Summer days,
Wasted away,
But Oh,
On those summer nights!

Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta- Summer Days

Boys of Summer chapters 16-20

Yet again, these are unedited and untested. Any mistakes, well, smack me around a bit, I'll learn eventually!

Melanie Ezell

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16.

Cassie expected to awake bright and early to see the sun shining through the window at the foot of the bunk beds. Either that, or late and comfortable while the rain continued to beat down around them with the smell of Uncle Richard's special rainy day sausages drawing her towards the kitchenette. What she did wake to, however, was completely unexpected.

"Yo, I'll tell ya what I want, what I really really want,
So tell me what you want, what you really really want,
I wanna HEY,
I wanna HEY,
I wanna HEY,
I wanna HEY,
I wanna really really really wanna zig a zig, ah."

A squeaky exclamation came from the top bunk immediately opposite her followed by a lot of thumping and whining before the Spice Girls went quiet again. She could tell by the sounds now coming from below that she was not the only one to be waked early.

"What the hell?"

"Sorry!" Emily squeaked from her bunk. "I thought the headphones were in, I'm so sorry!" This was a different side to the girl than what Cassie had seen before, and she could not help thinking it was a shame it took something embarrassing to get the girl not to sound like a little brat.

A chuckle from below confirmed that Kayla felt similarly. "Z'okay. Put 'em in. Need sleep." The bed lurched as Kayla rolled over, and a quick glance towards the window confirmed to Cassie that it was either still dark out, or the storm had worsened. A bright flash of lightening illuminated the room for a moment, proving the storm was growing, but not helping to identify the time. With a sigh, Cassie rolled over herself and pulled the sheet tighter around her to try and catch another hour or two of rest, maybe.

It could not have been more than fifteen minutes later that Cassie felt more than heard movement from Emily's bed, followed by the creak of the door being quietly opened and closed again. Another fifteen minutes without Emily's return caused Cassie to worry; surely if she was in the restroom she would be back by now? Crawling carefully from her on bunk so as not to disturb her older sister, who from her breathing had at last fallen asleep again, Cassie left the bedroom as quietly as possible.

She found Emily curled up on the more reliable of the two couches, holding a small square of light in front of her and oblivious to the world. The headphones were off again, and Cassie could clearly hear the sounds of people talking coming from Emily's direction. Moving closer as quietly as possible, she soon started to be able to make out what was being said. She laughed when she recognized Robin William's voice, causing Emily to jerk around sharply in surprise.

"Why are you up? I thought ya'll had gone back to bed."

Cassie shrugged as she approached the other girl. "Eh, couldn't sleep, and when you didn't come back I got worried and came to check on you."

"Oh." Emily glanced away, and in the dim light from the screen appeared much younger than she had before. "I'm okay."

The two paused in silence, unsure of how to continue. At last, Cassie decided to break the tension. "So, what're you watching?"

Emily breathed in heavily, reluctant to respond. "You ever seen 'The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen?'"

Cassie chuckled a bit at the name. "Uh, no."

"Well, it's pretty stupid but I watch it sometimes when I can't sleep." By this time Cassie was close enough to make out the images on the small screen Emily was holding. Emily pulled herself up on the couch and made room beside her, and in an unexpected act of friendship asked Cassie, "You wanna watch it with me?"

"Sure." Cassie settled on the ancient piece of discount furniture next to the girl she had previously seen as snobbish, and wondered what could have brought around such a change. The movie was fascinating in a very confusing and juvenile way, but she shortly lost interest and decided instead to try and draw Emily into a conversation.

"Are you better now?"

"What do you mean?"

"You seemed like you didn't want to be here. If you didn't want to come, then why did you?"

A hard look passed over the other girl's face, but quickly softened. Emily shrugged. "Jobe invited my brothers, and my mom and dad thought this would be a good experience for me. They ran off to Europe or something while I'm out here stuck with those two dummies, a guy who's had a crush on me since sixth grade and a lot of people I don't know." Her voice rose in pitch and volume as well as anger as she progressed, but she caught herself and cast an apologetic look in Cassie's direction. "I'm sorry. I was supposed to be in Band Camp next week, too, and instead here I am, and so far I've just been miserable."

Cassie felt compelled to be kind to the girl beside her, and seeing a chance to share a bit of family wisdom took it. "Well, you know, it's a lot of fun out here if you just try to make it."

