Chapter 2

"Brade, where are we going?" Nikki whined as her brother dragged her through a maze of trees and buildings. He had come into her cabin while she was attempting to organize her things and had practically thrown her out the door, mumbling something about her needing cheering up.

"I found out where the horses are," he replied, "The guy counseling the cabin next to mine also does the riding lessons. He's pretty cool." Bradin raised his eyebrows and smiled at his sister. Cameron might be just the thing Nikki needed to get herself out of the self pity slump she had been in lately.

"Awesome!" Nikki's face immediately lit up. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. The air surrounding them began to gain the faint aroma of hay and horses.

"I thought you'd like it," Bradin said as he reached the large arena that took up most of the field. "There's someone I want you to meet," he leaned against the railing and pointed across the field.

"Who?" Nikki asked. Her eyes landed on the large sorrel being ridden towards them. Suddenly, it spooked and darted sideways. She watched in awe as the rider quickly calmed its mount with a few simple hand movements. Though she had ridden in the past Nikki was no where near as good as this rider and she knew it. She just didn't have the training. This guy sure did!

"Hey Bradin," the rider spoke calmly as he approached the pair. He turned his gaze to the figure next to his friend. "You must be Nikki, right?" Nikki only nodded. Under a black baseball cap where the most beautiful pair of eyes she had ever seen. An elbow to the side from her brother jolted her back to reality.

"Oh, yeah…Nikki, that's me," she stammered.

"Cool," he smiled, "I'm Cameron. I counsel the cabin next to your brother's and do the riding lessons for the younger campers."

"Why only the younger campers?" Nikki asked.

"Yeah, it's too hard to counsel and do the whole riding program. I like working with little kids better than the older ones anyway, so it works out nicely." Cameron slid off his mount. "Besides, I need a little time to work this girl." He patted the horse on the neck.

"Is she yours?" Nikki questioned.

"Yeah," Cameron nodded. "Most of the others are owned by locals but I hauled Twister out with me." Bradin watched with growing amusement as his sister and new friend carried on light hearted conversation almost effortlessly. By the time Cameron's mare was un-tacked, cleaned up, and put back in her corral it was time to get ready for dinner.

"Hey guys, I hate to break this up," Bradin interrupted, "but if we want to get cleaned up before dinner we'd better get going…."

"Okay," Nikki said as she followed Cameron under the fence. This summer was getting better already.

A Half Hour Later…

"Hello in there!" Nikki heard a female voice call. "Is anyone here?"

"Hold on a second," Nikki called as she hurriedly stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. "Hello?" She stepped into the main room.

"Hi there!" A blonde haired girl burst into the room. "You must be the other girl's counselor…Vicki is it?"

"Nikki," she frowned, "you must be Amber?"

"That's right," the girl forced a smile and plopped herself down on the nearest bunk. Nikki nodded and turned back to her bunk.

"So how old are you anyway?" Amber asked, "You don't look that old."

"Almost twenty," Nikki replied.

"Oh me too!" Amber laughed, "Sometimes I feel so old though. My boyfriend is going to be twenty one soon. Where are you from?"

"Kansas." Boy, this girl has a motor mouth Nikki thought to herself.

"Ah, a farm girl?" Amber smiled. This girl was going to be now trouble at all. Amber reached for her lip gloss. She offered some to Nikki.

"No thanks," Nikki shook her head, "I've got to meet up with my brother for dinner. Are you going?"

"I don't think so," Amber made her way to the door. "Camp food doesn't really appeal to me. I won't eat it until I absolutely have to. I'm going into town to get something. Sometimes my boyfriend goes with me. Maybe you and your brother could join us sometime?" She sashayed out the door.

'This is going to be wonderful,' Nikki thought. 'The cabin next door to mine is inhabited by a girly, blond, boyfriend flaunting, bimbo.' She shook her head and started to dig through her bags for something to wear. She wanted to look nice because she knew Cameron would be there but she didn't want to overdo it. After all, camp is not a time for overdressing. Finally, after debating for a few minutes she pulled out a pair of her favorite jeans and a tank top. As she was slipping a pair of sandals on her feet Bradin appeared at the door.

"Are you ready yet little sister?" He grinned, noticing the messy pile of clothing decorating her bed. "I see your back to your old habits."

"Shut up!" She punched him in the arm.

"Now Nikki, didn't anyone ever tell you to respect your elders?" Cameron appeared out of no where and began walking with the pair. "I'm gonna join you guys for dinner, alright?" Bradin glanced over at his sister.

"Of course," Nikki replied.

"Yeah since you've been here before you can tell us what to avoid," Bradin laughed.

"It's all actually pretty good," Cameron replied, "just watch the tuna surprise."

"What's so bad about the tuna surprise," asked Nikki.

"Well," Cameron spoke in a low voice, as if afraid a frying pan wielding camp cook would appear out of nowhere and crack him a good one over the head, "you can never tell what exactly the surprise is. Sometimes we debate whether or not it's even a legitimate source of food."

