Author's Note: In my opinion, this chapter is the worst so far. I want to blame it on the fact that I've been in a bit of a slump for a few days but I won't. Anyway, I'm trying to make the girls' reactions and feelings as realistic as possible -- me and one of my ex-girlfriends kind of went through something like this before we got together, and really, I just hope the readers find it believable. I'm gonna shut up now though. :P Thanks for reviewing -- it means so much to me.

---------------------------------------------
Bells For Her
---------------------------------------------
"Is it right or is it wrong?
Does it matter what's right in the heat of the night?"
-- Pat Benatar, "In the Heat of the Night"

Four.
-

Saturday was the day Manny had been looking forward to -- not because there was going to be story and/or song time around a fire later on that night, but because she was free to sleep in. Activities still went on during the weekends, but it wasn't necessary for girls to participate -- they were pretty much given free run of the entire camp grounds as long as they didn't break any rules. The night before, Manny had heard a few girls talking about going swimming in the lake, but Manny had already been thinking about how lovely it would be to lay in bed all day.

She woke up on her own around eight though, despite the fact that she was still tired. Yawning, she stretched and rolled onto her back, gaze finding the scrawled words that had been written on the ceiling in permanent marker. She didn't know what girl had had her room before her, and she didn't know how said girl had gotten up that high to write a message -- but she did know what, 'Get out of here while you still can' meant. It made her laugh every time she saw it -- you'd think Echo Ridge was a prison of sorts. Then again, she supposed it could be for some people.

She threw an arm over her eyes to block out the sunlight pouring through the window beside her bed, and she tried to go back to sleep. She'd been having a really nice dream, though she couldn't remember what it'd been about. A tiny voice in the back of her head had started to tell her it'd been about Darcy, but Manny had tuned it out before it could finish.

She liked Darcy, yes, that was a fact. But she'd never really had reason to think she was bisexual. Then again no girl had ever made her feel the way Darcy did. She knew she liked boys -- no doubt about it. And though there was still a faint 'maybe' in the back of her head, she decided she'd ignore it. She'd stop trying to think about these confusing matters and just let things happen -- it was just easier that way.

She was just starting to doze off when there was a soft knocking at her door. She made a little noise in the back of her throat, contemplating ignoring it. But as the seconds wore on, she started to feel a little guilty, and she quickly climbed to her feet.

Darcy was standing outside in a pair of jean shorts and a yellow bikini top, a bag slung over her shoulder with what seemed to be a towel poking out the top of it. Her hair was in a messy ponytail, many strands hanging loose and curling around her smiling face. For a moment, Manny was slightly speechless -- the way the light was playing on Darcy's skin almost made her look like she was glowing.

"Hi," Darcy said. Her gaze moved briefly over Manny, taking in her pajama pants and tank top. She suddenly looked embarrassed, "Did I wake you?"

Manny quickly shook her head, reaching up to pat at her own hair -- she could feel that it was sticking up in the back and she hoped it wasn't visible to Darcy. "No," she said, "No I was already awake -- just laying down."

Darcy nodded, but had lowered her gaze to the ground. "Well," she said, smiling again, "I was heading down to the lake for a swim -- I decided to see if you wanted to go with me."

"Sure," Manny answered, too quickly she thought. She flushed, "I mean, that sounds fun. Give me one second?"

Darcy's smile seemed to grow, and she nodded, before stepping back some. Manny shut the door slowly, before launching into hyper drive. She ran to her bag of clothes, which she still had yet to go through since she'd brought it, and she started digging through it, knowing she'd brought her bathing suit. She'd originally brought it for the sole purpose of using it when she showered -- she hadn't known if their would be actual stalls or one big shower-room.

She finally found it, rolled up and wrinkled in the bottom of her bag. In seconds, she was pulling on a pair of shorts and a tank top over her black and white polka dotted bikini, as well as running a brush through her hair. She quickly styled it into a sloppy bun and slipped on her shoes. When she stepped outside with her own bag -- holding her towel, sunglasses and sunscreen of course -- she was almost panting from the rush, and Darcy glanced at her.

"Sorry I took so long," Manny said, shifting her own bag on her shoulder.

"That actually wasn't long at all," Darcy said. "Maybe I should start calling you Speed Racer or something."

Manny grinned sheepishly, flushing just slightly, and the two of them started away from the cabin. Darcy glanced over her shoulder at it, before pointing back with a thumb.

"Is it just you in there?" She asked.