Emily paused the movie still playing on her iPod and let out a huff. "Fun? How?"

Cassie grinned. "There's swimming and hiking and canoeing, fishing..."

"But I'm not interested in any of that," Emily pouted, letting a little bit of the 'spoiled brat' routine creep back into her demeanor.

"Okay, how about spending the time getting a suntan?" Emily shot her a look that said quite clearly 'you must be joking.' "Maybe not. Come on, there's lots to do, if you just try! I'll help you find stuff to do inside if you want."

Cassie flinched after making the offer knowing her own plans would be thrown out the window if Emily took her up on it, but the thankful look on the other girl's face told her it was the right thing to do. "Thanks," Emily said, "but I know you don't want to be stuck inside all the trip. You seemed so happy on the way up here just watching the trees..."

"You were watching me?" Emily blushed, and for just a moment Cassie could see a much softer look in the other girl's eyes. Emily shuffled around uncomfortably before settling back down and returning to her movie.

"ANYway, I just need to make those... BOYS know I'm not happy out here. I hope they have as miserable a time as I'm going to."

Cassie patted Emily's shoulder companionably. "Only if you make yourself miserable." Cassie stood up and made her way as carefully as she could back towards the bedroom to catch a couple more hours of sleep and think over exactly what she would have to do to make sure Emily had a good time. Even if the whole spoiled brat thing was the real Emily and she had just been lonely for tonight, nobody deserved to be unhappy.

This is what summer vacation is all about! Cassie thought happily. Having fun, making new friends, and getting away from everything.

She drifted back to sleep with thoughts of all the fun things her and her sister could maybe, just maybe, use to show Emily how fun camping could be.

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17.

"EEEEEEK!!! GetitoffgetitoffgetitOFF!!!"

Cassie was up, out of bed, and in the front room of the cabin before anyone else had time to react, dashing madly for the couch where Emily was shrieking bloody murder.

"EEEEEWWW!!!"

Cassie vaulted over the back of the couch, making it and the floorboards complain loudly, but landed safely on the other side and turned to face the frightened Emily-

Who had a walking stick stuck in her hair.

"Ohit'ssoGROSSgetitoffIdon'twannatouchitPLEASE!" Emily cried, but by the time Cassie could fight back her laughter enough to risk moving Jobe had already burst through his own door and across the room, followed closely by Eric, then everyone else. With a shake of his head, Jobe reached down and carefully removed the, Cassie could not deny, very evil looking but completely harmless insect from the girl's hair.

"Come on, Twiggy, your place is outside."

As soon as the large pest was safely released outside, Emily jumped to her feet. "I TOLD ya'll I didn't want to COME! I HATE IT HERE!" Tears were rolling down her face as she dashed for the door to the room the girls were sharing and slammed it tightly.

"Jeez, she never seen a walking stick before?"

Eric shook his head. "I hadn't either. You think it's still nearby?" Jobe nodded, and escorted the excited younger boy out to see if they could find it again. Cassie harumphed when she saw that nobody else seemed concerned about Emily's situation, and made her way to the door, knocking lightly.

"Go away! I want out of this cabin!"

"Please let me in, Emily. It was just a walking stick! They get in the cabin sometimes when we aren't here for some reason, but they're completely harmless! Just weird looking."

"I don't care! It's hot out here, there's bugs everywhere, I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE!"

Cassie had had enough of this. "Well, TOUGH! Like it or not, you're here for the duration, just like the rest of us. If you don't want to enjoy yourself, FINE, but so help me I'm gonna MAKE you get out here and do some things with us as a group!"

"And we'll help her drag you out if we have to!" Ruby was by her side now, knocking on the door too. "Let us in, girl, or there won't be a door left to lock by the time we're through with things!" Cassie cringed at the threat, but that was why her Uncle had all the doors switched to open towards the living room- one camper locking themselves in their bunkroom throwing a fit had convinced him THAT was a good idea, and the pins were easily removable. "Don't make me come in there!"

