Planning Your Future

We'll Go Camping (Part 2)

June 26, 1991

Veronica's POV

I sit at the edge of the pier. The girls are on canoes and kayaks. Hannah sits beside me, dipping her feet in the lake. Water activities are optional so she decides to sit with me. "Are you sure you don't want to go have fun?" I ask her. "I'm okay." She responds sheepishly. "Alright." I shouldn't fight it. It's only the third day of camp. I turn around where JD's kids are doing rock climbing. He looks at me and waves. I wave back. "Are you two together?" Hannah asks. "We are." I nod. "That's cool." She says. I chuckle at how casually she says it.

Since JD and I have the same age group of kids, we are together for the hike. We both have the thirteen and fourteen group. He also has six kids. They are Evan, Shane, Jeremy, Michael, Paul, and Percy. Michael seems to be a lot like Hannah. Michael is a bit more social but they're definitely the shyest of the group. JD and I hold hands as we walk. Though we were told no PDA, Alyssa told me that George won't get on us about handholding.

Each of the campers have one member of the opposite sex that they are talking to. Brooke and Chloe are with Jeremy and Shane. Lydia and Evan are together, as are Annabeth and Percy. Emma and Paul must already know each other because they have some kind of tension. Michael and Hannah walk on both sides of us. JD must have the same thing with Michael going on that I do with Hannah. Brooke and Chloe do not look thrilled to have to be hiking. "Miss Veronica, how much longer do we have to hike?" Chloe asks. "Once we get to the end of the trail, we'll turn back and return to camp." I tell her. She sighs and keeps walking. "'Miss Veronica?'" JD laughs. "Shut up. What do your kids call you?" I hit him. "JD." He says. I scoff.

We get back to camp in one piece and head to the showers. As it often is with camp, the water isn't warm at all. The girls get ready, then we head to the mess hall for lunch. I sit with the counselors but Hannah sits beside me. The others try to talk to her but she only gives small responses.

We do activities for the rest of the day until it's time for campfire. Hannah tells me she's tired so I let her go to the cabin. I snuggle beside JD. Brooke and Chloe both look at me with smirks.

We go to the cabin and I tell everyone to be quiet since Hannah is asleep. "Are you and the other counselor together?" Brooke whispers. "Yes. Now get in bed. Tonight we're doing lights out early since some of us are already sleeping." They quietly groan. "No complaining, guys. We're all tired. We can chat in the morning." I tell them. I get in bed. I look over at Hannah. She's so peaceful looking. I smile before rolling over and shutting my eyes.

The next morning, I have to shake them awake. "Come on. We have a pretty relaxed day. You'll live." Lydia loudly groans. Behind me, Annabeth is already up and ready to go. Chloe gets up with the craziest bed head I think I've ever seen. Brooke sees her and starts cracking up. "Shut up!" Chloe throws a pillow at her. Hannah quietly gets ready while the others talk about dreams and whatever they didn't get to say last night. "I had a dream that you and Shane and me and Jeremy..." Brooke trails off when she sees that I'm listening. "...Went on dates." She says.

The day consists of mainly the younger kids doing crafts and the older doing projects. Later on, all the kids hang around while some of them play kickball. Eventually, they convince the us to play kids v. counselors. So the six counselors go against one from each cabin, which includes Annabeth and Percy. I've never been very good at sports but I do pretty good. When it's my turn, I kick and run as fast as I can. A girl named Nina throws the ball at me and knocks me over. Alyssa is about to scold her but I yell, "Good shot!" Alyssa laughs and gives up. We end up winning by only two points. All the kids are bitter for the rest of the night. "We were so close!" Annabeth huffs. "Maybe next time." I pat her on the back. She crosses her arms.

After dinner is done, Annabeth along with a few other campers approach me. "Yes?" She must want a rematch. "Have you ever played Gaga Ball?" She asks. "No?" What the hell is Gaga Ball? "Well we challenge the counselors to a game." She smirks.

Alyssa explains the rules that we basically can't let the ball touch anywhere below our waists and we hit it with our hands. The six from earlier and the counselors enter the "ga-ga pit." We start playing and I get into it. The ball comes at me and I hit it at Percy. He dodges but it hits Nina. She sighs as she climbs out. Alyssa is in game-mode, as are the others. "What is happening?" I mouth to JD. While focusing on him, Annabeth spikes the ball at my feet. I get out and watch. JD is playing to win. I laugh as he jumps to escape the ball. He looks like a rabbit. Dan joins me along with a girl named Hope from Natalie's cabin. Soon it's JD and Alyssa against Annabeth and Percy. JD is almost hit but he spikes it hard and hits Percy. We cheer as only Annabeth is left. Alyssa hits it and is so close to getting her but Annabeth is very good at this. Finally, Alyssa hits her. The counselors cheer and all the kids groan.

We make the decision to skip campfire and go straight to bed. Annabeth walks up to JD on the walk back. "Good job. I'm impressed that a first timer beat me." She has a certain cockiness to her voice. "Thanks. But who says it was my first?" Everyone laughs. "When did you play that?" I ask. "My dad always shipped me off during the summer and this game was super popular at my camp." He says. I kiss him goodnight and go inside. Everyone is mad that we won so they stay quiet. Hannah is quiet just because she always is.

I hope you enjoyed! I included Gaga Ball because it was a super popular game at the church I went to. I sucked but I played. I hope you guys like these camp chapters. I won't do them for too much longer. Bye!