Morgan awoke Friday morning tired.
So tired.
Wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible, she'd opted to clean up the hall this morning instead of last night. This would also give her something to do all day. The pool was closed today, so there were no lifeguard shifts to take. Most of the staff and volunteers were busy helping campers pack up and keep them busy until their parents or buses arrived. Staff would all stay through the weekend and leave next week once they'd closed out wherever they worked. It was a lot of cleaning and organizing.
Necessary but evil.
The reward was a big end of summer campfire. And carrying on with tradition, the night prior to the big goodbye, Morgan, Serena, and Jayden would throw a smaller get-together with their friends.
Ever since Jayden made senior counselor, they were able to have them in the nicer, bigger cabin. "Perks of his position" which the two younger cousins were more than happy to take advantage of.
Morgan entered the empty hall and took a good look around. The electronics were put away, and they'd taken care of the punch last night - ants, Maddie had reminded them - but everything else was as it had been.
Morgan's eyes stopped at the spot on the dance floor where she'd danced with Kayden.
Morgan wasn't going to see him again the day after tomorrow, and while a part of her felt strangely sad about it, she decided that it was probably for the best if she didn't think about any of it at all. She'd be home soon, and Camp Elysian would just be something in her past.
She grabbed the trash drum and step ladder from the janitorial closet, and started tearing down decorations from the walls. It was funny the difference in time it took to put up versus tear down. Maddie and Serena would be there shortly to help, but the destruction was cathartic, so Morgan got started without them.
The tearing and crumpling of paper and plastic was not enough to keep her mind quiet.
Thinking about Kayden was irritating. But the whole thing was her fault. Morgan was the idiot who decided to ask him to dance. He was happy standing there with his clipboard. She should have left him alone with his color-coded safety blanket, and she wouldn't be here wondering if he'd actually thought about kissing her or not.
She gathered up an armful of ripped decorations and stuffed them into the bin before moving the ladder down the wall to get more. The loud bang as the ladder's legs hit the linoleum punctuated her frustrations.
All of this was just in her head, anyway. Her imagination running wild. She bet Kayden didn't even think twice about last night.
Because there was nothing to think about, she reminded herself.
Nothing.
Not his handsome face looking at her. Not how nice his hand felt on her waist. Not how he was actually an okay dancer, even though he said he wasn't. Not how he suddenly ghosted her.
Morgan snatched a streamer down violently.
Well, she had done the same, to be fair, she thought as she balled it up in her hands. It wasn't like she was hoping to bump into him. She took off as soon as she could. So, should she be annoyed he didn't come looking for her?
It was for the best.
Still fuming, and determined to pull everything down on her own, Morgan climbed to the top of the step ladder, going against what she knew was safe, and balanced her top foot on the handle, trying to reach where Maddie had attached the Christmas lights. She stretched her body as far as it would go, her fingers barely brushing past the wires. Maddie had a good 4 inches in height over Morgan, but Morgan was determined. She grunted and reached further, missing again.
And lost her balance.
It wasn't a tall step ladder, and it probably wouldn't hurt too bad, she thought in the seconds she realized she was falling.
But Morgan never hit the floor. Someone caught her. She hadn't heard any doors open, but then again, she had been pretty focused on the task of ripping things down and her spiraling thoughts to notice much else.
After she was returned to her feet, Morgan turned to thank whoever it was. It wasn't Maddie - they were man's hands that had broken her fall. Had Kayden come looking for her? She looked over her shoulder, nervous and hopeful.
Morgan quickly recoiled from the hand still on her arm, when she was met with Aaron's grinning face. "What are you doing here?" she spat out. Of all the people Morgan thought she might see when she turned around, that was the face she wanted to see the least.
"Preventing an accident, it seems."
Morgan wanted to smack the smirk off his face. How dare he sneak in here and try to act like nothing had happened. She scowled, taking another step backward and crossing her arms, not wanting him to think for a second that he was welcome. "No, really. Why are you here? What could you possibly have to say to me?" She tilted her head angrily. "I thought I was just some desperate slut who kept throwing herself at you. That was what you were telling people, weren't you?"
Aaron started to say something but stopped, sighing and running his hand through his hair. His stupid dumb hair. "I came because I've had time to think-"
"About how terrible you are?" Morgan suggested quickly.
"-about how I don't want to leave things on such a bad note," he finished. "My driver will be here soon, and I didn't want to leave without telling you. That I like you, Morgan. And I hope we can keep in touch."