A sniffling and red-eyed Emily opened the door for them, still sobbing and crying. Cassie decided this was probably a situation that called for a hug if she had ever seen one, and quickly wrapped her arms around Emily in a tight embrace. "Hey, come on, we want you to have fun. I'm sorry you don't want to be here, but you just gotta try to find something you like is all." Knowing this might be a limited chance, she gestured over her shoulder quickly for Kayla to dash into the room, preventing Emily from being able to shut them out again if she got upset. Ruby stared at her youngest with a strange look in her eye, the same as the last time. Cassie wondered what was with the looks her mom was giving her, but at the moment Emily needed to calm down.

"I hate woods... I hate camping... I hate canoes..."

"Then don't think of this as a camping trip!" Ruby approached from behind Emily and joined Cassie in the hug, wrapping Emily snugly between them. "Think of it as- summer camp, or a spa retreat with no hot springs or something."

"The hot tub gets delivered next week."

"That's right, so next- what?" Ruby lifted her head and turned to Richard, who had a smug grin on his face.

"Just kidding."

"Richard!"

His joke was enough to break the tension within the room, and everybody laughed far more than the joke was worth. They were interrupted by a knocking about from the boys' room, followed by a small crash and a bleary eyed and wild haired David stumbling out of the doorway. With a mumble that could have passed for 'Morning' in an optimistic situation, he hooked around the corner and into the bathroom.

A loud "Cool!" broke in from outside, followed by some muffled discussion between Jobe and Eric, who it seemed had found their walking stick.

Cassie looked down into Emily's face. "You better now?" The other girl nodded a little and gave Cassie a squeeze before extracting herself from Cassie and Ruby's grips.

"Yeah. Sorry, ya'll." She wiped a hand across her cheek to dry her face. "I'll try to be more positive."

Ruby and Richard both opened their mouths to say 'it's alright' but were cut off by the sound of the toilet flushing and David exiting the bathroom again.

He looked around in confusion at the group around him, toothbrush in hand. "What'd I miss?"

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18.

Eric and Jobe's Walking Stick Adventure ended the moment Richard announced breakfast ready, and after all members of the group had showered and dressed, it was time for the serious vacation activities to begin.

"So, whadda you wanna do?"

"I dunno, whadda you wanna do?"

"I'm up for anything. You?"

"Sounds cool. Emily?"

"Uh... sure, whatever."

"How about we go swimming?"

None of the others could come up with an activity they wanted to do more than swim, so thanking Eric for his suggestion and completely ignoring the rain that was still falling steadily the others filed out and down to the small dock near the river, promising the adults to head back in the moment either the thunder or lightening returned. On the way Jobe grabbed the flat bottomed boat and dragged it into the water a short distance out into the river, tying it up to the dock before joining the others in some playful splashing and water fights.

Despite constant reinforcement from her sister Cassie was still nervous about wearing nothing but a bikini to swim in, afraid of somehow exposing herself or, possibly worse, exposing her false features for what they were to closer inspection than she really wanted to be receiving. Ruby had finally given in and leant Cassie one of her own one piece suits, and combined with a tiny pair or swim trunks Cassie almost felt comfortable. Canoeing had been one thing, since she could avoid physical contact and, having just met the Monroe's, doubted they would dig into too much about any inconsistencies in her appearance if they looked closely enough to see them- not that there were any, she mused to herself grumpily. The small amount of horseplay they had participated in during several of their breaks over the last three days had already given her a close call when Kayla nearly caught a nail in a loose edge of the fancy rubber gaff/false vagina trying to tug down her shorts. She had kept it hidden well since, but first thing after her shower she had fixed it with the bottle of adhesive they had brought, vowing to be more careful.

The biggest surprise to most of the group was Emily's participation in their activity. After her refusal to so much as speak to anyone for the first few days of the trip, her turnabout pleased Cassie greatly. She even appeared to be taking Jobe's continued attempts at flirting with a better nature, a mixed blessing since it meant their group yet again split roughly into boy-girl pairs. As much as she liked the boy, Eric's affections were lost on her, though she was loathe to admit it to the poor boy. He had loosened up greatly since arriving at the cabin as well, opening up to her and talking nearly nonstop about almost anything that came to mind as far as she could tell, almost as though he was scared to stop.

"Okay okay, slow down!" She finally managed to slip in between breaths while he panted. "We've got two weeks to talk, okay?"

Eric ducked under the water for a second before resurfacing with a blush. "Sorry, I usually don't talk this much, I just... I like talking to you."

