The Camp of Elements

Boating

I stand near the edge of the lake, my green eyes reflecting the crystal clear water. Sunshine beats on the surface of the liquid, glasslike water, creating lines of yellow in the lake. Wind whips at my hair, blowing it to one side of my head. I shake head slightly, running my fingers through it in attempt to calm it down. I feel a strong hand on my shoulder, I snap out of my trance and glance at the owner of the hand. It's Camila.

"Ally agreed to be lifeguard. Do you want to be partners?" She ask me, my face contorts into confusion.

"What?" I ask, not completely sure what she's talking about.

"There has to be one lifeguard and each person needs a partner. Ally said she would be lifeguard because she says it too cold to get into the water, even in a boat." Camila explains, I nod while rubbing my forearm with the pads of my fingertips; the breeze getting to me.

"So I was wondering if you wanted to be my partner?" She asks, her eyes slowly rising to mine. We connect gazes and I crack a grin unwillingly, her chocolate eyes warming my heart.

"Of course," I answer, smiling at her. She grins and her eyes dart to Dinah talking to Normani. Normani nods her head and Dinah grins, Camila smiles softly.

"I guess we had the same idea." Camila mutter softly, mostly to herself.

"What?" I question, not totally sure what she said.

Camila whips her head towards me, her eyes wide in panic. "Oh, nothing. I just... I just think Dinah kind of likes Normani."

My eyebrows furrow at her words, gears shifting in my head. "What?"

Camila just shrugs, slipping her hands into her sweater pockets. Her hair sways gently in the wind, now that it has breeze has calmed down. "Dinah normally gets these weird,— not that liking who you want is weird,— small crushes on people she thinks are nice. It will probably disappear within a few days." Camila tells me, her gaze still on mine.

"Are you and Dinah, like.." I start to ask but my voice trails off when Camila shakes her head and laughs softly.

"No," she reassures me, laughing. "Definitely not. No way. That's disgusting." There is a pause in conversation, her eyes widen. "Again, not that love is disgusting. I'm not one of those people." Her eyes widen even larger. "I mean, I'm not one of those people, I am but I'm not one of the other people." Camila shakes her head in anger, not being able to get her words out. She lets her gaze drop to her feet in self doubt.

I smile gently at her, showing her that everything is okay. I place my hand on her shoulder, she lifts her head to met my eyes. "Hey, don't hurt yourself." I say, my smile not wavering a bit. "Your not what? Take your time."

"Homophobic, I'm not homophobic." Camila replies simply, taking her hands out of her pockets. My eyes widen slightly but then go back to their normal size.

"Okay, good," I reply, not wanting to make things awkward. "And you are..?"

"Human." Camila answers, grinning from cheek to cheek.

I laugh softly, shaking my head as I chuckle. "No, I mean—."

"Guys!" Ally yells at us, she sits on a tall wooden structure with a chair perched on top. "Can't y'all pick a boat already?"

I glance towards the different colored boats, there's a green boat, a pink boat, a purple boat, a blue boat, which Dinah and Normani are already sitting in, and a yellow boat.

"What color?" I ask Camila, who takes her gaze off the boats and brings it back to me.

"Yellow." She replies, her face lighting up. I feel her hand slip into mine, my jaw goes slack from shock. I can feel the hue rise to my cheeks, I mentally curse myself. She pulls me towards the yellow boat, a grin plastered on her face. She basically pushes me into the boat, I fall onto my back, the boat rocks back and forth, creating waves in the water around us. Camila unhooked the boat rope and gently slips into the seat in front of me. I smile at her and get into my seat across from her, she returns my grin.