A/N: Hey guys! Hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! I'm having so much fun writing it!
A/N 2: Thanks to my friend ActorWriterDirector for helping me with a scene in this story.
A/N 3: I don't own the song Campfire Song from the Percy Jackson musical or the ghost story that Robin tells in this story. They both belong to their respected writers.
CHAPTER THREE
(Chapter Title - Just Breathe)
On Thursday, Lily was walking to the beach with Rachel and Phoebe when three boys they didn't know ran by them, completely naked.
"That is something I didn't need to see this afternoon" Rachel said, adjusting her sun glasses.
"Agreed" Lily and Phoebe said in unison.
The girls found spots on the beach and laid out their towels after helping each other put on their sunblock.
"It's such a beautiful day" Rachel said, getting comfortable on her towel.
"Agreed" Lily said, turning to face Rachel, "wanna go for a ride later? Maybe we could see if a big group of us could go for a trail ride."
"I would love that" Rachel said, adjusting her sunglasses.
"Count me in! I love horses!" Phoebe said.
"I'll see if Robin, Monica and the boys wanna go, too" Lily said.
The girls sunbathed for a half hour before going into the warm lake water.
The lake was called Lake Melody and was huge - there was an island in the middle of the lake, but it was off limits to anyone and everyone. The reason given was because the undertow was dangerous and even the strongest of swimmers would drown instantly. There were also several rocks around the island that would tear a kayak or canoe to pieces. The island didn't have a name; it was just called The Island.
There were several kinds of fish in the lake, but no one was allowed to fish - the fish were all rare species.
The girls played several games of Marco Polo, Red Rover and moved to a deeper part of the lake to put their goggles on and swim amongst the fish.
Lily couldn't believe all the fish she saw all around her - they were all shapes and colors. She reached out to touch a fish with rainbow colored scales, but it wouldn't let her get close to it.
Rachel saw several sea turtles swimming about twenty feet in front of them.
Phoebe was in love with the fish, admiring each of them.
The girls surfaced and swam to the beach, seeing the guys who streaked by them.
"Marshall? Barney? Chandler?" Lily asked, her jaw dropping.
"My eyes!" Phoebe and Rachel said in unison, covering their eyes with their towels.
"Hey girls" Marshall said, covering his manhood with his swim trunks.
"We saw you streaking - why?" Phoebe asked, drying her long blonde hair.
"We thought it would be fun, then after going skinny dipping in the lake, we realized that was a really big mistake" Chandler said, pulling a shirt on.
"What Chandler said" Barney said, smiling at Rachel, "but if you like it, Rach, I can stay this way."
"Ew" Rachel said, drying herself off.
"We're gonna shower then go for a trail ride. You guys wanna join us?" Lily asked, grabbing her towel and put her sandals back on.
"I'm not a fan of horses / no thanks / sure" Marshall, Barney and Chandler said in unison.
"Give us fifteen minutes to shower and change into some comfortable clothes" Lily said, grabbing her things.
"I'll meet you in front of your cabin" Chandler said.
Exactly fifteen minutes later, Chandler, Lily, Phoebe, Monica, Rachel, Robin and Marshall headed to the stable.
Meg and Hector helped get their horses - Splash, Monty, Bubbles, Absolute, Vox, Morning Glory and Conn Man - ready to ride.
Chandler rode Splash; Lily rode Absolute; Marshall rode Monty; Rachel rode Bubbles; Monica rode Vox; Phoebe rode Conn Man & Robin rode Morning Glory.
Hector joined them on a reddish-brown mare named Fox. She was actually Vox's twin sister.
Meg also joined them on a gray gelding named Jack-In-The-Box. Jack-In-The-Box, or Jack, was the only Thoroughbred in the barn. Jack had raced, but never won any of his races, so Ruby bought him as a trail riding horse, since he had the disposition for it.
The ensemble headed down the trail, talking and laughing amongst themselves.
