Every Summer Has A Story

Ch. 23 - Things You Cannot Unsee

Eve swung Auden's hand between them jovially, attempting to stay on the sand and out of the water. 

"I'm sort of glad you dragged me to summer camp," she slurred happily.

Auden giggled up at the sky where dawn was just beginning to show around the edges,

"Me too, Evie. You're my ride or die!"

Despite having taken a canoe ride to arrive, the remaining staff members decided to hoof it back to camp after indulging in their collective fair share of adult libations.

Zayne, Zeke, and Greyson straggled slightly behind, allowing the girls a few private moments for their love-fest. As promised, the evening ended with a bonfire on the beach with the Wabanaki staff and The Lake boys. 

"It was a good ass time," Eve announced aloud.

Auden hiccuped,

"I told you Lake parties are legendary."

"I made friends," Eve said proudly.

"I know, I'm not surprised though. Ezra loves you, I can tell."

"He's a doll, I'm obsessed with him." 

Auden giggled again and stumbled slightly in the sand.

"Okay, chuckles," Greyson said, sliding up next to her with a steadying arm around the waist, "let's get back in one piece, please."

"At least I'm not going to wake up in a canoe again," Auden hiccuped up at him adoringly.

"No, not this time." He assured her.

Eve felt Zeke and Zayne join her on either side and she smiled at them both,

"Hey y'all," she drawled, "did you have fun, too?"

"I sure did, girl," Zeke answered immediately.

"I had fun when I wasn't running around fetching drinks for a certain someone," Zayne teased dryly.

Eve looked at him with big, innocent eyes,

"I don't know what you're carrying on about, Mr. Winters."

He snorted in derision,

"Oh, how convenient that she forgets now."

They meandered down the last bit of beach joking around and chatting before coming to a stop on camp property. The hint of daybreak was becoming more predominant out over Lake Michigan and it seemed to give Zayne an idea.

"Do you guys want to stay down here and watch the sunrise?" he proposed.

The group consensus seemed to be yes, but Eve's bladder said no.

"I'm going to run up to the lodge first," she explained, "but I promise I'll be back for the sunrise."

"Girl, you better sprint!" Zeke called after her as she took off toward the lodge with her shoes in hand.

Propelled forward by a pressing urge, Eve reached the back deck in record time and slipped soundlessly into the lodge. Given the staff track record, she didn't want to disturb the slumber of anyone who may be sleeping off their liquor in Algonquin. She scurried toward the side hallway that housed the laundry room and staff bathroom fully intent on reaching her destination, until an ungodly sight in the laundry room sidetracked her journey. There, in all of it's naked glory, was Charlie's bare ass. Bile immediately rose in her throat, but the moment only got worse when she realized who was propped up on the washing machine with him. Abandoning her screaming bladder, Eve quickly exited the way that she'd come before either Charlie or the blonde banshee could catch sight of her, fighting back the urge to vomit with every step. Sprinting across the rug, Eve scurried into the camper bathroom to relieve her bladder and sort through her rampant thoughts.

"Charlie... and Thea?!" She whispered to herself in the mirror, "No. Fucking. Way. Poor Averill."

"That is one image I will unfortunately never forget," she added silently with a shudder.

After quickly washing her hands, Eve tip-toed back through the lodge and let herself onto the back deck, wishing she could also wash out her eyes and wipe her memory clean. She had already decided to keep the unfortunate bit of information to herself until she was able to confront Thea herself. It didn't need to become the latest hot gossip courtesy of the camp rumor mill. Averill certainly didn't deserve the embarrassment, despite Auden's distaste for the girl, and honestly Eve was more than ready to take Thea on.

And Thea had just given her a reason to rain down hell.

~

Eve woke to a stream of sunshine pouring in from her window, taunting her pounding head. She swallowed hard against the dreaded cotton mouth and groaned.

"Hello, hangover." She croaked.

Judging by the brightness of the sunshine, it was probably the crack of noon and more than time for Eve to rejoin the land of the living. Eve rolled over and grabbed her phone off the charger with a groan. When she didn't see any new messages on the lock screen, she slid opened the weather app and scrolled the outlook for the day. The weather man was calling for a high of 84 and bright sunshine all day. Eve perked up because that could only mean one thing:

"Beach day," she thought excitedly. 

She quickly composed a text to Auden and threw off her covers, shuffling over to her dresser to pull out one of the two pieces she'd brought for this exact occasion. There would be no need for the super sexy potato sack camp bathing suit this time. She threw on her red bikini and slipped her feet into her white Crocs, tossing her still-straight hair into a ponytail on her way out the door. 

"That straightener was worth every penny," she thought smugly as a text message came in.

Auden: Hell yeah, count me in for a beach day. Meet me at my cabin ASAP.

Eve slipped on her beloved pair of Michael Kors sunglasses and tilted her face up to the sky, soaking in the delicious summer sun. It was on her way back down to chin level that a familiar car in the guest parking lot caught her attention.

"You have got to be shitting me," she muttered out loud, her eyes narrowing at the little white Jetta, "Maverick, you rat bastard."

Their argument hadn't even cooled off yet and Lennon was, more than likely, back in his bed.

"Okay, that may be an overreaction... But is it? " Eve seethed inwardly, "how did she even get here so quickly?"

Truthfully, Eve didn't even want the answer.

"What a rat bastard!" Auden squealed approximately two minutes later.

Eve had spilled the beans on her way across Auden's threshold and immediately flopped down onto her bed, face buried in the covers.

"How did she even get down here so quickly?" Auden asked, echoing Eve's internal angst.

Eve's head shot up,

"My thoughts exactly."

Auden threw her copper hair up into a messy bun and slipped into her pink Crocs. Yes, they were probably the ugliest shoes in existence, but the girls had held a certain loyalty to the comfy atrocities since their high school cheer days. 

"Let's just get down to the beach," Auden reasoned, "show off our cute two pieces, and forget about Maverick and his bullshit. Just for today."

Eve sat upright and worried her lip, the horrific scene she'd stumbled upon last night pushing to the forefront of her mind. She so badly wanted to tell Auden about the unholy event she'd witnessed only a few hours before, but she couldn't seem to spill the beans.

Auden picked up her beach bag and slipped it onto her shoulder,

"Come on, Evie. Let's go soak up some sun."