"Oh my," Nikki laughed, "and I suppose when it is a legitimate food source that the source isn't very tasty?"

"Precisely, my dear Watson, you've hit the nail on the head," Cameron exclaimed. Bradin groaned inwardly. What had he gotten himself into? The two had only known each other for a short time and were already cracking jokes like old friends.

"At least she'll be tolerable to be around," he said quietly.

"What was that Brade?" Nikki asked.

"Nothing," he opened the door to the dining hall, "come on you two, I'm starved; which way to the food, Cameron?" Nikki and Bradin followed him to the buffet style lines set in the back of the room.

"Awesome," Nikki smiled, "pizza!"

Dinner, for the three, was uneventful….except, of course, for the constant verbal exchange between Cameron and Nikki. Bradin found himself having trouble getting a word in edgewise. Anything and everything was up for question. Hometowns, high school, sports, extracurricular activities, favorite movies, and music. The one thing they all had in common was a small town upbringing. Nikki and Bradin came from a small Kansas town where they lived with their parents and younger brother, Derek. Derek was now a sophomore in high school and getting ready to take his driving test. Cameron was from a small town in Colorado. He was an only child who lived with his father on a small working ranch. Nikki and Bradin attended Wichita University while Cameron went to the University of Colorado. Bradin was going into his senior year, Cameron his sophomore, and Nikki her freshman.

After dinner was finished all the staff sat back down to prepare for their first meeting. Bradin, Nikki, and Cameron grabbed a table near the back of the room at Cameron's suggestion. He said it would make for a quick getaway. The meeting began with Ben Pierce introducing himself to the entire staff.

"Hello everyone, I'm Ben Pierce, this year's director," he began, "all of the campers will be here by noon on Monday. They'll register at the main office where they will get all of their information. As each of your campers arrives you will be called to come pick them up." He paused to take a drink of water. "Now, on to the fun part; here at Camp Timberwood we have a little tradition known as "Fight Night"." A chorus of loud cheers erupted amount the veteran staff members. "I'm now going to assign your teams for the summer." As he began listing the teams Cameron leaned over to explain what was happening to Nikki and Bradin.

Teams were formed randomly by putting the girl and guy counselor names in two separate hats. A name was drawn from each hat. Those counselors' cabins would be on a team together for the summer. Teams did everything together: meals, competitions, activities, and of course the rafting trip towards the end of camp.

"Alright, we've got an odd number of girl's cabins so this next team will have two girl's cabins," Pierce continued, "Cameron Bale, Nikki Westerly," they smiled, "and Amber Starr."

Nikki's smile immediately faded. All she could do was hope that this Amber wasn't the same Amber she had met earlier. It was going to be bad enough living next door to her. Nikki wasn't so sure that she could bear to do all the activities with her too. She turned to ask Cameron something and noticed his face had paled.

"Hey man, are you alright," Bradin gave him a slight shove.

"Cameron?" Nikki prodded. She followed his eyes and discovered his focus. Amber had finally made her staff meeting appearance.

"Please don't let her come over here," Cameron spoke barely above a whisper, "not now…."

"Oh great," Nikki mumbled, as Amber bounded over to their table.

"Miss Starr, I'm so glad you decided to join us," Pierce spoke, noticing the meetings newest attendee, "Since you're here you may as well know that you will be grouped with Cameron," Amber beamed, "and Nikki." Amber's face immediately fell.

"Thank you Mr. Pierce," she replied sweetly. "It will be good for Nikki to be with people who actually know what they're doing. I'll make sure to help her." She turned to Cameron. "It will be nice to be able to spend time with my boyfriend too."

Nikki's eye's widened. Did amber just say what she thought she did? Was the super wonderful boyfriend she had been bragging about earlier Cameron? She caught Bradin's eye but he just shrugged. Cameron looked like a lost puppy.

"Now," Pierce started again. Nikki didn't hear him. Here she'd thought that she'd finally met someone who may actually be interested in her and he turns out to be dating her new worst enemy. She sighed. Maybe they could still be friends? That wouldn't be so band. "…to kick off this year's camp, a staff movie night will be held tonight at nine." She caught a bit of Pierce's speech. "I'll see you all there." With that all the workers began filing out of the building.

"Nikki…" Cameron began.

"Cameron you could have, no, should have told me," she replied.

"But…" he tried to speak.

"Not now," she cut him off, "Listen, I'm gonna go unpack. I'll see you later." She hurried out of the building. Amber smiled smugly and followed her out the door.

"I'm taking it that's the obsessive ex-girlfriend," Bradin asked Cameron, who was shaking his head in disgust.

"Yeah, that would be her," Cameron rolled his eyes, "Come on. She can get nasty. We'd better catch her before she catches Nikki." Bradin nodded. The boys made a bolt for the door.