, what’s the worst you got?”
“Who said HE was picking for you?” I said, with a wink.
“Oh damn…what’s it going to be?”
“Dammit Summer! What are you going to make me wear?” Lana moped.
“You guys did better then us!” Selena complained, finally catching up.
“What’s our torture?” Valerie asked me.
“Good question.” Jacob said, tapping his chin.
“Fine, we’ll take all tortures away, but we’re thinking of something else!” I said, hopping onto the dock, tying the canoe to the side. Jacob followed me out and slapped me a high five.
“Thank you!” Jason said.
“Wait, you’re totally going to get us back…what’s it going to be?” Valerie asked, knowing I had something else in mind.
“Valerie, have you ever done a single bad thing in your life?” I asked mischievously.
“Where are you going with this?” She sceptically asked.
“Well what if I dared you to…oh I don’t know…sneak into one of the boys dorms at night and convince them to let you sleep there.” I said, thinking it up on the spot. That would be hysterical. I could just imagine Valerie going into a random guy’s dorm and saying ‘please, please, PLEASE let me sleep here! My roomies are being bitches, I need a loving home!’
“Whoa…that’s awesome!” Selena laughed.
“Are you insane?! What if I got caught?”
“Oh come on Valerie, Selena will go too!” Lana said, stepping aside.
“What?” Selena said defensively.
“Perfect! Here’s an idea actually, you guys can go into Jacob and Jason’s dorm and talk to their other two roommates. That might make it easier, especially if Jacob and Jason tell them ahead of time. That way, they’ll let you, AND you can say you did something daring one night at camp!”
“Oh God Summer…I can’t risk this.” Valerie whined.
“Oh come on, don’t be a baby.” Selena said. “I’ll do it with you, imagine we didn’t get caught, we’d have an amazing story!”
“True…”
“Wait- where are Jacob and I supposed to sleep?” Jason asked. I didn’t think that one through.
“Well we’ll have two extra beds, just come in our dorm.” I shrugged.
“Yeah, easy.” Lana said.
“Wait so now because of this amazing, and totally brilliant I must admit, dare, now me and Jacob have to put our lives at camp at risk? Why?” Jason asked.
“No don’t worry. I can promise you won’t get caught…” I started. Then I stood a bit closer to Jacob and looked into his eyes. “Don’t you trust me?” I finished, giving my best innocence look.
“I trust you.” Jacob said. “But how is it fair, we win and we’re letting Jacob and Lana off the hook!” I thought for a minute. What was he saying? He wanted time alone with me?
“Good point. How about you two sleep outside? Right outside our dorm, if it gets really bad you can come inside, but bring the blankets and you can take my extra pillow and just stay outside! It would be hilarious!” I said.
“No way! What if there’s bears?” Lana freaked.
“Maybe you should be worried about the psychotic squirrels instead.” I said, teasing Jason.
“You know what, one day there will really be a psychotic squirrel and no one will believe me and then you’ll all be sorry!” Jason argued.
“Alright.” I said, with a complete dead-pan expression. “So you’ll do it?”
“No!” Lana refused.
“Lana! There aren’t any bears, plus they’d want me first before you. If it gets bad we’ll go inside. I think it would be funny.” Jason convinced. “I’m in. But only for one night. I’m serious, Summer, this can’t go too far.”
“Don’t worry. Do you guys trust me?” I asked, looking around the circle at all the uneasy faces. Except mine and Jacob’s of course.
“Fine.” Jason agreed.
“Fine.” Lana followed. And after that Valerie and Selena both agreed to it too.
“Great.” I smiled. “Now let’s head back and get ready for that movie.” I winked.
“Summer you are absolutely insane. You make everything pretty fun, and I admit tonight should be interesting, but you’re insane.” Selena told me.
“Wait so what are your roommates named?” Valerie asked Jacob and Jason.
“Alex and Daniel.” Jason answered. “Real nice guys, we’ll warn them about you, they’ll be okay with it.”
“Now how do we assure we don’t get caught?” Valerie asked.
“Easy. Before curfew tell Melissa you’re packing it in early because you’re tired. Tell her you’d rather her not disrupt tonight at any time because you have a headache. She’ll agree, and I’ll assure her it’s all fine. Then sneak to the boys dorm, switch places with them, and when the night guard comes out to make sure no one is outside, Jacob, Jason, Lana and I will all be in our dorm, then after 12:30 when it’s safe for sure, Jason and Lana will go sleep outside.” I answered.
“Sounds legit.” Lana shrugged.
“Fine.” Selena agreed. “This will be a good story.”
“Yippee!!” I exclaimed. Then I threw my arms around my girls, and we all walked back to the dorm linking arms. When we got in, we each went to our drawers and pulled out our pj’s.
“I wasn’t expecting this…” Lana stated as she held up her pj booty shorts.
“None of us were…” I said, holding up mine as well. We each started to change. I was in white and gray striped Aeropostale pj shorts. I wore a white cami and I pulled my Victoria’s Secret pullover on top. Lana wore black booty shorts and a baggy t-shirt. Selena and Valerie both wore pj pants and tank tops. We put our flip flops on and headed out into the darkness, to the Loft. The boys were already there, this time with Alex and Daniel.
“So you’re obviously Summer, you’re Lana, and you guys are Valerie and Selena?” Alex clarified, pointing to us as he said our name.
“Correct! Those are the brave girls you’re spending the night with.” I winked.
“Yeah, Jacob told us some crazy girl dared them. I must say, good job!” Daniel said, applauding me.
“Well that’s them guys. So you can go now.” Jason said.
“Alright well I’ll see you girls around.” Alex said giving me and Lana a wink. “And I’ll see you later!” He said, waving at Selena and Valerie.
“Later!” Daniel waved.
“Oh dear God.” Selena panicked. “I can’t believe I’m sleeping in a dorm with two boys I just met!”
“Relax Selena! You aren’t all sleeping in the same bed. Four separate beds, just under one roof. Think of it that way.” I assured her.
“It was a pretty good idea.” Jacob admitted.
“I agree. And sleeping outside won’t be THAT bad.” Lana said.
“Exactly!”
“Hey campers! Welcome to movie night! Tonight’s options are as follows, 17 Again, Aladdin, Legally Blonde and High School Musical 3. What do you want?” Sam asked, holding up the movies. Everyone cheered for 17 Again, including me.
“Awh, I wanted Aladdin!” Lana complained.
“We’ll be watching Aladdin next Friday during our free day, because that came in second.” Rachel announced.
“Yay! And I do love Zac Efron!” Lana exclaimed.
“Me too! He’s so cute!” I gushed.
“Let’s sit…” Jacob urged. I sat on the couch and Selena plopped beside me. Jacob looked at her. “I was about to sit there…” He said. I bit my lip silently praying Selena would move.
“Fine…” she grumbled, moving over a bit. Jacob sat beside me.
“I’ve seen this movie…probably a hundred times!” I announced. “Expect me to recite every line as they say it.”
“Oh boy, well I sure picked the winner to sit beside huh?” He asked sarcastically. I nudged him.
“Shut up.” I giggled. Jason pulled a chair up behind me and Jacob and rested his elbows on the couch right by our heads.
“Hey guys, what’s going on?” He asked.
“Not much, chilling like a villain!” I answered.
“Cool beans.” He responded, unenthusiastically. Beside Selena was Valerie and Lana. Soon, the screen flicked on and we all started watching the movie. About half an hour into it, I felt Jacob rest his hand on mine.
“Well you’re cold.” He pointed out. He then offered his hand to me.
“You sure?” I asked.
“Yeah.” He confirmed. I took his hand, and he gently laced his fingers through mine. We sat holding hands for the rest of the movie. I glanced around the room. Then down at our hands, together. This was nice, this felt right. This somehow, also felt like it would be painful if he were to let go. If I were to just figure out he didn’t want me, didn’t like me, didn’t care about me, it would hurt. And that’s when I became scared. I didn’t want to get hurt. Pain wasn’t an option right now, I had too much pain in grade eight and last summer, way too much pain. Enough pain to last me every summer for the rest of my life. Last summer I was a delusional, depressed mess. And this summer I was happy, I didn’t want to jeopardize that. I kept reminding myself, this is temporary. A summer fling to forget about Carter. I’ve already told a lot of my friends about Jacob. Well, the ones coming to see my show Thursday, and they of course can’t wait to meet him. But I also told them, this wasn’t serious, nothing to last outside of camp, so don’t get too excited. As much as I wish this would be something that I could have during the school year, after camp, I knew it wasn’t possible, and that I just had to let go. The movie finally ended, and I sat there, looking like I was electrocuted in my spot, all because I was too scared. I should be enjoying these amazing moments, this attention. But I couldn’t. I let go of his hand.
“Everyone, it’s eleven now, you have until mid night to get back to the dorms and get to sleep. Like usual, your cabin leader will check to make sure you’re going to bed, and the night guard will be out again until 12:15 to make sure everyone is gone. You may go.” Rachel announced. While most people stayed in the Loft and talked, it was time to get ready for our plan. We sat around and talked, and played cards for a while, and then at 11:30 we put this plan into action.
“Melissa…” Valerie said, stumbling over to Melissa, sounding totally sick.
“What’s wrong Valerie?” Melissa asked, concerned.
“I have a really bad headache. Selena is coming back to the dorm with me, I need to sleep. Can you just trust that we’re going to sleep and not come by? I just want to rest.” Valerie moaned. Selena held onto her shoulder. This is why being good actresses comes in handy in the real world.
“Oh sweetie…okay, go ahead. I’ll ask Lana and Summer to double check on you later and report back to me that you were asleep. Is that okay Summer?” Melissa asked, turning her attention to me.
“That’s fine; I’m probably just going to hang out with the guys a little then go back to the dorm. I’m pretty tired too.” I fake yawned.
“It really has been a long week.” Melissa sighed. “Okay Valerie, go ahead, feel better!” She patted her on the back.
“Thank you, Melissa.” Valerie said sincerely. Selena led her out of the Loft. At 11:40, Lana, Jason, Jacob and I all left the Loft.
“Melissa, me and Lana are heading to bed now, I’ll go check on Valerie and come back, okay?”
“Alright Summer, I just want to make sure everything is okay.” We all went outside.
“Okay guys, Valerie and Selena are already in your dorm. Just follow me and Lana.” I whispered. We all walked over to our dorm. Once inside, I got out my phone. “Jason do me a favour, lie down and pretend you’re Valerie and that you’re sleeping.” I said. Jason did as I told him and I snapped a picture. “Perfect! I’ll be right back.” I walked back to the Loft by myself. “Melissa, Valerie and Selena are both sound asleep. I took a picture for you!” I said, showing her my phone.
“Oh poor Valerie. She seemed so sick. But okay, thanks Summer, see you tomorrow morning.” She flashed me a smile. I smiled back. “Oh and Summer?” She stopped me as I turned away.
“Yeah?”
“You and Jacob…what’s the story?”
“No story Melissa…just a small fling I guess. I can tell he doesn’t actually like me.”
“I don’t know, I’d rethink that. I see it differently, kiddo.” She gave me a wink and turned away. “Night.” She said as she left. I smiled a little.
“Night.” I responded. I ran back to the dorm, suddenly feeling chilly. “We are in business!” I announced when I got into the dorm.
“Awesome!” Jacob exclaimed. “This is gonna be awesome. Imagine how great it’s going to be when we live to tell this story tomorrow morning!”
“I know! We’re going to be legends.” Jason high fived Jacob.
“And it’s all thanks to you!” Jacob gave me a wink. I blushed.
“Awh shucks.” I giggled.
“What time is it?” Lana asked herself as she looked at our alarm clock.
“It’s mid night right now, night guard is probably on duty. We should all just be quiet and no one move until 12:30 when we’re positive he’s gone.” Jacob said.
“Good plan.” I agreed. I climbed my ladder and sat on the top bunk with my iPod. Jacob sat on the bed below mine, Lana went on her top bunk and Jason sat on the bottom bunk. We all did other things for a while, careful to not make any noise. A while later, I looked at the clock. “Guys it’s 12:30. We ready?” I asked.
“Ready!” Lana exclaimed. She climbed down her ladder, bringing her blankets and pillows with her.
“Alright, let’s go.” Jason said. He took the blankets on Valerie’s bed and he and Lana started leaving. We followed them as they started going outside. Lana slipped on a sweater and sweat pants. Jacob and I followed them till they reached a good spot. We helped them set up their small camp site about four feet from the Eagle Dorm. A little area of just grass, far from the Village but close to the dorm. It looked pretty uncomfortable, but hey, we were first!
“You guys okay?” I asked them before going back in.
“We’re good.” Jason answered, crawling under his many blankets. I ended up lending them mine and Selena’s, so now Jacob and I just had a sheet each, but we weren’t the ones sleeping outside.
“Okay you guys know, if anything happens you can always come in the dorm. I won’t be angry. Just try to stick it out. And watch out for the psychotic squirrels!” I said, with a little snicker at the end.
“I’m tired, so I’m going to bed now, but like Summer said, just stick it out.” Jacob said. “It’s just a night; it’ll be over before you know it and Jason tomorrow we’ll play President as many times as you want. And Lana you can wear my hat whenever.” He negotiated. That’s when I remembered, he gave me his hat and I was still wearing it. I put my hands to my head and felt it there, keeping my head warm, reminding me he was there.
“Alright, good night guys.” Lana said, also crawling under her many blankets.
“Night.” I said, blowing Lana a kiss and waving to Jason.
“Later.” Jacob waved, following me into the Eagle Dorm. I shut the door, but not before I could hear Lana muttering.
“They so like each other.” Lana said. Jason muttered something back, but I didn’t hear it. I shrugged it off.
“Well if you’re tired, I guess we’ll get to bed.” I said, putting on body lotion.
“I’m good if you wanna stay up.” He shrugged.
“And do what?” I asked, putting on hand lotion next.
“Anything. Talk.” He answered. I smiled a little. I sat on the bottom bunk and he came and sat beside me.
“So what’s up?” I asked, awkwardly. How do you just start these conversations?
“Not a lot, so tell me why you don’t answer me on Facebook?” He confronted me.
“Oh I just get busy, or forget or something.” I answered, totally lying. The real answer was I was playing hard to get and now I know he’s buying into it completely.
“How can you forget?” He asked, snickering.
“I read it, then I’m too lazy to respond so I close it, then when I go on later I’ve forgotten that you messaged me!” I responded.
“Oh…makes sense?” he said, like it was a question. I giggled and we sat there silent for a moment.
“So…in that game…ten fingers…you said you cheated on a girl.” I clarified, remembering that game that made me doubt him completely.
“Summer…let me tell you what happened.” He started. He looked up at me, his eyes turning to blue, and the edges a burning amber colour. I saw myself in his eyes. I saw the way he looked at me. Like he was being honest.
“Tell me.”
“That was a very unhealthy relationship. She was seriously psycho. Anyways, I only cheated because she was crazy, obsessive, and just downright weird. I kissed another girl. Then I felt like an ass hole so I promised I wouldn’t ever do it again. Once I owned up to her that I had cheated, wanna know what happened?” I nodded. “She told me she cheated too. Karma I guess. For both of us. And that was the last time I ever did anything like that, because it leaves a terrible feeling.” He explained. I looked from him to the ground, then back up again.
“I know. I mean, I never cheated, but I’ve broken some hearts. In ways worse then just not being interested.” I thought back to the memories of Carter and Jake and all those guys. I deceived them. I hurt them. I felt terrible, so why was I judging Jacob on one tiny mistake? When in reality mine have been worse? I deserved all that torture Carter gave me in grade eight. Jake hurt me a lot too…so did the other guys. No, I didn’t deserve that. No one deserved to be treated the way Carter treated me.
“It’s okay. Past is past now, that’s what I tell myself. But why do you get so defensive when I say certain things, like for instance…that slut remark the other day.”
“There are some stories better left untold. That’s one of them.”
“Why?” He pressured. Should I dare tell him? No way. That makes me look extremely vulnerable. Only few people can get close enough to me for me to open up to the extent of telling them all my stories. The slut stories, the Carter, Robert, Jake, Logan, Riley stories. The insecurities, the pain. Those stories are reserved for someone I really trust. And if I tell him I’d be opening up. All my scars will be open; he will be able to do whatever he wants. And that just isn’t a risk I can take.
“Because some things about me make people treat me differently. And I want some part of me to stay to myself, because not everyone needs to know everything about me. So just no, trust me it isn’t a big deal, you don’t want to know.”
“I want to know you.” He said, sincerely. We fell silent. It remained like that for what felt like forever, but it was probably only a minute. I stood up.
“It’s getting so late, Jacob. I’m tired; we should probably just go to bed. Pick where you want.” I said, crossing over to the door to make sure it was locked.
“Well okay, Summer. I guess I’ll take the other top bunk; the one Lana usually sleeps in. I like the top.” He laughed. I laughed a bit too, trying to ease up. What was I so afraid of? I slipped into the bathroom and got ready to sleep. Brushed my teeth, washed my face, and took off all my makeup. If I wasn’t going to be vulnerable, the least I could do was look it. I walked out shyly, trying to hide my bare face. He gave me a small smile at the sight of my slightly mascara smeared eyes, still slightly wet face, and minty breath. I smiled bashfully back. He took the little bag he brought into the bathroom and did the same as me. I sat on the stool to my vanity just looking at myself. I took his hat off and put it down on the vanity. I got my iPod and my ear phones and started listening to music, for some reason. Before I knew it I was singing along. I got off my stool and started to dance around a little. I guess I forgot where Jacob was, because he walked out of the bathroom and right into my dancing body.
“Oh snap.” I took my ear phones out and looked up at his face. I could tell he was holding in laughs, and the urge to make fun of me. “It’s a great song!”
“You’re a fantastic dancer!” He laughed. “This is crazy. Us sharing a dorm. It’s just so random.”
“Yeah, no big deal. Just two people sharing a dorm. I’m sure your mother would be proud.” I put my hand to my heart and over exaggerated.
“I’m sure yours wouldn’t!” He was probably right. Jacob and I were just friends, and this was all for fun, and we were in separate beds. But still, my parents would definitely not approve of the words ‘sleeping’ and ‘guys’ in the same sentence. What a great story though. ‘Hey mom, at camp, Jacob and I slept in the same dorm one night. Just us two.’ Imagine telling that to your parents. Then I’d follow it with, ‘no, not in the same bed, no we didn’t get it on, no nothing inappropriate happened.’ She probably wouldn’t believe me but whatever, I’d try anyways.
“Yeah you’re right.” I agreed. “But whatever, I’m not doing anything bad. We’re just two friends who are sleeping in the same room, in two separate beds, with our friend’s right outside the building, and two friends in a completely different dorm with two other guys. I wonder how their going to come back tomorrow morning without getting caught. Dammit, I didn’t think that through.”
“Oh crap…how are Jason and I going to get back? And didn’t Valerie and Selena bring clothes?”
“Don’t worry, we’ll work it out. And yeah they did. The big thing is we need to wake up a little earlier to get Lana and Jason up, the personal dorm counsellors come around outside and knock on our door to make sure we’re all up. If they’re still outside we’re all busted.”
“Good thinking.” I got my iPod and set my clock for earlier then the alarm clock in the dorm.
“All set. Now I’m exhausted. And it’s 1:30. I am officially going to sleep. Hasta la vista.” I gave a little wave.
“Good night.” He said, opening his arms to hug me. I hugged back this time, a simple, short, one-hand hug. I love when you’re on hugging terms with someone you didn’t know you were on hugging terms with. It makes me feel special. I turned the light off, climbed up my ladder, closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, with the final sounds being Jacob’s slow, steady breathing.

I heard the faint sounds of quacking to wake me up that morning. I blinked my eyes open then shut them again as I was blinded by the sunlight coming from the window. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
“Jacob!” I saw he was still sleeping even though my iPod alarm clock went off.
“Hmm?” he muttered, flipping to his right side.
“Wake up!” I threw my teddy bear at him.
“I’m alert.” He said, springing up. I climbed down my ladder and shut off my iPod alarm clock so the stupid quacking would stop. Everyone else is waking up in half an hour, but we needed to go get Lana and Jason from outside. “Wow, I almost forgot I was sleeping in here.” He glanced around looking clueless. I rolled my eyes and smiled. I slipped on a sweater and opened the door quietly. I walked briskly down the hall and used the stairs so the elevator wouldn’t make any noises. I opened the door and stepped outside.
“Psst…Lana…Jason….” I whispered, nudging them silently.
“Morning already?” Lana moaned.
“I hardly slept.” Jason complained.
“Really? I slept like a baby!” Lana smiled. Laughing at Jason’s obvious discomfort.
“Never again are you making me do this, Summer!” I laughed. Jacob came out from the dorm. He stood behind me, close enough that I could feel his breath on the back of my neck.
“Fun night guys?” Jacob asked, laughing a bit.
“You tell me. We could hear you guys talking all night. Did you forget the balcony is right above us? Damn you guys are loud.” Jason rolled his eyes. He and Lana got up and started picking up the blankets. I bent down to help them.
“We didn’t talk!” Jacob said defensively.
“Well we did, but for like five minutes.” I lied. “No big deal.” I shrugged. I met Jacob’s eyes. He looked down looking sad. I rolled up the blankets and brought them back into the dorm. “Come in.” I gestured to the door. Lana and Jason came inside. The four of us walked up to our room. Lana flopped down onto her original bed.
“Mattress!” She cried.
“I better text Selena so she remembers to get out of there. You guys might want to go back. We’ll meet you later.” I said getting my phone.
“You sure?” Jacob asked, sounding like he wanted to spend all day with me. I looked over at him, and sure enough he was wide-eyed with his eyebrows raised.
“I’m sure.” I smiled.
“Let’s go. I’m going to be cranky all day, just so you know.” Jason said, frowning at me. I smiled at him and flashed a heart symbol.
“Love you too!” I said sarcastically. I texted Selena and got a response in a minute.
“Wow, she’s up?” Lana asked, hearing my phone beep.
“Guess so. She said ‘already up. It’s impossible to sleep in a room with these guys, they’re ridiculous. We’re on the way.’”
“Well that’s good.” Lana shrugged. “So how was your night?” She asked sitting on the edge of her bed. She looked up at me with hopeful eyes.
“Normal.” I shrugged, pulling out a lime green and white halter from American Eagle and a pair of light denim shorts.
“Oh come on. We heard you guys talking for a long time!”
“Yeah just friend stuff. Nothing more.”
“Fine. Deny it. See if I actually believe you!” Just then there was a knock at the door.
“Good freaking morning.” Selena moaned. “Those boys were first of all, gross, second of all they were up until three, and third of all they woke us up at eight!”
“Oh baby cakes I’m so sorry.” I said, going over to Selena and Valerie to hug them. “You survived, you didn’t get caught!”
“I slept well! And so did Summer, her and Jacob are love birds.” Lana said winking.
“What happened?” Valerie asked enthusiastic.
“Nothing happened!” I yelled. “Now let’s get ready we said we’d meet the guys soon to hang out.” I started changing and the other girls did the same. Obviously there were so many questions in everybody’s mind about me and Jacob. There was only one question in mine…how is he feeling? I just wish I knew these things.
“How did we get ready so quickly today?” Valerie questioned as she looked at the time and realized it took only fifteen minutes for us to change, do our makeup and fix our hair.
“My hair was still straight from last night so it took like, two minutes to run the flat iron through it.” I shrugged.
“Or maybe you’re just super eager to go see Jacob because last night you realized you’re in love?” Lana suggested. I gave her the signature glare and went to the nearest bed and threw a pillow at her. She giggled. “Hey!” She cried. “You know it’s true!”
“I’m starting to wonder what really happened last night…” Valerie said sceptical.
“Can we go now?!” Selena demanded.
“Start walking. I’m just going to send a quick text to the moms, and I’ll meet you soon.” I said. I called my mom ‘the moms’ for some odd reason. I’m not quite sure how that started. Lana and Selena shrugged and started walking. They left the dorm and Valerie stayed behind while I typed a short message to my mom.
“Okay tell me honestly, do you like him?” Valerie whispered.
“A little…” I spilled. I knew I shouldn’t have, but I needed to tell SOMEONE. Lana was too close with him, Selena might make it a huge deal, but Valerie seemed okay.
“I knew it!” She giggled. “I think he likes you!” She smiled. I shrugged.
“Whatever. I’m not here to meet a guy; I’m here to have fun!”
“Whatever, let’s go!” Valerie and I started walking to the Loft. We caught up fast with Lana and Selena who hadn’t gotten too far. When we got to the Loft, Jacob put the hat on my head.
“You keep forgetting the hat!” He said. I remembered how last night when we were going to bed, I took the hat off and tossed it on the vanity. He took it back this morning. I guess I didn’t notice.
“I apologize to the hat.” I said. Jacob tickled me and I flinched. “Okay, I will figure out your soft spot and then YOU’LL be the one flinching and I will be the one making fun of you for it!”
“Yeah good luck with that!” He chuckled. I stuck my tongue out at him and he made a heart with his hands and flashed a cheesy smile. I did the same then broke the heart and frowned. “Ouch…” he said, pretending to be sad. I started laughing and so did he.
“You guys are disgusting.” Selena said witnessing all this.
“Just goofing around.” I shrugged, dismissing the totally cheesy moment we just had. I started walking away to Lana, Valerie and Jason. Jacob followed me.
“Hey Summer,” he started. He was cut off by Rachel.
“Morning! Isn’t everyone so well slept now that you got to sleep in? It’s 10 right now. We’re having cereal today. After that we go to rehearsal. Tonight will be different because it’s Saturday. Tonight, the party starts at 11 and ends at 1. But as you leave the party, we’ll make sure you’re back in your dorms.” Rachel announced. “Dinner will still be at 6, but now you’ll have lots of time to just do whatever.”
“Canoe rematch!” Jason said madly.
“No freaking way.” Selena snapped.
“Nope.” Valerie said. Lana shook her head no.
“Yeah, I’m out of energy for that.” I said shaking my head. Jacob shook his head too.
“We’re past the canoe thing.” Jacob said.
“Whatever.” Jason said, still cranky.
“Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!” I said.
“No I woke up on the ground because I DIDN’T HAVE A BED TO SLEEP ON” He growled. I giggled a bit and so did Valerie, Selena and Lana.
“Come on man, stop complaining it was fine.” Jacob said slapping him on the back.
“Fine? Yeah, fine for you! In the nice warm dorm with your girl all night. So great right?” He said sarcastically. I felt blood rush to my cheeks as I blushed.
“Okay let’s stop this now. I’m hungry.” I started to walk away, pushing slightly between Jacob and Jason. We all walked to the Cookhouse. I went to the buffet, which was transformed from last night’s dinner to a buffet full of cereal machines, bowls, spoons and a variety of drinks. I got a small cup and poured myself some orange juice. I stood to the side and drank some. I took a deep breath. His girl? I wasn’t his girl at all. I was his fling. Not his girl. I put the cup down and got a bowl and some Nesquik cereal. I poured the milk when suddenly Jacob came beside me.
“You okay? Over tired maybe?” He asked nudging me. I couldn’t help but crack a smile. I turned my eyes to him and I saw his eyes turn that baby blue shade. He was so falling for my little games. I’m too used to games. Carter and I played them all last year. Games were way too familiar.
“I’m fine.” I said. I turned away and he followed me to the table. I sat down and noticed Lana and Valerie already there. “Where’s S and Jason?” I asked looking around.
“Grabbing food.” Lana said between bites of her Nesquik.
“I’m so tired.” Valerie rubbed her eyes.
“Me too.” Lana agreed. “Then again we’re always tired.” She shrugged.
“Yeah this camp tires you out.” I agreed, pushing my cereal bowl in front of me after just a few bites. I rested my head on my arm and shut my eyes for a quick moment. I opened them and saw Jacob still looking at me. He flashed a quick smile then looked away fast as if he’d just been caught. I slowly lifted my head up and craned my neck forward, rubbing the back of it with my right hand. I let out a sigh. I could feel Jacob’s eyes still on me.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, noticing my slight moaning at each movement.
“Nothing, my neck hurts a bit that’s all. I’m just so stiff.” I complained. I got up and left just as Selena and Jason started to sit.
“Where’s she off to now?” Jason asked. I looked slightly and saw Jacob, Lana and Valerie shrug. I kept walking and went to the Loft. I decided to lie down on the cushions. I was extremely tired, all the time. I was enjoying my moment of peace. I wondered how long until Jacob came and found me here. Just then Melissa plopped on the cushion in front of my tired body.
“Hey.” I said quietly.
“You alright?” She asked.
“I’m okay.”
“Tired?”
“Very.”
“Yeah I guess this camp gets overwhelming. Tonight should be fun though.”
“What’s tonight?”
“Camp pool party. We’re getting the water trampoline and the portable slide. You know those ones you just anchor out into the middle of the lake?”
“Sounds cool.”
“What’s wrong, Summer? Is your summer fling with Jacob not working?” I sat up. I figured I could vent to Melissa. I took a deep breath.
“No…the problem is that I think I have feelings for him. Beyond flirting. And I can’t because this is just a fling; these kinds of things don’t happen in flings.”
“Summer, you don’t need to restrict yourself to a summer fling. I’m not that old you know. I’m twenty-one. I’ve had experience with summer flings. They only work when you’re from different countries, then you have no choice. But when you meet someone like this at summer camp and things progress…someone ends up with feelings. And someone always drags it out to the real world. If you don’t, he will.”
“Why though? I don’t want to get hurt.” I put my head between my hands and stared at the ground.
“Why do you have such a huge fear of hurt?” She asked curiously.
“It’s in my past. You don’t want to know, bottom line is I don’t trust anybody, so I don’t want to get hurt by him.”
“Summer you can’t live like that. You’re always going to have that risk of getting hurt. You just have to figure out if it’s worth it or not.” She shrugged. “I’m always here if you want to talk…but I think Jacob is a nice guy. He comes every year, I know him pretty well, I know what he’s like and this is the first time I’ve ever seen him like this. Who knows, to you it might be a crush, to him it could be love at first sight!” She laughed.
“Let’s not start with the L word now!” I laughed back. “Thanks Melissa.” I smiled.
“No problem kiddo.” She smiled back. She turned her back. “Look who’s coming.” She winked. Sure enough Jacob was on his way to me. I blushed. She got up and left.
“Can I sit?” Jacob asked, motioning to the spot Melissa was just in. I gestured to it.
“Go ahead.” I said. I lied back down and he lied down beside me.
“What were you guys talking about?” He asked, referring to Melissa.
“Just stuff. Tonight’s a pool party. Isn’t that awesome?” I looked at him lying next to me and I smiled.
“Oh that should be fun. Unless of course you decide to do something insane again.” He smiled.
“Shut up, I’m just like that. Get used to it. I’m a mysterious person!”
“Yes I know. You have your cute mysteriousness.” He chuckled.
“And you have your cute predictability.” I giggled. I looked up at the ceiling. “Come on, we better see everyone else before they accuse me of being your girl again.” I rolled my eyes.
“Or we could just stay here. If they want to talk let them.”
“People think we’re dating, it’s just awkward.”
“Yeah they make it awkward, but who cares right?”
“I guess so.” Then there was an announcement to go to rehearsal. “Now we better go.” I stood up and grabbed Jacob’s hand, helping him up.

