Author's Note: Okay, so I actually updated relatively quickly! I'm very proud of myself (not so much proud of the fact that I neglected doing my Spanish homework last night so I could work on this chapter though…). Hope you guys like it -this chapter's supposed to lead into Ren's first feelings of the more-than-just-friends variety for Tawny. I didn't proofread/edit this chapter as much as I usually do (but, then again, I typically proofread an unhealthy amount of times…). Thanks for all of the reviews, and more comments/criticisms would be much appreciated.

Chapter 2: Fireworks

July (4th) 2002

Knock, knock, knock.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! Ren, you'll never believe it!"

Knock, knock, knock, knock.

"Ren, oh my God, Bobby Deaver is here! Can you believe it?"

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.

"Ren, did you here me? Bobby Deaver is here!" Ruby squealed from the other side of the bathroom door. She had rushed all the way from the other side of the camp into the girl's cabin to tell her best friend the "big" news. Of course, for the short redhead from Brooklyn almost anything was big news –especially if the "anything" involved boys.

Knowing that her friend was easily excited, Ren wasn't impressed in the least. "Who's Bobby Deaver?" she asked coolly as she excited the bathroom and made her way over to her suitcase. She took out a small mirror and some floss, and casually began flossing her teeth.

Ruby looked at her as if she had just put on a gorilla costume and started doing the Macarena. "Ren! How do you not know who Bobby Deaver is? He's… he's… Bobby Deaver! Only the hottest guy ever to walk the halls of Lawrence Junior High!" Ruby shrieked, appalled that her friend didn't know who Bobby was. "And stop flossing, for heaven's sake, that's just weird," she added afterwards.

The taller girl complied with her friend's request, but only to inform her that flossing wasn't weird. "Dental hygiene is important," she said before returning to her flossing.

The redhead rolled her eyes. "It's not as important as saying hi to Bobby Deaver."

"If he's staying for camp, we'll have plenty of time to say hi to him later," Ren pointed out, ever the logical one. "Besides, what's so great about this Bobby Deaver guy? Have you ever even talked to him before?"

Ruby stared at Ren, her mouth agape. "Did you seriously just ask 'What's so great about Bobby Deaver?'" she questioned as if asking that question was blasphemous. "Ren, have you looked at him? He's gorgeous! He's like… like… a work of art! He's… he's… gorgeous!"

The taller girl laughed a little at her friend's exuberance. "And have you ever talked to him before?" she asked again, seeing as the first time she asked, the question had been suspiciously ignored entirely.

"Well… no. Not really," Ruby admitted, slightly defeated. Of course, being Ruby, she quickly bounced back. "And at this rate I never will so let's go already!" she said grabbing Ren by the arm and pulling her out of the cabin. Ren couldn't help but chuckle at how desperate her friend was to say hi to a guy she didn't even know. Sometimes I just don't understand her, the tall brunette thought as she was dragged towards the cabin door.

However, much to Ruby's dismay, a girl struggling with a large suitcase was blocking their way out. She was small, pale, had dark hair and blue eyes and, unlike the rest of the campers, was dressed almost entirely in black. Ren and Ruby stood at the door for several minutes before the girl noticed Ruby clearing her throat loudly. The girl looked up and Ren smiled, recognizing instantly who it was. "Tawny!"

"Oh, hey Ren," Tawny greeted her old friend, returning the smile. "Wow, I haven't seen you since last summer. How've you been?"

"I've been well. And you?" Ren asked, still grinning from ear to ear. Seeing Tawny again was a very pleasant surprise, to say the least. She had thought that for sure last summer was going to be the first and last time Tawny would be going to Camp Wombat –it wasn't exactly her style. And yet here she was, in the flesh, standing outside with her suitcase (which was so large that it looked as if she had prepared to go on a three month trip to Alaska).

"I've been doing alright," Tawny responded, she too with a big smile still plastered on her face. She never would have thought that going to camp would make her feel better, but it did, and although she typically hated things like summer camp, she felt like coming back anyway –if only to get to see Ren and Louis again.

