Thanks again for the reviews/comments. I've really tried to have this story coincide with the events/drama of SS 8--one BSC book I've actually kept since I was, what, 12. However, if anyone sees any kind of major mistake...please yell at me.
Halo6: Thanks for telling me about anonymous reviews. I didn't even know that I could enable/disable reviews. Now, anyone can review my first fanfic! Hurray!
"Charlie, help Watson with the grill, will you?" My mom called to me from the kitchen.
I was lying down on my bed, or actually, the small twin-sized mattress of a bunk bed. I was wiped. I had spent the entire day at the lake. Parasailing was awesome. I had also been swimming and jet skiing. My arms were sore and I was a little sunburned.
Spending nearly seven hours on the lake helped me keep my mind off of Kate. I hadn't seen her all day. I was a little happy that I didn't. I kept thinking about our conversation the other day. She was a nice girl, but I thought she was being a little too serious. I was only interested in a fling. I know that may sound a little "player-ish", but I would probably never see Kate again after we left in a week and a half.
I crawled down the upper bunk and staggered into the kitchen. My mom was grabbing stuff out of the refrigerator. The kitchen counter was covered with hamburger and hotdog buns, paper plates and a bunch of hamburger toppings.
Kristy walked into the kitchen.
"What's going on? Aren't we eating dinner at the lodge? We've eaten there every night," Kristy asked as she grabbed a tomato slice. She leaned against the counter and started nibbling at it.
"No, honey. Watson wants to barbecue out tonight. Besides, I'm a little tired of the lodge food," mom said as she shut the fridge door and set a package of sliced cheese on the counter.
"That sounds good," I said. Mom handed me a plate of hamburger patties and hotdogs. "Take these to Watson honey."
I walked out to the front yard, where Watson had set up a large charcoal grill. My stepsister Karen and her two little friends were lying on the grass making dandelion necklaces. Andrew and Emily Michelle were jumping up and down at Claudia, and she was trying to calm them down. I handed the platter to Watson.
"Thanks Charlie. Do you wanna start a fire over there? The kids can toast marshmallows after dinner," Watson said pointing at a pit at the side yard. I grabbed a few logs of firewood and set them at the pit. David Michael ran over with two more logs. I thanked him and told him to see if mom needed more help.
Kristy came running out the front door.
"Hey guys! BSC members! We're gonna eat at the lodge instead...just us!" she yelled. She thundered down the front stoop and ran to Claudia. Jessi and Mallory came strolling up.
"Cool! By ourselves...like adults?" Mallory asked. Kristy nodded.
"Stace, Dawn and Mary Anne are already inside," Kristy said. The four of them walked back inside. I watched them go inside. I grabbed the long lighter from Watson and started the fire-only after Watson told me to be careful. Well, duh. I have used a lighter before. There would only be an accident if cologne-abuser Sam walked by.
As I added more logs to the fire, the Cool Water-addict walked up to me.
"Hey Charlie. Do you want to eat dinner at the lodge instead?" Sam asked. I looked at him.
"Why? Watson's grilling out," I said as I poked at the fire with a long stick.
"I know, but Stacey's going to…" Sam said trailing off. I snorted.
"C'mon, Sam. I don't think she'll appreciate you crashing the BSC get together. Kristy wouldn't like it either," I said. He shrugged, but agreed. The fire was really going by then.
"I've been following her today, Charlie, and I think she's starting to like me," Sam said in a trance-like state. His eyes were fixed on the fire.
"Maybe," I said absentmindedly. I really didn't want to have a conversation about Stacey with Sam, even though I was a little curious why he thought so.
The screen door opened and slammed shut. Kristy and her friends came running down the stairs. Sam and I did a double look. For one thing, our sister was wearing a dress. That was strange. Also, Mallory had on a large safari hat with black netting covering her head and draped down to her shoulders.
However, the real thing that drew both Sam and my attention was Stacey. She was looking incredible. Her long blonde hair was loose and trailed down her back. She was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt, a short flared black skirt and black heels. Heels? At a lake? No matter though, she looked unbelievable.
Sam let out a low wolf whistle as the BSC members walked by us.
"Have a great time, dahling. Hopefully the desserts will be as sweet as you," Sam called out to her. Stacey must have pretended to ignore him because she didn't even turn to him. They all rushed down the main road to the lodge.
