Thanks to Mayalala for the idea for this contest! This story got away from me a little bit, but I hope everyone has as much fun reading it as I did writing it!
The sun is just starting to dip behind the mountains, reflecting silver and gold on the glassy surface of the lake, when the bus rumbles up the gravel driveway and pulls to a stop under a wooden arch carved with the words "Camp Lakewood."
Jess and Cece stumble down the bus steps and emerge, squinting, into the sunlight, both feeling sleepy and disoriented after their long trip from Portland. After extracting their luggage from the pile on the ground, Cece yawns and looks around, taking in the spectacular views of mountains, trees and lake with equal indifference.
"Where to?" she asks Jess, shouldering her hot pink duffel bag. Jess points in the direction of a group of kids their age shuffling towards a blue clapboard building and she and Cece fall into step behind them.
This would not just be their first summer as counselors but their first at Camp Lakewood as well. For the past six years, Jess and Cece had spent every summer together at Camp Onondaga, an all-girls camp in upstate New York, learning swimming, boating and the art of the well-crafted feminist rant. Jess had nearly cried when she'd come home from school one day several months ago to find the returned application on the kitchen table, along with a form letter explaining that Camp Onondaga had been sold to real estate developers. But half an hour later, she'd been on her computer, researching new summer camps.
"This Camp Lakewood in the Adirondacks sounds perfect," she'd told Cece excitedly on the phone that night.
"I don't know, Jess, don't you think we're a little too old for camp?" Cece had asked. For Cece, the last six summers had been a nightmare of mosquito bites, frizzy hair and no boys for 10 miles and she'd been secretly relieved to hear that the Camp Onondaga had closed down. She had already made plans to get a summer job at the boutique at the mall – the 20 percent employee discount would've guaranteed her a spot on the 11th grade "Best Dressed" list come fall—and spend the rest of the time lying by the pool in her backyard, working on her tan.
"It's co-ed," Jess had told her and Cece had almost reconsidered. Almost.
Cece had spent the next week trying to figure out how to tell Jess that she would not be going to camp that summer. She has just about worked up the nerve when her mom had come home and announced that her grandmother had fallen down the stairs and broken her hip and that she would be going to India for the summer to take care of her. She'd given Cece a choice: spend the summer in New Delhi with her or at camp with Jess. Suddenly, summer in the Adirondacks hadn't sounded so bad. Reluctantly, Cece had dropped her application in the mail the following afternoon.
Nick and Winston shoulder their way through the crowded dining hall where the other counselors are gathered for the first day of orientation.
"Man, there are some fine-looking ladies here this summer," Winston comments, looking around the room. Nick shakes his head.
"'Fine-looking ladies?'" he repeats. "Take it down a notch, Winnie. That's not what this summer is about."
"Maybe not for you," Winston says. He looks over at Nick. "Listen, Caroline dumped you, man. Time to move on. There are other fish in the…" He trails off and gives a two-figured salute to a girl with cornrowed hair who rolls her eyes and turns away to giggle with her friends. Nick smiles and slaps him on the back consolingly.
Nick and Winston had been coming to Camp Lakewood every summer since they were nine. That year, they'd shared a cabin with a chubby kid from Long Island who had instantly become the target of their cabinmates' teasing. Feeling sorry for him, Nick had finally told the other kids to back off, with the result that all three of them had become the cabin outcasts. Somehow over the course of the summer, the boy had gone from annoying sidekick to unlikely friend, and every summer since, they had been an inseparable trio.
Now Nick and Winston spot the boy sitting at a table by the window and make their way through the throngs of teenagers to join him.
"Schmidt!" Nick calls to him.
Schmidt looks up and immediately leaps to his feet, giving Nick a bone-crushing hug and Winston a tentative fist-bump.
"The three musketeers back together again!" he says, grinning at them both. "It almost makes up for having to spend the summer with a bunch of youths."
"Yeah, it's gonna be great, Schmidty," Nick agrees, taking a seat beside him. Schmidt scans the room and his mouth falls open.
"Who's that?" he asks, pointing with his chin and other two boys follow his gaze across the room to a tall, lithe girl with honey-brown skin and a sheet of dark glossy hair. Winston gives a low, appreciative whistle.
"She's like a caramel goddess!" Schmidt says in an awed voice. He turns to them, grinning and rubbing his hands together. "Gentlemen, I think I have found this summer's project!"
