A Lifetime Made for Two

Ch. 15: Killer Uno

Piper and Gabe had a wonderful time together. After they had scoured every booth in the street market, they bought some lunch from a food truck nearby. To kill time they walked around downtown until they came to a small bowling alley. They played a few games and decided it was probably time that they return to camp. Gabe drove Piper to the garage to pick up her car. It was a gorgeous red 1998 Firebird convertible. The shop had done a good job of fixing it up. Aside from a few scratches on the rear left bumper, the car looked good as new. 

Gabe whistled. "She's a beauty." 

"Thanks. I looked a long time for a Firebird that was in good condition. Finally found this one out in California. That's why there's no rust."

"I was wondering about that. Hard to keep a car rust free up here."

Gabe admired PIper's car until the mechanic came to settle the balance with Piper. Then they drove home in their separate cars. 

Gabe and Piper arrived at camp at the same time and were surprised to see that it was pouring rain. They parked as close to the dining hall entrances as they could, but the parking spots next to the building were all taken and they had to park more in the middle of the parking lot. They raced to the dining hall but by the time they got there they were already soaked. They burst into the dining hall giggling and dripping wet. As the doors slammed shut behind them, they noticed the group of staff staring at them. Quickly, they stopped laughing but they couldn't help smiling. 

"We're back," Piper ventured, her orange hair draped around her face, dripping wet. 

"Obviously. Have fun?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, actually. And by the way, it is perfectly sunny in town." Piper was rubbing her bare arms, trying to dry them a bit and warm up. 

"Nice shirt," Michael commented. 

"Thanks. Yeah, we spent a while at a street market and there were some pretty well-priced tank tops." Piper pulled at the tank top and tried to get it to stop clinging to her soaked body. "It was so hot in town that I traded my sweater for one. Speaking of which, I wouldn't mind changing back." Piper looked at Gabe inquisitively.

"Oh, shoot! The bag is in my car. I totally forgot about it while we were making a rush for cover." His hair, flat from the weight of the water, was nearly covering his captivating eyes. 

"That's fine. I'll go grab a blanket from the rec room. If my cabin weren't way up in the woods I'd go up there and change."

"Good luck with the blanket. All of the campers are in there watching a movie and I'm pretty sure the blankets are all taken," Calvin informed her.

"I'll manage."

Piper walked toward the rec room, and Gabe retreated to the dish room to grab his sweatshirt. Both returned victorious. 

 "How'd you get a blanket?" Calvin asked in surprise. 

Piper managed jazz hands with one hand while tightly holding her blanket around her with the other. "Magic," she said as mysteriously as she could. 

"Seriously?" Calvin raised an eyebrow at her.

"A magician never reveals her secrets."

Calvin rolled his eyes and continued fiddling with his phone. Piper pulled up a chair next to Michael who looked at her and brushed her hair behind her ear. Gabe sat in between Clavin and Nick. 

"I have a confession," he said. "Well, not really a confession. Just something to say that apparently no one knows, but I assumed everyone did."

Everyone looked up at Gabe except Calvin. 

"In order to not cause any confusion or embarrassing situations later on I figured I should tell you all that I'm gay."

Lily nearly choked on her water that she had been drinking; Nick's jaw dropped; Margret folded over, laughing at Lily and pointing from Lily to Gabe while trying to speak; and Michael merely nodded his head and said,

"Didn't expect that, but cool." 

"Margret, Lily- are you both ok?" Piper asked while suppressing a laugh.

"Fine. Just fine," Lily replied. Margret was still finding the situation too funny to speak.

"Ok then. That's settled. Any secrets anyone else wants to share?" Gabe looked directly at Piper who stared perplexedly back at him and then when the realization hit her as to what he was referring to she shook her head slightly and looked away. 

"Oh, we know about her's and Michael's shared moment," Margret said. 

Piper turned to Michael inquisitively.

"What? It's not my fault. Like you said, it doesn't take long for stuff to spread around this camp."

Piper sighed but figured there was no point in trying to hide the kiss anymore. 

There was awkward silence for a few minutes. Then Killian walked up and pulled up a chair to join the group. 

"Sup, guys? Woah. I see Piper and Gabe ventured out into the downpour."

"Actually we ventured in from it," Gabe corrected. 

"That's right! You two were out all morning together." A devious smile spread across Killian's face. 

"Stop trying to start something, Killian," Piper interjected. "Gabe's gay."

"Is that so? Never would have thought." Killian studied Gabe for a few seconds then shrugged and turned toward the rest of the group. "So... is everyone just going to sit here on their phones all day?"

"What else is there to do?" Margret asked.

"There are these things called games. Perhaps you've heard of them? There are all sorts: card games, board games, games that require nothing more than a group of willing people."

"I'm down," Calvin said. 

"Sure, why not. Margret and I are in," Lily spoke up. 

Nick and Piper also agreed, but no one could get Michael to join. When Jenny and Sylvia walked in, they too were roped into playing. All that was left to decide was what game to play. Piper suggested Killer Uno and since no one had a better idea, Jenny retrieved two stacks of Uno cards. Everyone migrated to one of the tables- even Michael though he sat back from the table next to Piper. 

Before long, everyone was laughing and shouting and having a grand time together. Michael had even put his phone away and was cheering Piper on to win. Several rounds were played before the campers started to trickle out of the rec room. Several watched a game or two and then joined. The game grew bigger and bigger and soon they were playing in a circle on the floor. Nick was the first to leave to start dinner. Then a few others of the kitchen and dish room staff until the only staff members still playing along with the campers were Gabe, Piper, and Killian. Everyone lost track of time so much that they were surprised when the dinner bell rang. As soon as the game ended the campers made their way to the dinner line, still talking about when Todd had to draw fifteen cards or when Emily laid down seven consecutive nines or other funny scenarios from the game. Killer Uno had become the honorary camp game.  

Piper and Killian looked over the gaggle of kids, proud that they had started something that would not be forgotten anytime soon.