Authors: Jessica Gunhammer
I’d been
avoiding going to Tori’s house all week. I had thought of about five hundred excuses I could use to try and get out of this whole camping with Nate thing. Well, I guess not just with Nate. Brent and I hadn’t seen each other since the barn party and I wasn’t sure what to expect when I saw him, either. I knew Tori wouldn’t believe any of my excuses and I’d end up going anyway, so I decided not to even bother trying to get out of it. But in all honesty, I wouldn’t mind seeing Nate again.
We pulled up to the campsite just bef
ore sunset. Tori’s mom, Brent, and Nate were already there. Tori’s dad had to go out of town for the weekend, so he wasn’t going to be joining us. They must have gotten there not too long before us because they were still setting up the camper and unpacking everything.
“Took you long enough!” Brent yelled to Tori.
“It’s not my fault!” She pointed at me.
Brent looked up just long enough to nod at me. “Hey
, Summer.”
“Hey.” I waved. He seemed a little hesitant. He must remember what went down last weekend, or Nate brought him up to speed on things.
I watched as Nate came around the other side of the camper. He caught me staring once again and smiled.
“Hi
,” I managed to get out. At least I didn’t seem like a complete idiot this time.
“Summer, you going to
help me unpack this stuff or what?” I turned around and watched Tori attempting to pull a blue cooler out of the trunk of the car. I ran over to her and grabbed ahold of one of the handles. “Thanks.”
It didn’t take long to get things unpacked
, but by the time we were done, Tori and I were both starving. We sat in the folding chairs around the fire pit and made fun of Brent and Nate’s poor attempt at starting a fire. They took turns telling each other what to do, but even I, the girl who knew nothing about starting fires, knew they had no idea what they were talking about.
“How about you dorks t
ry using some fire starter?” Lynn handed Brent a white squeeze bottle with a red lid.
“Mom, we almost had it.”
“Well, almost having it isn’t going to cook us dinner.” She chuckled. Brent squeezed the bottle and liquid landed on the small flame they’d managed to get started using a small piece of cardboard. The flame shot into the air and I watched as it spread across the pieces of firewood. Lynn walked back into the camper and came back out with a tray of hot dogs. “It’s about time. Let’s cook these babies.” She passed out metal cooking sticks and we each grabbed a hot dog.
Nate was sitting directly across from me. I watched the light from the fire dan
ce across his face while he stared at the fire, mesmerized by the flame. Every once in a while Brent would say something to make him laugh, the sound of his laughter gave me goosebumps. I love the sound of laughter in general but there was something about his laugh that enthralled me.
“I can’t wait to go out on
the boat tomorrow.” Tori took a bite of her hot dog.
“I know
—me too. First boating day of the year, the water is going to be freezing, though. Mom, did you get a chance to go down and check it out?”
“No
, I haven’t. I should’ve probably done that when we got here but I was too busy showing you guys how to start a fire.” She looked over at Tori and I, smiled, and shook her head.
“We were trying to do it the old fashioned way!” Brent joked.
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
“Nate and I can go check it out after we eat.”
“All right, good. I’m exhausted, so I’m going to bed.” Lynn got up and walked into the camper. “Good night!” she yelled before closing the door behind her.
“We wanna go.” I looked over at Tori and she smiled at me. I knew that smile anywhere. She had a plan and I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like it.
**
*
“Guys! Wait for me!” Tori yelled from a few feet behind us.
“Tori
, hurry up! I told you not to bring that blanket.” Brent shined the flashlight back towards Tori and we watched her trying to make her way down the steep rocky hill. She didn’t just bring a blanket, she brought a damn comforter. Sometimes I wonder about this girl, but you gotta love her, she always made everything we did together that much more interesting.
“But I’m cold
,” she whined.
“Then maybe you should’ve stayed by the fire.” Brent sounded irritated. I
didn’t blame him, Tori hadn’t stopped whining since we left the campsite.
“Shit! Summer
, help me! I’m stuck!” I turned around and could only make out a bulky figure in the moonlight. I looked ahead and Brent and Nate were already at the dock, so I walked back up the hill to Tori.
“What are you doing?”
I couldn’t hold back the laughter any longer. She had somehow gotten herself tangled around a tree, hair and all.
“I tripped.”
“Seriously? This wasn’t part of your plan?”
“Really? Does this look like it would be part of a good plan?” I had to laugh again. “Well
, don’t just stand there… help me out!” I attempted to pull a piece of her hair off one of the tree branches. “Ouch!”
“Shhhh.
You’re like super stuck and I can’t see a thing. There’s no way I’ll get you out of here without a flashlight.”
“Well
, go get Brent then!”
“Okay, okay.”
I started walking back down the hill towards the docks.
“Summer
…” I turned around and looked at her. “You guys better not leave me here.” The seriousness of the look on her face made me realize she was actually scared.
