Camp Kumoni By Anistasia Allread Edited by Nick B Oh my god, he wants a hug, her brain screamed. It’s alright; at least it’s not a kiss. Go on, you’ll be fine.

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Camp Kumoni 59

Matt was thrilled with the finished sketch of his main character.

He shook his head in wonderment. “It’s almost like you brought what I wrote to life. You are incredible, Erika.”

Erika blushed from the praise. Tricia was wowed by her drawings and now Matt, yet before camp, the only other person who didn’t make fun of Eric’s drawings was Summer.

“I need you to help describe the next character,” she urged.

With pencil and pad in hand and Matt’s assistance, she began a rough sketch of the next character.

“Okay, Matt. That is all I need for now.” she looked up from her bed with a smile. “I can’t promise as quick a turnaround as the first one.”

“Oh any time before camp is over will be fine.” Matt beamed. “You have no idea how much this helps me.” He came closer and put his hands out to his sides.

Oh my god, he wants a hug, her brain screamed. It’s alright; at least it’s not a kiss. Go on, you’ll be fine.

She spread her arms and was immediately engulfed by his. He didn’t appear to be trying to prove something with his strength as Josh had; he just seemed to want to share with her, the warmth and companionship of a friend. Erika breathed in his scent. It wasn’t overly spicy, nor was it too sweet. She thought it was actually quite pleasant.

Briefly, he ran his hands over her back, not in sexual way, but much like Samantha or Tricia would. He then pulled back and smiled. “Thanks Erika.”

She grinned back. “You’re welcome.”

Did she actually enjoy the hug from this boy? It didn’t cause any physical reaction like hugging Samantha had once done, but it wasn’t gross and slightly awkward like hugging a cousin or dad either.

“Where are you headed now?” he asked.

“To put this in my cabin then I’m heading down to the lake to cool off.”

“Mind if I escort you to your cabin?” he enquired. “I need to go that way to put this work of art in a safe place.”

“Sure, I guess.” she shrugged. “I’m a big, ah… girl. I can make it to my cabin on my own. I can even cross the street without holding hands.”

The two walked out of the dining hall into the overbearing heat. They were in the shade of the tall evergreen trees, and it was like a furnace. She imagined that the beach next to the lake must be hot enough to start to turn to glass.

“So, looking forward to the dance?” he asked.

“Not really,” she admitted. “It’s just another social occasion to feel out of place in.”

“How could you feel out of place anywhere?” he was bewildered.

Erika sighed. “Oh, you’d be surprised.”

“You’re kidding, right? A girl as beautiful and as friendly as you? You’d fit in anywhere. It’s awkward guys like me, who tend to be a fish out of water at those kinds of things.”

“Believe me, Matt. I know exactly how you feel. Truly I do.”

She caught him rolling his eyes in disbelief.

There was a moment of awkward silence until he finally found his nerve. “Could you, I mean, would you save a dance for me?” he asked. “I mean if you’re not already overloaded with guys asking you.”

“I would love to, Matt.” She smiled on the outside, but inside her brain was screaming at her. What are you saying? You can’t dance, you moron. You just promised this guy to dance? You are going to make fools out of both of you.

Matt looked up at Columbine Cabin. “I’ll meet you back here in just a minute; I’ll go put this away,” he said before he dashed off through the trees with his paper prize.

Erika hopped up the steps to Columbine and put the rough sketch in a safe place then went to the bathroom and peed before going down to the lake. She smiled at the cute braids that Victoria had put in her hair as she washed her hands. She shook her head side to side and delighted in how they swung and bounced.

Erika grabbed her towel and exited the cabin to see Matt waiting for her, slightly out of breath but smiling.

“Sorry, I had to use the bathroom,” she apologized.

He smiled. “No problem.”

The two walked towards the lake in silence. It was so hot out that even the birds were quiet. The squirrels were too lethargic to scamper amongst the branches, or along the forest floor. The only sound was the constant high-pitched chirping of some insects that seemed to be in mating season or something.

