A/N: Thank you all so much for your positive feedback after the first chapter! I hope you enjoy this one just as much. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think!
Disneyprincess315: I'm so glad you are excited for this story! Let me know what you think of this chapter.
Guest: Thank you. I'm glad you liked the first chapter, and I hope you like this one too.
JBG: Thank you. I'm glad you liked the first chapter, and I appreciate you reading my previous stories as well. I'm glad you are giving this a chance even though you don't typically like AU stories. Hopefully you like this one : )
Ejbeckmann: Haha well what can I say. I like to appeal to as many emotions as I can. I'm glad you liked the first chapter though! And I hope you like this one.
NoDownSide: Omg, yes! His response to her asking him to trust her could have been so much better. Here's hoping for some fluffy S4 moments.
Shrike176: Mileven is my favorite thing. But if we are talking individual characters, I love Dustin, so I wanted to give him some time to shine lol. I also broke Dustin and Suzie up in Her Worst Nightmare and in Tied Together With A Smile, so I thought it would be fun to write one with them together! Don't worry, there will be more insight into the additional characters as well. I hope you like this chapter.
Guest123: Thank you! I'm glad that you like the story and that you are excited for Suzie.
Afanofstrangerthingsandstuff: Thank you. I hope I don't let you down with the fluff. And no, I haven't heard of him. What does he write?
Stetson Law: Thank you! I hope you like this chapter.
Nighting Ryder: Great to hear that! I hope you like this chapter.
Grievesforyou: I'm glad you like it. I thought Suzie would be a fun spin. This whole story is something I've never written before, from Suzie to modern AU. So I hope you enjoy it!
Jean Sumnerland: Thank you! I'm glad you like the idea so far.
UnoPeso22: I'm glad you are giving this a chance even though you don't typically like modern AU's. There is definitely drama to come and it won't exactly be smooth sailing, but after TTWAS, going a little simpler sounded appealing while preparing for the TTWAS sequel haha. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
LabAlley: Thank you so much. There are so many stories, so I try to make something about mine unique. I'm glad you like the idea of this one, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
KentClarkson03: Thank you, I really appreciate that. I hope you enjoy this one, and I hope you are well too!
Myth: Thank you. I'm glad you like it. And I've never even explored AO3 to be honest with you.
Disclaimer: I do not own Stranger Things or any of its original characters.
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Mike, Dustin, El, and Suzie walked into the administration hall after dropping off Mike and Dustin's luggage in their cabin, and they followed the signs that read Camp Counselor Welcome Meeting. They ended up in a conference room with three tables arranged in a U-shape facing a podium. The four of them took their seats, and Mike felt butterflies flutter in his stomach when El sat next to him instead of sitting next to Suzie like he had been expecting her to.
The four of them were sitting in the four chairs at the table facing the podium, leaving the two sides of the U-shape empty, each with three chairs. Over the next several minutes, the other six counselors filed into the room. The skinny red-haired boy came in first and sat in the first open seat at the table nearest Suzie. Next, the girl with wavy strawberry-blonde hair who had been in front of Mike and Dustin in line to check in entered and sat next to the red-haired boy. Jason and Eric entered together, opting to sit in the first two seats at the table closest to El. Finally, the blonde girl entered and sat next to Eric, and the girl with the dark curly ponytail took the remaining empty seat.
Once all ten counselors were seated, several adults entered the room and sat in chairs lined up against the hall near the podium. The final woman to enter walked up to the podium and smiled out at the ten counselors seated in front of her.
"Good morning," she began. "My name is Katherine White, and I am the director here at Camp Know Where. I want to start by thanking you all for taking time out of your summer break to be here with us for the next six weeks."
"Camp Know Where was founded in 1964, and this is our fifty-fifth summer of proudly encouraging the love of science in the younger generation," Katherine continued. "Over the next six weeks, the ten of you will be spending a lot of time together, so before I go any further with expectations, I would like to go around the room so you can each introduce yourselves. If you would simply share your name and where you are from."
