hello, my name is rae and i'm a new writer on here. i hope you enjoy my first story, camp lake. :) this is going to be a lucaya story.
A New Camper
Maya was unsure of what her plans for the summer would be, but it definitely didn't include going to a summer camp, especially one with a lame name like Camp Lake. It sits right next to a huge lake in the rural part of New York, so they decided to name it Camp Lake. So original. Not to mention the ugly t-shirts they had to wear with the camp's name printed on it in a terrible font, and the fact that it was in the middle of nowhere which meant no cell service. She couldn't call home without asking a counselor to use the camp phone. There was only one, and it was occupied most of the time, so Maya never bothered asking. The camp cabins were small and cramped, and four campers were crammed into one teeny room. Of course, Maya's cabin had to be the one that was rumored to be haunted. Maya didn't believe or care about all that stuff, but she could do without Riley turning over in bed all night to make sure a ghost wasn't creeping up behind her. They also had to go canoeing every single day except for Sundays, and canoeing was the worst. The canoes were leaky and always felt like they were about to tip over, and even though it was their second week there already Riley still hadn't gotten the hang of canoeing and Maya wasn't willing to do it. So, the two were stuck in a leaky, tipping canoe.
It was only her second week, but she already hated camp. Yet, she had to stay there for the rest of the summer. She would manage.
The blonde woke up that morning excited that it was Sunday, which meant they didn't have to go canoeing. They would have to go to Sunday School instead, but that was a small price to pay. Breakfast was boring as usual, and Sunday School was boring as usual. Nothing interesting happened until the camper's "free time," which after a few days Maya learned wasn't actually free time. The camp invited special guests to come to the camp and do different things with them, like arts and crafts and magic tricks. The only free time they really had was the walk between activities and the thirty minutes before lights out. Sometimes, if they were lucky, the guest was late and they had more time. Today was no different, except she was actually kind of intrigued today.
One of the college counselors, Josh, stood in front of the campers in the camp lounge. "Hey, Camp Lakers!" Maya cringed at the name they labeled them with. "Today, we have a late arrival. He was going to come last week just like you guys, but couldn't due to certain circumstances. But he's here today, and that's all that matters! Lucas, you can come in now." The girls leaned forward and the boys groaned as a rather attractive (Maya wouldn't admit she thought so as well, though) camper stepped into the lounge. He was wearing the same ugly shirt as the rest of them, yet he wore it like it was a H&M or American Eagle shirt. How did he make such an awful shirt look so amazing?
The male flashed a smile at the crowd, making most of the girls swoon, and to Maya's dismay, including Riley. "Hi, I'm Lucas Friar. This is actually my first time at a summer camp, but it seems like it'll be a lot of fun. I hope we can all be friends around here."
Josh smiled. "I can guarantee it'll be tons of fun, Lucas! You can sit down wherever you can squeeze in."
Maya saw the boy's gaze wander around the crowd, girls crossing their fingers that his eyes would land on them. Unfortunately for Maya, his eyes happened to land on her and Riley. Riley grinned as he slipped between the two girls, while Maya scowled and rolled her eyes along with the rest of the girls. As Josh went to get the next guest for free time, the campers began to talk with each other.
"Sorry for getting in between the two of you...I can move if you want." he seemed to be speaking mostly to Maya.
Maya opened her mouth to say please do, but Riley spoke too quickly. "No, no, you don't have to! I'm Riley, by the way!" she said, a wide smile on her face. Leave it to Riley to immediately take the initiative, Maya thought.
Lucas nodded. "Nice to meet you, Riley. I'm Lucas. And you are?" he looked back over at the blonde.
She bit her lip, then replied, "Maya."
He nodded once again. "It's nice to meet you as well, Maya. So, uh, would you guys mind telling me what's going on right now?"
"It's called free time, but we don't get to choose what we want to do. They bring in guests and they do stuff with us. It's usually really boring." Maya replied. Riley reached across Lucas to slap her arm lightly.
"Maya! No need to be so negative! It's fun, trust me. Maya just really hates this camp."
"Yeah, I noticed." Lucas chuckled lightly. "What's so bad about this camp?"
"Nothing." "Everything." The best friends said at the same time. Maya gave Riley a "Really?" look. "There's nothing wrong with this camp? You've got to be joking."
