Edge of Eighteen: A Slow Burn Summer Camp Love Story

by Melinda Hazen

  But that moment when I saw the other guy with Aaron, my body responded physically in a way it hadn’t with Luke. In fact, my body reacted in a way that I’d never experienced at the first sight of any guy. I’d felt my cheeks flushing and my heart racing. I’d also gasped. And while trying to fall asleep last night, I’d imagined us kissing—totally inappropriate thoughts considering I didn’t even know his name. I’d want to know his name first. After introductions were made he could throw me onto the bed and kiss me all night. I’d stifled a giggle at the thought.

  “Let’s head to the dance now.” Lauren grabbed my arm and pulled me outdoors. At least her mood had lifted, and she seemed happy with me once more.

  When we entered the recreation center, the dance was already in full swing. A fast song was playing, and many of the girls were out on the floor jumping around. A group of wallflowers lined the perimeter in chairs, staring at would-be dance partners in hopes they might be asked to dance.

  “That’s him.”

  I looked over and realized Lauren was pointing out someone to me. “Who?” I asked, trying to see who she was referring to.

  After she insistently pointed, and I strained my eyes to see, I realized it was a cute, tall guy dressed in skinny jeans, a fitted button-down shirt, and checkered Vans.

  “He’s in my family group. He just started talking to me today. His name’s Chase.”

  “Oh, he’s easy on the eyes.” I smiled, approving of her choice.

  “We’ll see what happens,” she said as she pulled me by my wrist onto the dance floor.

  We jumped around to various fast songs for maybe twenty minutes. Then a slow song came on, and immediately the dance floor cleared. Couples came out and held each other tightly, moving to the music.

  Feeling somewhat thirsty from all the activity, I went to the water fountain and got a drink. Then I found Lauren seated in a chair against the wall. Caroline was also there, so I walked over and joined them. I hadn’t seen Luke yet. He still owed me a dance.

  “Neither of you will ask someone to dance?” Caroline looked at both of us, waiting for our responses.

  “Nah. I’m good,” I said.

  “Be right back.”

  Lauren got up and walked past Chase, obviously catching his attention, as his eyes followed her.

  Meanwhile, Aaron walked up to me. He held that same goofy smile. “Dahlia, would you dance with me?”

  Feeling extremely uncomfortable, yet wanting to make Aaron feel good, I reluctantly accepted. We walked onto the dance floor, and I hoped everybody would realize I was being nice and not assume anything by it.

  Aaron put his arms around me, but I stood as far away as I could while still holding on to his shoulders. We never spoke, thank goodness. The song eventually ended, and we walked back and sat with Caroline again.

  “That looked like you were having fun.” Caroline smiled warmly at Aaron.

  “It was fun. I’m in love,” Aaron announced.

  “Oh?”

  Caroline and I exchanged glances.

  “Yep.”

  We waited to see if he was going to tell us who, but he didn’t offer any more information.

  “Does she have a name,” Caroline pressed him.

  “Yes, of course,” he said like he found Caroline stupid. “And she’s sitting right there.”

  We both looked where his finger pointed, and I realized it was at me.

  No response came from me except a look I shot Caroline to help me. She picked up on it immediately and saved me from the awkward moment.

  “You know what, Aaron? There are a lot of girls here tonight. If I were you, I’d ask some more to dance.” She lightly prodded him to get up.

  Aaron surprised me and agreed with her and stood up. He walked over to another camper, and it looked like he asked her to dance. I mouthed, “Thank you” to Caroline.

  “He’s harmless,” she said. “He’s had tragic things happen, so we all try to be sensitive to him.”

  “I understand. He’s very nice.” I nodded at her to show I was sympathetic to his situation—whatever it was.

  Suddenly a girl was standing in front of me. “Are you Dahlia May?”

  “Yes.” I raised my eyebrows at her.

  “This is from your secret pal.” She handed me some candy, for which I thanked her.

