Ch. 2 –

The fire popped and crackled as Dillon slowly fed wood to the growing blaze. He, Miranda, Kryssi, and Beth had been joined by three other people as they unloaded their gear from Dillon's car earlier that day. Twenty-year-old Adam Smith was the oldest of the group and he was accompanied by his best friend Drew and younger sister Brooke. The lanky, auburn-haired girl wouldn't take her eyes off of Dillon.

Kryssi sat closest to the large sprawling lake, her legs curled up to her chest as tiny waves lapped at the sandy shore behind her. The others were happily chatting away as they roasted marshmallows that Beth had packed, laughing and mingling and being disgustingly buddy-buddy while the brooding teen watched on in silence.

"So how old are you?" Drew suddenly asked, scooting closer to her.

"Seventeen," came her muttered reply. "You?" Oh, how she hated her inbred Southern manners.

Grinning as she nibbled at his conversational bait, the boy replied, "I'm almost seventeen too! How cool is that?"

"Wonderful," she mumbled under her breath, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She knew that the annoying, sandy-haired boy could feel the waves of dislike that rolled off of her body, but he was persistent.

"So, do you have like a boyfriend or anything?" he inquired, scooting even closer.

"No," she replied pointedly, her frown deepening as his forearm brushed against her elbow.

But as Drew chattered away in her ear, the hairs on the back of her neck began to prickle, as if someone was watching her. And when she turned her head, she caught Miranda's gaze before the older girl quickly looked away.

"So what do you think?" Drew's words pulled Kryssi from her thoughts.

"About what?"

"About me silly!" the boy chuckled.

"Oh… you're okay I guess," she answered before getting to her feet.

"I'm gonna call it an early night," she stated as she stepped over the log she'd been sitting on and waving goodnight to her friends. (She purposefully ignored the three newcomers.)

"Oh, you're going to have to sleep by yourself Krys," Miranda piped up, shrugging her shoulders apologetically. "There aren't enough bunks for all of us in one cabin. But I went ahead and put your things outside of the cabin you can use."

"That's fine," the brunette replied, turning to head for the long row of run-down wooden buildings.

But she didn't get far before someone ran up to her.

"I'll walk with you," Dillon offered, falling into step beside her with a crooked grin.

"You don't have to," Kryssi replied, sidestepping a large broken stick.

"Yeah but I want to," he countered as he bumped his shoulder against hers.

"I don't know if the girls would like me much if you did," the teen warned, playfully socking him back.

"What girls?" he questioned with a puzzled look.

"Oh come on," she replied, rolling her eyes. "It's so obvious that Beth and that Brooke chick are seriously checking you out."

"Well, I really don't care what they think," he said in return, smiling again.

"Okay fine whatever, dork," Kryssi laughed as the two of them headed for her cabin.