Planning Your Future

We'll Go Camping (Part 6)

July 3, 1992

Veronica's POV

JD and walk beside together on the hike. The week has gone by very fast. "So what how has everything been with your boys?" I try to break the silence. "It's been good." And just like that, the silence is back. "Miss Veronica! Are you ready for cabin vs cabin tomorrow?" Annabeth asks me. "You know it! I'm ready to win again." I pat her on the back. "So are we." Percy smirks. Annabeth laughs at him and walks away. They are really competitive. Nobody I know is that competitive.

We take our showers and go to the mess hall for dinner. George gets up to talk about tomorrow like he did last year. "So as you are aware, tomorrow is Fourth of July. The first half of the day will be wet recreation and that night will be fireworks. Now, when you all are finished eating, the counselors will drop you off at your cabins, then they will meet me on Miss Alyssa's porch for our mandatory meeting." He announces the same stuff as last year.

We do as he says, then meet at Alyssa's porch. "So as all but Luke knows, tomorrow is very tough for our staff. So here are the same rules as last year, just read them to your campers before lights out." He hands us each a clipboard.

At night, I take the girls back to the cabin. "So I know all of you know the rules but I do have to read them." I read them out, the girls barely listening to them. "Okay now get in bed." I put the clipboard on the table beside my bed. I wait for them to lie down before going over to Alyssa's.

"So, you guys excited for tomorrow?" Natalie grins. "Yeah it'll be fun." I sit criss-crossed on the swing. Alyssa has her head in Ryan's lap looking up at the sky. "Hopefully everything will go well. We didn't really have any accidents last year and I'd like to keep it that way." She says. "Yeah minus one of my girls getting a making me pull a tooth out." Natalie shudders. "Yes, no teeth shit or dislocated arms like the year before. Remember that Alyssa?" Ryan looks down at Alyssa. "Yeah poor Jenny. Although I don't love that I had to hold her while Mrs. Norma put it back in place. I'll never be able to unhear that pop." Alyssa gags at the thought of it. "Yes, none of that. The most I had to do is stick a tissue in Evan's nose last year." JD laughs. "Yeah I remember that. Didn't he run into a tree or something?" Alyssa asks. "Yep." JD smirks. "Poor kid. At least he didn't hit it hard enough to break the nose." I say. "Yeah, I'm honestly surprised he didn't." I'm also surprised. There was a lot of blood for a nose that wasn't even broken.

The next morning I get a letter from Erika. So I guess she's making a Forth of July tradition for us. "Is that Erika?" JD asks. I nod. I open the envelope and pull out the paper.

Dear Veronica,

I hope camp is going well! I miss you a lot! Summer is going great for me. Kyle visited me last week and it was really sweet. He left a couple of days ago and I was bummed about it. Grey started a new job a few weeks ago, which is exciting. But I will miss the frat parties. But we could always get invited by someone else. That's a possibility.

I hope the wedding goes well and I know you and Alyssa can't really dance at the wedding but I hope it's fun anyways! I love weddings and I wish I could come. But I obviously don't know JD's mom so that would be super weird. Still have fun!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your Fourth of July and enjoy the fireworks (especially the ones between you and Alyssa). I'll see you in the fall for our junior year! It's going to be great.

Sincerely,

Erika

I smile at the goofball that is Erika. "Is that your roommate?" Alyssa asks. "Yeah." I slide it to her, letting her read it. She silently laughs. She hands it back to me, "I love your roommate." I fold the letter and stick it in my pocket.

After breakfast, everyone gets into their swimsuits and goes down to the lake. Alyssa and I sit on the edge of the pier. We are watching the kids on the kayaks and canoes. "Looks like Hannah is having fun." Alyssa points out. Hannah and Michael are sitting in a canoe, having a conversation. "Yeah. They do." Alyssa looks at me, "I think it's really sweet how much you care about her." She puts a hand on my leg. "Yeah. Well I was a shy kid too. I had people help me come out of my shell and it did not turn out well. I want to help her do the same in a way that doesn't end like it did with me. With many trips to the hospital and a few weeks in prison." I sigh. "Wow. That's..." I wouldn't know what to say to that either. "I know that's a lot." I say. "It is. But you can't help that."

