A Sugar Summer

Chapter 10

The sun trickled down through the trees as the two girls made their way back to their cabin after the nurse finished patching Callie up. The pain in her now wrapped palms and knees faded to a dull ache thanks to the little pain tablets the nurse gave her. The walk was silent as the two gazed around their surroundings. There seemed to be slightly more people on the paths, hanging around the office and faceless voices emitting from some of the cabins. The beginning of summer at the camp held a mixture of emotions and people.

Some faces were blank and looked indifferent. Others met everyone with a challenging glare. The only excitement seemed to come from the growing number of volunteers and mentors. When Callie's cabin came into view, a quiet sigh escaped her. Without any words, Fallon squeezed her shoulder before hopping up the two steps and stepping around the door screen. 

"Callie." 

Her head snapped up to see her brother now sitting on her bed, shame heavily coating his features. Anika was nowhere to be seen. 

"Hey." she managed a small smile and tried to repress the twinges of hurt that wanted to surface. 

"Callie I'm-"

"No, it's okay. I get it. You're all just looking out for me. Let's just not mention it." Callie rubbed her arm as she shook her head. This was going to be a long summer if she and her brother kept butting heads. 

"I'll be careful." The relief that broke across Ryleigh's face was almost comical as he studied his sister's face. When she moved her hand to brush an unruly curl back, his dark blue eyes narrowed on the white bandage wrap on both of her hands, and knees. 

"What happened to you?" he was up and in front of her in a second. 

"I wasn't paying attention and tripped on a tree root. I'm fine, just some scrapes and bruising." she waved him away before moving to her dresser where her phone sat. "Where'd your girlfriend go?" 

Ryleigh winced as the three of them exited the cabin after checking the time. "She said I had to make up with you before she would talk to me again." Callie laughed at the discomfort painted on her brother's face as he rubbed his neck.

"Come on you poor thing. Is she and the gang at the cafeteria? It's nearly lunchtime."

"Yeah. Starting tomorrow the camp will run on scheduled lunch shifts. Activities also start tomorrow. You guys can go to any food shift though and do what you like after you're done volunteering." The goofy smile on Ryleigh's face made the girls laugh.

"So how many campers are you in charge of this year?" Fallon kept the light conversation going as they ventured to the main cafeteria with Ryleigh returning miscellaneous greetings from mentors and campers alike. 

"I have twenty this year." 

"Those poor souls." Callie snickered at her brother's offended look. 

"Speaking of them, Callie-" The serious edge in his voice had Callie preparing for another one of his protective lectures. 

"Beck saw me fall and walked me to the nurses office." The confession quickly tumbled out of her. Ryleigh blinked at her before frowning softly and looking over at Fallon.

"Someone stopped to ask me something and the next thing I knew she was out of sight." Fallon's eyes widened innocently as she held her hands up in surrender. 

"Beck- Beckett helped you?" The short question was filled with hesitated disbelief, like the idea was foreign and he couldn't understand it. The group entered the busy cafeteria at that moment so Callie waited till they were closer to a table filled with familiar faces where it was a tad quieter.