“So, I was wondering if I could e-mail you sometime after camp,” Matt asked.

“I don’t see why not.” she agreed. She was going to be e-mailing plenty of other people from camp, such as Katie, Rachel, Derek and Dani. “I’ll write it on the back of this next sketch. Is that alright?”

“That would be great,” he agreed.

The sand at the lake was nearly as hot as she thought it would be. The only reason it wasn’t any hotter, was because of all the beach towels and sun bathing bodies spread out over it.

Erika watched as Tricia skipped across the high dive and flipped gracefully into the water.

“See you later, Matt?”

“Sure. Remember, you promised me a dance.”

She smiled. “I won’t forget.” On the inside however, she cringed.

Erika slipped off her flip-flops next to her towel and padded out on to the dock. Even the age-grayed wood of the dock was hot, but the wet spots where people had stepped from the lake were cooler. Erika skipped from one to the next, making her way out to where Tricia, Katie and Samantha were.

“Good, you made it.” Samantha greeted. “I was wondering if I should come looking for you.”

Erika’s breath seemed to stop in her chest. Would she ever get over the beauty of this blonde cheerleader? Even without makeup and hair dripping wet, Samantha could take a guy’s breath away. “I wasn’t that long–was I?” Erika managed to reply. “How is the water?”

“It’s alright.” Katie splashed some up at her. “It’s refreshing, but it seems hot too.”

Erika took a breath and dove into the water a few feet from Katie, hoping to catch her in the splash to get back at her. The top foot and a half of the water seemed warm, almost as if someone had peed in it. Under that layer though, the lake seemed much cooler.

She resurfaced and caught a splash of water in the face.

“Ha! That’ll teach you.” Katie called at her.

Erika swam to the ladder and climbed back up onto the dock, watching as Tricia had just gotten back up to the top of the high dive. The pretty blonde took a couple of quick steps towards the end and spun forward in the air. She stretched, straightening as she neared the water and barely made a splash as she entered.

Erika climbed the ladder to the high dive. She took a deep breath and looked around. The last time she had been up here, she had ended up on a back board, bound for the hospital. Her heart raced a bit.

“Whoa, hold on there, Erika!” Todd ordered.

“Come on, Todd. Please don’t ban me from the high dive,” Erika pleaded. “I need to make at least one dive from here to get over that bad experience.”

“One dive with no fancy stuff, young lady,” he directed.

Erika walked out towards the end of the board and looked out over the lake. It seemed like everyone who was playing in the water or playing on the beach, stopped and stared at her.

She tried to still her pounding heart and felt her face redden as all of those eyes watched her at the end of that high bouncy board. She bounced a few times then launched herself into the air. She took a deep breath and cut the surface of the water,

Her heart was still pounding when surfaced, but already it was calming down.

“How do you feel?” Todd asked.

“Better, thanks Todd. Can I do it again?” she asked as she did the breast stroke to the ladder.

“Hold on, I’ve got something for you.” He turned and disappeared into one of the storage lockers on the end of the dock.

She joined Tricia at the base of the high dive.

“You did good,” Tricia congratulated. “Barely a splash.”

“Thanks.”

“Here you are, Twinkle Toes.” Todd handed her a helmet used for white water rafting.

“Ha, ha. Very funny.”

“If you want to use MY high dive on MY lake, you’d better use that.”

“But I’ll look like a moron,” she protested.

Todd shrugged. “Better a moron than bleeding all over my lake.”

“Are you serious, Todd?”

“Yes. No helmet, No high dive.”

Tricia smiled. “Actually, Erika, I think it’s a good idea.”

“Huh?” How could she?

“This way, I can safely show you how to do some of the more difficult dives.”

Todd rolled his eyes. But didn’t’ say anything as he went back to his lifeguard duties, watching for drowning victims.

*     *     *

Erika shifted on top of her covers again. The cabin was hot and sticky. It hadn’t been this hot the morning before. She rolled over and looked at the clock. It was one in the morning.

“I can’t sleep,” Rachel complained in loud whisper. “It’s too damned hot.”

