The song 'No Matter What' (Yes Darkie, I changed Jamie's song on you...) was written by Tim Rice and Alan Menken, even though I did alter one of the lines. Also. 'A Boy and a Girl in a Little Canoe' is a real song (a *cough* girl scout campfire song *cough*), but I haven't the slightest idea who wrote it...
Chapter 1
"Whose FREAKING idea was it to FREAKING camp out in FREAKING
January??" Tyler asked angrily as he pulled on his 4th layer of pants.
"This was the only weekend the camp could fit us in,"
Hank said, rolling out his sleeping bag.
Jamie laughed from where he was hammering the stakes from
his tent into the ground. "Besides, it's only 50 degrees."
"Far to cold," Tyler mumbled.
Jamie finished hammering the stake in, and stood up. He
was suprised at the numbers of tents, each filled with other teenage EMTs.
He had thought that Kingsport was one of the only ones, but as the 6th
annual teen EMT camp out had proved, he was wrong. It was attended by all
of the teenage EMT's in the state, and was a huge thing to all of them.
They had the run of a huge campsite for a three day weekend. Squads would
have competitions against other squads, they'd go on challenge team building
courses, and they'd get to hang out with other people from other towns
like them.
Hank and Tyler were sharing a tent, and Jamie rented his
own.
Across camp in the girl's site (which didn't mean anything,
anyone who really wanted to could sneak into anyone else's tent), Val and
Caitie were hammering their tent into the ground.
Val had had Alex pull some strings, and they managed to
smuggle Caitie into the camp out. Val was glad for the company at night,
and Caitie was glad she got to get out of going to see her grandmother.
However, something was wrong, as Val tried to hammer.
Her stake wouldn't go in.
"Need some help?" Val heard a voice ask. Val looked up
and saw a tall Hispanic girl looming over her.
"Hey Ash," Val said.
Ashley squatted down. "Hey Val. I think there may be a
rock under your stake or something."
Ashley belonged to the Lockhart EMT squad. For as long
as the program had been going on, the Lockhart and Kingsport squads had
been sister squads. Ashley swept some dirt away, and revealed a rock the
size of her fist. She picked it up and hurled it away from the campsite.
Then Ash spotted Caitie. "Heya. New recruit?"
Caitie shook her head. "Nah. I'm not one of them, I just
hang out so much they can't get rid of me."
"But Sarah graduated, and Michael moved," Val informed
Ashley. "But we do have a new guy, Jamie."
"Cool, cool." Ash replied. "Is he hot?" Then she grinned.
"Has Val told you how the other squads know Kingsport? To us, Kingsport
EMTs are known for three things; hot guys, their rivalry with Corridor,
and of course, their friendship with Lockhart."
Val grinned. "And we know you for the weirdness of your
people, your friendship with Kingsport, and your fire tending abilities."
A short girl with vivid, un-natural fire-red hair in a
French braid approached the group. "What was that I heard about weirdness?"
She asked.
"We were talking about how you're a taco short of a No.
2 order," Ash replied.
The redhead put her hands on her hips. "Are you sure they
weren't talking about the way people can tell you used to be from Texas
by the expressions you use?"
Ash stuck her tongue out. "Shut up. At least I'M not considering
starting this year's fire with TAMPONS!"
The redhead stuck her tongue out, too. "Tampons burn better
than PADS, Ashley!"
"They may burn better, but they don't burn as long. It's
like starting a fire with paper...it burns well, but POOF!, it's all burned
up and your fire's an ember!"
"Lockhart EMTs always tend to the campfires," Val explained
silently to Caitie while the other two argued. "But for fire starters,
they always use either tampons or pads, even the Lockhart guys. It's also
always a constant argument on what they should use to start the fire with."
"So, Cheryl," Val spoke up, changing the subject. "You
had blonde hair when we saw you last September."