Manny nodded. "Yeah," she answered, "When I got here, there were no vacancies left, so they just gave me one by myself." She then quickly added, "Not that I mind or anything -- I love it."

Darcy nodded, looking as if she were deep in thought for a moment. "Yeah," she agreed.

"So what's this campfire thing I've been told about?" Manny asked, attempting to change the subject. "Clichéd scary stories? Singing 'Kumbaya' maybe?"

Darcy laughed, nodding. "Believe it or not," she answered. "Just like the movies." She shrugged her shoulders. "It's not really that bad though -- it's actually kind of relaxing." She lowered her voice some, leaning closer to Manny, "And the girls here are so unimaginative that the stories are never too scary."

Manny laughed, but she couldn't have told you what Darcy had said, because at the moment that Darcy had leaned closer to her, her breath had tickled Manny's cheek and Manny had felt as if she'd been doused in freezing water. Thankfully though, Darcy didn't notice the effect she had on the smaller girl, and in minutes they were nearing the end of the trail that led to the lake.

Loraine was accompanied by two more counselors that day, the three of them sitting by themselves in lawn chairs that they'd brought, sporting sunglasses. They were the day's lifeguards, watching the many girls who'd decided to spend their day at the lake. As Darcy led Manny to a patch of grass in the sun that wasn't occupied, she waved to a few other girls, making Manny feel just a little self-conscious. She'd been there a week and had one friend to count for it. Then again, Darcy was different -- having a friend like Darcy could feel like having fifty friends.

Manny followed Darcy's lead, pulling her towel out and spreading it on the grass. As Darcy started to pull her shorts off, Manny found that she couldn't help but watch. She tried to tell herself that she was just admiring the bathing suit -- it was a really cute bikini when she thought about it: yellow with light orange trim, plain yet cheerful-looking. But then Manny's eyes settled on the dusting of freckles on Darcy's thighs -- there were a little on the tops of her shoulders too -- and she cursed herself.

She turned her back on Darcy, flushing deeply, and she shook her head to herself, starting to pull off her own clothes. As she was shoving them into her bag, she heard Darcy make a gasp-like noise.

"I love your bathing suit," she said.

Manny glanced over her shoulder to find Darcy now lounging on her towel, elbows back and propping herself up, smile on her face. A strange heat settled in Manny's stomach, but she pushed it away, grinning.

"Thanks," she said, sitting on her own towel, Indian-style. She glanced down at it, shrugging. "I think it's a little too busy for me though," she said, "I need to get one like yours."

"If I wasn't afraid mine was just a little too big," Darcy said, "I'd say we could trade."

The two of them shared a laugh, and as Darcy turned to dig around in her bag, Manny sighed silently. The idea of wearing something that was Darcy's made her feel weird, despite the fact that she'd worn her other friends' clothes before with no problem. Heck, she and Emma used to swap clothes all the time when they could.

Again, pushing away these weird thoughts and feelings, she pulled out her sunscreen -- only the best, the kind that also repels bugs -- and she started to put it on. Darcy was humming to herself as she did the same thing, and Manny recognized the song, an old disco-sounding thing that her parents liked to listen to. She couldn't help but hum along, earning a big grin from Darcy and another flutter in her stomach.

It was going to be a long day.

---------------------------------------------

Darcy sprayed her right leg with the bug repellent, while simultaneously slapping a mosquito on her left leg. The sun was still in the process of setting over Camp Echo Ridge, turning the sky beautiful shades of pink and purple, and Loraine and Jonathan had just started setting up for the campfire on the shore of the lake. Girls had immediately jumped up to help Jonathan, and Darcy shook her head as she watched them.

She was currently seated on a tree stump, shorts and tee shirt over top of a still wet bathing suit, and Manny had disappeared off to the bathroom. The day had been one of her more fun ones -- probably because she'd never really known someone like Manny. She couldn't explain how she was different from other girls, but she just was -- she almost had an air of innocence to her, despite what'd she'd done in the past.

The two of them had spent a little time sunbathing, before Manny had suddenly jumped up and challenged her to a race to the lake. Needless to say, the two had gone blundering into the water like a couple of bears looking for fish, earning laughs and amused looks from other girls. Gretchen had made her way over to introduce herself to Manny, and the three of them soon had a small splash fight between them. Then more sunbathing to dry off, before Gretchen had to come and push them back into the water -- only, Manny had been smart, and she'd grabbed Gretchen's arm to pull the other girl with them.

