Chapter Twelve – This is Really Awkward
"I really don't know if it was such a good idea to lock two hormonal teenagers in a fish cabin together over night!" Blaineley stresses to Chris and Chef.
"Well it's too late now, why didn't you say something when we were locking them in last night?" Chris asks.
"I didn't think you were serious!" Blaineley claims.
"Oh relax, what's the worst that could have happened?" Chef scoffs. Blaineley raises an eyebrow meaningfully. Chef just rolls his eyes.
"That's exactly what needed to happen for those two to stop biting each others heads off," Chef informs her. Blaineley groans.
"I'm so going to get fired," she says, shaking her head. "She better not get pregnant!" Chef just laughs and goes to let Courtney and Duncan out of the fish cabin. He unlocks the door and opens it, letting the sunshine stream in. He gives a satisfied smile at the view that awaits him. Duncan and Courtney, both half naked, have their arms around each other and are sleeping soundly and Chef thinks he can definitely see smiles on both their faces.
"Wake up, lovebirds!" he shouts banging his fist against the door. Duncan and Courtney look up groggily. Courtney hurries to covers her chest when she realises the situation. Chef laughs and walks away.
"Breakfast in ten minutes!" he calls behind him.
"Oh my god," Courtney says as she searches for her clothes. Duncan easily locates his shirt and slips it over his head. "That was so embarrassing."
"Relax, princess, it was only Chef. I'm pretty sure he and Chris are a thing," Duncan assures her. He picks up her shirt and throws it at her.
"I can't find my bra!" Courtney says frantically.
"Just leave it," Duncan says, standing up.
"It was really expensive!" Courtney protests.
"Well we'll come and look for it later. Meanwhile, this shirt stinks of fish and I need to change it before breakfast," Duncan says. Courtney buttons her top up and puts her sweater back on.
"Duncan, wait," Courtney says grabbing his arm. "Let's not tell anyone about… last night, okay?" she says. Duncan looks at her for a moment before nodding once.
"Okay, I won't say anything," he agrees. "But I can't guarantee they don't already know," he warns.
"What do you mean?" Courtney asks worriedly.
"Well, you were pretty loud last night," he sniggers.
"I was not!" Courtney denies, blushing. Duncan raises his eyebrows at her.
"Oh Duncan, I need you, fuck me harder!" Duncan imitates, putting on a high pitched voice.
"I did not say that!" she argues, hitting him in the arm.
"Ow," Duncan laughs, "Okay, but you would have had we been able to go further," Duncan declares.
"Just don't say anything, okay?" Courtney says.
"Relax, princess, I won't say a word!" Duncan assures her.
"Thanks. Now you should really change that shirt because you stink!" she says condescendingly, sauntering off to her cabin. Duncan chuckles to himself and walks after her.
"And stop looking at my ass!" Courtney calls back to him. Duncan laughs again, wondering how she knew.
Duncan enters his cabin where DJ and Harold are reading a National Geographic magazine on DJ's bed. Duncan throws off his shirt and begins searching for a new one.
"Hey, Duncan. How was last night?" DJ asks. "Courtney still hate you?"
"It was lame, and yes she does," Duncan replies, turning to face him. "She barely spoke to me the whole night," DJ narrows his eyes and nudges Harold. Harold looks up and also narrows his eyes. He turns his head to the side slightly, staring at Duncan's chest.
"Can I help you, nerdling?" Duncan asks.
"Does that say…?" DJ wonders.
"Yep, definitely," Harold responds.
"What?" Duncan says, looking down at his chest. He sees what the guys are staring at and it has him confused for a second. "What the…?"
"I believe the indentation on your chest says 'Courtney' backwards, in cursive," Harold says. "Is this a new trend where girls mark their property?" Harold wonders.
"Shit." Duncan swears.
"Naw man," DJ laughs. "It's from her bracelet! The one Duncan made her. Maybe she doesn't hate you as much as you say she does." DJ raises his eyebrows.
"Shut up, man. Don't say anything about this to anyone, or else! I told her I wouldn't tell anyone," Duncan curses himself.