Rehearsals went by fast. I remember flirting with Jacob though. The tickling, the holding hands back stage for fun, laughing after all our scenes, sitting next to each other. Basically every day, every rehearsal was the same. It’s what happens after rehearsal that’s worth mentioning. Rehearsals are fun, don’t get me wrong. But not very interesting. Same thing, day in, day out. We all look forward to the night life here.
“I’m getting so sick of rehearsals. And we have a week left!” Lana complained.
“Not entirely!” Valerie confirmed, trying to look on the bright side.
“I’m still sick of it.” Selena said, agreeing with Lana.
“So girls, what’s the dress code tonight?” Jason asked, mimicking our high voices, knowing we have a certain dress code each night.
“I don’t know, actually. What are you guys thinking?” I asked, looking at the girls.
“We could wear…hmm…how about black shorts and white tops?” Valerie suggested. “We all have black denim shorts right?” We all nodded in agreement.
“Okay well I’ll wear my black shorts from Garage, with that white tank top from Abercrombie, and maybe my Hollister cardigan. You know what I mean right?” I described to the girls.
“Oh boy. Hey Jason maybe we should wear plaid shorts and black t-shirts tonight, let’s match.” Jacob said, imitating us.
“You always wear plaid shorts.” I said, looking down and him and Jason’s plaid shorts.
“Not always. But that’s what guys wear! Brown plaid, white plaid, black plaid, blue plaid…nothing else.” Jason said.
“Well whatever!” I shrugged. Lana, Selena, Valerie and I started walking to our dorm as Jason and Jacob went to theirs.
“I love my black shorts.” Lana said, eyeing herself in the mirror after getting her shorts on.
“Me too. They make my normally pale skin look tan.” I commented, also checking myself out.
“Yes, you look fabulous, we get it!” Selena said, smacking mine and Lana’s butts with her shirt.
“Hey!” I giggled. Lana giggled too.
“Wow guys.” Valerie rolled her eyes and giggled a bit too. “Though I do admit, we always look good.”
“Of course we do! So was camp always this fun?” I asked them, referring to past years.
“Well yeah, but this year has probably been the best so far! Probably because it’s the first year it’s over night, and it’s such a nice campus!” Lana said.
“Definitely. Before you came along, it was just us three and this girl Jessie, and she was just so annoying.” Selena complained.
“What happened to her?” I asked.
“She’s in a different dorm. We requested anyone but her for our fourth roommate.” Valerie informed me.
“Smart girl!” I patted her on the back. Everyone laughed. “Anyways, we ready?” I asked, turning to each girl to check.
“We ready!” Lana answered. We all strolled out of the dorm, like every other night, and met up the guys at the Loft entrance.
“Hey guys.” I said, giving a tiny wave. I put my hand back into my front pocket. Jacob looked me up and down.
“Hey.” He said back.
“Tonight’s BBQ!” Jason said, licking his lips. Tonight was the first BBQ night, where we sat by the fire and roasted hot dogs, and where there was a BBQ and they made burgers. Since I’m a vegetarian tonight it looks like I wasn’t eating. They had veggie burgers but I hate veggie burgers.
“Gross.” I complained.
“How can you hate meat? It doesn’t make sense!” Jason asked.
“It’s so disgusting. How could you eat a poor innocent cow? Or a pig?”
“I love cows!” Lana smiled. “So cute!”
“That was random.” Valerie said.
“Well we gonna stand here or we gonna go get some beef?” Jason asked, eyeing me at the word beef. I put on my best hurt face.
“Meanies.” I said.
“Oh it’s okay!” Jacob patted my back. I frowned and followed them in the line up for the food. Instead of going into the Loft, we all met there, and then walked outside to the fire in the Village. There were a whole bunch of tables all lined up. One table had plates, cups, drinks and a tray of fries. Well I knew what I was eating tonight. The table next to it was in front of the BBQ, and it had fresh made burgers on it. It also had a tray of raw hot dogs, and camp fire sticks to roast them on. The last table had condiments, napkins and the garbage was beside that. We lined up, Jason first, then Lana, Selena, Valerie, Jacob and me at the end. We each got a plate and a cup. I poured myself some water and added ice.
“You’re so plain.” Jacob shook his head. He poured himself diet coke. “Why are you even getting a plate?” He joked.
“I’m getting myself some fries!” I told him. I used the tongs and piled on the fries.
“You’ll get by…” He said. “Maybe…” I punched him a bit. “I’m kidding!” He laughed. I kept walking behind him, getting that awkward feeling. You know how at parties in the summer it’s always a BBQ? Well I went to probably five of those in June, and at each I was the awkward child who took a plate, got some bread or fries, and then walked around aimlessly while everyone else got their meat like normal people. It was awesome being invited to so many parties, but I always came home starving. Or totally full on chips and candy since I didn’t eat anything of nutritional value. I walked right passed everyone in line and I just picked a picnic table to sit at. I sat at the table alone, and looked at the busy Village and all the different rooms.
“Hey girl, just fries?” Lana asked as her and Jason settled in front of me at the table.
“What else is there?” I asked, popping a fry into my mouth.
“You are so sad!” Valerie said, looking at my lonely looking plate. That’s another thing I hate, I always have a lonely plate. Christmas dinners, Thanksgiving, Easter, parties, weddings…I always have the empty looking plate.
“Yes I know. My plate is lonely. I get it!”
“Oh well, at least you’ll stay skinny!” Selena said eyeing my thin build.
“Me skinny? Oh that’s funny.” I rolled my eyes. Knowing I was sort of skinny, but I really didn’t like it when girls envied me for it.
“Stupid ketchup was stuck in the bottle.” Jacob complained, taking a seat beside me. “What a depressing…” I cut him off before he could finish.
“What a depressing plate, I know! Thank you very much!” I pulled my plate in closer to me as if I was trying to hide it. I kept eating my fries so I’d look too busy to explain my body shape or my dietary habits.
“Oh did we already go through this?” Jacob asked, glancing around the table.
“Yes, like twice.” Jason confirmed.
“Well sorry!” Jacob said defensive. I kept quiet and just nibbled at my fry. “You eat like a mouse.” He commented, looking over at me. I threw the remainder of the fry on the plate and pushed it forward.
“Anything else you’d like to criticize me on?!” I snapped.
“Yeah Jacob!” Jason piped in. I flashed him a thankful grin. Lana, Valerie and Selena started giggling.
“What?” Jason asked.
“Nothing…you just…you guys are adorable.” Lana commented, snickering a bit.
“Excuse me?” I asked.
“What? Don’t pretend you don’t know you guys are totally into each other.” Valerie said.
“Okay, changing the subject now. Are we all swimming tonight?” I asked, looking at all the uneasy faces at the table. Why did these people thrive on my flirtations with Jacob? Why didn’t Jacob care? Was it because Jacob liked me?
“I am, I don’t know about you guys.” Valerie said, looking around the table. Selena took a bite out of her burger.
“Of course!” She said with her mouth full.
“Ah! No no, close your mouth.” I shrieked. It really bugs me when people talk with their mouths open. It’s just so gross and impolite.
“Yeah Selena!” Lana agreed with me, and then started laughing. Selena chewed while we all stared at her in silence, then she swallowed.
“Stare any more why don’t you?”
“Well anyways, I’m swimming.” Jacob said, taking a sip of his drink.
“For sure, it’s going to be so fun.” I exclaimed. I ate one last fry and drank the rest of my water. I rubbed my arms under the table. I was always cold. But I couldn’t let Jacob tell or he’d hold my hand. Not that I didn’t love it, but right now I didn’t want anyone else talking about us. I quickly put both my hands on the table and stopped rubbing them. I held in how cold I felt for some reason.
“So are you excited for high school?” Jacob asked me.
“Uhm, sort of. I’m just going to miss my old friends a lot.” I looked down sadly.
“Yeah I get that. Well you’ll love it. Just be your awesome self and you‘ll make friends easily.”
“No I don’t think so.” I doubted. Although it had been a piece of cake to fit in and climb the ladder at my old school, this was high school. You had to really step up your game to be number one.
“You seem like you fit well wherever you go.” He said, referring to how easily I’d made friends at camp.
“I do okay. But I’m not the brightest, you know that. So who knows if I’ll even pass high school.”
“It’s not that horrible! And you’re smart!” he paused, “in your own way.” He added.
“Well it’s a university prep school. Everything is about pushing it and pushing it, and doing as good as you can, and I’m not that smart.”
“If you can go to a university prep school you can’t be that dumb.” He pointed out. “I go to a normal arts public school. You’re pretty lucky.”
“I got into an arts school. But I’m not going.”
“Why not?” He asked. I thought for a minute. I had gotten in to a great arts school for drama, but the girls were bitches and the academics sucked, so I turned it down.
“Simple. Bitchy girls, crappy academics. I want to actually do something with my life. I want to be a writer.” I told him.
“Really? Well, that’s awesome. You seem like a good writer from your songs. Did you ever finish that one?”
“I’m almost there.” I answered, referring to ‘Flawless’, the song I was writing about Jacob.
“How about another game of President?” Jason asked the table. We all looked at him with dead-pan expressions. I picked up a fry off of Jacob’s plate and threw it at him. Lana threw one, then so did Selena and Valerie. “Fine, we won’t!” He said, throwing his hands up in the air defending himself.
“I’m gonna finish that song, actually.” I said, dismissing myself from the table.
“Don’t be too long! We have….” Jacob started. He looked down at his watch. “An hour and a half before the pool party starts. It starts at 8 right?” Jacob asked.
“Yeah I think so.” Jason answered. I shrugged and left for my guitar. I walked back to the dorm thinking of where I could keep writing. When I got there I just settled on writing it there. I kept thinking of lyrics and a melody and I couldn’t help but smile when I wrote it, because Jacob just made me smile. I looked at the time and realized it was getting later. I wondered where the girls where. I put my guitar and walked out of the dorm. When I got outside, I only took a few steps when I saw Selena, Valerie and Jason talking. Selena and Valerie were getting ready to come back. I wondered where Jacob was….and Lana.
“Hey!” Valerie said noticing me.
“Hi…” I said, glancing around.
“Finish the song?” Selena asked. I spotted Jacob. He was off by the Loft with Lana. She said something and he laughed. Then she put her hand on his arm. I let out a long breath. I wondered if Valerie, Selena or Jason noticed my disappointment. I wonder if they noticed my heart just dropped. I stared in awe. I didn’t know what to think. I guess that game of ten fingers should have taught me something.

“You okay?” Jason asked, noticing my wide eyed look.
“I’m fine. Let’s go get ready.” I grabbed Selena and dragged her into the dorm. Valerie followed. I went straight to the drawer and pulled out my white bikini with the Ocean Pacific symbol. If he didn’t already see it was me he wanted, I’d show him. I used to be a bit skinny, unhealthy skinny I guess. But it comes in handy at times like this.
“Summer, are you alright?” Valerie asked.
“I’m perfectly fine.” I answered, not making eye contact. I clutched my bikini and went into the bathroom. I heard Lana come back as I was in the bathroom.
“Hey girls!” She exclaimed, sounding all perky.
“Hey!” Valerie said. I heard drawers open and close. I put the bikini on and looked in the mirror. I analyzed my slightly tan body. My toned abs that I worked on at the gym back at home. My thin legs which I used to despise. I stepped out.
“I’m so jealous of you!” Lana commented, looking my body up and down. I shrugged. Good, she should be.
“It’s natural.” I said sounding more snobby then I intended to.
“Well you’re lucky and I hate you.” Selena said, hitting me with her bikini top. I giggled. Selena walked into the bathroom and started changing. I took a peek out the back door where the balcony was and saw the sun still shining bright.
“I love how sunny it is at 7:30.” I said, gazing off still.
“That’s the beauty of summer!” Valerie exclaimed. “Plus being up here is so nice.” She added. Just then Selena stepped out in her bikini. She covered her stomach with her other clothes.
“Now I’m no Summer…but I don’t look terrible!” She said, revealing her stomach.
“Oh come on.” I started. “You look awesome!”
“Well…thanks for trying.” She said. Valerie got up and went to change.
“So what’s up?” I asked Lana, hoping she’d give me something here.
“Oh nothing, how about you?”
“Nothing. So how about Jacob?”
“I think he likes you, I really do! Do you like him?”
“No! I don’t know how many times I need to say I do not like Jacob! Do YOU like Jacob?” She looked slightly offended and a bit taken back.
“Me liking Jacob?” She started to laugh. “Yeah, sure.” I wasn’t sure I believed that. Jacob seemed like such a player. Know what else I realized? They write on each others walls a lot. With hearts and smiles and compliments. Part of me wonders if I’m just being used to get her jealous. Whatever, it wouldn’t be the first time a guy has used me.
“Alright Lana, your turn.” Valerie said coming out of the bathroom.
“Okay!” She hopped up and grabbed her bikini and slipped into the bathroom.
“So I’m the only one who knows you like Jacob?” Valerie whispered.
“I feel left out of all these conversations.” Selena commented, getting up off her bed.
“Yeah.” I answered, pretending I was agreeing with Selena. I eyed Valerie and gave a slight nod, signalling her to be quiet.
“Okay, we ready?” Lana asked, coming out of the bathroom.
“Yeah.” Selena said, going to the door.
“Uh guys…” I started, realizing something.
“What?” Valerie asked, turning to me.
“We should probably put clothes on.” I said. Everyone looked down at their bare bodies besides the bathing suits.
“True!” Lana exclaimed. We all went to our drawers and grabbed some clothes. I slipped on light denim shorts and a crop top from Aritzia.
“Now we can go!” I said, pulling an elastic around my wrist. We each put our flip flops on and left.

“Hey” Jacob said, as he and Jason approached us by the lake.
“Hey.” Selena, Valerie and Lana all said at the same time.
“Hey Summer…” Jacob tried, his eyes glued to my body. I could tell he was trying hard not to stare since he’s the kind of guy who doesn’t like to call girls hot. But he couldn’t seem to resist.
“Yo.” I said casually, giving a tiny wave. I crossed my arms to my stomach.
“Okay then. Hawkward. Right Jacob?” Jason nudged Jacob. Jacob’s eyes remained glued to my body. Jason followed Jacob’s gaze and gawked at me even more obviously.
“I still don’t get that joke.” I said, ignoring the stares. I played it dumb like I had no idea. I fingered through my long, straight hair. I took a deep breath and put my hand on my hips, then rested on one hip. Jason’s eyes moved down to my tan legs, which I always thought were fat. “I was trying to be polite, but could you guys stop staring?” I giggled. Jacob and Jason finally broke out of their trance.
“Staring?! Who was staring?!?!” Jason denied.
“Oh…definitely not you.” I said sarcastically.
“Everyone is allowed in the water now! Rules are for the trampoline and the slide is to be safe! Don’t do any dangerous jumps or tricks…you get the drill. No more than six people on the trampoline at a time. Same with the slide platform. Have fun!” After Rachel’s announcement, Lana, Selena, Valerie, Jacob, Jason and I found a picnic table and started taking our clothes off. I used my skills to my advantage. I pulled my top over my head and shook my hair a little. I put it in my TNA brand duffle bag containing my towel. I looked over at Jason and Jacob casually. They were eyeing me subtly. I pulled my shorts down and gathered all my hair into my hands. Then I let go of it and let it fall around my neck. I ran my fingers through it.
“Ready?” I asked, seeing Jacob and even Jason gawking at me.
“Uh-huh…” Jacob said, trying to break his stare.
“You okay?” I asked, flashing my most flirty smile. Lana showed a face of utter disgust at me. I pretended not to notice.
“Yeah I’m just…distracted.” He answered.
“Come on Jacob, don’t be rude!” Jason said, breaking his stare.
“What?!” Jacob freaked, realizing he’d been caught for staring.
“Well what are we waiting for? Let’s go! Last one to the trampoline owes me an ice cream.” I snickered. I brushed passed Jacob, bumping his shoulder ever so slightly. He came following me. I walked onto the dock. I turned and saw everyone following me. When I made sure Jacob was looking, I jumped into the lake. I started swimming over to the trampoline. I turned around on my back after a few seconds to see Jacob swimming after me, followed by Jason, Lana, Selena and Valerie. I floated on my back for a bit and Jacob caught up to me. I giggled and picked up my speed, going back to the front. I got to the trampoline and looked behind to see everyone pretty close. Jacob was right behind me.
“This is so cool!” Lana commented.
“I know!” I looked over at Jacob who was looking at me. He flashed me a smile. I dipped my head under and grabbed onto the ladder. I pulled myself up, flipping my soaking wet hair back and climbing up the ladder. I could feel his eyes on me. I sat on the trampoline and waited for everyone else. Once Jacob got on, I stood up, he followed my motion.
“God that feels good.” I said, running my fingers through my soaking hair, letting it fall back and brush against my mid-back. Valerie, Selena, Jason and Lana all got on too. Auburn and Stephanie swam over with Brigit.
“Damn! Six people.” Auburn complained.
“I’m sorry! We won’t be that long, promise!” I said. Stephanie shrugged and they swam to the slide. We all started jumping on the awesome water trampoline. It was actually quite fun.
“Who wants to jump off first?” I asked looking around. No one said anything.
“No thanks.” Lana answered.
“Why don’t you go?” Selena asked. I figured why not. But I wasn’t going alone.
“Really? Nobody wants to go first?” I asked.
“Well we want to go; we just don’t want to go first!” Jacob explained.
“Fine I’ll go.” I agreed.
“And I’ll go second.” Jacob said.
“Or you can go with me!” I giggled. I grabbed his hand and led him to the edge of the trampoline.
“Ready?”
“Not really…”
“One…two…three!” I yelled. We jumped off and I let go of his hand as we hit the cool lake water.
“That was actually…amusing!” Jacob said, shaking his head after we got in the water. I laughed.
“I told you! I went way higher though. You need better jump.” I teased.
“Whoa, don’t go all Sharpay on me now!”
“You guys had fun?” Jason yelled down to us.
“Yes!” I said, giving a big thumbs up. I went under the water again and swam around to the ladder. I pulled myself back onto the trampoline, knowing that Jacob was directly behind me and he could see my perfectly worked for ass in my bikini shorts. Don’t mind me if I sound a little slutty, it’s just I know guys, I know what they’ve told me they like about me, so I was going to use it to my advantage. I call that strategy, not slutty.
“Who’s next?” Jacob asked, looking around. At that, Jason and Lana jumped in together, doing the same as me and Jacob. I giggled at all my friends and me having fun. Sure, I missed my other friends, but I could never have too many friends. And who says after camp ends I can’t see these people anymore?
“That was so fun!” Lana exclaimed raising her head from the water. Then she let out a loud scream. Jason lifted his head.
“Gotcha!” He laughed.
“Jason!” Lana hit him. “Screw you! You scared me! Don’t ever grab my ankle like that again!” She splashed him.
“Well sorry!” He laughed. They both swam back to the trampoline and we watched Selena and Valerie jump off too. They laughed when they hit the water. We kept jumping for a while, playing trampoline games, chasing each other, pushing each other in. It was fun and for a while I almost forgot about what I saw earlier with Jacob and Lana. They don’t seem so flirty when I’m around. It’s almost like Jacob wants me and her but he just can’t make up his damn mind. Well he better figure it out soon, because I’m not sticking around forever. As a matter of fact, I’m not sticking around after camp.

“Today is going to be so boring.” Lana groaned as we woke up Sunday morning.
“Ugh I know. Plain old rehearsals. I don’t even know the party tonight.” Selena complained sitting up. I smirked at myself. Last night was amazing. I got another hug after the pool party. We hung out all night, we had so much fun. So I really didn’t care how today went because last night was enough to make up for a whole day of doing nothing.
“Isn’t it just a beautiful morning?” I beamed.
“Well hello little miss sunshine, you still on cloud 9 from all you’re flirting with Jacob last night?” Lana said. I felt myself break into a silly grin.
“I didn’t flirt! What are you talking about?” I played like I didn’t know.
“Oh come on. You’re happier then me and it’s morning. This has Jacob written all over it.” Valerie said. She climbed out of bed, first as usual. The three of us followed and got ready for breakfast.
“Look, nothing happened last night. Just us two getting along like normal, civil friends.” I explained.
“You sure you don’t like him?” Lana asked again. I looked up at her from bending down putting on socks.
“I’m sure!” I confirmed. I felt my back crack as I stood up. “Oh ouch.” I moaned. I stretched my back around.
“What’s wrong?” Lana asked.
“I’m so stiff. All my muscles are all tensed up.” I said.
“Oh I know, that’s how we all feel.” Valerie told me. I slipped my phone into my pocket to send a quick text to my friends, and after a few minutes we were all ready to go to the Cookhouse and have breakfast. I thought about seeing Jacob which gave me butterflies. My heart quickened with each step that we took, getting closer to him. When we got to the Cookhouse, he and Jason were talking by our normal table. I walked up to them, pretending I hadn’t noticed either of them.
“Well good morning there.” Jacob said, winking at me. I looked up at him, pretending I just noticed him.
“Hey.” I said casually. He put his hat on my head. I started tugging at my hair. I pulled at my pink Hollister tank top. I’m trying to keep my cool but I know it shows. I looked down and started staring at my feet. I could just tell my cheeks were turning red.
“Is anyone else…really tired? Like I’m not used to all this waking up early.” Jason asked.
“It’s like…10 in the morning.” I said.
“I wake up at like 12! Sometimes I wake up at 2!” Jason complained.
“What do you do with your days!? Do you not have a life besides sleeping?”
“That’s rude!” Everyone laughed. “And no, I have nowhere to go!”
“By the time you finally wake up, my daily plans have already started!” I looked up quickly. “Ouch!” I yelped.
“What now?” Selena asked. I rubbed my neck.
“My neck’s just really stiff. Everything is really stiff today.” I complained. I sat on the bare ground.
“At least make it to the table!” Jacob laughed. He took my hand and helped me up slowly. I rested my head on his shoulder once I was up. He put his hand on my back. I got all jumpy and tingly inside. “Wow, you really are tired. I hope you can do karaoke tonight.” I moved my head and looked up into his green eyes which, like always when he was around me, changed to blue.
“Seriously?” I asked.
“Oh right!” Valerie exclaimed. “We all have to do karaoke! It’s too fun!”
“Oh great. This day just gets better and better.” Jason said. I started walking to the buffet and everyone followed. Even though I was in a happy mood about last night, I was in a lot of pain. Everything was so stiff this morning. Especially my knees. I was used to injuries from cheerleading so it wasn’t really a big deal. Today’s breakfast was bagels. I grabbed a plate and brushed someone’s hand at the same time. I turned my head a little and saw Jacob close behind me. I guess that must have scared me because I flinched a bit and fell back.
“Whoa, you alright?” He asked, chuckling while putting his hand on my back to help me keep my balance.
“You scared me.” I answered. He laughed more.
“You sound so dead.”
“Well gee, thanks. That’s what I was aiming for. Dead.” I kept walking in the line until I got to the baskets of bagels. I grabbed a cinnamon raison bagel and popped it in the toaster. I missed peanut butter so much. Usually I have peanut butter on my plain bagels but no all because someone has to have a stupid peanut butter allergy. And now, the rest of us have to suffer. I waited at the toaster for my bagel. It was one of those toasters they have at hotel buffets. You know that awkward occurrence when you’re waiting for your toast or your bagel and then some random stranger comes up to you and stands directly beside you to wait. No one says anything, except maybe a bit of small talk. Then the toast slides out and you watch each other take it, which is just a little awkward as well.
“You’re in a bad mood this morning.” Jacob said, coming beside me for the classic awkward moment at the toaster.
“I’m just really tired.”
“Do I tire you out?” He grinned. He then started tickling me which made me flinch and laugh.
“I’m awake!” I shrieked. Then we noticed Lana and Jason watching us.
“I told you they’d be flirting by the toaster.” Selena pointed out as her and Valerie walked up to Jason and Lana.
“Seriously guys either admit you like each other or stop flirting!” Lana said. I still thought he liked her or she liked him…but then there was that part of me that believed he liked me. But then there was part of me that was too scared to find out. Why did Carter have to hurt me like that? If he didn’t I might be able to trust something. I might have some hope. I’m so used to pain and then this feeling comes around and it takes me a while to find out…that it’s happiness. And I can’t seem to believe it or recognize it because Carter never made me feel that. Well he did, but it always came with a downfall. It was never as easy as plain, simple happiness. Jacob made me feel that, so why couldn’t I enjoy it?
“Seriously?! This again? When will anyone listen to me, we do not like each other! We’re just two people who get along really well. God.” I walked away after my explosion and I sat at the table by myself. I looked over at them all still standing there. Jacob had a shocked look on his face. After about a minute of sitting by myself I started to feel bad for my outburst, so I got back up and walked over to them again. “Look…I’m sorry. I’m over-tired, I miss my friends, and I’m seriously stiff. I’ll be nicer, I just…I don’t know. I have no excuses. Just know I’m sorry.” I explained. I looked at everyone’s face.
“It’s fine, we understand.” Selena finally said. She put her hand on my shoulder gently.
“Yeah no big deal. We’re all kind of off today…last night was too fun but we were out too late.” Lana said. She, Selena and Valerie came closer to me and the four of us shared a hug.
“Why are girls so mushy?” Jason asked.
“Why are boys so complicating?” I responded. I bit my lip and giggled. Jacob grinned at me.
“Cute mysteriousness.” He laughed. “It strikes again.” I giggled again.
“Cute predictability can’t get enough!” I joked. We all went to the table and started eating breakfast.

It seemed most of the day at rehearsals, this mornings events were dismissed completely. The flirting still continued, life went on. I was a little rough in my singing voice though, and by our final block of rehearsing right before being let out for dinner, I started getting really stiff.
“I can’t sing today.” I told Jacob right after my ‘Fabulous: Troy’s Transformation’ song which was another scene with him. It was literally a five second scene change after the song and the lines and I had to move right to my spot for ‘Humu Humu’ with everyone else, then more lines with Jacob, and then within five seconds I had to move to my spot for ‘You are the Music in Me’ our duet. But today my voice was really annoying me. I just wasn’t in the singing mood.
“Don’t worry. It’s just an off day; it’s going to be better tomorrow.” He said, putting his hand on my arm gently. I flicked him off my arm.
“Are you agreeing my voice sucks?!” I asked.
“No I love your voice!” He chuckled. He gave me a smile. I grinned a little back.
“No you don’t!” I disagreed.
“Yeah I do, you’re just not having a good day! You’re still amazing! You were pretty good at Fabulous!” He said. He tickled me and I flinched.
“Okay everyone, next dance, come on.” Rachel announced. She’d been in a bad mood today too. I lifted my leg behind me and stretched it.
“Ouch.” I complained.
“What?” Jacob asked as we walked to our spots for the next dance.
“My knee hurts a little, no big deal.” I shrugged it off.
“Maybe you should be careful.” He said.
“Whatever.” We started doing the dance and by the time we finished it was hurting me more. “Damn.” I complained.
“Summer don’t get hurt! You have to perform on Thursday!” Lana said.
“I’m fine.” I responded.
“Okay, good! One more time, Sharpettes really rock it during that bridge, and Sharpay and Troy make sure you remember your vocals.” Rachel announced.
“You’re kidding.” I moaned.
“Maybe you should sit out this one. Give your knee a break.” Jacob told me putting his hand on my back while I held my leg behind me.
“I’m fine.” I said again. “This is our duet; no one else is dancing in it but us and my Sharpettes. I can’t not do it.” We got ready to do the dance. I don’t remember how, but in the middle of one of the moves I felt something go wrong in my knee and I fell to the hard stage ground. “Ouch!!” I yelled. I rubbed my knee which was now in excruciating pain. The music stopped and everyone looked over at me on the ground. “Dammit!” I cried out. I fought hard to keep tears from prickling my eyes. Jacob and Lana ran up to me first, with Rachel following behind, and Selena, Jason and Valerie right after. Everyone else peeked over and got closer.
“What the hell?” Lana shrieked. “You can’t be hurt!”
“Summer, are you alright? What happened?” Jacob crouched down so we were eye level. I looked down at my limp knee.
“I don’t know, it just twisted or some crazy s*** happened, and now it hurts A LOT.” I answered. I let out another moan of pain.
“Back up guys.” Rachel said, crouching beside me. She pressed the sides. “Does that hurt?” I let out a whimper.
“Yes!” I answered. She moved her hands lower down.
“How about there?”
“No.” I answered.
“Can you bend it?” I tried bending it and felt a sharp pain.
“It hurts, but yes.”
“Well at least it isn’t broken or fractured. Can you stand? Sam go get ice please.” She turned to Sam to say. I tried standing up. Jacob grabbed my arm and helped me. I took a deep breath as I stood on my left foot and put slight pressure on the right, which was the one I hurt.
“Ouch….I can but it’s a bit painful.” I stood up with Jacob’s support. He put his arm around me. I looked over at him. “Thanks.” I said. He gave me a nod and smiled.
“Please get better.” He said. I smiled back.
“I’ll try.” Sam got there with an ice pack wrapped up.
“Lana, Selena, Valerie, take her to the dorm, we’re done for today anyways. Everyone please stay safe, we can’t have anymore injuries before Thursday. Tonight is karaoke night so after dinner at 8 will be the karaoke in the Loft. We’ll see you there.” Rachel announced. Jacob let go and handed me off to Lana and Selena. Valerie followed close behind.
“You gonna be okay?” Jason asked me.
“I’ll be fine.” I answered.
“Now would be a good time for that tensor band.” Jacob tried to joke. I let out a small snicker remembering our fun climbing the tree.
“Yes it would.” I responded. With that, the six of us left the theatre and went in our separate directions to our dorms. “Guys, my life sucks. It just sucks in general.”
“Your life does not suck! Your knee is going to be better by Thursday.” Valerie reassured me while I limped to the dorm. When we got inside, I plopped onto Selena’s bed.
“Where’s your tensor?” Lana asked. I pointed to the drawer of the bed side table. She crossed over to it and took it out.
“I get injured in soccer a lot; I can put it on properly.” Selena took the tensor from Lana. She came over to me and started wrapping it tightly around my knee. “There.” She finished. She stood up and observed her work. “Bend it.” She ordered. I bent it back and forth and it felt a tad better, but still painful.
“Well I think I can stand now.” I said, standing up by myself. “Thanks guys.” I gave a smile to each girl.
“No worries. Anything we can do to help, let us know! I should have brought my fisher price doctor’s kit…” Lana said. We all laughed.
“Alright, now that that’s out of the way, what are we wearing tonight? I was thinking dark long sleeve shirts and white shorts.” I suggested. I limped over to my drawer to show off what I meant. I pulled out a charcoal gray TNA brand long sleeve top with a pretty cinch and a high scoop neck. It was sort of baggy but because of the cinch at my hips, it gave me a nice shape. So pretty much it was thirty-five dollars well spent. After that I pulled out my white Hollister shorts.
“How can you still think of clothes in such a sad time?” Lana over exaggerated.
“It’s a sprained knee, not a broken neck. No big deal, I’ll be fine.” I told her, changing my shirt.
“Well fine. I’m wearing my cute black shirt with the buttons.” Lana said, pulling it out of her drawer. Then she got her white shorts.
“Uhm…Summer can I borrow the shorts again?” Selena asked bashfully. I remembered that night where she borrowed my shorts.
“Sure.” I tossed the second pair over to her and kept changing.
“Thank you.” She smiled gratefully. Then she got out a top similar to mine in black. By the end of getting ready, we all looked similar, as usual.
“Let’s roll!” I announced. We left the dorm, slowly this time. I limped down the hall, in the elevator, and once we reached outside. I limped all the way to the Cookhouse.
“Okay miss clumsy, you need to sit. What do you want from the buffet? Pizza?” Jacob offered when he saw me limp in with my wrapped knee.
“Don’t be ridiculous, I am fully capable of taking care of myself!” I stood my ground.
“I doubt that.” Jason said. I gave him a glare. What was with him and negative, sarcastic words? “I meant because of your knee. Gosh, relax.” I rolled my eyes.
“Just sit Summer; we need to do what we can to help that knee rest.” Lana said.
“No! No one needs to do anything- Jacob- I can do it by myself.” I started limping towards the buffet, with no one following.
“Get her.” Jason said. And with that, Jacob grabbed onto me and carried me over to the table. I couldn’t help but burst out into hysterical laughter by the shock of literally being swept off my feet.
“Oh my God!” I shrieked.
“And now you’re going to sit, and I’m getting you pizza. Want water too?” He put me down in a chair.
“Sure.” I said, still fighting laughs. “Thank you.” I smiled at him. He gave me a wink and walked away with Jason. I sat there and waited, just thinking. There were so many guys at my old school who tried to steal my heart. After Robert I pushed them all away. Carter included…why though? When I tried to let him back in, he definitely stole my heart, but I wanted it back. I never really had any luck. For some reason, I couldn’t figure out how to love. I still can’t, I don’t think I’ll ever know. So many amazing moments with him in grade eight that just didn’t last forever. Now I’m sitting here trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. I try to remember details and exactly what happened. For some reason, some memories I have are in vivid detail and I remember anything. But then a part of it will blur out and I can’t remember the rest. That day…what happened? He got mad at me; I gave in…what happened after that? Why couldn’t I remember? How long was it before I gave in? Why couldn’t I be strong? Why couldn’t I figure it out? Before my thoughts got too deep and too real, Jacob saved me.
“Two pieces of yummy cheese pizza and a glass of chocolate milk- not water- served up!” He announced, placing the full looking plate in front of me and the glass of not water beside it. Then he sat down right beside me with his own food.
“Two?! Why two?”
“I don’t know, you never eat a lot so I was hoping if I asked politely you would.” He gave me a cheesy smile.
“I just want one, but thanks for getting it for me. That was sweet of you.” He smiled at me.
“Anything for you.” I gave a quick smile then turned away quickly and ate my dinner.

When it was 8 o’clock, the six of us got ready to go to the karaoke.
“So we’re all singing?” Valerie asked.
“I am!” Selena answered.
“I probably will too.” Lana said.
“I don’t really want to…Can someone sing a duet with me?” Jason asked.
“Sure!” Lana responded.
“I might…” Jacob looked over at me.
“Well I am.” I said as we all limped into the Loft. The six of us went to the song binder to pick a song and sign our names.
“Summer, we should sing a duet.” Jacob suggested. “After all, we sound pretty good together.” He gave me a wink. I thought for a minute.
“Yeah why not?”
“What song?” He asked. I thought for a minute. I wasn’t sure.
“You pick.” I said. I smiled at him and went to sit on a blue bean bag in front of the small stage with two microphones set up. Everyone started settling into seats. Lana sat on my left and Jacob on my right. Selena and Valerie were beside Lana and Jason was beside Jacob. We all sat on bean bags in front of the stage.
“What are you singing?” I asked Lana.
“Jason and I are singing Give Me Everything. It’s all for jokes. Total jokes song.” I laughed.
“That’s hilarious. I can so picture that.” I said.
“Selena and I are singing O.M.G by Usher. It’s going to be hysterical.” Valerie laughed. I laughed too.
“That’s good. I wonder what I’m singing.” I started. Then I turned to Jacob. “What are we singing?” I asked.
“Oh you’ll see. I just picked it at random; I can’t remember the name of it.” He answered. I sighed. He was preparing to embarrass me, I could tell.
“Welcome to karaoke night everyone! We’ve got a great list so let’s get started!” Rachel announced. We all cheered. She started with the list. Some people in singing, some I knew who were in the play. Brigit went, so did Auburn and Stephanie. Soon it was Selena and Valerie. As usual we all cheered for them and died laughing while they danced and sang O.M.G. Next was Lana and Jason who definitely rocked their duet.
“Nice job.” I said through my giggles while high fiving both Jason and Lana.
“Yeah that was too funny.” Jacob agreed, also high fiving them.
“Swaggalicious.” I commented. Jacob looked over at me. “What?” I asked. He shook his head and smirked.
“You’re awesome.” He smiled.
“Alright campers, it’s our last of the night, Jacob and Summer singing a duet!” Everyone clapped and I heard way too many ‘oooohs’ from the audience. Everyone thought there was something going on. It was just me who didn’t.
“Alright guys, let’s finish this off right!” Sam said. Just then the first few beats started and I looked up at the screen, and felt my heart jump out of my chest when I saw the title. It was ‘Two is Better Than One’ the love ballad from Boys Like Girls and Taylor Swift. Everyone let out more ‘oooh’ noises when the song started. Crap. We started singing.
“I remember what you wore on the first day, you came into my life and I thought hey you know this could be something….” Jacob started singing. He had a really good voice, it practically made me melt. For his next line he moved closer to me and looked me in the eyes. I broke the gaze and looked around the audience at everyone’s adoring faces. After a while of just him singing, I finally came in and decided I wouldn’t get to do this again, so I might as well make it look good. I turned over to Jacob and looked at him.
“I remember every look upon your face…” I sang. We kept the song going and started smiling each time we got to sing together. It was just a cheesy mushy song that we couldn’t help but gush while we sang. It got to the last little bit of the song and I felt this beautiful feeling…it took a while to indentify it….it was feelings. Real feelings for Jacob…why couldn’t they go away?
“Maybe it’s true…that I can’t live without you. And maybe two is better then one.” We sang in unison. Then it got to the different harmonies, which we were really good at. We started walking apart, than walking closer together for the last line. “Two…is better than one.” We sang together, looking at each other, standing about two or three inches apart. So close I not only heard his voice, I felt it. Everyone clapped and I let out a long breath. I broke apart from Jacob and walked off the stage quickly….well as quickly as I could with a hurt knee.
“You guys were freaking amazing! Not to mention INCREDIBLY cute!” Valerie nudged me.
“Yeah…you sound really good together!” Selena added.
“That was too cheesy. Though you have a good voice.” Jason said.
“Wow that was actually….so good. I can’t believe you didn’t know he picked that!” Lana laughed. I just stared at everyone until Jacob came beside me.
“Good job.” He said, giving me a small punch. I turned and looked at him.
“Why did you pick that?” I demanded. His face dropped.
“It’s a good song…” He said, trailing off. “I had fun.”
“Yeah uh, it was good. I’m feeling sort of tired though, so I think I’m going to practice my lines and go to sleep. Night guys.” I said. I gave each of them a hug, limply hugging Jacob and then I limped as fast as possible out of the Loft and half ran half limped to my dorm. I tore the door open, took my iPod and my phone and went on the balcony. I put my iPod speakers on full blast and started listening to different songs to drown out how I was feeling. I was too happy, this wasn’t a good thing. I couldn’t be this invested in a person I’ve known for not even a week. I blasted the music and sang along to it, really loudly. I looked at the time; it was 10:30 now. Still singing. Before I realized it, I was singing really loudly and I felt like I was going to cry too. I can’t get hurt, Jacob can’t hurt me. This can’t happen. I stopped crying but kept singing. Too loud I guess because I didn’t hear or notice the rocks being thrown at my balcony. I shut my music off and looked down. There was Jacob.
“What are you doing?” He asked.
“I’m just singing.” I answered like it was no big deal. “What are you doing?”
“Well, Jason and I were about to head back, but I told him I heard something so I came over here and it was just what I thought. You really know how to sing.”
“Where’s my roommates?” I asked.
“They said they would be in the Girls Lounge, they didn’t want to bug you.”
“Oh…”
“Come on, let’s go for a walk. You’ve been up there this whole time singing.”
“I don’t know…I am kind of tired.”
“Come on, Summer. Let’s just go. It’ll be fun.” I shrugged and climbed over the balcony. He gasped. “What are you doing?”
“Catch me!” I giggled. I fell the four stories into Jacob’s arms, or rather on his chest. He didn’t remain standing very long after he caught me. But whatever, I was just happy to be away from my own thoughts and with someone who didn’t make me feel like I had to over think. I liked that.