"Well, maybe canoeing..." Riley admitted.
"And the cabins, and the food, and the supposed free time, and the cabins, and the shirts, and the fact that it only has one working phone, and did I mention the cabins? And there's also-"
"Okay, Maya! That's enough." she interrupted. "I swear she's exaggerating, Lucas. It's really not that bad."
"I dunno. She sounds pretty convincing." Lucas joked.
"'Cause it's true."
"Anyways...Lucas, are you from around this area?" Riley asked.
Lucas shook his head. "I'm actually from Texas. My parents thought I needed a change from scenery from the farm...only to send me to a rural summer camp in New York."
Maya snickered. "Farm?"
"Yes, I live on a farm. Laugh at me all you want."
"Sorry, sorry." Maya apologized when she saw Riley's glare. "Lucas, how about you sit with us for lunch? We could show you the ropes around here, maybe give you a tour if we finish lunch early enough." Maya wasn't one to offer these kind of things, but Riley seemed to really like this guy and she wanted to help her best friend out.
"Yea, that sounds great. When's lunch?"
"Right after this. You might want to pinch your nose while eating, or you might end up vomiting."
"Is the food really that bad?" he looked over at Riley instead of Maya to ask the question. Riley nodded awkwardly, apparently having no defense for the terrible Camp Lake cooking.
Josh came back in with the magician, and the room began to quiet down until it was almost completely science. They spent the next hour or so watching lame tricks they could easily learn from YouTube videos.
-o-o-o-
Camp Lake's small cafeteria was noisy and cramped as usual, and to make matters worse most of the girls were crowded around Lucas and were slowing down the line. Even after rejecting five girls who asked him to sit with them, they still continued asking until he said no to all of them. Other than him being attractive, Maya couldn't tell what made Lucas such a chick magnet. He seemed just like most of the guys there - well, maybe less rowdy. Or, maybe it was because he wasn't burping and farting wherever he went. Okay, Maya could see why girls gravitated to him. Even she had to admit he was a breath of fresh air from the other Camp Lake boys. She watched them sit down at the table on the boy's side of the cafeteria and toss gravy on each other. Yep. She could definitely see why.
About fifteen minutes later, the three had finally managed to get their lunch at sat down at one of the camp's unstable wooden tables. They felt like the benches were about to fall as they sat down. Maya secretly hoped they did so they could finally get new ones. Lucas's face scrunched up as he sat down with Camp Lake's signature mystery meat on a tray, drowned in gravy. "I think you guys were right. This looks absolutely disgusting." he tried to pick around the gravy to look at the meat, but the gravy just filled in the empty spots. He sighed and sat the fork down next to his tray, defeated.
Maya stabbed her fork into the meat and held it up, gravy dripping onto her tray. "Yep. Worst part is you have to eat it, because this is the only 'restaurant' within almost 50 miles." she almost gagged as she shoved it in her mouth, chewing as quickly as possible. "Just down it quick, and try not to throw up." Lucas nodded and imitated her actions. Riley did as well.
"So, Lucas, here's what you need to know. First, the girls and guys usually keep their distance from each other. It's pretty obvious from the way this cafeteria is split up. You sitting with us is probably making their blood boil right now. You should try to make friends with them soon, or they might hate your guts for the rest of the summer." Riley said, pointing to the other side. Lucas nodded, motioning her to go on. "Second, we have canoeing everyday except today. There's only enough room for two people in one canoe, so you'll probably have to partner up with the only boy without a partner, Farkle."
"Okay. So, what's so bad about canoeing? You guys seem to hate it."
"Maybe it's not so bad if you have someone who actually knows how to paddle, and you're in a canoe that isn't always tipping over." Maya looked over at Riley as she said the first part.
Riley crossed her arms and pouted. "You try paddling in that thing when you feel like you're about to fall in the water every second."
Lucas chuckled. "You guys are funny. Maybe I'll just stick with you guys while I'm here."
"Ha, no. You're not getting in between me and my best friend." she tossed an arm around Riley, who gently pushed it off.
"Maya, he's not getting in between us! We're just adding another friend to the group." she said. "I'm fine with you sticking with us, but try to talk to the guys before the end of the day."