Katherine nodded with a friendly smile toward the girl with the dark curly ponytail, silently asking her to begin.
"Hi, I'm Nikki Collins, and I'm from Fort Wayne, Indiana," she said with a cheerful grin.
"My name is Kayla Schmidt, and I'm from Gary, Indiana," said the strawberry-blonde girl softly, not making eye contact with anyone.
"I'm Tom Williams. I'm from Indianapolis, and I am very excited to be here," said the red-haired boy in a chipper tone. El shot a glare at Jason when she heard him snort in amusement.
"My name is Suzie Arnold, and I'm from Salt Lake City, Utah," Suzie smiled, and she giggled at the looks of surprise on several of her fellow counselors.
"Dustin Henderson, at your service. Hawkins, Indiana," Dustin announced.
"I'm Mike Wheeler, also from Hawkins, Indiana," Mike said.
"My name is El Ives, and I'm from Chicago, Illinois," El smiled politely.
"I'm Jason Reynolds. South Bend, Indiana," Jason said, and El resisted rolling her eyes at how smug Jason seemed even during introductions.
"I'm Eric Lawson, and I'm from Bloomington, Indiana," Eric said.
"My name is Danielle Brady, but you can call me Dani. I'm from Springfield, Illinois," the blonde girl said as she glanced around the room with a smile, her eyes lingering slightly on Eric next to her.
"Well, once again, I would like to say welcome, and thank you all for being here," Katherine announced when introductions were over. "Behind me, you see six individuals seated, and I will now allow them each to introduce themselves."
An African-American man in his late fifties stood and offered the room a welcoming smile.
"I am Ronald Kaufman, the assistant director of Camp Know Where. I am a retired science teacher, and I am proud to be a part of this organization. I'd like to personally say welcome and thank you," he said before sitting back down.
The woman next to Ronald introduced herself as Angie and explained that she is a trained EMT and works as a high school athletic director during the school year. There were also two men and two women, all in their early twenties, who introduced themselves as the advisors who the camp counselors could go to for advice or assistance throughout the duration of camp.
"Wonderful," Katherine beamed when everyone had been introduced. "As you look around, you see we have people from all over Indiana and Illinois – and even Utah – and we at Camp Know Where pride ourselves on being the largest and longest-running summer camp in the area. By a show of hands, who here has attended Camp Know Where as a camper?"
Mike and El looked around the room to see Dustin, Suzie, Tom, Kayla, and Eric all raise their hands. Mike pursed his lips in annoyance at Eric. He knew he shouldn't focus too much on stereotypes, but Mike couldn't help but feel annoyed that this Eric guy apparently had both a jock side and a smart side.
"Half of you have camped with us, which means half of you know how we structure things here," Katherine observed. "So for those who are unfamiliar, we at Camp Know Where host two different age groups. We host the campers aged ten to thirteen first and then we host our fourteen and fifteen-year-olds second. Our younger campers' itinerary is a bit different from our older campers' in that we don't host the ten-to-thirteen-year-olds for a month at a time."
Mike was not surprised to hear this. He could not imagine many parents being too fond of the idea of their ten-year-old being away at summer camp for an entire month.
"For our younger campers, we host forty campers per week for four weeks," Katherine explained. "The campers arrive Sunday late afternoon and depart at 7am Saturday morning. Our maintenance and janitorial staff spends all of Saturday and most of Sunday cleaning, sanitizing, and preparing the cabins for our next round of forty campers. The ten of you have no responsibilities on Saturdays. Consider Saturday your day of the week to do your laundry, call your family, relax, get to know each other, or anything else you would like to do with your time."
El saw Jason's smug grin out of the corner of her eye as he surveyed the room. She noticed Jason was staring at Nikki and Kayla at the table across from him, and El knew exactly what was on this pervert's mind regarding how he would prefer to spend his free time.