  I needed to make sure to do something for my pal tomorrow. Or, I wondered, could I just regift the candy since it wasn’t the kind I liked? Yeah, I could. If only I knew who Logan was.

  “They’re playing our song.” I realized Luke had been standing behind the girl who handed me the candy.

  “Oh yeah? Which song is this? I need to make sure it’s really our song,” I said.

  He took my hand and led me onto the dance floor.

  When I looked over, I saw Lauren in Chase’s arms. She had her eyes closed and a slight smile. His hands were all over her, and she didn’t object.

  The song ended and I excused myself to get a drink. I walked over to the table where cups of water awaited thirsty dancers. After taking a full cup, I turned and halted, which caused water from the cup to splash out onto me and the floor.

  There he was. Instead of seated in the circle of chairs, he was standing by the door, more like observing the dance. And as if he’d heard my thoughts, he turned his head and looked right at me. My heart was beating fast, and my face felt warm. Oh my gosh, you’re cute. Feeling foolish, I turned and walked as fast as I could back to my seat, spilling more water as I went.

  There had been my chance to meet him. And I’d blown it.

  ***

  It was now Saturday night and the end of our first week at camp. Dinner sucked as usual, and I could tell I’d already lost a pound or two because my jeans felt looser. It occurred to me that I might have to start buying candy from the snack shack to compensate myself for not eating much.

  The movie that the entire camp was forced to watch ended around nine, and we started to walk to the campfire to sing. Lauren and I were chatting when we realized someone was walking alongside us.

  “Great discussion today, Lauren,” said Dirk. His voice always sounded nasally, and this time was no different. His jeans were a size too small and an inch too short. He wore his camp counselor staff shirt tucked into his pants with a belt. The zipper wasn’t zipped all the way, I thought because he couldn’t get it pulled up any higher. His stomach stuck out over the top of his pants. He now sported a mustache that he didn’t have last summer. His hair was greased over to the side. He peered over his glasses to see if Lauren had heard him.

  “Thanks,” she said, then grabbed my hand to run us past him to the campfire. No wonder she was envious I had Blake as my leader—Blake was attractive.

  Once we were out of earshot, we burst into laughter.

  “Nice discussion, Lauren,” I said in a deep tone, mocking Dirk’s voice.

  “Why thank you, Dirk.” She batted her lashes at me.

  “You know, I don’t really care what you say during the discussions, Lauren. You know that, right?” Lauren was cracking up because I tried my best to sound nasally. “Let me be clear on my intentions. I’m trying to look down your shirt. Could you possibly move it over a little, then bend down? There you go. Good discussion, Lauren.”

  I spread my fingers across my upper lip to form a mock mustache. Then I started laughing while she pretended to be naive and demonstrate what I’d asked her to do.

  “You mean like this?” She bent over as she adjusted her shirt to show some cleavage. We’d come up to the entrance to the campfire and stopped walking to continue making fun of Dirk. We were laughing hard by this point.

  “Oh, that’s it exactly,” I said in between laughter. “It’s like you read my mind.” I knew my voice sounded deep and ridiculous, but it was funny because that was exactly how Dirk talked. I’d always been good at impersonations.

  “When my family group was selected for me, I’m so glad I got you, Dirk,” she said dramatically.

/>   “Oh, you know you wanted me, Lauren. They don’t call me ‘The Dirk’ around here for nothing,” I said. I looked over at the campfire entrance to be sure Dirk hadn’t crept up behind us and heard me.

  My smile slowly disappeared as I realized there was, in fact, someone watching me. How long have you been watching us? I had a great closeup view of him because my surfer’s face was pointed toward the campfire, and the flames illuminated it. He was simply breathtaking.

  I glanced at his name tag but couldn’t read it because it was mostly covered by a fold in the burgundy hoodie he was wearing. The sweatshirt boldly had the word Vans across it in black letters.

  Quickly, I looked back at his face. In about three seconds, I completely assessed his looks. His face was narrow, and he had a very prominent jawline. His eyes held me hostage, refusing to let my gaze leave his face. He was what Lauren and I referred to as a pretty boy—physical features like a model.