Morgan felt her face squint as she listened to the words leave his mouth. What? He completely ignored her accusation. Didn't even acknowledge it. Morgan scoffed. What was wrong with this kid? Was she just supposed to forget all the weird and awful things he'd done just because he saved her from falling and flashed a pretty smile? "I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen."
Aaron huffed, but the anger she'd seen erupt from him weeks before when he'd not gotten his way didn't seem to surface. "I didn't like seeing you dance with him."
"What?" Morgan asked exasperated. Was he following her around now? What the hell? Serena and Maddie would be here soon. Maybe he'd leave then?
"I was going to ask you to the dance, but I couldn't find you anywhere," he admitted. "And then I showed up, and you were dancing with him, and I didn't like it. Morgan," he paused to reach out for her, which she dodged, "The summer is over. I just thought maybe we could start over." When she did nothing but stare back at him defiantly, he pulled a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and handed it to her. "I wrote my info here. I hope you call. I'll be in L.A. in the spring. Hit me up after graduation."
Where were the girls, she wondered. "Don't count on it."
As she took the paper from him, he tried to grab her hand, but she pulled it back and out of reach. He responded with a smile. "Take care, Morgan."
Morgan watched Aaron stroll out of the room, passing by Maddie and Serena as he left. Morgan angrily crumpled the paper and shoved it down into the trash.
"What was that about?" Serena asked with concern.
"Nothing. Nothing at all," Morgan huffed. She had a brand new reason to angrily rip things off the wall. And a new distraction from her traitorous thoughts about Kayden.
-.-.-.-.-.-
The weekend passed, with all its tedious tasks behind them, and it was finally the day of their end of year get together at Jayden's.
After getting ready, the girls excitedly made their way up the pathway to the party, carrying supplies with them. Jayden, Nate, and Zack were playing the Xbox when they arrived, and Darien was helping Kayden in the kitchen. A big round of hellos erupted as the girls made their way into the room. Darien noticed Serena was having trouble carrying something up the steps, so he brushed past the others to help. Morgan caught Serena giving him an extended thank-you hug after he helped her get inside. Morgan smirked, and then looked away past the two, and locked eyes with Kayden. He'd also caught the display of affection, and they exchanged looks of annoyed predictability.
Those two had been harder and harder to rein in after the dance. There probably wasn't much risk of getting caught at this point, nor risk of reprimand, Morgan knew. No one was going to get sent home the last day they were here, but Morgan didn't want to see Darien get in trouble, either. She'd grown a soft spot for the tall dork, and if he wanted to come back to work here next summer like he'd been talking about, a strike against him probably wasn't for the best. They'd have to keep a closer watch on them tonight and tomorrow to be safe.
Morgan joined Rae and Amy, who'd perched themselves on the arms of the ancient couches, and watched in amusement as Serena and Molly tried to set up a karaoke machine Morgan had helped them pull out of long-forgotten storage.
"Now that we are all here," Morgan began, standing in front of everyone, "Welcome to the End of Summer Bash!"
"Hey!" Jayden interrupted. "You don't live here. Shouldn't I be announcing things?"
"Hush!" Morgan scolded playfully. "Make yourselves at home. Have a snack. Karaoke will be available shortly."
The guys on the couch groaned in unison.
"Oh, hush and keep playing your games. Jay, don't even pretend like you aren't stoked to belt out your favorite song," Serena said teasingly.
Darien had come to Serena and Molly's rescue, and handed them the song book to look through while he finished setting up. They bounced over to the other girls on the couch so they could all take a look at the songs.
"Wanna do a duet, Momo? Molly and I already picked our first song."
Rae started flipping through the book, and looked up with disgust. "These songs are so old. How ancient is this thing?"
Morgan and Serena shared a look and shrugged.
"Who cares? It works. I think." Morgan paused to look at Darien, who gave her a thumbs up to confirm. "Yes, it works. And that is the far more important detail, Rae. Amy? Maddie? You guys wanna flip through?" Morgan asked, offering the book to them with excitement.
Amy blushed a fierce red color. Maddie politely declined.
Serena, Molly and Morgan opened with "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper, and Morgan announced that the night had finally started. Jayden volunteered a few songs later, and sang "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen with his sister. Zack did an impressive rendering of "White Wedding" a while later, surprising everyone. Then, the two participating males attempted the Beastie Boy classic "It's Tricky," which led the room to erupt in a fit of laughter when they couldn't keep up with the lyrics.