Darcy was, of course, glad that at least one of her friends could 'approve' of Manny, even if Gretchen was now hanging out with Chante and Blair across from Darcy, on the other side of the building fire. They'd avoided Darcy and Manny all day like the plague, but Darcy couldn't find it in her to care.

At least not at that moment, because Manny had returned. The smaller girl had put her shorts on as well, and she came over to Darcy, pulling her own shirt over her head. She dropped her damp towel on the ground beside the stump, and dropped onto it with a sigh, smiling at Darcy, who returned it immediately.

Suddenly though, Manny gestured across the fire. "Aren't they your friends?" She asked.

Darcy pressed her lips together to keep from saying anything rude about Chante, and she nodded. "Yeah," she answered quietly.

Manny glanced at her, before back at them and she looked down at her lap. "I'm sorry," she said.

"For what?" Darcy asked, brow furrowing.

"Well, they'd probably be over here with you if it weren't for me," Manny said, with a small shrug.

Darcy rolled her eyes and before she could stop herself, placed a hand on one of Manny's shoulders. "Forget them," she said. "You're worth ten of them, and don't forget it."

Manny glanced up at her. "You really think so?" She asked.

Darcy grinned, playfully pushing her. She quickly reclaimed her hand though, not liking the feeling it gave her when she touched Manny. "I know so," she said. "If they want me to choose between them and you, I'll definitely choose you."

Smiling, Manny looked down again, and Darcy sighed. She'd spent the whole day with Manny, but was only now realizing something. It was getting harder and harder to be around the other girl, and she refused to think about why that might be. One side of her brain was suggesting that she had a crush on Manny-- but that was just silly. Preposterous even; it made her want to laugh. Maybe if Manny were a boy -- a boy who smelled like coconut and honey, with soft hair and softer skin -- then Darcy would have a crush on her...him.

It made her want to scream -- it was frustrating, it was irritating, and it was outright confusing.

"Alright girls," Jonathan's voice broke into her thoughts, and all of the girls around the now crackling fire looked up at him. He was standing beside it, shadows dancing over his features and making him look even scarier than Darcy thought he normally did. "Want me to tell the first one?"

Of course, the girls agreed with him. Darcy rolled her eyes and leaned down a little to whisper to Manny.

"He tells stories more third grade than R.L. Stine," she said.

Manny started to laugh, but then she whispered back, "I have to admit -- I still like Stine's books."

Darcy grinned. "I won't tell anyone."

Jonathan's newest story was perhaps the worst one that Darcy had ever heard -- something lame about ghosts at a camp. But most of the girls were eating it up, of course, their dear Jonathan was telling it. Manny yawned a few times, as Darcy saw out of the corner of her eye, and this made her smile -- at least someone could share in her cynicism about Jonathan.

But then something happened that made Darcy frown.

Manny's head dropped slowly sideways until it was resting on Darcy's knee, and Darcy felt like she'd been kicked in the gut by a baby donkey or something. She froze up, but Manny didn't seem to notice -- she seemed to be half-asleep anyway. Her hair, which was no longer in a ponytail, brushed across Darcy's skin, tickling her and making her stomach knot up.

Jonathan continued his story, and his fanclub all jumped when they were supposed to, laughed in all the right places, but Darcy suddenly felt as if she were sitting inside of an oven or something. The feelings that came from just this simple action from Manny weren't supposed to be there, they weren't supposed to come from something so trivial. If it'd been Emma or even Gretchen to do what Manny was doing, Darcy knew she wouldn't feel that way.

Without thinking, she shifted uncomfortably, and suddenly Manny sat up again. She flashed Darcy a little smile, quickly apologizing, and she went back to watching the fire with sleepy eyes. Darcy quickly told her it was no problem, and mentally thanked her luck that it was finally dark enough out that no one could see her blushing.

A part of her was relieved that Manny had sat up again, but another part was kind of missing the feeling. What was she getting herself into by being friends with her?

---------------------------------------------

Manny sighed as she turned off the shower head, reaching up to squeeze the water from her hair. Darcy had been acting weird the rest of the night, ever since...

"Shit," Manny cursed herself, suddenly realizing something. Darcy had been acting weird ever since Manny had accidentally attempted to sleep on the other girl. "Shit," she repeated.

She started to curse herself inwardly as she reached for her towel on the peg behind her. The way the stalls were set up was kind of cool actually -- they were large enough for there to be a towel hanging in the corner, and it wouldn't get the least bit wet -- she wished her shower at home was that big. She also wished she hadn't been such an idiot at the campfire.

