Camp Idol

Episode 3

"Umm, are you okay?" Cori heard Tanner ask through the darkness.

"Yeah..." Cori breathed, still freaked out by the sudden loss of light.

"Then can you let go?" Tanner said and to both Cori's horror and delight, she realized she had wrapped her arms around him in surprise.

"Sorry!" she pulled away faster than the lightning outside of the window. "What- what happened?" she wondered, trying to sound casual.

"The storm must have knocked out the power," Tanner replied. "Where's your phone?"

"Uhh... on the desk," she answered.

Cori listened to what sounded like Tanner scrambling for the desk, blinking into the dark in hopes of seeing. However, before her eyes could adjust, a bright light flashed to life, stinging her eyes.

"Found it," Tanner held up her phone with a grin. "This light is pretty handy."

"Hey! Is everybody okay?" another light popped up in the hallway along with the voices of the other boys.

"Yeah. What's going on?"

"The power's out."

"Where's Tanner?" 

"Right here," Tanner stepped into the hall, Cori's phone still alight in his hand.
 
Cori followed tentatively behind him.

"Good. We're all here," Nicky smiled over his own cellular flashlight when a sudden beep echoed through the hall.

"Was that your phone?" Kole asked in surprise. 

"Yeah," Nicky frowned at his cell.

"I thought we didn't get any service out here," Axel looked at him suspiciously.

"We don't," Nicky sighed. "My phone's dying. This light app is killing my battery." 

"Well, we can't do much in the dark," said JM.

"Yeah, and I want to save my battery until the power comes back on and I can charge it," Nicky nodded and clicked off his phone. "I'm just gonna go to bed. I'll see you guys in the morning."

Nicky carefully made his way back into his room and Axel followed.

"Goodnight," JM held his own cell out, shining a path to the second bedroom.

"You coming, Tanner?" Kole asked, pausing in the illuminated doorway.

"Yeah," Tanner looked at Cori. "Here's your phone," he returned her cell. "You'd better hurry back to your room. I think your battery's dying too."

Cori glanced at her screen. The little image of the battery was red.

"Night," said Tanner before disappearing into Kole and JM's room.

"Night," Cori whispered after he had gone.

Hoping she didn't bump into anything in the dark, Cori cautiously crept down the unfamiliar hallway, and back into Tanner's room. No sooner had she closed the door, than her phone blinked off.

"Well, at least I made it out of the hall before my phone died," she thought, grasping through the shadows in search of the vanity. When her hands met the desk, she blindly fumbled to set down her phone, accidentally knocking over a couple cosmetic bottles.

"Oh no!" she felt around for the fallen bottles, and finding one, caught a whiff of cologne. "Hey! This is what this shirt smells like! Well, that makes sense since Tanner said it was his. AH! Tanner said it was his! I'm wearing Tanner's shirt!" the realization just hit her. Abandoning the vanity, she pulled her shirt up to her nose and sniffed. The tee smelled even better now that she knew it was Tanner's.