Monday and most of Tuesday passed by without much notice. No important party, just all day rehearsals. Holding hands back stage, flirting, smiling, laughing, tickling each other, hugs, wearing his hat…all the same routines. It was Tuesday night, and the difference about tonight was that we were spending the night in tents across the lake. But first, we were tie dying our white shirts for the show.
“Okay so basically…dye stains so don’t get it on your clothes. It washes off but it’s pretty tricky. All your doing is tying your shirt in elastics, you can do a design if you know how, and then when we go outside we’ll give further instructions. The elastics are right here.” Rachel said in the acting room. She dropped a pile of elastics on the ground and we all went to get them.
“Alright, watch Summer fail at this.” I said, speaking of myself in third person. My friends laughed.
“I’m SO bad at tie dying!” Lana said after, trying to move her shirt in a circle and put an elastic around it.
“I’m not too bad at this!” Jason said, tying his perfectly in a swirl.
“Me either!” Selena commented, hers also looking perfect. I looked over at Valerie’s and hers was really good too.
“I have no clue how to do that.” Jacob said, reading my mind.
“What a coincidence, me either!” I laughed. I kept trying, and Selena tried to teach me but I had no luck. “Screw this.” I said frustrated. I flattened my shirt and then bunched up different sections and just tied an elastic around them, not caring that it would probably come out looking like crap. When we got outside, Lana, Selena and Valerie lined up near the front, while Jacob, Jason and I were distracted by our conversation and lined up together in the back.
“Summer…can you take off my hat?” He asked.
“What?! Why?!” I held it on my head.
“I don’t want you to get die on it!”
“I won’t!”
“I don’t know if I believe that.” He laughed. “No offense!” I took it off and tossed it at him. “It’s not me! I’m taking mine off too, just in case!” He patted my shoulder.
“it’s definitely you.” Jason said. I hit him.
“Rude!” I giggled. We kept talking about things, mostly Jacob and I. About our lives, and about things we liked, things we hated, inside jokes and a bunch of flirting. In the end my shirt came out sort of pretty. I really liked it, and I was getting compliments on it. Well then, that was time well spent. After we did them, we laid them in the Loft to dry and we set off to go to the campsite on the other side of the lake.
“This time, try to stay IN the canoe!” I said to Jason while dragging the canoe into the water. We were in our same groups, canoeing to the other side of the lake with our camping bags for our night. Jason and Jacob hoisted the bag onto the canoe. It was a heavy bag full of three smaller bags containing all our clothes and things for tonight and tomorrow morning.
“Yeah sure, as long as no psycho chick doesn’t push me.” Jason shrugged.
“You both have a point.” Jacob agreed sitting in the canoe. He held my hand to help me in, and Jason came in after us.
“We’ll see you guys on the other side!” Lana yelled from her canoe. After that, all the canoes were off to our campsite which we got to safely. I guess we learned how to work a canoe. It’s about time after almost two weeks.
“Look at that guys! We all crossed safely!” Selena said, as we drew our canoes in once we reached the other side.
“Well it’s about time.” Jason groaned.
“Oh don’t be such a downer, its your fault you fell in that time.” I said.
“It wasn’t my fault!” He snapped. I started laughing.
“No I know, it was all mine. I just like bothering you!” I giggled.
“Let’s claim tents!” Valerie ran to the tent right by the lake. I liked it too, it was nice. Jacob, Jason and the other boys in their dorm grabbed the tent beside ours.
“Jacob, do you snore?” I asked honestly, trying to hide my grin.
“No I don’t snore!”
“Good, because if you do I would have made you pick a different tent. Snoring annoys me.” I laughed.
“It annoys me too!” He agreed. After that, we went in our separate tents and set everything up in them. We had already eaten dinner, so now we all made a camp fire and sat around it with hot chocolate and marshmallows. I was right beside Jacob and we shared a blanket. I took a sip of my hot chocolate.
“Hot!” I yelped.
“That’s sort of why it’s called hot chocolate…” Jacob pointed out. I smacked him and he dropped his marshmallow. I laughed at him.
“Wow! Loser!” I teased. I picked up a stick beside me and threw it in the fire.
“Can you believe it guys? Just a few more days…” Lana said. She held Selena’s and Valerie’s hand. They were sitting on the log beside mine. I was between Jacob and Jason.
“I know, it sucks. But there’s plenty of time for crying before it’s over! Not to worry!” I said.
“It really has been fun though.” Jason said. I looked over at him.
“Jason! Are you actually being…dare I say it….nice?!” I acted shocked. He gave me a little punch.
“Yes, Summer. I have a heart. Big surprise.”
“I’m going to miss you.” Jacob said, taking my hand in his. “Is there ever a moment you aren’t cold?” I giggled.
“Nope.” I said. Then I leaned my head on his shoulder for a few moments. I let go of his hand, lifted my head up and roasted a marshmallow. “Oh gross…” I commented, seeing that the marshmallow was totally burnt. “You can have that one.” I lifted it off the stick and shoved it in Jacob’s face.
“Hey! That wasn’t nice!” He laughed. He nudged me and I nudged back.
“Guys let’s sing songs!” I laughed. We started singing Last Friday Night, then we sang Give Me Everything, then we started signing random songs. After the singing, Rachel and Sam sat with us and we all talked about camp.
“So let’s go in a circle with your funniest memory here so far.” Rachel said. We started going around while I thought. I’ve had way too many funny moments here.
“My funniest memory so far would have to be when Summer, Selena, Lana and I decided to scare Jacob and Jason in their dorm and so Summer went on their balcony and…well that was just so funny.” Valerie said. Rachel and Sam laughed, as did Selena, Lana, and I. Jacob and Jason just sat there.
“It wasn’t funny.” Jason said, straight faced.
“He thought it was a psychotic squirrel.” Jacob said. That made us laugh more.
“My funniest memory has to be…oh gosh…probably the night Summer made us all jump into the lake!” Selena said.
“Yes!” I cheered. I got up from my comfy spot on the log and ran to high five Selena. “Knew you’d enjoy that!” Valerie, Lana, Jason and Jacob all laughed about that.
“My funniest was probably the night Jason and I slept outside. Nothing will beat that!” Lana said. Oh snap. That was supposed to be one huge secret.
“Lana!” Jacob, Jason and I all tried to silence her.
“What?” She asked, clueless. “Oh crap!” She quickly covered her mouth but it was too late.
“When did you and Jason sleep outside?” Rachel questioned.
“Oh uhm…” Lana started, flustered.
“It was my fault. As a dare. I’m sorry Rachel…when we went canoeing once, Jacob and I won so we dared Lana and Jason to sleep outside of our dorm and Selena and Valerie slept in Jacob and Jason’s dorm with Daniel and Alex. Well not WITH them, but you know what I mean.” I confessed.
“You guys know that sort of thing is strictly forbidden at camp.” Rachel said.
“Yes I know and I’m really sorry, if anyone is getting in trouble make it me, they didn’t do anything wrong…”
“You know Summer, it was good of you to admit it was your fault, and take full responsibility. I’m afraid I’m going to have to do SOMETHING, just because it is the policy…tomorrow night after dinner in the Cookhouse, you’re on cleaning duty. Do something like that again though, and there will be more serious consequences. You’re very lucky I’m being so generous.” She said.
“Thank you Rachel, I promise I won’t do it again!” I assured her.
“Thanks…” Lana said once that was over. Valerie, Selena, Jason and Jacob all thanked me as well.
“Wait a minute…” Sam started. “If Jason and Lana were outside, and Valerie and Selena were with Daniel and Alex…where were you and Jacob?” He asked.
“Oh Jacob slept in my dorm.” I said.
“Oh…well then….never mind I’m not saying anything.” Sam said. I dismissed his weirdness and the circle kept going.
“My funniest moment was probably…dare I say it…falling out of the canoe when psycho over here pushed me.” Jason said, looking over at me. I started dying of laughter. Then I wrapped my arms around him in a hug.
“Yes Jason! Yes! I knew it! I KNEW you loved that!” I let go.
“Okay, okay, you made my time at camp so far pretty funny, I admit. But enough with scaring us!” He said.
“Don’t worry, I won’t do it again.” I promised. Not really. Everyone looked at me. “Oh it’s my turn!” I realized. “Well there have been way too many funny moments. Me and my girls have done some pretty insane things…” I trailed off, thinking about all the crazy things we’ve done. “My favourite though, has to be the night of the intense canoe race and the dares. That was one of my favourites, though I have a lot.” I said.
“Well my favourite was probably that night too. That was such a fun night.” Jacob said.
“Oh I bet you loved it.” Sam said. I giggled a little, Sam knew everything around here. Everyone else laughed too.
“Not in that way!” Jacob blushed.
“It’s alright.” I patted him, grinning. After the circle finished, we told scary stories. I started telling a really scary one I’d heard when I as 10 that freaked me out so much, I still remembered it. I held the flashlight to my face. “Okay everybody…” I spoke slowly and seriously. I told my story, staring at all the scared faces around me.
“Well thanks, now I won’t sleep tonight.” Jason said once I finished.
“Oh I’m sorry!” I giggled.

By 11 we were all so tired, we went into our tents.
“See you guys tomorrow!” Lana said with a wave. She gave a quick hug to both guys and started walking. Valerie and Selena waved and followed.
“See you in the morning.” Jacob smiled at me.
“Bye.” I pretended I was walking away until he took my around the waist and hugged me. I hugged back.
“Sorry, can’t let you leave without a hug.” He let go and I smiled up at him. I walked back to my tent.
“So guys, who’s in the mood to REALLY freak Jason and Jacob out tonight?” I asked.
“Me!” Lana raised her hand.
“No way. If Rachel or Sam find out we could get in trouble.” Valerie said.
“Cur few is still 12, we’re allowed to leave.” I pointed out.
“In our PJ’s?” Selena asked.
“We just sat at a camp fire for an hour and a half in our PJ’s.” I reminded them.
“She has a point.” Lana said.
“Ugh fine, what are we doing?” Valerie asked.
“We’ll pretend it’s a ghost or a monster or something.” Lana said.
“Yeah, bring a flash light, let’s go. Just follow my lead.” I said. Valerie and Selena sighed.
“Fine.” They agreed.
“Hey Jacob!” I yelled from my tent.
“Hi Summer!” He yelled.
“Good night!” I said. Lana started laughing.
“Good night Summer!” He responded.
“Hey Jason!” I said next.
“Yes, Summer?” He replied, with an obvious sigh.
“I love you!”
“I love you too!” He said, sarcastic.
“Yay!” I giggled.
“Wow, feeling the love here.” Jacob said.
“Jacob! I love you!” I said.
“Love you too!” He responded. Then we snuck out, so they wouldn’t be suspecting us. We tip toed over to their tent, then shone my flash light on the outside. I rattled the outside a little and then bent down beside it.
“Who’s there?” We heard Alex say.
“Don’t worry guys; it’s just Summer fooling around with us. Summer quit it!” Jason yelled to me. I ignored him. I stepped on some twigs by the tent and rattled it some more. Lana went on the other side and did the same.
“Seriously guys, stop.” Jason said again.
“Yeah we know it’s you! It isn’t funny! We’re going to come over there!” Jacob said. I motioned for Valerie and Selena to hide behind the tent while Lana and I went back. Lana and I tip toed back, barely making a sound, while Valerie and Selena kept rattling the tent.
“Here we come!” Jason warned. We sat in our sleeping bags, pretending to be very into conversation.
“And he was like ‘why?’ and I was like, ‘just because I said so!’ What a jerk right?” I made up a totally random story on the spot when I heard Jason and Jacob coming to our tent.
“Guys let us know if the tent keeps going while we’re gone.” Jacob said, as he and Jason stepped out. They walked a few feet to our tent.
“Wow, what a loser!” Lana said, following my fake story.
“Guys? Summer? You in there?” Jacob walked in our tent. “Oh…”
“Can we help you??” I asked, like they were being impolite.
“Were you just at our tent rattling it around?” Jason asked. “Be honest.”
“Jason…I’m sitting all wrapped up in my warm sleeping bag. Why on Earth would I use so much effort to move and bother you in your tent? I’m already in trouble for the dare, I don’t need anymore. And besides, you already think that there’s a psychotic squirrel on the loose, you freak yourself out enough.” I said with my best acting face.
“Where’s Selena and Valerie?” Jason asked.
“Going to the bathroom.” Lana lied.
“Would you like to go visit them?” I offered.
“Not really…” Jason said.
“Okay so want to leave us alone and go back to your tent?”
“Sorry to bother you…” Jacob backed away and so did Jason.
“Oh hey guys!” Selena said. Good girl, playing along. “The bathrooms here are nasty, if you can, wait.” She said.
“Oh…okay….well good night.” Jason left, sounding confused. Once we were sure they were in their tents, we went back on the prowl. We kept rattling at their tent and shining the light.
“I’m getting freaked out, Jacob!” Jason said.
“Relax and go to sleep. You’ll forget all about it. We’re in a forest, it’s probably an animal.” Jacob assured him.
“I’m going to have nightmares!” Alex, their other roommate, said.
“Someone wanna go out and figure out what that is?” Daniel asked.
“Not really.” They all said.
“Just be quiet, maybe it’ll get bored of our silence.” Jacob suggested.
“Psychotic squirrels don’t get bored of silence, Jacob!” Jason snapped.
“Shut up!” Jacob said. They were all quiet and we kept it up until about 12:30, hearing their occasional complaints, then finally they fell asleep. We went back to our tent. At around 3, I woke up again. Sleeping in a tent isn’t comfy.
“Lana?” I whispered, thinking I’d seen her eyes open too.
“Wanna…” She started asking. Before she finished I nodded. We left and went back to their tent to scare them.
“Jacob…Daniel, Alex! Wake up! It’s back!” Jason complained.
“Oh for the love of God.” Jacob said. “Jason, you’re dreaming, go to sleep.”
“I’m going back to sleep, it is 3 in the morning.” Alex complained.
“What else do you want us to do? Go scuba diving?” Daniel groaned. We heard him and Alex turn over and fall asleep again.
“I can’t sleep with all your whining!” Jacob complained after Jason complained some more.
“I can’t sleep knowing there’s a psychotic squirrel, or a ghost or worse outside our tent!”
“Dude, did you just say a ghost?”
“You heard Summer’s story! Yes, a ghost!”
“Oh my God. Man you’re crazy. First the girl convinces you that there’s a psychotic squirrel, then she convinces you there’s a ghost?! Go to sleep! We still have to wake up at 8 tomorrow!”
“Fine! But I’m seriously scared! I think I might piss!”
“Can you say that again, this time with the camera recording?”
“Jacob! I’m serious, that is some scary s*** man! There’s a possible man eating monster right outside and you’re telling me to sleep!” After more bickering, they finally decided to sleep. Lana and I left and we fell asleep again too, laughing for a while before being able to rest.

The next morning, Jacob’s tent was up first.
“Morning Summer!” Jacob yelled from his tent. I groaned and woke up.
“Morning Jacob!” I laughed.
“Hi Summer!” Jason yelled, sounding extremely and thoroughly exhausted.
“Hey Jason! How’d you sleep?”
“Terribly!” He responded.
“He was worried about the monster outside our tent!” After that comment, the four of us laughed and got ready to leave the campsite to have breakfast at the Cookhouse.
“You look horrible!” Lana told Jason when we saw him. He kept turning his head as if he was really paranoid and he looked like a disaster.
“I couldn’t sleep. There was a monster.”
“At least you made it through the night, and now we’re going back to the safety of our campus.” Selena smiled. When Jacob and Jason walked ahead to the canoes I looked over at the three girls.
“We aren’t telling them until it’s a better time!” I whispered. We all giggled.

When we got back, we ate breakfast and started up rehearsals, still laughing about last night every now and then. It was Wednesday, the show was tomorrow. I was still injured, but I could finally walk, as long as I had the tensor band around my knee. Jacob always helped me up when I sat and all the flirting continued. This Wednesday night we were having another PJ themed party in the Loft. But we weren’t watching a movie, just playing games and chilling in the Loft. I was floating on air from another amazing rehearsal, flirtation and more games of President when we went to the dorm after dinner to change into our PJ’s.

“I can’t believe the show is tomorrow!” Selena exclaimed.
“I know! It’s so exciting! Tonight we should get to bed earlier.” Valerie said.
“I agree. Tonight should just be our chills night. We’ll party our asses off on Friday night at the final party. That’s going to be awesome!” I stated.
“Oh crap!” Valerie got up off her bed.
“What’s wrong?” Lana asked. Valerie felt around her pockets.
“I forgot my iPod in the Cookhouse! Come with me!” She grabbed Selena’s arm and raced out the door.
“Well alright then.” Lana giggled.
“Lana can I ask something?” I sat beside her and bit my lip nervously. She was close with Jacob, if he liked me she’d know, right? He’d been posting on both our walls all week, but my messages come quicker, are cuter and generally mean more.
“Sure!” She smiled. “Anything.”
“Okay…oh God this is embarrassing….do you actually think Jacob likes me? People keep telling me but I don’t know…” I asked. I felt my heart beat fast as I watched her think before she answered.
“To be honest…kind of. Like he calls you cute and stuff and he flirts with you, and replies to your wall posts like twice before he replies to me once!” She paused and laughed a little. Then she continued. “But I don’t know, you could be right, maybe he just treats everyone like that.” She said, referring to two nights ago when I had said I’m not special to him. “Now was this a question randomly or because you’re starting to like him?” She asked with a wink. I hesitated for a long time before answering her question, in my head debating if I should tell the truth.
“Well…” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Maybe because I’ve liked him since like…Wednesday of last week. But please don’t tell anyone, especially him, I like where things are right now and I don’t want this to get messed up!” I said, starting to talk really fast.
“I knew it!” She punched my arm. Then her face turned unsure. “And I don’t think I’m supposed to tell you this but I don’t want you to get hurt…” She took my hand. Uh oh. My own face started falling a little. “That night me and Jason slept outside I asked if he liked you and Jason said no that he just likes flirting with you…” Lana let go of my hand and looked at me. I felt my eyes get wide and my face just fall. I felt my heart stop its rapid beating and slow down like it had been shocked as well. How was this happening? Not now, right at the freaking end of camp before a show. I should be focusing and now how can I focus when this happened?! Lana must have noticed I wasn’t talking. “Are you okay?” I stood up quickly, turning my face away so she couldn’t tell I was about to cry.
“This is why I don’t say s*** to anyone.” I snapped. I put my hair at the top of my head. “I’m going to bed. Tell everyone I feel sick.” Lana stood up too and came closer to me.
“Oh my God are you mad? I’m so sorry…” She touched my arm. I turned at her quickly, feeling the tears burning my eyes.
“No, I’m definitely happy that after feeling perfectly happy for the first time in a while, I now feel like complete crap. And like an idiot.” I snapped. After speaking I felt the tears starting to come. I sniffled and tried to wipe it away. Lana rushed forward to hug me.
“Oh my God no he wouldn’t do this. He wouldn’t lead you on like this he is way too nice for that, and if he was leading you on, he definitely doesn’t deserve you.” She said while hugging me. I cried more. I hate when people hug me while I’m crying, it just makes me cry more. She let go and I kept brushing away tears.
“Yeah he would. You heard all those things he said in that stupid ten fingers game. I should have seen this one coming; I just liked how he was NICE to me after all the crap I went through in grade eight.” I sat down on the bed and buried my head in between my hands. She came and sat beside me.
“Just because he’s made out and stuff doesn’t affect his personality, it just makes him experienced I guess…but the Jacob I know is a nice guy.” She said rubbing my back. I looked up and at her.
“I’d like to believe that. I’d like to believe Jason just said that without asking Jacob, as a guess, or that Jacob used it as a cover like I’ve been doing all week, but I know the truth, he led me on.” Just saying those words out loud made me angry. So angry that instead of wanting to sit here and cry, I wanted to cry more so I could drown Jacob in my tears.
“You don’t know that…” She said, wrapping her arms around my shaking, crying body.
“It’s easier believing that then trying to be happy.” I admitted.
“True but I honestly don’t believe Jacob is that much of a douche.”
“I felt happy…I don’t want to let go of it.” I slowed down on the crying.
“We don’t even know if it’s for sure. It was probably just a cover. OR Jason didn’t even ASK Jacob. Jacob wasn’t there, Jason just said it, and he could be making an assumption. We don’t know! Just try and stay positive okay?” I thought for a minute, and then decided to agree. If I was going to feel like crap, I had to at least pretend I didn’t.
“Fine…and thanks.” I gave her a smile while sniffling one last time. “But I’m not really in the mood to see him tonight. I think I just want to go for a walk and relax, just think.”
“No worries.” She smiled.
“Hey did we miss anything?” Valerie and Selena came in.
“Sorry we were in the Lounge talking to Macy and Taylor.”
“It’s okay. We were just chilling. Summer has a head ache so she’s just going for a walk to get some air. But we can get going.” Lana saved me. She looked over at me and I mouthed thank you as she gave me a wink.
“Oh okay…well feel better!” Valerie said. She and Selena hugged me and the three of them left. I took my phone with me and started walking. I couldn’t help but cry while I walked. Why was this upsetting me so much? I felt completely led on. You know that feeling you get when something bad happens and you can’t seem to grasp that it just happened? That’s how I’m feeling. After all the signs, how could it be? How could he not like me all of a sudden? I couldn’t take it anymore. I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to Elena. ‘I need you.’ I wrote. She responded in a few minutes. ‘Call the cell now.’ She said. Elena was the best. I smiled at how I had the most amazing best friends. I was so fortunate and so lucky to have so many best friends, close friends and just normal friends there for me all the time. Actually I didn’t even have best friends, they were sisters. I dialled her number and she answered after the first ring.
“Who’s ass do I have to kick?” She asked as soon as she picked up the phone. I laughed through my tears.
“I love you Elena.”
“Love you too! Now tell me the story!” Elena listened as I spilt the whole story to her. All the flirting, what Lana said, the rumours around camp, how much I cried and how I couldn’t believe it. “Summer I still think he likes you. I don’t think it’s possible that he led you on after how he treated you. But I’m meeting him tomorrow night at your show! I’m so excited! Then I’ll tell you the truth okay?”
“Okay. I’m so excited too! Thanks so much for coming!”
“Hey no worries. Courtney, Savannah, Jill, Serena and me are all spending the night in Blue Mountain that night. And we can’t wait to see!”
“I’m so glad you’re all coming!”
“Me too!” After chatting with her for a few more minutes we hung up. I felt much better and I started walking back to the dorm through the forest. I hadn’t realized how dark it was. I looked at my phone and saw it was 10. I saw everyone come out of the Loft. I missed the whole party. I kept walking until I saw a familiar boy. Oh no.
“I thought you had a head ache…” Jacob said once he could finally see my face in the darkness.
“What are you doing here?” I questioned, keeping a large distance.
“Just thought I’d come for a walk. But the real question is what are you doing here?” I ignored him and walked passed him. “Summer, what’s wrong?”
“I’m tired and I have a head ache. Good night Jacob.” I kept walking ignoring his pleads for me to turn around. Then finally I did. “By the way, it was Lana, Valerie, Selena and I who were scaring you guys last night. Tell Jason I’m sorry. Good night.” I kept walking until I got all the way back to the dorm. I ignored any questions from Valerie or Selena. I brushed my teeth in silence, washed my face in silence, removed my makeup (well what was left of it from the tears) in silence, moisturized in silence and crawled into bed in complete silence. “What a nightmare.” Were the last words I muttered to myself before closing my eyes and falling into a deep sleep.

You know that feeling you get when you wake up one morning and take a second to remember what happened the night before? Then you remember it was bad and you just wish you could go back to sleep? That’s how I felt when I opened my eyes this morning. Everyone was already awake.
“Did we wake you?” Lana whispered. I looked at the clock and noticed it was still 7:45 and the alarm hadn’t gone off yet. “Sorry we were all excited for the show so we woke up earlier…”
“It’s fine.” I muttered. I turned onto my stomach, buried my head under my pillow and closed my eyes for 15 minutes, not being able to fully fall back asleep. Once I’m awake it’s hard for me to fall asleep again. Unless it’s the middle of the night. But I mean if I wake up in the morning I can’t fall asleep. Especially when something bad happened the night before, then it’s impossible. I couldn’t stand the idea of facing Jacob in just about an hour. That bothered me. It made me feel sick, and I didn’t want to eat breakfast. I wondered if I could just hide here forever. Probably not. I had a show to put on tonight and my friends were coming….OH MY GOD. I had a show to put on tonight! AND my friends were coming! How did I forget this?? Stupid Jacob, getting me all distracted. I threw the covers off and ran down my ladder.
“Now you remember what today is?!” Valerie asked. I ran onto the balcony and stared outside. It was a bright and sunny day. Plus it was warm, which was nice too. I walked back in and started changing. I wore a light blue cami with a gray crop top that said ‘LOVE’ in sequins. Then I wore my denim shorts. We all changed and we were ready long before we needed to leave, but we were so excited we left anyways. As we walked to the Loft, my heart was pounding fast. This time, because I was really dreading seeing Jacob. Not only did I get so hurt by him yesterday, but last night I totally brushed him off when we had that awkward run in. As we became closer to the Loft, just steps away from Jacob, I struggled to keep my breath. I saw him and Jason in the distance, they were early too. I realized I looked miserable, but I wasn’t going to sit around and be nice to Jacob knowing what I knew.
“Hey guys!” Lana said, giving a wave.
“Hey.” They both said. Jacob looked directly at me.
“Hey Summer.” He said. He tried tickling me. I held my breath and tightened my stomach so I wouldn’t laugh. Wouldn’t budge. He kept trying. I stood there, arms crossed, not moving or smiling at all. Just looking at him with hate in my eyes. “Oh snap…” He said, his face falling.
“Sucks for you.” I said.
“What happened? Why aren’t you ticklish?”
“Maybe she’s too tired to feel anything.” Jason guessed.
“Sure. I’m tired.” I sat down against the wall. Everyone looked down at me. Lana, Selena, Valerie and Jason carried on their own conversation while Jacob stood in front of me, looking at me.
“Okay then…” He sat down in front of me. As he sat down, I stood up. He stood up too. “So I guess your knee is a bit better…” He pointed out, realizing he didn’t have to help me up. I shrugged.
“Whatever.”
“What’s wrong with you? Did I do something?” Oh no. I couldn’t risk him knowing. Why is he too nice? It would be easier if he was another mean boy, so I could be mean and not feel guilty.
“I don’t know, you tell me?” Was my witty response.
“Summer…I really hate when you’re mad at me. It upsets me. Just tell me what happened so I can make it right.” He looked at me with those green eyes. He was holding onto my shoulder.
“It’s fine.” I lied. I started walking away and he followed.
“Obviously it isn’t fine.” I ignored him and left the Loft, since it was time for breakfast in the Cookhouse.
“No it is.” I kept walking. Don’t turn around. You’ll see his sad, sincere face and you’ll want to believe it. So don’t turn around. I kept walking.
“I can tell it’s not. Don’t be this way…please…” He begged. Don’t turn….I couldn’t take it. I turned and looked at him. Sure enough he had his blue eyes, his sincere face and his intense expression that showed honesty.
“Jacob…” I trailed off. I tried to turn and break the gaze but I couldn’t. He had me. He tried tickling me again and this time I laughed. I wasn’t prepared for that.
“There she is…” He smiled and pulled me in for a quick hug. I hesitantly hugged back. When I let go I looked confused.
“What was that for?” I questioned.
“You dashed off so fast last night I couldn’t hug you.” He said. I cracked a small smile. There was no way I could be mad at this guy. He’s so nice to me. He led me on though. Just be mad! He led me on! But what if he didn’t? What if it really was a cover? Or what if Jason just said it not knowing Jacob’s real answer? Or what if Lana is lying because she likes him? What if…what if…what if….what if I actually like this guy and WANT to talk to him? Then what? Then it’s my fault. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, I’m a huge idiot. Jacob and I got into the Cookhouse, Lana, Jason, Valerie and Selena following behind. I looked over at Jason and glared without him noticing. If it wasn’t for his big mouth then I wouldn’t be so upset right now. I rolled my eyes to myself.
“What’s your damage?” Jason asked, noticing.
“You tell me.” I snapped. He threw his hands up in defence as he walked away to get breakfast. I did the same. When we all sat down my mind was still on Jacob leading me on and how it made no sense by the way he was treating me.
“I really hope your knee is okay for tonight…” Jacob said, putting his hand on my knee gently.
“It’ll be okay.” I shrugged. “I just need to keep the tensor band on all day and I’ll take it off right before the show.” We ate our breakfast while talking about how excited we were for the show tonight. I thought about how well I’d gotten to know Jacob at camp. All the things we talked about, the memories we shared. It was really sad how after tomorrow I’d be away from him, that’s it. Most likely we’d see each other…maybe once, and then never again. He’d fade away like all my other camp friends had.
When breakfast was over, everything became this huge rush. Let me just tell you how it went without going into details. We wrote biographies about ourselves to hang up in the lobby before the show; Jacob told me my picture was nice. Then he stared at it for a while. We went and got into our costumes. Jacob and I walked together the whole time, and talked the whole time. We started rehearsing. Jacob and I shared cute looks, flirtations and sparks every time our paths crossed. We ate a quick ten minute lunch and did a full dress rehearsal, complete with lighting, costumes, music, and every other person at this camp. Jacob and I passed each other backstage, but we didn’t have the time today to hold hands, so we just did that at break. He still tickled me every time he saw me, and his face practically lit up when I would walk backstage where he was. Before anyone realized it, it was 4:30 were having dinner tonight at 5:00 so we could be back into costume and makeup by 6:30. The doors open then, and the show started right at 7.
“Today was SO long and tiring.” Lana said when we sat down at dinner.
“I know.” Valerie agreed. “But the show looks great! We are going to be awesome tonight! Is anyone nervous?”
“Not really. I hardly have any lines.” Selena said.
“I’m nervous…I have too many lines and I’m in like…every song. And I’m only not in about…five scenes. In the whole play.” I complained. I put my head between my hands and rested my elbows on the table. I didn’t think Sharpay would be such a huge commitment, such a huge role. There were a few little things I was worried about. My big high notes in some of my songs, certain lines that are really long and difficult to memorize, where to enter, and parts of dances.
“I’m Troy! Hello, have you all forgotten?! And Summer, you never mess up. You’re amazing, everyone knows it.” Jacob said. I smiled.
“Thanks…I know you’ll be amazing as well.”
“Okay enough with the mushy stuff. You’ll both do fine.” Jason said. I hardly nibbled at my grilled cheese. I was way too nervous.
“Ugh how could any of you be thinking about food at a time like this?!” I groaned, pushing my plate in front of me with my untouched grilled cheese. I took a sip of my water.
“Relax. You’re going to be fine.” Selena assured me.
“Yeah, you know exactly what you’re doing.” Lana said next.
“Thanks guys. We’re all super stars, no one forget that.” I said, looking at everyone. We all broke out into smiles and started to laugh.
“Hey did anyone want to straighten my hair for me?” Jacob asked, looking directly at me. Before Lana could say anything, I jumped at the chance.
“Sure! I’ll make you look totally Zac Efron!” I gushed.
“Perfect! Want to meet me in the Loft at 6:15? You can straighten it there.” I smiled.
“Sure.” Just then we all got up and separated. We needed to all be in the theatre in full costume with everything done by 6:30. Well except makeup, but hair and stuff needed to be done. It was already 5:30 so I only had 45 minutes to change, straighten my hair, curl parts of it and be totally show ready.

I checked myself out in the mirror before leaving to meet Jacob. My bag was packed with the makeup I’d be putting on backstage, but my hair was done beautifully, and I was in my costume. Well part one of it. My costume was a pink tank top into a high waist black skirt. The same one from Forever21. For the first song, I wear a red and white t-shirt. Then, I change into a hot pink top I borrowed from Auburn that says “Look but don’t touch!” In little black studs. Then I take that off near the end and wear my white and blue tie dye t-shirt we made here. I grabbed my flat iron, said bye to the girls, and went to the Loft.
“Hey!” Jacob said when he saw me.
“Hi.” I plugged my flat iron in. “Ready for tonight?” I asked.
“As ready as I’m going to be. How about you?”
“I guess so. I’m so excited, but nervous too.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll be amazing.” He put his hand on my shoulder.
“Thanks.” I touched the outside of the flat iron. Perfect temperature. “You ever had your hair flat ironed?”
“Yeah last years play. You won’t burn me right?”
“Hopefully not.” He dodged out of the way as I picked up the flat iron.
“What do you mean hopefully?!” He freaked.
“No guarantees, but it doesn’t hurt that bad. I’ve burnt myself before.”
“I don’t want to get burned!” He grabbed his hair so I couldn’t touch it.
“Quit whining! Let me flat iron it!”
“Fine…I’m trusting you.” He came close to me and I breathed in his nice smelling cologne. I started straightening his hair, standing on my toes to reach it. I was so close to him, I could feel him breathe. I had to fight that huge part of me that wanted to wrap my arms around him.
“What are you doing?!” Rachel barged in with Sam.
“Flat ironing my hair.” Jacob said nervously.
“Hold still!” I demanded.
“Yes ma’am.”
“That won’t end well…you actually trust her?” Rachel joked.
“Hey!” I said.
“Not really, but I figure I’ll take a chance.”
“Turn.” I said. He turned and I started on the sides. Jacob and I were laughing and giggling this whole time.
“Anyways, we had to bring something to you…” Sam said to me.
“What?” I asked, still focused on Jacob’s hair. Before Sam could respond Jacob laughed and I laughed too. “Isn’t this hilarious? Me flat ironing your hair. I feel special.”
“You should…” He started, laughing. Before he could finish, someone ran into the Loft.
“Surprise!” Elena jumped into the Loft with Savannah, Courtney, Serena, and Jill.
“Oh my gosh! Hey guys!!” They ran to hug me while I was still holding the flat iron.
“Hello? I’d prefer you didn’t hug your friends while holding a burning item extremely close to my head.
“Oh who’s this?” Courtney winked.
“Oh this is just Jacob.” I shrugged.
“Oh…JUST Jacob huh?” Elena winked at me.
“I’m so glad you guys are here!” I gushed. They all started talking at once.
“Hello?? Still here Summer!” Jacob was saying.
“Guys you better go, I need to finish Jacob’s hair.” I told them.
“Got it. Well we’ll see you on stage!” Savannah said. They all said bye, waved and left.
“Sorry.” I said.
“It’s fine. So which one is which?”
“Oh the first girl was Elena; she was the one with the medium length hair and the small blue eyes. The one with the black layered hair was Savannah. Jill had the blonde hair, she was the tall blonde. Serena had the dirty blonde hair wearing the pink skirt and Courtney had the short blonde curly hair.”
“Got it…ouch!” He let out.
“Crap!” I said. I moved the flat iron to see I had just touched his ear a little. “Let me try that again.” I straightened the piece of hair right above his ear again.
“Stop it!” he shrieked.
“Oh my God did I burn you?!?”
“Yes!” he held his ear.
“I’m so sorry! Oh my God I’m so sorry! I’m done now don’t worry.” I put the flat iron down and went to examine his ear. “Oh my God I am so, so, SO sorry! Are you okay?”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry…is it really red?” He was still holding his ear. He let go and I checked it out. Potential scar but not bad.
“It isn’t bad. I’ve had worse.” I said honestly. “Oh I’m so sorry Jacob!”
“What happened?” Rachel asked, hearing the commotion.
“She burned me.” Jacob said.
“Saw that one coming.” Sam admitted.
“I’m so sorry! Do you forgive me?! Oh my God I feel terrible.”
“Don’t worry, don’t feel bad, I’ll be okay…hopefully…is it really red?”
“No it’s not bad. But I feel horrible. It’s almost 6:30, we better get walking. But oh my God I feel bad.” We started walking.
“Don’t worry!” He said. I tried not to, but every time I looked at him he was fanning his ear, like I really hurt it. When we got to the theatre we had to go to our separate dressing rooms to do makeup.
“Ugh I can’t not worry, I feel horrible!”
“Really, don’t worry about it Summer, I’ll be okay.” He walked into his room and I walked into mine.
“Hey! How’s Jacob’s hair?” Lana asked.
“His hair is fine, his ear is burnt. I feel horrible!”
“You burnt his ear?!” Auburn started laughing.
“That’s hilarious!” Valerie laughed too. All the girls in the room were laughing.
“I feel horrible! It’s all red and he keeps fanning it and saying ouch and stuff!” I said.
“Don’t worry, he can suck it up.” Selena said. We all did our makeup and I took a final take at myself in the mirror before going to the main backstage area for one last talk with everyone in the cast. I took off my tensor band and bent my leg a few times. It felt okay. I looked pretty good. Sparkly eye shadow, mile long eyelashes, bright pink lips, my metallic flats and my rosy cheeks. I gave myself one last smile before leaving. This was my night, and I couldn’t believe it had all come to this night. To this very moment. It’s show time.
“Are you sure you’re okay?!” I asked Jacob again.
“He’s fine; he’s just being a baby.” Jason said.
“I’m fine, don’t worry!” He assured me again.
“Alright actors, gather around…” Rachel said in her loudest whisper so the audience wouldn’t hear. “Show time is in 5 everyone but I want to talk first.” We all gathered around behind the stage, in the area right in front of the dressing rooms. The dancers were in their wings, the artists were working with moving the sets back and forth, the singers were in the balconies getting ready, and the musicians were in the orchestra pit. This was our time. Jacob came and stood beside me. “Everyone has worked their butts off for this show. You guys were such superstars these past two weeks. Sam and I both know that you can make this an amazing show. You’re all talented, smart people and we know you can do it! Remember your lines; remember your songs, dances, cues, remember it all! We know you can, you guys are amazing! Break a leg. Sam will be in the tech booth, I’ll be backstage. We’ll see you guys after the show. You’re all amazing; everyone hands in, one more time before the show.” We all put our hands on top of each others.
“You guys got this. I have faith in you. One, two, three BREAK!” Sam said. We all broke apart and went to our positions on stage for ‘What Time Is It?’
“Girls…good luck!” I whispered.
“Thanks! You too!” They all said back. We all hugged. Some other girls said good luck to me, and so did Jason.
“Jacob, sorry again. And good luck!” I mouthed from my seat on stage. He flashed me a heart and mouthed something back.
“No worries. And you too.” He said. Just then the music started, the lights dimmed, I closed my eyes and the curtains opened. Show time.

