7. Gotta Get Back to Horse Camp

Darren's POV on chapter 7 of As a White Knight on His Steed

2008

Getting that letter from David and Ryan seemed like fate. I mean, how perfect was it that they'd bought the camp and wanted me and Chris to come and work there as riding instructors? Clearly, Chris and I were destined to see each other again, and Ride 'Em Cowboy Ranch Camp – the only place we'd ever been together – was destined to be the location where it happened.

I mean, if it wasn't about the universe trying to bring me and Chris back together, there would have been no possible reason for me to receive that job offer. I was singularly unqualified to work with children. Except, maybe, for the fact that I still kind of was one.

I thought: Oh no – I'll have to pretend that the stuff that the kids are doing is bad. Like if kids are throwing rocks and playing with matches, I have to tell them that's bad, 'cause they're, like, tiny, and that's a terrible thing to do, you can get in a lot of trouble. But when I was a kid, that was like the coolest thing to do, was to throw rocks and play with fire. 'Cause that's what you do when you're a kid, 'cause it's awesome. But when you're a camp counselor, you have to be like 'No, don't do that, that's bad.'

But then I thought: Well, it'll be okay, because we won't actually be counselors. We'll be riding instructors. So all we have to do is teach the kids how to ride. Someone else can tell them not to play with matches.

But then I thought: How can I be a riding instructor? I mean, yeah, I got to be a pretty decent rider after five summers at camp, but to be honest, it was never really about the horses for me. If I'd met Chris at underwater basket-weaving camp, I would have spent every one of those summers weaving baskets under water, just to be near him. That wouldn't necessarily make me qualified to be an underwater basket-weaving instructor…. Now don't get me wrong – I love horses. But does that mean I can teach kids how to ride?

But then I thought: Who cares? I get to spend the summer with Chris! Yay! Gotta get back to horse camp!

And that was my final thought on the matter.

…

Man, it was good to see him again. I'd almost forgotten how much I missed him. I mean, for all of my teenage years up until that moment, he hadn't been around. And I'd gone on about my life, and I was okay, and most of the time I was even happy – 'cause by nature I've always been a pretty happy guy – but all along there'd been something missing, and Wham! – here he was.

Seeing him again was like being struck by lightning, in the best possible way. As though every cell in my body had been electrified, and all of those little atoms were just bouncing around like crazy. Like my blood was filled with champagne bubbles. Which I know in real life would probably kill you, but I didn't feel like I was going to die. Or maybe I felt like I already had, and seeing Chris again was heaven. Too much? Yeah, okay, I know, I get overexcited sometimes. Well, most of the time, when it comes to Chris. Anyway, I was giddy with joy.

The second he stepped out of his car I threw my arms around him. I can't remember exactly what I said, but I know I was babbling something about how much I'd missed him and how great it was to see him.

It felt so good to have him in my arms again. I never wanted to let go, but Chris just gave me a slightly tentative hug before stepping back. Which was okay, because I remembered how it used to take him a few minutes to warm up at the beginning of each summer, after we hadn't seen each other all year. And this separation had lasted six years, so I figured I could give him a little while longer.

"Come on inside," I told him, leading the way into our bunkhouse. "It's kind of small, but we've got the whole place to ourselves. This is gonna be totally awesome!"

I swept my arm out in a grand gesture around the room.

"I put my stuff on the top bunk for old time's sake, but I'll switch if you want," I offered.

"No, that's fine," Chris said. "I'm used to being on the bottom."

His voice hadn't changed – it was still as beautiful as I remembered. But now that I was able to look past my initial elation at seeing him, I could tell there was something a little off in his tone, and in the way he was holding himself.

"Are you okay?" I asked. "You seem tired, or something. I know it's a lot longer drive from Clovis than from San Francisco. Do you wanna take a nap?"

"No, I'm okay," Chris replied. He smiled at me, but it wasn't quite the crinkly-eyed smile I remembered.

"The rest of the summer staff won't be arriving 'til later," I explained. "David and Ryan told me they left a few horses in the corral, if we wanna go for a ride. What do you think?"

"Sure. Just give me a minute to bring my stuff in from the car and go to the bathroom."

…

Well, going for a ride turned out to be a good call. Being around the horses loosened both of us up – I stopped feeling like I was about to bounce out of my skin, and Chris finally relaxed. It was easy, then, to fall into conversation, reminiscing about all of those childhood summers at camp.

By the time we got back from our ride, Chris put my feelings into words perfectly: "I can't believe I'm going to get paid to do this all summer. And I'm really glad I get to do it with you."

End Notes: You have to watch this video of Darren talking about being a camp counselor: youtube dot com slash watch?v=C23lbF5jrfU&feature= &t=4m47s Just take out the spaces, replace the dot with a . and the slash with a / and copy into your browser.

youtube dot com/watch?v=C23lbF5jrfU&feature= &t=4m47s He really does say all of that stuff about throwing rocks and playing with matches. ;D