Because the Night

the campfire

Three days into Highland, and Lily was so tired she couldn't feel her legs. She could touch them with her hands, sure, but if she was lying in bed? Couldn't feel them. Just a pulsing. 

Three days into Highland, and Lily was so tired that there was no space between hitting the pillow and waking up. It felt like her entire day was woven together, and sleep a deep hole she fell into, and crawled out of, without thinking. 

Three days into Highland, and Lily was not tired enough to stop thinking about Diego, and where he might be in the resort at any given moment. 

It would be easier if there were, oh, maybe some blinking signal above his head, so she could conveniently seek out his presence. She knew she couldn't have him. He already made that clear. But she could have a whiff of him, right? One long, lingering look? 

Lily slept in the dorms with the other employees, many of whom had been working at Highland since they were kids. They looked at her skeptically, as an interloper for this year. "Guess you're Adriana's replacement," Emma said, in front of an entire group of Emma clones. All of their ponytails swayed in unison. Lily's curly hair couldn't do that. 

"Who's Adriana?" Lily asked. 

"She was last year's Serena," Emma responded, and everyone cackled, in unison. They were too old to be acting like this was the ninth grade lunch table, and she was trying to invade into a clique. They were too old, but that is how they were acting—and it was working.  

Lily got along best with the employees from foreign countries, because she felt like she was from one, when she was with those other girls. They came from places like Lativa, and Romania, and Hong Kong. They came on summer tourist visas, and worked for a few months. Most of them worked in the spa and restaurant. Most of the girls worked on the boathouse and at the lakefront, because they were "cultivating tans." 

Lily was the only person in the summer camp, which explained why, her first Friday night there, she didn't want to go to the campfire. "If I never roast another marshmallow again, it'll be too soon," she said, when Maria, her Romanian friend, asked her to join. "This kid made me get involved in a marshmallow eating contest, and I couldn't let a 12-year-old beat me, so—yeah, I ate 12." 

"Campfires aren't really about the marshmallows. Come on, I hear it's a tradition." 

But Lily resisted, and decided to stay in and watch an episode of Grace and Frankie. Her days as a wild young girl were not manifesting, but at least she could look forward to being an old lady who knew how to have fun. 

With her headphones on and the sound of Lily Tomlin coursing into her heads, Lily watched as the entire cabin emptied out. Then, she was finally alone. She turned off the headphones and enjoyed the sound of the bugs, and the ability to hear the sheets crinkle when she moved, and even the joy of hearing her own thoughts. 

This was the first time she'd head silence since moving to Highland. 

And then, the door opened, and pierced that brief but lovely cocoon of calm. "Where are you, Lily?" A familiar, but devilish voice said. "You didn't come to work Highland summers and miss a campfire." 

Diego. Leaning over her bed. Speaking to her sternly. "I have to conserve my energy if I'm going to be drained by children again tomorrow," she said, languidly. It was taking all of her energy not to shoot up and toward him, actually, but she didn't need to say that. 

He shook his head emphatically. "Did they not tell you what this is?"

"Marshmallows, right?" She asked. 

"Well, yeah, there are marshmallows, but that's like saying that...a dance is a series of steps. It doesn't give you the whole picture," Diego said, his expression becoming more animated as he spoke. Reminder: Get Diego riled up. He's cute when the things he's feeling make their way onto his face, Lily thought. Then she corrected herself: He's always cute. 

"This is the glue to the summer. If you miss this, then you won't be one of us," he continued. "It's so like Emma to not give you the full story." 

Lily sat up, but the pillow was too thin to support her. "Here," Diego said, sitting up closer and putting his arm between the bed and the wall. "Sit up." It wasn't comfortable, but it was close to him, and so she leaned on his forearm and tried very, very hard not to get sucked into the swirling wormholes of danger that were his eyes. 

"She didn't explain this campfire thing at all. She told me to enjoy myself. And I was, actually, before you burst in. My fault for trusting her, I guess," she said. 

"I'm not saying anything," Diego said, holding his other hand up. 

"Maybe she was right. What's the point of me coming? I'm not going to be one of you, anyway. You made that clear." 

"No," Diego said. "I invited you here for a reason. You wanted to do Highland, and you're going to do it right. Which is why I'm getting you."

"Well, this Rapunzel doesn't want to be rescued from the tower," Lily said. "Though thanks again for the tower room. That was fun. When I close my eyes, I pretend I'm in that suite." 

Diego stared at her disapprovingly. "Are you going to make this hard for me?" He asked. "And hard for you?" 

She nodded coyly, and smiled, while bringing the covers up to her chin. "Sleepy time." 

With that, he dove toward her and grabbed her torso. "You are not going to sleep," he said. "There is fun out there."

"I didn't know that you knew how to do that." 

"It's a rare event. Like Haley's Comet. Come on, come see this grimace slide off. It's a one-night-only thing," he said. 

"We'll see about that," she responded, moving her head closer to him. Boldly, she put her head on his lap and stared up at him. "If  you're going to be all knight in shining armor, then at least carry me. I really am tired." 

It was a joke, but had enough truth in there for him to seize her out of the covers, swing her over his shoulder, and walk out of the cabin. 

"Don't make me do that again," he said. "Next time, just listen."

She huffed. "We'll see about that. This better be fun."

"Oh," he said. "It will be."