Chapter 6

When they were halfway up the mountain, they stopped for a break. Laura gave the girls the "I'm going to talk to a cute guy. Now shush." smile as she walked over and sat next to Antonio.

"Hi Antonio, I'm Laura, a friend of your sister's." She managed not to giggle the whole time she was talking to him. The rest of the way up, the girls were teasing her about him.

"I don't even care if he's eighteen and I'm only thirteen, I'm going to marry that man someday."

All Gabby could do was laugh. "I'd really like to see that happen."

"I'll make it happen."

"Oh really?"

"Really. How about we make a bet out of this?"

"Sure."

"If I'm not married to your brother in oh let's say the next ten years, I'll give you a thousand dollars."

"You're on." They both shook hands in agreement to the bet.

Kim was fishing through her daypack when Adam came and sat next to her.

"Oh hi." She said, almost choking on her water.

"I picked this for you." He said, handing her an orange flower.

"Thanks." She put it in the side pocket.

"How do you like camp so far?"

"It's alright. I mean it wasn't my first choice how to spend my summer, but you know." She shrugged.

"Yeah I get that. Same here. My parents said they wanted me to spend time outside, socialize and meet new friends instead of staying inside and playing Nintendo all day." He laughed.

"How'd you sleep last night?"

"Not good. Jay's in the bunk below me and all I could hear last night was his obnoxious snoring. I threw a pillow at him. I think it worked out."

"I'll get you back when we play dodgeball!" Jay yelled over to him.

"I'd like to see that happen, which will be never."

Julie found the blueberry bushes and a few people rushed over to start picking them.

"I don't have anything to put them in." Kim said as she emptied her daypack.

"Here, take this." Adam said, tossing her an empty water bottle. She caught it just before it hit the ground. As they were walking back down, they were munching on the blueberries. When they got back onto camp property, the table girls and boys were called into the mess hall to set the tables up.

"See you at dinner?"

"Yep." Kim smiled. She went to hand the water bottle back to him, but he told her to keep it.

"I sense the future Mrs. Ruzek." Laura said behind her.

"What?! No way! He's gross!" Kim said, trying to avoid the obvious fact that she was in a way, flirting with him.

Leslie shook her head.

"Girl, we can all tell you like him. Fess up." She told Kim.

"No way. He's gross."

They taunted her the whole way back to the cabin.

"You know you like him."

"Next person to say that will be getting thrown in the dumpster." She said as she kicked her sneakers off to put on her flip flops. Her diary fell off her bed and Erin picked it up.

"DON'T YOU EVEN DARE!" Kim yelled.

"Aw look at this! She wrote his name and put a little heart around it! How adorable!" Erin showed everyone the page.

Kim invented a new shade of red face, while the girls made all sorts of aw sounds and lovey dovey remarks.

"I will kill all of you." She jumped down from the bunk without using the ladder, making them all jump from how loud the sound was. She ripped the diary away from Erin and threw it back inside her pillow.

***

It's been four weeks since that day. At last, this was the big camping trip that everyone had talked about the first half of the summer.

"Girls, tonight is the night that we go and the boys go in a couple days. You have one hour to get stuff packed and ready. The bus will be here right after breakfast."

"I'm going to get eaten alive by mosquitoes and all those other icky bugs that live outside humanity." Gabby whined.

"I'm not looking forward to this." Kim said, putting on extra bug spray.

"I've got like five bottles of it if anyone needs any." Julie said, not looking up from her bag.

"How many towels should we bring?" Sylvie asked as she rummaged through her clothes bin.

"Oh my gosh where are my hair ties?!" Leslie screeched, making everyone jump.

"Did you check your bathroom cubby?" Erin asked her.

"My sunglasses are missing!" Laura yelled as she threw her pillows and blankets off her bunk. "Oh wait, never mind. I found them!"

"So what's happening with you and my brother?" Gabby asked Laura as they were heading for the bus.

"Well..." She looked around to make sure no one was listening. "He said I was cute, but wants to wait a couple more years before we start a relationship. But he likes me!" Laura couldn't stop smiling and giggling at the same time. Kim took up the whole seat between her and her bag. Leslie stood in aisle and gave her a look.

"Move that thing so I can sit down!" She said, shoving her way into the seat as Kim put her bag on the floor. They had to take three busses, but managed to fit two cabins per bus.

Ms. Carter had a megaphone in hand and turned it on so everyone could hear her. She was one of the counselors in the Apple Woods cabin.

"Ladies, when we get there, there is going to be an hour long hike, so please do not forget your sunscreen, the rays are very high risk today! Please be seated at all times because this road is bumpy. Enjoy!" She said back down in her seat. Before they headed out, Ms. Lopez took attendance and declared that everyone was accounted for. When the arrived at the campsite, Leslie sprawled herself out on one of the picnic tables. She declared it would be a perfect time for a nap.

"Get off there, Shay." Gabby said, trying to push her off right before she caught herself.

"Time to collect sticks!" All the counselors said at the same time.

"Are you trying to kill us?" Kim asked, ready to collapse from exhaustion.

They laughed.

"No, but if you want a nice warm campfire tonight, you guys better get collecting." The girls walked around the army tents, and along the trails to gather sticks for the fire they were going to have that night.

"Son of a-" Kim began. She sat on the ground and discovered her left leg had been scrapped by a branch. "I think I'm going to die." She said, wincing at the pain of the cut. Leslie and Sylvie helped her back to the site so she could get first aid attention from one of the counselors.

"You okay, sweetie?" Ms. Lopez asked her.

"I'm not really sure. But I do know this hurts a lot."

Ms. Lopez dug into the massive first aid trunk, pulling out alcohol wipes, medical tape and a couple large bandages. A few other counselors were digging out the life jackets, paddles and canoes.

"Finally! Least go canoeing!" Erin yelled as her and a bunch of other girls raced down to the beach. Laura helped Kim and Erin with their life jackets as the got into the canoe.

"Don't kill me, please?" Kim asked them as Laura got in right after she pushed into the water.

"We'll try not to." She laughed.

Kim's eyes went huge when she noticed a small grey mound right near her feet. She wanted to jump up and scream, but had no interest in getting drenched. Erin looked down and noticed it.

"Oh that's just a spider egg sack. It won't do any harm. Just don't you know, touch it and stuff."

Kim pulled her legs close to her body, avoiding an accidental hit and breaking it open. They paddled out to the middle of the lake by the set canoeing area, when Erin decided it would be funny to rock the canoe back and forth.

"Erin, cut the crap! Are you trying to kill us?!" Laura asked, whipping the paddle out of water to smack Erin.

"Maybe. Just kidding." They both put their paddles in the water, heading back to shore for a quick snack before the beach. There was a big drink dispenser sitting on the table, plastic cups and an array of snacks next to it.

"COOKIES!" Erin nearly took both Kim and Laura out getting to them. They both jumped out of the way.

"Never keep a Lindsay away from their cookies. Just don't. It's a bad idea. Unless you want your behind kicked in the process." Laura said as she looked at Kim.

"I will keep that in mind for sure."