"That's cool, but you wanna have things to talk about later, right?" The boy nodded vigorously, spraying Cassie with water she tried pointlessly to block. She smiled. "Then take it easy, and relax!" He got the message, and when David and Jobe challenged him to a few laps across the river and back she shifted around to set herself floating on her back, and without another word tuned the world out.

She mused on the interesting effects of swimming with boobs. Not that they were that big, but they did change her center of balance somewhat even in the water, and she had to constantly remind herself to adjust to compensate. Being rubber, they wanted to float when she was face down, but lying on her back with them thrust above the surface, the weight made her have to arch her back slightly to keep from sinking and raise her neck to keep from snorting water, neither of which came naturally to her. She was still trying to come to grips with this new interplay when something wrapped around her waist and pulled her down into the water below, her scream emptying her lungs of air.

Cassie struggled frantically to get away from the constriction surrounding her, but the more she kicked and fought the more water she swallowed. Finally, after what felt like hours, her flailing landed a solid blow against whatever had grabbed her, and she pulled herself out of the water in a panic, gasping for air.

"Jeezus, Cassie, are you okay?" Cassie spun towards her sister's voice, grasping frantically for her even as she moved in closer. Kayla wrapped her arms around her sister and hugged her, maneuvering her closer to the shore even as the water erupted behind the girls, a shaggy black mane gasping for air.

"Bitch!" David spat as he stood, still clutching his privates where Cassie's foot had found its mark.

"Ass!" Emily swam furiously towards her brother and slapped him soundly across the face before turning her attention to Cassie, who was still choking and on the edge of tears. "Are you alright?" She joined Kayla in embracing the younger girl, all prior animosity from Kayla disappearing the instant she saw how this new girl was watching out for her sister.

Kayla could see Cassie was still in no position to explain, so she took the opportunity to do it for her. "Cassie loves the water, but still has problems sometimes when she gets surprised like that. She almost drowned when she was little 'cause someone did the same thing to her, and her foot got caught on an old piece of rope while under."

"That's horrible!" Emily exclaimed. "What kind of jerk would do such a thing? Besides the obvious one." She shot her older brother a look that could have melted steel. Jobe coughed nervously before raising his hand. He swam towards his cousins, and with Kayla's permission took her position comforting Cassie. She flinched away at first, but when he made no move to dunk her again, she quickly calmed.

"She was only seven, I didn't mean to hurt h-her or nuthin', uh..." Jobe glanced around, refusing to look at David, then deciding he had to. "I should have let ya'll know not to-"

"I'm alright." Cassie cut her cousin off mid-sentence, her voice croaky but finally calm enough to speak. "I overreacted, like always." She lowered her arms from her cousin's neck and put on a brave face, but she was through swimming for the day.

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19.

It was not long after Cassie left the water that the storm returned with a vengeance, sending their small group back indoors until things calmed down. With the air cleared between the girls, Kayla and Emily became fast friends, working hard to pull Cassie into their conversation despite her admitted lack of knowledge on their chosen subject of...

"Boys?"

"Yeah!" Emily exclaimed, hanging over the edge of her bunk. "You know, what kind of guys do you like?"

Cassie balked. "Wh-why are we talking about BOYS? I don't wanna talk about boys!"

"Oh, you're a lesbian?" Emily asked with a strange glint in her eye. "Don't let Eric know, it'll break his heart. And David'll just hit on you even worse." Cassie and Kayla both shivered at that prospect, making Emily laugh. "Come on, he's not that bad, really. He didn't used to be, anyways. The whole thing with the cheerleaders at school kind of threw him for a loop, and he hasn't been the same since."

This was something that Cassie wanted to hear more about. "Yeah, Eric was telling me a bit about that. He said that one of your cheerleaders was a guy who dresses like a girl?"

"Not exactly. Dana's probably at least as much a girl as I am, but she was born a guy. I was kinda mad at her at first 'cause I've wanted on the cheer team like SO BAD since junior high, and now I'll be a senior and still not on the team, but she's a lot better than I am."

"Yeah, that's great and all," Kayla interrupted, "but what's that got to do with Captain Asshole?"

"David used to date the head cheerleader, Lisa Gilbert. She-"

"-why in the hell would she-"

"HEY! Like I said, he was better then. Anyways, he was mouthing off to some of his friends and said some pretty bad things about Dana where she could hear him. Nobody would even TALK to him the rest of the year, and he's just got worse since then. Personally, I think the problem is he thought Dana was hot and didn't want to sound 'gay' or somethin' in front of his friends. So, are you out at school yet?"