“I can’t believe we did it!” I giggled as we skipped off the stage after the curtain call. Everyone was cheering and I felt amazing. The faces in the audience watching us, the high energy, the dancing, the loud singing, the applause, the scenes, how much fun Jacob and I had during our scenes together. How much fun I had in general just being up there, doing what I know and love best. The show went unbelievably well. I got all my songs, all my lines, and all my cues. My friends cheered the loudest in the audience, so did my family. It was nice seeing everyone for the fist time in two weeks. During a scene change, Jacob and I crossed paths.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I had asked him.
“I’m fine…it’s fine!” He had said. I took a deep breath. He had pulled me in and hugged me. “Don’t worry.”
That one moment was enough to keep me going for the rest of the show. I was so excited and hyped up. Now I was really hungry from skipping dinner, but it was amazing. I remember all the cute looks Jacob and I exchanged as we passed each other in the show. How fun our duet was and how much we laughed as soon as we both stepped off stage. I remember holding his hand when we had our curtain call. How his fingers intertwined with mine. How I got goosebumps when he sang. How he tickled me when I walked off stage.
“Everyone was fantastic!” “So good!” “That was amazing!” Everyone was yelling over each other and talking at once. We all kept chatting while we gathered all our things and left to the main lobby to catch up. Then we all left each other to talk to our friends.
“Summer!!!!” My friends squealed. I ran towards them and the six of us had a huge group hug. I missed Sandra and Taylor a lot, but I was so happy to have these girls here for me.
“Thank you all so much for coming!” I gushed.
“You were AMAZING!” “Summer you were so good!” “You were the star!” They all shouted things like that at the same time.
“Oh thanks guys!”
“And we saw Jacob!” Savannah winked.
“We want to meet your new friends!” Jill nudged me.
“You guys had like, this magic, electric chemistry on stage!” Serena laughed.
“Did you hear us shouting?” Courtney asked.
“You’ll meet them! And yes I heard! You’re the best!”
“All for you!” Elena said.
“You were so amazing!” My family came rushing to me at that point. The next fifteen minutes or so were used getting flowers, hugs, catching up, and taking a billion pictures with my friends. Then…it was introducing time.
“Alright follow me.” We all held hands forming a train sort of thing through all the crowds of people until we got to Selena, Lana, Valerie, Jason and Jacob. “Guys my friends want to meet you.” I said sort of bashfully. They all turned their attention to me and agreed.
“Okay, this is Selena, Lana, Valerie, Jason and Jacob.” I introduced. “Guys this is Elena, Savannah, Courtney, Jill and Serena.” They all started talking to each other and Jacob and I started teasing each other.
“You sure your ears alright?”
“It’s fine, don’t worry. If it scars, then who cares.”
“if it scars you’ll always remember the girl who did it.” I winked, nudging him a bit.
“I think I’ll remember her anyways. It’s hard to forget her cute mysteriousness.” He smiled and nudged me back.
“Guys did I tell you, I burned Jacob’s ear.” I told my friends, giggling.
“it was so funny! He kept complaining!” Jason laughed.
“Says the guy who was convinced there was a psychotic squirrel following him around” Jacob said. My friends all laughed.
“Of course you did Summer!” Elena giggled. “So Jacob…can we take a picture of you and Summer?” Elena blurted out, totally embarrassing me.
“Elena!” I shrieked. I hit her.
“Please!” Savannah begged next.
“Sure!” Jacob smiled. He pulled me over and put his arm around me. We were both laughing at my friends’ awkwardness. They all snapped a picture.
“Are we done here?!” I blushed.
“Oh relax, he loves us!” Jill laughed.

For the next hour and a half or so, me and my friends stayed and chatted with Jacob and Jason outside of the Loft. Lana, Valerie, and Selena all went with their families. Mine and Jacob’s family were talking so we got to hang out for a while. We all took pictures, and laughed and just had fun. It was just so cute and fun and I just felt happy.
“So have you guys had fun?” Serena asked Jacob, Jason and I.
“Let me tell you…” Jason started. “Jacob and Summer are like, in love so we always tell them they need to get a room but Summer is stubborn and refuses to admit she likes Jacob and she always denies getting a room!” I hit Jason and felt blood rush to my cheeks as I blushed.
“Jason!” I hit him again. Jacob started laughing and my other friends died of laughter.
“Yeah, sounds like Summer!” Savannah laughed.
“I’m adding you to Facebook, just saying!” Elena said.
“Alright no problem!” Jacob laughed. I was so glad he and Jason were being so cool with my friends. Even though they were a year older then all of us, they were so nice. Jacob and Jason left for a little to talk to friends they invited, but only for a few minutes. While they were gone, my friends and I all took more stupid pictures since we were outside. We laughed, made funny videos. I felt so happy to just be with my old friends, laugh at our old inside jokes, make more plans for next week when I’d be home, and talk about our summers.
“Well on Friday I’m leaving for my big 18 day expedition.” I reminded them when they asked.
“That sucks. What are you going to do about Jacob?” Elena asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You know what we mean!” Jill teased.
“It’s so obvious he likes you, why did you even doubt it?” Savannah asked.
“Elena told you all in the car didn’t she?” I smirked.
“Yeah.” They all agreed.
“But really, it’s obvious. Just tell each other and date!” Serena said.
“Whoa!” I took a step back. “No one said ANYTHING about dating! Even if he did like me, we wouldn’t ever date!”
“You never know!” Courtney nudged me. Jacob and Jason came back and talked with us more. I don’t think I’ve laughed this much in a while, and that felt great.

The next morning, I felt bittersweet. I could hardly stop smiling when I woke up. But then I remembered, this was the last day. I couldn’t believe after today we wouldn’t be going to camp together anymore. My friends and I had so much fun last night with Jacob and Jason. Jacob gave me two long hugs before we went to our separate dorms.
“Morning my lovelies.” I said, sitting up in bed.
“Good morning darlings!” Lana said.
“Can’t believe it’s the last day. Tomorrow we all leave at 9. That sucks.” Selena complained.
“Let’s just enjoy today. It’s going to be fun.” Valerie smiled.
“Well then let’s get started! We should make the most of this.” I smiled and for the first time in these two weeks, I was first to step down from my ladder and get my clothes out. Today I wore a black top that said ‘Life of the Party’ in neon letters. I wore white shorts that made it stand out. After we all changed, Lana and I did our hair and makeup and we were all at the Loft on time. As soon as I saw Jacob’s face, I was hit by a nostalgic feeling of leaving. I was going to miss him.
“Hi…” I said. Instead of stopping in front of him I kept walking and he opened his arms to hug me.
“Wow, okay then. Didn’t see that one coming.” Jason said. I stepped back and then hugged Jason too.
“I’m going to miss your sarcastic and usually inappropriate remarks.” I said. Jacob laughed.
“Guys we have all day! Let’s not get weepy just yet!” Valerie said.
“Right! Gosh Jacob, what were you thinking? Getting all weepy now! Shame on you!” I gave him a little punch.
“Right, this is all my fault!”
“Last day of…the hats!” Lana said, letting out a little sigh.
“Oh right!” Jacob took off his hat and put it on my head, and had a second hat by his side for Lana.
“So guys…” I started as we all stood around looking sad. “Let’s all just perk up a bit!”
“I’m perked!” Valerie smiled.
“You’re always perked.” Jason groaned.
“I’m gonna miss that…” Selena said.
“Oh quit your whining! Let’s go to the Cookhouse, and then be able to enjoy the rest of our day!” I said. We all started walking over to the Cookhouse.
“Hello campers! So first off, well done again! Last night you were amazing! Let me just tell you how today will go. First we’ll play some games, we’ll watch a movie, and you’ll have a lot of free time to hang out. Tonight’s dinner will be our fancy night! You’ll all be served tonight and it’s going to be in the Dining Room, not the Cookhouse! After dinner, we’re having the Final Jam outside on the stage by the fire pit! We’ll sit by the fire after that and have marshmallows. Then at 11 will be the last party at Bounce! That will last until 1:30 tonight! Tomorrow alarms go off at 7:30, and you guys will be leaving the campus at 9. No breakfast in the Cookhouse tomorrow. But let’s not think about that! Let’s enjoy the day!” Rachel announced. We all cheered.

After breakfast we played this game where we all had to lay on each others stomachs and try not to laugh. I was lying on Jacob’s stomach.
“Alright this is too funny!” Rachel was laughing at how stupid all us actors looked, lying on each other’s stomachs. “Jacob your turn!” Jacob had to count to ten and I had to try not to laugh. It was difficult. I couldn’t even explain how nice it felt having my head on his stomach, feeling his heart beating. After my turn I giggled a bit.
“Shh…” Jacob put his hand on my hair.
“Hey Jacob….”
“Yeah….”
“I can feel your heart beating.” I giggled. He chuckled a little.
“You’re so cute.” When we had to get up, he held my hand to help me up. After playing a few more random games, and flirting with Jacob the whole time, we sat down to watch Aladdin. I plopped down on the black leather couch in front of the TV in the Loft. Jacob and Lana both fought to sit beside me. Jacob won. We started watching the movie and I looked over at Jacob when he wasn’t paying attention. I was really going to miss him. That was the bad part of this summer fling. Even if I still see him after this, I can’t flirt with him anymore. That’s all over. Back to just regular friends. I looked away just as he started looking over. Then he held my hand. A simple motion, just like that. He squeezed and I squeezed back, just to let him know I was there. Lana poked me. I looked to the other side of me at her. She gave me a wink. I smiled back. When the movie was over, he waited a while before letting go. I looked over at him and smiled.
“I might…” I started. “I might miss you…” I admitted.
“I’m going to miss you for sure.” He said. I finally let go of his hand, and we got up. By this point, it was lunch. The six of us sat at our regular table in the Cookhouse.
“So we have free time after this, what are we going to do?” Lana asked around as we started eating our pizza.
“Anything. We could play more cards, go swimming, go in the canoes…I’m up for literally anything.” Selena said. We all agreed we’d go for another canoe ride, swim once we got to the other side, ride back, play cards, then go and freshen up for dinner. And that’s exactly what we did. There was more flirting and more signs from Jacob of liking me as more then a friend, more then a fling. Even though I knew he didn’t, I appreciated the signs. About an hour and a half before dinner, the guys left, not telling us where they were going. We dismissed their weirdness and kept hanging around outside. We went back to the dorm to get ready an hour before we were expected in the Dining Room.

When we got to our dorm, there was a small card shoved underneath our door. I opened it and gasped.
“What?!” Lana asked.
“Oh my God! Guys listen to this.” I started reading the slanted hand writing out loud. “Summer, Lana, Selena and Valerie.” It said at the top. “These two weeks we have been with you, and all we can say, you’re the most amazing girls, we’ve met to this day. You are cute, nice, and sweet as can be. Out of all the girls at camp, you’re the best we’ve seen.” I read. This was just so cute.
“Oh my God!” Selena said.
“What else does it say?” Valerie urged. I flipped the card over.
“Roses are red, violets are blue, we’d love to go to the dance with the four of you. Jacob, Jason, Daniel and Alex.”
“Oh my God!” Lana squealed. “That is so adorable!”
“Alex is hilarious! I’ll take it!” Valerie said.
“So wait…if those names are in order that means Daniel asked me!” Selena said.
“I guess I’m going with my brother Jason! That’s awkward!” Lana laughed.
“Wait…what just happened?” I asked.
“I think you’re going with Jacob!” Valerie ran up to me and grabbed my arm.
“There’s a surprise.” Selena said sarcastically. We all screamed after that, and laughed while holding each other’s arms. Happy dancing, you could call it.
“So girls, how do I look?” I asked, twirling around after getting ready for dinner. I was wearing a dress tonight, one of those dresses that looked like a skirt and a shirt. The skirt part was ruffled, blue with red flowers, and short. The top part was just a white tank top. It was from Hollister, so picture something very…Hollister looking.
“You look amazing!” Lana said. I eyed myself in the mirror. Everything from the heels, tan legs, dress, perfect makeup, perfect hair and gorgeous earrings looked great. I think this was the best I’d looked the whole time at camp.
“Damn.” Selena complained, standing up looking at herself beside me. With her plain white skirt and blue top, she looked good, but not wow! I needed to make her wow.
“Sit.” I urged. She sat on the stool by our vanity. I looked at her, mentally making her over. Then I started doing her makeup, making her eyelashes long like mine, her cheeks pink, and her eye shadow sparkly. Then I flat ironed her hair and added a diamond barrette in the side. “NOW, you have the wow!” I said. She looked at herself in the mirror, then at me.
“Wow! Selena can look hot, who knew!” Valerie joked. Selena gave me a hug.
“Thank you.” She whispered while we were hugging.
“No worries.” I whispered back.
“Well girls, we ready?” Lana asked.
“We all look so beautiful!” I sighed. “Canon moment!” I ran and grabbed my hot pink, canon camera and snapped a picture of the four of us.
“Bring it!” Valerie told me. I agreed to bring it, and the four of us left. When we got to the Loft, Jason and Jacob were waiting for us with Daniel and Alex behind.
“Like our surprise?” Jacob asked as we neared them. I ran into Jacob’s arms.
“Thank you so much!” I said. Lana hugged Jason and Valerie and Selena hugged Daniel and Alex. We all thanked them.
“It was all Jacob’s idea.” Daniel said.
“But we agreed right away. We thought it’d be fun to treat this sort of like camp prom.” Alex laughed.
“I still have a boyfriend.” Selena laughed.
“No worries, it’s all for fun. Well, mine was at least because you have a boyfriend and I have a girlfriend.” Daniel admitted. We all laughed.
“Oh wait, I almost forgot…” Jacob said. He pulled something from behind his back. It was a red rose. My jaw dropped. The other guys handed one to the girls too.
“We got them from the Corner Shop at the Village.” Jason explained. “We just figured since it was our last day of camp we’d have some fun, and go all out. Good idea right?”
“I love it!” Lana gushed.
“Me too! You’re the best!” Jacob hugged me again.
“Well we’re at a different table for dinner, but we’ll see you girls later.” Daniel said. He and Alex walked away with a wink.
“You guys are so cheesy!” I teased.
“Hey! It was Jacob’s idea! We wanted to have a little fun tonight!” Jason said. After that, the six of us started walking to the Dining Room which was in the Village beside the Corner Shop.
“Hey Summer, you look so cute. Just thought I’d tell you.” Jacob whispered as we stepped into the dim-lit Dining Room.
“Thanks! You look pretty good yourself.” I smiled. And he did. Both him and Jason both cleaned up well. Their usual plaid shorts were replaced by dark denim jeans. Their usual plain t-shirts often involving jokes I didn’t understand were replaced with white button downs with a cool design. Their normal scruffy sneakers were now polished converse. Jacob’s normally wavy brown hair was combed side swept and he smelled better than normal. Jason’s short brown hair was spiked up. The six of us sat at the round table with the white table cloth. The whole room was white, silver and gold. There was a big chandelier that was changing colours and a DJ playing good music.
“Welcome everyone! This is your last camp dinner! Here’s just a reminder of how tonight will go. It is 6:30 right now, dinner will be until 8. Tonight, we will serve you! You have a menu with three appetizer options, three main course options, and three dessert options. At 8:30 we will have Final Jam out by the fire! That ends at 10. After that we will be having a slideshow and photo taking session. Take pictures with each other! Then at 10:30, you have free time before Bounce opens for the dance at 11. This ends at 1:30 and you must go back to your dorms. Your dorm supervisor will be coming by. Have fun tonight! It’s all about you and what you accomplished! Cheers to that!” Rachel announced. We all cheered. Our table had a pretty flower centerpiece. I sat beside Jacob to my right and Lana to my left. Beside her was Jason, Selena and Valerie.
“You guys we should totally get mozzarella sticks as our appetizer!” I gushed.
“But I like garlic bread.” Jason stated.
“We should get both.” Lana said.
“Agreed.” Valerie said.
“Okay done!” I flagged down the waiter for our side.
“Hello everyone, so my name is Grant, I’m your waiter for this evening. Can I start with your drinks and some appetizers?”
“Oh well I’ll just have water please.” I said.
“Two diet cokes.” Jacob said, signalling to him and Jason.
“Make it three.” Lana chimed in.
“And two root beers.” Valerie smiled.
“And for appetizers we’ll get garlic bread and mozzarella sticks.” I said.
“Got it! And what are your names?” Grant asked, writing it all down.
“I’m Summer; this is Jacob, Jason, Valerie, Selena and Lana.” I introduced everyone.
“Great to meet you guys and I look forward to serving you this evening!” He bowed a bit and walked away.
“This is sweet! I could get used to this!” I grinned. We all chatted while our drinks and appetizers arrived. “Well I want to make a nice little toast.” I held up my water. “To getting to know you guys. It’s been an amazing two weeks. Lots of laughs, fun times, some stress, some anger…” I looked over at Jacob with a little smirk. “Some interesting moments, funny memories we’ve made, just so many things we’ve done here, and I couldn’t ask for better people to spend these two weeks with. I know I may do some crazy things…”
“Really crazy things.” Jacob piped in.
“Really, REALLY, crazy things.” Jason said after.
“We’re talking insane!” Selena continued.
“Like picture your most insane experience, Summer tops it!” Valerie giggled.
“Forget insane, we’re talking psycho.” Lana said.
“Okay we get it! Some psycho things!” We all laughed. I kept talking. “But I’ll never forget being psycho with you guys. Cheers to that!” We all clinked our glasses.
“I’m never forgetting you guys.” Jacob said after we all put down our glasses. “This has been the best; we’ve had so many amazing times here.”
“Awh, even I think I’ll miss you guys.” Jason said.
“Oh Jason!” Lana smiled at him. The waiter came back and took our order for our main courses. I ordered pasta; Jacob, Jason and Valerie ordered a chicken wrap, and Lana and Selena ordered spaghetti and meat balls.
“Wait so before we continue with this conversation….what’s next for you two?” Valerie motioned to Jacob and I. We shared a confused look.
“What do you mean?” He asked.
“Like, are you guys going to date or not?” Selena asked, bluntly. Jacob and I burst out laughing.
“Save the drama for the stage, guys.” I said. We dismissed that, and kept chatting about random things. Jacob and Jason shared more jokes I didn’t get.
“Okay Summer, let’s see if you remember this from the first time we played cards…Let’s just say I have the joker card in my hand and I give it to you and say ‘here’s my card…’” Jason tried. Everyone at the table stared at me as I thought through the joke. The card game…Oh I remember!
“I get it! The joker says it from the Dark Knight!”
“PROGRESS!” Jacob yelled. He and Jason clapped. “What about that game I taught you, 52 pick up?” I had a flashback to this time we played cards.
“Here’s a game, it’s called 52 pick up.” Jacob had said while dropping all the cards.
“How do I play?” I had asked. He had stared at me, so did Jason.
“52 pick up…like he dropped all 52 cards and he wants you to pick them up…” Jason pointed out.
“Ohh…why?” I had questioned. I snapped out of the memory.
“I remember that! You dropped all the cards and made me pick them up!” I said.
“Yes! Yes! Progress!” Jacob cheered. The table clapped for me.
“Why thank you! See I’ve improved!” We talked and ate, ordered delicious dessert and finally it was time for Final Jam.

“What are you singing for final jam?” Lana asked me when we went to the dorm to get my guitar.
“Flawless.” I answered. I had finally finished my song, and I was ready to sing it.
“The one you wrote?!” She asked.
“Yeah.”
“Is it about Jacob?” She winked.
“Maybe….” I blushed.
“Yay! Can’t wait to hear!” She skipped out of the dorm and I followed her with my guitar. When we got outside, the fire was all lit and the stage was ready and they were already starting. A group of dancers were first. After a whole bunch of people, it was finally my turn. Everyone cheered for me as I, for the billionth time since I’ve been at camp, bravely stepped on the stage.
“So, I wrote this song while I was here at camp. It means a lot to me and I hope you guys enjoy it too. It’s called ‘Flawless’” Everyone cheered again and I started my song. I looked over at Jacob a few times, and he was looking up at me, smiling. When I finished I got a loud applause. I smiled and left the stage, getting hugs from all my friends, as well as many compliments from everyone I passed.

After Final Jam was over, we all got ready for the slideshow. I hoped I wouldn’t cry. Slide shows always get me mushy. We all went into the Loft, and sat on cushions and bean bags on the ground in front of the TV. Rachel and Sam were there, as well as all the instructors of each section, and every dorm leader.
“We’ve had a fun time here at camp. We put together this slideshow for you guys and we hope you enjoy it! Thank you for a wonderful two weeks!” Rachel said, pressing play. Lana, Valerie, Selena and I all sat together on a lower step and held hands. Jacob and Jason sat right behind us on a higher step, so Lana and I were in between Jacob and Jason’s legs, but in a non perverted way. The slide show started with the song More by Usher. We all sat watching. I put my elbows on the back step and leaned further back towards Jacob. We saw a lot of pictures, and then came across some of me and my friends. We all cheered when we came on the screen. There was a picture of me at the Campfire Jam from the first night. There were pictures of other groups, other people, Jacob and Jason with Alex and Daniel. There were pictures of all the different rehearsals. They were always taking pictures of us; we never realized one day we’d be watching them in a slideshow. There was a picture of Jacob and I, before all the flirting, when we were just standing on stage together. I tilted my head back so I could see him. He put his hands on my shoulders, which made me grin. Party Rock Anthem was the next song, and we all cheered at remembrance of our Vegas Night. One of my favourites was a picture of Jacob and I in our canoe after Jason fell out. There was the most fantastic photo of me and the girls in our grind line. We cheered and laughed. The next picture was a picture of me slow dancing with Jacob. Everyone looked over at us and me and him just grinned at each other. There were more pictures from Vegas Night, including another of just me and Jacob, acting stupid. There were pictures of all of us at breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Pictures of the different parties. Then, there was a picture from movie night of Jacob and I holding hands. Everyone did the immature ‘ooooooh’ when they saw it. I put my face in my hands and giggled while Jacob played with my hair from behind, in that cute little way. There were more pictures of my fabulous four and we cheered at all of them. We were some photogenic people. Then, the last song was Good Riddance by Green Day. That song they play in all cheesy slide shows and at all graduations. They played it at mine, and I immediately had a flashback. It was the last dance. Carter had already left. What a party pooper. I was dancing with Taylor, Sandra and Elena. Then we realized it was a slow song. Jake came up to us to imitate our stupid dancing. I realized I’d miss him so I wrapped my arms around him in a huge hug. We never let go. We slow danced in that hug for the whole song and I just started bawling within the first thirty seconds. He could tell, and he held me tighter. Though Jake and I had our horrible memories, I still miss that one moment we shared, and it was still a great one. I was worried now, that I might cry with this song combined with a slide show. There were pictures from the tents, oh good times. Pictures of Thursday rehearsals, and then, pictures they snuck in from today. There was a picture of me holding Jacob’s hand during Aladdin. A picture of us on each others stomachs. The picture that set us all off was a picture of the six of us. Valerie, Selena, Lana and I with our arms around each other, in front of the lake. Jason was beside Lana on one side since she was on the end, and he had his arm around her shoulders, and Jacob was beside me on the other side with his arm around my waist. I looked over at Valerie who was starting to cry, and so was Selena.
“Guys! Stop it! I don’t cry and you might make me!” I urged. Lana leaned her head on my shoulder.
“Oh I’m going to miss you so much, Summer!” She said. She started crying too.
“Oh crap guys. I’m getting all emotional now.” I felt myself start to cry too. We tried laughing it off but it didn’t help. Jason put his hand on Lana’s shoulder.
“It’s going to be okay guys…we’ll stay in touch.” Jason sounded a bit weepy too. I turned my head to look at him, and he must have seen the tears in my eyes, because he got all upset too. He plopped right in between me and Lana. “I need a hug!” He said. I reached over and hugged him.
“Oh Jason, you remind me so much of a pineapple.” I said through the tears after hugging him.
“What?” He looked at me confused.
“You know, trying to be all rough on the outside, but your really a big ol’softie.” I giggled a bit. He chucked a little. Lana gave him a hug too. I looked up at Jacob. He slipped his arms around my neck and I reached my arm up to hug his. He came and sat beside me, and held my hand.
“I’ll miss you. But we’ll see each other.” He smiled at me. Then he wiped a tear away. We kept looking at the pictures, crying. The last few were ones taken of us at dinner. There was one of Lana and Jason doing something from an inside joke. They laughed, even though Lana was still crying, and they high fived. The next after that was one of Jacob and I hugging. I leaned my head on his shoulder. I lifted it up.
“I got a tear drop on your shirt, dude. My bad.” I sniffled and started laughing. He hugged me, and laughed.
“You could get all the tears in the world on my shirt and I wouldn’t be mad!” He said. The last picture was a picture of the entire cast, and then the video was over. We all clapped and then got up and hugged each other.
“Why are we all crying?!” I laughed through the tears.
“I don’t know!” Selena said. We all hugged again.
“Okay, I’m done with this.” I wiped my tears and took a deep breath. “Let’s take pictures now!” I smiled. It was 10:30 and now we were supposed to be taking pictures and exchanging Facebooks and stuff, which we already did. We started taking a billion pictures with each other. When that was done, Lana, Selena, Valerie and I ran back to the dorm to reapply some lip gloss, spritz on some more perfume, and then head out for the final party. We were so ready for this.

When we walked into Bounce, the party was already hopping.
“Hello ladies!” Alex said, as he, Jacob, Jason and Daniel approached us.
“Let’s dance!” Daniel said. Then, the eight of us, Lana, Selena, Valerie, Jacob, Jason, Daniel, Alex and I, started dancing. After the first few songs, the boys went and sat on the couches. Last Friday Night came on and me and the girls had our famous grind line. The guys all stood up to come and watch us. We laughed, they laughed with us. I was leading the line, as usual. After that, they played I’m Yours by Jason Mraz. We all partnered off with our ‘dates.’
“So how are you enjoying the party?” Jacob asked as we danced.
“You know me, miss party girl. Of course I love it! How about you?” I asked.
“It’s great. I’ve really enjoyed this. When are we seeing each other again?”
“Oh well Lana, Valerie, Selena and I were thinking of seeing a movie Wednesday. I leave on Friday and Thursday I already have plans. Same with tomorrow, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday…I’m a busy person…” Jacob laughed.
“Wednesday it is.” He smiled. I smiled back. Just knowing tonight wasn’t the end made me feel a little better. Though I would still miss camp. When the song ended, we kept dancing. When Party Rock Anthem came on, we all danced together. I started the trend of bare feet, and we all sang loudly. It was about 12:30 by now.
“I’m so tired! Wanna grab some water?” Jacob offered. I nodded.
“Sure!” I agreed. We walked over to the bar.
“Two waters.” He said to the bartender. He gave Jacob two glasses and he gave me one.
“Thanks.” I smiled. We went and sat down on a couch by ourselves.
“I loved your song; did I already tell you that?” He asked, taking a sip of his water. I took a big gulp of mine.
“Yes you told me! And thank you!”
“Who was it about?” Should I tell him? No. I can’t do that, he’d think I like him and he can’t think that now. Especially since after tonight, this fling is over.
“Nobody. I just sort of wrote it for fun.” I couldn’t tell in the dark, but his face sort of fell a little, from what I saw.
“So you don’t have a guy in your life I’m guessing? No one back home…” Oh my God. He totally was into me. No he wasn’t, don’t get your hopes up Summer, don’t get your hopes up. After tonight, its goodbye Jacob.
“No. Well, not anymore at least.” I looked down a bit in remembrance of Carter. Oh, memories. “But whatever. Let’s go dance!” I grabbed his hand and we both left our waters on the table. We ran to the dance floor and danced to I Wanna Go by Britney Spears. After that, the eight of us all danced some more.

It was 1:20, and the dance was almost over. It had been so much fun. Picture all the flirting me and Jacob did in the two weeks at camp, all combined into one night. That’s what it was like. It was like this high adrenaline rush that I had. I just felt so…perfect. So happy and amazing and like nothing could go wrong. We slow danced a few more times, and I was getting upset at the fact that soon we’d never slow dance again.
“Okay everyone this is the last song! Grab a partner because this is it!” Rachel announced. There was silence as something was happening up at the DJ booth while they were picking a song. Jacob hugged me and I hugged back.
“Enough with the PDA!” Sam said over the loud speakers. Everyone burst out laughing and I realized he was talking to us. “Seriously! You guys are always holding hands, you think we don’t notice? So are you dating?” I gasped and felt extremely embarrassed. Lana, Valerie, Selena, Jason, Daniel and Alex laughed the hardest. The girls all nudged me.
“What?! No!” I defended.
“Hey I’m just asking what everyone else is thinking!” Sam said. I couldn’t help but laugh too. Suddenly, a white projector screen fell from behind the DJ booth. The slideshow appeared again, starting from the point of Good Riddance, the song by Green Day that made me cry. Jacob and I moved near the center of the dance floor beside Lana and Jason. That’s another thing; I danced with Jason once too! We switched partners, except Jacob and Lana stood miles apart and I didn’t feel the same magical flying sparks that I felt with Jacob. Jacob wrapped his arms around my waist and we started dancing.
“Oh God I’m going to miss you…” He said.
“I’ll miss you too.”
“No like…I’m going to miss you a lot…I miss you already.” He looked so sincere, so sad by the fact that it was almost over.
“I miss you already too.” I hugged him and he held me tightly. When I tried to let go, I realized he wasn’t. We just hugged the whole song. I felt the tears again but I dismissed them. When the song ended and the lights went up I looked around and realized everyone was crying. I couldn’t help it then. I started crying and Jacob saw. He grabbed me and hugged me all over again. We all hugged and we were one big weepy mess. Then, we let go and got ready to go to our dorms.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning before we leave okay? We’ll all meet up again.” Jacob assured me.
“Got it.” I nodded. Lana, Selena, Valerie and I all hugged Jacob, Jason, Daniel and Alex, and then we went our separate ways to our dorms.
“What an amazing night.” Were the last words I mumbled before shutting my eyes.

