Beca is 16, Chloe and Stacie are 17, Emily is 15, Aubrey is 19
Chloe was sitting on the stage in the dining hall, arms wrapped around her legs. "I can't believe Beca's not coming to camp this summer." Stacie was leaned against the stage. "I… she… we never even talked about things. I guess I just assumed she'd be here." She hid her face in her arms.
The taller counselor reached over and rubbed her friend's back. "You can talk to her during your time off."
"It's not the same Stace. I need her, her support." Chloe reached up and wiped off some tears drifting down her cheeks.
"Tom's a prick Chloe. He never treated you right. You deserved so much better. You always have."
"I guess I just didn't expect him to dump me right before summer break. We just won't make it long distance when I leave for college." Chloe's voice was mocking Tom's excuse for breaking up with Chloe. "I should have known something was up when he spent Spring Break with his friends."
Stacie grinned at the door Chloe had just opened. "Yeah Spring Break, what happened then? You and Beca hardly were speaking then suddenly bam you were back to being all buddy, buddy."
Flashback to Spring Break – Chloe
When Chloe felt Beca squirming a bit, she woke up and realized that her arm had slipped beneath Beca's sleep t-shirt and her hand had somehow landed on Beca's breast. The redhead tried to figure out how to best get out of the gropy situation while acting like she was still asleep so as to not embarrass her younger friend. Chloe released Beca's breast then stretched her hands way out in front of her, slipping them out of the shirt Beca was sleeping in. The redhead then turned over, snuggling up to Beca, trying to act like she was still asleep. She couldn't see Beca's face, but she could have sworn the brunette sighed in relief as her sensitive body part had been freed from Chloe's grasp. Beca tucked her arms in front of herself and fell back to sleep.
The two friends spent next three days of Spring Break visiting all Beca's haunts including one day at Six Flags. One afternoon at lunch, Chloe came running back from visiting the restroom with a flyer in her hand. "Beca, look! The place next door has open mic nights on Thursdays. We should go."
The brunette chuckled. "You just want to hear me play my guitar."
Chloe grinned. "Guilty as charged."
End Flashback
"I can't believe you told her you aren't coming this year. That's cruel and unusual punishment Becs." Emily had made her and Beca's mom sit at another booth in the café claiming the need for teen privacy. They had met at a café close to Camp Barden for one last non-camp meal. From there, Beca was going to hitch a ride with the Junks to camp while Beca's mom went back to work.
"Honestly Ems, I was wavering for a while. You are going to be in Leadership-In-Training classes this summer, and we both know how I feel about leadership. But when I read about the Night Owl session, I felt it was right up my alley. Stay up late, sleep late, go on adventures in the dark, maybe stir up some trouble, you know me." Beca grinned at her younger friend. "I thought just showing up would be a nice surprise for Chloe."
"I'm glad you two are talking again Becs. You were miserable after Halloween."
Beca had not told Emily about what happened the first night of Spring Break she and Chloe had slept in the same bed. The next morning, Chloe had acted nothing had happened. Beca had been so overjoyed that her friend had showed up on her doorstep and walked back into her life that she wasn't willing to make a big deal about the discomfort she had felt until Chloe had rearranged herself. The tiny brunette was convinced the slip was inadvertent and attributed it to Chloe being… well Chloe.
"Me, too Emily. I still can't stand the way Tom treats her, but she's asked me to support her decisions. So I do." Beca shrugged. "Maybe he'll be the ultimate dick and break up with her this summer. Then I can swoop in and save the day."
"Oh so you are still holding a torch for our redheaded friend!"
"Ummm have you seen her Ems. Of course I am."
Emily liked seeing her friend regain her confidence where her crush was concerned. She had no doubts that once Chloe was single, Beca would make sure the redhead knew how she felt about her – after a respectable time had passed of course.
"I did ask her what was up with her camp name, Redbird. I mean, what gives with that? I told her she should have gone with Ladybug. Much more suitable." Emily nodded. "What's your camp name going to be?"
Emily shrugged. "I don't have to pick until CIT training next summer."
"Long as you run it past me first. Understood?" Both girls giggled.