"Now, forty certainly sounds like a big number of campers," Katherine continued. "Luckily, we have ten of you. Each week, the ten of you will be paired up into groups of two – one male counselor and one female counselor. Your partner will change weekly so you all have the chance to work together and get to know one another. The only exception, of course, is the two who are in charge of leading the physical activity portion of camp."
Katherine paused momentarily to lift a page in her notes.
"I have Jason and Nikki as our phys ed counselors," she said.
Jason and Nikki made eye contact across the room, and El felt a mixture of disgust and pity when she saw Nikki return Jason's smug smile with a flirty smile of her own.
"The remaining eight of you will rotate partners each week, and each week every pair will be assigned ten campers," Katherine continued. "In your welcome paperwork, you will find a page with the counselor pairings for each week. You will also find the schedule for the four weeks of camp."
Katherine paused while the counselors began sifting through their welcome paperwork, looking for the papers she had mentioned.
Mike found the list of counselor pairings and pulled it out. His eyes immediately found his name under the "Week 1" heading, and he saw that his partner for the first week of camp would be Suzie. He looked under "Week 2" and saw that he would be with El next, and a smile automatically crossed Mike's face. Mike glanced next to him and saw a small smile on El's lips as well, and he briefly hoped that it was because she was reading the Week 2 pairings too. He shook his head and told himself he was being ridiculous; they still didn't even know each other.
Next to Mike, Dustin was reading through the same list, and he sighed dramatically.
"I'm not with Suzie until week three!" he whined.
"It's okay, Dusty-Bun," Suzie said quietly. "It gives us something to look forward to during the first two weeks."
"And look forward to it, I will," Dustin replied. "With you and I leading together, our ten little campers will be the smartest ones at camp."
Mike heard El chuckle next to him, and he turned to see a soft smile on her face as she was looking over him toward Dustin and Suzie.
"Are they this cute all the time?" El whispered when she saw Mike looking at her.
"Yeah, adorable," Mike said with a sarcastic chuckle.
El giggled and looked back toward her paperwork. She pulled out the Camp Know Where schedule and looked over it to try and familiarize herself with the structure of the summer camp.
According to the itinerary, breakfast for all campers and counselors was held daily at 9am. Then, the campers were to meet their two counselors in their assigned classrooms to begin their daily lessons. Lesson one was held daily at 10am, and lesson two was held immediately after at 11am. Then, the campers had two hours of lunch and physical education. Groups A and B had P.E. at 12pm and lunch at 1pm, while groups C and D had lunch at 12pm and P.E. at 1pm. Afterward, the campers were all to report back to their classrooms, and lesson three was held at 2pm, and lesson four was held at 3pm. From 4pm until 5pm, the campers and counselors had an hour of free time before dinner was served at 5pm. Then, everyone had free time after dinner until the lights out curfew at 9pm.
Mike read over the agenda and nudged Dustin with his elbow.
"Why is phys ed required at a science camp?" he asked.
"To get the proper funding, the camp had to show that some sort of health and physical education was being implemented, so they threw an hour in the middle of each day for all the campers," Dustin replied, rolling his eyes. "But it's not like gym class at school. They let the campers do fun stuff like beach volleyball or swimming in the lake."
"These daily schedules and weekly counselor pairings begin next week when our first round of campers arrive," Katherine announced, rerouting everyone's attention back to herself. "This week is specifically for setup and training. You cannot be expected to lead a classroom of young campers in a week's worth of scientific experiments and discoveries unless you have done the activities yourselves. So, beginning tomorrow, you will all begin your training week, which will essentially be a mock camp week. You will review the lessons and do the experiments yourselves so you can assist your campers with firsthand knowledge."
Mike glanced around the room to gauge his fellow counselors' reactions. Most appeared indifferent, but Tom and Dustin looked particularly excited to relive a week of science camp before being assigned their first group of campers. Mike also had to admit that it sounded fun to go through everything once himself before the young campers arrived. He had always loved science, so practicing experiments of any kind certainly sparked his interest.