"She's diabetic, Sam. Remember?" I said. Sam groaned and slapped his forehead.
After a couple of hours--after the barbecue where I ate three hamburgers and the younger kids had made s'mores--Sam and I were sitting around the fire. Mom, Watson and Nannie were inside helping the younger kids get ready for bed.
"Hey, what's going on with you and that one girl…uh, Kate?" Sam asked as he grabbed two Coke cans from a cooler and handed me one. I shrugged.
"I don't know. She's a real sweet girl, but what's the point?" I said staring at the fire.
"Point?" Sam asked confused. I sighed.
"What's the point of getting to know her?" I said, rubbing my eyes. I was growing a bit tired. I had been asking myself the same question after I had walked Kate back to her cabin the other day.
"We're here for another week. Then what? We'll never see each other again. I'll be off to New York. I'm not really a guy who will write or email a girl I was kind of hanging out with for two weeks," I added.
"Well, if Watson inherits this place from his uncle and aunt, we'll be here more often. Summers? Christmases?" Sam said. I waved my hand at that thought. Sam looked thoughtful, but he nodded.
"I can see your point," Sam said slowly. "I think what's really going on with, you know, me and Stacey, is that in a couple of months we'll both be in the same school. I like that we'll be together...even if we're not together together. You know that I've always liked her. It was just, well, hard to like her when she was in middle school," Sam rambled.
I nodded, but tried to appear nonchalant about this conversation. The truth--I was totally absorbed in this Stacey talk.
"I don't know. Is it wrong for me to now really start liking her just because she's now in high school...or going to be soon anyways?" Sam asked. I paused, not really knowing how to answer. However, Sam was waiting for my answer.
"You know, if it was always there, your um fondness of Stacey, then I don't think it's wrong for you.." I trailed off. I didn't know how to answer. However, I did know that at that moment, I was completely jealous of my little brother. He got to be in high school and have a chance with Stacey. I didn't.
Suddenly, we heard voices approaching. Sam stood up and started fixing his hair. "I think Stacey's back," he whispered. I nodded.
Kristy and her friends strolled up the road and walked over to the campfire. Claudia, Kristy and Mallory grabbed the bag of marshmallows and box of graham crackers.
"How was the barbecue?" Kristy asked.
"Company could have been better," Sam said winking at Stacey. Kristy snorted.
"Charlie, how was the barbecue?" she asked again. I laughed.
"It was good. There's a lot of leftovers for lunch tomorrow for all of you guys," I said as I got up and brought the cooler over.
"Drinks?" I asked Kristy's friends. They all clamored over to the cooler. I smiled at Stacey and handed her a Diet Dr. Pepper. Her face, softened by the fire glow, broke out in a smile.
I suddenly found my face getting hot. It wasn't the fire. I chugged down the rest of my coke and let out a deep breath.
"This is the perfect place for telling ghost stories," Dawn said as she grabbed a long stick and poked at the fire. "There's a real scary mystery right here, well, at Shadow Island," she added.
I leaned back in my chair and looked at Dawn.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
Dawn started going on and on about some mystery with a rich family that lived here at Shadow Lake. They disappeared one night during a big storm. I looked around the fire. Mallory and Mary Anne's eyes were widening in fear. Kristy and Claudia were too busy with making (more) s'mores to listen. Sam was staring at Stacey.
"I bet they're still here, haunting Shadow Lake," Dawn said. Everyone grew silent. Suddenly, there was a rustle in the woods just adjacent to the side yard.
"Did you guys hear that?" Jessi asked timidly?
We all quieted down and strained to hear. There was another rustle and faint footsteps coming from the wooded area.
It was obviously just a stray cat or maybe a raccoon.
I knew I would have to calm them down. I got up and walked to the edge of our yard. It was dark, but there was nothing there but a lot of trees.
"Nothing," I said as I walked back. I saw Stacey had moved closer to Sam, looking a bit frightened. In fact, if Stacey was sitting any closer to Sam, she'd be sitting in his lap.
I looked away. I couldn't help it, but that kind of bothered me. I asked Sam to extinguish the fire before he came inside.
I walked up the front porch and into the cabin, cursing silently for being seventeen.