The day after the axe-throwing competition, Morgan and Serena took a short hike after breakfast through one of the carved out paths in the nearby trees, to have a heart-to-heart and try to mend things between them. It was Serena's idea. Serena liked to talk about things before moving on. Morgan would have been happy to leave it at her apology the night prior.

"I don't like fighting with you," Serena started, the lighting filtering through the leaves, casting patchwork shadows across her face.

"Me either, Sere," she replied as she reached over and squeezed the other girl's hand, keeping their strides in sync.

"I can't just not see him, you know?"

Morgan nodded. "I know, but sneaking around doesn't seem like the best of ideas, either."

"People can't know we are together."

Morgan looked over at her cousin teasingly. "Serena's got a boyfriend."

Serena smiled sheepishly. "Yeah."

Morgan draped her arm over Serena's shoulders and tugged at her, bringing them into a side hug. "I'm happy for you, but we've got to figure something out. I don't want anyone going home."

"Got any ideas, smarty-pants?"

Morgan let go and brought her hand to her chin for dramatic effect. "Hrm. Let me think for a minute."

Dead leaves, victims of a wind storm no doubt, crunched under their feet as they continued down the path. Serena stopped to watch a butterfly land on some flowers, while some squirrels ran after each other up and down a tree nearby. Oddly enough, it gave Morgan an idea.

"Sere, what if you hung out with him around other people? Like, me, or in another group. You'd just need to convince others that you're friends. No PDAs, tease each other a little. No one would know you like each other."

A devious grin spread across the crouched girl's face. "Like you and Kayden?"

"What?!"

Serena stood up and turned to her fuming cousin. "I'm just saying, what you said, sounds like you and Kayden."

"I am offended. I'll have you know," Morgan started, hands on hips, "There is someone here that I like. But it is certainly not Kayden Anderson."

"Ooh, tell me more! Who?"

Morgan started walking again, Serena followed excitedly. "No one you know. But, we aren't talking about me right now."

"You'll spill as soon as that's done?"

Morgan nodded. "So, why don't we start small? Invite Darien to sit with us at lunch. We can work up from there."

"Are you offering to chaperone all our dates?"

"I'm offering to keep your butt out of trouble," Morgan corrected.

"Okay. Now, tell me about this boy."

"I don't get to grill you about Darien first?"

Serena giggled. "You'll have plenty of time to ask him yourself, silly."

-.-.-.-.-.-

Operation Follow the White Hare Act II was going pretty well if Morgan said so herself. She'd crafted a few excuses for them to hang out over the weekend, and everyone seemed oblivious that they were seeing each other. Morgan covertly swatted apart a few attempts at hand-holding. And when the two sat next to each other at the campfire, Morgan swiftly wedged herself between them, s'more supplies in hand.

It was kind of exhausting, but worth it. Not just to see Sere happy, or because they were talking again. More importantly, everyone was finally getting to sleep again. No longer was Morgan worried about Serena sneaking out.

Morgan discovered Darien was a foster kid who was now pre-med with stellar grades who liked Weezer and Lifehouse, and spent his weekends volunteering. His summer plans had fallen through last minute, and that's why he was here. Serena joked it was fate. Morgan reminded her to hush.

Things were going well for Morgan, too. She wasn't looking to date anyone, but Aaron was nice, and he always seemed to know when she had a shift at the pool. He made her feel like a priority. He brought her snacks and helped her get sunscreen on her back where she couldn't reach. He was funny and charming and had such interesting stories to tell her. And unlike most people, he didn't scoff when she said she had no desire to take the college path after high school. It felt so nice to talk to someone about her dreams and not face judgmental disappointment.

On Wednesday, they planned to meet up at the pool, even though she had the day off. And since she had the day off, she could really hang out and talk the whole time, not just on her breaks. For fun, she decided to wear the bright orange bikini she had splurged on in the spring. It caught her eye immediately that day she and Sere were shopping, and she had to have it. It had spent this whole time in the bottom of her duffle, but today, she proudly strutted it around in all its glory.