"Yeah, I know. By the way, where's the bathroom in this place? I don't think that meat went down well..." he held his stomach, and Maya pointed to a door in the corner of the room. He immediately stood up and rushed over to the bathroom, leaving a laughing Maya and Riley at the table. It reminded them of their first time eating this awful food.
When the laughter calmed down, Riley was still smiling widely. "Maya, I think I like him. He's so nice, and cute, and so not like the other disgusting boys at this camp. I hope he doesn't have a girlfriend back home."
Maya rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you and all the other girls at this camp. You didn't have to tell me that, Riles, you made it so obvious."
"Did I?" Suddenly, she gasped. "Do you think he noticed?"
"Probably not, but I just hope you realize you're competing with most of the girls at this camp. Especially Missy. You know how she is when she likes a boy."
Riley groaned and nodded. "She's going to be talking about him all night in the cabin..."
"You gotta work quick, girl. Don't worry, I'll be there to help you." Maya said. She always helped Riley out with boys, even if it annoyed her to no end. It would be so much easier if Riley had the guts to say she liked him and the boy magically liked her back, but unfortunately life didn't work like that.
When Lucas came back to the table, lunch was over and after a brief break to let their food settle, they were heading to the lake to go swimming. Girls stared in awe when Lucas pulled off his shirt. Maya almost did too, but caught herself and looked away into the forest. She had to snap Riley's mouth shut to keep her from drooling onto the grass. Maya swam for about five minutes then faked a leg cramp to get out of the water. Riley did the same, and they sat by each other next to the lake. Riley couldn't keep her eyes off of her brand new crush.
Maya grabbed her by the chin and turned her head in her direction. "Riley, you do remember I'm still here, right?"
"Sorry, Maya. But do you even see Lucas?!" she looked back over at him. "You can really tell he worked on a farm. That toned back, those pecks, those upper arms...how could I not stare at him?"
"By looking at me."
"Touche," Riley acknowledged, but not pulling her eyes away from the male. Maya groaned and gave up, leaning back onto the grass. Her hair would probably be full of dirt, but she could just wash it in the shower later. She felt unusually exhausted, but she still had to make it through the rest of the day. Maya closed her eyes and let the world fade away from her, slowly falling asleep.
-o-o-o-
"Maya, wake up! It's about to rain!" she heard a voice say as sleep began to leave her body. She expected it to be Riley's, or Josh's, or maybe even Smackle (one of their cabin mates), but it was one she wasn't really expecting, Lucas. "Maya! Maya?"
Her eyes fluttered open and she saw the Texan male's face hovering over her body, still shirtless and wet from swimming. She sat up a bit too quickly, causing their foreheads to bump into each other. "Ow! Ugh...sorry." she rubbed her forehead, pulling away from his face. She looked around, but saw no one but Lucas. "Huh? Where is everyone?"
"Riley had to use the bathroom, so she asked me to wake you up. It's about to rain, so they're sending us back to our cabins early." Lucas explained as he stood up, holding out his hand for her to take. She accepted his offer and stood up with his help. "Apparently this is supposed to be one of the biggest storms of the summer, so we might have to stay in all day tomorrow."
"Ugh. That means studying flashcards all day with Smackle and listening to Missy talk about how hot you are." she sighed and looked up at the sky. "We better start getting back to our cabins."
"Yeah. I hope I can make friends with the boys I'm rooming with..."
"I'm sure you can, Mr. Prince Charming." Maya joked.
Lucas couldn't help but laugh. The two made their way back to the cabin area, and said their goodbyes before Maya went into her cabin. Inside, Missy was tapping her foot with her arms, Riley was waving at Maya from her bunk, and Smackle was setting out her flashcards. crossed Maya asked what was wrong with Missy, and Missy stepped forward. "What were you doing with Lucas? You guys took forever to get back."
The blonde smirked. "That's our business." When she saw Missy's facial expression change, she began laughing. "I'm just joking! Lucas is all yours...and Riley's...and the rest of the camp's."
Missy groaned. "Don't play games with me, Hart! And he doesn't belong to the rest of the camp! He belongs with me, and I'm going to make sure he's mine!" she gave Maya one last look, then sat down on her bed. Maya climbed onto her bed on the top bunk, above Riley's. She didn't bother to change out of her clothes and into her pajamas. She ignored the roaring thunder outside and Missy's obnoxious voice and went straight to sleep.