“Tori, if only Brent and Nate were with you
, I’d be worried. But you seriously think I’d leave you there?” I laughed again as I continued down the hill to the boat docks. When I finally got on the dock, I realized I had no idea which one was their boat. I walked across the wooden boards until I saw the light from a flashlight. Then I heard that laugh again—yep, that had to be them.
“Um
, Brent…?” I waited until he turned around to look at me. I shielded my eyes from the beam of the flashlight. “Your sister is a little stuck.”
“Stuck?”
“Yeah, she’s like all tangled up in this tree. I tried to help her but I couldn’t see.”
“Well
, I guess she’ll have to wait until we head back up that way.”
“Brent
, you can’t just leave her there. At least give me the light and I’ll go help her if you’re not going to.” I knew he wasn’t going to send me out with their only flashlight.
“Fine. Where’s she at?”
“I’ll show you.”
“No. You
stay here. I don’t need to be trying to keep an eye on both of you.” He stepped out of the boat and held out his hand to help me in.
“She’s just right up the hill.” I pointed in the
direction we came from. “She has a loud mouth, I’m sure you’ll hear her when you get closer.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it.”
Now that I was on the boat, I realized it was a pontoon. I only recognized it because my grandparents used to have one when I was a kid and the set up of this one was almost identical. I could see Nate’s silhouette; he was kneeling on the couch at the back of the boat looking into the water. I slowly made my way over to the couch and kneeled down beside him.
“It’s pretty nice out tonight
, huh? You can see a lot of stars.” This was my attempt at making some sort of conversation.
“Yeah…
it is.” He looked up into the sky.
“So how long have you known Brent?”
I asked.
“About five years.”
“Oh, did you guys meet at school?”
“Yeah, high school.”
I looked out over the water. Then I heard this strange sound, it reminded me of nails on a chalkboard. It startled me and I fell in the opposite direction of where the sound was coming from. Nate’s laugh started up again and it was right behind me. It took me a minute to realize that I could feel the vibration of his laughter on my shoulder. I had fallen right into his chest.
I looked up into his eyes and admired his features from the moonlight reflecting off the water. I slowly pulled myself away from him but I didn’t take my eyes o
ff his face. As I pulled away, his body followed, so I stopped. I watched as his face inched closer and closer to mine. I could feel the warmth of his breath, I could smell his cologne, butterflies started to flutter in my stomach.
“I’ve officially decided my sister is adopted!” A bright
light beamed into my eyes. I held my hand up to shield my eyes and turned back to look over the water. My weight shifted as Nate got up off the couch and walked towards the front of the boat. It took me a minute to get myself together. I wish I could’ve found out what was going to happen if Tori and Brent wouldn’t have shown up.
“I am not!”
Tori climbed into the boat and sat beside me.
“Well
, I don’t know how anyone who is related to me can be that uncoordinated.”
“I’m not uncoordinated!”
“Tori, you just got stuck in a tree. Trees don’t even move.”
“T
hat’s not fair. It was dark.” I’m sure if I could see him, Brent would be rolling his eyes.
“
Well, everything looks good. We better head back.” Brent jumped out of the boat and waited for us to follow.
On
our way back to the campsite, I was only thinking of one thing, how could I get Nate alone again? I had to know what would’ve happened if we weren’t interrupted. As silly as it may sound, I wanted him to kiss me, and now, I
needed
him to kiss me.
I didn’t get much sleep last night because I was too busy thinking about the kiss Nate and I had come close to sharing. I ran through all the different scenarios of what might have happened if Brent and Tori hadn’t come back when they did. I had finally tired myself out to the point of falling asleep, but by that time I almost had myself convinced I had made it all up in my head…almost.
We
ate breakfast and made our way out to the boat. We were excited to get the day started and Brent and Nate were ready to do some cliff jumping. On the way out to the cliffs, Brent drove and Nate kept his distance from me. I hoped he wasn’t freaked out by what happened last night. I’d been trying to act as normal as possible, I thought I was doing a pretty good job.
Tori and I laid on the front of the boat and soaked up some sun. Every once in a while we’d get a holler or someone would honk a horn and Tori would smile and wave. Brent wasn’t to
o happy about it, of course. I was pretty sure he was going to have a permanent wrinkle between his eyebrows.
Once we reached the cliffs
, the guys jumped off and swam to shore. Tori and I waited in the boat. The water was freezing and I didn’t want to have any part in that. I watched as some random guys threw beers off the cliffs into the water while other guys jumped in after them. There weren’t many girls jumping in. Most of them were tanning on top of the rocks. I watched as Nate stopped at a group of girls and talked with them. They all laughed and giggled at whatever he was talking about. I felt a small bit of jealousy creeping up. I wanted him to be telling me whatever he was telling those girls.
“Still got your eye on Nate
, huh?”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“No
, I’m just watching. No one in particular.”
“Yeah
, I’m sure.” Tori rolled her eyes.
“Is it that obvious? Do you think he knows?”