“I’m hot too,” Dani agreed.

“I’m melting,” Krystal sighed.

“Phoenix, are you still awake?” Rachel asked.

“Of course, I don’t know if anyone can sleep in this heat.”

“I had an idea,” Rachel paused.

“What is it?” Phoenix groaned, unsure she wanted the answer.

“Since it is so hot, why don’t we go down and take a midnight swim?”

Silence fell over the cabin.

“Other than we shouldn’t be outside of our cabin after lights out, I don’t have a problem with it.” Phoenix concluded. “Besides, if I go with you, you’ll be supervised, so it should be okay.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

Phoenix sat up. “I think it might be fun.”

“Not to the beach though,” Rachel stated. “It’ll create too much noise.”

“There is that little spot halfway down the other side,” Victoria offered. It’s a small sandy spot. We pass it every morning during our exercise.”

“Perfect,” Rachel agreed.

The cabin exploded into action as the girls jumped out of their beds and grabbed the few flashlights that they had.

“I really don’t want to put my swimsuit back on,” Dani complained.

“Just go in your panties and t-shirt,” Rachel offered. “I think I’ll do the same. It’s not like anyone is going to see.”

“Won’t that be kind of weird?” Dani asked.

“Haven’t you ever gone swimming without a swimsuit?” Katie asked.

“No.”

“My friends and I used to skinny-dip every summer down in the creek.”

“Not in the cow pond?” Victoria chuckled.

“Gross.” Katie cringed. “Do you know what cows do in those ponds?”

“I can imagine.” Victoria made a face.

Erika pulled on a pair of shorts, slipped on her flip-flops and followed the others as they silently slipped out of their cabin and down the trail.

She thought it was quiet earlier in the afternoon. Now it was like the earth was dead. The silence was almost eerie. Every step that they took sounded like trash cans banging against one another to her ears. The girls made it around to the small beach that Victoria had suggested, and slipped off their sandals.

Katie ran and splashed into the lake. She dove under the water and came up. “Ahh. That is more like it,” she called to the shore.

Erika peered out into the lake but due to the sliver of moon, could only just make out a fuzzy grey and white image of Katie.

Rachel, followed by Dani then the rest of the girls charged into the water.

“Aren’t you going in, Erika?” Phoenix asked.

“I don’t know if I should.”

“Well if you’re going to stay on shore, you can guard the flashlights.” Phoenix handed her a flashlight and ran out and dove in.

The girls splashed, giggled and played around in the water. Erika sat on shore and listened to the conversations that they were having.

“Erika, aren’t you coming in?” Tricia asked.

“I don’t know if I should,” Erika called out into the darkness.

“Oh, come on. The water feels great,” Tricia teased.

“Come on in,” Samantha called out. “You’re one of us.”

“I don’t know,” Erika replied sounding doubtful.

“Who wants Erika to join us?” Rachel called.

The darkness erupted with cries of agreement that they wanted Erika to join them.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming. Keep your shirts on,” Erika finally relented.

“Why?” Katie asked. A wet plop sounded next to Erika on the shore.

“Was that your shirt?” Dani asked.

“Yes.” Katie answered. “It was feeling ‘wrong’; clinging and floating around me. It’s so dark out here. No-one can see anything anyway.”

A couple of more plops sounded next the first one.

“Come on, Erika,” Tricia urged. “Drop your top and join us.”

“You sure you won’t mind?”

“Get your fake boobs in here, Erika,” Rachel growled.

Erika slipped out of her top, listened for a quiet spot in the lake and dashed into the water towards that spot so that she didn’t run into or trip over anyone. The water felt much more refreshing than it had that afternoon.

“I’m glad you joined us,” the soft voice of Tricia said from beside her.

“I just don’t want to make anyone in the cabin uncomfortable,” Erika cited.

“We know. You have been extremely careful with respecting everyone’s privacy, but it’s like Katie said–no-one can see much of anything out here.”

