It was the summer of 1998 and I was 16 years old. My parents had sent me to summer camp in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. My grandparents owned a home in Sioux Falls and my mom had gone to this same camp. I resented the fact that my mom was making me go to this stupid camp. What I really wanted to do was spend my summer reading and hanging out with friends, maybe catching a few summer concerts back home in Savannah, GA. My friends were all planning to catch the Red Hot Chili Peppers on tour as well as the Family Values tour. I had even heard that Creed was coming to our area and they were my favorite. I was pissed that I would not be joining them. Instead I'd be sitting around a campfire at night singing camp songs and wanting to stab my eyeballs out.
The first day there the girls were separated from the boys to my displeasure. While I was still innocent for a 16 year old boys were a top priority in my life. The story of my life was because I was labeled as the "wild child" of our bunch everyone thought I had slept around. Truth was that I was still a virgin. I just hadn't met the boy that I wanted to give that special gift to. We were assigned our rooms and our bunks. The girls ranged in ages from 14 to 17 in our cabin. I hoped that whoever was next to me wasn't overly lame. The blessing in the whole thing was that at night we could listen to music on our ear phones and read. I knew that I would start to look forward to lights out every night.
The next day we were introduced to the boys of the camp. Their cabins were just over the hill from where ours were so they could separate us if they needed to but have us all together most of the time. The girls were already in the auditorium when the boys were brought in. They had arranged us so that every other chair was empty. The boys were supposed to file in and fill up the empty chairs. I was in the middle of an aisle so I would have a boy on each side of me. This should be fun. I had two boys sit down beside me but I didn't pay them much attention. Our camp councilors were giving us instructions and even though I didn't want to be there I was trying to pay attention to them.
We were instructed for each girl to turn to the guy to her left and introduce herself to him. We stood from our chairs and I turned to the boy to my left. I wasn't prepared for what I encountered. My face was just inches from the guy's chest! I looked up and up and up it seemed before I saw his face. He was very tall and very cute, with a wide smile and the cutest dimples I had ever seen. His hazel eyes twinkled, but I could see something between shyness and a hardness in his features. "Hi. My name is Noel.", I said as I held out my hand to the handsome young stranger. He smiled again and ducked his head a little before he took my hand in his. His hand was so large that it dwarfed mine. "Nice to meet you Noel. My name is Sam." With the introductions made we were instructed to have a seat.
Sam and I kept stealing little looks at each other. Me, because I was amazed at how cute he was and him I think out of shyness.
The camp councilors told us that the person we just met would be our partner for the week. We would do all our activities together as a team. At night we would be with our bunk mates and in the morning we'd come back to the pavilion to get our assignments for the day. We were told that our first assignment was to learn as much about the other person as we could. We were given the boundaries of where we could be and where we couldn't. Sam and I stood and headed to the front of the room to pick up our backpack of supplies for the day. Sam took the backpack and slung it over one shoulder, "Where do you want to go sit and talk?", he asked me. "Why don't we go down there by the lake?", I said and pointed to the cozy looking dock down by the lake. Sam nodded, "Ladies first.", he says holding his hand out in the direction of the lake.
We walked together to the lake over the rocky ground. At one point I tripped over an extra big rock and just as I thought I was going to fall I felt a large hand reach out and grab me by the upper arm, steadying me. I looked up at Sam, grateful for the save. "Thanks. I'm not always such a clutz." Sam's smile widened causing my heart to flutter, "Don't mention it. I'm pretty used to saving people." The last few yards to the lake were thankfully uneventful. We walked out onto the dock and sat together in the swing that was there. Sam dug into the backpack and pulled out our packet for the day. He opened it and pulled out a sheet of paper. "It says here that they want us to interview each other and record our findings." There was a list of questions and instructions to ask any other questions that we deemed fit. "Ok you start.", I said as I looked into his hazel eyes.
Sam cleared his throat, "First question is name. I already know Noel. Anything else with Noel?", he teased. "Noel Wilson." We each had our own notebook for taking notes. Sam nodded his head, "Sam Winchester.", he answered simply. "Where are you from?", Sam asked then. "I live in Savannah, GA but my grandparents live here in Sioux Falls." "Lawrence, KS originally but my dad travels for business so we live all over now. I do have an Uncle that lives here in Sioux Falls.", Sam replies. We sit together in the warm sunshine for a couple hours talking and getting to know one another. This was unlike any camp I had ever heard of. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. I mean Sam was not bad to look at…..I take that back, he was hot as hell and we were getting along great.
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Sam watched the way the sunlight shown in the young blonde beauty's hair as she looked down at her notebook and jotted down a few notes from questions she had asked. He had noticed how pretty she was when he sat down beside her but she seemed to be unhappy to be here. When he was lucky enough to be paired with her he was really happy about that. Their conversation had been nice so far and he found out that she just didn't want to be here but that her parents made her come. Apparently her mom had come to this same camp as a teenager. When Sam found out that Noel was a year older than he was his heart fell. She would never be interested in him and him younger than her.
Sam pushed the hair out of his eyes and listened to her as she talked about her family and the things she enjoyed. He learned that she liked animals very much and that she was really into her music. He smiled knowing that Dean would appreciate that. She didn't seem to question too much that his family traveled a lot and she seemed really open with him now that he got the chance to sit and talk to her.
Soon there was a bell rung that indicated that the pairs were to report back to the pavilion. Sam stood and helped Noel to her feet. He took her stuff and placed it back into the backpack and slung it over his shoulder. "Be careful this time on those rocks.", he said to her and gently held her elbow. She looked up at him with her grass green eyes and smiled. "Thank you.", she said simply.
Back at the pavilion they were told it was time for lunch. Sam walked with Noel over to the lunch building. They went through the line and picked up their food and found a table close to a corner of the room. Sam waited for Noel to sit and then he sat beside her. They talked throughout their meal and soon learned that they both had a love for reading. "What are you reading right now?", Sam asked. Noel blushed slightly, "I'm rereading 'The Outsiders' for the 100th time but I also have 'Of Mice and Men' with me." Sam nodded appreciatively. "I really like 'The Outsiders'. I've read it a few times myself. I'm reading 'Farenheight 451' right now though.", Sam answered.
As they sat and talked Sam felt more and more drawn to Noel. He tried to not get his hopes up too high but he knew he would anyway. Noel went to the dessert table and brought back two plates with slices of chocolate cake on them. Sam accepted the dessert and watched as she spooned a bite into her mouth. He went to place a bite in his mouth and missed because he was looking at her and not paying attention to what he was doing. He wound up with a big streak of chocolate on the side of his mouth and down onto his chin. Noel looked up and saw what he had done and she began to giggle.
Sam blushed but then his heart began to race as Noel reached over and ran her finger over his face, scooping up the misplaced chocolate and then stuck her finger in her mouth and ate it. Sam thought he would come undone right there at the table! He quickly excused himself and made his way to the bathroom. He took several deep breaths and looked at himself in the mirror. Satisfied that the chocolate was gone and he was safe to go back to the dining room, he slowly made his way back to where Noel sat. "Sorry I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable.", Noel said as she looked up at him apologetically. "No it's not a problem. I am a clutz sometimes too. We're even.", Noel knew he was referring to the rocks and nodded.