They had been hanging out for a while when grumpy Kayden showed up and stomped over to her. That dummy wrote the schedule, he should have known she was off today. A strange scowl crossed his face when he looked over to Aaron that felt odd to her, but Kayden was a weirdo and she never knew what he was thinking. He left soon after without incident. She didn't know what his problem was, but she was glad he left. She spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the company of Aaron.

It was Friday, when Morgan stopped to check and confirm the following week's schedule, that she realized that there was a problem, and she was going to figure out what it was, because there was no way she was going to work four lake shifts in a row without having something to say about it.

Kayden had a habit of breaking up people having too much fun in the past. Best friend on your pool shift? Not anymore. Get along too well and try to make the day more bearable by coming up with games to pass the time? He'd squash that. But this, this felt personal. It was no secret that Morgan hated working at the lake. Was this retaliation? Had she gone too far with the boyfriend line? She was just trying to throw him off Serena and Dariens's trail. Or was this punishment for hanging out with someone he didn't like? Did he think he could just control her like that?

Morgan had honestly wanted to craft a well-planned argument, cover all her bases and leave no room for Kayden to get a word in, but she saw him walking back from the showers with Jayden and she couldn't help but run outside from her cabin to accost him.

"Kayden!"

Both Kayden and Jayden stopped in their tracks, hair damp, towels draped over their shoulders, shower caddies in hand, in their flip-flops, dumbfounded by the fuming blonde in their way.

"What?"

"You know what! What the hell is wrong with you?"

It was neither late or early enough in the evening for such a commotion to avoid gaining spectators. Faces started appearing in cabin windows, and those who were outside were trying to casually catch what was going on without gawking. No one ever yelled at Kayden. Kayden was always the one correcting people. Morgan didn't care.

"Could we maybe do this inside?" he suggested, noticing their audience.

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I embarrassing you?"

"Yes. And yourself. Come on."

He started to walk away with Jayden, leaving Morgan behind to huff and stomp her foot. This is what she got, she supposed. She wanted to be in control of this conversation and leave him feeling dumb, but now she was following him to his lair and no longer had the upper hand. Classic. Morgan didn't bother to try and catch the screen door, even though she knew it was missing its spring and would slam closed if she didn't stop it. It made Kayden flinch ever so slightly, though, and that made her happy.

"Now that we're indoors," Kayden began as he set his belongings down on the counter to be put away later. "What's wrong?"

It annoyed her how calm he sounded. She watched Jayden duck into the hallway, presumably to put his stuff away, though she was sure he'd keep an ear to the door. "I saw the schedule," she spat out accusingly. He just looked at her like he didn't understand her issue. She stared him down angrily, scowling at his straight faced expression, with those stupid strong jaw lines of his. She wanted to punch him. She ended up taking a few steps in his direction as she spoke. "Why do I have so many lake shifts this week? I never get this many. You know I hate the lake shift. I literally complain every time it happens."

"And?"

She was only about two feet away now, and strangely, she found herself having to ignore how good he smelled right now and remain angry. "And I feel like you're punishing me and I want to know why."

"I'm not punishing you," he defended, glaring down at her now. "I had to adjust the schedule. Andrew is going on the canoe trip. I need someone down there who has the experience, and I chose you, because you're the most qualified."

"Bullshit."

"Please, enlighten me with your theory, Morgan."

"You hate that I'm still hanging out with Aaron after you told me not to."

"I told you he was trouble," he corrected.

"And I told you I don't need a babysitter! You have such a savior complex! I don't need you to look out for me! I can take care of myself. And it's bullshit to punish me over it!"

Kayden sighed. "It's not a punishment. I told you this. But if you want to be bull-headed and not listen, then go right ahead! I'm not going to waste any more energy trying to convince you otherwise."

It infuriated her that he was trying to explain away his obvious retaliation. "Why? Because I'm a dumb blonde whose too stupid to understand?"

Kayden pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why are you bringing that up? That was like, four years ago."

"Because, you're a jerk, Kayden, and I'm not going to let you forget it!" She glared at his stupid, blank face just long enough to catch her breath, before turning on her heel to exit, slamming the screen door behind her.