Every Summer Has A Story

Ch. 26 - Everything Is On Fire, But It's Fine

By Tuesday morning Eve's vigor was beginning to fade. Her feet ached and she couldn't get them completely free of camp dirt, her super sexy potato sack bathing suit seemed to be perpetually damp, and Timothy Gibbons was eating up every single moment of her free time. When she wasn't chasing Timothy around camp to apply sunscreen or administer his inhaler, Eve was dealing with her bullshit personal problems. Every time she mistakenly glanced Maverick's way he fixed her with a wounded puppy dog expression, which was getting old, and Thea's snippy mouth pushed Eve closer and closer each day to revealing her dirty little secret. She was spending a fair amount of time worrying about Ellison, too. Her sister had heeded her sage advice and begun slowly distancing herself from Thea and Aviana, although her Unholy Trinity counterparts hadn't seemed to catch on yet.

"Everything is on fire, but it's fine..." she inwardly assured herself, repeating the words that were slowly becoming her summer mantra.

The sun was beginning to set and it was nearly time for evening campfire. Eve actually enjoyed watching the staff conduct silly skits and sing songs, but it was the s'mores that had become her personal highlight. She pulled on the strings hanging down from her backpack and sighed. Zayne had finally talked her into carrying a trademark camp counselor backpack and it had her feeling like a college freshman all over again.

"At least it's cute," she assured herself, admiring the turquoise color in the bathroom mirror.

She gave her sweaty, make-up free appearance a once over and flipped off the light. Honestly, in the sticky 85 degree weather, her appearance was as good as it was going to get. 

Striding out onto the front deck, the first cool breeze of the day caressed her face and she had to keep herself from sighing in relief. The heat had been nothing short of oppressive and Eve could feel the kiss of the sun on her cheeks whenever she crinkled her nose. She'd been steadily developing tan lines she'd never had before, including a very attractive set of Chaco strap marks on the tops of her feet, and she drove herself crazy trying to figure out how she'd get rid of them at the end of the summer. Her wacky tan lines wouldn't be so easily accepted by the outside world when camp ended.

There was a steady line of chatter on the radio clipped at her hip as cabin counselors tried to coordinate a few last minute details and she struggled to shut-out the sound of Maverick's disembodied voice crackling through the speaker. Since she effectively ended whatever strange, convoluted situationship they'd had going on, Eve felt off balance. Her new normal was in many ways suffocating when she had anticipated a feeling of emancipation. Maverick was evidently a very steadying force during her first few weeks of camp and without him by her side, her new experiences just felt... empty.

She strode down the dirt path toward the campfire area, the vials of medication in her backpack shaking with every step. Staff and campers alike liked to make jokes about hearing Eve coming by the jingle of her keys and the shake of her backpack. As she closed in on the clearing the twitter of camper voices reached her ears, though judging by the tame volume level most of the cabins hadn't arrived yet. They could hear her too, apparently, because a few of the older girls from Ellison's cabin, Shawnee, ran up the path to meet her. 

"Eve," the tall one with pig tail braids said, sliding her arm through her's, "you have to tell us who Ellison is dating."

"Yes," said the blonde, also sporting pig tails, "we cannot figure it out."

The blonde took Eve's other elbow and the shorter brunette settled for the spot by pig tails.

"Guys, I've told you this a thousand times," Eve teased, "Ellison is a nun. She doesn't date."

Pig tails let out a squeal,

"You're lying! We have almost all the camp couples figured out," she informed her very matter-of-factly, "but Ellison is a missing piece of the puzzle."

"Oh really?" Eve replied, trying to sound aloof.

Her curiosity had definitely been piqued...

"And we're pretty sure we've got it all right," added the short brunette.

The girls steered Eve into the campfire area and toward the bench where Ellison was sitting.

"Hey Ellie!" Eve called, "your girls have been working on some pretty interesting theories."

Ellison rolled her eyes heavenward,

"Oh trust me, I am well aware of their mission this week."

Eve disengaged her arms and sat down with Ellison, looking at the campers with amusement.

"Okay," she said smugly, "let's hear it."

The trio of Shawnee cabin girls motioned excitedly for a couple of their other friends to join them and Eve glanced around the group expectantly.

"Ellison and I are on the edge of our seats..." she added, prompting a chorus of giggles from the teenagers.

Pig tails took a deep breath and clapped her hands excitedly,

"Okay, so we're pretty sure Willow and Grayson are together, because they're both so quiet."

Eve bit the insides of her cheeks and kept her expression neutral,

"Interesting suggestion."

"Go on..." Ellison encouraged.

"Thea and Emmett!" The blonde suggested, listing off one of the other guy counselors Eve didn't know very well.

"No way," interjected the short brunette, "Thea and Nathanael."

Eve snorted, but quickly regained her composure,

"Any other ideas?"

"I think Eve and Maverick broke up," a pretty red head spoke up, "because he looks at her all the time."

"And how exactly does he look at her?" Ellison goaded.

Eve shot her smart ass sister a sideways glare.

"Like a wounded puppy," the red head said with a shrug.

Eve resorted to biting both cheeks to keep quiet.

"Wrong," hollered pig tails, "she's with Zayne, they're always together."

"No, it's Nathanael," said the blonde, "they joke around all the time and he's always picking her up over his shoulder."

"He just does that to piss me off," Eve thought with annoyance.

Ellison ignored Eve's stormy expression nodded thoughtfully,

"Once again, some very interesting theories, ladies."

There was a pregnant silence.

"So what about the douchey lifeguard? What's his deal?" Asked pig tails.

Eve couldn't help herself and burst into laughter,

"I'm not touching that question with a ten foot pole!" she squealed at the some moment Ellison began chastising her camper for using the word "douche".

A loud burst of camper voices interrupted their little pow wow and the girls were forced to return to their seats with a litany of unanswered questions and pouty expressions. Eve and Ellison exchanged wordless amused expressions and shrugged, silently agreeing to discuss this later in once the kids were all in bed and Eve was free to roam about.

After all, what the campers didn't know wouldn't hurt them.