Erika felt Tricia’s warm hand on the side of her face. The next thing she felt were Tricia’s lips pressing softly against hers. She found herself kissing back as their lips began exploring one another’s.

Erika felt incredibly constricted between her legs, but at this point she didn’t care. Tricia’s lips felt so good; she smelled so good–even over the scent of the lake water and trees, she smelled good and as the water cooled her down, her blood, charged with hormones heated up.

Tricia slowly pulled away then leaned her forehead against Erika’s and smiled. “I’ve been wanting to do that all day,” she whispered. “Especially when you were wearing that dorky helmet while diving.”

“What?” Erika was confused. “Seriously?” How could that of all things be a turn on?

“You looked so cute,” she confessed and smiled. “I don’t know why, you just did.”

“You’re weird,” Erika said.

“Probably,” Tricia agreed kissing Erika’s nose then her intoxicating lips found Erika’s again.

“Don’t get too carried away over here,” Phoenix cautioned from nearby.

“We aren’t,” Tricia quickly replied. Then to Erika with a snicker. “She’s just jealous Todd isn’t here.”

“Tricia, I have a favor to ask, but I’m afraid you’re going to laugh at me,” Erika rushed.

“What is it?” Tricia inquired seriously.

“I don’t know how to dance,” Erika admitted. “Could you show me how?”

Tricia giggled quietly. “You are so cute. Of course, I’ll show you.”

“In private,” Erika added.

“As you wish,” Tricia agreed. She leaned forward and caressed Erika’s lips again.

“Alright, girls,” Phoenix called getting their attention. “We need to start heading back. It’s quite late.”

“I’ll stay here until you have your tops back on,” Erika volunteered.

“Good idea,” Phoenix nodded.

Begrudgingly the girls walked up onto the shore and found their soaking wet shirts. They swore as they pulled the cool tops over their heads and adjusted the clinging fabric to their curves.

“Alright Erika,” Phoenix called.

Erika joined them on the beach and quickly pulled her dry shirt on.

Already they were feeling cooler as they headed back towards the cabins.

“Shhhh,” Rachel suddenly hissed, as they began to re-enter the camp.

Everyone came rapidly to a halt.

“What is it?” Victoria whispered back.

“The kitchen door is open and the light is on.”

“Let’s go see who it is,” Phoenix suggested. “We don’t need anyone steeling food or worse, wild animals getting into the kitchen and tearing things up.”

The girls quietly made their way to the kitchen. Phoenix and Rachel took the lead and popped their head around the door to get a quick look. They quickly pulled their head back out. Rachel smiled at Phoenix who stepped into the doorway.

“What ya doing?” She asked with a big, knowing smile on her face.

“Oh God!” came an exclamation. “God, Phoenix, you scared the crap out of me.” It was Sheila’s voice. “It was too hot to sleep.” She took a deep calming breath to try and slow her heart down.

Rachel popped her head over Phoenix’s shoulder. “Can we join you?”

“Couldn’t sleep either?” Sheila asked.

“We just took a dip in the lake,” Phoenix explained.

“Come on in,” Sheila invited.

Erika joined the rest of the Columbine girls in the Camp kitchen.

“Grab some bowls,” Sheila offered. “And close the door. We don’t want everyone down here.”

Erika finally saw what was going on. Sheila was enjoying a late-night bowl of ice cream.

Katie grabbed a bunch of bowls, while Dani washed off the scooper and warmed it under hot water.

“There’s chocolate syrup in the fridge,” Sheila informed. “Help yourselves.”

Rachel scooped ice cream out into a bowl. “This is why you always make friends with the camp cook.”

The Lavender Ladies of Columbine cabin leaned up against the stainless steel of the kitchen and savored the cold creamy treat.

“If you decide to go out for another late night swim, can you let me know?” Sheila asked.

Phoenix smiled. “Sure.”

*     *     *

Erika shifted in bed. The ice cream had really put the icing on the cake–so to speak. It cooled down her core, while the lake cooled down her exterior. She drifted off into a much easier sleep, wondering if someone had thought to turn off the morning’s alarm.