Katherine kept the counselors for twenty more minutes while she explained where the laundry facilities were and how to use the payphone in the administration hall. She also went through standard policies like boys and girls were not allowed in each other's cabins after 9pm or before 9am. Mike heard a grunt of annoyance from Dustin beside him at that particular policy.
As her policy reading went on, some counselors became restless. Jason kept checking the time on his phone and sighing every couple of minutes. Eric was whispering something to Dani that kept making her giggle. Tom and Kayla were both listening intently to everything Katherine was telling them.
Finally, Katherine dismissed them for the evening and reminded them that a welcome bonfire would be held that night beginning at 7pm. The ten counselors began to file out of the room. Dani was laughing at something Eric said while twirling her blonde hair around her fingers, and the two of them walked out of the administration hall together.
"Hey, Nikki!" Mike heard Jason's voice from behind them.
Jason jogged by and reached Nikki at the door of the administration building. He extended his hand for Nikki to shake.
"I'm looking forward to working with you this summer," Jason said.
El rolled her eyes and wondered if his face was just frozen in that smug smirk he seemed to always wear.
"Thanks! It should be a lot of fun," Nikki smiled.
"Oh, I think we're going to have a lot of fun," Jason said with a sly grin.
Dustin impatiently cleared his throat, and Nikki and Jason turned to face Dustin, Mike, Suzie, and El. Nikki immediately realized that she and Jason were blocking the exit, and she stepped back to let the four of them pass.
"Thank you," Suzie smiled politely at her. "Excuse us."
The four of them exited the building and walked outside into the grassy clearing. It seemed even hotter outside than it had been earlier in the day, and El instantly bent forward, flipping her brown hair over her head and tying it up into a ponytail. Mike watched her with a small smile on his face and thought to himself how beautiful she looked even doing the most simple, mundane thing. El flipped her ponytail over her head as she stood back up, and her eyes immediately landed on Mike staring at her. He looked away quickly, blushing because she had caught him watching her.
"So, the bonfire is in two hours," Dustin said, and Mike was thankful that his friend had either not witnessed El catching him staring or that he was merciful enough not to draw attention to it.
"I have a lot of unpacking to do," Suzie pouted.
"Why don't we go back to our cabins and unpack, and then we can meet up before the bonfire," Mike suggested, looking at Suzie and Dustin and deliberately avoiding meeting El's eyes again.
"That works," Dustin nodded.
"I'll miss you," Suzie said softly, wrapping her arms around Dustin's neck.
"I'll miss you too, Suzie-Poo," Dustin murmured back to her.
Mike looked away while Dustin and Suzie shared several soft pecks. He was looking around awkwardly, still not wanting to look at El again for fear that he would start blushing again. He didn't want to look at her too much and be obvious, after all.
"So, uh," Mike said and cleared his throat to interrupt what had become a makeout session for Dustin and Suzie. "Where is this bonfire held?"
"By the lake," Dustin replied.
"Ooh, wear your swimsuit so we can go swimming," Suzie requested more to Dustin than the other two.
"That sounds fun," El chimed in, and Mike instinctively glanced her way to see her looking right at him.
"Yeah, so, uh, cool," Mike stammered. "We'll go unpack, and we'll meet you back here in two hours to head to the lake."
"Bye Suzie-Poo. I love you," Dustin said, leaning in for another kiss from his girlfriend.
"Love you too, Dusty-Bun," Suzie smiled.
El smiled and waved goodbye to Mike and Dustin as she and Suzie headed toward the path leading to their cabin.
"So," Dustin started as he and Mike walked into the woods.
Mike groaned. Dustin had seen Mike staring at El after all. And he had probably also seen El catch Mike staring at her and Mike turning all red, too.
"I know what you're gonna say, Dustin, and I wasn't, like, staring staring at her… I was just looking her direction, and then she caught me. And obviously when a girl catches you looking at her, you're gonna turn red. Especially when the girl is that pretty," Mike rambled on quickly.