Nick snorts. "Dream on," he mutters. Ever since Schmidt had lost his baby fat two summers ago, his self-confidence had skyrocketed to delusional portions.
Nick's eyes slide from the dark-haired beauty to the girl sitting next to her, with wide blue eyes and wavy hair pulled back into a ponytail. Chin resting on her hand, she's staring off into the distance, a dreamy expression on her face, oblivious to the hoards of people around her. He feels the corners of his mouth tug up into a smile.
A woman standing in the middle of the room with a clipboard and a bright yellow Camp Lakewood t-shirt waves her arms to get their attention and introduces herself as Sandra. In the great tradition of camp directors, she has an overabundance of pep and launches into a long speech about how EXCITED she is for them to be here and what a GREAT summer they're all going to have together.
Nick's attention starts to wane long before Sandra turns to the list she's holding and starts reading off their activity assignments. He's only half listening until he hears his name being called.
"What?" he says, jerking his head up and looking around, confused. A few of the other counselors giggle.
Sandra looks at him over the top of her clipboard. "Are you Nicholas Miller?" she asks. He nods. "And where's Jessica Day?"
"Here," he hears a voice say and he turns to see the blue-eyed girl raising her hand.
Sandra consults the clipboard. "Nicholas and Jessica, you're assigned to canoeing." She continues on with the list. Jess looks over at Nick and their eyes meet. She smiles and waves at him and he raises his hand in response. When Sandra finishes reading off the list (Schmidt and Winston have been assigned to basketball; Cece to arts and crafts) and dismisses them, Nick walks over to where Jess is standing.
"Hi. Jessica, right?" he says, holding out his hand. She smiles.
"You can call me Jess," she says, taking his hand and shaking it.
"Jess," he repeats. "I'm Nick. Nice to meet you."
Canoeing turns out to be a pretty easy assignment. Every morning after dragging canoes, paddles and life jackets from the boathouse and reminding the campers of the safety rules, Nick and Jess retreat to the end of the pier that juts out into the middle of the lake, affording them the perfect vantage point to watch over their charges.
Sitting across from each other on the wooden slats, they each keep an eye on one side of the lake, backs resting against the wooden posts of the dock, knees bent, feet almost but not quite touching. They talk for hours, their conversation punctuated with occasional shouts of "Sit down, ya idiots!" and "Keep your oars to yourselves or I'll get Sandra down here, I mean it!"
At first their exchanges are casual – they trade stories about previous summers at camp, chat about school and their plans for after graduation. But soon, Nick finds himself telling Jess about his unreliable dad and the strain of taking care of his mom and little brother and Jess is confiding in Nick about her parents' divorce and how hard it is to be caught in the middle of their constant bickering.
And okay, Nick is sort of cute in a scruffy, rumpled kind of way and Jess is pretty adorable when she sings to herself or tells goofy jokes or twists her hair around her finger.
But they also drive each other crazy – Nick is grumpy almost all the time and Jess never shuts up, even for five minutes. And sometimes they make each other so mad that they don't talk for hours and sit back to back instead of face to face and watch the other side of the lake for a while. But eventually, someone always gives in and apologizes and by the end of the afternoon, they're back to being friends.
It's easy being around Nick, and Jess likes how simple their friendship is. And then Cece has to step in and make everything complicated.
"He totally likes you," Cece whispers at the campfire one night, after Nick sees Jess shiver and drapes his flannel shirt around her shoulders.
"No way," Jess says. "We're just friends."
"I've seen the way he looks at you. He does not want to be your friend," Cece says, then adds, "And Schmidt thinks so too!"
Jess rolls her eyes. Cece has been complaining all summer how annoying Schmidt is, so she had been surprised to find them a week ago making out behind the boathouse. And although Cece insists that ew, she definitely doesn't like him, shut up, it hasn't stopped her from sneaking off to the boys' side of camp every chance she gets.
And even though Jess is sure Cece is wrong about Nick, she can't get her friend's words out her head. By the following Friday, she's so worked up that she can hardly look at Nick without feeling her stomach flip-flop.
The weather is not helping things.
It's over 90 degrees and Nick takes off his shirt as soon as they settle on the dock, giving Jess an unobstructed view of his torso. He doesn't have Schmidt's six-pack but Jess is still appreciative of his tanned, muscular shoulders and the fine, curly hair trailing from his chest to below his bellybutton. She's finding it harder than usual to concentrate on the campers.