When I opened my eyes the next morning, a huge wave of nostalgia hit me.
“Guys…” I moaned. I sat up in bed.
“No how did morning get here so fast? No this can’t be happening!” Lana got up too.
“Crap, we all need to pack. This sucks. What time is it anyways?” Valerie asked.
“It’s 7:30.” Selena answered.
“We better get moving. We said we’d meet them around 8:30.” I got down from my top bunk, and everyone else got out of bed too. We changed fast and packed our things.
“This is really depressing.” Lana said, folding up a top.
“I know…” Selena agreed, putting away her bathing suits. I went over to the vanity. I took everything out of all the drawers.
“Be any louder!” Valerie said.
“Sorry. I’m upset.” I said.
“We all are…” Lana sat on the edge of her bed, all packed up. I hoisted my suitcase onto Selena’s bottom bunk, and sat on it to zip it up. I had all my things packed, just looking at it made me sad.
“I need air…” I walked out of the dorm. I made my way to the dock by the lake. I took in the whole scenery of the place. This place was so beautiful, words couldn’t describe it. I breathed in the fresh air, listened to the sounds of the calm lake, occasionally stirring. I heard the peaceful chips of the birds, and the sounds of leaves brushing together with every breeze. I heard the sounds of the water splashing up against the canoes, and the noise beneath the dock. I was going to miss the sounds of flip flops on wooden docks, the smell of the forest, the busy Village which was just lit up at night, the smells and crackles of the fires we had, the cozy Loft, the yummy aroma that wafted from the Cookhouse, the resort styled dorms, and the bunk beds. I’d miss the spacious theatre, and the Camp Fire Jams. I’d miss theme nights, and party rocking in Bounce. I’d miss the canoe rides, the camp site, the tents, scaring the boys, doing insane things I couldn’t do at home. Things like climbing on a balcony roof, doing what no one else dared one night because of a bet, jumping off rocks into freezing lake water, dragging Jacob in with me, scaring boys in a tent at 3 in the morning, and of course, pushing Jason out of a canoe. The wind hit and my hair blew around my face. It was so incredibly peaceful here. Nothing could ever bother me. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but I figured I’d better get moving. I stood up and took one last look out at the beautiful, innocent lake. I turned my back and walked back to my dorm.
“It’s 8:30…we ready to go?” I asked, hesitantly.
“I guess so…this is it guys.” Lana said. We each grabbed our bags and started leaving. We held our door wide open and each blew a kiss to Dorm 450. We walked down the stairs and went down to the Loft. That’s where we were all getting picked up and our last camp meeting was there.
“Hey guys, how was your sleep?” I asked, mono-toned when we saw Jacob and Jason.
“Crappy. How was yours?” Jacob asked.
“I slept like a baby.” I said honestly. “But I woke up in the worst mood. This is so depressing.”
“We’re all upset.” Lana said.
“Yeah so are we. But we’re seeing each other Wednesday, yes?” Jason asked.
“Yeah I can go.” Valerie answered.
“I’m pretty sure we’re all free. Right guys?” Lana asked around.
“Yeah.” Selena answered.
“Maybe.” I said, trying not to seem too desperate to see them all again. Especially Jacob.
“Good morning campers! Or I guess, not so good…” Rachel made an announcement. We all groaned. “Well anyways, your parents are starting to get here so here’s what’s happening, they will come in here and sign you out. You will leave your room key with us. We’ll make sure you all leave safely. We hope you enjoyed these two weeks! Did you guys have fun? Because we sure did!” We all cheered, non excitedly.
“Well I get that everyone is tired from last night and sad about leaving.” Sam understood.
“Well we’re going by the sign out table in front of the Loft now, so when your parents are here, that’s where your going.” Rachel said. She and Sam went outside. We all chatted for a little about missing each other and seeing each other soon.
“Guys my mom is here…” Selena announced. We all hugged her for a long time.
“See you soon okay?” Lana said, letting go.
“Very, very soon!” I assured.
“Don’t forget us!” Valerie said.
“Never.” She hugged us again. “Dorm 450 girls for life! I’ll never forget any of it!” She blew us a kiss and wheeled her bag out the door.
“One down.” I pointed out.
“Thanks Summer.” Jason said. Next to go was Valerie. Same drill for her.
“Alright well Lana, I’m not going to miss you we go to the same school. So yeah…Jason, I’m going to miss you and Jacob I’ll miss you too! Summer…you really made this camp really fun this year! I’ll see you on Wednesday hopefully!” Valerie hugged each of us and left too.
“Two down.” I announced.
“Once again, thanks Summer.” Jason repeated. Lana was next to go.
“Oh my God I’m going to miss you so incredibly much!” I said, hugging her tightly.
“I love you so, so much Summer! You’re amazing, don’t forget it! I’ll see you Wednesday!” We let go. “Bye Jacob!” She gave him a huge hug too. “Oh Jason….I’m really going to miss you brother!” She hugged him for a while and left. The three of us went and sat on the Loft steps. Jason’s parents got there, and mine and Jacob’s came at the same time too.
“I guess this is all of us…” I announced.
“Thank you Summer!” Jason repeated, once again.
“Well…” Jacob stood up. He helped me up one last time. I hugged Jason first.
“You know what Summer….you ARE quite insane.” He said. I looked at him for a minute.
“Thank you?” I said, like it was a question.
“In a good way. Without you, this wouldn’t have been so…weird. But in a good way! Good weird! You know, even though you pushed me out of a canoe, forced me to do things I never wanted to, scared me into thinking there was a psychotic squirrel out to get me, and a ghost AND dethroned me from my President spot four times in a row…it was fun.” I smiled and laughed a bit.
“Bye Jason. I’ll miss all your rude and sarcastic remarks. See you soon!” We hugged again.
“Well Jacob…” I started.
“Summer…” He said. Neither of us finished talking. We just wrapped our arms around each other, and didn’t let go.
“Thanks for everything. You really…you made these two weeks great.” I told him, honestly.
“I’ll be writing on your wall every day! Don’t forget about me, Summer; because I don’t think I’ll ever forget you. Your cute mysteriousness, your ticklishness, your cold hands, your amazing hugs…I miss you already.”
“Oh Jacob! I won’t forget you, trust me. I’ll see you soon okay?” I let go of the hug.
“Of course you will.”
“Of course! You think I’d let you get rid of me that easy?” I smirked.
“I would never want to.” He pulled me in for another hug. We walked our separate ways to our parents. I got into the car and my mom of course started asking a million questions for details on my whole two weeks. As if I was in the mood to when I’d just said goodbye to an amazing summer fling who I could now never flirt with again. After Wednesday I can’t see him. I don’t think I can. I think I need to just, stop seeing him. It was settled, Wednesday would be the last day I ever see Jacob and I’d have to live with it. I saw Jacob driving away in his car. He gave me one last, sad wave and I waved back. Goodbye Jacob.

The days leading up to Wednesday were difficult. I saw my other friends, gushed about my summer fling, and anticipated seeing Jacob again. We wrote on each others walls each day. However, I didn’t think he liked me at all. It was Monday and I was seeing him in two days. I made the decision today that after Wednesday, Jacob will be pushed out of my life. After all, he talks to Lana on her wall too. And his posts to her are just like his posts to me. And let’s not forget that they’re married on Facebook. I mean, come on how could anyone be okay with that? I sat at the kitchen table, holding my iPod checking my Facebook for the billionth time today. I took a whiff of the pasta and garlic bread my mom was making. I miss camp garlic bread. That was some good garlic bread. I looked out the window at my backyard. The grass was green; the porch was as big and as nice as it had been when I left. The flowers my mom planted were really growing now. But no matter how nice my backyard was, I still missed the scenery of Collingwood. My iPod made a bleeping noise and I looked down at it. ‘Jacob Swift has posted on your wall.’ Again? What does he want? I read the post and rolled my eyes. No way was I responding to all his cheesy lies. I looked at the news feed and saw all his posts with Lana. Why was he being like this with me if he was already like that with her?!
“Ugh!” I moaned.
“What’s wrong?” My mom asked.
“Stupid Jacob!” I complained. I had told my mom of my little summer fling, leaving out the part about me liking him.
“What now?” She started cutting me cucumbers.
“He’s so full of it. He’s always being nice to me and then he’s just saying the same sort of things to Lana. It’s like did I mean anything to him?”
“Did he mean anything to you?” She questioned, suspiciously.
“Excuse me for a moment.” I got out of my chair and ran up to my room. I grabbed the stack of pictures I had just got from the printers that were on my dresser. I flipped through all of them until I came across the one of Jacob and me. I walked into the office, which was the room next to mine.
“Hey Brett.” I said, walking into the office briskly. Brett was my older brother.
“Hey Summer…what are you doing?” He asked, seeing me frantically search through drawers. I pulled out a pair of scissors and a black marker.
“Stupid picture. If I could burn it I would. But I can’t. So this will do.” An alarm went off in my brother’s head.
“What picture?” He got up and came near me.
“Mind your own business!” I snapped. I ran into my room.
“Mom, is Summer okay?” He yelled down to her. My family was very loud and we all sort of had our places. I was like my dad, loud, adventurous, funny, outgoing and stubborn. My brother was like my mom. Quiet, kind, gentle.
“What’s going on now?” My dad asked, coming upstairs from his office.
“Summer is cutting some picture.” My mom dropped the knife and cutting board in the kitchen, I could hear. I ignored the conversation and drew a huge line between Jacob and me. Then I drew a moustache on his face just for fun.
“Summer, what picture?!” My mom yelled up to me.
“Nothing!” I lied. I took the scissors and cut the picture in half. I put the two halves in my drawer, put the scissors back in the office and went downstairs for dinner.
“Something about you is peculiar…” My brother said as he sat down in his seat at the dinner table.
“Is it about that guy Jacob?” my dad asked.
“He’s just a friend.” I said quickly.
“Of course he is, why would he be anything more?” My dad was really strict about me dating and about boys in general. Me calling a guy cute was one thing. Me liking one was a completely different story.
“He isn’t, that’s why I don’t know why we’re talking about him. God.” I spoke quickly. “Pass the garlic bread.” I said, changing the topic. My dad, brother and mom all looked at me for a minute. “Fine I’ll get it myself.” I said after the long silence. My mom reached for it and passed it over. “Thank you.” I nibbled at one piece and hardly ate any dinner. How could anybody eat at a time like this? I was about to permanently delete someone from my life, and my family was just eating their dinner like it was no big deal.
“Excuse me.” I excused myself from the dinner table. I went to the basement and logged onto my computer. Jacob resent my post. He was online right now. Ignoring him. I responded to all of Lana’s posts but not Jacob’s. Another message popped up. ‘Jacob Swift posted on your wall.’
“What?!” I said to myself. I checked the post.
‘Excited for Wednesday?’ It said, with a smile and a heart. No, I wasn’t actually, because honestly I don’t want to say goodbye to you but I have to. I didn’t write that. I thought it. I ignored the post entirely. A few minutes later, another one came.
‘2 days!’ It said with a smile and a heart. Obviously this guy wasn’t getting the message. I wasn’t not responding because I wasn’t getting his posts. No, sweetie I’m not responding because you got to get out of my life. Then, a message box popped up. This jerk was seriously trying to instant message me now. ‘Heyy’ it said, with a smile. I didn’t respond. He logged out and logged back in. That won’t help. Oh God, now he thinks there’s something wrong with his facebook. Get the message, Jacob! I DON’T WANT TO TALK TO YOU! ‘Helloooo?’ he tried again, with another smile. I closed facebook. This was too taunting. My mom came down the stairs.
“I hate this!” I groaned.
“What now?” My parents always say ‘what now’ because I’m a little over dramatic sometimes. So it’s sort of like they get tired of hearing it.
“He keeps trying to talk to me but I won’t respond! Can’t he take a hint?” My dad emerged into the basement as well.
“Oh boy. Summer, just respond. Don’t wait so long, you need to throw the guy a bone once in a while.” He walked into his office.
“I can’t respond!”
“Why not?!” My mom asked, impatient.
“Because I need to get him out of my life gradually! I can’t just stop responding after Wednesday, I need to lead up to it!”
“Why do you need him out of your life?”
“Because he’s still flirting even though he has no feelings whatsoever, and then that means he’s making it longer then it should be, it was a summer fling, they can’t last more then 2 weeks, at the most!”
“You can still be friends with him!”
“He won’t settle for that! He’ll keep trying to flirt!”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“He can’t do that!” I pounded my fist on my desk. “Ouch!” I held my fist. My mom shook her head and went back upstairs. I told my mom he couldn’t flirt because it violates the rules of a summer fling. But really, I just don’t want him to be able to hurt me. And I’m worried he could.

The day after, I went to the mall with friends, and soon it got too hard to handle not responding to him.
“I can’t do it!” I said out loud.
“What?” Courtney asked.
“Are you going to finally respond to Jacob?!” Stacy asked me.
“Please say yes.” Savannah said.
“Yes!” I pulled out my phone and started a text. ‘Hey Jacob! Sorry I never responded yesterday, I was busy. Still love me?’ I typed with a few smiley faces and a heart at the end. “There!” I tossed my phone back into my purse.
“See now was that so hard?” Courtney asked, grinning. I rolled my eyes. A few minutes later I got a response. ‘Hey Summer! No worries, of course I still love you! You’re going Wednesday for sure right?’ I waited exactly 8 minutes before responding. ‘Yeah I think so. Are you?’ My friends were all reading these texts along with me. ‘Yeah. I can’t wait to see you and tickle you again! And of course hug you.’ My heart skipped some beats. I waited 20 minutes, and he resent it. I waited another 5 before responding. ‘Awwwh well I can’t wait for those warm hands!’ was all I wrote. We texted for another hour or so and I stopped responding. He resent it twice but I never responded. I responded once on facebook, but that was it. Tomorrow was Wednesday. I took one huge breath before going to sleep that night. Everything will be okay. You will have to be strong tomorrow when you say goodbye. Because tomorrow is the end. I shut my eyes and felt tears burning the corners. No you aren’t going to cry. I quickly dismissed the tears and got control back. Can’t back down now. There’s way too much at stake. My heart being number one.

“Summer! You’re supposed to be there in five minutes!” My mom yelled up to me on Wednesday. I turned and looked at the clock. 12:20. I was supposed to meet them at 12:25 and I wasn’t even ready yet. Lana, Selena, Valerie, Jason, Jacob and I were meeting at the theatre at 12:25 today.
“Hang on! I need to be fashionably late! If we leave now it’s only going to be 12:30 when I get there! That’s no way to make an entrance!” I yelled from my room. I rubbed sensual lotion on my arms and legs. I looked really tan. This morning I went and got my nails and everything done because I’m leaving soon. Tomorrow I was out all day and so today was the only day I could go. I sprayed on a bit of ALOHA PINK body spray and checked myself out. White Abercrombie shorts with my new, skin tight hot pink shirt from Aritzia. My hair was stick straight, my makeup was done well, blue eyeliner and all, and my toe nails and finger nails were painted pretty neon colours, making me look even more tan. My lips were a pretty pink and I smelled spectacular. I took a huge, deep breath. I was starting to get that feeling in my stomach, like I was really nervous, but excited too. Like I just needed to go see him now.
“Summer!” My mom yelled again. It was 12:30.
“Coming!” I yelled. I grabbed my purse and ran out the door. The drive to the theatre was the longest drive of my entire life. I wanted to bite my nails, but I just got them done so I didn’t. I kept tapping my foot and I couldn’t focus on anything. I got a call from Selena asking where I was. Who knew traffic would be this bad. By the time my mom’s car rolled in front of the theatre, it was 12:45. I ran out of the car as soon as she stepped on the breaks, and I ran inside.
“Summer!” I heard a bunch of voices yell. I saw all my friends waving at me, including Jacob. I waved back and lined up to buy my ticket. Selena joined me.
“Hey!” She hugged me. “I’m just waiting with you because it starts in 5 minutes so they went to get seats.” She said.
“Oh cool. How are you?”
“Great! I miss camp! How are you?”
“I’m alright…”
“You look awesome!”
“Thanks! You do too!” I gave a little wink. I bought my ticket and we ran into the theatre. I saw everyone already sitting. Great, that meant I’d have to sit at the end. I hate the end. I saw Jason, Valerie, Lana and Jacob…okay so now it’s either I sit next to Jacob or on the end…oh boy.
“Assigned seating.” Jacob shrugged as I walked up the steps to the very last row where they were. “Sit beside me.” He said. I shrugged and sat. We started talking and he gave me the hat again.
“Oh I’ve missed the hat!”
“I know you have!” He tickled me. I was still shaking and feeling crazy, nervous butterflies. I giggled more. The movie started and a few minutes into it, he reached down and felt my hand which I was so obviously putting on the arm rest for him. “You’re cold.” He pointed out. We held hands. I looked over at his other hand. Lonely. A free hand…meaning he was holding my hand, but not Lana’s, even though she was right on the other side. I took a deep breath, and felt those butterflies flutter like crazy. He tickled me with his free hand and I giggled, trying to keep it quiet since we were in a movie. I could feel Selena, Lana, Valerie and Jason watching us be all romantic. Then, he held my other hand with his other hand. Oh poor Lana, no free hand. My bad. About fifteen minutes later or so, he let go of both my hands. I knew this was just because I was cold. He really didn’t like me, I could tell. It’s a good thing I was saying goodbye today. He put his hand on my bare shoulder. “Oh my God, you’re freezing.” He said. I nodded silently.
“Yeah sort of.” I responded. Then, before I realized it, he was draping his arm around me. His hand was at my waist, curing around to my stomach. I leaned into him so my head was resting on his shoulder. What was this? How could he do this if he doesn’t even like me? His arm tightened. I crossed my leg over and cuddled up closer to him, feeling his heart beating faster then mine was. Selena looked over and kicked me. She shot me a huge smile and a big wink. Valerie and Lana gave me similar looks while Jason just rolled his eyes.

When the movie ended, the six of us walked around and waited for Lana’s mom to pick us up and take us to her house. We would be there until six; it was just around 2:30 when her mom finally got here to pick us up. We drove to her house and my head was still spinning with Jacob and Jacob and Jacob. When we got there we went in her basement and hung out. We sat on the couch and watched videos on YouTube and talked. Jacob held my hand the whole time because I was ‘cold.’ When I sat alone, he followed and sat beside me. We played ‘Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?’ and he sat beside me, holding my hand. I ended up somehow winning that game.
“How did you beat all of us?!” Jason questioned.
“Strategy.” I lied.
“You mean picking grade one or two every time and picking subjects like spelling and writing?” Selena asked. I frowned.
“Don’t ruin it!” I said. We joked around for a while and ate Oreos. I love Oreos. I only had one, and it took me forever to eat it. I was too confused about this whole Jacob situation to focus on eating Oreos.
“It’s okay, your not that dumb!” Jacob joked. I did a fake sad face.
“Meanie.” I said. I got up and he followed.
“Oh I was kidding!” He grabbed my waist, and we hugged. Then he held my hand and led me over to the couch where we sat and he had his arm around me.
“Your shoulder is so comfortable.” I said while leaning against it, so he wouldn’t think I liked him, which I definitely did.
“I know. I’m like your personal teddy bear.” He said. I giggled. Then I started feeling desperate, so I got up. Jason and Jacob decided to show us their amazing Guitar Hero skills. I sat on the cool circle chair thing she had in her basement and watched. She had two couches, the circle chair and a large TV down there. Not bad actually. He came up to me in the circle chair thing and took my hands.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Just wait…” He pulled and I jumped up.
“You’re strong!” I commented. He took the circle chair. “Hey! I love that chair!” I said. I started walking away and he got up and hugged me.
“Awwh, it’s okay!” He said rubbing my back. We let go and he sat back down. I went and sat on the other couch.
“You can come sit here…” He patted his lap. I don’t think so. Sorry bud that shows signs of romance and actually wanting to be with you, which I don’t because you’re a player.
“No it’s fine.” I said sounding totally chills and like I wasn’t into him at all. Like I just used him for his warm hands and comfortable shoulder. I sat on the couch and Lana, Selena, Valerie, Jason, Jacob and I started talking about random things. Soon, it was getting late and Valerie and Selena had to leave.
“Oh it was so good seeing you!” I said, hugging Valerie and then Selena.
“Yeah you too! We have to chill as soon as you get back!” Selena said.
“The day after!” Valerie said.
“We will!” Lana jumped in. She hugged them both too. They gave quick hugs to Jason and Jacob and then they left.
“You guys want to play Jenga?” Lana asked to us. We all shrugged.
“Sure!” We agreed. I sat against the couch on the ground, and Jacob sat beside me. Jason and Lana sat on the other side of the Jenga stack, beside each other. Jacob had his arm around me again.
“Watch me mess this up.” I said at my turn, actually doing well.
“Let me guess, you’re usually the one who makes these things topple over?” Jason guessed. I grinned.
“You know me too well!”
“I could see that.” Jacob agreed.
“Yeah…no offense!” Lana said. I giggled.
“None taken!” It was my turn again, and as predicted the whole stack toppled over. “You guys jinxed me!” I said, tossing a block at Jason.
“Ow! You just threw a block at me!” He turned to Jacob. “She just threw a block at me!”
“Well who wants to set it up again?” Lana asked, ignoring Jason.
“Summer and I will do it.” Jacob said. Then we started stacking it up again.
“Everyone is ignoring me! Summer threw a block at me!”
“Thanks Jason! We get it; I threw a block at you! Man up!” I giggled and threw another one.
“Stop throwing blocks at me!” He held the spot on is head that I just hit. Lana, Jacob and I all started laughing. After a few more rounds, my mom was here and I had to go. I stood up to leave. I gave Jason a quick hug and I gave Lana one too.
“See you soon!” She said.
“Very, very soon!” I said while hugging her. Last hug was to Jacob. We stood hugging for a while.
“Don’t leave…” he begged. I didn’t have anything to say to that so I just kept hugging. “Please don’t go…”
“I’ll be back in 18 days.” I said.
“That’s a really long time. We’ll hang out, right?” He asked, still hugging.
“We will.” I responded, hoping he’d forget about it before I got home. Hoping he’d forget me so I could forget him and then nobody has to get hurt. We kept hugging.
“I hate that you’re leaving.” He hugged tighter. I hugged tighter too, then finally let go.
“See you soon.” I smiled. He smiled back and watched me walk out of the room. I felt dizzy and I had major butterflies. It wasn’t until I got outside when I realized I was still wearing his hat. I ran back down stairs and burst into the room to see Jacob on the couch and Lana on top of him, Jason just observing. They all looked over at me and their jaws dropped. Suddenly they all got clammed up and really awkward. “I…I forgot something.” I stammered awkwardly. I threw the hat at Jacob and started walking out.
“Wait…Summer!” He called after me. I peeked my head back in the room. He was making the heart with his hands, so was Lana. I returned hers and ignored his. “Ouch!” He said. I looked over at him again and smiled quickly before running up the stairs. What the hell just happened? What the hell did I just see? WHAT THE HELL?!

After I got home, I hardly ate dinner, even though all I had eaten today was breakfast and the Oreo at Lana’s. I ran down stairs and logged onto facebook where I had a message from Lana.
‘Message me when you get this.’ It said, with thumbs up emoticon.
‘Hey. I’m here.’ I replied back.
‘So you still like Jacob I see? You guys were so cute!’ She said, with a wink face.
‘I don’t know. He doesn’t like me so whatever.’
‘You don’t know? What if he did like you, then what?’
‘I meant like I don’t know if I still like him because I don’t think he likes me. And I think I probably would.’
‘Oh okay.’ She put a wink face. Why was she being so awkward?
‘I’ve been trying to forget about him though because I know he doesn’t like me.’ I typed. Why was I being so honest?
‘You don’t know that!’
‘He’s just leading me on.’
‘Neither of us know that!’
‘Well he probably is.’
‘Stay positive!’ How could she say that? I can’t possibly be positive, so many guys have been so crappy to me, and I don’t know how to be positive about guys anymore.
‘But being positive could end with me being hurt…’ I said, realizing that’s what I was so scared of. I shut my eyes and thought about today. He was so sweet, why couldn’t I just believe he likes me? Because he doesn’t! I refuse to believe it.
‘Or it could end in success!’ Why was she trying so hard to convince me? Maybe because I’m not supposed to know about her secret romance with Jacob. It makes me sick just thinking about how I saw them.
‘It’s obvious he doesn’t like me.’
‘How is it obvious?! The whole time he had his arm around you, and he held your hand, and when you were leaving he was like “don’t go!!”’ I thought. That’s true.
‘I thought he was just being friendly.’ I typed, not wanting to say I actually thought he liked her.
‘Guys don’t tend to act like that when they’re just being friendly!’
‘Guys act in weird ways all the time. Who knows?’
‘I guess, but I still think you should stay positive!’
‘I’ll try…’ I lied. I wouldn’t try. I knew I couldn’t trust him.
‘So uhm the thing is, when you left we were talking and Jacob does like you…but you’re not supposed to know! So shhh!’ I read her message twice. Then three times. Then four, then five, then six. I still hadn’t processed it. Are you serious? He likes me?! Since when? How much? So many questions.
‘So why were you on top of him?’ I bluntly asked.
‘Oh my God no it’s not what you think! I was harassing him with a million questions since he had just admitted he liked you!’ I instantly felt stupid.
‘I already cut our picture in half…’ I said.
‘Well tape it back together, because he likes you!’ I didn’t understand this. After all that, he actually did like me? He wasn’t leading me on, he didn’t like Lana, he wasn’t just lying…he liked me!
‘So he just randomly said he liked me?’
‘No we asked about it and he said yes that he really likes you! That’s what we were talking about when you came back downstairs and we were on the couch.’
‘OH THAT’S WHY YOU GUYS WERE SO AWKWARD!’
‘Yeah! How about if he asked you out? Text or face to face?’
‘Face to face is always better. But let’s not think about that.’ I shrugged that off. He wouldn’t ask me out and I wouldn’t have a boyfriend.
‘But the thing is he said he was considering asking you out when we all chill the day after you get back…’
‘This whole conversation is making me blush!’ I said.
‘Awwh! This is so cute! Well I have to go; I just wanted to talk about that! I’ll talk to you before you leave and I’ll continue raping your wall!’
‘Thanks for telling me! And I look forward to it! Bye!’ Her name popped off my buddy list and I sat in silence for a minute. I read the conversation over. No mistake, she definitely said he likes me. He likes me. Jacob likes me. Jacob Swift liked me. Jacob might ask me out. Jacob from over night camp liked me. Jacob who I sang with, held hands with, scared, hugged, slept in a dorm with, burned, ignored, played hard to get with, and have been contemplating deleting him from my life permanently…that Jacob LIKED me. That’s when it finally sunk in. And I finally grasped the concept that Jacob liked me. And that’s when I couldn’t stop smiling from ear to ear.

“Isn’t this so weird?” I asked Elena as we sat on Sandra’s couch in her den. It was Thursday and for the first time since summer started, my fabulous foursome and I were getting reunited. The four of us, as I probably already mentioned, were practically sisters. Sandra was at overnight camp for two weeks, then in Spain for two, Taylor was at overnight camp all of July, and so I had just seen Elena a lot. It was August 4th, and I was leaving on my trip tomorrow. The four of us were gathering at Sandra’s huge house then going over to her rich people’s country club for swimming and lunch. Sandra texted us three saying she was going to be late, so Elena and I were sitting in Sandra’s house without her in it.
“I can’t even get over how ridiculous this is.” Elena said. I checked my phone and saw another text from Sandra saying she was almost here.
“Hey Summer.” Sandra’s older brother, Kyle, said.
“Hey Kyle!” I said. He gave Elena a wave and she waved back. I talked to Kyle a bit more, because my brother was friends with him, and also I’d be going to the same school as him soon. He was a nice guy though, and sort of cute.
“So when are you going to tell this amazing story of Jacob?” Elena poked my knee. I got all giggly just thinking about it.
“I’ll tell the three of you together! When we eat lunch!” I said. Just then there was a knock at the door. We ran and saw Taylor through the window. We screamed and opened the door. The three of us hugged for a really long time.
“Oh my God I missed you guys so much!” She squealed while hugging us.
“I know!” Elena said.
“I missed you so much too!” I said.
“Of course Sandra would be late to her own gathering.” Taylor smirked, brushing away a piece of her curly blonde hair.
“Yeah that’s just so her.” Elena commented. The three of us went back into her den. It smelled like camp fire, which reminded me of camp, which reminded me of Jacob, which got me all giggly again. Sandra’s house was the best. It always smelled nice, she had a huge den, then she had her gorgeous kitchen with a TV in it, AND another room attached to that ALSO containing a TV. Her backyard is huge, she has a trampoline and she lives right on the golf course of the country club. Overall she just has a beautiful house, and the four of us have had most of our sleepovers and gatherings here.
“You look great!” I commented, looking at Taylor.
“Oh thanks! You guys look pretty awesome yourselves! Nice tans going there!” She gave us a wink. The four of us compliment each other all the time. Like I’ve said, we’re like sisters, we act like sisters. We compliment each other, we confront each other, we tell each other the truth, like when we think someone’s hair looks bad, or when someone’s acting fake or like a slut. We’ve all had interventions with each other. We all look pretty different. Taylor is almost my height, with really curly blonde hair. Think Taylor Swift’s hair, but a totally different face. Taylor has green eyes and she just a really cute look. Elena is around the same height too, with hair down to just above her boob. Its stick straight and it’s totally natural. It’s light brown and she has blonde high lights. She has small, blue eyes. Elena was the kind of girl that could easily look gorgeous when she wore mascara and curled pieces of her hair. Sandra was shorter then all of us. She had short, light brown hair that was straight, with natural high lights. She had hazel eyes and Sandra was just naturally pretty, no make up required, but she looked about 5 years older with just the slightest bit.
“So Summer has a really good story about Jacob!” Elena told Taylor.
“Sorry, who?” She questioned.
“Oh right! You’ve been gone! You have no idea who Jacob is!” Elena remembered.
“You have a lot to learn!” I said. Just then the door bell rang. We all screamed and ran to the door. We whipped it open and hugged Sandra really tightly, all talking over each other at once. “You look so tan!” “You guys look great!” “I’ve missed you!” “How was Spain?” “I met a boy!” “His name is Jacob!” “How was camp?!” type of conversations were all happening at once.
“Slow down!” Sandra giggled. We all went into her den and we all sat down on the couches. We all started talking about things that had happened to us this summer. We were taking pictures and laughing and just enjoying good times. We probably hugged a billion times too. I had missed all this. Good times with my best buddies. My lovely, adorable, funny sisters. Soon we all went to Sandra’s room and changed into our bikinis. There’s another thing about being sisters, no shame or embarrassment around each other. We joked around, made new inside jokes, took more pictures and laughed until we cried, like usual. Then, we hopped on bikes, like we’d done a thousand times before and left for the country club, laughing and giggling the whole way there. We rode the bikes around the side and stood them up outside the gate. We opened it up and walked inside. It was such a warm day outside. I adjusted my sunglasses on my face. We walked passed all the chairs set up, and Sandra got us all towels. I looked around and saw a few guys already looking at us. After reserving chairs, we went up to the Cabana and sat at a round table and ordered our food. We looked down at the pool and all the members there. We talked about funny things that had happened that summer and how much we missed each other. Soon, our food came.
“So now tell us this story of Jacob!” Sandra pressured.
“I’m dying to hear it!” Taylor said.
“Me too!” Elena piped in.
“Fine, fine, fine!” I giggled. Then I proceeded to tell them the entire story. I heard all the awwhs, the ooohs, the wows, the ‘how sweets’, and everything else. I told them everything that happened at Lana’s house, and finished with how I don’t believe he really actually, truly likes me.
“What?! It’s so obvious that he’s absolutely crazy for you!” Taylor nudged me, sticking a fry in her mouth. I took another bite of my grilled cheese. That’s right. Grilled cheese again.
“I don’t know…” I shrugged. “We’ll see what happens…” I trailed off when I saw a really hot guy. I smiled and he winked at me. “Did you guys see that?!” I squealed.
“Stop looking at other guys! You have Jacob now!” Elena said.
“I’m not dating the guy; I can do whatever I want.” I crossed my arms to my chest, looking smart.
“Come on! I really think he likes you. Elena saw how he was with you! She knows he likes you! Just stop being so scared and go for it!” Sandra pressured.
“I’m not scared!” I defended, throwing a fry at her. She giggled.
“You’re scared because of what happened with Carter!” Taylor agreed.
“But I’m telling you right now, JACOB ISN’T CARTER. Don’t compare them! Jacob’s first of all, older then Carter and second of all, more mature!” Elena said.
“True.” I admitted. I took my shirt off and saw a few guys crane their necks to look at me.
“You can’t just take your shirt off while we eat lunch!” Taylor laughed.
“Sure I can. I’m hot. I’m outside. I’m wearing a bikini, it’s not like I’m sitting here with my tits hanging out.” I said. Elena, Taylor, Sandra and I all started laughing. Good times.
“Let me guess, you were probably the wildest girl at camp?” Taylor guessed. I gave her a wink.
“Damn straight, you know it wouldn’t be any other way!” I giggled. The four of us got up and decided we’d go in the pool now. We all took off our clothes so we were standing in our bikinis, and we took pictures of each other. We’re such cam whores sometimes. The four of us stood at the edge of the pool and decided we’d jump in all four of us together, holding hands.
“I don’t want to hold hands!” Elena complained.
“Why not?” Sandra asked.
“I don’t want to get pushed in!” She replied. Out of the four of us, Elena was the careful, safe one. She was really funny, but she wasn’t wild-funny. She was always taking precautions, stayed on the safe side, and wouldn’t do anything crazy. Sandra was the bubbly one. Always talking, she was loud, lively and energetic. She could light up a room with her laugh and personality. Taylor was quite normal. Funny, but normal. Not too loud, not quiet. Not wild, but not safe either. She was well-balanced. I was the wild child of the group. Saying and doing wild, crazy, insane things constantly. I was the one they always said had the most interesting life, in terms of boys, socially and just generally.
“You’re such a baby.” I said. The four of us fought for a while about whether we were going to jump in or not.
“I don’t want to because I don’t think you’ll jump in too!” Elena said.
“I’m just going to stand here until you guys make up your mind!” Taylor said, randomly. That’s one more thing about her. She’s really random. She went and stood off to the side.
“People are staring!” Sandra said in a whisper.
“Screw you losers!” I yelled. I jumped off the side of the pool and plunged into the water. “Now will you come in?!” I asked once my head floated to the surface. The three of them were laughing. Then they all shrugged and jumped in. “Jesus, if I knew it was that easy I would have jumped in ten minutes ago.” I started swimming towards the diving board. We all got out, jumped in, got out, jumped in. We made the most noise and we could tell everyone was staring at how weird we were. After a while of splashing, deep talks, jumping, making fun of a kid who was annoying us, and scoping out cute guys, we biked back to Sandra’s house to change for our ceremony. We got this t-shirt made for us at our school BBQ back in June. It was white and was spray painted ‘TESS 4EVA!’ in black, with pink and purple designs. The slogan stood for Taylor, Elena, Sandra, Summer forever. We were sharing it this summer, and I was taking it with me today. We got candles, ice cream, and random things that symbolized our friendship. We made a playlist of all our friendship songs and we headed to the middle of Sandra’s backyard to start. We all spooned the chocolate ice cream while creating rules for the top which we centered in the middle. Elena looked directly at me.
“Rule number three…no doing anything inappropriate in the shirt.” She said.
“What?! Me?! Inappropriate?! Elena, please!” I gasped, totally sarcastic. We all giggled. “No being insecure in the shirt girls!” I said after. We typed that rule on Sandra’s iPad after Elena’s rule. We kept going with the rules.
“Well girls…here’s to a great rest of the summer.” Taylor said, realizing we had finished the rules.
“Love your sisters and love yourself.” I said, grabbing Taylor’s hand.
“To today…” She held onto Elena’s hand.
“This summer…” Elena said, grabbing Sandra’s hand.
“Each other.” Sandra continued, holding my other hand.
“And the rest of our lives.” I finished. After that we broke and it was time for us to go home. We hugged forever while our parents talked, and promised we’d see each other again once we were all here. Sandra was going to another camp, Elena to her cottage, I was going on my vacation and this time, Taylor was the one staying at home. We all left and I finally finished all my packing for my long expedition tomorrow. I was really looking forward to it. For a week and a half I’d be in Orlando, Florida, at Disney and my condo. Then I’d be going on that amazing cruise. My brother and I were really looking forward to all the teen clubs. Cute boys at sea, who could ask for more?