"Mike," Dustin interjected with an amused look on his face. "I was just going to ask you what you think of Suzie now that you've officially met her and spent some time with her."
"O-oh," Mike said quietly, his cheeks blushing because of his outburst. "Um, Suzie seems great."
"Suzie is great, but that's not the point now. Holy shit, dude! You still want to say you don't have a huge crush on El?" Dustin exclaimed.
"Dustin," Mike sighed. "She's so pretty. Everything she does, she's beautiful. But I barely know anything about her, so you can't really call that a crush."
"Are we or are we not meeting up with her in two hours to go to a bonfire by the lake?" Dustin asked.
"We are," Mike answered quietly.
"And do you or do you not want to see her in a bikini?" Dustin continued.
"Dustin," Mike warned firmly, glaring at his friend.
"Okay, look. She seems like a nice girl, and whether you let yourself see it or not, it looks like she is as interested in you as you are in her," Dustin said. "Just talk to her. Get to know her. She's here to be a counselor, so I guarantee there's a nerdy side to her hidden somewhere. You guys will have all sorts of things to talk about in no time."
"I don't know," Mike sighed, shaking his head. "What if she's just being a counselor to look good for colleges? Girls…"
"Girls what?" Dustin asked.
Mike stopped walking and paused for a moment while Dustin waited patiently.
"Girls that pretty just aren't in to nerdy guys," Mike admitted.
Dustin raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"First of all, Suzie is gorgeous, and she loves me, and I am just as big of a nerd as you are, if not bigger," he said firmly. "Second, you are getting yourself down because of what Stephanie said when she broke up with you, and you cannot let her speak for all girls, Mike."
Mike and Dustin started walking again, and they were silent while Mike thought over Dustin's words. He finally nodded as they reached the male counselors' cabin.
"I guess you're right," Mike relented.
"Of course I am," Dustin said. "Now let's unpack and get back to the girls."
Inside the cabin were three bunkbeds. When Mike and Dustin had gotten there earlier in the afternoon, they had put their luggage on the bunkbed on the farthest side of the cabin from the front door and nearest to the bathroom. Dustin had volunteered to take the top bunk, which left Mike happily with the bottom bunk.
They opened the door to see all three of their cabinmates also unpacking. Mike and Dustin crossed the room to their bunkbeds and both unzipped their suitcase, laying them side-by-side on Mike's bottom bunk while they unpacked.
"You're smoother than I gave you credit for when I first met you," Jason was saying to Eric. "But first you hit it off with that chick from Chicago, and now the blonde girl with the big boobs. Impressive."
Mike clenched his jaw when he heard Jason talking about El. If Dustin noticed, he gave no sign.
"Smart girls like smart guys," Eric shrugged smugly. "But you'll probably hit it off with Nikki. You'll be spending the whole camp with her."
"Oh, definitely," Jason scoffed. "I bet I'll fuck her by the end of this week before the campers even get here."
Mike shook his head in disgust. He knew Jason and Eric were both forced into this by their parents for college applications, and he even begrudgingly accepted that Eric was a smart guy despite his status as a jock. But this was science camp. He was supposed to be away from assholes like them.
"Don't worry. Once camp gets going, you'll barely even be around them except for curfew," Dustin said quietly as if reading Mike's mind.
"Good," Mike whispered back.
"Don't forget to change into your swim trunks for tonight so we can jump in the lake," Dustin said, pulling his own out of his suitcase.
Mike's face fell. He looked down at his thin body that was currently covered in a t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts. Mike pictured himself in his swim trunks that ended just above his knobby knees. His skinny, pasty white torso and his long noodle arms would be out in the open for El and everyone to see.
"Mike, you brought swim trunks, didn't you?" Dustin asked after Mike had been silent for several moments.
"Y-yeah. Yeah, I did," Mike replied.
"Great. Just checking," Dustin said. "I'm gonna go change."
