“Well, Maggie, the little brunette,” Lucille said and I nodded my understanding of whom she was referring to. “She is extremely shy. I remember the first summer that her family came here; she just stayed to herself the entire time. It wasn’t until the following summer when Todd and his family showed up, that she actually started participating in social events. Their families had campsites next to one another and the two kids just hit it off right away. They have been dating ever since and I’d put money on them getting married. They’re really sweet kids, but often times do their own thing.” She paused for a second to take a sip of her drink and then continued.
“Let’s see, then there is Kevin who is just a big teddy bear. He and Travis have become really good friends over the years and he is such a well-mannered boy. I don’t think you’ll have any problems with him. And I actually think he and Amber have become an item, so we will see how that goes this summer. Amber seems like a sweet girl but I don’t know her as well. Her family has only been coming up these last two summers, so not as long as some of the others.”
Lucille glanced over to the group and then continued, “Next is Scott, who is like my second child. He and Travis have been in school together since kindergarten and are best friends. Our families are very close, but unfortunately, this year his mother Gloria chose to teach summer school and couldn’t make it up. Both of them are teachers actually and have always had their summers off, which is how we have been so lucky to vacation with them over the years. I haven’t had a chance to speak with Charles, but I’m pretty sure Gloria decided to work since they are getting ready to send Scott to college.”
“Sure,” my mom said, understanding the decision.
“Scott and Charles both help us out here through the summers, so this is Charles’ summer job.” From the sound of it, Scott came from a more modest background, and his parents were doing everything in their power to afford him his education.
Lucille looked around once more and her change in demeanor distracted my thoughts. I could tell she was getting ready to say something juicy and wanted to make sure the coast was clear.
“Now Britney,” she paused, shaking her head before continuing, “she is definitely one that might be difficult to crack. Unfortunately, she has taken up with a guy who is not the best influence on her, Corey. Actually, you might have met him at the rafting place today.”
“We did,” my mom interjected.
“Well, he definitely considers himself to be quite a catch and does things to cut down her self esteem. I have definitely seen a change in her since they have become a couple and it is so disheartening. She used to be so self-confident and kind, but now she seems to be distant and insecure. Hopefully that will change once she goes off to college next year and realizes her self worth. At the moment, she is too blinded by puppy love to see past his exterior.”
Lucille’s declaration about Britney gave me a greater understanding of the way she’d treated me earlier, not that it was excusable or warranted, but now I at least understood.
“Funny, when we met Corey at the rafting place today I have to say he didn’t give off the best first impression. What a shame, Britney is a very cute girl,” my mom said.
“It is a shame,” Lucille reiterated and then added, “So, last but by far not least, is my exquisitely handsome son Travis.” Lucille’s eyes lit with warmth and affection as she spoke of him. “Now, of course I am biased and may be tooting my own horn as a mother, but he is truly a great kid, I mean young man,” she quickly corrected. “He went through a little rough patch at one point, which is now documented on his body,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Not unlike most teens I guess, but thankfully has grown into such a smart, kind, gentleman and is very much a mama’s boy.” She smiled warmly and was clearly delighted by the fact. I think how a guy treats his mother speaks loudly about his character, so another plus for Travis.
“So, that’s everyone. There have been a few others over the years, but unfortunately, I don’t think they will be back this summer; although the Compsons might be coming at some point.”
Lucille finished her brief run down on the group and I was thankful for the inside information. It definitely gave me a better understanding of everyone and what, or I should say who, I might be up against. Even still, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to be inducted into their group any time soon. My mom and Lucille continued in conversation because my mom wanted a run down on all of the parents. She too wanted the insider scoop, which Lucille was all too eager to offer up.
As I sat not really engaged in the conversation, I noticed Travis and Scott talking in a corner. Travis happened to look in my direction, and I didn’t know whether to maintain eye contact or look away. I offered a soft smile, which he returned, and then I rejoined my mother’s conversation. Just out of curiosity, I glanced over a few more times to find that he was still staring at me. Scott was looking over as well, which made me nervous that now they were going to be talking about me, if they hadn’t been already. I decided then to go back to the RV in order to spare myself being the topic of conversation. I’d really had all the attention that I could handle for one day and was exhausted. So I interrupted my mom and Lucille’s conversation to politely excuse myself.
My mom gave me a hug goodnight, and Lucille popped up to do the same. “It was so great to meet you Paige. I’m excited that you’ll be here with us this summer and you are always welcome to join us ladies if you want. We may be old, but we still know how to have a good time.”
Her offer was sweet. I squeezed her back thanking her for the evening, and then said my goodbyes. When I turned to make my exit down the deck stairs, I saw Travis’s eyes follow me. Butterflies fluttered through my stomach and all the way up to my cheeks, so I picked up my pace and headed back to the RV fast.
I stayed in the rest of the night watching a movie and waited for Tracey to call me after her date with Tom. The day had truly been exhausting though, so I fell asleep right away.
Chapter 5
I woke up late the next morning and found that I had missed Tracey’s call. “I guess my phone was on vibrate,” I said, dialing into my voicemail to listen to her message.