The whole first week of my vacation all I could think about was Jacob. Everywhere I went, everything I did, he was all I could think about. I took pictures for him of the Disney castle, and everything Toy Story or Winnie the Pooh related because I promised I would. I checked my facebook late at night and responded to his wall posts. Seeing his posts with Lana made me feel uncomfortable sometimes. I talked to all my friends back at home, and listened to songs every night that reminded me of him and of camp. I kept changing my mind daily, and I wasn’t exactly silent about it. By this point, my whole family knew Jacob and I liked each other. I kept going from thinking I’d say yes if he asks me out, to knowing I’d say no. Lana assured me he really was asking me out, for sure. The more I saw people around Disney and my hotel that were dating, the more I didn’t mind the idea of a relationship. Then I thought I was ridiculous for even thinking that. I wasn’t going to have a relationship with Jacob. One night, I was sitting in the hotel room, on facebook. Lana had seen Jacob that day. She had seen him with Valerie and Jason and they took stupid pictures together. He couldn’t possibly like me! By the time the cruise had come, I had gotten checked out approximately 18 times per day (my mom noticed so I started keeping count, it got fun!), I had eaten around 8 grilled cheeses, taken at least 200 pictures, checked my facebook at least 10 times a day on my iPod and responded to Jacob’s messages, sometimes going 10 hours without responding, just to keep him waiting. Either way, I was so happy to be going on the cruise. Though apparently, Wi-Fi was really hard to get there. That worried me. I couldn’t go a week without being able to go on facebook and talk to Jacob. Who knows what could happen in a week. We were about to leave our hotel to go on the ship. Walking through the lobby, I met the eyes of the most beautiful guy I had ever seen. I looked at him, and he looked at me, his eyes gazing down my body and back up at my face. He smiled at me and I smiled back at him, suddenly feeling really insecure. This guy was gorgeous! He had blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was tall and muscular. His smile was the most amazing smile I had ever seen in my life. If he was on the cruise, I think I’d have tons of fun.

After getting on the ship for the first time, I looked around. This really was the most amazing cruise ship ever! The fifth deck was the deck we stepped onto. It was the Promenade deck with stores, cafes, guest service, bars, and a place called On Air where they had karaoke nights. For the next few hours, me and my family just walked around each floor on the ship and took pictures. I loved the amount of double takes I got here. I loved everything on this ship, and I couldn’t wait to spend a whole week here. But there was one thing bugging me. Internet connection.
“Can we go check for connection now?” I begged my dad.
“I’m telling you, it’s going to be expensive.” He said.
“So I can’t use internet for a whole week?! Are you kidding me?!” I yelled.
“We can go look…right?” My mom asked my dad.
“Really, Summer? You can’t last a week without your internet? You’re such a little princess.” My brother said. I glared at him. We walked to the seventh deck which had the internet café.
“65 cents a minute, Summer. That’s really expensive.” My dad said after checking the computer.
“No…dad I NEED to go on the internet! You don’t understand!” I pleaded. Just then, a man who worked there came up to us.
“It’s only 30 cents in the teen lounge. It’s much cheaper.” He told us.
“Hear that dad? Only 30 cents!” I tugged on his arm. “Please!!” I begged. I did my best puppy dog look.
“You have ten dollars worth of internet. That’s about half an hour. Use it very wisely.” He said sternly. “If you go over that amount, it’s coming out of your bank account.” He said after.
“That’s very generous!” My mom said.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!!” I beamed at him. He probably knew how worried I really was about Jacob losing interest in me. I wonder if anyone knew how much I missed him. I was seeing him the day after I get back. I still haven’t made up my mind, and I think about him all the time.

That night, after dinner, my brother and I got to separate from our parents and go to the teen lounge. So far, I loved this place. Free food everywhere even though I don’t eat much anyway, there was so much to do, all these cool rooms, and so many shows. I would never get bored.
“You guys know the rules. Stay safe, stay together, don’t leave this area. You can’t go anywhere else on the ship. Tonight we’re seeing that show so you need to be out of there by ten.” My dad said.
“Ten!? The big party doesn’t start until 12!” I said.
“Yeah! Until then we’re all just meeting each other in the lounge. We don’t get to go to the night club until 12!” My brother complained.
“Those are the rules. Tomorrow night you can go to the big party.” My dad said. We groaned and walked towards the teen lounge. We were on the fifteenth deck, the largest and most exciting on this ship. All outside, with a few indoor sections, like the teen lounge. We walked through the sliding doors where we walked through a wide hallway passing a few different places. A small shop, an arcade, the elevators, and finally, the teen lounge. Before going in, I made sure I looked okay. I was wearing the same dress I wore the last night of camp. I fixed my stick straight hair and adjusted the strap on me heels. My brother and I walked in. The place was full of teens. I saw the computers, but I decided I’d wait until tomorrow since I’d already talked to him this morning before coming on the ship. We looked around. Everyone was doing sort of what we were. Standing around, awkwardly, not knowing anybody. The room was pretty big. You walk in and it had cushion benches in a circle. Then it had cushion benches against the wall, the three computers, and a retro shelf sort of thing. There was an area for video games, foosball tables, and then a big chill zone with a TV and lots of space to sit on cushions and relax. There was a bar and a little table with a staff member. Behind the little table was a white board with this weeks activities written on it. I looked around and saw a lot of boys eyeing me. I gave a few smiles. After the staff member got us started with an announcement about this week, he told us we should all stop being awkward and get to know each other. I looked around the circle of all of us when I met the eye of a very familiar boy. It was gorgeous blonde guy from the hotel! He smiled at me and I smiled back. I wondered if he remembered me. Everyone looked older then me. I figured it might be a good idea to pretend to be 15 instead of telling people I’m 14. We all got up and started awkwardly walking around, finding people who were doing the same. My brother and I walked up to the gorgeous blonde guy. Turns out gorgeous blonde guy had a gorgeous blonde sister who of course, my brother was gawking at. Just as we approached, a few other people came together too, and suddenly there was a bunch of us who started getting to know each other.
“Hey guys!” The blonde girl said. We all sort of started awkwardly introducing ourselves. “I’m Taylor.” She said. We all started introducing ourselves, but I missed a lot of people’s names. Even gorgeous blonde guy, who kept giving me looks. What was his name? Blake? Jay? Chris? I completely missed it. For now he was gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris. We all started saying how old we were.
“Well Taylor and I are twins. We’re both 16.” Gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris said. My heart leaped. 16? He was TWO years older then me! Not that he needed to know that.
“We’re 15.” This girl who I think was named Drew said, pointing to the two girls on either side of her.
“Me too!” I lied. I could tell my brother was watching me. A few other guys shared their ages. 15 and 16.
“I’m 17.” My brother said. Great, so I was the youngest one here. Youngest, shortest, and the other girls were way prettier. They all had bigger boobs, more makeup and cuter clothes.
“So where’s everyone from?” One of the guys, Alex I think, asked.
“We’re from California.” Gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris said. Oh wow. A California hottie.
“So are we!” Drew said.
“Oh I’m from Nashville.” Alex said.
“We’re from New York!” Another guy said.
“Where are you guys from?” Gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris asked looking directly at me. I smiled a little.
“We’re from Canada.” I blushed, suddenly feeling like such a loser. In comparison to the gorgeous girls from California, I was nothing. We all stood in our little circle and continued making small talk, comparing countries and schools and things. Pretending to be a year older was harder than I thought because I got asked a lot about how I liked freshman year. I didn’t know yet because it hadn’t happened. When it was ten, we met our parents up for the show and all I could think about was just how absolutely beautiful gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris was. I couldn’t wait until tomorrow night, just to stare at him again. Was that creepy?

Tonight was the first night I finally got to go to the big party at 12. I checked myself out in the mirror of our small room. The rooms on this ship were pretty small, but nice. The ship was huge and we had an amazing room on the 12th deck with an ocean view balcony. I quite enjoyed going on the balcony and singing to the ocean. I loved the way all you saw was ocean and more ocean and more ocean. Just endless ocean, at every point in the day. Today we were at Bahamas. It was formal night, so we were all dressed up. After dinner I went to that On Air place and sang karaoke. I sang Love Story by Taylor Swift and everybody actually loved it. I got a whole bunch of applause and lots of compliments. I love how I feel when I’m singing, it really is the greatest feeling in the world. On Air was a karaoke lounge and it definitely looked like one. It had a bar, circular tables with chairs, couches and tables, a sound booth and the small round stage that changed colours. I was wearing white shorts and a white top from Abercrombie with pink flowers. It was Miami style night so we were supposed to “wear white to glow in the night!” Those are the exact words from the teen pamphlet I grabbed today when I logged onto facebook. I only got to talk to Jacob once briefly, but once a day will be enough. I will somehow survive. My hair was straightened again, I wore a few simple pieces of jewellery and my makeup was done well. My parents watched my brother and I walk into the teen party. They were going to their own party, so they didn’t mind. We walked into the club, which was right beside the teen lounge, “The Living Room” which was where we were yesterday. The room was dark, with a disco ball, a lit up dance floor, a bar, a DJ booth, and leather couches in the corner. The song playing when we walked in was “Where Them Girls At” by David Guetta. I noticed the crew we hung out with last night on the couches. They waved at us and we started heading over. I looked around and saw every guys head turn to me. They practically broke their necks to get a look. Including gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris. I sat beside a pretty blonde girl who’s name I didn’t know. We were all sitting on the couches, making small talk and I felt really awkward and shy. I was such an outgoing girl, but I guess I felt intimidated with the really pretty girls and the hot guys, everyone being older and taller then me. The girl I was beside was beside gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris, and he was beside Drew. He sat like he was the man in between two girls. We were sitting on a black leather couch, and there was a circle leather chair type of thing in the middle. Two boys were sitting on it, also talking to everyone. On of them turned to face me.
“Hey, I’m Riley.” He introduced himself. But I didn’t hear too well.
“What?” I leaned closer.
“I’m Riley!” He said louder.
“I’m Summer!” I introduced myself. He looked to the girl next to me.
“Who are you?” He asked.
“I’m Larissa.” She said, coldly. She seemed snobby. He looked back at me.
“You’re really pretty Summer!” He said. I blushed a little.
“Thank you.”
“Where are you from?” He asked.
“Ontario, Canada.” I responded.
“Oh that’s cool. I’m from Long Beach, New York.” He nodded. I suddenly felt rude. I never asked where he was from. He had to tell me.
“Oh that’s awesome! How old are you?” I asked.
“I’m 16. How about you?”
“Oh I’m 15.” I lied. I was lying so much, I might actually forget I was 14.
“Sophomore year coming up, huh?” He nudged me. I pretended to know what he was talking about.
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it! And your going into grade 11 right?”
“Yeah, graduating next year, hard to believe.” When Party Rock Anthem came on, the guys got up to dance. I was instantly reminded of camp, and a had a moment of nostalgia in remembrance of grabbing Jacob’s hand to dance, of the grind lines with my girls, and of how the boys practically licked our skin off with their eyes when we danced to it. I remembered us holding hands, dancing in our skirts. I could see the girls looking at me enviously. None of them wanted to talk to me. Not that I cared, it was just a week, I was only seeing these people for an hour every night. “Let’s dance!” Riley nudged me and we both got up and followed Brett, Alex, tall blonde guy who was apparently gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris’ cousin, a guy named Eric, and of course, gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris. I still didn’t know his name! I had heard people say it, but it sounded like one of those, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It would be quite awkward if he remembered my name and I didn’t remember his. I didn’t notice I was the only girl until we were in the circle and all the guys fought over who got to teach me how to shuffle. Look at me, center of attention! I was laughing at how ridiculous guys could be sometimes. They were all dancing and I danced too. I turned to look back at the leather couch. All the girls were looking at me, enviously. This girl Caroline who was from Connecticut turned over to another girl who’s name I couldn’t remember, and whispered something. Obviously about me, because they were looking right at me. I turned away and kept on dancing with the guys.

* * *

The night after was sort of like the night before. Brett and I got there just after 12 and went over to the leather couches to meet up with everyone else.
“Hey Summer!” Riley said, sitting beside me. Our knees were touching. I saw four girls I didn’t recognize from the night before.
“Hey!” I said over the loud thumping of the music. I looked at the four girls again. I was sitting on the circle, leather thing with Riley, and the four of them were across us on the leather couch. Gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris on one side of them with his cousin, Alex and Brett on the other.
“Oh, this is Ashley, Mackenzie, Jenna and Angela.” He introduced. They looked at me for a minute and then said hi. “This is Summer.” He pointed to me. I said hi back to them. They were all really pretty, way prettier than me. Ashley was tall, thin, brunette and had the same face as Taylor Swift. I swear if she was blonde they’d be identical. Mackenzie was blonde with flawless skin and blue eyes. Her hair was wavy and she had her bangs pinned back. Angela was tan with piercing brown eyes and long brown hair. Jenna was short, really skinny and had shorter blonde hair and green eyes. Each of them looked great in their perfect outfits.
“Did you guys know each other?” Brett asked Ashley.
“Yeah, we’re best friends!” She answered. Oh great. So now it’s my brother getting along with the guys, four girls who were already best friends, and me who has nothing besides electric sparks with gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris, and who gets complimented by Riley who’s 2 years older then me. He wasn’t even all that good looking. He was the sort of guy who just seemed like he was the man at school. He looked sort of like John Tucker. Remember that movie? I remember all the times I tried to get revenge on a guy, except my John Tucker never fell for it, so instead of being a legend like Kate was, everything backfired. Eventually I grew up and realized revenge isn’t a good solution. But anyways, he looked like John Tucker. Brunette, dark eyes, tall, built. Definitely not as good looking as gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris.
“So how was your day?” Riley asked, like we’d known each other forever.
“Good, how was yours?”
“It was great!”
“Cool.”
“What are you doing tomorrow in St. Thomas?” He asked. St. Thomas was the next place we were stopping tomorrow.
“I might go to the beach.”
“Me too! Maybe I’ll see you there!” He smiled. I shrugged, still playing completely hard to get, not on purpose.
“Maybe.”
“Hopefully.” He said, his voice softening up a bit. Why was he sitting here flirting with me, when there were four totally gorgeous girls sitting right across? Girls who were 15, closer to his age, and girls who were loud, outgoing and wore skin tight, revealing clothes. I was loud and outgoing too, but being out here by myself, without my other friends, I was a little more reserved. Sure, I fit in well at camp, but that was in a comfortable environment, where most people were my age, and people older then me looked up to me because of my talents. This is a little out of my comfort zone. I cracked a small smile. “You look really great tonight.” He commented. I looked down at my denim romper from Hollister. I fingered through my once again, stick straight hair.
“Thank you!” I accepted the compliment.
“No problem.” He grinned at me. Okay, so his smile was sort of nice, but I still had my eye on gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris. I mean, I know Jacob is back home waiting for me, but why should I not have fun on vacation? I should do what I want, it’s not like I’m dating the guy, and plus, he’s ALWAYS flirting with Lana, so who cares? After my feelings of guilt passed, I looked over at gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris. He was staring at me. I smiled and offered a tiny wave. He smiled and waved back. Oh my God what a gorgeous smile. Gorgeous teeth, hair, eyes, body…everything about this guy was seriously gorgeous. Every inch of him was a toned, tan muscle. And he was smiling at ME! Man, that shirt me and my sisters share really is good luck! I wore it today when I went zip lining, although it didn’t make it any less scary. “Come on, let’s go dance!” He urged. I got up and followed him and the guys to the dance floor. This time, the four girls came too. They had their own grind line which made me REALLY miss my camp friends. They played Party Rock Anthem again. It seemed like that was the song of the summer, the song of this cruise. The guys attempted once again to teach me how to shuffle. I noticed gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris and his hot, tall cousin looking at me. I looked at them, and offered a mischievous smile. They both smiled back. We all sang along to Party Rock Anthem and danced. I hated those awkward moments when the four girls would be the center of attention and I’d get kicked out of our little circle. Not literally, but I’m not joking, EVERYBODY was taller than me! It was easy for me to get lost and not be able to see anything over other people’s heads. Also since I was skinnier than everyone, it was easy for me to fall out of the circle when the other guys would jump and fist pump. I didn’t feel comfortable dancing as much as I normally did, because everyone was a stranger, older than me, and intimidating. Once we started getting tired of dancing, we all went back to the couches. I sat and Riley sat next to me.
“So tomorrow night, we should meet in the Living Room…say…8? The crew can chill!” he said to me.
“Maybe…” I responded.
“Maybe?”
“Yeah, maybe.” I giggled.
“So how are you?” He asked, leaning back a little, getting closer to me.
“What time is it?” I ignored his question. I looked at his watch. One in the morning. Cur few! Crap!
“It’s one…” He answered.
“Crap! I have to go.” I nudged my brother who was talking to the other guys. “It’s one!” I told him.
“Oh okay, let’s go.” He got up. He said bye to the guys and I waved bye.
“You’re leaving? That’s it?” Riley asked as I stood up.
“Yeah, sorry!” I apologized.
“I don’t even get a hug or anything?”
“I’ll see you tomorrow night!” I denied his hug and left. I loved the feeling of so much attention.
“So hey, that Riley guy flirts with you a bit huh?” Brett teased while we ran to the elevator.
“Yeah, it’s sort of creepy! But whatever, I enjoy the attention! But I have my eyes on that gorgeous blonde guy. What’s his name?” We pressed 12 in the elevator.
“I don’t know actually. I think Ashley and Mackenzie are pretty hot!”
“Thanks, Brett. Just ignore my thoughts and my problems.” It stopped at our floor and we ran to our room.
“What’s your problem?”
“Uh, hello!” I said like it was obvious. We unlocked the room and raced in to find our parents weren’t even back yet. “Wow, what hypocrites.” I sighed, dropping the key on the bed, and plopping down. Brett plopped beside me.
“So you were saying? About the problem?”
“I have Jacob back at home, Riley trying to pick me up, crazy mad, hormone crazy lust for gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris, and he doesn’t talk to me! Or call me pretty!”
“He probably thinks you are. Seriously Summer, let’s be honest, how many guys have you met that have said you aren’t pretty?”
“Tons have said that!” I said, thinking of the bad memories.
“I meant recently. Since grade 7 or so.”
“Fine, not very many.” I admitted truthfully. It had been a while since a guy called me ugly. And when one did, there were 5 who disagreed. It was like guy math. 1 to 5 ratios.
“Exactly. Guys hit on you everywhere you go, and you’re complaining!” I smiled to myself.
“Okay, true. But it brings up too many temptations when I already have a guy back at home.” Brett shrugged.
“He isn’t here. What you do here won’t matter. He doesn’t need to know.” He had a point. I grinned.
“I like the way you think sometimes!” I fist pounded him and we both got ready for bed. Our parents walked in around 1:30. I stood right in front of the door and crossed my arms. “30 minutes passed cur few.” I shook my head at them. They tried to hide their laughter, and so did I. “Your parents would not be proud! We were here right at 1:05 and you weren’t here! Where were you, huh?” My parents burst out laughing.
“Alright Summer, who hit on you tonight?” My dad asked, walking passed me.
“What kind of question is that?!” I asked, trying to hide my silly grin.
“Well obviously you’re in a good mood, and we know you well enough to know it means SOMEBODY must have given you attention or hit on you. So who was it?”
“You know me too well!” I smirked. After telling my stories, my loud, random family went to sleep. I fell asleep with a big smile; I was on top of the world.

That next day I was in a terrible mood. I don’t even know why. Well I sort of do. More of seeing Jacob’s posts to Lana and I just wish I could be there. Just see him, hug him, feel his presence. I was also feeling a little dizzy. Sort of like I could just fall to the ground any second now, just sleep. It was so hot here in St. Thomas, and I felt really hot, tired, and drowsy. We didn’t even go to the beach. We were on a tour bus looking at the island. We got off at a stop. I was too tired to move, but I did.
“Smells like poverty.” I groaned. My parents glared at me.
“Summer! Don’t make such rude comments!” my dad ordered.
“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes beneath my sunglasses. I wasn’t sure if I’d be in the mood for the party tonight. I already had a headache and my headaches never go away. I’d need to take pills and I can’t swallow pills, so when I get a headache I’m stuck with it until I sleep. I know I should just take a nap, but I really don’t like naps. Therefore, I last until night time, and even though I should go to sleep early, I still end up sucking it up until midnight. Once we got back on the ship, I didn’t feel like doing anything else. My headache was getting worse, and by the time dinner rolled around I wasn’t in the mood for karaoke again tonight. I thought some food might help me, but not really. I sang at karaoke anyways, but afterwards I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Can we go to the room?” I asked, sounding extremely tired.
“Why? What’s wrong?” My mom worried.
“I have a bad headache…can we just go please?” I begged. My parents took me back and I lied down for the rest of the night. We skipped the party, and although Brett was pretty mad at me, I couldn’t make myself stand up. When I did, I felt the boat moving and I got dizzy. I went to sleep early that night, feeling slightly bad I never met Riley at 8, but also better knowing I’d get a good nights sleep and would be good for tomorrow.

* * *

I woke up in a much better mood. My head ache was gone, I couldn’t feel the moving and I wasn’t dizzy. Well, I guess I didn’t feel the moving because we were stopped. But yesterday on land I still felt like I was moving. Either way, I was definitely feeling more like myself today. After changing into cuffed, denim shorts and my favourite blue top from Aritzia, we left to check out St. Maarten. It was already scorching hot by the time we got outside, even though it was probably only 11:30 or so. Once we got into a store, I tied my hair into a side braid, letting some of my bangs fall around my face. I took off my sunglasses and checked out my own reflection. Not that horrible. I shrugged and put my baseball hat back on. When I go on vacation and don’t wear a hat, my scalp burns. I have pretty sensitive skin. Usually I try to get out of wearing it, like at the beach, camp, or when I went to the cottage with my friends. But on vacation I figured no one was really judging me too harshly, and it’s not like I’d be seeing gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris now, nor would I be seeing Riley. Not that I really cared about his opinion, since he was sort of persistent in a creepy way, but he still voiced it, and I wasn’t about to turn away someone who compliments me. Though I still didn’t want to see him that often, it made me feel a little uncomfortable. I slipped my sunglasses over my face and followed my family out of the little gift shop. No more than 5 seconds after we step out, a guy calls my brothers name.
“Hey Brett!” Someone yelled with a deep voice. I wasn’t paying attention.
“Hey man, what’s up?” My brother left my parents and I, and walked to the guy. I started walking away.
“Summer! You’re not going to come say hi to me?” The guy said. I turned around and realized I was staring at the face of none other than Riley. I let out a long sigh, gave my parents a look, and walked over to Riley and Brett. I crossed my arms to my chest.
“Hey.” I said coldly.
“Hey!” He said back. “So what are you guys doing today?” He asked.
“Oh we’re just going on some tour thing.” Brett said.
“Oh that’s cool. I guess you aren’t going to the beach then, huh Summer?” He looked down at me. I was much shorter without my heels. Suddenly I felt really insecure. Did I look 14? Was I acting 14?
“No, apparently not.” I answered.
“So guys, tomorrow night we’re having a secret prom.” He filled us in.
“What?” I questioned.
“Last night at the party you missed, our crew discussed it and tomorrow night, since we get to party in the adult disco, Blaze, we’re making it like a secret prom. So dress formal.” He said.
“Oh cool, so it’s like everyone we chill with?” Brett asked.
“Yeah, the crew said to tell you guys. We’re going to meet in the Living Room tonight at like…8? So meet us there, will you?” Riley looked at me hopeful.
“Maybe…” I said.
“Isn’t there a movie tonight?” Brett asked.
“Yeah no party. We’re just going to chill out. We’ll party in Blaze tomorrow. So where were you last night anyways?” He asked.
“Oh I was a little sea sick.” I said.
“Oh that sucks. We missed you there.” I nodded a little. “Feel better now?”
“Yeah I’m great.”
“Well that’s good! I’m gonna go now, but meet us tonight, at 8!” He started walking back.
“Got it.” I said, I turned to start leaving. Brett and him did that thing boys do, the bro hug or whatever.
“Alright man, catch you later!” Brett left and I was already leaving.
“Bye Summer!” He called over to me. I turned to him and smiled.
“Bye!” We kept walking. I saw Riley twice again. The first time, I hid. The second time I tried to put sunglasses on so if I ignored him I’d look like it was an accident, but it didn’t work because he looked directly at me. I smiled and gave a small, awkward wave. He waved back. Don’t you hate those moments when you run into someone you really don’t want to run into, then you leave and then you see them again and you’re not sure if you should avoid them completely, wave again or just walk right past not saying anything? It’s rude to walk past, notice each other and not say anything, because you obviously know each other. But it’s awkward to walk past and wave, knowing you just had a full on conversation before! So really, running into someone more than once at the same place on the same day is a complete lose-lose situation.

I checked my facebook as soon as we got back on the ship, and I smiled as I read Jacob’s message. Lana told me the plans, we were all going to another movie the day I got back, and then I told her we could come to my house afterward. That night, Brett and I didn’t show up at 8. We ran into Alex, and he said we should all meet around 11, so at 11 we started walking up.
“Wait here, I’m going to the bathroom.” Brett said when we were on the 15th deck already. It was dark and we were the only two aside from a few random people walking around. Everyone was either seeing a show, at the Promenade, at an adult club or in the Living Room.
“Ditch me in the dark, why don’t you?” I said, aggravated. He shrugged and went into the washroom. I stood alone for a few seconds, when out of the darkness I saw a figure walking toward me.
“Hey Summer, what are you doing here?” Riley asked. Him again…really?
“Hey…” I took a step back. “We were just about to go to the Living Room but Brett had to use the washroom.”
“Oh…” He walked to the washroom and opened the door. “Hey Brett! Hurry up man!” he yelled in there. I heard a toilet flush and my brother laugh. “You look good tonight.” He commented. I looked down at my ‘Hottie’ top that revealed an inch of my stomach, and my white shorts.
“Yeah I get that a lot.” I said. He grinned.
“From me or from other guys?”
“What do you think?”
“I’m guessing both?”
“Bingo.”
“Sorry I wasn’t there at 8. I was in the hot tub with those four girls you met last night. They’re changing now, so I was about to go back to the Living Room.”
“It’s okay, I didn’t go either.” Just then Brett came out.
“Hey Riley, what’s up?”
“We’re about to head over to the Living Room now.” Riley said. The three of us walked together and Brett and I shared a look on the way. We walked in the Living Room and saw gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris lying on his stomach in the corner on the cushions. We walked over to him.
“Hey man, what’s up?” Riley and him fist pounded. I wish someone would say his God damn name already.
“Hey guys!” Gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris said. He lied on his back, propping himself up with his elbows. “Sit, there’s tons of room.” He signalled to the spot right in between him and Riley for me. I sat in front of them, Brett sat beside Riley. Gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris sat up. “Hey! I don’t feel sea sick anymore!” He exclaimed, holding his stomach.
“What?” I questioned.
“I had the worst stomach ache for like 4 hours and now it’s gone!”
“Oh yeah I was sea sick last night.”
“Oh that’s why you weren’t at the party!” He looked at me with his piercing blue eyes and I practically melted. “Feeling better now?”
“Much better.” I nodded.
“Hey Riley, what’s taking your bitches so long?” gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris asked. Who were his bitches?
“Who?” Brett asked, reading my mind.
“Those four girls. And I don’t know man; they said they were changing from the hot tub.” Just then gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris’ hot cousin sat with us, and so did Alex. Drew, Larissa and Taylor joined too, avoiding me and talking with each other.
“How long do they take?” I asked.
“I don’t know, a while. They can’t be naturally beautiful like you are.” He winked at me. I nudged my brother, who gave me a look like he finally believed that Riley was really hitting on me. I felt myself blush and I broke my gaze with Riley and looked the other way. He started laughing. “Hey now, don’t take it too personal. You’re just adorable.”
“Thanks.” I grinned.
“Hey tomorrow if you aren’t doing anything, we should meet in the Living Room at 1.”
“Maybe…” Just then, Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars was playing on the TV screen. “Oh I hate this song!” I groaned.
“What if I sing it to you?” Gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris joked. Oh my God…him singing that to me, it would be amazing.
“You sing?” I smirked.
“I love singing! Ready?” I nodded and he looked me in the eyes and started singing. I couldn’t help but giggle. Once he finished a bit I clapped.
“Amazing! I sing too!”
“Are you any good?”
“I think so…I spent 2 weeks at theatre camp before I came on this trip!”
“Oh sing something!” he nudged me.
“No, no, it’s fine.” I blushed.
“I don’t believe you then!” He shook his head. I love how he always looked right at me when we talked. Looked right at me with those beautiful eyes, striking his amazing smile. Running his hands through his perfect, blonde hair, absentmindedly making me want him. He’s so hot; I wish we had guys like this in Canada. Before I could respond to him, Mackenzie, Ashley, Angela and Jenna got there. Then, the four of them, Brett, Riley, gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris, his cousin, Alex and me went outside and sat there. The four girls, Alex, gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris, and Brett each got cool circle chairs. Riley, gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris’ cousin, and I sat on a white plastic couch. I sat far away from Riley, though he always found a way to get closer to me so our knees were touching. Once the other group of teens left their circle chairs, we ran to grab them. Riley put his next to gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris, and his cousin went beside Riley. I tried lifting the chair and couldn’t do it.
“I got it.” Riley sprung up from his chair to help me. He lifted the chair with ease all the way around beside Brett. Gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris looked up at me.
“Oh now I feel bad.” He said, referring to him sitting there while I tried lifting the heavy chair. I shrugged. As Riley put my chair down, I stole his so I was now in between gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris, and his hot cousin. I giggled.
“Wow! Fine, I’ll sit with Brett and Ashley!” Riley said, sitting in the chair he originally set up for me. I shrugged. Gorgeous blonde, Blake, Jay or possibly Chris used his feet to move a small stool in front of him. He put his feet on it and I tried to do the same. He moved it away from me and looked at me.
“No way!” He laughed. I put on my good sad face. “Oh fine!” He gave in. We shared the small stool for our feet. “So you actually sing?” He looked at me.
“Yes! I’m telling you, I do!”
“Sing something!”
“Not now, it’s awkward!” After our quick battle about that, we all started talking about last names.
“Mine’s like, 13 letters.” Riley joked.
“Mine’s a freaking state of mind.” I complained.
“Is it actually?!” Gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris’ hot cousin asked, leaning forward. I nodded.
“What is it?” Ashley asked.
“Bliss. Summer Bliss. I’m named after a season and a state of mind!”
“We have the same last name!” Brett pointed out.
“But your first name is a real name. Not a season.” I pointed out. Everyone laughed.
“How is it spelled? Can I see your sea pass?” Gorgeous blonde Blake, Jay or possibly Chris asked. I agreed right away. Of course he could see my sea pass.
“Can I see yours?” I asked. He agreed and we gave each other our sea passes. Mine got passed around afterwards. I read his. Nicholas Gilbert. So his name WASN’T Blake, or Jay or Chris. Everyone was saying NICK. Oh that makes sense now! Nick! “Well…” I started handing back his sea pass card. “Now I know your name.” I grinned. “Nice to meet you, Nick!” I giggled.
“Nice to meet you too, Summer. Even though I already knew that!” He smiled at me. His hot cousin gave my sea pass card back and I put it in my pocket. “So how old do I look to you?” Nick asked in a whisper.
“16, that’s what you said. Why?” I questioned.
“I’m actually 14. I lied and said that because everyone’s older than me. I’m turning 15 this year though, so I’m still going into grade 10.” I gasped.
“I’m 14 too! But I’m going into grade 9. But shh! Don’t tell! Everyone else thinks I’m 15!” I admitted. We laughed a bit.
“Secret is safe with me.” He smiled. I smiled back. I looked at his watch and realized it was almost 12:30, and mom and dad wanted us back now. I stood up.
“Brett we gotta go.” I said, a little sad.
“Oh, alright.” He got up too. “See you guys.” He waved. Everyone said bye over each other.
“Bye everyone!” I waved. I looked directly at Nick. “Bye Nick.” I winked.
“Bye Summer.” He winked back.
“See you, Summer!” Riley yelled.
“Bye Riley!” I waved. Brett and I ran to the elevator.
“Now that you’ve mentioned Riley, I can see how he hits on you. Kind of creepy. And that blonde guy you said you had your eye on, he was flirting a lot!” Brett said.
“His name is Nick! Nick Gilbert! Isn’t that just a beautiful name? For a beautiful guy? NICK GILBERT! Summer Bliss and Nick Gilbert. I wish he lived in Canada, boy do I wish he lived in Canada! Jacob is fine for now, but if Nick Gilbert lived in Canada, he’d be it! He was GORGEOUS.” I gushed all the way up the elevator.
“Okay, okay I got it! Thanks!” Brett shushed me.
“Excuse me, I like flirting a lot and this guy is SMOKING! Do you think he thinks I’m cute?!?!” I stared at Brett as we walked down the hall.
“Probably, he was flirting and staring all night.” I giggled while opening the door to our room.
“Hey mom and dad, the gorgeous blonde guy now has a name! It’s Nick Gilbert! Nick Gilbert was staring and flirting with Summer Bliss all night! WHEEW!” I gushed as I walked in the room. My parents just stared at me without asking questions. They know when I’m on rants like this it’s best to just not ask. I fell asleep, looking forward to tomorrow’s secret prom, now that Nick and I were on great terms. Nick Gilbert. I think I could get used to Nick Gilbert.

I inspected myself in the mirror before going to the Living Room to check my internet. Hopefully Riley wouldn’t already be there, but he might be. It was 9:30. I just wanted to check my internet before it got too late and he was there for sure. I didn’t go to the Living Room today. Though something funny did happen. I was in the elevator with my mom when Nick’s cousin walked in with his dad. He smiled at me, and blushed a little. I smiled back. His dad looked at him and whispered ‘is that Summer?’ Then, Nick’s cousin nodded. Once they got out of the elevator his dad said ‘you should have said hi!’ I don’t know how he knows my name, but I have no idea of his, though he is really cute. Not Nick cute, but cute still. Cuter than Jacob or Jason or frankly any guy I met back at home. Really cute, but NOT AS CUTE AS NICK! After that little encounter, I was riding the elevator up to the 15th deck to the pool, and in the elevator across was Riley and Nick, both waving at me. I waved back. They remind me of Carter and Jake. Nick was the Carter. Flirty, hot, perfect in practically every way, except so out of reach, so untouchable. Riley was the Jake. Chased after me, wanted me, told me everything I wanted to hear…except in the end Jake ruined my whole life. He ruined everything with Carter, everything I ever had was gone thanks to him. I shook the memories away. Jake doesn’t matter, no one matters right now. No one from grade 8 matters anymore. I fixed my black high waist skirt and tightened the straps of my hot pink, skin tight top from Aritzia. I adjusted the straps to my heels and left. I think I looked the best tonight that I have on this whole cruise. Definitely secret prom ready! After getting permission from my parents, I left for the Living Room by myself. When I got to the computers, I didn’t notice Riley. Not until he came and sat beside me, of course. He was wearing a green dress shirt and black pants.
“Hey Summer!” He said.
“Hey.” I said, hardly looking over. I was way too into checking my facebook. Riley was looking at my screen as I typed in my email.
“Fashion diva?” He asked, noticing my really childish email, fashiondiva911.
“I was 9, okay!?”
“Whoa relax, mine isn’t much better!” He laughed. “You look really pretty!” He said, checking me out.
“Thanks. You look pretty prommy too.” I said, not looking.
“Is that good?”
“Yeah, that’s good, I guess.” I saw Jacob’s post and smiled. More cute things that kept me happy to have him in my life. I still questioned if he actually liked me, but why should I? I could see Riley looking at the screen while I typed to Jacob. Oh God this was the most awkward thing ever. He knew now, he totally knew why I was always so cold.
“Is…Jacob your boyfriend?” He asked awkwardly. I turned to him.
“What?! No. Well not right now… You don’t have to sit here either, you can leave.” I snapped.
“Whoa easy there. I was just asking. I’ll see you around 11 alright?” He got up and left. I instantly felt bad. I logged off and left the Living Room.