  Surfer boy was gorgeous. He also looked older than eighteen. Maybe he was close to nineteen already—like he’d failed a grade or something.

  Reaching with his hand, he caught a piece of hair that had blown across his face and tucked it behind his ear. I really liked the length and style of his hair.

  Lauren, apparently still in character, had been talking away the entire time, but I’d tuned her out to stare at the guy watching me. “Did you hear me, Dirk?” Lauren asked. “I’m giving you the chance to sexually harass me some more.”

  Just then he flashed me an amused smile, which indicated he’d heard our imitations and knew who Dirk was. And I couldn’t help myself and giggled because all of it was just too funny.

  I wanted him to say hi or something to me. But Lauren, unfortunately, tugged at my arm and pulled me away.

  Luke and Chase joined us on a log for the campfire. The whole time we sang, my mind wasn’t on the songs. I wanted to tell Lauren about the long-haired camper. Part of me worried she’d be upset with me since she thought Luke was the perfect guy and wouldn’t want to see me do something foolish. For now, I’d keep the news to myself.

  Tonight, I decided I didn’t want to reference him as surfer/model guy anymore. Once I was back in the cabin and ready for sleep, I made a resolution to find out his real name as soon as I could.

  Chapter Four

  Week Two

  It was now the middle of our second week at camp. I’d received various gifts from my secret pal, including a handmade visor. We had to resort to dinosaur cameras for any pictures we wanted since no phones were allowed. Lauren held up the one we were sharing this summer and made me put on the visor for a silly photo.

  I’d identified my secret pal, Logan, yesterday. He looked pretty young—possibly fourteen. After hearing that hilarious story from Aaron, it was ironic to find out Logan had braces. I’d written a poem at the craft cabin about picking up a radio station on them. It was funny, but since it was sort of an inside joke, he probably wouldn’t laugh when he read it. So, I made sure to send him a ton of candy, too. A girl in my cabin delivered it all for me.

  Lauren, Chase, Luke, and I were going to participate in the relays at the lake today. The day was a little cloudy but warm enough that the water sounded refreshing.

  The four of us tried to be on the same team, but that idea lasted only the time it took to walk along the wooden pier to join everyone participating. They wanted the teams to be fair. And since we were all graduated seniors, they separated us so the younger ones weren’t all together. Lauren and I were split up but in lanes next to each other. Luke was still with me, and Chase was with her. I’d be racing against her and Luke against Chase. Then the next in line was a girl, then a boy, to keep things fair.

  Lauren and I were second to last, with the guys behind us to pull the slack. Some of the younger ones were in front to go first into the water. Each link had a different task. Lauren and I were the link with the kickboards. This was a relief because it meant I could possibly swim faster. Large bodies of water where I couldn’t see what was below bothered me. In reality, I wasn’t even sure why I was in this relay except for the fact Lauren and Luke talked me into it.

  The counselors running the relay went over the rules. They explained that there were six racing lanes and eight members on each team. Then we got into place, and the whistle was blown to start. We had no idea who anyone else was on our teams, but we chanted the word “go” nonetheless.

  The sound of thunder was created by all of us jumping on the pier to root for our team members. We were neck and neck when the guy to send me off slapped my hand. I jumped into the cold water, my limbs trying to adjust to the shocking change in temperature, and began kicking as hard as I could, with no idea if Lauren had even started yet.

  All the swimmers were yelling as I made the outgoing part of my lap, and then I turned around to swim back. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Lauren right behind me. At that point, another swimmer cut into her lane and inadvertently kicked her in the head. Her hand went instantly to her forehead. I stopped and swam to her, ignoring my team, who were now screaming at me to finish.

  When I reached Lauren, I noticed some blood trickling down from her hairline. Some others swam over and helped us paddle back to shore. All my focus was on her and making sure she was okay.

  We made our way out of the water, onto the sandy slope. I wasn’t fully alert to my surroundings but realized surfer boy was standing beside us. He placed a hand on Lauren’s shoulder and began asking her some questions.