After lunch, Emily's mom took them both to camp. At check-in, Beca asked what unit Redbird was working in this session. The camp director was new and looked at her oddly before telling Beca that there was not a Redbird working there this summer. Beca's heart dropped into her stomach. If Chloe hadn't come this summer, maybe her sneaky trick of fibbing to her redheaded friend had backfired.
As she went to turn to head to her unit, Pitch walked up. "Beca. I didn't think you were coming this summer."
The camper gave her a sheepish grin and scuffed her tennis shoe against the dirt. "I was messing with Redbird. Looks like it flopped. Now she's not here."
Pitch tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder as she laughed. "Chill Beca. She's here. She's just not Redbird anymore. She changed her name to Ladybug. Much more suitable, don't you think?" Beca was now grinning. "She's in Hofwyl, where you spent your first summer. I take it you are headed there first since she thinks you aren't here this summer." Pitch checked her clipboard. "And you are in Etowah for the Night Owl session. It's a smaller unit, but I think you'll fit right in."
"Thanks Pitch. At least you don't have to put up with me." Beca grinned at the tall, blonde counselor.
"Go see Ladybug. I have a feeling she's going to be happy to see you. She was pretty bummed earlier."
Beca meandered her way towards the unit she had been in when she came to Camp Barden two years ago. She stopped at the edge of the campsite and watched as Chloe aka Ladybug welcomed the young campers into their unit and walked them to their cabins. The brunette leaned against one of the trees and simply watched.
As there was a break in the stream of campers, Beca decided to approach her redheaded crush. When Chloe saw her, she took like a cartoon doubletake before squealing and trotting towards Beca. (No running in camp, please.) She launched herself at Beca, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl, trying to decide if she should laugh in joy or cry in relief to see her friend.
"Beca!? What are you doing here?"
"Checking in for camp. Well not here. I'm in Etowah for the Night Owl session. But Pitch suggested I might come here first. Ask for a counselor named Ladybug?" Beca grinned as she teased her friend.
"You were right." Chloe stuck her tongue out at the camper. "Ladybug does suit me better than Redbird. I caught a lot of flack for changing my camp name, but meh." She threw her arms around Beca again and buried her face into the camper's hair. "I am so glad you are here."
"Me, too, Chlo. Me, too."
"We need to talk, but not now. You said Etowah?" Beca nodded. "Pongo is one of your counselors. I'm sure she'll let us talk." Chloe's eyes were watering thinking about how Tom had broken up with her. She was dying to talk to her friend about everything.
"What's up Ladybug?" Beca was concerned as she sensed her friend's distress.
"Later Becs. I promise. I have to get back to my girls." She squeezed Beca's hand and walked away, feeling more warmth in her chest than she had in weeks.
Beca got checked into her unit. Pongo told her that they only had seven campers for the Night Owl session. "We are going to have so much fun." The counselor was extremely excited. "We're staying up late and sleeping in every morning to see how the other half lives. After all, that's what summer was made for! We'll rise late and prepare our own breakfast each day."
"Once we're up and at 'em, we're going to have a blast canoeing, crafting, and shooting archery. In the evenings, we'll enjoy a late-night glow swim in the pool, do some campfire cooking, take a night hike and learn about the critters that inhabit the night, get out the telescopes and explore the night sky, learn about night time careers, campout under the stars and check out what happens at camp while everyone else is in bed! We'll finish our time by planning an extreme night time party. Maybe we'll invite other units; maybe we won't. But I promise you Beca, we are going to have a blast."
Beca laughed at the exuberance of the counselor. Suddenly the camper's heart jumped out of her chest as a strong pair of arms wrapped around her, picked her up and spun her around. A very familiar cackling exploded in her ear. "My god Legs. Put me down." Beca was furiously kicking, trying to free herself from the counselor's grasp.
Stacie let her friend down, and Beca dizzily stumbled a bit. "I didn't think you were coming this summer. Yet my eyes deceive me and here you are. Eh, what's up with that?"
"Just messing with Ladybug; that's all. Playing another prank, if you will." Pongo raised her eyebrows at this comment and went to greet another camper, leaving the two friends to catch up.
"You know she was devastated, right?"
Beca's forehead wrinkled up in confusion. "I don't understand. What do you mean?"