For several moments, neither girl said another word. Most friends, after not seeing each other for a year, would hug –but neither Tawny nor Ren were comfortable with that particular ritual of invading personal space. So rather than hugging, they just stood there staring at each other –while Ruby stared at them both impatiently. "So, uh, you gonna move that suitcase in here or what?" she asked a little more harshly than she would have normally –annoyed that she was wasting valuable time that she could be using to gush over Bobby.

Tawny snapped backed into reality. "Oh, uh, sorry. I just… it's a little heavy," the small girl fumbled with both her words and her suitcase, caught of guard by Ruby's bluntness.

"Here, let me help you with that," Ren said. Together the two girls managed to lift the suitcase up the several wooden steps that lead into the cabin.

"Thanks," Tawny said once they were inside, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Your welcome," Ren said, not able to take her eyes away from the younger girl. She still just couldn't believe Tawny actually came to camp again.

When Ren didn't budge from the spot where she was standing, Ruby shot her an impatient look. "Are you coming?"

Ren shook her head, annoyed that she had zoned out –Ren Stevens never zones out. "Right, Bobby, of course." She started following Ruby out, but stopped midway. "Uh, Tawny, you could come with us if you want. We're just going to be, like, stalking this guy Ruby has a crush on," Ren stammered, frowning for a moment for saying "like".

Ruby also frowned. She's talking about me like I'm just some boy-crazy loser, she thought, the jealousy in her eyes easily visible. And who does she think she is inviting Terri, or whatever her name is, to come with us?

Tawny noticed the glare Ruby was giving her and shook her head. "Thanks, but I should probably stay here and unpack." She was smart enough to realize immediately that Ruby wasn't someone you should mess with.

"I could stay and help you," Ren suggested quickly. She was more than a little eager to spend some time with her newest friend –being the "perfect girl" made it hard to meet new people. Honestly, Tawny was the only new friend she had made in five years.

Tawny smiled weakly, looking at Ruby again –the redhead was still glaring. "Um… no. Thanks… You go with your friend. I unpack faster when I do it myself anyway."

Ren's face fell. "Oh."

Oh? Ruby felt like screaming. What's so great about Tonya?, she thought, getting even more jealous when she saw the disappointed look on Ren's face. "Well, I guess we'll be going then," Ruby said grabbing Ren's arm and dragging her out the door. "Nice meeting you, Tamara!" she called out before slamming the cabin door shut behind her and Ren. "What was that all about?" she asked through gritted teeth as soon as the door was closed.

"What do you mean?" the taller girl asked, not entirely just playing dumb –she genuinely didn't quite know what Ruby was talking about. For being as smart as she was, she could really have trouble reading people sometimes.

Ruby huffed in pure frustration. "I mean why, all of a sudden, are you acting like you're too good for me? What, are you trying to impress Tasha or something?"

"Her name's Tawny," Ren corrected Ruby, instantly regretting doing so. Getting Ruby angrier was the last thing she wanted to do. "I mean… look, I'm sorry if I said something to upset you. It's just, I haven't seen Tawny since last summer and I was just happy to see her again. Alright?"

The redhead paused to think for a moment, the expression on her face changing from anger to bewilderment. "No…" she said slowly. "It's not alright… I mean, why are you even friends with that freak of nature anyway?"

Typically, Ren played nice, but she felt a strong urge to slap Ruby hard for what she had just said. "Freak of nature?" the taller girl repeated. "Who gave you the right to judge people?"

"No one… it's just, come on Ren. You've gotta admit, she's not exactly normal." Ruby scoffed.

And Ren huffed. "Fine, could you tell me what is normal then?"

The redhead looked perplexed for a moment, but she always managed to come out on top during fights –and she was determined to keep her record. "So maybe I can't tell you what normal is… but it's not her, for sure," she spit. Then, satisfied that she had won the argument, she backed down a little, "Look Ren, could we drop this now? Let's just go find Bobby."

