Leap Year Wishes

Chapter Thirteen

I pant in the scorching hot sun, dehydrated, as we wait for the slackers to get their butts to the campsite. About halfway up, I finished my water and I can barely wait to get more. Finally, everyone reached the top and Coach talked to us before letting us go.

"Alright, ladies! For the next 3, 4 days, we will be having a competition between each group. It will be different each day and I will give instruction that day. Right now, get with your group and decide which cabin you'll be sharing. You will have forty-five minutes to get unpacked and settled in, I want you all in the dining cabin by 11:30. It's your responsibility to keep track of time. You all should have wall clocks in your cabins, now do I make myself clear?"

We all nodded in response and Julie and I wove through the crowd to find Ashton and Nate. As soon as we found them, we picked the cabin closest to us; Cabin 17. It was also closest to the entrance and the dining hall. Julie opened the door and walked in with me close behind. I turned the lights on and we saw two set of bunk beds, two dressers, one bathroom, and one closet. It was pretty small, but that didn't matter to me.

 "So, girls on left and boys on right?" Nate suggested. We all agreed and put our clothes in the dressers. Julie and I agreed that I would get the bottom three drawers and she would get the top three. After I unpacked, I rushed to the bathroom and filled my water bottle up, just to immediately drink it all. I walk back out to see Julie flirting with Ashton and Nate making his bed.

"I'll take bottom bunk." Julie says as she notices me getting my bedding out. I nod and climb the wooden ladder to sit on the top bunk.

I start making my bed just as Nate finishes. Once I'm done, I look at Julie who looks like she's about to kiss Ashton. He looks the same way. I don't blame them, they'd make a cute couple. They both have dark blonde hair with a fair tan, along with blue eyes and they are both athletic. Julie has known Ashton just as long as I have, except she had a crush on him two years ago.

"Lovesick puppies." Nate smirks at me from the other top bunk. We both laugh which causes Julie and Ashton to realize we are watching them. I watch them both blush and retreat to their bed to start putting the bedding on. For the last half hour, I rest until Julie wakes me up five minutes before we have to be I the dining hall for lunch.

As we walk towards the dining hall, I notice a lake to my right with rowboats, canoes, and pedal boats. To my right, I see about a dozen more cabins and a few trails between each of them. Once we reach the dining hall, we sit down at the front left table.

"So are we having one of the competitions today or...?" Ashton speaks up. I shrug and then Coach Brown waltzes in to stand in the front of the tables.

"Glad you all made it!" he shouted over the ones talking. Everyone obediently looked at him as he continued. "I will dismiss you, one table at a time, to get your food. You then will have about twenty five minutes to eat. Then, we will have our first game." Coach walked towards the front right table and let them get there food. About two minutes later, he let us go. Ashton, Nate, and Julie all got hamburgers and fries, but I stuck with a salad. We ate, talked and laughed before Coach gave us a five minute warning. Then, I got up and put my plate on the counter where everyone else was leaving their dirty dishes. As I headed back for my table, Julie was behind me and she pulled me with her.

"Ashton asked me out!" she whispered excitedly as she put her plate on the counter.

"That's amazing!" I exclaimed. "What did you say?"

"I'm going to say yes!" she said smiling. We got back to our table and I watched Julie nod 'yes' eagerly to Ashton. He let out a wide grin and I could tell they are perfect for each other.

"We are doing a pedal boat race!" Coach announces. We are now by the docks, getting ready to hear about our first race. "As you see, these have two sides. Two people from each group will volunteer. Then, those who are racing, will come and get a lifejacket for each other. There is a councilor at each paddle boat that will help you strap in. The other two team mates will come with me to the other side of the lake where the finish line is. Go ahead and get started."

"Ashton and I are going to the finish line to wait for you." Julie says.

"Okay then...?" I say. Nate smiles at me and leads me to two of the counselors who are handing out lifejackets. We each grab one and we meet another counselor by one of the empty paddle boats.

"Go ahead and sit down, one in the front and one in the back." she instructs us. Nate took the back seat right away so I carefully climbed into the front seat. "Now buckle yourselves in and tighten the strap to it's tight but comfortable." I do as she says and look at the lake in front of us. It looks like it's about fifty meters wide. Fifty meters we have to pedal across. The counselor tugs on the seatbelts to verify they are tight.

"Now as you know, you must make it to the end of the lake by pedaling like a bike. One of you is facing the lake, the other is facing the docks. You have to communicate to make sure you aren't turning or going backwards. Understood?" she finishes. I nod and I suppose Nate does, too, because she leaves.

"We got this!" Nate encouraged me. I smiled and for a few seconds I watched the other contestants getting ready. Once it all got quiet, I heard a man speaking into a loud-speaker, "Ready..." I started to get nervous. "Set..." I held on tightly to the sides and secured my feet onto the pedals. "Go!"

I started pedaling fast, but realize it's not like riding a bike. It's a lot slower because we have to push through the water. Instead of trying to pedal faster, I started pedaling harder and we started making our way through everyone else. Just then, somebody passed us but they started turning to the left. At the same time, Nate and I realized we had to go faster. But that didn't stop someone else to pass us.

We finished in second place with our pants wet from the knees down, but it didn't matter because we went straight to our cabin and changed afterward.

I changed into my black sweatpants and grey Nirvana tee once we got dried off. I went to my empty suitcase to fish out my toothbrush and toothpaste. As I open it, I'm shocked to see it's overfilled with gum.

"Who did this?" I say, thinking someone pranked me. Ashton threw his hands up innocently while Nate and Julie laughed. I glared at them and eventually found my toothbrush and toothpaste. Then I went to brush my teeth.

Finally, I laid on my bed after Julie turned out the lights, but was soon awaken after that to Ashton shining a flashlight in my face.

"Wakey wakey!" he whispered. I squinted in the light and saw Julie standing next to him. I looked over to the top of Nate's bunk to see him propped up on his elbow.

"Whatever happened to sleeping?" I mumbled laying back down.

"C'mon! Stop being a party pooper!" Julie complained. I sat back up and they all gave me the puppy dog eyes. I gave in and climbed off my bed. When I got down, I saw Nate, Julie, and Ashton sitting in a circle between the bunk beds. I sat in the gap they left for me between Nate and Ashton.

"So, scary stories or Truth or Dare?" Nate asks. We take a vote and Nate was the only one who voted for scary stories, so we played Truth or Dare.

"Umm, Liz!" Ashton turned to me. "Who do you have a crush on?"

I gulped.