Cabin 12

Chapter 1 - Arrival

I clutched the strap of my backpack as I stepped out of the truck, and took my first steps onto Stork Creek Summer Camp. I turned to wave at my parents as they drove away, glancing at the scenery around me after. The lake sparkled at me from beyond the trees, and my back was hot beneath the sun. The air was fresh, and I could hear chatter all around me as other teens wrestled their luggage out of their cars and mingled together. As I took in a deep breath, a mix of relief and worry flowed into me. A first year at a new summer camp would be exciting.

At least, that's what I tried to tell myself. Truth be told, I was really nervous. But if people from my school recommended it, it couldn't be that bad.. right? Two college aged girls wearing the camp staff t-shirt approached me with a smile. I stepped forward in sync, taking a breath and clenching my hands nervously.

"Hi, what's your name?" One asked me, her dazzling blonde hair french braided with the ends draping down her back. She had a warm southern twang in her voice that could instill comfort in any soul.

"I'm Carys, Carys Reed," I said, meeting her eyes with a smile. The blonde and her companion, a girl with dark, curly hair, shook my hand one after the other.

"It's nice to meet you!" said the latter, grinning. "I'm Kamila, and her name is Morgan." She held a clipboard in her offhand, and brought a pen out of her pocket. "Have you been to Stork Creek before?"

"No, this is my first year," I admitted with a nervous giggle.

"Wow, Really? That's awesome!" Morgan chimed, her hand on my shoulder. "You're gonna have a great time here, Carys." Kamila marked a few things off on the papers she had been looking at before, and looked up at me.

"Hey, looks like youre in Cabin 12! That means me and Morgan will be your counselors!" The two cheered and I followed suit with a tame "Woohoo!" and a giggle.

"I'll take you to the cabin while Kamila stays on the lookout for new campers," Morgan said, beckoning me to follow behind her. We waved goodbye to Kamila, and walked down the path into the camp.

I was watching other campers and counselors get to know each other when my eyes caught with those of a boy. He seemed about my age, taller than I was with a slim but athletic build. He was wearing a bright cobalt blue sports jersey with matching blue shorts, and a camo hat with a blue bill. His eyes were a striking blue the same as his attire, and they bore an intense gaze; it was seemingly unintentional, but enough to spook me into looking away. I turned back toward Morgan.

"We already have 3 girls in the cabin, and there should be more on the way. You're here pretty early, you know. Where are you from?"

"Oh, I live about an hour off of here. I'm surprised I haven't gone before," I answered, pushing the boy from earlier off my mind.

"Man, that seems pretty handy. I live about 4 hours away, but I know people that live 7 or 14," Morgan commented, twirling one of the longer loose strands of her hair.

The path we walked on changed from pavement to gravel, and we stopped in front of a cabin with a porch conjoined to the one next to it. I was pleasantly surprised, as it looked more promising than what I'd thought a cabin in the woods would've looked like.

"Hi Morgan! Oh, is that another new camper?" A girl said, peeking her head out the door. Her long blonde hair trailed down her back, a few small braids scattered throughout with pearl beads braided in to accent them. Her eyes were a teal, ocean-like blue. She gave me a welcoming grin. I smiled back at her; albeit a bit sheepishly; and walked with Morgan into the cabin.

"Carys, this is Claire, and Claire, this is Carys. I just know you two will get along this term!" Morgan chirped with a smile. She walked further into the cabin, and I grabbed a hold of my suitcase that'd been delivered to the cabin before I arrived. I rolled it over to my bunk and began unpacking. My bed was a top bunk perched in the corner of the room by a window.

"Wow, lucky!" I turned to see who was talking. "That'd be a great place to read in the morning," Claire commented, standing behind me. I smiled at her and let out a friendly scoff. I spread out my sheets on the bed, and laid out my blanket and pillow.

I got busy unpacking my belongings, and before I knew it most of the left over girls had arrived to the cabin. I introduced myself to them and made small talk, the most memorable three being Claire, the girl I'd met first, Penelope, a girl with curly ginger hair who said everybody calls her Penn, and Rori, a girl with tanned skin and dark brown hair. Penn told me that she does swim, and Rori said that she plays tennis for sport.

"Alright girls, grab your water bottles if you need to. We're heading to dinner. We have a picnic tonight!" Kamila informed us, leaning through the doorway of the cabin. I picked up my hydroflask and walked out the door behind Claire and the other girls.

"Are you guys ready to see the boys in Stork 12?" Penn said with a grin. She must've seen the confusion on my face, so she explained further what she meant. "The girls cabins are Crane, and the boys cabins are Stork. So, our cabin is Crane 12, and our boy counterpart cabin is Stork 12. Crane 1 has Stork 1, and so on. We have camp activities with Stork 12 sometimes, but the classes are usually only all girl or all boy.." Penn elaborated, a hint of disappointment at the end of her last remark.

"They're all really tall," Chimed Rori. "I saw some of them earlier, and I had to look, like, straight up at them," Me and the other girls giggled.

"I think I might have seen one of them earlier," I said, thinking back to the boy in the camo and blue hat.

"Maybe you guys will get to dance together at the western!" Penn said with a sly smile. She caught on to my confusion again. "Oh yeah, you're a first year! We have a western dance every year, and a boy from our Stork cabin escorts us down. It's like a slow dance, but everybody has cowboy hats on and stuff."

"Ohh, I get it now." I blushed a bit, realizing what Penn had meant with her first remark. "I don't know about dancing... he seemed a little scary," I said, trying to look away so Penn and Rori couldn't see my expression.

"Scary?" Rori repeated, laughing. "Wow Carys, how cruel.." She teased, sarcasm in her voice.

"Not, like, ugly scary!" I stammered. "He just had a really intense stare, it freaked me out a little."

"What'd he look like?" Claire asked, coming up on my left and joining our conversation.

"He was wearing all blue, I think he was blonde, and he had this camo hat on," I recounted, thinking about when we had made eye contact before. Claire smiled and nodded.

"You probably saw my brother," She stated, making a face of mock disgust at the mention of him. "His name is Knox, and he's in Stork 12. He's.. ehh.... a little bit quirky, I'd say." I giggled at Claire's phrasing.

"Really?? He looks pretty serious," I said, remembering the sharpness of his gaze.

"He tries to look intimidating sometimes, but he's not all that," Claire said. The three girls and I all looked forward as we approached the field, a few cabins already seated in circles on the grass. The four of us sat down together, Claire to my left, and Penn and Rori to my right. Kamila and Morgan handed out sandwiches and a bag of chips to all the girls in the cabin. I was taking my first bite when I heard Penn talking.

"Hey guys, look, look!!" Penn said, shaking the shoulders of me and the other two girls. I turned to where she was pointing and I saw what I could only assume was Stork 12. Rori was right in that they were all very tall. I saw the boy from earlier, who I learned was named Knox. I escaped his gaze this time, as he and his cabin sat down in the grass.

"Awwww, are you girls looking at the boys?" Kamila asked teasingly. "If you want to go introduce yourselves, you can." She offered. Penn's face lit up. Claire had already stood up, so she grabbed onto me and Rori.

"We HAVE to go see them." Penn squealed. Rori stood up, and I was dragged to my feet.

"I mean..." I hesitated as I looked over at the boys, and back at Penn. "Well, what harm can it do, right?" I shrugged and let Penn pull me towards Stork 12.