Cassie was still trying to absorb the story she had been told, and the sudden change in topic startled her. "Huh? I'm not gay!"

Emily wouldn't let up. "Oh, so you DO like guys then?"

"What? How? Kayla, help!"

Kayla just laughed. "But little sis, you're doing SO well on your own? Why don't you tell her about Avery?"

"Avery's my best friend!" Cassie replied indignantly. "We've never, and will never, date or anything like that!" Cassie's continuing flustered denials fell on deaf ears as the two older girls rolled around on their bunks, laughing.

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20.

"Kids, time for dinner!"

Kayla, along with the improved and much friendlier Emily, hopped up from her position atop her sheets and rushed out to the table, stomachs growling in protest at their having skipped lunch. Cassie followed at a slower pace, nervous about seeing the boys. What would she say to David? Did she want to say anything at all? Nervous, she paused for a moment on her way out the door to listen to the calming sound of the rain beating on the cabin's old tin roof.

"Cassie, you coming?"

"Yes, mom!" With a sigh, she shuffled forwards to her seat at the table, between Kayla and Emily and opposite the boys. Eric grinned at her while Jobe waved, but David kept his eyes focused on his plate and refused to look at any of the other members of the party.

"O-kay!" Richard clapped his hands to draw the group's attention, warming up his announcer's voice. "Tonight, for your dining pleasure, we have- mustard greens!" He gave a wide wave, and Ruby pulled the lid from the first of the dishes before them with a showy gesture, allowing a cloud of steam to escape. "Black eyed peas! Fried okra!" Cassie's mouth was watering now, as the delicious smell of the okra wafted towards her. And lastly- FRIED CATFISH!"

Glazed eyes stared forwards from the faces surrounding the table as the teenagers as one moaned in ecstasy at the smell coming from the collection of dishes before them.

"DIG IN!"

Richard barely finished speaking before hands were diving for the various serving spoons and tongs, moving piles of food from the earthenware crockery to plates before vanishing almost as rapidly into stomachs. It was almost a quarter hour before anything resembling coherent conversation resumed, followed shortly by a collective yawn from the table as a whole.

"Thanks for the great dinner, Uncle Richard."

Richard reclined back in his chair, munching on a piece of fish while unbuttoning his jeans. "Thank your mom, it was her idea."

All the teenagers gave their thanks for the great home cooked meal while Ruby smiled at the group around her. "You're welcome."

"So, what're we gonna do until time for bed?" Eric asked.

"Well, I don't know about ya'll, but I know exactly what I wanna do," Jobe answered, mimicking his father's motions and stretching. "Sleep!"

The more conscious campers agreed with a round of nodding and 'yup' s, and as quickly as the group was gathered together the food was put away, dishes washed, and those who could keep their eyes open helped the sleepier individuals find their way to their beds.

In a way, Cassie was glad the dinner had passed without her having to talk to David beyond the occasional 'pass the peas, please,' or similar sentiment. She still was not sure exactly what to make of the eldest Monroe sibling, but was determined to not let it get her down. After all, look at how much better Emily was after just a little conversation! Maybe, given a few days, her and Kayla could start to work their magic on David too. She winced when it occurred to her just exactly what she was thinking of doing, though.

'If I'm going to be a girl for this trip, well, I guess flirting's part and parcel of the whole package, isn't it?' She crossed her fingers. 'Let's just hope he doesn't find out my secret, the last thing I need is to be medevac'd when he tries to kill me.'

"Hey, lil' sis, you coming?"

"I'm on my way, Kayla, give me a minute!"

"Last one in has to turn out the lights!" Kayla called back, reminding Cassie of the cabin's oldest- and most annoying and painful- rule. Without lights, anyone with a top bunk was almost guaranteed to stub a toe or two before making it into bed.

"Coming, coming." With a final sigh, Cassie swung her way into the room, thumbed the light switch, and with a minimum of fuss and only a handful of 'ow!' s and 'Shoot!' s pulled herself under her covers and fell into dreamland.

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Notes: I'll try to get the next chapters out sooner, but expect Echoes 5 before chapters 21-25 arrive, sorry.