When Brett and I went back later, I explained the whole awkward situation. Nick was there, looking spiffy in a blue dress shirt and black pants. Carter wore blue to grad.
“Hey Brett! Man, you’re sister totally blew me off earlier! You should have seen how MEAN she was being!” Riley said emphasizing mean so I’d hear.
“I wasn’t being mean! I was being so nice!” I lied.
“No! Riley told me, you were being mean!” Nick piped in.
“Oh shut up Nick!” I hit him.
“Sing for me!” He begged.
“No!”
“Please!!”
“Just sing, Summer! We want to hear!” Riley said.
“What should I sing?”
“Sing Back to December! The one by Taylor Swift.” Riley suggested.
“Why that?” I questioned.
“Don’t ask. Just sing it.” Riley and Nick both stared at me as I sang. They got wide eyed.
“Oh my God! You’re amazing!” Nick said, getting closer to me. I could smell him and feel his breath. God he was amazing. The hottest, most gorgeous guy I’d ever met. Nick was absolutely perfect. I feel like he was a tiny summer fling, a semi-fling I guess. So was Riley. At least now I’d have cool stories to tell.
“You are really good! But you’re still mean!” Riley said. “What was the first thing I said to you when I met you?”
“You said hey what’s your name?”
“No I said you’re really pretty!” He said.
“Oh well that was the second thing!”
“It’s true though…” Nick commented. YES! YES NICK GILBERT SAID I WAS PRETTY! I looked over at him and smirked.
“You’re adorable too!” I said.
“I think you’re pretty too!” Nick’s cousin said.
“I think you’re cute…but I don’t know your name to be honest! I keep forgetting! Just remind me and I won’t forget again, I promise!” I giggled. Riley, Nick and his cousin all laughed.
“It’s Curren.” He smiled. He looked somewhat like Nick. Just taller, shorter blonde hair, and green eyes, not blue. Plus his face was a little different. Still hot though, either way.
“Anyway, the first thing I said was you’re really pretty! And you’re just mean to me! Learn to be nicer! Gosh, you’re cute but mean!” Riley said.
“Yeah I get that.” I giggled. “Well I’m sorry!” I said.
“Nope! You have to prove it!” He said.
“How am I supposed to do that?!”
“Figure it out!” We sat by the little bar. “You know this is the most I’ve heard you talk this whole trip! Now you seem outgoing, I used to think you were shy!”
“Me?! Shy?! Riley, if you knew me at home you’d know I’m the last person you’d ever think was shy!”
“You don’t seem it here!” We got back up and Nick, Brett and Curren came up to us.
“Sing something else!” Nick nudged me.
“Why?!”
“Because you’re amazing!”
“I don’t feel like it!” Nick started playing with my hands. My stomach fluttered. Then I noticed something peculiar…a little blue nail polish on his pinkie nail.
“Nick…why do you have nail polish on?” I questioned.
“Oh yeah, my girlfriend did that before I left. She made me promise I’d leave it on.” He said, like it was totally normal that he flirted with me that way when he had a GIRLFRIEND. Seriously? A girlfriend? I mean I don’t care much since I have Jacob and I’m acting this way, but I’m not officially taken.
“Of course. Okay then.” I dropped his hand.
“Summer has a boyfriend!” Riley teased.
“You do?!” Nick acted surprised.
“I do not! I told you he isn’t my boyfriend!” I snapped.
“There you go again being mean! You could have politely corrected me! Anyway, we need to stop by my bitches room to get them before heading over to Blaze. We’ll meet you and Brett down there?” Riley said.
“Fine.” I grumbled. Brett and I left and within 10 minutes, Riley, Nick, Alex, Curren, Ashley, Mackenzie, Angela and Jenna were down there too. The four of them looked gorgeous as usual. But when the guys were back, it was all attention on me again. I could tell Ashley, Mackenzie, Angela and Jenna were growing jealous of me.
“Give me a hug and I’ll forgive you!” Riley opened his arms. I just stood still.
“Sorry, I can’t.” I said. I just didn’t feel comfortable.
“Fine! Be that way! You’re mean! Really cute, but mean!” I rolled my eyes. “Attitude again! How many guys have you been this way with?”
“At least…5. Maybe 7 now…or 8.” I said honestly.
“Oh so you’re a little slut at home?” He laughed. “I’m joking.” I gasped at him. I hit his arm. “I was kidding! I know you aren’t a slut.” I stood, staring at him, more like glaring. We were finally let into Blaze and we sat on the couch in the corner. This was a really bar, with a disco and tons of tables. It was always the adult disco, and tonight it was open for just us. “So meanie, what’s up?” Riley said as we sat.
“Will you SHUT UP?” I snapped.
“I’m joking! Look, you look really pretty tonight. Like, really pretty.” He smiled.
“Thanks. You look good too.” I smiled back. Trying to be nice.
“Thanks.” He nodded. He turned and talked to Curren, and Nick caught my eye. He gave me a smile and I half smiled back and then looked away. Too much like Carter. Taylor came up to our group and said we should all go dance. We got up and started dancing to Party Rock Anthem, me still failing at the shuffle. I couldn’t focus on dancing though, all I could focus on was Riley and how he was treating me differently since I was ‘mean’ and Nick and how he has a girlfriend. Nick reminds me too much of Carter and Riley reminds me too much of Jake. I needed to get out. I stood alone for a minute. Riley started leaving to use the washroom. I took this is my advantage to get out before anyone noticed.
“Brett, I’m leaving.” I yelled to my brother above the music.
“What?! Why? Where are you going?”
“I just feel like going to the room for a little. You stay, I’ll be back later probably.” And before he could protest, I walked out of Blaze. Riley saw me come out onto the fourth deck, where Blaze was, and he tried stopping me.
“Hey, where are you going?” He asked.
“I’m leaving.” I said, coldly.
“What?! Why?” He tried standing in my way.
“Because, I just am.” I pressed the up button on the elevator.
“Did something happen?”
“Doesn’t matter.” The door opened. I stepped in and he followed me. Why was he following me? We were the only two in the elevator aside from an older looking man.
“What happened? Does it have to do with your brother?”
“Nope.” I stood against the back of the elevator with my arms crossed, avoiding eye contact. I watched the numbers bleep up.
“Did I say something? Is it because I called you mean? Is that what upset you? Summer I was joking…”
“No, don’t worry. It’s fine.” Floor 9…10.
“No it isn’t. Don’t leave, please don’t leave.” Floor 11…floor 12. I heard the automatic voice say ‘deck 12’ and the door started opening. “At least consider coming back later, okay?” Riley called after me as I left the elevator. I kept walking.
“Hey man, I’m 53 and I still haven’t figured them out.” The old man said, coming out on the same floor. I heard Riley laugh. While walking down the hall I felt the tears brimming my eyes. “You stand your ground.” The man said behind me. I giggled.
“I will, thanks.” I unlocked my room, thankful my parents weren’t there. I needed some silence. It was 12:30. I had until 1:30 tonight. I sat on the edge of my bed and stared at myself in the mirror across. I put my head between my hands and cried. All the bad memories rushed back. I needed someone to talk to. I felt so bad. Riley had been nothing but nice to me and I was treating him like crap all because he REMINDED me of someone from my past. Why was I such a messed up person? I took a few deep breaths and looked back in the mirror. After some hesitation, I got up and reapplied my mascara. Then I put on my bright pink lip stick again. I decided to paint my nails for some reason. I bought the nail polish last week when we were staying at my condo. It was all chipped though so I took 5 minutes to paint it back on. After composing myself, I decided I should probably go back to the party. I went down the elevator, heart pounding. I should just tell Riley what was bothering me. He seemed like a decent guy. He had only been nice to me and I was always so cold to him. I walked into Blaze and immediately saw my brother point me out to Riley, Nick and Curren who were looking for me. I walked up to them.
“Hey! Where did you go?” Nick asked.
“To get air.” I answered.
“You came back!” Riley exclaimed. “Do you want to talk?” He offered.
“Sure…” I answered. He gestured over to the couch in the corner.
“So what’s going on?” He asked looking over at me.
“Uhm…okay so let me just tell you I guess…you remind me of a guy named Jake.” I blurted out.
“Who’s Jake?”
“This guy…and Nick reminds me of Carter. It’s a long story…”
“I have time.”
“I was in a love triangle with them. Jake was the sweet talker, always saying how pretty and beautiful I was. Carter was the game player. The kind of guy who would flirt with me and then throw me a curve ball. Kind of like how Nick told me he had a girlfriend.”
“Wow…but you are REALLY pretty, I’m not lying.”
“Thanks. But anyways, after all I went through in…” I wanted to say grade 7. But he’d eventually catch on. “In that year…I mean it wasn’t JUST them…it was really complicating. But it ended badly and Jake just betrayed me…in the worst way….I can’t even really explain what went down…but it was after all the lines, all the words he said…”
“Summer, I’m not going to betray you, I never intended to. I’m sorry if I was being mean earlier but it was just for jokes.”
“I lost everything. All those people who meant so much to me…I lost them all. Gone. Done. I won’t ever be able to forget those terrible mistakes. And that’s when everybody…and I mean EVERYBODY called me a slut. A few months later I regained my friends, my popularity…and that guy Carter…we were the worst rollercoaster relationship ever.”
“Oh wow…Summer I’m sorry. I didn’t think you had a past like that…I feel really bad now. But it’s all over now.” I took a deep breath. I looked down at my skirt. I picked at my fresh painted nail. A habit I had when I was nervous.
“Also…this might be shocking but I’m…I’m 14. I’m not 15. I’m two years younger than you.” I admitted.
“I don’t care. I still think you’re gorgeous.” He said. “Hey are you thirsty? Want to get some water?”
“Sure.” I shrugged. It was hard to hear him over the loud music.
“Two waters.” He said to the bartender. The bartender handed him the waters and he turned to me and handed me one. “Here you go gorgeous.” He said with a wink. I grinned and giggled a little. “Let’s go somewhere quieter.” He said over the loud music. I nodded. We went over to a table in the far corner and started talking about his past relationships. “I’ve only had one, and she broke my heart bad. I always just try to treat girls nicely, because they deserve it, you know?”
“Thank God for guys like you! That is SO refreshing.” I said.
“So who is this Jacob guy anyway?”
“Oh…he’s a guy who’s a year older than me that I met at theatre camp this summer. He was SUPPOSED to just be a summer fling, and I was planning on never seeing him again after camp, but I saw him once and after I left he told my other friend he was asking me out when I get back. So I guess I’ll be having a boyfriend soon…maybe. I haven’t made up my mind.”
“Oh well, good luck. And you sing?”
“Oh yeah…if you ever hear someone singing on their balcony every night, that’s me!” I giggled.
“I don’t have a balcony.”
“Oh…well it’s really nice! And I sing to the ocean!” I laughed. He laughed too.
“I could just imagine you out there singing, you’re so adorable.”
“I think you’re the only one who thinks I’m pretty.” I said honestly.
“You kidding? Curren and Nick have both told me how gorgeous they think you are. We talk about you sometimes to be honest.”
“Why me?”
“You’re special.” He shrugged and smiled. I smiled back.
“Hey Summer, Nick wants you.” Brett interrupted us.
“Me? Why me?”
“I don’t know. He just said go get your sister.” Riley and I shrugged and got up.
“Hey.” I said going up to Nick.
“Hey! Where did you guys disappear to? Come dance!” Nick grabbed my hand and we all went on the dance floor and danced to ‘Where Them Girls At?’ After a few songs, Riley nudged me. I understood his gesture and we went back to our spot in the corner. We talked about everything. Our pasts, what we were looking forward to, school, friends, and just life in general.
“It’s pretty loud here. Want to go for a walk? We could go to the Promenade.” I thought for a minute. I checked the time on his watch. I only had 10 minutes. I better not. Brett would get worried and tell mom and dad anyway.
“I better not, Riley. I need to be back in 10 minutes and you know Brett will get all worried.”
“I like Brett. He’s sort of weird, but he’s a cool guy!”
“Brett? Cool? Huh…never occurred to me.”
“Obviously not, he’s your brother!” After ten more minutes of talking, the party ended and we all had to leave. Brett and I walked toward the elevator. “See you tomorrow in the Living Room around 1 maybe? It’s the last day. You HAVE to meet me this time! I’ll be there!”
“I might take you up on that.” I smiled. “See you!” Nick, Curren and Riley waved at me and then at Brett. We headed up the elevator as Brett asked me a million questions about my conversations with Riley. I didn’t really answer. I smiled though, because I felt better having got that off my chest. My past was rough, but I could move on, I could grow.

Waking up the next morning, I felt a ping of sadness but relief at the same time. It was our last day here. I was sad because I was really going to miss everything about this ship. The variety of decks, singing on the balcony, partying late at night, dressing up, the room, the shows, the British cruise director, the hot guys…but most importantly gorgeous blonde Nick and maybe even Riley. Some relief because I could finally be back at home, with Facebook all the time, and most importantly, in just a few short days I’d see Jacob again. And I wasn’t completely sure if he was asking me out or not, or if he even still liked me, but the anticipation was killing me. Every day I sang Jet Lag. I even made up my own lyrics. I recited them to myself while sitting at breakfast. You write on my wall, when it’s mid night. But I wouldn’t know, I have no Facebook. I wake up, to the silence, no notifications and no messages and my heart, heart, heart is so jet lagged. Random, I know…but hey, I had become desperate for internet connection. I was going through severe withdrawal. The whole morning just went by really fast. Even though I wasn’t in the best mood. Partly because it was the last day, partly because I missed Jacob so much and all I wanted was to see him. When it was 1, I had forgotten what Riley had said about going to meet him. At 1:30 I went to the Living Room to check my internet. Brett came with me. Riley, gorgeous blonde Nick, Curren and the crew were sitting right next to the computers. I strutted by, trying to act like I didn’t notice them. I sat on the stool by the computer. I heard Brett say hey to all of them.
“Hey Summer!” gorgeous blonde Nick said. I turned to him and waved.
“Hey Summer!” Curren said right after. I waved at him too.
“Whoa, Brett it looks like your sister isn’t going to say hi to me!” Riley said, obviously loud so I’d hear. I looked over at him.
“Hi, Riley!” I smiled. I logged onto my Facebook. As I was responding to Jacob, gorgeous blonde Nick, Curren, Riley, Alex and that guy Eric all got up.
“Oh are you dating that guy?” Gorgeous blonde Nick asked.
“Not exactly…” I said.
“She will be!” Brett teased.
“Ohh…interesting.” Curren said.
“Add me to Facebook!” Riley urged.
“Me too!” Gorgeous blonde Nick said. Suddenly, the guys formed a line behind me to add themselves to my Facebook.
“Hello? Wasting money here. A LOT of money!” I logged off and was thankful I only used 3 dollars.
“So we have a problem.” Riley said, plopping beside me.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m not sure if your brother told you, but Ashley likes me, and last night she was mad at you because she thought I liked you.”
“What would you like me to do about this?” I asked sarcastically. But seriously, what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t help it if I was irresistible.
“I don’t know…I just thought I’d tell you because…” Just then gorgeous blonde Nick started talking to me. He came right up to me in front of the stool I was on, and our knees were touching.
“Sing something again!”
“No!” I felt myself blush. “Why?!”
“You’re amazing!” He said, looking into my eyes and smiling.
“Thanks, but no!” I giggled.
“Sing more Taylor Swift! Want me to sing first?!”
“Sure!” I laughed.
“Alright!” He started singing E.T by Katy Perry and I cracked up.
“Okay, now THAT was just amazing!” I giggled.
“What’s going on?” Riley bud in.
“She won’t sing!” Gorgeous blonde Nick complained.
“Come on, sing!” He urged.
“Gotta go!” I got up and left the Living Room, ignoring the pleas from Riley and gorgeous blonde Nick behind me. Once I was outside, the bright sun blinded me. I reached for my forehead to pull my sunglasses down, when I realized I’d forgotten them. I rushed back in.
“Oh, she came back for more!” Gorgeous blonde Nick laughed as I walked in. Ashley, Mackenzie, Jenna and Angela rolled their eyes at me.
“I knew you’d be back!” Riley nudged me.
“No I just forgot my sunglasses!” I grabbed them and left, once again ignoring them yelling for me to come back. I walked outside, beaming. First of all, I was still happy about Jacob…but I also was starting to doubt he liked me. Why would he talk to Lana the way he does if he liked me? But I was also so excited about all the attention from gorgeous blonde Nick. He was my target from day one, and I finally achieved his attention. Even though he had a girlfriend, on this ship, he flirted with me the most.
After about 30 minutes, Brett and I went back to the Living Room. It was 2:30 by this time, but the guys and the four girls were still there. As soon as we walked in, gorgeous blonde Nick and Riley both moved their attention to me.
“Well look who’s back again!” Gorgeous blonde Nick teased. “Sing now?” He begged. I sighed.
“What do you want me to sing?” I asked.
“Sing more Taylor Swift!” Riley said.
“Sing the song about Romeo and what’s her face!” Gorgeous blonde Nick suggested.
“You mean Love Story?” I smirked.
“Yeah, that one!” He said. Riley stood off to the side and gorgeous blonde Nick stood right in front of me. So close I could breathe in his beautiful smelling cologne. I started singing Love Story, watching gorgeous blonde Nick’s eyes widen as I sang. A smile stretched out on his face, which made me smile and I could feel my cheeks get warm. I knew I was blushing. I stopped singing right before the second verse. “You’re amazing!” He said, leaning closer to me.
“Thanks.” I giggled.
“Like, you’re so good!” I felt myself blush all over again.
“Thank you!” I smiled.
“Yeah you’re pretty good.” Riley bud in again.
“Thanks.” I grinned. After that, Riley, Curren, Nick, Alex, Brett, Ashley, Mackenzie, Jenna, Angela and I sat around and talked. Brett and I were getting bored. Everyone was being sort of boring. By 4, Brett and I went back to our room. We got ready for dinner earlier tonight and promised we’d meet back in the Living Room at 10.

After dinner, we saw a show for the last time, and every passenger was on the fifth deck, listening to our amazing British cruise directors last words to us. He was a hilarious guy, and I think I might actually miss him the most! I love British people. When it was finally 10, Brett and I went back to the Living Room where they were playing a slideshow. Everyone was crowded in front of the TV, so we just stood and watched from the sides. Gorgeous blonde Nick and Riley caught my eye. They waved at the same time. I waved back and smiled. Ashley turned to see who they were waving at. Once she saw me, I tried a small smile, to be friendly. She rolled her eyes and nudged Mackenzie who looked over at me too. Mackenzie also rolled her eyes. Then she whispered something to Jenna, who whispered to Angela and then they all gave me looks. I wondered why they didn’t like me so much. They had hardly ever spoken to me, so why were they judging me so harshly? Because the guys here liked me? They got so much attention from guys. They were outgoing, funny and gorgeous, and here they were, jealous of ME all because Riley and gorgeous blonde Nick like me better? It was ridiculous. I hated this feeling of awkwardness and misplacement. I wasn’t used to it. After the slideshow, we all started taking pictures. Riley took a picture with Ashley where they were hugging.
“Hug him back!” Mackenzie giggled. Ashley eyed me, and hugged him back, obviously trying to piss me off. I rolled my eyes at her. After that, Riley looked at me.
“I need a picture with Summer!” He laughed. I looked over at Ashley and smirked. She frowned at me. My brother held our camera and got ready. Riley slipped his arm around my waist, and I half put mine behind his. Brett snapped the picture. I pulled away and saw gorgeous blonde Nick taking a picture with Mackenzie. He looked right at me after and raised his eyebrows, coming towards me.
“I need a picture with you, Nick!” I smiled. He smiled back.
“For sure!” He put his arm around me and got in close. He smelled as good as he looked. I had my arm around him and Brett took another picture. Gorgeous blonde Nick was only about two inches taller then Mackenzie, but he was at least 4 inches taller then me, even in my heels. I wasn’t used to being short, but it seemed like here, I was. After taking more group shots, where I was basically on the edge or the ground, not where the girls were, it was finally time for the final party. I must say, I wasn’t in the best mood. I was in a pretty crappy mood, actually. Every night I had less people to talk to because no girls here liked me, and the guys were difficult to group up with. Once we got onto the dance floor, it started off fine, I awkwardly danced in the circle, like usual. But then eventually, it just got annoying. I went outside and walked around the fifteenth deck by myself for a little bit. I took deep breaths. I’d be home soon. Tomorrow I was spending the morning in Fort Lauderdale and then I was going to Miami. Then one last day in Orlando and then I’d finally be home. Just a few more days. I could do it. I needed to see Jacob so badly. I missed him, I missed my camp girls, I missed my old friends. After a circle around, I went back in.
“Hey where did you go?! Nick was looking for you!” Brett said when I walked back in. He was with Alex, Riley, gorgeous blonde Nick, Curren and Eric on the dance floor, dancing with Ashley, Mackenzie, Jenna and Angela. I joined in with them, but it wasn’t long before songs came on that I didn’t know, or like, and the girls knew them and sang them, and the circle got crowded, and I got shoved out because I was the shortest. So eventually, I left again, feeling incredibly pissed off. I didn’t bother telling Brett I was leaving, I just left. Instead of walking, I stood outside the club. I stood by the banister and looked down all the way to the 6th deck. I saw the people walking down there, socializing, couples hugging, little kids running around, young adults in rich looking dresses laughing and drinking wine, and old seniors strolling along, enjoying the scenery. So far away from home. I looked around the deck I was on. I saw the door to the club. It was probably at least 12 feet away. The red rope was around it and the woman with a black dress was at the door guarding it, checking the sea passes of the teens entering. The door slid open, a group of teens I recognized but never spoke to walked out. They were all laughing and went to play ping pong at the tables to the right of the doors. I was to the left, right in the middle pretty much. I saw Brett poke his head out, look to both sides then disappear back in with a shrug. Not even he saw me. Good to know. I was invisible to everyone, wasn’t I? I wonder if anyone would notice I’m standing here. I wonder if Riley would figure it out, or gorgeous blonde Nick. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I felt like an outcast here. I’ve never felt that way. Well I have….but it was a while ago. At my first school, sometimes I would, but usually I was popular. My first day of grade 5 at a new school was pretty nerve wracking. Except I had a clique in a week, and by grade 7 I was on top of the social ladder. I wasn’t used to this feeling of being on the outside, not knowing what to do, where to go. Feeling jealous and intimidated. I wasn’t proud to say in my past, I probably had purposely intimidated people. But I’ve changed. I’m not like that anymore, I’ve become pretty nice throughout grade 8. I’ve learned to be more thankful for what I have, who I am, and the people in my life. I’ve learned to do good deeds. Simple things like making small sacrifices, flipping pennies over so someone else gets good luck, holding doors, picking things up for old people, and giving little change to charities or donations I happen to pass by in malls or at Tim Horton’s. Every time I get a muffin and a smoothie there, I put whatever change they give me in the little charity box. But here….I just felt misplaced. I missed everyone so much. I missed Jacob, and I just wanted to see him, see if he still liked me. I missed Carter a little. I hadn’t seen him since grad. Since he hugged me tight, said “goodbye” and walked away. Not turning back, not hesitating, not doing anything. Just leaving. A few tears started to fall down my face. Why did he just leave? He left my life, just walked out. He didn’t care. I hadn’t thought about Carter in a while, but all this was making me think of him. I looked at the clock. I’d been out here for 15 minutes. No one has come. I considered going back in, just as Brett came out.
“Hey, Summer! What’s wrong? Everyone’s asking where you are!” He said. I quickly wiped the tears away. I hated crying in front of my brother.
“By everyone do you mean no one? No one cares about me.”
“Is that what this is all about? Nick was asking for you, so was Riley.”
“Doubt it. Just go back in, have fun. I just want to be alone.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive.” Brett shrugged and walked away.
“Come back soon.” He said on his way to the door. I saw him give the lady his sea pass and the sliding door opened for him as he walked in. I heard Katy Perry playing. After 5 minutes of fighting with myself, I thought I was about to go back in. Then I heard With You by Chris Brown playing inside, and I peeked in and saw Mackenzie and gorgeous blonde Nick slow dancing. I thought about camp again and started crying all over again. No one cared about me. I hated this lonely feeling I got. Just a few more days…a few more days and I’d be near Jacob again. After that song, I saw gorgeous blonde Nick, Riley, Curren, Alex, Brett, Eric and the girls come outside and sit in front of the club, laughing about something. I met gorgeous blonde Nick’s eyes, and he raised his eyebrows and signalled me over. I went over to the group.
“Where were you at?” he asked.
“I was just…you know….chilling out.” I lied.
“Oh.” He said, unenthusiastically. He so reminded me of Carter, it wasn’t even funny how much he reminded me of Carter.
“So why are you guys outside?” I asked, trying to make conversation.
“Curren ran into the bar! It was hilarious! So we came out here to make sure his knee wasn’t bleeding.” Riley informed me. I nodded. I looked over at Curren who was inspecting his knee on the chair.
“Clear!” He reported. The girls laughed and the whole group headed back inside, forgetting me. I shrugged and went back to my spot overlooking the sixth deck. I took deep breaths. Shortly after, Riley walked out with Ashley, not even noticing I was standing RIGHT there. They were talking. He was explaining something to her and she laughed at the end. Well at least she got a summer fling out of this. Why did I feel so hated? So left out? I really wasn’t used to that feeling at all. I looked at the clock. 12:45. I had spent so much time doing nothing, all by myself. I guess I should go back in. I walked in and saw Brett on the dance floor with Alex and the four girls. I sat beside gorgeous blonde Nick and Riley, Eric and Curren were across us. They didn’t even notice I came in and sat, they just kept talking to each other. Things I didn’t understand. Why didn’t they notice me there?! Why didn’t they acknowledge my presence?
“It’s too loud here! Let’s move to that couch!” Riley yelled to gorgeous blonde Nick, Eric and Curren. They got up and relocated, not saying a word to me. I got incredibly fed up. I stood up, stormed over to my brother on the dance floor, and felt that anger burst inside me.
“I WANT TO GO BACK.” I yelled at him.
“What?! Why?!” He said.
“I JUST WANT TO LEAVE. WE’RE LEAVING.” I yelled.
“Summer! Calm down!”
“NOT UNTIL WE LEAVE!” I screamed.
“Fine! Jesus!” He said angrily. He told the girls he was leaving and hugged each of them. They didn’t look over at me. When they finally did, I waved and they offered a slight wave back. Brett bro hugged Alex, and I hugged him after. Then we went over to Riley, gorgeous blonde Nick, Eric and Curren and said we were leaving. Brett gave each of them one of those bro hugs again. I went down the line hugging Eric, then Curren. Riley was going to just shake my hand, probably because every time he’s wanted a hug before, I’ve denied it. I reached my arms out, and he stood up and gave me a hug. Then last was gorgeous blonde Nick. He held on for a few seconds longer than anyone else. I said bye and left. I knew I would never see his beautiful face again, but I didn’t care. I felt insecure, uncomfortable and sad here. Of course, Brett gave me hell the whole way up to the room, and when our parents were back at least 20 minutes after us, I was crying in the bathroom and my parents yelled at me for making Brett leave early. Though it was late, I went and sat on the balcony by myself anyways, in my pj’s, staring out at the water. I stared up at the sky. Just a few more days, Jacob. Then I’ll get to see you again. It was August 19. I was going home in just 3 days. I’d see him in 4. Just 4 short days, that goes by fast. My mom came outside.
“You alright?” She asked.
“I’m okay.” I lied.
“What’s on your mind?” She sat in the chair beside me.
“I just…I feel like no one cares about me. You know? Like the girls hated me, the guys just found me fun to look at….what if high school is like that?”
“I can promise it won’t be. Look how many friends you made at your last school? Remember all your parties? All the boys who were after you? You won’t have any problems making friends, you make them everywhere you go.” It was true what she said. Everywhere I went I was able to make friends. I wasn’t quite sure how I managed to do that, but I did.
“What about my old friends? They’re all going to leave.”
“I can’t promise you that you’ll have the same friends forever. But the ones who want to see you, and who you want to see, you’ll see.”
“And then I wonder if Jacob ACTUALLY likes me. I’m starting to doubt it.” I admitted.
“Of course he probably likes you. Why wouldn’t he?” As cheesy as this was, sitting on a balcony late at night taking advice from my mom, I sort of didn’t mind it. I was feeling the slightest bit better just by venting it out.
“I don’t know. Just going to worst case scenario. Wouldn’t want him being another Carter…” My mind trailed off to the memories. I snapped out of it before I cried again.
“He won’t. It would be hard for anyone to be like Carter was to you. I know how much he meant to you. He was such a big part of your life for a really long time…but it’s over now, and comparing every guy to him isn’t fair.” I felt tears prickling my eyes again, but I brushed it off.
“Well I guess I’m just having a hard time moving on from my old life. That’s all.” I admitted.
“Yeah well we knew it wouldn’t be easy. But you’ll have a new beginning at Allington Academy in a few weeks, and I know you’ll love it. And in no time you’ll have plenty of new friends, meet new guys, and Carter and all your other bad memories will be forgotten.”
“Promise?” I looked at her hopeful. She smiled a friendly mom smile.
“Promise.” She assured me. We went back in the dark room, Brett and my dad already asleep, and we fell asleep too. I cracked just a tiny smile. Everything would be okay. I can move on. I won’t let it kill me. I can grow.

The last few days of my vacation were the longest, most dragged out days of my life. I put myself into this state of thinking Jacob didn’t like me anymore, so everywhere we went, I was depressed about it. I don’t know what made me think that, but I stayed in that mind set until Lana told me otherwise, then of course I was all happy again. She didn’t assure me though until my last day there, so I suffered for a whole entire day and a half! Either way, when the plane landed and the cab took us back home, I pretty much fell onto the concrete pavement of my driveway.
“Land! Solid, land!” I cried out.
“There she goes. Being a drama queen. Again.” My dad rolled his eyes, lifting his suit case to the door. My mom walked around me with hers.
“It’s like we never left.” She moaned, upset we were off the cruise.
“You’re so weird.” My brother commented, walking past me. I frowned at him and got up. I got my own suitcase and ran to the door, rushing in right after my parents and immediately checking my facebook and turning my phone on. I had way too many texts, I couldn’t even reply to all of them. But I remembered that I had to text Jacob, to say I was home. I promised I would. I typed up a quick text, my fingers moving faster then the speed of light. Oh how I missed the warm, fulfilling sensation of my fingers tapping the small keys of my blackberry. After that, I showered and started uploading pictures. I promised Jacob I’d take a lot of pictures for him. I realized I’d taken at least 7 or 8, so I came up with the clever idea of making a photo collage and uploading that after my whole album of selfies from vacation. I was so excited for tomorrow. It was the moment I was waiting for. I was FINALLY seeing Jacob. Finally finding out if he really liked me, if he was actually asking me out…what would happen? Would I say yes or no? I hadn’t made my mind up yet. Parts of me were thinking having a boyfriend wouldn’t be too bad. Other parts of me were screaming that I can’t be committed, that I was too scared.