"I was sick of being blonde, so I dyed it," The redhead,
Cheryl, replied. "It's permanent, but check out what else I did." Cheryl
turned around, and sprayed in her on the back her head in blue was 'L-Hart
EMTs', and written vertical down the braid was 'Rock!'
Caitie laughed. She was starting to like this Cheryl already.
Even if she was an EMT.
Chapter 2
Jamie sat next to Caitie, his arm through hers. He was
glad for the extra warmth, and glad that it was Caitie he was holding.
The squad that Tyler and the others were friends with were starting a fire.
They had settled their squabbling, and decided on a tampon wrapped in a
pad or a tampon tied to a pad or something. But Jamie wasn't paying that
much attention.
He was busy watching Caitie. In the firelight she looked
beautiful. Hell, she was always beautiful, but seeing her silhouette outlined
in red and orange, it suited her, whom Jamie always thought to have the
spirit, grace, and beauty of fire, perfectly. She was like...well...there
weren't any words to describe her.
Not that he could ever tell her that, as she was his best
friend.
The Lockhart EMTs got the fire going, and other teenagers
began drifting towards the light like gnats to sweaty people. Someone handed
Jamie a stick with two marshmallows on it, and he took hold of the stick,
and Caitie as well. As they held the stick steady, their hands touched.
Jamie felt his stomach flutter a little. What is with
me? He thought. This is Caitie. Caitie, who I went to Homecoming
with.
Just then, the marshmallows caught on fire. Reduced to
charred black specks, they fell off the stick and into the fire.
"Wanna go hang out at the tent?" Caitie asked.
Jamie nodded. "Sure. There are so many overachievers here,
it's making me sick."
They got up and left
the circle. Neither had brought a flashlight, so they stumbled back to
Jamie's tent in the dark, laughing the entire way.
Finally, they reached the circle of tents. When they entered,
Jamie began to rummage through his bag, and produced a lantern. With a
click of a button, the
tent was filled with light.
"I'm starting to agree with Tyler on how cold it is,"
Caitie said with a shiver, and sat closer to Jamie.
He looked at her and took her hand in his. "I don't mind
if you're here to warm me."
Caitie looked up at him and blinked. Was he flirting with
her? Not that she had never entertained dreams of going out with him, but
now that he was
flirting so bluntly...
Caitie stood up suddenly. "I have to go," She burst out
quickly, and stood up. Then, in a very un-Caitie like way she left the
tent.
***
Like Caitie and Jamie, Hank wasn't at the fire either.
Hank had been going to these things for three years, and it was his favorite
event of the year.
When he was in his first year as an EMT, all of the others
on the Kingsport squad were at least 2 years older than him. He was the
youngest in the history of
the squad. But even though he was friends with the others, he managed
to find some other EMTs his age at his first camp out, and hung out with
them. Even the
next year, when Tyler and Val joined the squad, and they went along
to the camp, he still hung out with Amanda, Kirk, Clay, and Allie at camp
out time.
He had seen Allie when Kingsport was checking in, and
they agreed to meet one of the lake shores, the furthest one everyone called
the Beach (because it was
the only sandy spot on the shore) but no one used.
He didn't mind the mile and a half run in the dark. He
had a flashlight, and was used to running a lot in football.
When he reached there, Kirk, Allie, and Amanda were already
hanging out. They had lit their own fire, and one of the trio had thought
to bring marshmallows,
graham crackers and chocolate. Another, it seemed, had the sense to
take some hot dogs and buns. They had gotten sticks and were roasting,
when Hank arrived.
Kirk waved a hand. "Over here," Kirk called.
Hank crossed the Beach at a slow jog, kicking up sand
as he went. Amanda scooted over, and Hank sat next to her. They had begun
to tell stories about
things that had happened and runs they had been on when Clay, the loudest
one of them all, arrived, and the volume seemed to pick up a notch.
The five spent the evening laughing and joking, and catching
up on good times.