"Tell anyone what?" DJ asks. "We'll be quiet but we want some details, right Harold?"
"Totally," Harold agrees.
"I liked it a lot better when you guys were scared of me," Duncan scowls.
"How was your night with Duncan?" Sierra giggles as they enter the dining hall.
"Horrible. He's just as vile as ever," Courtney replies. She looks up to see him already sitting at the table and her heart skitters. I hate myself, she thinks.
"Aw! I thought maybe you two might…"
"Definitely not!" Courtney cuts her off adamantly. Courtney takes her usual place beside Bridgette and across from Duncan and he grins at her. She gives him a warning look but he just winks.
"Did you forgive Geoff?" Courtney asks Bridgette. Bridgette sighs.
"Yeah. Chris was right, campfires have some kind of weird spell casting ability," she says with a shake of her head.
Gwen and Trent walk into the dining hall then, holding hands, the fire last night obviously having worked its magic on them too. In fact, it seems like everyone has forgotten the whole incident as they are all smiling and chatting. All except Heather, who looks a little put out.
"What's up with you?" Gwen asks.
"I found out Alejandro was supposed to be the one to take my underwear!" Heather says, annoyed.
"Uh… but he didn't, so why do you care? Everyone else is over it anyway," Gwen points out.
"But he didn't even try!" Heather complains.
"Wait, did you want him to take your underwear?" Gwen wonders.
"Of course not, ew!" Heather retorts.
"I don't get it…" Gwen says, confused.
"Never mind!" Heather snaps.
"Okay… I'm going to sit with Leshawna," Gwen tells her.
"What, why?" Heather says, outraged.
"She was telling me this funny story this morning and…" Gwen starts.
"Ugh, I don't care!" Heather cuts her off and Gwen rolls her eyes and goes to sit with Leshawna. Heather stares at her breakfast angrily.
"I feel like I neglected you yesterday when I gave you free time, so to make up for it we'll be doing a series of trust exercises! Let's see how much you guys have got to trust each other over the last few days!" Chris declares. He has the students in a group in front of him, standing on the grass behind the cabins. They all groan at the mention of more trust exercises. "Split into your two groups, Bass over here and Gophers over there. Now stand in a circle!" Chris instructs.
They do as he instructs, wondering where this is going.
"Hey, dude, switch with Bridgette, I want to stand next to her," Geoff whispers to Duncan. Duncan gives Geoff a withering look to let him know how pathetic he is, but he grabs Bridgette by the shoulders and relocates her to his spot so he now stands between her and Courtney.
"Happy?" he says to Geoff. Geoff nods and Duncan folds his arms, glancing at Courtney beside him. She eyes him warily. "Geoff's idea, not mine." Duncan clarifies.
"Make sure you're as close as you can get to each other. Your shoulders have to touch!" Chris informs them. Everybody follows the command. "Okay, now everyone turn and face your left! And move in closer again…"
"I really hope this has a purpose," Courtney says to the back of Sierra's head as she feels Duncan's body against her back.
"Okay, put your hands on the person in front of you," Chris instructs.
"My shoulders will be fine, thanks Duncan," Courtney warns him. Duncan chuckles and places his hands on her shoulders.
"Okay, now sit down," Chris says. Izzy immediately follows orders but falls to the ground because everyone else is still standing, giving Chris looks of confusion. "Just do it already!" Chris snaps. Izzy stands up again and takes her position.
"I don't understand why we're doing this," DJ complains.
"If we all sit down, Owen will be sitting on me and I do not know if this booty can handle that!" Leshawna calls out. "No offence, honey," she tacks on.
"None taken!" Owen replies.
"Aw, I wish I was the one sitting on Leshawna's lap," Harold sighs.
"Could you all just do as I say so I can give you the next instruction?" Chris demands in a whiny voice.
"Okay, we have to all sit at once, are we'll fall," Courtney says, taking charge. "So when I count to three everyone sit," she commands.
"Do we sit on three or after three?" asks Sadie.
