Camp Canoa // Luke Hemmings

The One Where They Shotgun

We push out of the office, limbs cramped and juddery and we move in baby steps. Slipping through doors in the smallest gaps that our frames will allow and peering cautiously around every corner, we creep all the way to the lobby before we stop and look at each other. We are pink and dishevelled.

We are on our way back to the designated meeting spot, having successfully broken into the administrative offices of Camp Canoa and hoisted an ounce of marijuana. We are free.

Running as fast as we can to get over the rocks at the end of Canoa property after dark doesn't seem quite so daunting now.

On the beach, through the woods and down the path, the only lights are a glossy half-moon, the hostile fluorescence outside the vacated kiddie cabins nearby, and the distant green glimmer of buoys in the bay. The rocks are black, cold. The rest of the group are waiting.

"What the hell happened?" Nora demands as soon as Luke and I are sliding down the rocks to meet them on the far side. "I got Michael's text when I was on my way down here but you guys must have still been in there!"

"Man, I'm so sorry!" Michael sits up, cringing. "I tried to distract them but they wouldn't listen to a thing I had to say... and then I had to bail!"

"It's okay, don't worry!" I'm still vibrating with nervous energy; I just can't sit down.

"They came in and everything – we just had to jump the wardrobe to hide and wait for them to leave!" Luke says, handily skipping over the part where he grabbed my hand like a little girl in a fit of panic.

"Amelia wanted her jacket and she nearly looked in the wardrobe for it too!" I add breathlessly.

Nora rocks back, tucking her bare feet close to her. "Holy crap."

"That isn't even the best bit," Luke chuckles, kicking his sneakers off and bouncing on the balls of his feet. "They were talking about us, and how sweet Grace is and how we have a bad influence on her." He said, drily.

Ashton laughs. "Yeah, poor Grace, who was at that very moment leading a mission to steal an illegal Class C drug from the office."

"What can I say?" I said coolly, giving a lopsided shrug. "I'm misunderstood."

Luke drops down beside Ashton, burying his bare feet deep into the cold sand and watches idly, relaxed, as Michael attempts to teach Danni how to roll a joint. He rolls the paper in quick, deft movements, only slowing down the practiced tuck and fold marginally so that she can see.

We fall into an almost reverent hush as Michael lights up. Danni's mouth is slightly open, entranced.

"There we go!" Michael says triumphantly.

His zippo lighter dances once more, lone and bright, before he snaps it shut. Luke and Calum humour him with applause and cheering, while Luke eyes the joint with a measure of uncertainty.

"Relax," Ashton teases him, inhaling deeply, holding it for a few seconds and then blowing the smoke at me in thin, luminescent tendrils. "It's just smoke. It never hurt anyone."

"Actually, prolonged marijuana use can cause psychosis in later life." Danni says as Calum reaches over to take the joint from Ashton.

"Wow. Nice way to be a buzzkill, Danni." Ashton said, rolling his eyes and winking at her.

Calum laughs a little, smoke curling up from between his teeth. Michael takes a drag and makes a poor attempt to blow rings, before offering it over. Luke takes it carefully, and just... holds it. His eyes flash over to mine and then back to the joint.

"Okay hand it over." Nora says decisively as she stretches across the pluck it from his fingers. "Come here – we're gonna shotgun."

He nods obediently and crawls over to Nora, and she shuffles until she is sitting comfortably cross-legged, and then shakes her hair out of her face.