  “Are you dizzy?” He was shirtless, sporting a tan torso, and he wore red swim trunks. I wondered what team he’d been on and how I hadn’t noticed him.

  “No.”

  He had Lauren sit down and leaned down to look her over. He told her to look into his eyes while he checked her vision. A couple of the counselors came over and were checking her out, too. I liked the fact that he was so concerned, when Chase hadn’t even come over. In fact, Chase was still racing. What the hell?

  He looked over at me. “Are you her friend?”

  We’re the immature ones you saw making fun of Dirk last week… I only nodded because I couldn’t speak. My tongue was paralyzed.

  “Can you get her to the nurse? If not, I can help,” he said.

  I licked my lips. I wanted to say no and that I needed help—your help—but I couldn’t do it. “Yes, I’ll take her right now.”

  “Okay, great. Let’s help her stand up.”

  Surfer/model/eye candy helped me pull Lauren to a standing position, then handed her over to me to take to the nurse.

  After we’d walked a couple of feet, I couldn’t help myself and turned back. I wondered if he did indeed recognize us. And if he did, was he thinking if he weren’t careful, we might impersonate him next? He’d just brushed his hair off his face but was still watching us to make sure we were heading to the nurse. He nodded at me to keep going. If only he knew what I was thinking—like how he shouldn’t ever wear a shirt.

  Once we found the nurse, she merely cleaned Lauren’s head while I sat and watched. It was a little scrape. The guy who kicked her probably sliced her with his toenail. She refused a bandage and made sure her hair covered the injury.

  When the nurse was done with Lauren, we went to our cabins to get changed for dinner. We met maybe twenty minutes later in the dinner line.

  During dinner, Lauren received a lot of attention for her injury. Every guy from her family group must have come over and checked on her while we ate. She hammed it up, and suddenly her scrape was more serious and became a major head injury. Normally, I would’ve been a little envious. But right now, my focus was on the guy who had helped us today. More than anything, I wanted to know his name.

  “Would you mind getting me some dessert?” she asked me, acting like she was too unstable to get up from the table.

  “Sure. Be right back.”

  The table of desserts had, among other things, what looked like some terrible fruit cake. Even a high-calorie dessert wasn’t going to feed me ton
ight. But I decided I’d take some to Lauren. As I reached for a piece of cake, I saw a hand next to mine also about to grab one. Déjà vu.

  “How’s your friend doing?”

  The dining hall was as noisy as a freight train, but his voice was heard above all the commotion because I’d memorized it.

  Finally, I looked at him and hoped he hadn’t noticed my breathing had gone from normal to shallow. His name tag was flipped the wrong direction, of course. Just can’t get a break, can I?

  We were standing maybe a foot apart, so I had the best view of him yet. His pretty eyes held their gaze on me, and I sensed he was kind.

  “She’s fine. She wants this… whatever this is.” I glanced back at the cake for a diversion.

  “It’s pineapple upside-down cake. It’s one of the better desserts here, so you should get one, too.”

  It is? This wasn’t encouraging to hear. “Oh, okay.”

  Then he handed me a piece and smiled when I took it. He had nice teeth. I smiled back before looking down at the cake. It looked gross. But since he recommended it and served me some, I decided I’d pretend I wanted it.

  “I’m glad she’s okay. You’re a good friend,” he said.

  Then he turned and walked over to a table. He put the cake he’d been holding in front of Aaron, then sat with him. It warmed my heart to know he could sit with anyone he wanted, but he chose Aaron.

  The cake wasn’t so bad, just as he’d promised. Maybe it tasted better because I secretly watched him eat his slice while I ate mine. You are very nice looking, therefore I will discreetly stare at you.

  When he got up to leave, I noticed the writing on his name tag. This was it. Scrambling off the bench, I pretended to go back for a napkin and kept my eyes on his chest so I wouldn’t miss the name. Without looking at his face at all, I read the tag: Devin.