[02]

from [01]

"God, everyone," I cried out. "Just stop it already, okay? Seriously!"

I tabbed my book and stomped to the doorway to leave, but suddenly ran into a person.

"Oof," I said, stepping back. I looked up. A guy about my age stood there. His black hair fell over his face as he glared down at me with his dark eyes.

He scoffed. "What is this?" he said. "First the stupid camp itself, and now people are running into me? Don't you know who I am?! Seriously!?"

Well. That was WAY out of line.

"Excuse me?" I said. "I didn't even do anything!"

"You ran into me!" he exclaimed. "You didn't even say sorry!"

"You didn't even give me a chance to!" I yelled back.

Suddenly, Noah shouted, "EVERYONE STOP TALKING!!!!"

I turned around and looked at Noah, who apparently had given up the bed.

"Let's all talk through this slowly and nicely," Noah said. "Like the nice and mature people we are."

I snorted.

Braden walked over to us and said, "Tristan!" The boy with the dark hair nodded at him in acknowledgement. Braden then introduced us to him. They were here together for volunteer hours. Figured. Then each of the guys introduced themselves, and so did I.

Tristan, looking indifferent everything and everyone, dropped his bag on the only empty bed across from mine and crossed his arms.

"So. What is SHE doing here?" he said, throwing a glare at me.

"She's just housed here temporarily because there aren't enough beds in the girls'," Eric explained.

Tristan made a face. "Then why didn't they get a nicer girl to stay with us?" he said.

I scoffed. Was this guy for real?

"I--" I began, but then I stopped. No. He wasn't even worth it. I sighed before muttering, "I'm going to go greet the kids."

I left my book on the bed and headed out to the main entrance where the parents were dropping off their kids for the summer. I tried hard not to feel frustrated about the whole ordeal that Carly was putting me through. First the placement...now the crappy roomie? I was pissed.

But no. I was not going to let a stupid guy like Tristan ruin my perfect summer. I had SO many plans and was so excited for this year's camp.

I almost reached the parking lot when suddenly Noah ran up from behind me and slung his arm across my shoulder.

"Hey there," he said cheerily.

I smiled. "Hey Noah."

"I hope you're not mad," he said, frowning.

"No, I'm not mad," I said. "I just need some time for all this to... settle."

Noah grinned, the sunlight reflecting off of his pearly whites. "Good," he said. "But not to worry - I'll protect you from the crazy guys."

I laughed and said, "Thanks, Noah."

"Anytime," Noah said, laughing.

The kids were saying goodbye to their parents. Most of them were eager to get away from their parents for the summer - you know how middle school students are. Ready to be adults, but not quite ready for the real world.. and not quite tall enough either.

"Where's the check-in?" one of the girls grumbled at me as she dragged her duffel bag with her.

"Right over there," I said, pointing to the right.

The girl looked at Noah and then grinned widely and batted her eyelashes. "Hi," she said, her attitude completely changing. "I'm Vicky."

Noah smiled back. "Noah."

She batted her eyelashes a couple more times before swooshing her hair around and walking towards the check-in office.

I rolled my eyes. "Wow," I commented.

But Noah just laughed in response. "That was actually pretty funny."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think she had something in her eye," I said, shaking my head.

Noah chuckled just as I spotted a pink convertible park smoothly into a parking spot. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. That definitely was NOT a parent dropping off a student. The door opened and a tall, beautiful young girl with long blonde curls in a yellow summer dress and large dark sunglasses stepped out of the car. She grabbed her designer luggage from the trunk with her friend and the two of them sauntered over to where I was standing. She looked so familiar...

"Daaaang," Noah said. "Who is SHE?"

Then she stopped a few feet away from me and took her sunglasses off.

I couldn't believe it.

Angela?

Angela Saunders was here? Cheerleading captain from my high school? I couldn't even get away from her during the SUMMER? She'd never even stepped on Camp Eastbury. Why here? Why now? WHY ME?

"Well, look who it is," Angela said. "Collins."

I hated the fact that she called me by my last name. I also hated the fact that she hated my guts. What did this girl have against me?

"Hi, Angela," I said.

"'Hi, Angela,'" she said, mocking me. "As if we're friends or something! Like I'd ever be friends with someone that dresses like THAT." She waved with the sunglasses in her hand.