Darcy probably was now questioning their friendship, all because Manny had been lazy and had dropped her head on Darcy's knee. She hadn't meant anything by it, honestly, but Darcy now probably thought she was some sort of lesbian.

"Who's to say I'm not though?" Manny asked herself aloud, toweling her hair. The showers were practically empty, as she'd gotten there a little later than the other girls -- she could hear someone down at the other end of it, but she didn't really care who it was.

Maybe she did like Darcy, maybe she was bisexual. She'd once read a quote from someone who thought that everybody was born bisexual, but most are just brought up to think that same-sex couples are wrong, and eventually they learn to pretty much suppress their feelings. Well, the quote had basically said that. Manny was still unsure of whether or not she believed it, but she supposed it could make sense in the long run.

She sighed again as she reached out of the stall for her bag -- a lot of girls would come out of their stalls to get dressed, but she was still a little uncomfortable with that, and she preferred to get dressed in the stall.

She felt her stomach drop slightly though as her hand searched blindly through her bag -- the only things she could find in there were her hairbrush, her sunscreen, some body lotion, a pair of socks, and her toothbrush. She quickly pulled the bag off of the hook it hung on, and brought it into the stall with her to look through it.

Someone had taken her clothes.

Trying not to get too upset, she rehung her bag outside the stall, and wrapped the towel around her body. She stepped out of it, slipping her flip-flops on -- at least the bullies had left her those -- and she started towards the other room where she'd heard someone. When she entered it, she found Darcy at one of the sinks, she too wrapped in a towel, and brushing her teeth. She was humming that disco song again, and didn't notice as Manny entered.

Manny hesitated very briefly, gaze taking in Darcy. There was a small mole on the back of one of her thighs, something which Manny mindlessly dubbed a beauty mark, before she realized what she was doing. She shook her head, raising her gaze so that she stared at the back of Darcy's head, and she tried to appear casual.

"Hey," she said.

Darcy glanced at her in the mirror, smiling around her toothbrush. "Hi," she said, muffled.

Manny shifted on her feet, fingers picking at the bottom of the towel she wore, and she shrugged her shoulders. "You didn't...happen to see someone walking away with some clothes, did you?"

She wanted to kick herself -- no, she wanted to slam her head against the wall -- what a dumb question. She half-expected Darcy to laugh at her, but instead, the taller girl spit out her mouthful of toothpaste, and spun to her.

"Someone took your clothes?" She demanded, and even from her distance, Manny could see a sort of fire in her eyes.

Manny nodded quickly, looking down again. "I suppose it was just a trick to play on the new girl," she said, "And I really...I don't care, you know. But I don't want to walk back to my cabin like this."

Darcy looked incredulous. She turned the sink off and neared Manny, wielding her toothbrush like a weapon of sorts. "I care," she said, "You wait until I find out who did this." Her eyes were flashing, but then her features softened when she looked Manny up and down. "Yeah," she said, "You can't walk back to your cabin in just a towel -- it's probably the farthest away out of all of them."

Manny nodded, and suddenly Darcy was giving her a half-smile.

"You can wear my clothes," she said, "I'll get them from you some other time."

"No," Manny said quickly, shaking her head. "No way -- what would you wear?"

Darcy shrugged. "My cabin is like, right outside," she said, "I wouldn't have a problem walking there in just a towel."

"Darcy, I can't."

Well apparently, Darcy was very stubborn when it came to getting what she wanted. In moments, Manny was wearing the taller girl's pajamas, and Darcy was still in her towel.

"I'll get them tomorrow or something," Darcy said shrugging. "It's no big deal, really."

Manny nodded, pulling out her own toothbrush, and Darcy heaved her bag over her shoulder. She gave Manny a little smile as she started backing away towards the door, and she waved slightly.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said cheerily, seemingly not bothered about having to leave in nothing but a towel.

Manny nodded again. "Thanks Darcy," she said, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Darcy smiled again, this time wider, and disappeared outside. Manny turned to the mirror above the sink she was at and sighed, shaking her head. Someone suddenly scoffed behind her, and she spun to see a girl she didn't know walking to one of the sinks. She could vaguely remember seeing her in the mess hall, but there was no way she could've put a name to her.

"Unbelievable," she said quietly.

"What?" Manny asked.

The girl gave her a smile -- it looked like it pained her to do so -- and she leaned towards Manny slightly. "You're so naïve -- let me tell you something about Darcy Edwards..."