Camp Kimani (reyton short story)

Chapter 4: Canoes

>Peyton<
I'm really glad that Rowan is giving me another chance. I can't let her down this time. If I hurt her again, I don't know how I'd live with myself. After I talked to Rowan a couple nights ago, we went back to the bonfire and had fun with everyone. The past few days have been getting better for our friendship. I think that me, Bradley, Rowan and Sabrina are going canoeing on the lake today. I've canoed before so I'm not that worried about it.

Me and Bradley wake up early and put our swim trunks on with plain t-shirts. We make sure to grab 4 life jackets and say bye to our roommates before heading to the girls cabin. Bradley knocks on the door and in seconds, Sabrina is flying out the door with a smile on her face and Rowan on her arm. "Morning boys," Sabrina tells us with a smile. "Morning," me and Bradley reply.

"Morning Rowan," I say quietly. "Morning."

We all walked over to the lake and put on our life jackets. "Hey guys? It looks like one canoe only fits two so..?" Bradley told us. "Sabrina, why don't you go with Bradley?" Rowan suggested with an obvious smirk. Sabrina blushed, "You and me?" "Definitely," he said with a cheeky smile. As they left, me and Rowan started to laugh.

"They are so obvious around each other, why don't they just date?" I ask. "I don't know, maybe they don't realize that they are meant for each other," she told me. "Yea, maybe..so, you ready to fall off a canoe?" She slightly laughed, "What makes you think that I'll fall?" I scoff, "Rowan, I know you better than anyone. I've watched you fall off a canoe multiple times before. Just make sure that you have your life jacket on before you walk me into my death trap." Rowan rolled her eyes and laughed.

We hopped into the canoe after 10 minutes of Rowan whining that she would fall while trying to get in. She closed her eyes and took a deep breathe, gripping the sides of the canoe. "Row? Are you okay?" She gave me a questioning look. "Oh, I-I'm sorry. Should I not call you Row? Not Rowboat either right? Sorry Rowan, I didn't reali-" She stopped me and put her hand on top of mine. "You can call me Rowboat, its fine. I'm just nervous for this. I know that there are no sharks in lakes, but I'm still scared if one is actually in here and I fall in and become its lunch."

"Its actually still morning, so you'd be breakfast not lunch," she scoffed and let out a laugh, as did I. "You're so stupid," she said with a smile as she shook her head. "And you're a loser, now we're even." "Whatever." We spent a few minutes laughing at each other before rowing ourselves into the water.

"I promise you that there are no sharks in here, and if they try to eat you then I'll do my best to save you. But don't expect much, I mean, c'mon, its a shark," I told her in a joking manner. "Thanks Pey, ready to go?" My body tensed, seeing her starting to get comfortable enough to call me by my nickname. I smiled and grabbed an our, "Lets go." We slowly made our way out to the middle of the lake. "This isn't that bad. Its actually really beautiful out here."

"Just like my new friend," she blushed at my comment which made my smile widen. "Can you help me with something?" she blurted out. "Of course," I responded immediately. Hopefully this is her started to trust me again. "I really want to help out Sabrina and Bradley. I have a plan, but I'd need your help. If you don't want to, then by all means, just say no."

"Are you kidding me? I've been wanting to get those two together since they started aimlessly flirting with each other every second they were close." She smiles, "Thanks Peyton." "No problem rowboat."

We started to head back to shore when I started to shake the boat. "Peyton, cut it out! We're going to fall!" she screeched. "No we aren't." I continuously rocked the canoe as Rowan rocked it in the opposite direction, attempting to make us stop moving. "Rowan, with you moving this too, we're definitely going to fall." "No, because I'm trying to even it out so that we stay equal." When she wasn't paying attention, I leaned on the side she was rocking, and next thing you know, the canoe is flipped over and we're dunked into the freezing water. I hear Rowan scream as we fall in and immediately look for her out of fear. "Rowan?!" I yelled. "Peyton!" I heard from the other side of our red canoe. I quickly swim over and put my hand on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make us fall Rowan. Are you okay?" I ask in a worried tone. "No broken bones, just a lot of lake water that went down my throat. I'll be fine." I smile and she smiles back before embracing me in a hug. Even if the water was extremely cold, her warmth radiated off of her and make me feel much better. When we released I accidentally gazed down at her lips, causing her to quickly speak, "Um, we should probably get back into the canoe now."

I mentally face-palmed myself for making that moment awkward. We worked together to flip the large canoe back around and got back inside of it. The trip back too shore was silent. All you could hear was the wind, a few birds, and Rowan's slow breathing. "I'm sorry for back there," I apologized. "Its alright." I could tell that she was still uncomfortable, but there wasn't much that I could say or do.

When we got back to the dock, we were still soaking wet as we placed the canoe along the others and saw Sabrina and Bradley staring at us. "Nice fall back there." "Need a towel..or five?" Bradley told us before bursting into laughter with Sabrina. "It was all Peyton's fault," Rowan stated, pointing her finger at me. "How is it my fault? I told you not to rock the canoe the same time that I did." She pushed me and giggled. Wow, I haven't heard that sound in a long time. I'm glad that I get another chance to let the sound make itself at home in my ears.

"How about me an Peyton dry off and we meet you two outside my cabin?" she asks the both of them. "Sounds good." "See you in a bit."

"I am never going out into a lake with you again," she said while trying to hold back her laugh. "Loser," I tell her with a smirk. "Stupid." "I'm really glad that we're starting to be friends again Peyton." I smiled at my friend, "So am I."