Everyone relaxed pretty quickly, and took turns singing, playing video games and hanging out. Morgan took a break to get out the Twister box she'd snuck into the room, eliciting a mixed reaction from the others when she dramatically unfolded the mat and placed it on the floor in front of them.
As everyone else was distracted, Amy quickly grabbed the spinner. "I'll spin."
Maddie chuckled and took it from the smaller girl. "No, you should play. If you won't sing, you should at least participate in this."
"You're one to talk," Nate chimed in.
Maddie stuck her tongue out at him while she smugly adjusted the hat on her head, which she'd stolen from him weeks before and refused to return.
"Okay, okay. Me, Amy, and who else?" Morgan asked, eagerly looking at Serena, but Serena declined and took the opportunity to sit a little closer to Darien on the couch.
"I'm in," Zack chimed in, unexpectedly.
Morgan thought she saw a faint blush on her friend's face, but she ignored the urge to tease Amy, and instead looked for another victim to join them. "That's three."
"I guess," Rae offered after a moment, pulling her hair back to secure it with an elastic.
Morgan grinned. "You're going down, Pyro."
"Dream on, Blondie."
"Room for five?" Jayden asked, as he joined the others on the edges of the fold-out mat.
"Your funeral," Rae quipped.
"Challenge accepted," Jayden said with confidence.
Jayden was the first out. He only made it a few spins before losing his balance trying to get his right foot to the correct color. He tried to blame Morgan, but she told him he was imagining things and to get out of the way.
"Left foot, red."
Amy toppled next. Zack was exceptionally flexible. He hung in there longer than Morgan thought he would.
"Right arm, blue."
Morgan stretched her arm under Zack, through his crossed appendages to hit her target that time.
"Right leg, blue."
"No way!" Zack complained, before failing to untangle himself from Morgan and toppled over. The room erupted. It was just Rae and Morgan now. There was a lot more space to move around, so Morgan began to purposefully try to get in Rae's way and trip her up. Eventually, Maddie stopped spinning, and started calling out any combo she thought would bring them down.
In the end, Morgan and Rae fell at the same time.
"You knocked me over!" Rae admonished. "I win."
"It was a tie, Rae."
"Lies."
Morgan's eyes flashed devious before tickling Rae, causing the other girl to swat her hand away and get up, leaving the mat.
"First to leave loses!" Morgan announced.
Rae stuck her tongue out and walked over to Jayden, who had a drink waiting for her. No one wanted to play again right away, so Morgan ran back over to the karaoke machine, grabbing Molly on her way and went on a singing spree, belting out classics such as Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," and Madonna's "Like a Prayer."
-.-.-.-.-.-
Kayden spent most of the night observing everyone's antics from the kitchen. He didn't usually attend the cousins' end-of-summer party, but for some reason, had stayed in the cabin this year despite his lack of interest in years past. There was no way in hell he'd ever participate in the singing, but it was entertaining to watch, and admittedly, Morgan the Mic Hog had a really good singing voice. She was also very animated, and quite the entertainer.
When she'd slipped away to grab Twister, it took everything he had to not tell her to put it away.
Games like that - surely they were too inappropriate for camp. They were very - suggestive.
But, he didn't stop her.
Instead, he did his absolute best to look away. He did not need to see how flexible she was.
Admittedly, she was already consuming his thoughts. He'd been thinking about her and how she wasn't coming back next summer, and he didn't need - images.
So, he busied himself in the kitchen during the game, only looking up when he heard Morgan claim victory. Darien joined him on the barstools after the game, having given up his spot near Serena on the couch when the others returned to reclaim their seats. They got into talking about the upcoming fall semester, a welcomed distraction, before Rae joined them, needing something to drink, her voice dry from trying to keep up with Morgan. Kayden didn't know her well, but he liked Rae well enough. She was sensible and kept her campers in line and on time.
Morgan had started a new song.
Where had all the good men gone
And where are all the Gods?
Where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds?
"Hey," Darien greeted when Rae took a seat. "I haven't seen you in a while. You've been pretty busy lately. Welcome back, by the way. I heard you helped out with that big trip a few weeks back. How was it?"
Kayden tried to focus on the conversation, but Morgan was really into this song, and it was loud.
I need a hero!
I'm holdin' out for a hero 'til the end of the night!