"Have you seen her?" Beca nodded. "If she didn't tell you yet, then it's definitely her story to tell. But I'm glad to see you bud. This summer is going to be a blast."
Once the handful of campers were all checked in, Pongo, Legs held an Etowah unit meeting. "I hope you know this is the first Night Owl session we've ever had here at Camp Barden." They talked about things that the counselors had planned and got some feedback from the campers about some things they thought would be fun.
The girls also came up with some meal ideas as many of them had been involved in Kickin' It Like Katniss the previous year. Legs and Pongo offered their two cents as well. "For now, we get to go to dinner with the riff-raff. It's time to head to the dining hall. Grab your stuff."
When the small unit arrived at the lodge, many of the girls saw some of their friends from other years and spread out to other tables. Beca found herself sitting at a table with Emily, Ladybug, and a few other girls. "A big Leader-In-Training Ems. I'm proud of you." Ladybug was chipper, flamboyant almost. "Unlike our dissenter friend here."
"Oh Beca has big plans to rebel against the world, right?"
"Yeah, that's me with my plans to overrule Earth using only my music and ideas of practical jokes. At night." The camper laughed, delighted to be back with her friends at one of the places she felt completely herself.
"Becs, I talked to Pongo." Chloe sat up, leaning towards her smaller friend. "Your unit is having a campfire tonight, s'mores and stuff. She said I could come by, if that's okay with you. I have about an hour off tonight. At eight." She looked at Beca questioningly.
"Ch…Ladybug. Of course it's okay.
After singing time, the Etowah girls trekked back to their small unit, collecting wood as they went. Legs let them know that, as much as they'd be using the campfire, there was no such thing as too much wood. "The ranger has some fuel that's nice and dry from the winter he's stacked for us, but we need lots of tinder and kindling."
The campers laid the fire when Legs pirouetted into the fire circle. The campers gasped when she announced she was going to show them how to "make a fire with nothing more than two sticks". Even Pongo didn't believe her.
Finally, Beca called her bluff. "Come on Legs, you can't make a fire with just two sticks." She chucked her taller friend in the shoulder.
"Sure can! Long as one of them is a match!" Everyone groaned as Legs waved a box of matches around in the air. "Seriously though. Later we are going to learn alternative ways to make fire. But for now, we are going to use a match." She offered the box to one of the younger campers who immediately got a good flame going and the fire built up.
Pongo had unlocked the storage cabinet in the unit shelter and pulled out the makings for the s'mores along with the long skewers for toasting the marshmallows. About the time Beca was finishing her second s'more, Ladybug showed up. The camper was licking sticky marshmallow off her fingers.
She offered to make a s'more for Ladybug who screwed up her nose. "You know you just licked your fingers, right?" The redhead went over to the table to grab her own fixings for the dessert. Once she roasted two marshmallows and sandwiched them between the graham crackers with the chocolate, she settled down next to Beca and handed her one of the s'mores. They were leaned against one of the large tree trunks the campers used to sit on around the fire.
"I'm really glad you're here Becs." Chloe leaned against her friend's shoulder.
"So you've said before. Hey, I'm sorry I lied to you and told you I wasn't coming. I thought I was being funny."
"It's okay. What's important is that you are here now."
Beca chuckled. "What had you upset earlier? When I came by your unit?"
Chloe blew her hair out of her face as she dropped her eyes to her feet stretched out in front of her. "Tom… " Beca's stomach involuntarily clenched. She had hoped to go the entire summer without hearing that name. "Tom dumped me."
Beca's head whipped around to stare at Chloe. "When?" She struggled to choke the words out.
"Last week. The day before I left to come here."
"Douche." Beca reached over to grab her friend's hand. "Can I say that now?"
Using her other hand, Chloe wiped her eyes and gave an uncomfortable chuckle. "Yeah Becs, you can."
"I'm sorry Chlo. I've always thought you deserved better than that, than him."
"What's so funny… is that after I got over the initial shock, all I could think about was you. You make everything… better."
Beca was glad that the only light around them came from the campfire. Her face was flushed with embarrassment from Chloe's praise. As well her mind was spinning from the conversation that she had just had with Emily at lunch earlier that day. Maybe he'll be the ultimate dick and break up with her this summer. Then I can swoop in and save the day.