****
“Summer! You’re supposed to meet them now, hurry up!” My mom yelled up to me. I was in my room, getting ready to see everyone. I couldn’t even believe it. After 18 days of waiting, today was finally here. I was shaking, I could hardly stand still. I kept feeling like I had to pee, even though I knew I didn’t, I was just nervous. I stared at myself in the mirror. I looked good. White Abercrombie top with pink flowers, beige shorts from Abercrombie. Perfectly painted nails, perfectly straight hair, perfect makeup. I took deep breaths. This was it. I had to get going, even if I left right this very minute, I’d be at least 5 minutes late. I left and I got to the theatre 10 minutes late, as usual. After the movie, everyone was coming to my house. I was still shaking when I walked in. Then my eyes landed on Jacob and Jason and everything was alright. They waved at me. I walked up to them. I gave Jason a hug. Jacob and I just looked at each other. He gave me a smile and I smiled back, like we both knew a secret, which we did. He probably knew I liked him, and I knew he liked me. We hugged for a really long time.
“Hey guys.” I said.
“I’m so happy to see you!” Jacob said.
“The girls are in line.” Jason told me.
“Thanks.” I smiled. I saw them in line. They all squealed and each took turns hugging me.
“Oh my God your so tan!” Valerie commented.
“You look fabulous!” Lana said.
“You really look so dark!” Selena said.
“Thanks girls! You look great too!” I said, honestly. “I’ve missed you all SO much!” I giggled.
We missed you too!” Lana said.
“So….” Selena grinned at me.
“What?” I asked clueless.
“Are you excited!?” Valerie shook me.
“For what?!” I questioned again.
“For Jacob to ask you out!” Lana said.
“He is for sure?!” I panicked.
“Yes! We were talking about it all before you got here!” Valerie laughed.
“Lana here told him you liked him.” Selena smacked Lana.
“Lana!” I exclaimed.
“He said he wouldn’t ask if you didn’t like him! I had to tell him! You don’t know how depressed he was when me, him, Jason, Valerie and Selena went to Laser Quest while you were away.” She explained.
“Why was he depressed?” I asked.
“Because she also told him you ripped up the picture and said you weren’t sure you’d date him.” Selena admitted. I smacked Lana too.
“Way to go!”
“Hey! I still helped you two get together so you better say yes when he asks!” We moved forward in line until we were at the blue counter with stars on it. We each bought a ticket for the movie. And with that, they bought some food and as usual I stood by and waited. Sometimes it annoyed me that I didn’t like eating. But whatever. I sort of liked how thin I was from it. After the food, we all walked down the hall passing different theatre rooms with lit up numbers and the title of the movie on an electronic banner. After we got our ticket stubs ripped off, we found our theatre and walked in. It was already dark when we got in, all thanks to yours truly showing up late again. Jacob and I were joking around about things all the way up until he led us to the very last row. Lana gave me a wink as Jacob walked to the very corner and motioned for me to sit next to him. I hesitated but sat next to him. We started talking about my vacation.
“I met so many cool people on the cruise! Boy do I have some stories to tell after!” I said referring to gorgeous blonde Nick and creepy Riley.
“It was so weird without you! I only got like, one message a day from you, and no texts!” He said.
“Well good thing I’m back now! You missed me didn’t you?” I nudged him, giggling.
“Yeah, but not as much as you missed me.” He nudged me back and chuckled. Then he tickled me and I flinched and started laughing a lot. I wasn’t only laughing from all the tickling, but I was so anxious and nervous that I couldn’t help but just keep laughing, and laughing. Finally he stopped because the movie was starting right after the previews. I gave him a smirk.
“You love it.” He winked.
“No.” I giggled.
“Yes!” He said.
“Fine, just a little.” I confessed. He held my hand.
“Cold as usual.” He pointed out.
“You know it! I missed this!” I admitted.
“I missed your cute mysteriousness.”
“I missed your cute predictability!” I wondered how long he was going to wait before asking me out. I looked away and saw in my peripheral vision that he gave Lana a look.
“Hey guys, I’m going to the washroom before the movie starts!” Lana said loudly, nudging Selena who was beside her.
“Yeah I’ll go too!” She got up after Lana.
“Valerie and I will just stay…all the way over here!” Jason said, emphasizing his words. I was about to say I’d go with them too, but then I realized maybe this was it. Jacob’s big moment.
“Alright.” I said. They left.
“I missed you…” Jacob looked at me, looking serious.
“I missed you too.” I smiled.
“Can I ask you something?” He said. Part of me wanted to use my smart ass response of “well you didn’t really give me an option there, sunshine.” Because personally it bugs me when people ask if they can ask me a question. Hate to break it to you, losers, but you sort of just did. Half of me was seriously thinking this was it. I had to make up my mind. Would I say yes or no? Oh God…I haven’t even made up my mind! I really should have thought about this more before today. What am I saying? This was all I thought about my whole vacation! Why had I never come up with a response?! I hadn’t finished weighing the pros and cons! Suddenly I was hoping he was going to ask me something like “we should establish who’s getting the arm rest.” Or “want some popcorn?” in which my response would be no, but it would still be pleasant if he asked. Then I realized he didn’t get popcorn. He just got a drink. Well maybe he was asking if I wanted a drink. That would be stupid though, he knows I’m a completely afraid of germs. So that would be dumb. Maybe he wants to ask me a really dumb question, like why the sky is blue, or why I’m named after a season, both of which the answer is I have no freaking clue. Maybe he wanted to ask to go to the bathroom. No, that’s just absolutely ridiculous. Summer Bliss, you are absolutely ridiculous and sometimes I wonder if you have any logic in your tiny brain at all. And now I was talking to myself. I guess that answers the logic question. Wait a second…why hadn’t I said yes yet?! Of course he could ask me a question! Say it Summer…say he can ask you a question!
“…Sure.” I said hesitantly, also like I had no clue what was coming. Which at this point, my very own non-logical brain had just told me I don’t have a clue.
“Do you want to go out with me?” He asked. It took me a few seconds- actually more like a ton of seconds- to process what he just asked me. He wanted me to be his girlfriend. I think I wanted to say yes. Actually no, I wanted to say no. No I didn’t…I definitely wanted to say yes. Did I? WHY IS THIS SO DIFFICULT?! Why hadn’t I thought this through earlier? Instead I was too worried about painting my finger nails AND my toe nails a matching coral, and having silky smooth legs and smell like ‘sensual’ from Bath and Body Works. Why was I so concerned with my looks when I saw Jacob? Why couldn’t I focus on the important stuff, like what my answer to this big question would be? Nice going, Summer. Thought for two weeks about him asking, never once made up your mind about what you’d say. I did tons of bickering with myself about it, but I hadn’t made up my exact mind about this. I thought a lot about what I’d wear today, though. But now I’m wishing I had thought about my answer. Who cares if I showed up in Victoria’s Secret sweats and a t-shirt, at least I would have my answer. Actually, not a t-shirt, maybe a shirt from Aritzia. I love that store. Oh my God! I’m going shopping tomorrow! I can’t believe I forgot that! Okay, I’m definitely buying a new shirt to wear next time I see him. Oh boy, here we go again, thinking about clothes. HOLY S***. I HAVEN’T ANSWERED HIM YET! Oh God…I’m just staring at him. I haven’t even answered the damn question. These thoughts must be coming fast though, because he hasn’t said anything else, so I guess it hasn’t been as long as it feels. Wait a minute…I care about how I look, I’ve been thinking about him every day since I saw him last, I’m already thinking about what I’ll wear when I see him next…I actually LIKED this guy! Like legit….
“Yes.” I thought. Then I just realized those words just came out of my mouth. I just said yes. I was officially Jacob’s girlfriend. How did those words work their way out?! Stupid words, you were supposed to give me more time to think! But I think I just did the right thing….Jacob smiled at me. I smiled back. “I didn’t even know you liked me.” I lied.
“I do…a lot.” He chuckled.
“Well, I know now.” I giggled.
“And you like me?” He winked.
“Well…yeah.” I admitted. Then Lana and Valerie started coming back. “Now you don’t have to guess anymore.” I smiled at him. He smiled back, and put his arm around me. It was now completely dark and the movie was starting. I leaned my head on his shoulder, and he held my other hand with his free hand. I saw him nudge Lana to tell her the news, but I pretended not to notice. Imagine how awkward that would be. I closed my eyes for a few moments. This just happened, oh my God….Jacob…Jacob named after a lingerie store that I met at camp just last month…he was mine now. We were DATING. I was dating a guy who was a year older then me, sweet, funny, smart, adorable, talented and just so perfect, just for being him. And he was mine! This was definitely fate or something. I didn’t want to go to camp this year. I was too depressed. But I’m so glad my mom made me go, or I wouldn’t have met Jacob. I wouldn’t have met this guy who I now call my boyfriend. Then the sad reality hit me. My philosophy I made in grade 8…no relationships longer than a month. What day was it? August 23. So I guess September 23 would be the end. That would suck, but I’d enjoy this while I could. After all, I’d waited so long for Jacob to be mine. All at camp I wanted him. Never really occurred to me that one day I’d DATE him. I thought he was JUST a summer fling. Dating him feels surreal. As the movie went on, we got closer, and more comfortable. This was right. I made the right decision. I was so glad. I was so happy! I was depressed summer was almost over though. That part sucked. How would I see him? Suddenly I felt a ping of nostalgia at the fact that I wouldn’t see him as often as I’d wanted to. I closed my eyes again and snuggled up closer to him. He wrapped his arm tightly around my back, and rubbed the side of my waist. This definitely felt right. When the movie was done, we waited for my mom to pick us up. We stood around talking, Jacob standing by my side, hugging me and putting his arm around me. I really liked this guy. I couldn’t even begin to describe how happy I was that he was mine. Valerie and Selena had to leave, so after Lana, Valerie, Selena and I all group hugged and they left, I noticed Jason and Jacob by the machine that gives out quarters for the arcade games. Jason looked angry.
“Damn machine!” He yelled punching it.
“What’s your problem?” I asked.
“The machine won’t take his 5 dollar bill so he’s angry.” Jacob explained.
“Overreacting as usual?” I grinned.
“It isn’t funny!” He snapped. He tried it again a few times but it kept spitting the money out.
“It’s pretty funny.” Lana and I laughed.
“Let me try.” Jacob took the money and put it in with no luck. “Damn.” He muttered.
“I’ll try.” Lana offered. She tried too, and it didn’t work. Jason tried a few more times before frowning.
“I give up.” He groaned.
“Let me try…” I suggested. Jason and Jacob laughed.
“No offense but if none of us can get it, I doubt you can.” Jason said. I tried it and saw Jason and Jacob’s jaws drop as the quarters came pouring out.
“OH MY GOD IT WORKED!” I squealed. “DID YOU GUYS SEE THAT?!?!?” Jason and Jacob looked from the machine, to me, not talking, just looking surprised.
“What the hell….” Jason finally said. Lana burst out laughing.
“That was too good.” She said through her laughter.
“Wow….” Jacob said, him and Jason still looking shocked. I was rocking back and forth on my feet smiling.
“That was fun!” I giggled. After about 15 more minutes, my mom came and got us all and we went back to my house. The whole way there I was still feeling completely surreal to the fact that Jacob and I were now an item. He was my boyfriend! I wanted to shout it to the whole world, but I figured I’d wait until a more appropriate moment to tell my mom. Not like I was telling my dad. Just thinking about that made me sort of want to laugh. Or curl up and cry. He wasn’t a mean person, just strict when it came to male creatures. I knew just how to act around him. Pretend any sexual joke or reference is dirty, act like you’ve never liked a guy before, pretend they still have cooties and act like you plan to stay a virgin the rest of your entire life. Yippee. I looked out the window and saw the park, so I knew we were almost at my house. When we got there we all went down stairs and I sat with Jacob. The whole time he pretty much just had me in his arms, and I felt this safety, this perfection I hadn’t felt in so long. I remembered grad night, being in the arms of Carter, thinking it was the best feeling ever….but maybe this was. I texted Elena telling her I was no longer single, and of course she was really happy for me. Oh god I was so excited. But at the same time, I was so worried. I couldn’t handle another guy like Carter. I couldn’t handle that same pain. I didn’t want to.

I was in disbelief but bliss every time I thought about how I was dating Jacob. I was seeing him again today. It was a week after the last time, and I was so excited. So far, it was pretty good. But I couldn’t help but worry about when school started, which was in a week. It’s been the best summer of my life, and what’s going to happen to Jacob and I when it ends? Will we end too? I really hoped not. I wanted to see him alone, though. Today we were with Jason and Lana again. Selena and Valerie couldn’t make it, but we didn’t mind. The four of us were pretty close. How could summer really be almost over? It was August 31. School started on September 7 for me. That was a week left before my big fresh start. I was still seeing some of my friends. A few of them had dropped off the face of the Earth, but the really important ones were still there. I was looking in my mirror, applying my last touches before they came over. I put on a coat of lip gloss and admired myself. I knew how to make myself look good! The doorbell rang a few times and I smiled. I got up and ran all the way down the stairs and to the door. I was so excited to see Jacob. And of course Lana and Jason, but especially Jacob. He was my boyfriend, we talked every single day and I was so into this guy. I tore the door open and the three of them walked in. Jacob wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly. I gave Lana a big hug and Jason a quick hug.
“I’m so glad I get to see you again!” Lana giggled.
“Me too! It’s too bad Valerie and Selena couldn’t come though.”
“Oh well, they’ll come next time!” The four of us walked down stairs.
“How was your week?” Jacob asked as we sat on the couch. He draped his arm around me and I leaned in, resting my head on his shoulder. Oh how I’d miss these summer days soon.
“Fun! I went out a lot with my friends and did a ton of back to school shopping. I can’t believe it’s in a week. I’m so nervous.” I confided.
“Don’t be nervous, everyone will love you, I can tell!” He smiled at me.
“Oh thanks, expect me to text you the night before telling you I’m freaking out!” I giggled. He laughed.
“Well I’m always here for you to talk to.” I smiled up at him and he smiled back. I was so happy to have this guy. “I missed you so much.” He said, tightening his hand around my waist so it was resting right at my stomach.
“I missed you too.” I replied, snuggling up closer to him so I could breathe in his cologne.
“So what are we gonna do?” Lana asked.
“We could go walk to Tim Horton’s now.” I suggested.
“Alright.” Jason agreed. We got up and walked upstairs. After putting out shoes on we began the walk, Jacob and I walking farther ahead so we could talk. I don’t really remember how, but we got onto the topic of old relationships.
“So that one didn’t go too well.” He concluded after telling me about one of his girlfriends. “How about you?”
“Oh…I’ve only had one boyfriend…the thing is that I’ve had flings, way too many, and I’ve turned down tons of guys because I just didn’t like relationships for the longest time. I was too scared.”
“I have mad respect for you for turning down guys. Why were you scared?” I took a deep breath. I could trust Jacob with my past. He was my boyfriend now, I should be able to trust him with things like this.
“Jacob…I have a bad past. I never told you, or even mentioned it…but I’m telling you now. My past wasn’t good at all. It was a mess, and now I’m so scared of relationships, I always worry I’ll be as hurt as I was.” He took my hand and held it.
“Tell me about it.” And with that I told him. I spent the majority of the walk telling him all about what happened to me. Starting right from the very beginning. He knew everything now.
“And that’s why I hate the word slut. Because that’s what people said to me when I went through all those guys…I was just confused and scared, I didn’t know any better. But it was a mistake and that word stuck with me, and now I get so sensitive to it, even when you used it as a joke at camp.”
“Oh, that explains a lot about that. Summer, you aren’t in any way a slut. You’re beautiful in every single way, you have an amazing personality and I’m with you because you’re you. I don’t care about your past. I have a past too you know what my relationships were all like, they all ended terribly. I feel good that you told me though. I want you to know you can tell me anything, I’ll be there for you no matter what.” I felt myself beaming after he said that. How did I end up so lucky? I was such a terrible person I don’t see how I deserved this guy at all. But I was so thankful to have him around.
“Thanks.” I smiled at him. “I really miss you when you’re not around, I wish we could see each other more often.”
“Well how about this Saturday? Just me and you. We could go see a movie, spend some time for just us. If you want to.”
“Of course I want to! I’ll ask, my dad is so strict. I’ll have to pretend it’s just for chills because he has no idea we’re dating! But yeah, I’d love to.” I smiled at him. He smiled back.
“Great, because I really want to see you.”

At Tim Horton’s, we ordered our drinks then sat and talked.
“How do you not like cows?!” Lana was asking Jason.
“What’s so special about cows?!” he asked.
“They’re so cute!” I agreed with Lana.
“I know right?! Like seriously, how do you not like them?!”
“They’re alright.” Jacob said.
“They taste good.” Jason said, non-chalant. I glared at him. “What?” he said, noticing me staring.
“EXCUSE ME?! You just said in front of a vegetarian that you think cows taste good!” I put on my best sad face and they all laughed. “That isn’t nice!!” I complained. Jacob hugged me.
“Oh it’s alright, we’re just kidding around.” He said, still laughing.
“Fine. Pigs taste better, don’t you agree?” Jason said.
“Jason!!” I cried. “Stop!!!” I looked sad again.
“It’s so fun bugging you about that!” Jason laughed.
“Cow car!” Lana pointed out. We all looked outside and saw a black and white car.
“Huh?” Jacob and I both looked puzzled.
“Oh God. She’s been pointing those out the whole time we were walking, while you two were having your intense talk!” Jason told us. That child had a lot of annoyance in him, it was quite funny to be honest.
“Oh that’s so cute!” I squealed.
“How is that cute?” Jason questioned.
“Cows are so cute! So are chicks! Chicks are not nuggets!!!” I exclaimed. Jason and Jacob both stared at me with dead-pan expressions.
“Okay…” Jason said like I’d just freaked him out.
“You think I’m a freak don’t you?” I giggled.
“A little!” he chuckled.
“Meanie. Let’s not forget that a week ago I got you money from the money machine thingy at the movie theatre, and both you AND Jacob failed to do so. Therefore, I’m no freak at all.” I pointed out.
“That was one thing! You still act pretty blonde besides that.” He laughed.
“Hey! That’s so rude! Our friendship is now over!” I joked.
“Cow car!” Lana pointed out.
“Oh God.” Jason smacked his head. “See what I had to deal with? You guys better not walk ahead this time!” Jacob and I shared a look. We both smirked. After we finished, we started walking back. Jacob and I took an immediate lead. “No! Don’t leave me with her! She’s obsessed with cows!” Jason yelled from behind. Jacob and I laughed. Oh how I missed these people. Jason and his sarcastic remarks, Lana and her random funniness, and of course Jacob and his sweet, caring attitude. We continued talking and when we got back to my house, Lana and I had a great idea.
“Jacob….Jason….can me and Lana put nail polish on you?” I bluntly asked when we sat on the ground, putting music on my computer.
“No way! No, no, no, no way!” Jason objected right away.
“No way!” Jacob objected too.
“Come on guys! You’re such losers!” Lana said. I got my coral nail polish out.
“I had it all ready!” I whined. “Please?? Lana will put it on just on your pinkie!” I told Jason.
“Oh fine, as long as Jacob does it.” Before Jacob could respond, Lana took it and put a coat on Jason’s pinkie.
“It definitely suits you!” Lana giggled.
“Alright Jacob, your turn!” I squealed.
“No way!” He backed away from me.
“What?! That isn’t fair! I did it, you have to do it too! This is so unfair!” Jason complained.
“Quit your whining! He’s gonna do it!” I got closer to Jacob.
“My parents are going to think I’m gay!” He complained, hiding himself in the corner.
“Don’t be a big baby, just let me do it! Come on…for me?” I smiled at him, batting my lashes. I was such a Sharpay. Oh god I missed camp so much. Best summer of my life, seriously and now it’s almost over. Jacob sighed.
“Fine.”
“Yay!” I cooed. I applied a coat to his pinkie. “It looks fabulous.”
“That was so very Sharpay of you!” He told me.
“I know right?” I smirked at him. “She’ll always be a part of me!” I laid on my stomach in front of my computer and switched the song to Party Rock Anthem. Jason and Jacob sat cross legged, and Lana was on her stomach across from me.
“Aren’t you guys all so glad we went to camp this year?” Lana asked looking around. We all nodded in agreement.
“We were just me, Jacob, Lana, Valerie and Selena before you came along. And then you pretty much just walked right into our little circle, and things were never the same…” Jason trailed off.
“Awwh, Jason! That’s so sweet of you! You’re a huge softie aren’t you?” I winked at him and gave him a playful punch.
“I never said things changed for the better…” He said after. I hit him and Jacob and Lana laughed.
“Rude!” I said.
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”
“Of course things changed for the better, you brought a little life into camp, think about all the crazy things we did. We never would have without you.” Lana said. I sat and thought for a moment. She has a point. I highly doubt they would have snuck onto someone else’s balcony, or pushed someone out of a canoe, or slept outside and do a whole bunch of lying.
“And if you weren’t rooming with Lana, Valerie and Selena I wouldn’t have met you, and that would have been terrible.” Jacob winked at me.
“I met you! But I met you on the first day when you so rudely bumped right into me!” I remembered.
“Did that actually happen?!” Jason laughed.
“Yeah, remember when I told you I just ran into a gorgeous girl?” I felt myself blush.
“That was her?!” Jason asked.
“That’s so cute!” Lana cooed.
“Yeah, that was her! For the first two days when me and Jason didn’t know your name we called you the pretty girl with a voice.” Jacob confessed.
“Awwh, thanks! That’s so cute! When did you finally learn my name?” I asked.
“Well when Rachel and Sam were reading the cast list, we thought you’d be Gabriella because you were the best singer. Ask Jason, after you sang I was like ‘that girl is going to be Gabriella.’” Jacob told me.
“It’s true, even before you guys spoke he had an interest in you.” Jason rolled his eyes. I got up and sat with my knees to my chest, leaning against my table.
“Yeah well basically when we thought Gabriella was the biggest girl part and you didn’t get her, we were both shocked.” Jacob continued.
“Oh yeah, I remember we all thought you’d be Gabriella because we thought it was the biggest part. But we got the script and found they kept all your songs and got rid of some of hers, and that you had way more scenes and lines.” Lana said.
“Yeah so then when they said Sharpay, we knew it had to be you, and they said your name and from that day on I knew I would never forget it.” He smiled at me. I felt myself blush again.
“That’s sweet.”
“I believe we actually tried talking to you one night!” Jason said, shifting his weight to his right elbow.
“Oh yeah? When?” I asked. Lying on my stomach again.
“After you sang at the campfire the first night we were going up to you to tell you that you did a good job but you ran off.” Jacob told me. I quickly remembered that night. I sang Long Live and then I cried about Carter. Ha-ha Carter. Look at me now, ass hole.
“Oh yeah! I was upset about something that the song brought up so I ran back to the dorm and cried for a little. That’s why. But for a while I thought you and Lana were dating!” I confessed. Jacob, Jason and Lana all started laughing.
“No we were and still are just really good friends.” Lana said when she finished laughing. “I actually harassed him a lot about liking you! Especially that night where I told you he didn’t, but he actually did.”
“I remember that! I cried all night then blew you off in the forest!” I nudged Jacob.
“Wait, what?” Jacob asked.
“Yeah I’m lost.” Jason said.
“Jason, remember when you told me Jacob didn’t actually like Summer he just liked flirting?” Lana asked. All eyes were now on Jason who looked awkward and embarrassed.
“Oh right. Well that’s awkward, considering he actually did like her.” Jason said. “Funny story isn’t it!” He tried laughing. Jacob smacked him.
“Well anyway, Lana told me and I cried for a long time, and then I decided to treat you like crap!” I giggled.
“That explains SO much. Man Jason, you should have actually asked me instead of making assumptions!” Jacob said. We all laughed.
“Hey Jason…” I said, starting to laugh thinking about what I was about to say. A look crossed Jason’s face.
“Oh boy…what?” He asked, knowing whatever I had to say must be interesting.
“Remember…” I started cracking up again. “Remember when I pushed you out of the canoe?” I broke out into hysteric laughter and so did Lana and Jacob.
“OF COURSE I remember that, I was soaking wet AND cold!”
“And when Lana, Selena, Valerie and I convinced you there was a psychotic squirrel everywhere!” Lana and I kept laughing.
“That one wasn’t actually funny, you guys scared us twice!” Jacob said.
“Oh my God, good times. SUCH good times.” Lana said through her laughter.
“I miss those times!” I admitted.
“We all do.” Jacob agreed. After our conversation, we started playing board games.
“Jason, you have to go back to start thanks to the lovely me!” I laughed. We were playing Trouble.
“This is the third time you’ve done that! How is that even possible?!” Jason complained. We all laughed. I ended up winning and Jason came in second, so he stopped complaining. When it was time for everyone to go, I felt that wave of sadness come over me that I always feel when I have to say bye to Jacob. I’d only see him once more before summer ended, IF I was lucky, and IF my dad let me. I gave Lana a big hug and she left. About 10 minutes, Jason’s dad came to get both Jason and Jacob. I hugged Jason first, another quick hug. Then I took a sad breath, and wrapped my arms right around Jacob’s neck, and he hugged me around my waist tightly.
“I hope I see you Saturday.” He whispered.
“Me too.” I whispered back. “Miss you already.”
“I miss you already too.” We kept hugging for a really long time.
“I’ll just…sit for a minute.” Jason said awkwardly. He sat on my black recliner and watched. We kept hugging. “Alright, come on Casanova.” He grabbed Jacob and they started walking up the stairs. They got their shoes on and I sadly watched them.
“See you soon.” Jacob waved at me, giving me a smile.
“Bye…” I waved back, shutting the door behind them. I missed him already.

After much convincing, more hanging out with friends, more texts, facebook messages and posts, and even MORE convincing, I was able to go on my date with Jacob. I wore a white lace top and my skin tight jeggings. The weather was getting slightly cooler, another sign that summer was ending. It was September 4. This would really be the last time I’d see Jacob, the last time I’d be able to enjoy the warm summer air. Because soon, that was all over. When we saw each other, we smiled and hugged. I kept wondering if Jacob was going to kiss me tonight. I knew he’d had his first kiss, and he was experienced in the kissing department. I wasn’t, so if he did end up kissing me it would be my first time. To be honest, I was sort of freaking out. I didn’t put on lip gloss tonight, I put on vanilla coke lip smackers. I also didn’t eat dinner. I brushed my teeth and popped a few mints in my mouth. I slipped the mint container into my purse, as well as the vanilla coke lip smackers.
“So good to see you!” He said, once we finished hugging.
“You too! I missed you so much.” I said.
“So did I. I have something for you.” He pulled a little blue stuffed animal from behind his back.
“A dragon!” I exclaimed. He looked at me, confused.
“It’s a bird.” He said.
“A dragon.” I insisted.
“A bird! It has a beak and wings!”
“So do dragons!” I laughed.
“Your too cute.” He laughed. We walked into the theatre. When the movie started, he put his arm around me. “You look beautiful tonight.” He whispered. I thanked him. Just sitting there in his arms was the best feeling ever. I was learning. Slowly I was learning to trust again, to feel something again. I remembered the girl I was at the beginning of the summer. The girl who was damaged. I was afraid. Then I met Jacob. I was hung up over Carter. Then I met Jacob. I didn’t know what a nice guy was. Then I met Jacob. I didn’t know what a healthy relationship was. Then I met Jacob. I didn’t know how to have fun with a genuine guy. Then I met Jacob. I met him at camp, and I remembered how we just clicked. How things just worked for us right away. How we got along so well, and how from that very first day I met him, I knew there was something special about him. He’s amazing. I like him for HIM. I don’t care that we go to separate schools, or that he’s a year older and fully capable of getting a girl his age, or that he isn’t as hot as gorgeous blonde Nick. He’s him, and that’s why I like him. He’s much more mature than Carter ever was, and being in his arms right now, I realize how that all slipped away from me. I didn’t notice it, but in these past weeks I’ve known Jacob and had him in my life, Carter just fell away. Bit by bit my old life didn’t matter as much. I knew nothing could ever be that horrible anymore because I had him. I wasn’t sure how long this would last. Of course there were days where I was still so scared and thought I wouldn’t be able to go through with this relationship, where I felt like I had to back out. Or days where I thought he was going to back out. But then I remember the things he says to me, the way he acts, who he is…and that’s enough to keep me around. I didn’t know how to keep going. How to feel happy again or how to believe good guys exist. Jacob taught me. He proved to me that good guys are real! I didn’t know how to move on, then I met him. I snuggled up closer to him, feeling so thankful to have this guy in my life. To have him around. He knows I’m crazy, he knows I do whatever I want when I feel like it. All I like to do is just have fun! But he doesn’t seem to care, he knows me and goes with it. He likes me for who I am. Just like I like him for who he is. I still can’t believe how we met, how fate brought us together at camp. How he said “hey, what’s your name?” and from that day on, my life was changed. And now just because of him, I smile. He puts the biggest smile on my face all the time. When the movie ended, he started acting weird.
“Alright, let’s go.” I said, starting to stand.
“Wait, let’s just chill in here.” He said, gently touching my waist so I’d sit back down. I sat and we started talking about random things, just being a normal couple, talking about stuff. I looked around and noticed that the theatre was emptying out, and soon there was no one left but us. “Okay, we can go.” He said, standing up.
“What was that about?” I asked. When we stood up, before I could walk down the stairs since we were once again in the last row, he slipped his arms around my waist. I put mine around his neck.
“I had a lot of fun with you…I’m going to miss you so much when school starts, but I know we’ll be able to make this work.” He said, looking into my eyes. Was it about to happen? I had a really strong feeling it was about to happen. Oh my God. Alright Summer, remember everything your friends told you. Keep it sweet, is your breath fresh? Why did I even put those mints and the lip smackers in my purse if it’s no use to me whatsoever right now?! How long do I kiss? I asked Elena and she told me, but I can’t remember her answer! How long do I kiss?!?! I have no idea, I can’t remember at all! She said it’s just natural…okay so I guess I pull away when it feels right? But how do you know when it feels right? What if I sneeze? What if I cough? What if I burp? Impossible, I never burp. I don’t drink pop, nor have I even eaten anything since breakfast. So I won’t burp. What if I pass out?! If I haven’t eaten in so long, I could possibly pass out. How embarrassing that would be, passing out in a kiss. I could see the headline now, Summer Passes out During Lip Lock. Then he’d call the ambulance and I’d wake up and ask what happened and then feel like a huge pile of awkwardness when he says “we were kissing and you fainted.” Then he’d think it was because of him! No he wouldn’t, he’d be smart enough to know. Wait a second- that’s a lose-lose situation! I wouldn’t want to tell him that I didn’t eat anything all day so I’d be okay for the kiss and not get so nervous I throw up, but I don’t want to tell him I passed out because I’m a total freak. All I know is I’m really happy with Jacob, and I had fun with him too! So why can’t I just spit that out? Alright here we go. Spit it out, come on.
“I had a lot of fun with you too. I miss you before you even leave.” I smiled at him. He smiled at me and got closer. Damn, this was it. I should have prepared for this better. I followed my gut, tilted my head, and he gave me the most perfect kiss. Perfect end to a perfect summer.

I rubbed my arms to stop the goosebumps I was constantly getting lately. It was November now. We’d been dating for over two months. It’s safe to say that it’s been a really interesting two months. I found out the truth about everything. He did like Lana at camp- just as I suspected- and she did like him. But then he met me and that all changed. Also I should mention Jason liked me for a while, he just stopped because he thought there was really no point since I was with Jacob. It’s funny isn’t it? The things that all came out of this summer. My amazing fairytale love with Jacob, the love triangle challenge of my life when Jason and Jacob couldn’t stop fighting, and of course my sincere apologies to Lana when I found out they liked each other before I came along. I’ve grown so much these two months. I’ve learned to move on, and although I still think about Carter and my twisted past with him from time to time, ultimately Jacob has changed everything for me. And now he’s all I care about. I was seeing him again today. I couldn’t even describe how much I missed summer. High school was good so far. Sure, I lost a few old friends. I guess new beginnings means moving on. But I made so many more, and Jacob was there through it all. The hours we spend talking on the phone, the super long texts, the sweet facebook messages…it all makes me so happy to have this guy in my life. Jason and I are now best friends, and Lana and I are closer than ever since we finally got all our secrets out. We still talk to Valerie and Selena of course, but the four of us hang out way more often, and I think that’s a good way to be. Sure our little group has our own little dramas that make everything complicating at times. I mean really, where do you hear about a group where one girl likes a guy and he likes her back, then he meets someone else and stops liking her but she keeps liking him, then he dates the other girl and suddenly his best friend gets mad and jealous and likes her too so they start a fight, and the first girl decides he just isn’t worth it and moves on and then the girl he’s dating has to resolve everybody’s problems. That girl being me. I miss Jacob all the time, and although the distance pains us we still fight through it. When I saw him we hugged, he lifted my feet up off the ground.
“I missed you.” He whispered.
“Missed you more.” I whispered back. We were at Lana’s house again, but Jacob and I wanted some time to ourselves so we went outside and sat on her bench. My head was on his shoulder and he had his arms around my waist. We were closer than ever. We both missed summer. So much that I cried sometimes. I hardly saw him. Once every two weeks, sometimes three. I closed my eyes. We both were silent for a minute or two, just remembering summer, remembering how we met.
“I remember seeing you, just standing there. You were the most beautiful, most gorgeous girl I’d ever seen.” He said. I smiled at the thought. I remember how I had my past right behind me, I was so afraid. I remember the summer tangled in my hair.
“It was the second week of July. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was the first day of my life.” I told him, snuggling in closer. I thought back to it again. His voice shook when he said hey. And then from that day we just couldn’t take it slow. I looked up at him, smiling.
“I love the way you look at me.” He smiled. I giggled. Now the nights turn colder. I closed my eyes and buried my head further on his shoulder and he tightened his arms around my waist. We do our best to pretend. I think back to my cruise, all the guys who hit on me. In case you were wondering, I haven’t spoken to any since. The waves get louder, and honestly I feel lost without Jacob, and we spend so much time apart. We always wonder and ponder over why summer had to end. All of us do actually. All four of us wonder why the best time of our lives had to end. We all laugh about how we can remember the times where Jason, Lana, Valerie and Selena would laugh as me and Jacob would sneak off again and again. We didn’t care back then. We didn’t think we’d end up together. We always laugh about how this worked out. All those years we lived five minutes away, we went to the same camp but in different sessions. Then one year by chance we end up in the same session. By chance he was the first person I bumped into. By chance, out of all the girls there, I ended up with Valerie, Selena and Lana in my room. And because of them I met Jason and Jacob. And I ended up with an amazing best friend, and an amazing boyfriend. We always wish we could just escape, to just be alone. Go back to the warm summer air. The canoeing, the campfires, the outdoor air, the rehearsals, the singing and dancing, all our scenes together, the dorms, the parties, the dinners, the lunches and the breakfasts. We joke about how we blame this all on September. Sometimes remembering the summer hurts me. Why did it have to end? We fight to hold on, because this is the best thing that’s ever happened to both of us. Jacob never goes a day without telling me I’m gorgeous and I’m the best thing that’s ever happened. He never goes a day without telling me he misses me. We have to face it though, August is gone. Even though the sun falls hours earlier now then before, we hope we’ll never lose this. No summer can last forever, and usually I was that girl who didn’t like summer because I liked being with my friends. But this summer I had everything I wanted. My friends almost everyday, performing, meeting new people, falling into the most amazing summer romance, and an unforgettable vacation. We were fighting to hold on. We knew it was hard because we hardly saw each other. But he called exactly when he said he would, and we texted every single day. We make plans for the next time we’ll see each other, because we miss each other way too much when we’re apart. I don’t think any summer could compare to this one. I missed it more than anything. My past was still, and always will be a part of me. I will always miss grade 8, I will always miss my old friends, my old life and Carter. But suddenly….all that didn’t matter as much to me. I had what I needed. I grew this summer. I learned things that I had no clue about before. I met people that each changed my life, changed who I was in different ways. Selena and Valerie made my time at camp so much fun, and to this day we keep in touch. Lana and I were now really close, and she was always there to talk to and we never failed to talk about the fun times we had. Jason has become my best friend. We Skype a lot, and although him liking me caused some issues, we worked through it. Because that’s the superstars we are. I was right about him- he was a softie deep down. He was tough to crack, but I successfully did it. And now he doesn’t hesitate to tell me all his secrets. And of course Jacob…I can’t begin to explain how damaged I was before him. How torn up I was. Meeting him was the best thing to ever happen to me, and it couldn’t have had better timing then this summer. He makes me smile and laugh all the time. He’s got me the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. How by my mom forcing me to go to camp this year while I was moping about my life, I met him. My life changed. It was kind of funny if you really thought about it. The four of us may have our quirks and problems, but we always share our good memories. We had a special bond this summer, a bond that we won’t ever break or let go of. Even if one day we do part and lose each other and go our separate ways, I don’t think I’ll ever forget this summer. I don’t think anything could compare. We had challenges. Schedules, guys at my new school trying to get me, trust problems…but no matter what we always overcame them. We were getting better as a couple day by day. Sometimes I still did think- how would I let this guy go? My whole plan of breaking up with him after exactly one month obviously failed. There were times I came close, where I was actually saying ‘I need to end this.’ But of course, I didn’t, because I really had no good reason except for because I didn’t want him to hurt me. But he’s promised he’ll always be mine, and I’ll always be his. I guess the only real trouble with summer is that you can’t let go. I guess the big trouble with me is…well that’s a long list. But one by one I’m working through the trust issues, working through missing my past, and working through this new challenge of high school. For once I felt glad to be named after a season. And I think my last name perfectly captures the feeling of it. Summer Bliss. My name was finally being put to good use, I could finally one day tell someone I was named after the best summer of my life.
“I wish I could just hold onto you forever.” Jacob said.
“I wish you could too.” I responded. It started getting really cold. I pulled his sleeves down further on my hands. That’s another thing about him, he gave me his sweater when it was cold outside. “Let’s go back inside.” I said. We went back in and walked in to Lana and Jason playing ‘Sing It!’ on her Wii with Valerie and Selena. Jacob and I sat leaning against the couch, he had his arms around me. We sang ‘You are the Music In Me’ in the game, reliving good times from camp. Except this time, it was the cute romantic version, not the revised version we made the dance to in the real play. I loved the sound of our voices together, and I realized that I wished I could be with this guy all the time.
“You guys are too cute!” Lana said.
“You sound better than we did at that song!” Valerie joked, referring to when she was Gabriella and sang it with him.
“No we don’t!” I objected.
“I miss camp!” Selena said.
“We all do!” Jason agreed. “But at least we have the memories.”
“Very true.” Lana winked at Valerie, Selena and I. We giggled.
“What now?” Jason asked.
“I’m thinking of the psychotic squirrel thing.” I laughed. “And the time I made you two sleep in the guy dorm and you two sleep outside!” I said, first looking at Selena and Valerie and then at Lana and Jason.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah good times.” Jason waved his hand. We all laughed. I noticed a sharpie on the table in Lana’s basement. I got it and picked up Jacob’s hand.
“What are you doing?” he asked. I didn’t answer. I drew a heart and wrote the word ‘love’ “What’s that for?”
“So you never forget.” I closed the cap and put it down. He grinned at me. He pulled me in and held me in his arms. He kissed my forehead. “I’ve told you every day and I’ll keep telling you every day, I’m so in love with you, Summer. I love you so, so much. Never forget it.” He tilted my chin up and kissed me.
“I love you too.”