***
Tyler looked around. It appeared that he and Val were
the only ones from Kingsport around. He had suspected Hank would disappear,
he had done the previous year, but where were Jamie and Caitie?
When he talked to Val about them, she shrugged it off.
"They're probably just having a good time," She grinned. "Which you should
be doing instead of worrying. We've worked hard. We deserve it."
Later that night, when the fire had been put out, the
marshmallows gone, and everyone's eyes drooping in sleep, when he and Val
parted ways, Tyler noticed that Jamie wasn't in his tent. But he shrugged
it off, remembering Val's words. He decided Jamie must have been in Caitie's
tent, and forgot about it.
***
But Jamie wasn't in Caitie's tent. When Caitie had left,
he had wandered around for awhile. He walked along the rocky cliff ridden
part of the lake shore, until he noticed one spot facing East, where he
could get a good view of the sunrise. Waves were breaking below, and it
was very flat. Deciding to spend the night there instead, he went back
to the tent, grabbed his sleeping bag, and spent the night on the rock.
Chapter 3
When Hank woke, it was to the sound of Tyler's snoring,
though Hank didn't mind...it was light outside, which meant that Hank had
actually slept past his normal normal waking time, and, despite the fact
that he had just woken up, he was feeling energized. Hank pulled out his
clothes and began to put them on. When he left the tent and was stretching,
he noticed that Jamie's tent was still empty. A few minutes later, Hank
noticed a groggy figure trudging to the campsite. It was Jamie, tiredly
pulling a sleeping bag behind him, his normally spiked hair laying flat
on his head. Hank clapped softly.
"It's not what you think," Jamie tried to explain. "I
was sleeping on a rock."
"Oh, is that what you call it now a days?"
"Shut up."
Hank just grinned, and Jamie pulled his sleeping bag into
his own tent. Hank checked his watch. 6:54 AM. Breakfast was just about
to start to be served, and would stop in an hour and a half. About an hour
after that, some of the days events would start.
"When Tyler wakes up, tell him I went down to the mess
hall, all right?" Hank asked.
"If I don't go back to sleep," Jamie replied groggily.
Hank started to leave the camp at a jog. "Early to bed
and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise," He quoted over
his shoulder.
"Yeah, but it makes Jamie a very dull boy," Jamie answered
as Hank disappeared from view.
About 5 minutes later, Hank jogged over a hill and the
mess hall came into view. He reached it and pulled open the door. There
were only 5 other EMTs in the hall. Three were sitting by the fire playing
a card game (One, Hank noted, was a Lockhart EMT, because you couldn't
have a fire without an L-Hart nearby), one was sketching in a notebook,
and the fifth was Amanda, off by herself, chewing occasionally on a banana,
playing Solitaire.
He slid into the seat next to her. "Morning, Beautiful."
She looked up from her game and smiled at him. "You sure
do have a way with the ladies."
"You know it."
"Then why have you gone through what, 5 girlfriends in
three months?"
"6 in three...wait...," He raised an eyebrow and looked
at her suspiciously. "How would you know?"
"Earth to Ladies Man! I am in the same campsite as Val...girls
do gossip, you know."
So Hank was the topic of girl gossip? He wasn't sure whether
to feel betrayed or complimented.
Amanda gave Hank a bit of a shove. "Don't worry, it was
all good stuff."
So he was supposed to be complimented? This was confusing.
So Hank did the only thing any normal guy would do in that situation.
"I'm gonna go get some breakfast. Be back in a sec."
***
After breakfast, were the squad competitions. Even though
Caitie wasn't technically part of the squad, she still competed. Though
he was with Val in the paired egg races, Hank in the EMS-related relays
(since he was the most experienced in EMT stuff, and she was the least,
it was a group decision to pair them for that), and Tyler for the three-legged
races (they came in last, which was mostly because they argued the whole
race), she didn't pair up with Jamie even once. Come to think of it, Caitie
didn't talk to him at all that morning.