Feeling a little bold, she tugs up the hem of her t-shirt a few inches to get some sun on her stomach and now it's Nick who can't pull his eyes away from that exposed strip of smooth white skin. Both feeling suddenly flustered, they sit for several minutes in silence, studiously avoiding each others' eyes.
"Counselors' night off tonight," Nick says finally, just for something to say and Jess, grateful for a topic of conversation, nods enthusiastically.
"Yeah, thank god! These kids are driving me crazy." They smile at each other for the first time all day. "What do you think we'll do?"
Nick shrugs. "These things always go the same way: someone smuggles in booze, we go down to the beach and Schmidt spends half the night trying to convince the girls to play strip poker with him." Jess giggles.
"Thanks for the warning." She chances a glance in his direction and finds him looking at her. They both redden and duck their heads again and the silence resumes.
Even Nick can't help noticing that Jess has been acting weird lately. He wonders if it has anything to do with what Schmidt has been teasing him about for the last few days. Maybe (and he can't believe he's even thinking this) Schmidt is right.
Nick clears his throat and rubs the back of his neck nervously. "Hey Jess, maybe tonight you and I can…" he starts.
"Yeah?" Jess says, a little breathlessly, looking up.
But Nick has jumped to his feet, shielding his eyes with his hand and peering at something on his side of the lake, whistle clamped between his lips. He gives it a shrill tweet and shouts, "Hey! What did I say about trying to climb into each other's boats? Now sit down or you clowns can spend the rest of the day watching from the beach!"
Jess watches the muscles in his arms ripple and vein stand out in his neck when he yells. The combination of the heat and her nerves has made her flushed and sweaty. She pushes her damp bangs from her forehead.
"Um, y-you started to say something?" she stutters as he sits down. But the interruption has made Nick lose his nerve.
"Did I?" he says, like a coward. "I forget." And before Jess can say anything more, he launches into a story about the time he and Winston piled all of Schmidt's belongings into a canoe and pushed it out into the middle of the lake. Jess barely pays attention.
By the time Jess and Cece arrive at the lake that night, most of the other counselors are already there. Jess spots Nick and the guys walking from the opposite direction and together they join the circle gathering around the glowing embers of the dying campfire. The others are passing around a flask of amber-colored liquid and it burns Jess's throat when she takes a sip.
After a while, the group grows restless and someone suggests a game of Truth or Dare. A tall blonde girl who teaches dance goes first and is dared to make out with the broad-shouldered soccer coach (Jess notices them sneaking off to the boathouse a few minutes later). The boy who runs the projector on movie night confesses his crush on the tennis counselor, who turns beet red and inches away from him.
When it's Schmidt's turn, he cheerfully admits to "self-completing" three times a day, then leans forward on his elbows to look at Jess.
"Okay, Jessica, truth or dare?"
Jess is on the verge of saying "Truth," but she takes one look at Schmidt's smirk and the way his eyes are flitting between her and Nick and knows exactly what question he is going to ask her. She takes a deep breath.
"Dare," she says firmly, staring Schmidt down.
Schmidt's grin falters for a second, then returns. He narrowed his eyes.
"Okay, then," he says. "I dare you, Jessica Day, to go to Cabin 4D."
Several people gasp. Jess looked around the circle. A few of the other counselors look as puzzled as she is, but most are staring at Schmidt in shock or giving each other nervous sidelong glances.
"What's Cabin 4D?" she asks uneasily. For a long moment, no one speaks.
"It's a cabin about a mile out into the woods," Winston offers at last. "Used to be the old groundskeeper's cabin but it's been abandoned for years."
"It's haunted!" Schmidt chimes in with an attempt at a spooky voice, holding a flashlight under his chin. "Legend has it a couple of kids snuck out there years ago to, you know, do it," his eyes dart to Nick and then back to Jess, his mouth twisting into a smile, "and vanished. Campers who have been out there swear they've seen their ghosts wandering around, moaning and calling for each other."
"It's just a dumb story," Nick interjects. "Cabin 4D is just an old cabin in the woods that no one uses anymore because it's falling apart." He turns to look Jess straight in the eye. "It's not haunted."
Jess nods, swallowing hard. Even if the cabin isn't haunted, she doesn't like the idea of going off into the woods by herself at night. But there is no way she is going to give Schmidt the satisfaction of seeing her back down. She turns to Schmidt. "What do I have to do?"
