camp love ~elmax story~

pt. 8

max's pov:

"where were you guys?" i asked the boys as they walked back up to us with the once full paint buckets now empty. "none of your business." mike responded as he set down the empty paint bucket. "okay? i was just asking." i snapped. "guys please stop fighting!" el told us. "so what have you guys done so far?" will asked as he sat down on the grass beside me while looking at the banner. "not much, just some random little drawings," i told him. "because most people have already done drawings or wrote stuff there was not a lot of room for me and el to draw stuff." i continued. "aw that sucks." will said with a bit of sadness in his voice.

i glanced over at him, and he looked really upset. "you okay?" i asked him. "yeah i'm fine." will told me. i could tell he was lying, after all he was a pretty bad liar from what i could tell. part of me was wanting to ask him again, after all he is my friend and i want to comfort him, but at the same time i don't wanna pry.

"EVERYONE WHO IS PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK GATHER AROUND HERE." counselor tommy yelled into the microphone. "come on let's go!" el said while setting down her paint brush and running over to him with an excited smile. i set down my paint supplies and followed her with all the boys behind us.

~

"okay, you will have 5 minutes to hide somewhere around the camp, no going in peoples cabins, and no going into the staff areas," counslour tommy said. "sheila, angela, stacy, and jake will be the seekers, if they find you come back here." he continued. i looked over at angela, and glared at her. i honestly hated her for getting me in trouble the other day, but if she never got me kicked out of my cabin i would have never met el and her friends, so in one way i guess i'm greatful for her being a bitch.

"okay, and.... GO!" counselor tommy yelled as he blew his whistle. everybody started to run out in random directions, as i felt somebody grab my hand and drag me away from the crowd. "come on! i know a great spot!" el said as she held my hand as she ran.
"o-okay.." i stuttered as my heart started to pound. my stomach started to fill with butterflies, JUST because of el holding my hand.

wow, what has this girl done to me?

"where are we going?" i asked her. "onto the roof of the main building." she replied with a smile.

~

"are you sure about this?" i asked as she helped me into the roof. "yeah, it's a great spot." el told me as she ducked down behind a air vent on the roof so nobody could see us. i ducked down beside her, and couldn't help but think to myself.

why was i all of a sudden so nervous? normally i am confident, sarcastic, mean even, but this..? this was a whole new side of me. whenever i was around el i was so nervous, shy, and even flustered. every time she spoke i could feel my face turning red. this was a whole new side of me i didn't recognize.

since me and el were not speaking, as we didn't want to draw attention to our hiding spot, i got some time to think. just then everything clicked.

i had never really had a crush on somebody before, when i was younger, and still lived in california, my friends always used to ask me who i had a crush on, but the truth was i never had a crush, so i would always just name some random kid in the class.

was this what it feels like to have a crush?

if it was then..

it would be comfirmed.

holy shit.

i like el.

as more then a friend..

shit.. then that means..

i am gay after all..

~

"do you ever think their gonna find us?" el whispered to me. "i don't know" i wispered back in a annoyed tone. i was not trying to be mean, i was just still in shock about what i just realized. now that i know the truth, my whole life is gonna be different. "hey what do we get if we win?" she asked me. "i dunno." i responded. el glanced over at me with worried eyes and then spoke. "are you alright?" she asked in a concerned tone. "i'm fine." i replied. she sighed and looked away from me.

~three hours later~

"max! max wake up!" el wispered yelled as she shook me. "huh? what?" i asked. "you almost fell asleep." she told me while slightly giggling. "oh shit, we're we found?" i asked her. "no, but i think we're the last people." she told me. a smile spread across her face as i rubbed my eyes. suddenly a loud voice started to yell. "I FOUND YOU!" angela yelled as she pointed up at us. me and el at the same time peeked our heads out and saw angela's smiling face.

"you guys are terrible hiders." she told us. "aren't they the last ones to be found?" stacy asked angela. "shut up!!" angela snapped at her. "we're the last ones?" el excitedly asked. angela rolled her eyes as she walked away, and stacy gave us a thumbs up. "yes!! i'm so happy!" el said as she did a happy dance. "WE GET A PIZZA PARTY!" she shouted with a smile on her face.
"we should probably go back to the spot you go when your found." i told her. "okay let's go!" el said as she carfully climbed down off the roof.

~

"when we're you guys found?" el asked the boys as we approached them. "right away thanks to this idiot." dustin said while elbowing lucas in the stomach. "hey! i had to sneeze!" lucas told us. mike rolled his eyes and then spoke. "when we're you guys found?" he asked. "we were the last ones." el said with a confident smile. "no way! you guys won?" dustin asked. el smiled again and nodded.

"so who were the winners?" counslour tommy yelled out. el put up her hands. "great, you will get a pizza party on friday!" he told her. "max also won!" she told him. "okay, you two will get a pizza party on friday at lunch time!" he repeated. el smiled once again and then spoke. "i'm so excited! are you?" she asked me. i simply shrugged. her smile dropped and she spoke in a concerned voice. "max, are you sure your alright?" she asked again. "i'm fine." i told her. i looked up at the boys, and they also looked slightly concerned.

"i'm going to the cabin." i mumbled as i walked in the direction of the cabin. "max! wait!" el called out, but then i heard lucas's voice. "just leave her alone el, she probably needs space." i heard him say as i walked away from them.

~

at this point i was holding back tears as i lied down on my bed this time instead of el's. my whole life is going to be ruined now, just because i met some stupid girl at a stupid camp, in a stupid town. everything about this is stupid. what will my mom do if she finds out she has a dyk3 as a daughter? what would el do if she found out about my feels for her?

why can't i just be straight and like some boy or something? or why couldn't i just not figure out i was gay at all? what would people think? what will people think of ME? i normally don't care if people judge me, but i know what people do to people in lgbtq+ community. plus it's the 80's, people are not that accepting.

more tears flooded my eyes the more i thought about this.