"I'm glad you feel that. I'm not sure what to do for you or even to say."
Chloe hooked her arm into Beca's elbow and squeezed. "Just be yourself Becs. And with that, I need to get back to my unit." The redhead climbed to her feet and pulled Beca to hers. She gave the camper a swift kiss on the cheek and left.
"You look shocked." The voice that came from behind her caused her to jump. Beca looked at Legs with a near blank look on her face. "You okay?"
Beca nodded. "He dumped her? Really?" Legs nodded her head. "How's she doing? Honestly?"
The taller counselor draped her arm around her shorter friend's shoulder. "Better since you are here, I'm sure."
Beca didn't allow herself to think about the redhead until she had crawled into her cot. However, when she did get herself situated and closed her eyes, her emotions hit her like a train. Her feelings flooded through her as the realization that Chloe was actually single. She thought back to Halloween weekend. One moment she was convinced she was going to spill her guts to Chloe and the next instant her world was crashing down around her.
Now that her crush was not tied down by a total dickhead, Beca had to figure out how to come clean to the redhead. And do it at camp. Her nerves were shot. Suddenly she sat straight up, remembering something in her trunk. She reached into her shelving unit and fumbled until she found a small penlight. She didn't want to wake her cabin mates.
Beca quietly pulled her trunk from beneath her cot and rummaged around a bit until she found what she was looking for, three small stuffed animals. She suddenly was glad Emily was in another unit and Legs was in her own cabin because she'd surely be teased. She flipped off the light and crawled into bed with the little toys in her arms.
"Hi Dorothy." She waved a small ladybug beanie baby around in the air before placing her on the mattress. "Dot, get it, like the dots on your back, you get to meet your new mama tomorrow. You're really going to like her. I know I told you her name is Chloe before. But you gotta call her Ladybug, k?" Beca giggled. "Ironic, huh? Since you are a ladybug and all."
Next, she pulled out a larger but still small reddish orange creature with brown patches under her eyes, white nose, and white ears. "Lil Red, you are so darned adorable. When I saw the big you at the zoo over Spring Break with Chloe, errrr Ladybug, I about died. Beca squished the red panda animals face between her palms then placed her next to Dot. "You are so adorable. You are like a fox and a raccoon and a bear and a dog and a cat. You are like every adorable animal in one animal." She grinned as she danced the red panda back and forth. "I named you Lil' Red cuz Chloe – Ladybug – she's Big Red. You may visit her from time to time this summer, but you have to always come home to me."
Finally, Beca pulled out a toad which was easily twice the size of dot but not quiet as big as Lil' Red. "Toad! My man! Thanks for not eating Dot in that trunk. I hope you know that you came to camp because there are so many darned mosquitos out here. I thought we could be mutually beneficial. Toad, I love you dude."
Beca looked at the beanie babies she had brought and flopped onto her back. She tucked Lil' Red into the crook of one elbow and Toad into the crook over the other. With Dot clutched in her hand, she fell asleep - thinking, hoping, praying - that just across the camp, Chloe was thinking about her, too.
A/N: One thing I haven't done in quite sometime, actually ever in this fic, is to give a shout-out to you folks who take the time to read my story and an extra special shout-out to those of you who review.
SecretNerd18 – Thanks for your feedback on each chapter despite our camping being totally different!
justanotherwriter123 – So glad you enjoy the story and give me constant encouragement
Guest – the one who apologized for his/her English – you never have to apologize for language. You are already smarter than myself as English is all I know. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Alcia24 – Hope you are still reading and enjoying!
ShayIStoHOT – Chloe was left out of the first year of communication because she and Beca didn't exactly get along. BUT I hope you see now that things have improved.
JustAnotherCrazyPerson – I laughed at your review. Things always end up good for Bechloe. Right?
And thanks for all the guests who take the time to review as well along with those of you who keeping come back for more. Your support is greatly appreciated.
P.S. For those of you who haven't read The Project Manager and the Cleaning Lady, the beanies have their own Instagram - toadnfriends. They haven't been working much but should have some more adventures soon.