Schmidt hesitates. He hadn't meant for things to go this far, but he can't let her off the hook now. "Just go inside, take a picture with your phone and come back. Easy peasy."
He briefly gives her directions and Jess stands, brushing the sand off her shorts, and picks up her flashlight. As she turns to walk away, Cece calls after her, "Jess, you don't have to do this! It's just a stupid game."
Jess turns back to give her friend a reassuring smile. Over Cece's shoulder, she can just make out Nick's face in the fading light. He's looking at her intently, his expression unreadable. They lock eyes.
"I'll be fine," she says.
She turns and walks up the small strip of beach to the camp. When she rounds the other side of the dining hall, the noise and light from the lake are cut off completely, as if someone has flipped a switch, and she is enveloped in total silence. Noiselessly, she crosses the deserted grounds and makes her way towards the thick woods that surround the camp. At the edge of the trees she pauses, summoning the depths of her courage, then flicks on her flashlight and directs the narrow beam at the overgrown path at her feet. With a deep breath, she plunges into the forest.
The canopy of leaves overhead blocks out the moonlight entirely and as Jess walks, the darkness and silence press in around her. A knot of dread forms in her stomach but she pictures Schmidt's smug face and forces herself to push on. Behind her, she hears a twig snap and reminds herself sternly that ghosts don't exist.
Suddenly, she hears heavy footsteps crashing through the underbrush close by and sees an orb of light bouncing off a bush to her left. Heart pounding, she turns around. Nick is jogging down the path behind her, his flashlight bobbing up and down with his movement.
"What are you doing here?" she whispers when he reaches her.
"I couldn't let ya come out here alone," he says, panting slightly. He shoves his hands into his pockets. "Who knows what's in these woods?"
Jess has never been so glad to see anyone in her entire life. She wants to throw her arms around his neck and bury her face in his flannel shoulder. Instead, she nods and says, "Thanks. And try to walk a little quieter. Someone's going to hear us and I don't want to get caught."
They walk along the path in silence for several minutes. Jess is about to ask Nick if he's sure he knows where he's going when they turn a corner and the silhouette of a small building looms in the darkness before them.
With one glance, Jess can see that Cabin 4D has earned its reputation. The paint is faded and peeling, the windows boarded up, the hinges of the door pocked with rust. There's a gapping hole in the roof and the entire building appears to sag in the middle. A patch of moonlight bathes the empty cabin in an eerie glow.
"Come on, let's get this over with," Nick says. "Ghosts or no ghosts, I don't like the feel of this place." Jess follows him up the path and together they pry open the front door, which swings open with an unsettling creak, like something out of horror movie. The inside is nearly empty and covered in a thick layer of dust. Jess sweeps the beam of her flashlight around the small room.
"Do you think the story is true?" she asks Nick in a whisper. "I mean, not the ghosts. But the part about the kids vanishing out here?" Her mind is already busy imagining all the ways a couple of kids could disappear from the woods in the middle of the night.
"No, Jess, I told you, it's just a story," Nick says. "Something counselors tell kids to keep them from doing exactly what we're doing now."
At that moment, they both hear a scraping sound coming from outside. Whimpering, Jess reaches out and clutches Nick's arm, eyes wide with fear.
"It's just the wind," Nick says reassuringly. Jess nods and releases her grip. Nick feels a warm tingle where her hand had been.
"Give me your phone," he says. "I'll take the picture and we can get out of here." She reaches into her back pocket.
There's a loud thud on the roof and Jess shrieks and stumbles into Nick, hiding her face in his chest. Instinctively, Nick wraps a protective arm around her waist and rests his chin on the top of her head. For a moment they stand perfectly still, holding their breath and listening intently, but hear nothing more.
"Just the wind," Nick mutters again, sounding less convinced.
Feeling self-conscious, Jess pulls away slightly and lifts her head to look at Nick. His face is inches from hers and he's looking down at her.
"Sorry about that," she whispers.
"S'okay," he says. He doesn't let go of her waist. Their chests are pressed against each other and she can feel the thudding of his heart, or is it hers? They're still staring into each other's eyes.