"I know, really," Samantha, her friend, said. I couldn't believe it - not only was Angela the evil cheerleader here, but she even brought her equally evil sidekick? Are you JOKING? "You know if you keep that up, Collins, I don't think we'll be able to tell if you're a girl or not."

Angela laughed. "As if we can anyway," she said.

Noah began, "Hey--"

"Stop," I muttered to him. "Forget it."

"But--"

"Just stop."

With a smirking look over her shoulder, Angela went to the check-in office with Samantha without another word.

"I can't believe she was so rude," Noah said.

"It's okay," I said. "I'm used to it."

"Layla," Noah said. "Really - I mean--"

"LAAAAAYLAAAAA!!!!!" cried a voice from the other side of the parking lot.

"JENNY!" I exclaimed. It was my best friend. She had always volunteered with me and was my best buddy at school too.

Jenny dropped her bags on the ground and threw her arms around me. I laughed and hugged her back. "I just saw you last week," I said.

"I know," Jenny said. She let go and continued. "I'm so excited."

"So am I."

"Oh, shoot!" Jenny exclaimed, smacking herself in the forehead. "I forgot my toothbrush!"

I smiled. Jenny was forgetful sometimes. "I've got a backup toothbrush," I said.

"Oh, thank God," Jenny said. "You can just give it to me when I move into the cabin."

"Oh... about that..." I began.

Jenny looked at me questioningly with her brown eyes. "What is it?"

"I'm not staying in the girls' cabin," I said. "Carly put me in the guys'."

My best friend's eyes widened. "What?! That's against camp rules! And that is SO not fair."

"It's just temporary," I explained. "Rebecca said alright to it."

"That's insane!" Jenny exclaimed. "God you are SO lucky!"

"Ew," I said in response.

Noah cleared his throat next to me.

"Oh, sorry," I said to Noah. "Forgot you were here."

He pouted and said, "Nice of you to remember." Noah smiled at Jenny. "Hey, Jenny. Long time no see."

Blushing, Jenny smiled shyly and said, "Hi Noah."

I rolled my eyes. When was she going to just admit she liked the boy?

"Um," Jenny said, "I'm going to go check-in. See you at dinner!" Then she ran off with her bag into the check-in cabin.

"What's up with her?" Noah asked.

I smiled to myself. Noah was so clueless sometimes... "Nothing," I said vaguely.

«««««««»»»»»»»

Dinner was just wrapping up. The kids were already visiting each other at the tables, talking about their plans for the camp and what they wanted to do. Eric was talking to Jenny and Charlotte, one of the other counselors, about a project he did over the school year. I spotted Angela a few tables away with the other counselors. She was laughing, twirling her blonde curls as she brushed up against Tristan, who looked at her and smiled a geniune smile.

I raised my eyebrows in response. But was I surprised? Unfortunately, I couldn't admit that I was since it was such typical Angela behavior.

"I'll grab those," I said, just as Eric was about to stand up to put the plates in the tub next to the kitchen.

"You sure?" he said.

"Yeah," I said, stacking the plates on top of mine. I grinned. "I got it."

Eric smiled back. "Alright."

I took the plates and went to the kitchen to put them into the tub. The kitchen window was open so I stuck my head inside.

"Layla!" the chef cried out as he headed over.

"Eli!" I said, and waved. "So glad to see you!"

"Ah, it's already been a year, huh?" Eli said. "You're growing so fast!"

"Ah, don't say that," I replied. "Glad to be back though!"

"Hey, George!" Eli shouted. "Layla's here!"

"Layla!" George the janitor cried out, heading to the window.

"Hi, George!" I exclaimed, laughing.

"It's so good to see you," he said, smiling.

"You too!" I said.

Just then, I heard Carly shout, "Can I get all the counselors over here really quick?"

"You'd better go," Eli said.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" I said.

"See you!" George said, nodding. I waved before I headed over to where Carly was with the rest of the counselors.

"Hello, boys and girls," Carly said. "Good to see you all. Just wanted to remind you about a couple of ground rules and give you your schedules."

"Aw, Carly," Isaac said. "We already know the rules."

"Not all of us," Carly said. "Remember... after dark you can't leave your cabin unless you're with your buddy, which can be any other counselor in your cabin. No boys in the girls' cabin, and no girls in the boys' cabin."

"Wait, that's not fair," Samantha said. "Layla's in the boys' cabin." Apparently she heard the news.