"On three," Courtney says.
"Really? I kinda think it should be after three," Sadie differs.
"I totally agree Sadie, I think it would be easier for everyone," Katie says.
"Ugh, fine, everyone sit after three!" Courtney concedes. "Ready? One, two, three." Everyone sits, as does everyone in the other group.
"Wow, this is really awkward!" Sierra giggles.
"You don't know the half of it," Courtney mutters, hating herself for enjoying the sensation of sitting in Duncan's lap.
"Okay now that you're all comfortable," Chris continues, "you're all going to try walking!" Chris laughs.
"Like this?!" Heather scowls from where she is wedged between Lindsay and Gwen.
"Yes like that! You'll have to figure out a way to walk around in a full circle so you end up standing where you are now," Chris tells them.
"We could totally just not move! That would be the smartest way to stay where we are," Lindsay suggests, thinking she's come up with an ingenious idea.
"Except you have to move!" Chris says patronisingly.
"Ohhh…" Lindsay nods.
"Alright, off you go!" Chris waves at them to get on with it.
"Let's start with our outside leg and move in a rhythm," Courtney proposes to her team. "Okay? Outside," everyone lifts their outside leg and steps forward, "inside – oh!" she gasps as she feels something hard pressing into her ass.
"Everything okay, Court?" Bridgette asks.
"Um, yeah," she assures her, turning slightly red.
"Can you control yourself?" she hisses to Duncan.
"Sorry, babe, but I can't help it," Duncan chuckles. "Especially after last night…"
"What happened last night?" Bridgette asks. Harold and DJ snicker.
"Yeah, you guys know we can all hear you, right?" Eva says.
"Nothing happened last night! Duncan just wanted it to, and that's apparently why I have to put up with his… thing… poking into my butt right now!" Courtney snaps.
"Don't worry about it Court, it's most likely more uncomfortable for him than it is for you," Bridgette laughs, "especially now that we all now about it."
"I seriously doubt that," Courtney says.
"If it makes you feel any better, Geoff has a raging hard on right now too," Bridgette reveals.
"Hey!" Geoff protests, turning red.
"Sorry babe, I'll take care of it later," she giggles.
"Ugh, too much information!" Courtney groans.
"Less talking, more walking!" Chris snaps at them. Courtney's ass rubs against Duncan's erection as they continue the activity and as much as she hates herself for it she can feel herself becoming more aroused with each step and she has to stop herself from purposely grinding her hips against him. This is excruciating, she thinks, biting her lip. Duncan's thoughts are along the same line as he forces himself to keep his hands on her shoulders when he'd really like to put them down the front of her top.
Finally they reach their original positions and Chris allows them to stand up and break the circle.
"Well done everyone, I hope you enjoyed that," he sniggers. "Now for our next activity I'm going to need you in pairs!"
"Ooh, can we go with people in the other group?" Sierra asks.
"Sure, why not?" Chris shrugs.
"Eeeee! Cody, you're my partner!" Sierra rushes over to him and squeezes him tightly. Courtney huffs as she had been about to ask Sierra to be her partner. She glances around to see Duncan smirking at her.
"No way," she says. "You are not my partner."
"Everyone else already has a partner," Duncan points out.
"Surely not…" she says hopefully.
"Who doesn't have a partner?" Chris asks. Duncan and Courtney put their hands up as do Heather and Leshawna. "Right, you two together," he points to Leshawna and Heather, "and you two," he gestures to Courtney and Duncan.
"Can't I go with Heather?" Courtney whines.
"I agree, I am so not going with this loser!" Heather asserts
"If you'd been quicker you could have chosen your own partners!" Chris snaps. "Everyone spread out! One person in your pair is person A and one person is person B," Chris informs them.
"I'm person A," Courtney declares. Duncan rolls his eyes.
"Person B close your eyes," Chris instructs. Duncan closes one his eyes but then opens one again to peek at Courtney. She gives him a light slap so he closes it again. "Person A, strike a pose! Something you can hold for a while. Person B will have to use only their hands to work out what the pose is so they can replicate it, all with their eyes closed, of course!"