"Nick, I..." she starts to say but he cuts her off by pressing his lips to hers. The kiss is more forceful than she had imagined it would be, almost aggressive, a summer's worth of pent-up feelings fighting their way to the surface. Caught off guard, Jess starts to stumble backward but Nick's arm is firm around her. Regaining her balance, she kisses him back, parting her lips a little bit. Their teeth click and Jess gives a tiny squeak that's muffled by Nick's mouth. After a moment, they find their rhythm and Jess shuts her eyes tight, trying to memorize every detail of this moment.
She has been kissed before, but never like this. Her knees feel slightly weak and she's glad Nick's arm is there to steady her. He pulls her more tightly to him and she slides a hand around the back of his neck.
Suddenly, they hear a loud crash just outside the door. Startled, Jess jumps and bites down hard on Nick's tongue. With a yelp of pain and surprise, he pulls away and for a moment they stare at each other, both flushed and breathing hard.
"I think something's out there," Jess whispers finally. Nick nods.
"Get behind me, Jess," he whispers hoarsely. He snatches up a broken broom handle he sees in the corner of the room and inches toward the door, Jess close behind. Hand on the knob, he turns to her and mouths "One, two, three," then raising the broom handle above his head, shoves the door open.
Over Nick's shoulder, Jess sees a dark heap lying on the ground in front of the doorway. As she stares, the heap starts to move and separates into three figures.
"Ow, get off me!" one of the figures says and Jess recognizes the voice.
"Nick, stop!" she shouts and Nick halts his arm in midair.
Jess trains her flashlight beam on the heap and sees Cece, Schmidt and Winston staring up at her from the ground, a tangle of arms and legs. A broken ladder lies beside them. When they see Nick illuminated in the doorway, poised to strike, they all shriek and scramble to their feet, backing away. Nick lowers his arm.
"What the hell are you guys doing here?" Jess hisses, her terror now replaced with fury. Hands on her hips, Cece raises her eyebrows at Schmidt and Winston, who exchange looks.
"We were trying to scare you," Schmidt admits sheepishly.
"They were trying to scare you," Cece corrects. "I saw these two idiots heading towards the woods and figured I better follow and see what they were up to. When I got here, they were on that ladder, looking through a hole in the roof. I was trying to get them to come down when the ladder broke and, well, here we are."
"You jerks!" Jess yells, smacking Schmidt and Winston each on the arm.
"Yeah, not cool, guys," Nick agrees, glaring at his friends.
"Hey, you're lucky that's all we were doing," Schmidt says, rubbing his arm. "Prankie Muniz over here wanted to light the cabin on fire. While you were inside."
Winston shuffles his feet guiltily. "I'm not good at pranks," he admits, shrugging.
"Can we just go now?" Cece asks with a shiver. "This place gives me the creeps. I think we can all agree that Jess has more than met her dare."
They all nod and turn to head for the trail, but Jess pauses. "Hey, um, guys, how long were you up there spying on us?" she asks the two boys.
Schmidt's eyes light up and Jess is immediately sorry she asked. "You mean did we witness you and Nicholas playing tonsil hockey a few minutes ago?" he asks. "The answer, Jessica, is a resounding 'Yes.'"
Cece, who has been busy combing pine needles from her hair, looks up with interest.
"You guys kissed?" she asks, looking from Nick to Jess. Jess feels her cheeks grow hot and glances at Nick. His chin is set and he looks around the group defiantly.
"Yeah, we did," he says, a challenge in his voice. "So what?"
"Sooo, I was right!" Schmidt whoops triumphantly. "I knew you two crazy kids would get together eventually."
"Yeah, we're happy for you, man," Winston says, clapping Nick on the shoulder. Cece beams at Jess, her eyes telegraphing, "You will tell me everything later." Jess can't help grinning back.
"Well, now that that's settled, can we please head back to camp?" Schmidt asks, rubbing at a smudge of dirt on the back of his pants. "You have no idea how long it's going to take to get these stains out of linen."
As they all head back up the path, Jess and Nick lag behind the others. Jess feels a familiar flutter in her stomach, but this time it's as much from excitement as nerves. After walking in silence for a few moments, she remembers something and turns to Nick.
"Sorry about your tongue," she says and he laughs.
"It's okay," he says, running the sore spot gingerly against his upper lip. "Next time we do that, I'm sure we'll be better at it."
Jess's heart swells at his words. Next time! He wants there to be a next time!
"Yeah," she agrees with a giggle. "I definitely think we need more practice."
In the dark, she reaches for his hand and he laces his fingers with hers. Hand in hand, they walk the path back to camp.