TROUBLE MAGNET - Completed

Chapter 8 - Cold Dead Fish

Chapter 8 - Cold Dead Fish

After our talk that day, I had an even bigger crush on Landon. We were finally friends. He started to include me when the team hung out together before and after games. He started to joke with me like he would with the other guys on the team. After awhile all the guys were feeling more comfortable around me. Once they realized they could count on me to not say anything, they even started to talk about girls they liked. Suddenly I realized I had a new problem; they treated me like one of the guys, they no longer saw me as a girl. Not at all.

I had secretly hoped that Landon would ask me to go to the grade eight prom with him, but it was too soon after his dad died and he decided not to go. Instead I ended up going with Landon's good friend Rob. Rob played on our hockey team and I had fun with him, but he wasn't Landon.

We started high school and Landon and I remained friends through grade nine and ten, but our school was big and I no longer played hockey with the guys, so I didn't see him as much. We hung out more in grade eleven when Kate started to date Landon's best friend Matt. However, it wasn't until this past summer, when we both ended up as counselors at the same summer camp, that we finally got together as a couple.

"Hey! You're doing it again." Landon says as he narrows his eyes at me and squeezes my hand.

"Ah, oh... sorry, I was just thinking about something Kate told me." Landon is staring at me with a puzzled look. My excuse is lame and I know it. I've always prided myself on being a truthful person, but it seems lately all I can do is lie. 

"Okay .. well like I said, I'm gonna go get some fries with the guys," Landon repeats as he points at the guys who are standing, waiting impatiently behind him. "Do you want anything?"

This is so typical of Landon. He would never think of going to grab some food for himself without checking to see if I wanted something as well. Kat is always pointing out how thoughtful Landon is in hopes that some of that thoughtfulness might rub off on Matt. "Oh no thanks, I'm good," I tell him, as I open my lunch bag, pull out my sandwich and wave it at him.

"You sure," he asks leaning in close, whispering into my ear, "I can get you one of those chocolate chip cookies you like so much." 

I feel his lips brush against my ear. "No really, I'm good," I assure him. "Thanks though." I smile at him, as that now familiar guilty feeling creeps back into my stomach. It's at times like this that I regret ever having met Trace.

"Okay then," he releases my hand and joins Matt and Rob as they head off towards the cafe.

I have to stop spacing out. Ever since I got back from my school visit to Tanner, my mind keeps wandering. I haven't told Landon what happened, because I know he would be angry with me. When I think back through all of the years that I have known Landon, I can only ever recall one time when he was really mad at me. It was earlier this year when we were both counselors at a summer camp.

Camp Moosonee is a well-known sports camp that is located two hours north of our hometown of Harmony. My girlfriends and me had decided on a whim that we were all going to apply there to work for the summer. Our plan got all messed up though, when I ended up being the only one who got  a call back for an interview. It turned out they were specifically looking for people with a lifeguard certificate and wakeboarding experience and I was the only one of my friends that had both. I ended up being offered the job of wakeboard instructor, slash counselor and I decided to accept.

When I arrived at the camp, the first person I saw was Landon. I was shocked. I had no idea that he worked there. He was carrying a large duffel bag in one hand and he had a knapsack hanging off one shoulder. I followed him as he made his way from the parking lot to the main Rec Hall. There were lots of kids our age hanging around out front of the hall, so I figured it must be the place where we were all meant to wait for our cabin assignments.