They all came back from riding their horses and went to their cabins to wash up and change for dinner.
After dinner, the campers headed a little ways into the woods where a fire pit and comfortable looking chairs were set up.
There was also a s'more making station a little ways beyond the fire pit, along with sticks for roasting marshmallows.
Phoebe went to her cabin and grabbed her guitar and led everyone in the song Campfire Song from the Percy Jackson musical.
"Oh, things couldn't be worse
When your parents run the universe
Oh, things couldn't be worse
When your folks run the universe" everyone sang, either in perfect harmony or a little 0ff-key. It didn't matter and no one judged.
After a while, people either made s'mores or roasted marshmallows.
Marshall, Barney, Chandler and Joey sat together. Now, everyone was telling ghost stories.
Barney had a flashlight under his chin, making him look spooky.
"….And then, the girl wouldn't give me her number!" Barney said.
Everyone rolled their eyes.
"That's not scary - that's you every day!" Marshall said, taking a bite of his s'more.
Joey looked sat hearing the last part of the 'spooky tale' setting his s'more down.
"You gonna eat that?" Chandler asked, looking to Joey.
Joey looked at him seriously, "s'mores are food."
"Oh right, 'you don't share food'" Chandler said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Got that right" Joey said as he resumed finishing his s'more.
Meanwhile, Rachel, Phoebe, Robin, Monica, Lily and Savanna sat together, eating either roasted marshmallows or s'mores.
"Do you guys know any ghost stories?" Phoebe asked, licking her fingers after finishing her s'more.
"I do" Robin said, adjusting herself in the chair she was sitting on, "I hope you guys haven't drunk anything recently, because this will make you pee your pants."
The girls gulped in unison and looked at each other.
"It's called I Can Lick Too" Robin said. She cleared her throat and began to tell the story.
"One night, not long ago, a young woman our age was home alone with her dog" Robin started to say when Phoebe interrupted, "what?"
"Can the girl be named Phoebe and her dog be named Phoebe?" Phoebe asked.
Robin rolled her eyes, "no and no. Can I get back to my story, please?"
The girls nodded and paid attention to Robin.
"Let me start again" Robin said, clearing her throat, "One night, not long ago, a young woman our age was home alone with her dog and reveling in solitude. Smart, practical and self-sufficient, she remained calm as she got a text alert on her phone. It said that a serial killer was on the loose after escaping a nearby prison.
With her dog at her heels, she surveyed the house, locked the doors and windows before curling up with her dog in bed. She finished her book and drifted off to sleep.
The girl soon awakened - she heard a distant dripping sound. Half awake, she checked the kitchen faucet, gave up and went back to bed, receiving a lick on the hand from her dog in comfort.
A short while later, she was roused from sleep by the drip, drip, drip. She felt the reassuring lick and fell back asleep.
She was woken up for the third time by the constant dripping. She jumped out of bed and was determined to locate the source of the incessant noise. She headed for the bathroom.
When she flipped on the light, the scene that greeted her was horrific: her beloved dog was hanging from the shower nozzle with its throat cut, the blood dripping onto the ceramic tub. Screaming, the girl backed into the wall behind her and collapsed. She sobbed for the loss of her best friend and terrified by the unimaginable crime.
Through her tears, she scanned and assessed the rest of the bathroom. She got to her feet and turned around, and there on the wall behind her, someone wrote 'HUMANS CAN LICK, TOO'" Robin finished her story. She then got up from her chair and began licking her friends' hands like the serial killer had done to the main character of the story.
The girls squealed and laughed as Robin licked their hands.
Eventually, everyone headed back to their cabins, either in big groups or groups of two or three.
"Tomorrow, we go into town" Savanna said, "do we wanna do Ex-Wives for karaoke?"
"I'm down for that" Lily said.
"That could be fun" Robin said, smiling at her cabin mates.
The girls entered their cabin and got ready for bed, making plans for the following day.