Dustin hurried into the bathroom with his swim trunks in his hand, and Mike laid his own trunks on his bed while he zipped his empty suitcase closed and tucked it underneath the bunkbed. Mike stared at the swimsuit laying on the blanket of his bed and considered just shoving them into a drawer and telling Dustin they don't fit right anymore or something.
"Your turn. Go change so we can go meet the girls," Dustin said as he rejoined Mike at the side of their bunkbed.
Dustin was now dressed in his swim trunks, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes. He pulled out a drawstring bag and started shoving two towels into it. Mike slowly picked up his swim trunks and walked into the bathroom to change. He took a deep breath as he pulled the trunks up his long legs. Just because he was wearing swim trunks didn't mean he would have to swim. Besides, maybe El would change her mind about swimming in the lake and let Dustin and Suzie have their own time. Or maybe Mike would have El so enthralled in conversation that swimming would completely slip her mind. He decided to try and make that his plan.
Mike exited the bathroom in his swim trunks and a t-shirt and pulled on his tennis shoes, ready to leave with Dustin. The two of them were the last two to leave the cabin, and they made their way up the path to meet Suzie and El.
The boys heard Suzie squeal as soon as they came in to view. Dustin and Suzie greeted each other with a kiss while Mike offered El a friendly smile and hello. El's hair had been pulled into a braid that rested over her left shoulder, and she had changed from her shorts and black tank top into a yellow sundress that Mike assumed was easier to slip on and off over a swimsuit. Of course, she looked breathtaking, but Mike couldn't tell her that.
"You…" he started. You look pretty. You look nice. You are beautiful. "You changed."
Mike cringed at what came out of his mouth. El giggled and twirled side to side so her dress flowed around her legs.
"I did," she chuckled. "Do you like it?"
"L-like it? Um, oh, yeah! Yeah. Yellow is… i-it's good. It looks – er – y-you look… It's nice," Mike stammered. His face felt as if it were actually on fire, and he wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and die there.
"Thank you," El smiled, trying not to laugh at Mike's nervous rambling that she actually found quite cute.
"You two ready?" Dustin asked, and Mike and El both nodded.
Suzie and El began to lead down the path toward the lake, and Dustin hung back and clapped Mike's shoulder.
"Smooth," he whispered into Mike's ear, an amused smirk on his face.
"Shut up," Mike muttered.
"I think you can recover," Dustin said, making sure to follow far enough behind the girls to remain out of earshot.
"Then you must not have heard how stupid I sounded back there," Mike snorted.
"Au contraire, my friend," Dustin said. "I did hear just how stupid you sounded when she asked if you liked her dress. I also saw her smile politely and thank you after you mumbled out whatever that was. She's definitely interested. Now you just need to talk to her at the bonfire. Do you think you can form coherent sentences for a couple hours?"
"I hope so," Mike sighed.
"You can do it," Dustin urged him.
When the four of them reached their destination, the other six counselors were already gathered around the bonfire. Jason and Nikki were each sitting in lawn chairs next to each other, Dani and Eric were sitting close together on a log while Eric talked and Dani hung on his every word, Tom was sitting in a chair opposite Jason and Nikki, and Kayla was sitting on a rock near the lake away from everyone else and dipping her feet in the water. The four advisors were there and were the ones grilling burgers and hot dogs for everyone.
Mike, Dustin, El, and Suzie greeted the advisors and waved to their fellow counselors. Dustin immediately pulled Suzie away from the crowd with some excuse about Suzie being sensitive to campfire smoke. That left Mike and El standing together, which Mike knew was Dustin's plan. Mike nervously looked at El, and he did not look away when she met his gaze and offered that pearly white smile of hers.
"Do you want to go sit by the water?" El asked, gesturing toward the lake.
Mike's heartrate must have doubled in the seconds following El's simple question. He steadied his breathing, hoping she didn't notice how nervous he was.
"Yeah, okay," he nodded.
Mike and El walked toward the lake and sat on a rock about twenty feet from Kayla so no one was in earshot besides the two of them. El kicked off her sandals and dipped her feet into the lake, gasping at the initial contact of the cold water on her skin.