Rae was not fazed by Morgan, and considered the question for a moment. Kayden expected her to snap back something sarcastic, not considering her much a fan of small talk, but she remained polite. "It's a lot better leading the trip than participating, that's for sure."
"Oh?" Darien asked, curious.
He's gotta be sure
And it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life
"Yes," Rae continued, unphased. Kayden assumed Rae was just used to Morgan being - well, Morgan. "As a camper, it's awful. It's trying to make nice with a group of your friends after spending three hours hating their guts and internally screaming at them because they cannot maneuver a canoe. Only to get frustrated again when it's time to set up camp."
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light
He's gotta be sure
And it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life
I need a hero!
Darien snorted. Kayden wasn't sure if it was at Morgan or what Rae said. "That's horrible."
"Builds character," Rae replied, using air quotes.
Kayden frowned, catching her insult, despite Morgan's voice consuming the room. "But it does."
Rae put a hand up to silence him. "Nope. Not tonight, Mr. Head Counselor. Go sing or something."
"I don't sing."
Morgan had finally finished, and had roped Jayden into joining her at the mic. They began singing "Under Pressure."
"Oh, come on. Loosen up. Just for one night. You can't spend the whole night sitting over here."
"Rae, I don't sing," Kayden repeated.
"Pft. Fine. Darien," she said with a smirk, switching targets. "You should at least go do a duet with your girlfriend."
Darien's eyes widened, and Rae laughed as she walked away.
Kayden looked to Darien smugly. "I guess you two aren't as discreet as we thought."
"She won't say anything," Darien assured himself.
"So you hope," Kayden said as he slapped a hand on Darien's slumped shoulder.
Darien did end up succumbing to the pressure, and joined Serena, Molly, and Jayden in singing "You're the One That I Want" from Grease. Morgan waltzed into the kitchen while they were up there, and disappeared behind Kayden for a minute. When he turned around to see what she was doing, he caught her testing out the spinning abilities of an empty root beer bottle on the counter.
"Morgan." Was she really doing what he thought she was doing? This was worse than Twister.
She turned around, grinning innocently. "What?"
"What do you think you're doing?" Kayden asked firmly.
Morgan twisted the empty bottle in her hands, smiling, and not saying a word.
"You are not initiating a game of Spin the Bottle."
"You're no fun," Morgan whined. "It's a classic party game"
"Inappropriate," he corrected. "Inappropriate is the word you were looking for."
"No fun," she repeated, setting the drink container down, and poking him in the chest with her index finger. "Some of our friends over there could use the excuse. You should see all the flirting going on. Oh, but wait," she said, pausing to bring a finger to her chin. "You're over here, so how could you?" She shook her head in mock disappointment. "No fun."
"Morgan," he said flatly.
"Hmm?"
"Rae knows," he said, trying to change the subject, and inform her of the change in events.
"Know about what?" she asked obliviously.
"Operation White Hare."
Kayden was surprised that Morgan did not appear shocked or worried. "No, she doesn't."
"How are you so sure?" Kayden knew what he'd clearly heard Rae suggest.
Morgan chuckled. "She may have noticed some flirting, but I think she's just trying to distract you so you don't see that," Morgan said, tilting her head toward the living room so he'd look.
Kayden followed her lead, and peered into the living room. There, he saw Jayden perched on the side of the couch leaning over, arm resting on the back to hold him up, whispering something in Rae's ear.
"Oh," Kayden muttered as he made the realization.
"Yup," Morgan stated. "So, don't worry so much, alright? I got this. I told you."
Morgan was getting ready to return, and Kayden felt the sudden urge to keep her to himself for a minute. "Hey."
Morgan looked at him like he'd grown two heads.
"I didn't get a chance to tell you how well the dance turned out. You have a knack for it."
Morgan grabbed a soda and pulled the tab back, the top popping as the carbonation rushed to the surface. "Thanks?"
"It's just, I know you're going to be a star - your words - but, if California or New York aren't kind to you, I think you could make a good living planning events."
After a moment of staring back with an unreadable face, Morgan finally spoke. "I think I'm supposed to take that as a compliment?"
"You are," he assured.
She took a drink, and looked at him with suspicion. "Are you trying to offer me a job throwing events in the off-season, Kayden?"
"I would never." He smiled and continued, "But, if you ever applied, I wouldn't overlook the application just because you've been a pain in the rear."
Morgan smirked. "I might actually miss you, you big doof."
Kayden nudged her back into the party.
He'd miss her, too.