“Did Josh do anything to you? Did he touch you, or say anything to you that you didn’t like?”

“He….. he kissed me.” Erika was reeling. Did Rachel know? Or didn’t she?
 

Camp Kumoni
By Anistasia Allread

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Chapter 15
 
“Where have you been?” Rachel demanded as Erika rounded the cabin at the same time she was emerging from the woods. “We have been looking all over for you? Samantha is very upset.”

“I…. I needed to get away. I needed to think.” Erika replied. She wiped the tears from her cheek and waited for Rachel to approach, as if a young kid in trouble waiting for the parent to dole out a punishment.

“Are you all right?” Rachel asked as she neared.

“I…. I really don’t know.” Erika’s heart felt like it was being squeezed again.

“Let’s get you inside. The others should be back in a matter of moments.” Rachel guided Erika into the cabin. “Phoenix is going to be pissed when she gets back. Counselors tend to freak out when a camper goes off for some needed ‘alone time’.”

Rachel took Erika by the shoulders and directed her into the bathroom. “You are a mess. Let’s get you cleaned up. Sit down.” Rachel sat her down on the toilet. Rachel grabbed a towel and ran some water over an end. She knelt down next to Erika and began dabbing the makeup from her eyes and pressing the cool wet cloth against her skin.

“Why?” Erika implored.

“Why, what?” Rachel smoothed a curl away from Erika’s face.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Erika, felt like she was going to start crying again. No one was ever this nice to Eric. If Eric had a bad day, if he reacted like he did this evening, he was expected to suck it up. To be strong, to find his inner strength. To be a man. Most of the time it meant that he had to suffer. He had to wallow in his self-pity, usually in his bedroom, alone. At least that was the way it was before he and Summer met and then again after she died. No one ever showed him this kind of kindness, this kind of compassion.

“You had a bad evening, right?” Rachel’s voice was very soothing as she wet the towel again. She again dabbed at Erika’s cheeks. “You are in my cabin. You are a Columbine girl. Columbine girls take care of one another.” Rachel swiped Erika’s curly mass of hair out of her face and tucked them behind each ear. “Listen, we are going to be spending a lot of time together this summer. We will fight, we will laugh, and we will cry, but we do this all together…… We’re sisters.”

How was she going explain this to Rachel? How was she going to explain this to any of them? Especially if she, Erika, was already accepted as a ‘sister’. Eric wasn’t accepted as anything….. well, he was accepted as the school outcast, the ‘plague’. Erika closed her eyes, and shuddered. “I’m not like other girls.” She mumbled, cringing as she did so.

“I know.” Rachel soothed. “I know.”

Erika’s eyes flew open. Blood drained from her face. How did Rachel find out? Did Samantha tell the others? Did Rachel see her in the shower, or even in the bathroom? She knew?

“We all have secrets, Erika.” Rachel’s voice was soft. “So what if you’re not the perfect, all-knowing girl that you led us to believe?.....”

Erika felt like she was going to faint. The room swirled as vertigo set in, causing the room to tilt slightly to the left.

“…..So what if you blow up and run off into the woods in an emotional tirade? It’s called hormones and they suck.” Rachel blotted at Erika’s face. Her smiled disappeared and her eyes became quite cold. “Did Josh do anything to you? Did he touch you, or say anything to you that you didn’t like?”

“He….. he kissed me.” Erika was reeling. Did Rachel know? Or didn’t she?

“Did he force himself upon you?” Rachel probed. “Or was it a simple ‘thanks I had a good time’ kiss?”

“He kissed me, when he left.” A chill ran down Erika’s spine. Her stomach flipped, but she couldn’t figure out if it was because of the kiss or the questions that Rachel was asking. “Why?”

“I didn’t want to say anything before you went on your date, but Josh has a certain reputation here. Last year there were rumors that he had sex with several of the girls in camp.” Rachel gave Erika a big hug. “I’m so glad that you are all right. I was so worried about you and Samantha being left alone with those two.”

Erika shuddered at the thought. Here she went on a simple date with the guy and he was known as a womanizer? What would have happened had he tried anything with her? What would have happened it Josh had found out about Erika’s secret? The flip-flop in her stomach became a lurch as she thought about the things that happened to Eric at school, happening here, at Camp Kumoni. “All he did was kiss me.” The memory of his lips on hers was unsettling. “I …… I’m not the girl you think I am.” Erika began again. “I’m not attracted to guys.” She paused as Rachel looked at her with a curious grin. “I’m not attracted to guys because…..”

“Anyone here?” Dani called from the front room of the cabin cutting off what Erika was about to say.

“I’ve got her back here.” Rachel called to the front. She looked back at Erika. “It doesn’t matter. All of us in this cabin, we are all sisters.”

Two sets of footsteps ran to the bathroom door. “Are you all right?” Katie’s face was full of genuine concern. Concern for Erika. Erika swallowed and was barely able to nod an affirmative.

“She’s better.” Rachel answered for Erika. “But I think she might need to forego the campfire tonight.”

“Where were you?” Katie inquired. “We were worried about you.”

“I just needed to get away and spend some time alone.” Erika mumbled. This was quite embarrassing. No one ever worried about Eric or his feelings when he was Eric, why were people worrying about Erika? Guys didn’t act this way with one another, at least from what he had seen. Could girls really be inclusive like this?

“Did you find her?” a call came from the front.

“Yeah, Rachel found her.” Dani turned to the front.

“It’s Phoenix.” Katie looked at Rachel with concern written all over her face.

“Katie, could you help Erika get cleaned up? I’ll go and head off Phoenix before she busts into flames?” Rachel handed the tall girl the wet towel. She stepped into the cabin and over to the fuming Phoenix. “She has had a fright and needs some time to unwind.” Rachel told the counselor.