"Is it cold?" Mike asked.
"It's not so bad after a moment," El shrugged.
Mike took his shoes off and let his feet slide into the water next to her. They sat in silence for several moments, just looking out over the lake as a haze began to fill the air while the sun started to set.
"So, are you excited for training week?" El asked suddenly, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, I think it will be cool to do all the experiments ourselves," Mike replied honestly.
"Me too," El agreed. "I never went to summer camp – science, or any other type of camp – so it will be fun to see what it's all about."
"Definitely," Mike nodded. "So, what made you decide to be a camp counselor if you've never been to camp?"
"It's kind of a long story," El sighed. "The short version is that my aunt thinks it will strengthen my college applications and it will give me a chance to get out of the house and meet more people my age. What about you? I didn't see you raise your hand when she asked who had been here before either."
"Dustin actually convinced me," Mike replied. "He's been coming here as a camper since he was ten, and last summer he was so excited that he would qualify to be a counselor this year. He tried to talk the whole party into it, but I'm the only one he convinced."
"Party?" El asked, scrunching her forehead in confusion.
Mike kicked himself internally for referring to his friends as the party instead of just his friends. There's no way this girl would think there was anything cool about D&D references.
"Oh, it's just the guys we hang out with. There's me, Dustin, Will, and Lucas, and then Lucas's girlfriend Max comes around too," Mike explained, hoping El didn't push it any further.
"Do you all five hang out a lot?" El asked, and Mike saw the curiosity light up in her eyes.
"Yeah, we do. Practically every day," he replied.
"It's really cool that you have a close group of friends like that," El said, and Mike sensed almost a tone of sadness in her voice.
"Yeah, they're great. I don't know what I'd do without them," Mike said. "But, I'm sure you feel that way about your group of friends, too."
El's face fell and she looked down at the water that she was splashing around with her foot.
"I don't exactly have a group of friends back home," she said quietly.
"What do you mean?" Mike asked, furrowing his own brow in confusion.
"I mean, I have a couple friends that I talk to at school and do things with sometimes, but I'm not a part of any group. Most people at my school don't even know I exist. I'm basically a nobody," El explained.
"I find that hard to believe," Mike said before he could stop himself.
El raised her eyebrows as she looked at him, surprised.
"Why is that?" she asked.
"W-well, i-it's just that…" Mike took a deep breath to steady his racing heart and hoped he didn't sound like too much of an idiot. "I mean, they don't know what they're missing out on. I've only known you since this afternoon, and I think you're pretty cool."
El smiled softly at him which made Mike's cheeks turn a light pink that she luckily could not see as the sun dropped further behind the trees.
"Thanks. I think you're pretty cool, too, Mike," El said.
Mike looked down at the rock they were sitting on and noticed his fingers were resting a mere inch from El's. He took a deep breath and looked back into her eyes, slowly moving his fingers closer to hers.
Just then, one of the advisors hollered from the bonfire that the food was ready, and Mike and El were both startled and pulled back to reality.
"Um… do you, uh, want to go get a burger or something?" Mike asked.
"Y-yeah. I'm kind of hungry," El grinned.
They rose from the rock they were sitting on and joined their fellow counselors around the fire to enjoy burgers and hot dogs. The four of them actually enjoyed getting to know a bit about the other counselors, but they all saw Jason dramatically roll his eyes to make Nikki giggle each time Tom would say something nerdy. Mike and Dustin both silently came to the conclusion that Tom was an even bigger nerd than both of them.
When everyone had finished eating, the advisors brought out marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers so everyone could make s'mores. While others were toasting their marshmallows over the fire, Dustin thrusted his stick directly into the fire and lifted his marshmallow up which had become a ball of flames.
"What are you doing?" asked Kayla who had been quiet and reserved all night.
"It's just how he eats marshmallows," Mike tried to shrug off the question.
