The first breakfast was in full swing when Lucas and Ryan walked into the cafeteria. Ryan grinned when he saw Seth talking to a brunette girl.
"I think Seth met someone new." He pointed.
"Hey, that's Haley!" Lucas exclaimed.
"Haley? Oh, the girl you came with? Is she your girlfriend?" Ryan frowned.
"Nah. More like best friend. I'm really glad she's met someone new too." Lucas smiled.
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"So you're into comics?" Haley smiled politely. She was glad Seth had walked with her to the cafeteria, but was having difficulty understanding anything he was saying. She suddenly spotted Nathan stroll out of the line with his breakfast and sit down at an empty table. Seeing her opportunity, she turned to Seth, "Sorry. I just saw one of my friends from my hometown, I'm going to go say hi."
"Oh, okay." Seth looked crestfallen. "See you around then."
"Bye." Haley felt sorry to leave him, but still hurried off. She took a deep breath and then approached Nathan and sat down across from him. "Hi you." She tried to sound chipper.
He glanced up from his cereal. "Haley." He stated.
"That's me." Haley smiled. "Who were you expecting?"
"No one." Nathan said quickly.
"Listen Nate. I know these past few weeks have been a little…awkward. I guess I haven't been that friendly to you recently." Haley said slowly. "But I think we should make the best of the situation we're in. I guess what I'm trying to say is…can we just start over?"
Nathan looked uncomfortable. "Haley…I don't know. Do you really think we can just…forget everything that happened?"
"Yes. Please Nathan, just forgive me and let's go from there." Haley pleaded.
"Alright." Nathan said thoughtfully. "Let's be friends again."
Haley was disappointed. She hoped he wanted to try being more than friends again, but it was at least a start. She managed a cheerful grin. "Sounds good. Well I'll be seeing you around then." Feeling bold, she gave him a peck on the cheek before walking away.
Once she was out of sight, Nathan groaned. He had no idea what had just happened between him and Haley.
"Hey." A familiar voice startled him out of his thoughts as Marissa slid into the seat next to him.
"Hey." He answered. "So, walk into anyone else on your way here?"
She laughed and punched him on the arm. "Very funny."
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"Eww. Why are there no hot guys here?" Summer complained.
Brooke laughed. "I guess Tim isn't your type?"
Summer shuddered. "Let's talk about a more pleasant subject. Have you found a man yet?"
Brooke scanned the cafeteria and her eyes landed on a tall blonde. "That's the best looking one I've seen so far."
Summer's eyes widened. "Oh my god. That's Luke!"
"Yeah." Brooke looked confused. "I guess you know him already. Isn't he cute?"
"He shaves his chest." Summer said dismissively. "Anyways, he's Marissa's ex."
"Is he?" Brooke said, waving away Summer's first comment. "Well I'm glad they're exes, or else Marissa would have had some tough competition this summer." She noticed Peyton standing in line talking to another guy. "I think Peyton's found a new friend too."
"Ryan?" Summer glanced over and shrugged. "At least he doesn't shave anything. He's Marissa's ex too."
Brooke's eyes widened. "Too? How many guys has Marissa gone out with?"
Summer laughed. "Lots."
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"So ready for the first day of camp?" Peyton smiled at Ryan.
"Yeah, I think so." He replied.
Peyton looked at the schedule posted on the wall. Each day of camp featured an outdoorsy activity that all the campers participated in. "So ready to go canoeing today?" She asked.
"I've never been to a lake before, but it doesn't look too hard." He shrugged.
They were interrupted by the voice of Mrs. Jones. "I hope all of you had a nice breakfast. You'll need it for your hard day ahead. As you all know, we'll be canoeing today. Before we head to the lake, split yourselves up in groups of three or four."
There was a flurry of activity as everyone tried to find a group. Marissa, Nathan, Summer and Tim made one group. Seth, Ryan, Brooke and Peyton made another. A third group was Haley, Anna and Lucas.