After we take showers and eat lunch, it's time for the annual cabin vs cabin ga-ga match. First Natalie and Luke's cabins go. Natalie's cabin wins. JD and I's cabins go and it's a close one. Percy and Annabeth and JD and I are playing dirty with each other. It's down to the four of us. I dodge the ball hit by Percy and hit it at JD, hitting him in the leg. He gets out, then instantly starts cheering for Percy. "Come on, Perc! You got this!" He claps for him. Annabeth and I surround him. "You are going down, Jackson." Annabeth smirks. "I think you're the one that's going down, Chase." Percy retorts. He hits it at her but she dodges, causing the ball to hit the wall and come towards me. Annabeth distracts him with some more taunts so I can hit him. All my girls cheer when the ball bounces against the back of Percy's legs. Alyssa's team obviously wins. Alyssa and I also play dirty. Hannah is small enough to easily dodge the ball when Emma hits it towards her. All the girls feel very betrayed by Emma's determination to beat them. They weren't upset with Lydia because she wasn't really trying. Lydia is the first of Alyssa's team to get out. Alyssa's girl Lizzie is a beast. She gets out both Chloe and Brooke in only twenty seconds.

Soon we're down to two on both teams. I have my secret weapon Annabeth and Alyssa has Lizzie. I hit the ball at Alyssa, who is able to dodge it and hits it at Annabeth. Annabeth gets Lizzie out. We try to use the same technique as the one we used on Percy. "I know what you're doing." Alyssa winks at me. God!That was so- No. Don't think about that. You need to focus. Alyssa hits the ball at me and it almost hits me. I'm able to get out of the way. "You're going down, Sawyer." She smiles. "Another way around, Greene." Annabeth grabs the ball and hits Alyssa with it. "Got ya!" I wink. She playfully rolls her eyes. "And it looks like Miss Veronica's cabin remains the reigning champions." My girls cheer as we go to the mess hall for dinner.

Afterwards, we all go and watch fireworks. Alyssa passes out earmuffs to all the people who want a pair, including me. The fireworks start. Alyssa looks around to see if anyone is looking our way before she interlocks her hand with mine. I stroke her hand with my thumb. She beams at me. I wish we could do this more than just here. But this moment is enough for right now. The fireworks end so we immediately separate. Nobody seemed to notice.

Ryan stops me outside my door as I lead my girls inside. "Meet me at the lake once all the girls are asleep." He whispers. Why does he want to talk to me about? And why do I have to go to the lake for it? I get my girls to get into bed. Luckily they are all so exhausted, they fall asleep quickly. I check to see if they're really sleeping before sneaking out.

I don't see Ryan when I arrive at the lake. What the hell? I look around the area but I just don't see him. "Hey." I turn around. Alyssa smiles sweetly at me as she leans against the rack that holds all the canoes. "What's happening here?" I laugh nervously. "I told Ryan to get you here." She motions for me to come to her. When I do, I see that there is a canoe already in the water. There's a lanyard on the bottom of the boat. She helps me into the boat.

Alyssa pushes us away from the dock. She rows us to the center of the lake. "Thank God we can finally have some privacy." I sigh. "Yeah, I'm so exhausted from this week. I'm happy camp is almost over." She grabs my hands. "I am too. I can't wait to go home." I have so much to do when I get back.

Alyssa puts her hands on my face. "I love you." She whispers, pressing her forehead on mine. "I love you too." I whisper back. She kisses me. I put my hands on her hips to deepen the kiss. I start to kiss her cheek, then move my way to her neck. She grabs my face so I'm looking at her. She kisses me again, more aggressively this time. The boat rocks, causing us to stop out of fear of flipping the boat. "That was close." I laugh. "Yeah." She smiles.

We walk back to my cabin. I stand against the wall as she kisses me goodnight. "See you tomorrow." I peck her on the lips, then go inside as quietly as possible. I can't help but grin as I lie down.