luck, a lake, and lora

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Having spent just two hours at Camp Lake Crowpire, Sage was ready throw herself off a pine tree. Not that the campsite wasn't beautiful, but the creaky tree houses used for cabins and the bright yellow Port-a-Potties weren't exactly her style. Everything was sticky and smelled like bug spray. The lake itself was pretty much the only upside to the whole situation; kayaks and canoes lined the dock and a shrub maze was on the small island in the middle of it. At the moment, Sage was sitting on a mossy log as the campers were given an orientation speech.

"Hey." Lora sat down beside her, snapping her out of her hazily counting the spiders crawling through the moss.

"Hi!" Sage said back a bit too loudly, earning her a shush from another counselor. She had learned that he was the eldest of the staff and probably found joy in making the summer miserable for everyone.

Lora rolled her eyes at the back of his head. "Ignore Quinto. He thinks he's the alpha of the pack. He's wrong."

"Who is the alpha?"

"Me, obviously," replied Lora with a completely straight face.

Sage studied her expression. "I can't tell if you're joking or not."

At this, Lora grinned. "Don't tell Quinto or Theo I said that. They like to think that people listen to them."

Sage laughed behind her hand. Her first impression of Lora was that she had a stick real far up her butt, but she was getting used to her sense of humor.

"Are you close to Theo? He seems to like you," Sage asked nonchalantly. Laurel did seem like her cousin's type; funny, gorgeous, smart... and Sage was getting way ahead of herself.

Lora went back to her stoic expression and shrugged. "He likes everyone, even Mr. Grouchy over there." As if on cue, Quinto turned around and glared at the girls. Lora made a face at him.

Yeah, Sage definitely wanted to be friends with this girl.

Lora leaned into Sage's ear and whispered, "Follow me."

They snuck away from the group and Sage followed her up a ladder to the treehouses and around to the back of the supply cabin. Lora pulled a tarp up, revealing huge barrels of colorful water balloons.

"Is this what I think it is? 'Cause I'm totally down for some pranking," Sage said, eyes gleaming.

The other girl nodded and smirked. "I decided to make a new initiation tradition this year."

"Damn, you're definitely the alpha, that's for sure."

Lora winked, and Sage felt her heart skip a beat. Nope, nope, nope; what are you doing? She's too perfect to not be straight.

"You know," Lora said, fumbling around through the barrels. "You're our newest counselor."

"Uh, that's correct?" Sage had an uneasy suspicion as to what she was about to do. The other girl whipped around and dropped a balloon on her head, yelling, "WELCOME TO CAMP!"

Sage screeched and reached for ammunition to avenge herself. She had just gotten her hair straightened before coming here! In a matter of seconds, both girls were soaked and cackling, holding their stomachs. In their glee, they didn't hear the footsteps outside the treehouse and before they knew it, Quinto marched into the cabin with a a scowl.

"Shoot," the girls whispered in unison. They looked sheepishly at each other as he pointed a finger at them, getting red in the face. Lora glanced at the barrels and flicked her eyes to Quinto. Oh yeah, Sage liked the way this girl thought.

The look on his face as they lobbed water balloons at him was priceless, and the whole situation got funnier when Margot, the head counselor, rounded the doorway and got decked in the face by a stray balloon.

Soon, nearly all of the camp was running through the tree houses and balloons were flying everywhere. Somehow, Sage and Lora got cornered by some campers and were holding onto each other as they were pelted.

"Clover Team!" Lora tried to yell through the commotion. "This is treason to your team leaders! No dessert for- " She didn't get to finish her sentence because a waterballoon hit her square on the forehead. Sage was howling with laughter, until one splashed on her chest and she was out for vengeance.