After she and Val returned to the girl's camp at noon,
she was very restless. She had to go for a walk. So she chose a path no
one else seemed to be going down. She must have walked down the empty path
silently for 15 minutes, when she began to hear a voice. A song.
As she continued down the path, closer to the song, she
began to recognize the singer. Jamie. She almost turned back, but then
she decided against it. She had to face Jamie sometime.
The path curved, and widened into a clearing that over looked
the lake. Jamie was sitting against a tree, on a rocky overhang over the
lake, his long legs dangling over the ledge, a guitar sitting on his lap
as he strummed it gently.
Caitie was amazed at how amazing his incredible bass voice
was. She had never heard him sing before, but he was so good it sent shivers
down her spine and left her rooted to where she stood, mesmerized.
"No matter what you do
I'm on your side.
And if my point of view is somewhat misty-eyed
There's nothing clearer in my life
Than what I wish for you
And that's a lot
No matter what."
She moved to sit next to Jamie, and put her hands around his waist. He looked down at her, a bit suprised, but she motioned for him to go on. He took his hands off the guitar, and draped one long arm on her shoulder and he sang a capella the rest of the way.
"No matter what the pain
We've come this far
I pray that you remain exactly as you are.
This really is a case of best friend knowing best,
'Cause I care for you.
You're never strange,
Don't ever change.
You're all I've got,
No matter what."
Caitie squeezed his waist. "I'm sorry for last night,"
She whispered.
"Me, too," He replied. "I shouldn't have said what I said.
I should have known it would make me uncomfortable."
She shook her head. "No, it was my fault. I shouldn't
have run off. It's not like I've never...well, wanted there to be something
more than just friendship between us, but when it was out in the open..."
He cut her off. "Caitie, you're the best friend I've ever
had. But sometimes I want more, so much more. But not if you don't want
anything to change."
She smiled in a very un-Caitie like way. "You know, by
listening to us, you'd think we were normal Dawson's Creek Obsesses."
"I don't mind normal, if it's with you."
"You know what? Me either."
They said there for almost an hour, just sitting next
to each other. And though they didn't kiss that hour, or even at all during
that trip, but the seeds were planted...
Author's notes: This whole story was inspired the very first line,
which I uttered while waking up at 6 AM on a camping trip in January. In
fact, this is the first fic out of two that were inspired by something
I've said. The other one will be making it's debut eventually, and is called
'Lights, Camera, Green-Eyed Monster!' (Inspired by the comment 'Why can't
he realize we're singers, not professional dancers??!!??').
And for all of you wondering, pads do make great fire starters.
When I was camping in January, Ashley, Cheryl, and I (yes, Ash and Cheryl
are two real people...whose personalities are pretty much the way the ones
in the story are...) were trying to light a fire, but all of our tinder
was wet and wouldn't catch, but one of us had a pad in her purse, lit it,
and we kept our fire going for hours...but I've never burned tampons, I'm
just assuming they do burn well...oh yeah, and sorry Shawn...but when you
write in an area full of girls, pads are gonna have to come up sometimes!
;)
While I'm at it, do you guys think this needs a part 2, or is fine
as is? I was planning a bit more to this story, a part that occurs about
an hour after this ends, but isn't really a romance, just more of a general
type story, that focuses more on the events of the camp out thingy, there's
a bit out our EMTs in action (which answers the question: If someone gets
hurt at an EMT convention, which of the masses there takes care of it??)
and some of the other EMTs from Lockhart, the ones in Hank's crowd, and
Kingsport's rivals, the Corridor EMTs. However, when I wrote the last line,
it just seemed to find a good ending there...
And if any of the IaHB writers/producers/directors/actors happen
to be reading this, just because Hank isn't the main character (even though
he did steal the sub-plot...I just can't write a fic without him!) doesn't
mean I'm not still holding out for an episode all about Hank!!