camp cherry | hs

two

this man owns my ENTIRE heart goodbye

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HANA

The first activity is one I'm looking forward to, Ella not so much; hiking.

We were meant to be kayaking, however, the air had cooled considerably, so the two were swapped. As aforementioned, Ella likes to run - as in sprint. Long distance marathon running is nowhere near the top of her favourite sports list, and hiking is even lower. If it weren't for the camp, she would be in no way up for climbing up a mountain.

The campers had been separated into groups of seven and assigned leaders. My silent excitement for the hike had soon been thoroughly dampened upon discovering our counsellor is no less than Jake, of course. Why couldn't we have the girl Ella was practically drooling over? At least then I could try and help her score - even though it's prohibited, Ella doesn't particularly seem to mind.

I learn that his name is in fact not Jake, but Harry, from his overly lengthy, rather pretentious speech, during which the other five girls in my group paid undoubted attention to the young man.

"The hike will be difficult, but as long as we stick together, we've got this," he reels off several stereotypical phrases. Relieved, I sigh as he finally turns around and begins the ascent up the hill.

Within minutes, Ella is heaving, claiming the air is too thin and there is too little oxygen, before being reminded that we're only about 30 feet above where we started. Harry clearly finds humour in the way a model-worthy girl in our group is desperately flirting with him the entire way. Regardless of his bemused reaction, I have a feeling if it weren't for the strictly no campers-counsellors rule, he would have his tongue down her throat by now.

"Finally!" Ella exclaims as we near the peak of the mountain. We've been climbing for two hours and each minute, she's complained at least twice; 'it's too hot', 'my shoes are dirty', 'she's looking at me funny'. Rage contorts her features as another small bump comes into view, the climb to the top continuing on, "I swear to God, if this isn't the top—"

"Shut up. We're here," I interrupt her, shifting her cheek towards the astonishing view.

"Woah."

"Was the view worth it?"

"Worth the walking? Fuck, no. Nothing would be a good enough reward for that shit." I roll my eyes at her aversion towards hiking, which I never could understand. For me, there's no better feeling in the world than when I've walked for hours, my legs burning and all I want is to sleep, and I can finally reach the peak and admire the incredible view.

"Come on, enjoy the view."

"Yeah, Ella, enjoy the view." A deep, British voice disrupts our conversation, both of us twisting to the source of the noise.

"I am, thank you very much for that, Jake."

"Jake? That's not—" his expression is one of bewilderment, his confusion only growing when Ella and I can't maintain our neutral expressions and share a stifled giggle. "C'mon," he shakes it off, his face flushed red.

After a while, people start to get bored with the view, whilst Ella claims that the air is now definitely too thin. Harry marches ahead, smiling smugly when two of the girls rush to keep his pace. The girl from before's long, pink nails dig into his bicep as she fakes a loud, girlish laugh at a joke that I know isn't that funny.

Two hours later, Ella and I are sat on her bed, painting our nails in weird patterns and colours, talking about Lily - the counsellor she has a little crush on - and our hair piled messily on top of our heads. That is, until she unsubtly switches the subject to something I'm not so keen on, or rather, someone - Harry. Jake. I think I might stick with Jake.