"This is too good to be true," she grinned, feeling her way to the bed and sitting down. "I'm in Tanner Lee's room. I'm wearing Tanner Lee's clothes. And- I'm sitting on Tanner Lee's bed!" Cori could barely contain herself as she laid back onto his pillow, taking in another deep inhalation of his sweet-scented shirt. "And to think, I was supposed to be sleeping in a cramped, little room with four other girls tonight. This is so much better!" Cori tried to catch her breath as she basked in her surreal surroundings, the booming of the thunder outside no match for the booming of her heart.

~~~

It was some time before Cori managed to fall asleep. The thought of having met Tanner Lee was unbelievable enough, but the thought of Tanner Lee sleeping in the next room over was just plain nerve-wracking.

For the longest while she lay there, dreamily thinking about everything that had happened... Meeting Tanner in the woods... Miracle 10's bonfire... Running from the rain... Bumping into Nicky in the bathroom... Axel screaming at Nicky... Nicky giving her Tanner's shirt... Finding Tanner's necklace... Looking for Tanner's slippers... The lights going out... Grabbing onto Tanner in the dark... Laying in Tanner's bed...

At last Cori drifted off to sleep, her dream-like thoughts turning into actual dreams, though not too different. She dreamed of Tanner guiding her to his bedroom and Nicky coming in to give her a clean set of clothes. Then Nicky began changing out of his own wet shirt, but Tanner re-appeared, making him leave. Next, Tanner turned to Cori. "Are you comfortable sleeping in my bed?" he asked, staring at her intensely. Cori was just about to reply, when she woke up to find a pair of eyes still staring at her.

"Ack!" she jumped up, but quickly realized it had only been a stuffed animal. "Oh," she giggled, picking up the fuzzy bear. "Cute."

Cori glanced around the room and back to the bear.

"So, I really am here," she grinned. "For a minute there, I thought I dreamed the whole thing."

She sat up onto her knees and peered out the window. It was bright outside and had stopped raining.

"I'm glad I can see again now that it's daylight," she thought, but suddenly frowned. "Oh, yeah. I'm supposed to be leaving this morning."

Cori put down Tanner's bear and climbed out of bed.

"Ugh," she gazed into the mirror. "I have major bedhead." She quickly ran her fingers through her hair, trying to straighten the mess and reached for her clothes she had draped over the edge of the chair. "Still damp," she grimaced, leaving them where they hung. "Maybe they have a blow-dryer or something in the bathroom I can dry them off with."

Cori stepped out into the hall, but the sound of clinking from downstairs made her peek over the railing.

"Hey! She's finally awake!" Kole looked up at her from the kitchen table.

"Finally is right!" laughed Axel over his cup of coffee. "She sleeps in almost as long as Tanner!"

"Come on down!" Nicky called as he placed a bowl of berries on the table.

Cori slowly made her way down the steps and JM pulled out a chair for her to sit.

"Good morning," Nicky smiled, taking a seat himself. "You want some fruit?"

"No thanks," Cori shyly declined.

"But you gotta eat!" Kole held out a strawberry until she accepted it. "Alright!" he grinned, tossing more fruit onto a plate and pushing it towards her.

Cori nibbled the strawberry as daintily as she could, quite aware that Miracle 10 would see, and nervously surveyed the room. The boys looked even better than they had in the firelight- or even the magazines or live streams!

Kole was wearing a star-printed tank-top, his reddish hair spiked back neatly. Axel's black tee matched his swoopy, dark hair, and JM's platinum blonde locks really stood out against his thick, black-framed fashion glasses. 

"Aren't you going to have more?" Nicky glanced at Cori's full plate, then at Cori. His brown bangs poked out from his snapback and his pocket-adorned tee was crossed with a bright blue stripe.

"Yeah, thanks," Cori quickly picked up another berry.

"Sorry you had to stay in Tanner's messy room," Nicky laughed. "Did you sleep okay- uhm, I don't think you ever told me your name."

"It's Cori," she answered nervously.

"Cool," Nicky smiled. "I'm Nicky, that's Kole, JM, Axel, and you know Tanner," he nodded towards the bottom of the staircase where Tanner was now stepping down.

"Yeah," Cori felt her face flush. Tanner's blonde hair was topped with a black beanie, and a low-cut, pink tank showcased his sides.

"About time you woke up," Axel scoffed. "I thought you were gonna sleep away the whole vacation."

"Well, it was hard to get to sleep with Kole's snoring," Tanner shot back, grabbing a coffee cup.

"I'm sorry," Cori uttered before she even realized it. "I'll be out of your hair soon. I just need to change, but my clothes are still damp. Do you guys have something I can use to-"

"Just keep what you're wearing and go," said Tanner at once. "It can be your souvenir."

"I didn't come for a souvenir," frowned Cori, although the idea of keeping Tanner's shirt was very appealing.

"It's okay," Nicky told her. "I don't know if you noticed the closets, but we have plenty more where that came from. If you have to go back across the lake, you should probably get an early start in case it rains again."

"It better not rain again!" moaned Axel. "I want to go swimming today!"

"Well, if you're sure," Cori glanced at Tanner. "I'll just go get my things and be going then."

"Tanner, why don't you go with her?" Nicky suggested. "You found her last night so you should be able to help her find her boat again."

Tanner took a sip of coffee and shrugged.

~~~

A few minutes later, Cori found herself heading through the woods with Tanner once more. The only difference this time, was that it was now daylight and she was lugging a pile of damp clothes and a dead cell phone.

"Thanks for loaning me your room for the night," Cori tried to break the awkward silence as they tramped along.

"Yep," said Tanner, pausing to look around. "I think this is close to where I found you last night," he said. "Which way did you come from to get here?"

"Um, it was pretty dark, but I tried to keep in a straight line," she told him.

"Okay, then let's go that way," he decided, continuing through the trees.

"Wait up!" she called, rushing after him, but her foot caught on a root and sent her flying- directly into Tanner.

"Whoa!" Cori gasped, knocking him down and landing right on top of him.

"Wow," said Tanner, gazing up at her face.

"What?" Cori held her breath.

"The lights didn't even go out this time and you still tackled me," Tanner smirked.

"I'm so sorry!" Cori jumped up, brushing herself off and blushing heatedly.

Tanner pushed himself up, wiped his hands together and turned to head off again, but another gasp from Cori made him stop.

"What?" he stared at her.

"Your clothes!" she cried. "I'm really sorry!"

Tanner looked over his shoulder and heaved a sigh. His entire back was covered with mud.

"Come on. And be more careful, okay?" he frowned, starting through the trees again. "Stupid rain," he added in a mumble.

Cori hurried to keep up, though this time being much more on guard for any tripping hazards.

When they finally made their way out of the woods and onto the shore, Cori glanced around.

"I don't think this is the right spot," she said after a minute. "My boat's not here."

"Well, we can't be that far off," Tanner craned his neck to look down the waterline. "You check that way and I'll check this way," he instructed, walking away down the beach. 

Cori nodded and did the same in the opposite direction, but when they met back up several minutes later, neither of them had spotted the boat.

"Do you think we made a wrong turn in the woods?" Cori worried as Tanner walked to the water's edge.

"No," he shook his head. "I'm sure this is where you left your boat."

"How do you know?" asked Cori.

"Because, there's an oar floating out there in the water," he said. "I think during the storm you lost your boat."