"Because it's the best way," Dustin said. "Catch it on fire, burn it to a crisp on the outside before putting it into your s'more. Perfectly crispy on the outside, warm and gooey on the inside."
Suzie beamed proudly as if Dustin had just explained something far more groundbreaking than why he catches marshmallows on fire, and El chuckled at her new friend's explanation.
After s'mores, the advisors announced that they were leaving for the night and would be in their cabins. The advisors explained that the curfew does not apply to the welcome bonfire, but that the counselors should consider going to bed soon to be well-rested for their early start to training week in the morning.
Tom followed the advisors' suggestion, stating that he wanted to get a good night's sleep. He waved everyone good night and walked away from the bonfire. Kayla was next to stand and excuse herself for the night.
"Wait, I'll walk with you," Dani called from the log she was sharing with Eric.
Eric frowned and asked Dani to stay a little longer, saying that he would walk her back to her cabin later. Dani apologized and said she was tired after the long drive that morning. After Dani left the bonfire, Mike noticed how Eric's eyes were drawn more toward El than they had been all night, and Mike clenched his jaw and reminded himself that he and El had been having great conversation all night.
"Well, this has been fun," Dustin announced as if he were about to suggest turning in for the night, too.
"Dusty-Bun, what happened to swimming in the lake?" Suzie reminded him sweetly.
Mike deflated. He thought he had made it through the whole bonfire without swimming being brought up.
"Are you still up for it?" Dustin asked, and Suzie nodded excitedly.
Suzie took off her glasses and tossed aside her shorts and tank top to reveal a blue one-piece swimsuit. Dustin quickly discarded his t-shirt, and the two of them ran to the lake.
"Do you want to swim?" El asked, looking up at Mike.
Mike swallowed hard. He didn't want to tell her no, but he thought about his pale, skinny body literally glowing in the dark.
Suddenly, Nikki stood up and tossed off her clothes, revealing a red bikini. Lust flashed in Jason's eyes as he looked her up and down.
"Are you coming?" Nikki asked.
"I'm not wearing my trunks," Jason said.
Nikki shrugged and sprinted toward the lake. Jason watched her tan body enter the water and instantly stood up. He stripped himself of his shirt and shorts, standing in only his boxer briefs.
"You've got to be kidding me," Mike muttered under his breath.
"Screw it," Jason mumbled as he kicked his clothes to the side. He jogged toward the lake, his muscles practically shining in the moonlight.
"Mike?" El said, jerking his attention back to her. "Let's get in the lake. It'll be fun."
She smiled as she stood up and lifted her yellow dress over her head. Mike's eyes bulged in his head and his mouth dropped open when he saw El standing in front of him wearing a white bikini that stood out in contrast to her tan skin.
Out of the corner of his eye, Mike saw Eric stand from where he was sitting and take off his t-shirt to reveal his own toned chest and stomach. Mike looked from Eric to over El's shoulder where Jason and his muscles were dripping wet while he picked Nikki up and tossed her into the water while she shrieked and giggled. His eyes landed back on El who was standing in front of him looking so perfect and waiting so patiently for him to answer her.
"I…" he started. "Sorry, I'm… I'm pretty tired. I'm gonna call it a night."
Mike looked down when he saw the disappointment on El's face.
"Have fun, though," he said before turning away to walk back to the cabin.
"Race you to the water?" Mike heard Eric offer from the distance behind him.
Mike squeezed his eyes shut at the image of Eric and El running to the water together, but he did not turn around to see if it was happening. He couldn't bear to see it happen in front of him.
"It was too good to be true," Mike whispered to himself as his mind repeated his earlier sentiment that girls as pretty as El aren't in to guys as nerdy as him. Whatever he thought he had felt that afternoon or that evening by the lake, it must have been in his head.
When Mike reached the cabin, Tom was quietly snoring. Mike changed quickly and laid down, the image of El's sweet smile taunting him until he fell asleep.
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A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Let me know how you're liking it so far : )