“Paige, you are supposed to be up. I just had the best date ever and can’t wait to tell you about it. Call me!”
I decided to get myself cleaned up and jog down to the lake before giving Tracey a call back. I didn’t have anything else going on since my parents had already left for their Cider Mill tour. Since Ashley said they weren’t going to be around either, I was hoping I would have the beach all to myself. I put my navy blue bikini on under my running shorts, threw on a white tank top and headed out.
As I was jogging down the path, I spotted Travis walking back up. His hair was wet and he was carrying his shirt over his shoulder. It gave me a clear view of his abs and the boy was ripped. His tan skin was glistening with either sweat or water, which accentuated his muscles further. Seriously, he is too sexy for his own good, I thought, slowing my pace as I reached him. Just as I was about to stop and chat, I noticed Ashley and Scott coming up from behind. Interesting. I thought they were supposed to be gone for the morning. Apparently, she lied to avoid having to include me in their plans. “Hey Paige!” Travis said as I passed.
“Hey!” I said, jogging right on by. I then passed Ashley and Scott and not surprisingly, Scott was the only one that responded.
When I got down to the beach I gave Tracey a call right away. I needed to hear a friendly voice and I was eager to learn about her date. Of course, we spent the first thirty minutes of the call discussing every single detail of her night out with Tom, which apparently went extremely well.
“So anyway, how is it going there?” she asked and the conversation was now turned to me.
“It’s going,” I said, flustered by the frosty welcome I had received from the girls.
“Uh oh, what happened?” Tracey asked, picking up on my tone right away.
“So far it’s been great with my pare
nts, they are really getting into this whole camping thing and my dad even went tubing.” I highlighted the positives first.
“Wow, Paul went tubing. Now, that is shocking,”
“I know, right,” I agreed. “It was fun though. My mom has even been attempting to cook, well, let’s say she has been pouring the cereal,” I said, giggling at the fact.
“Seriously? Your folks are really into this, huh! So, what’s wrong?” she pressed further for the negatives.
“Well, the guys up here are like Sex Gods. Literally, the most attractive guys I’ve ever seen.”
“What’s wrong with that? That doesn’t sound bad at all,” she interjected.
“Well, the girls are like Satan’s mistresses. They pretty much looked at me and decided they didn’t like me.”
“Ugh, that bad huh?” Tracey empathized and understood right away what I was being subjected to. Being from East Hampton, we had encountered our fair share of rude/obnoxious girls that believed themselves to be God’s greatest gifts. So Tracey knew exactly the type I was referring too.
“Yep. That bad. Nothing but rude glares and stare downs. Even in front of Travis’s mom, this one girl, Ashley, blatantly shunned me.”
“Wait, who’s Travis?” Tracey interrupted.
“He is the most gorgeous one of all and happens to be the owner’s son. Actually, he will be attending school with us next year,” I exclaimed.
“Um, hello!” Tracey shrieked. “Why haven’t you text messaged me about him? What is he like?” she demanded, curious for any juicy gossip.
“Well, he is super sweet, incredibly sexy, makes me want to rip his clothes off and devour him every time he smiles, and I think is dating the most obnoxious of the girls here,” I explained very matter of factly.
“Wow, Paige! I think you’re drooling through the phone,” Tracey teased. “So, do you know for certain that he’s dating her?” she asked.
“No, but I get the impression that they are.”
“Well, you should definitely find out. You might as well enjoy some wood, while you’re stuck out in those woods all summer long.” She laughed at her ridiculous joke and I fed her ego by giggling along with her. “Either way, I think you should give them more time. It’s only been a DAY!” She highlighted the fact, and insinuated that I might be overreacting.
“I don’t think they want more time with me, and I, for certain, don’t want to be the subject of ridicule for the next two months. So, I think I’m going to spend the time with my parents and work on the dance. I would like to enjoy my summer!” I finished, determined to keep to myself and not get involved in any of the drama.
“Don’t let them scare you off Paige. They are probably just nervous having a new girl around. Please don’t lock yourself in that box all summer long, promise me you’ll at least give it one more shot,” she encouraged, convincing me to try again
“They are having a pool party later this afternoon, maybe I’ll go to that and see what happens,” I conceded, but silently I decided that if they still acted like jerks I was going to start participating in the adult events.
“Good. Well, call me if you need me and send over some moves when you get them done.” Tracey and I finished our call discussing the dance for the festival, and some other matters that we needed to take care of concerning some of the charity fund disbursement.
Once we were done, I scrolled through my play list trying to find the perfect song for the dance. For some reason Travis and tattoos were on my mind, so I decided on “One More Night” by Maroon 5. It definitely had a great beat, and would incorporate all of our dancers, including the guys. “Perfect!” I said, then registered the time on my phone. It was already 1:30, so I decided to head back to the RV, grab my dance book and then go to the pool party. I thought that maybe if I were to lay out and get some work done, the girls would see that I’m not trying to force myself on them, but that I would like to participate in things. “I don’t know, it’s worth a shot,” I muttered and then started my jog back up the trail.