There were canoes lined up next to each other around the lake. Marissa and Brooke's groups found neighboring canoes, but Haley's group was halfway across the lake. There were about 20 instructors that split up between the groups. After a brief introduction and demonstration, they allowed the campers to have a shot at canoeing. The campers were supposed to get into the canoe and row themselves around the lake a few times. Marissa, Summer, Nathan and Tim donned the bright orange life vests ("Eww. I don't do orange." Summer whined) and got into their canoe. Nathan sat in front, followed by Marissa and Summer and Tim sat in the back.
"Well, ready to go?" Nathan turned around.
"Wait. We actually have to do something?" Summer raised an eyebrow. "Can't you two handle this on your own?"
"Of course we could." Tim piped up. "But that would defeat the whole purpose of TEAMWORK!"
Marissa laughed. "C'mon Sum, let's give it a shot."
Summer frowned. "You go for it Coop. I don't want to break a nail."
"Sum!"
"Okay, okay. I'll try." Summer reluctantly placed her paddle into the water. After a few attempts, they finally began to paddle in sync and joined the other canoes going around the lake.
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Meanwhile Brooke, Peyton, Ryan and Seth had also settled into their canoe with Ryan in front and Seth in back. Brooke sat behind Peyton who sat behind Ryan. "So this doesn't seem too hard eh?" Seth attempted to paddle the canoe by himself.
Ryan rolled his eyes and motioned for Peyton and Brooke to help him out. The four of them began to move and also joined the rest of the campers going around the lake.
"Doing okay back there?" Ryan shouted over his shoulder.
"Yeah. I'm having fun." Peyton grinned.
"Fun?" Brooke said in disbelief. "My hair is a mess, my shirt is wet, my nails are ruined and this rowing is so hard!"
"Hey look on the bright side." Seth said helpfully. "The scenery is nice."
"Yes. At least there's that." Brooke said sarcastically.
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Nathan, Marissa, Summer and Tim had already gone around the lake twice. Growing bored, Tim whined, "Man, this blows. I thought this camp would be fun."
"Just keep rowing." Nathan rolled his eyes.
"Let's make this boat do something cool." Tim said excitedly. "I wonder if we could do a 360."
"Tim." Nathan warned. But it was too late, Tim had started to push the canoe around. Nathan tried to continue going around the lake and Marissa and Summer pulled their paddles out of the water, confused at what to do next. Suddenly, the canoe jerked to one side as both boys rowed in opposite directions. The canoe began to tip over…
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Lucas's head snapped up when he heard a shriek. He looked up just in time to see a canoe tip over in the distance. "Man, that sucks." He said to Haley and Anna.
"Yeah, I'm glad it wasn't us." Anna agreed.
"Poor things, whoever they are." Haley added.
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Marissa came out of the water gasping for air. "Sum?" She spluttered.
Summer had also emerged, she was flapping her arms trying to stay on top of the water. "Ahhhhhh!" She screamed.
Marissa felt strong arms go around her. "You okay?" Nathan said next to her.
"I…I think so." She said, suddenly at a loss for words.
He swam them to the side of the lake where they got out, dripping wet. Summer had reluctantly let Tim lead her to land and ran out once she found her footing. "Coop! This sucks. I want to go home!" She shrieked.
A group of instructors ran up before Marissa could reply. They handed each of them a towel and left them to dry off near where Mrs. Jones was sitting after giving them a talk about fooling around. "Nice first day huh?" Nathan grinned at Marissa.
She laughed. "Yeah, not really what I was expecting."
He scooted closer to her and they talked until the other campers began to get out of their canoes. They were allowed to walk back to their cabins to shower and change for dinner before everyone else. Summer practically sprinted to get back to her cabin to change and get away from Tim. Marissa and Nathan parted a little more reluctantly.
"He's really into you." Summer said as soon as the both of them were safe in their cabin.
"Really?" Marissa's eyes lit up.
"Sweetie, I know whipped when I see it." Summer assured her.
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