The lanky brunette furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't know what was running through Ruby's mind at that moment, but she did know that it made absolutely no sense. She huffed again. "Actually, I have a better idea: you go find Bobby, and I'll stay here with the 'freak of nature'."

Slightly taken aback, Ruby had to take a few seconds to register Ren's words before shouting, "Fine!"

"Fine!" Ren echoed her friend's words, watching Ruby storm away.

000000000000000000000000000000

Laughing hysterically, two girls fell into a patch of soft, slightly overgrown grass. The darkness that surrounded them was interrupted every few feet with tiny specks of blinking green light, fireflies. It was the 4th of July celebration that night and everyone at camp was there –mostly all clumped together in one section of the vast lawn of Camp Wombat. The two girls, however, chose a spot fairly far away from any one else.

"Today was fun," Tawny said as she reclined down onto the grass. She took in a deep breath of the summer air and stared up into the starry sky above. Before going to Camp Wombat, she'd never seen the stars shine so bright –there was too much light pollution in the city.

Ren sighed contentedly and lied down next to Tawny. "Today was fun." It was one of the best days she'd had in a while…

"Did you make up with your friend?"

Except for the fight. "No," Ren answered. No, she and Ruby hadn't made up yet. But it didn't worry Ren all that much; she and Ruby fought from time to time as all good friends do. Besides, "We'll make up eventually."

Tawny rolled onto her side and propped her head up with her arm so she could see Ren's face. She'd always felt that apologies sounded more sincere when you make eye contact with the person you were apologizing to, so she intended to do precisely that. "I'm sorry that I caused a fight between you two. I didn't mean to." Tawny wasn't stupid. She new Ruby was jealous and she new it was because Ren had a friend other than the redhead (for a change).

Ren chuckled. "Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything."

"But-"

"Don't. Don't blame yourself, even if you hadn't have been there, we would've found some other excuse to argue." Ren sighed. She and Ruby, her best friend since before she could remember, had been arguing a lot lately. It just wasn't the same as it was when they were two or three or six or eight or ten. Maybe we just aren't compatible, Ren thought, maybe we were just friends out of convenience. They did live practically next door to each other, after all. Still, the 13 year old didn't like the idea of losing a friend she'd known for so long –even if they didn't get along all the time. Losing something that familiar, that meaningful, it hurts.

The small girl lying to Ren's side breathed in and then out. "I think the fireworks are going to start soon," she said out of the blue, after several minutes of an oddly comfortable silence. She scooted closer to Ren. "My mom always hated fireworks," Tawny said softly, but not souding noticeably upset in anyway.

"Why did your mom hate fireworks?" Ren asked, turning to face Tawny –not realizing how close the smaller girl had scooted towards her. Their faces were barely an inch apart when Ren turned her head; she immediately, and awkwardly, moved back into her original position –her eyes staring up into the sky.

Tawny let out a small laugh, then answered Ren's question. "My mom said fireworks were overused to the point that they had become cliché. She said that they were too loud and smelled bad and that there are plenty of other ways to celebrate."

"Oh," was the older girl's response. She didn't know what to say to that. So, for a few moments at least, she chose not to say anything at all –and, strangely, she felt fine doing so. With Tawny, she felt comfortable just being there; she felt comfortable letting herself relax –not being "perfect" for once in her life. "Do you like fireworks?" Ren asked as the crowd in the middle of the lawn started getting louder –signifying that there were indeed only a couple minutes left before the display would start.

Tawny didn't answer right away, instead taking a moment to really consider the question. "No…," she answered hesitantly at first. "No," she shook her head, "They're cliché." The first spark of colored light exploded in the sky. The two outcasts stared in awe for a moment. "I must admit, they really are beautiful though."

Ren nodded, her eyes fixed on the girl beside her. "They are beautiful," but nowhere near as beautiful as you.