The party had already started by the time I got there. Dance music was playing over the speakers, people were lying out on lounge chairs and others were splashing around in the pool. To the side was a table, where Travis was dishing out ice cream to everyone. Although there were a few younger kids around, it was mostly just the “Big Kids.” All of them were hanging around the deep end, so I decided to find a spot on the opposite side. Upon my entrance into the pool area, every single one of the girls stared at me. Thankfully, Travis and the guys were too distracted with the ice cream to notice.
I unwrapped the sarong around my waist and then turned to get my lounger situated in the right position. For some reason, I couldn’t get it to stay upright and no matter what I tried it kept flopping down into the flat position. The other girls were probably loving the show. I rolled my eyes at the thought. As I made one final attempt, I heard Travis come up from behind.
“Hey Paige! I’m glad you made it. Can I give you a hand with that?” he offered, moving to the back of the chair and clicking it up.
“Thanks!” I said, embarrassed by the situation.
“Did you have a good run?” he asked, looking at me with his gorgeous smile.
I looked up at him to answer and found myself admiring his blue eyes. I noticed them discreetly glance down my body, which was subtle, but I knew that he had checked me out. The realization made my stomach flip.
“Yes, that trail is great and the lake is absolutely breathtaking,” I finally spoke.
Actually, seeing Travis in his navy swim trunks with his t-shirt clinging to his muscles was just as breathtaking. I had to brush the thought away, because I knew my cheeks were becoming heated.
“So, are you a hard core runner?” he asked. His question puzzled me, but maybe he just had gotten the impression since I had gone running two days in a row.
“No. I love it, but I don’t compete or run marathons or anything.”
“Oh,” he said, looking slightly disappointed by my response.
“Why do you ask? Do you race?” I returned the question trying to understand the reason for his expression.
“No. It just seemed like you didn’t want to break stride today to chat, so I just figured you were timing yourself.”
Travis’s answer made me aware that I had been a jerk in the woods earlier. Maybe Tracey was right, and I needed to give everyone a fair shot and just be myself. Running by him was so out of character for me that I was mad at myself for doing it. “I’m sorry. I just had a lot on my mind this morning and needed to jog it off,” I explained, hoping to smooth over the situation.
“I get it. I run to clear my head too. Is everything okay?” he asked, sounding concerned and I realized I had said too much.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. So, what kind of ice cream are you serving?” I changed the subject to avoid having to reveal my Ashley dilemma and the fact that I was hurt that everyone had shunned me.
“Chocolate and vanilla. I actually need to go get some more containers out of the freezer, but I’ll be back. Can I get you some?” he offered, giving me his sexy smile again.
“Sure. I would love some chocolate.”
“Chocolate it is. Coming right up!”
He winked and then turned to make his way out of the pool area. As he was leaving though, he stopped to pull his shirt off over his head and tossed it down on an empty chair. He turned and gave me another wink before leaving. I was practically drooling over his body, and wondered if he had intentionally stopped to give me the show. With a body like his, he had to have a girlfriend so I forced myself to shake off the inappropriate thoughts that were running through my mind.
As I waited for Travis to return with the ice cream, I began working on my dance. The music over the loud speakers was a bit distracting, since I was trying to come up with moves to a different song. So I plugged my headphones in, and put “One More Night” on repeat. Moves started coming to me, and I began to jot them down in m
y notebook. Of course I wasn’t about to get up and try them out, but I had been dancing long enough to be able to visualize most of it. Then later, I would practice them on the beach to make sure it all flowed together.
I was thoroughly engrossed in what I was doing and hastily writing in my notebook when I was startled by an ice-cold feeling on my leg. I jerked my head up to see Travis standing next to my chair holding a bowl of ice cream.
“One bowl of chocolate ice cream!” he exclaimed, handing me the dish and offering me a wink. I took my headphones off so that I could hear and thanked him.
“So, what are you busy working on? I’ve been standing here for a minute, but couldn’t get your attention. I was beginning to think you were trying to ignore me,” he said, giving me an adorable pout that came across as a little flirtatious. He then took a seat on the edge of the neighboring chair and put his hands on his knees.
“Just coming up with a dance for something. Sorry, I kind of get focused when I work. Thanks for this!” I said, taking a bite.
“No problem. So you’re a dancer.”
“Yeah, it’s just something I like to do in my free time,” I answered and then glanced over to see that Britney and Ashley were now swimming down towards our end of the pool.
“And you also choreograph? Do you work for a dance studio or something?”
“No. Well sometimes I help out with the younger classes at our local studio. But this is for the annual Labor Day Festival in East Hampton. My friends and I will be performing at it.” I didn’t elaborate or get into any of the details about my organization because I didn’t want him to think that I was trying to brag or make myself out to be a goody-two-shoes.
“So, do you work here all summer?” I asked, wanting to change the subject and put him in the spotlight.
“Yes, I fill in for my dad whenever necessary and then I run all of the youth events,” he said, gesturing his hand toward the party. I looked over and noticed the two girls were now just hanging onto the edge listening to our conversation. The nerves started to build in my stomach, but I had to remember not to let them get the best of me.
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