fake | tratie | EDITING |

| v. strike up the deal |

edited : 1 . 29 . 22

original word count : 1114

new word count : 1453

. . .

The camp was beginning to diminish in numbers because summer ended and school was starting. The air stayed pleasant in the environment bubble, but I was yearning for cooler weather. I felt hot and stuffy, even with less campers in the Demeter cabin.

It was my second term being a full-time camper - this would've been the start to my senior year in the outside world. Still, there was no place I'd have rather been.

Unfortunately, everything had a downside - the Stolls were year-round campers, too.

I had majorly spent effort getting myself over the whole Travis situation - I knew it wasn't worth my energy and stress. He was interested in making my life miserable, and I was set on making his the same. It didn't matter if we had a blip in history where we faked something else; we were enemies and that was how it worked. We hated each other and moved on with our days.

I didn't think Travis got the memo.

"You look amazing today." He gestured to my corduroy shorts and camp shirt, unfortunately in front of the whole Demeter table at breakfast.

Rolling my eyes, I faced Miranda and tried my best to avoid looking at him. "I always look like this."

"Exactly my point."

I turned to him. "What do you want?"

He held up his hands defensively. "I just wanna talk to you. Can I?"

"You are."

"In private?" His imploring expression made me almost consider it.

Then I looked over at the Aphrodite table where Ashley was sending me a look of death.

"Nah."

Not worth it.

"Katie, please." He actually looked serious. When he caught onto where my line of sight was going, he placed his hand on top of mine. "It's important. I won't let Ashley get to you."

"What makes you think I'm worried about her?" I scoffed, although it was a viable observation. "I just don't want to start something."

"She thinks you're trying to steal me away from her." He grinned and wriggled his eyebrows comically.

"Exactly why I'm not worried," I decided. "I'm not."

"Just come on, please?"

Miranda nodded at him when I looked at her for advice, so I groaned and stood up. "Grab me a muffin for later."

I followed him out of the pavilion, making a big show of how much I didn't want to follow him. We trailed past the strawberry fields, and I watched as his hands tensed and flexed. He picked his footing carefully as he settled in on the dock, dangling his feet off the end of it. I did the same.

"So...?" I wasn't in the mood to be toying with my own emotions, and I wouldn't give him an inch if that was what he was up to.

Travis' face, though, had another motive. His expression painted a picture of sincerity, and it drew me in despite how much I was trying not to let it. It was like he was peering into my very soul with that look.

It was killing me.

And in that second, I wondered if he was maybe going to say something I secretly wanted to hear. Would he want to talk about what happened? The thing that we'd skirted around since we got back to camp? The thing I just now realized how much I wanted to talk about it, too.