Duncan grins, hardly believing his luck that he's just been given permission to let his hands roam all over Courtney's body. Courtney curses herself for the thrill at the thought of him touching her all over.
"If you touch me inappropriately I will not hesitate to kick you in the balls," she hisses as she takes her position.
"If you tell me stop, I'll stop," he whispers with a smug grin.
"Okay, person B, start your… exploration!" Chris calls.
"Chris, I really don't think these activities are suitable for teenagers," Blaineley tells him. "They really aren't mature enough to take them seriously! Most of them are just happy they get to feel up their girlfriends…" Blaineley says, watching Tyler grab Lindsay's butt.
"Oh will you lighten up Blaineley? This is a proper trust exercise that I learnt at a drama conference." Chris shakes his head in exasperation and Blaineley once again tells herself she'll probably get fired.
Duncan starts by putting his hands on Courtney's face. She stands completely still as his fingers glide down her neck to her shoulders and start to make their way down her arms, which are both quite unoriginally placed on her hips. Courtney glances around at the other pairs, some of whom have come up with some quite spectacular poses, although they look utterly ridiculous.
Duncan's hands reach Courtney's own hands where they linger for a moment before he removes them to see how her legs are positioned.
"You aren't even going to try and touch my boobs?" she asks, surprised.
"I thought I might try taking the activity seriously," Duncan replies.
"Why? We both know it's a total waste of time, just like this entire camp," Courtney says snootily.
"Are you giving me permission?" Duncan asks.
"Um…" Courtney says uncertainly. Am I? she wonders. Truth be told her breasts are aching for him to touch them, as is another certain place in her body. But then again, they are in full view of everyone else, even if they are all focused on their own activity. "No." she decides.
"Alright then." Duncan finishes working out how her legs are positioned and promptly stands how he thinks she's standing. "Am I doing it right?" he asks. Courtney looks at his pose and bursts out laughing, as he is standing like a person in an Egyptian artwork, clearly nothing like Courtney's own pose and he knows it. Duncan opens one eye to look at her, a grin spreading over his face. Damn, she looks gorgeous when she laughs, he thinks, proud that he can make her laugh. He then immediately scolds himself for being so pathetic.
"What?" he says, pretending not to know what's so funny. "Is this not how you're standing?"
"You're an idiot!" she laughs, giving him a playful shove. He grabs her arm and pulls her close to him, his other arm gripping her tightly around the waist so she can't get away.
"Take it back," he says, faux offended.
"Or what?" she challenges, glancing up at him through her lashes.
"Or I'll have to kiss you," he grins. The words send a jolt right through her and she absentmindedly pulls herself closer to him. She doesn't say anything though. "Well?" he says.
"Well what?" she asks, so absorbed in the secure feeling of being wrapped in his arms she's totally forgotten what they're talking about. Duncan looks into her dark eyes, feeling a little nervous for some strange reason. Don't do it, he thinks, if someone sees you'll never hear the end of it, but the pounding of his heart is telling him a different story.
Courtney closes her eyes in anticipation. He's going to kiss me, she thinks, please let him kiss me.
Somebody lets out a wolf whistle and Duncan's arms immediately drop from around Courtney's waist. They whip their heads around to see where the whistle came from, only to find it isn't directed at them at all but at Leshawna and Heather who are wrestling on the ground.
"Yeah, cat fight!" Owen hoots excitedly. Blaineley groans but doesn't bother trying to do anything to stop it, having lost all hope of keeping her job when she returns to school.
"And if you ever suggest that my mama is anything less than perfect again, I will do a lot worse that beat your face up!" Leshawna yells, standing up, obviously having won the fight.
Courtney and Duncan glance at each other nervously. That was close, Courtney thinks. What was I thinking, what if someone had seen? They might think I actually like him! the voice in her head scolds. But you do, says another voice, this one she ignores.
"Okay, I think it might be time for lunch…" Chris decides and they all troop down to the dining hall.