"She's been excused by Rebecca," Carly said. "So no girls in the boys' cabin except Layla. Got it? If you're outside without your buddy you're losing hours. Now here are your schedules. We tried to get you your first choice but some modifications had to be made." She passed out slips of papers to each of us.

Mine read, "Science" across the top. Yes!

"You'll be teaching one class with another counselor and a supervisor," Carly explained. "Don't be late. The schedule also has our camp activities on there so don't forget about those. Participation is required to get all your hours, alright?"

We nodded.

"Alright," she said. "We'll have everyone head back to the cabins early tonight to get settled. See you all tomorrow." Carly left them just as the counselors started chatting.

"I got science," I told Jenny.

"I knew you would!" Jenny exclaimed. "I got arts!"

"That's the one you wanted!" I said. "I have to many ideas for the kids this year..."

"You mean like the experiment we did in biology last year?" Jenny said. "That'd be cool."

"Yeah," I agreed. I poked Eric. "Hey, what'd you get?"

"What do I always get?" he said, laughing.

"Singing," I said. "That's great!"

"Maybe your class can have a field trip sometime and come to the singing class," Eric suggested.

"Haha, we should," I said.

"So what's this biology project you guys are talking about?" Eric asked.

"You see, we did it in biology last year," I explained. "With such a variety of plants out here, we could totally do a dissection and look at the different--"

But suddenly, I was interrupted, as Tristan yells out loudly, "Oh, God! Who the heck would want to do SCIENCE? Why am I stuck with the stupid class?"

I froze. I desperately hoped he was joking... but from the look on his face, he wasn't.

I was going to kill Carly.

A/N: More later!

[01]

"Wait," I said, shaking my head. "There must be some mistake."

Carly looked back at me, hope filling her large brown eyes. "Please, Layla?" she asked. "Just until I find you someplace else."

'You have got to be kidding me,' I thought to myself. My hand fumbled anxiously at the sleeve of my hoodie.

"And Rebecca is okay with this?" I said incredulously. The director of the camp, Rebecca, was so strict. How could she possibly...?

"Yeah, she said we have no other choice. I mean, one of you will have to," Carly said. "The other girls--well, to tell you the truth, they're really hormonal and boy-crazy. You're really the one that I can trust won't cause havoc and won't make a big deal out of it..."

I wasn't going to fall for it. I wasn't going to fall for it. Carly cannot do this to me. This was my last summer at Camp Eastbury as a camp counselor. She couldn't do this to me!

But she did.

"Fine," I said, picking up my duffle bag.

I couldn't believe I had just agreed to live in the boys' cabin the entire summer, but I did. I guess that's what happens when you're the only girl that doesn't happen to drool over the male counselors. I sighed. I just dug a nice big hole for myself that I'd probably never get out of.

"Thank you so much!" Carly exclaimed, wrapping her arms around me tightly. She was a slightly chubby woman in her late twenties and was the manager of Camp Eastbury.

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled. "Tell me when you get a bed in the girls' cabin."

"Will do!" Carly said, giving me a pat on the back. "I'm going to the kitchen to snag an extra brownie for you!" Oh, sweet. I love brownies.

"Thanks," I said. Carrying my duffle bag in one hand and my book in the other, I made my way over to the boys' cabin. It was close to the girls' cabin, but closer to the main dining hall. The cabin was rather large, with a lounge, recreation room, a bathroom, and a room full of single beds. When I entered the cabin, I found that I was the first one to arrive. I crossed the lounge where there were several large couches and walked past the recreation room to the left where a pool table and air hockey table was set up. The beds were in the room on the right so I went in there to drop off my things.

There were six beds, just like in the girls' cabin. I picked the one on the right, closest to the door. I knew from experience that if I picked the one in the corner, I'd be killing spiders all night. And I didn't want a bed that was in between two other ones.

I had worked at Camp Eastbury for the past three years since I was a freshman in high school and had lived in the girls' cabin for all those years. Before I worked as a camp counselor, I had come to the camp as a student myself.

Camp Eastbury was a summer camp for middle school students. The students were split into six classes - science, sports, water sports, singing, arts and crafts, and fashion. Each student lived in a cabin with other students of the same gender and a supervisor over the age of 18. The students prepared themselves with a project to present as an exhibit, performance, or competition at the end of the summer.

The counselors, aka people like me, were mostly high school students. We were split into pairs and were in charge of helping out in each of the subject classes, along with a designated supervisor. Classes ran four days a week, but the students - and counselors - had the opportunity to enjoy themselves on Fridays and during the weekend. There were also camp activities every day, whether it was camp stories after dinner or camp games in the afternoon.