“I’ll be the judge of that, Rachel. I am after all, in charge of this cabin.” Phoenix began to step past the athletic leader.

“Phoenix, don’t do this.” Rachel pleaded. “I’ve almost got her settled down enough to talk. If you go in there demanding answers, she will either freak again, or clam up.”

“What do you know about psychology?” Phoenix almost spat.

“Three and a half years of therapy.” Rachel stated sternly. “Let her cool off.”

Phoenix paused and looked hard at Rachel. The two stared at one another for a while. “You and I are going to have a long talk after the campfire tonight.”

“Fine, just leave Erika alone for right now.” Rachel submitted.

“Did anyone find her?” Samantha asked franticly from the front door. Victoria stood right behind her.

“Yes, she’s in the bathroom.” Dani informed the cheerleader.

Samantha strode towards the bathroom. “Now isn’t a very good time, Samantha.” Rachel warned.

Samantha shouldered her way past Rachel and Phoenix an entered the bathroom. Katie was kneeling down in front of Erika and the toilet, hugging her and rocking as tears quietly flowed down Erika’s cheeks.

“I am so sorry, Erika.” Samantha blurted out, tears stinging her eyes.

Katie released the dark-haired girl, who looked up at Samantha. Erika took one look at Samantha and quickly adverted her eyes she turned her head away from Summer’s little sister.

“Erika?” Samantha wept. “I’m so sorry that…..”

“Don’t talk to me.” Erika snarled. “Leave me alone and don’t talk to me.”

“But……” Samantha was startled. “But I need to talk to you.”

Eric looked up at the girl for whom he had loved from afar at school. Instead of seeing a golden goddess standing before him, he saw the spoiled little sister that Summer had described to him. “LEAVE ME ALONE!!!” Erika screamed. “Leave me alone and don’t you dare speak to me!”

Katie fell back, her face ashen, her eyes as big as saucers. Her lip trembled slightly. She was not used to this kind of emotional outburst. Not growing up on a farm.

“Okay, okay, calm down, Erika.” Phoenix suddenly appeared behind Samantha. “Samantha, leave now.” She told the blonde in a stern no-nonsense voice. “Erika, you need to calm down.” Phoenix looked over to the visibly trembling Katie. “Katie, take Samantha and the others and head over to the campfire.”

Katie didn’t have to be told twice, she practically sprinted out of the bathroom, dragging the weeping Samantha with her.

Phoenix knelt down in front of Erika and lightly placed a hand on her knee. “You and I are going to have a long talk tomorrow.” She squeezed Erika’s knee. “I am going to go to the campfire……. While we are gone, I want you to go take a long hot shower, then climb into your bunk…… Okay?”

“Okay.” Erika smiled weakly.

“Grab you towel and stuff.” Phoenix reaffirmed. “No one should be down there until after the campfire, so you’ll have the whole shower room to yourself.” The counselor helped Erika to her feet and walked with her back to her bunk. “I’ve got to go join them. But you and I will talk tomorrow.”

Erika nodded as the flame haired counselor left. She opened her drawer and saw her breast forms laying in a pile of her clothes. “Oh shit.” Erika muttered. She had taken them off and left them in the bathroom. Who picked them up? Samantha hopefully. If any of the other girls had taken care of them, she was in for some more embarrassment. What else is new. She picked up the forms, some new under garments, her towel and her shower bag. She slipped into her flip-flops before heading in the dark down to the shower building.

The lights were on, when she arrived. The only sounds were the distance singing from the campfire, and the soft lapping of lake water lapping against the docks. Erika entered an empty shower stall, turned on the water and stripped.

The hot water, felt good on tired muscles. Eric’s shoulders were tight from all of the tension of the past few hours. He stuck his head under the spray, letting the water wash away the curls.
What am I going to do? I was going to tell Rachel. I was going to tell them all, everything, but I couldn’t. Why couldn’t I? Well, other than the fact that Dani came in and interrupted the confession, why couldn’t I tell her? Rachel was…….. she was nice. She was accepting me as a friend, a confidant, a…… a….. sister.

Eric had long ago run out of tears. But the muscles in his eyes still tightened, his head still throbbed with the exertion. Do you want to be a sister? Do you want to spend your summer as a girl? Can you even pull this off? You’re dressing in skirts, shaving your legs, and going on dates with guys, Eric. Do you really want to continue? Victoria suspects something is up. Rachel knows, at least you think she knows. What about the others. What happens if or when they find out that you are an imposter?

Eric sat cross-legged on the shower floor and let the hot, steaming spray rain down on him. Relaxing him, washing the tension from his body. How could Samantha do this to me? He wondered. Did she know what that kiss did to him? How much it cost him? I never should have embarked upon this plan of hers. I should have told them at the bus that they had me down in the wrong cabin. He sighed heavily. If you had, where would you be right now? “Miserable.” He said aloud. You’d be fighting a losing battle to be accepted in one of the guys cabins. You’d be an outcast among your own kind. Sitting at the end of the table with the others of the cabin distancing themselves from you as if you had the plague. You’d be laughed at because you couldn’t kick the ball as far, because you trip over your own feet. Because you are……. Because Eric is the plague.

He unwound his legs, stood up, and stuck his head under the shower head. Erika isn’t treated like the plague. She isn’t the ‘plague’. She is accepted by her cabin mates as a girl, as a peer, as…….. as a sister. Eric, do you want to spend the summer as an outcast, the plague? Or do you want to spend the summer as someone who is better than an outcast, someone accepted and liked?
 
 
Erika picked up the pink razor from her toiletry bag and began shaving her legs.

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End of Chapter Fifteen