camp karlnap

f i v e

When I left Nick's cabin at seven, half the boys were up and stared at me as I left, specifically my neck where I was sporting a red hickey.

No one was awake at my cabin and I brushed my teeth and got dressed slowly. "Good morning." I greeted quietly as I woke up Andria, Millie, Rae, Georgia, Ciel, and Olive.

"It's too early." Andria whined, flipping the other way. I climbed up the ladder to her top bunk and pulled her covers off.

"There's a really big breakfast this morning." I hummed, climbing back down the ladder. "I don't think you guys want to get the scraps, do you?"

Everyone got up quickly, half of them running to the bathroom and the other half starting to get changed. I grinned, going to the kitchen and drinking a bottle of water.

We made it to the dining hall first and Roger clapped. "Wow, you're on time? Early even?"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes but smiled, proud of myself. I sat with the girls and ate as they told me about how they had a system of who would clean up. "What's on your neck?" Rae asked.

"I think it's a mosquito bite." I said, feeling my cheeks heat up. Someone sat down next to me and I looked over, seeing Nick in light colored baggy jeans. "Good morning." I said happily, hugging my knees to my chest.

"Good morning." He said, running his thumb over the hickey he left on me. "You didn't come downstairs so I wanted to check on you."

"We're better." Adriana said, to which everyone agreed.

He stole my fork as I brought it up to my lips, pancake stabbed in between the prongs, eating it himself. "Hey." I grabbed my fork back frowned at him. "Rude." He looked at me with a smile and I tuned out the rest of the dining room, staring into his soft brown eyes and getting lost in them.

I allow myself five seconds for me to picture it: permanence. Nick's jeans tangled up in my laundry, late nights and split bills, kisses on the sidewalk, oversweet coffee in bed—just how both of us liked it.

I shook out the thought quickly, turning back to my plate. Nick grabbed my chin and turned my head back toward him. "You okay?" I nodded and smiled, pecking his lips which made all the girls make gagging noises.

A laugh passed my lips as I turned back to the table. "Finish up because we have a long day." I passed my plate over to Nick and he gladly accepted, eating what was left of my pancake and drinking my orange juice.

When he was done he leaned back a little and rested his arm over the top of my chair. I put my feet back down onto the ground and reached over, grabbing a cup of water. "Rafting today?" He asked me, moving his hand onto my shoulder and squeezing it.

"Yep." I smiled and set my cup down.

"It's your turn to clean up, Karl." Olive said.

"Sure." I stood up and grabbed everyone's empty plates, setting them on the counter where we got them before going back for cups and silverware. By the time I cut through the crowd back to the table Nick was gone. "Let's go get on our swimsuits." I said, tucking in my chair. We got to the boat house and Nick's boys were already on the boat, storing their flip flops in the seat compartment. "Hand me your towels and go find a life vest that fits." I said, holding out my arms.

I brought the towels to the boat and stored them in the compartment as well. "Hey." Nick greeted, kissing my cheek as I passed to get the waterproof bag.

"Hi." I smiled, leaning over and grabbing the bag off the ground to put my phone and keys in it. There was a whistle from behind me and I stood up straight. Nick was sending the four boys angry looks. I kicked off my flip flops and stood on the edge of the boat, grabbing Rae's hands and helping her down onto the boat and doing the same for the rest of the five. "Who wants to go on the raft first?" All four boys raised their hands and none of the girls did, they were too busy looking down in the water and pointing out the small fish. "Alright, follow me." I jumped back to the dock and grabbed the raft off the dock, setting it down in the water. "Can you get on?" I asked, holding it closer to the dock.