I crossed my legs on the bed, flipped my book back to the page I had left off at, and continued to read. I had just gotten to a really good part of the book - it was one of those perfect scenes. The heroine was at the airport, about to go through check-in to fly to another country and the hero just realized how much he loved her. It was those run-after-the-girl scenes I loved... and even though I had read the book over twenty times already, I still loved this part. I glanced briefly at my bag before diving back into the book. I'd unpack my sleeping bag later.

It wasn't long before I was suddenly interrupted as three boys barged into the room. They laughed loudly but, once they saw me, they stopped.

"...Uhh, Layla?" Noah said. "Are you in the wrong place?"

"Girls' cabin is that way," Isaac said, pointing. Noah and Isaac had been counselors in the previous years too; the third boy was someone I had not met before.

"I'm not in the wrong place," I said slowly.

"Wait, WHAT?" Isaac exclaimed. "What are you talking about?"

"What I'm talking about is that Carly assigned me here," I said.

Noah raised his eyebrows. "But--but--"

"I know," I said, scrunching my face. "But it's temporary...or that's what Carly said."

But the third guy sauntered over and sat down next to me. I gave him a weird look but he winked and said, "Well then. Temporary or not.. hi. I'm Braden. And you're welcome here anytime. Really."

"And you're not," I said, whacking him with my book. "Seriously."

"Ow," Braden said, rubbing his arm. "God you didn't have to hit that hard."

"She's immune to your charm, Braden," Noah said. "We've all tried it on her. Doesn't work."

I rolled my eyes. "You guys make me sound like I'm some sort of ice queen."

"You are," Isaac said. "When it comes to guys anyway."

Crossing my arms, I gave him a look. "I am not."

"Well then," Noah said. "It's settled. I get this one." He sat down on the bed next to mine.

"No fair," Isaac said. "I want that one."

"I'll be over here..." Braden said, picking the bed furthest away. I laughed.

"I got it first," Noah said.

"I put my bag on it first," Isaac retorted.

"Come on, man."

"I'm not giving it up."

"But I got here first!"

"My bed."

"Mine."

"No."

"Do you remember what happened last time you tried to get something I wanted?"

"No. My bed."

"It's mine, dude."

"I already called it."

"My bag's on it!"

"I'm on it."

"So am I!"

All of a sudden, a boy walked into the room. It was Eric, one of Layla's closest friends. But he didn't even notice that she was sitting there.

"What the hell is going on?" he shouted.

"Mine!!!!" Noah cried.

"Nooo!" Isaac yelled.

"SHUT UP!!!!" Eric shouted.

Noah and Isaac stopped and looked at him.

"What's going on?!" Eric said. Then he noticed me. "Layla? You're not...allowed to be here. Did you forget where the girls' cabin is?"

I gave him a look. "Eric," I said, "no, I didn't forget. I'm assigned here."

"What?" Eric said.

"It's my bed," Noah said quietly before shoving Isaac off the bed.

"Ow," Isaac said, rubbing his backside.

"There aren't enough beds in the girls' so Carly assigned me here."

"That's ridiculous," Eric said. "You're--you're--"

"A girl?" Noah finished.

Eric glared at him. "Yes. I know that." He looked back at me. "Did Rebecca--"

"She said alright to it already," I said. "It's crazy."

Eric then noticed Noah sitting on the bed next to mine with a huge grin on his face.

"That bed's mine," Eric said.

Noah frowned. "I got here first," he said.

"Tough," Eric said. He put his bag on the bed. "Move."

"Aw, Eric, come ON," Noah groaned.

"No way am I letting you sleep here," Eric said. "You can have the other one over."

"Man," Noah said. "You suck."

"Why do you get the bed?" Isaac asked.

"Oh my God," I muttered in annoyance.

"Because I said so," Eric replied.

"That's not fair," Isaac said.

I looked up at the sky, in hopes that some holy spirit might solve this problem... but no.

"I'm getting the bed," Eric said.

"I got it first," Noah said.

"I thought we settled this already," Eric replied.

"Please, Eric?" Noah said.

"God, everyone," I cried out. "Just stop it already, okay? Seriously!"

I tabbed my book and stomped to the doorway to leave, but suddenly ran into a person.

A/N: More to come. :)