Summer Camp Sweethearts

Chapter 13

The library of the camp is quiet. It is situated on the far end of the campsite. No wonder no one knows of it. It is quite a small building with just the necessary books piled up on the shelf, most of them about how to survive in the bush. About 10 people are sitting, scattered around, either reading or studying. Cara and I are sitting at a roundtable, researching the theme she chose for the bush dance. The books spread out everywhere on the table.

"I am already fed up with all the research. Can't we just make something up?" I ask after a while. Cara looks up from the book she is looking through and stares at me.

"No. I am not going to take any shortcuts." She says, her voice firm.

"Why not?"

"Because I want to make sure that the dance is perfect. It will be a great memory for me." Cara looks at me and smiles.

"And it's also important for you too, right? You need this experience." She pauses and then continues, "I am going to do my best to ensure you have a good time." I smile back at her. I know she means well, but I still feel wrong about all the work we are doing. It seems like there is no end in sight when it comes to researching the theme.

"I know you will do your best. I am sure it will be great."

"Thanks, Melissa." She smiles and looks back at the book she is reading. I look around the room, my eyes landing on someone sitting at a table at the far end of the library. I am not sure why I know him, but he has glasses that make her wonder why he looks so familiar. He is deep in his books and concentrates hard on whatever he reads. Now and then, I notice him write something down on a piece of paper but crumple it up not shortly after, clearly not happy with what he wrote down and throwing it to the side.

"I'll be back," I say to Cara. She looks up at me and nods her head. I walk cautiously to the other side of the library and wonder who this guy is.

"Blake?" I ask, surprised when I reach him. He looks up, and his eyes widen when he sees me standing before him. He quickly takes his glasses off his face, putting them down on the table next to the open book.

"Hi, Melissa." he greets.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, surprised. His smile is a little shy as if he has just been caught, but he does not look nervous.

"I'm studying," he says.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him, not sure why I am asking this question. He is a student at a summer camp; why else is he here. The smile on his face makes me wonder what's happening inside his head right now. It seems like there is more to it than meets the eye, but maybe it's nothing.

"I was just looking for some information on history," he says, smiling again.

"Oh, okay," I say. "I'm just looking for some information on history too." I smile at him, and he smiles back. His eyes are green like mine. They are so beautiful that I want to stare into them forever.

"Do you mind if we talk?" he asks after a few minutes of silence, both staring at each other in the library, trying to figure out what to say.

"I don't mind," I say, smiling at him again. He smiles back, and we both look away from each other for a moment, but then we both turn our heads in the same direction looking at each other again. We stare into each other's eyes for a few more minutes before either of us breaks the silence by saying anything else. It is as if time has stopped in the library only because no sounds come from it except our breathing and heartbeat.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" he asks me. I look at him and smile again.

"Sure," I say, not knowing what else to say. We both stand up from our seats in the library and start walking towards the exit of the building. Our arms around each other's waist as we leave the library behind us.

"I want to ask you something, but you do not have to agree," Blake starts while we walk down the gravel path.

"Okay," I say, looking at him. He looks down at the ground in front of him. He is nervous, I can tell. He then looks back up at me again.

"Do you want to go to the," he starts. The camp horn blasts through the campsite speakers, and with instinct, the students around us duck as if aliens are going to abduct us.

"Emergency announcement. Please return to your cabins immediately until further instructions are given. No one is to leave their cabin in the meantime." the voice I recognized as the receptionist came through the speaker.

"That's strange," I say, looking at Blake. He looks at the sky, and then his eyes are on me again.

"I think we should go." The camp horn blasts through the speakers again as we approach our cabin doors, but this time it is not an emergency announcement that comes over the speaker. Still, a deafening whistle followed by a long blast from the horn echoes throughout all of Camp Point Lookout in seconds. We stop walking when we reach our cabin door and look around. As soon as I get to our cabin, Sandra, Abby, and Sofia look at me with questionable looks. I shrug my shoulders, informing them I also have no idea what is happening.

"What's going on?" I ask as we all walk into the cabin. The three girls look at each other and then back to me.

"I don't know," Abby says, "but it sounds like a fire alarm." The four of us turn around and look out the window. We see a few campers outside with their hands over their ears to block out the noise from some sort of emergency announcement blaring through the speakers for about ten minutes now.

"It's probably just a fire," I say, "or maybe someone is hurt." The girls nod their heads in agreement. I turn around and look at the three of them. They are all looking at me with concerned looks on their faces.