luck, a lake, and lora

|4|

Monday, Week Three of Camp Lake Crowpire

"You like me. In a romantic way."

"Yes."

"Cool."

Sage would say that you could hear crickets in a metaphorical way, but crickets were literally chirping away from where she and Lora were sat on an upside down canoe by the lake, watching the stars. Well, Lora was watching the stars. Sage, on the other hand, was staring at the other girl quizzically.

"Cool," Sage repeated unsurely.

Lora nodded, still keeping her gaze on the sky. "Uh huh."

Sage was dumbfounded. Normally when she confessed her feelings for someone, it would be reciprocated. She wasn't sure what she did wrong in her flirting to get 'Cool' for an answer, but it just made her all the more determined to win Lora over.

"You know, this isn't how these types of conversations normally go," she stated.

Lora finally met her gaze. "I'm sure I'm not someone you'd normally have this type of conversation with."

This little...

"What do you mean?!" Sage threw her hands in the air. "You can't just say cool when someone says they want to be with you! That's not how it works!"

Lora raised her eyebrows as if amused and said, "Is this how you got Jake Perth to date you?"

"Yes, this is exac- wait..." Sage trailed off. How did Lora know about her ex boyfriend?

As if she knew what was going through her head right then, Lora replied, "Our high school has almost 3,000 students and staff. Did you know that?"

Sage's jaw dropped open. "Bull."

Lora just laughed like it was the funniest thing to happen to her. "I'm a grade below you. We were in the same study hall last year, though I don't expect you to remember me at all. My mom is the Calculus teacher."

In all her life, Sage was sure that she'd never blushed harder, or felt more conflicted. She wanted to slap this girl, but also violently make out with her, and it took a lot of willpower to neither.

"You knew me all this time?" She stammered finally.

"I have to say, I'm a little offended that you don't even remember my face. Or my hair, even! It's very vibrant."

Sage ogled at her. "You threw a water balloon at me."

"I've always wanted to, honestly." Lora shrugged.

"What the heck do you have against me, Laurel?"

"Besides having a huge crush on you since I was a sophomore? Nothing," she said nonchalantly, as if it wasn't a really freaking huge deal.

Sage lost it. She grabbed the other girl by the shoulders and turned her to face her completely.

"I think I've met my soulmate, and said soulmate is about to get thrown in the lake," Sage said, articulating every syllable.

Lora looked at her with wide eyes before muttering, "If it makes you feel better, you're the reason I decided I'm a huge lesbian."

"My God, you don't know how to talk like a normal person."

Lora snorted, and Sage couldn't help but laugh at this girl who managed to steal her heart in two weeks flat and somehow be the person she'd been looking for all along, and yet was always there.

"Sage," Lora whispered. Their faces were close, close enough for Sage to count her freckles if she tried. "I like you too."

They weren't sure who leaned in first, but somehow they ended up kissing with Lora's hands around her waist and Sage's in her hair. They then realized, too late, that neither of them had good balance and therefore went toppling off the canoe and onto the sand. When Lora laughed, Sage was sure that she'd never seen anything more beautiful in her life.

They snuck back to the treehouse, careful to not wake the other counselors. Sage couldn't stop giggling and when a flashlight turned on, both girls sprinted the rest of the way to the Team Clover cabin. When they shut the door behind them, they completely lost it. Their cackling woke up the two campers, who groaned and shushed them.

Finally, they managed to calm down enough to crawl into their sleeping bags. The way it was arranged, their heads were next to each other's while their legs faced opposite directions.

"Lora," Sage whispered. "How exactly did I turn you gay?"

"The first time I saw you at the club orientation and you were wearing that candy wrapper dress," the other girl replied.

"Seriously? I had lipstick on my teeth that whole day."

"You looked cute. Second time was when you led the LGBT march during sixth period and got a detention."

"If I remember correctly, your mom was the one who gave me that detention."

"Oh, that's right..."

Sage sighed contently and gazed at the ceiling of the cabin. Little clover wind chimes hung from the windows. Clovers. Sage supposed that it was just her luck to find Lora this summer. She fell asleep thinking about how it was so worth coming to a sweaty summer camp to meet the most wonderful person.