Camp Canoa // Luke Hemmings

The One Where They Work Things Out

[Day -33]

I share my Tuesday afternoon maths class with Nora, and we are comfortably settled into our seats, ready to be left alone at the back of the class and probably mess about rather than actually doing any algebra, except that without warning, the seats directly in front of us are taken by none other than Sam Peters, plus one of his jock friends who I know from primary school, Jake Matthews. Sam looks good, his dark hair falling across his eyes.

We might have been back at school for just a few weeks, and I've seen him a couple times around already – even spoken to him once or twice in the hallways – but truth be told, I might have maybe been avoiding him. However, it seems that contact is inevitable now, as she he twists around in his seat, levelling an accusatory finger at me, and says, "You, Grace Pendlebury, didn't come to my pizza night. What gives?"

"Sorry," I whisper back. "I was busy – uh, hanging out... with – my mum." I can feel my face blush, of all the excuses available to me, why the hell did I go with that one?

Sam's mouth twists sympathetically. "Oh yeah. Tell me about it. My mum's like that too."

A sharp pang of guilt spikes through my stomach at indirectly badmouthing my mum, but I change the conversation quickly by asking about their summer.

"Went to stay with grandparents in Cornwall." Jake says, and pulls a face. "It was alright. As far as staying with grandparents for two months goes, at least."

"The usual for me – family, friends, trying to get a job, that kind of stuff." Sam adds, and then thankfully, Mr Turner calls upon the class to settle down and look towards the whiteboard for his introductory explanations before either of the guys have the chance to ask me what my summer was like.

Sam lingers a second longer, half-twisted in his chair, and surreptitiously tilts his chin back towards Nora and I to say, "Are you guys free Friday night? I'm getting some people together to go and see a movie. You up for it?"

"What movie?" I whisper, as Nora opens her mouth to speak.

Jake looks at Sam. "Weren't you saying you hadn't seen The Desolation of Smaug yet?"

"Yeah but I was meant to watch it with my brother, so..."

I look between them, worrying my lower lip with my teeth. Last school year, aside from one English project, I don't think I said more than three sentences to him at any given point, let alone actually hang out with him. There's a slight sense of disappointment though. Here is Sam, the gorgeous, handsome and impossible, and he's just... kind of ordinary.

"What about American Hustle?" Jake suggests.

From the front of the class, Mr Turner clears his throat. "I'm sorry, am I boring you?" he calls from his position by the whiteboard, pen frozen in hand. "Maybe I can get you a little more involved, and that'll keep your attention. Jake, I want you to talk me through 2A."

Jake lets out a groan and reluctantly peers across at the board to see the equation written out. As I struggle through the algebra, I see Sam push a folded piece of paper onto my desk. While pretending to flip through my textbook, I unfold the note, which simply says: we'll sort it out at lunch. Tell your friend Danni to come too.

However, I have no more time to speak to him, as the instant Jake has correctly worked out 2A, I am directed towards 2B, and from then on, Mr Turner pays close attention to our corner of the class, but Sam flashes me a smirk over his shoulder.

[Day -36]

Since he's rapidly turning out to be the greatest, Sam offers to give me a ride to the movies and even offers to pick Danni and Nora up on the way, since I was originally going to go with them. He learnt to drive over the summer, and so sometimes gets to borrow his brother's rickety car, which increases his general coolness by approximately six hundred percent, I think, even though there's a hubcap missing, and all he ever plays is Kanye West.