“For me? Yes. For him? He’s a guy, he has no idea.” She grabbed her sunglasses out of her bag and slid them over her eyes. “Did you guys talk very much while Brent was helping me get untangled last night?”
“No
, not really.” I looked away from Tori but it didn’t do me much good, she knew I wasn’t telling her something.
“What happened?”
“Nothing,” I lied.
“Yeah
, right! Don’t lie to me! Spill it or I’ll ask him.” She smiled.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Watch me.” She stood up from her towel.
I should’ve known better than to challenge her. “Na—”
“Okay! O
kay. Sit down.” She smiled as she returned to her spot next to me. Once again Tori got what she wanted. “Well, I think there may have been an almost kiss before you and Brent came back.”
Tori squealed. “Are you serious?” I just nodded. “Aw. You have to tell me all about it!” I recalled the e
vents of last night and she hung on my every word.
“You guys would make a cute
couple, you know.”
“One thing at a time there
, Tori. I doubt he’s looking for a relationship—doesn’t he have a girlfriend?”
“Who? The girl from the barn?”
“Yeah.”
“There’s no way she could be his girlfriend. He could do way better
than that thing. Gross. She’s probably just a fling. I can ask Brent, though, and see what I can find out.”
“
Just try not to be too obvious about this whole thing.”
“Me? Obvious? Please.”
When the boys were done cliff jumping they swam back to the boat and Brent started up the engine. I was lying on the back of the boat above the coach enjoying the summer sun. I was just starting to doze off when I felt someone near me. I opened my eyes and watched Nate lay down on the couch below me. Well, at least he wasn’t avoiding me. The warm sun comforted me and I was too exhausted from the night before to keep my eyes open any longer.
I was probably only out fifteen minutes before I opened
my eyes and saw we were almost to the dock. I went to sit up when I noticed my arm was hanging off the back of the couch and I felt someone else’s fingers entangled with mine. My heart skipped a beat—how did this happen? Nate and I were holding hands! Nate had a baseball cap covering his face, so my guess was he was knocked out, too. I wasn’t sure if I should move or just leave my hand in his.
Nate began to move so I pretended I was also just waking up. He took his other hand and lifted the hat off of his face. I softly wiggled my fingers and looked down at my hand then back up at Nate.
“You guys awake back there?” Brent yelled from the driver’s seat. I yanked my hand away just as he turned around. “I’m glad you all got your napping in while I’m up here slaving away.”
“You’re driving a boat. It can’t be that hard.” Nate got up and gathered his t-shirt and sunglasses before going to sit next to Brent while he pulled the boat up to the dock. I walked between them and up to the front of the boat where Tori was laying.
“Were you sleeping that whole time?” I whispered.
“Yeah. Why?” Nate walked
up from behind me and jumped off the boat onto the dock to tie it up. “I’ll tell you later,” I whispered.
***
After dinner Tori and I grabbed our things along with a change of clothes and walked to the campground bathrooms to shower up. I was never a big fan of public restrooms. Especially ones at campgrounds. They were usually dirty and didn’t have any toilet paper. I finally convinced myself it was better to use this one than not shower at all, especially after being near that gross lake water all day.
“Nate and I held hands
,” I blurted before I even knew what I was doing.
“Wha
t? When? How did I not see this?” I couldn’t tell if Tori was shocked or traumatized because she missed out on such a “big moment” for Nate and I.
“When we were riding
on the back of the boat.”
“Did he grab your hand or did you grab his?”
Here she goes with all the questions.
I shrugged.
“I actually don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
Tori stopped in the middle of the road. “You were there, weren’t you?”
“Yeah
, but I was sleeping. I fell asleep after he laid down on the couch in front of me, and when I woke up, we were holding hands. So I have no idea how it happened and it’s killing me! I’m thinking it had to be him because I wouldn’t have grabbed his hand in my sleep, right? I mean my arm could have fallen down and been near his hand, but we were full on holding hands, fingers entangled together and all.”
“Yeah
, that makes sense.” We walked the rest of the way up the hill to the bathrooms. “I asked Brent about his girlfriend situation.” I followed Tori as she walked back towards the showers.
“And?”
I couldn’t mask the anxiousness in my voice.
“Apparently that girl that came to the party
with him is his on-again off-again girlfriend.” My stomach dropped at the word girlfriend. Well, that was disappointing. I had a little sense of hope that this might eventually become something. “They’ve been together for like four years or something. I guess she’s crazy, though, so he’s been trying to permanently break it off for the last week or so.”
“Well
, that sounds messy.” I sat down on a wooden bench while I waited for a shower to open up.
“Yeah
, but the weird thing is that you guys just met for the first time last weekend, right? Why all of a sudden does he want to finally cut this girl off for good? I think he might really be into you.” She joined me on the bench.
“He hardly knows me
, Tori.”
“Yeah, well, guys tend to think with the wrong head. If you want him to get to know you
, then make him get to know you. If not, then at least sleep with him. You know I would.”