The Summer Camp Diaries

• Vinny •

I'd survived the first week of camp, and for that I was proud, but come Monday morning when I woke up to find, oh, five text messages and three missed calls from my dearly beloved best friend, West, I grew reasonably worried. I still hadn't told him about camp. Everything had happened so fast, and once I was here, I'd focused on me and had cruelly tossed the poor boy wayside. The most recent of his spammed messages said that if I didn't reply ASAP, he was going to assume my wicked not-so-stepmother had locked me away and he was going to have to go all Prince Charming on her ass to come to my rescue as a valiant knight. His words. An attempt at a poetic declaration of how important he felt I was to him.

It fell a bit short, but I gave him props for trying. Though I don't imagine that Prince Charming would ever get arrested for breaking and entering. If West went through with his threat, I'd end up with a deadbolt on my window, which wasn't an ideal situation at all. Of course, I did feel guilty for just abandoning him without so much as a word of warning or goodbye, so after scanning over the cabin, which was nearly empty save for a few girls, I climbed down from my spot on the top bunk and walked to a more secluded corner of the building. I tapped the top contact in my favorites and listened as the dial tone rang.

"Hello?" A garbled voice answered, sounding groggy and rough.

"Crap," I muttered. "Cali's three hours behind here. I'll call you again later. Sorry." I shifted the phone away from my ear to hang up, but West's voice stopped me.

"Wait, wait, wait. No. That you, Vinny? Really, it's fine." I could imagine him sitting up in bed suddenly, quick enough to make your vision go funny for a split second, with a wide smile. "What took you so long, huh?"

"Oh, shuddup. How many times did you call me again... Like a dozen?" I laughed, staring out a window at the lush green scenery surrounding me as I wondered what I should say to him. 'The evil queen abandoned me in the forbidden forest' might not go over too well, true as it might have been. "My mom sent me away to camp for the summer," I said finally.

"Damn. Who's supposed to be my wing woman now?" He said playfully, and I rolled my eyes.

"We both know you've never needed any help there, West." It wasn't hard to imagine my childhood best friend surrounded by swooning women. That was a normal occurrence for him. "I mean, they throw themselves at you. Literally, I'm surprised that they don't worship the group you walk on..."

"Yeah, yeah. Sounds like the cult hasn't gotten off the ground yet..." His voice was smooth and almost syrupy. "I knew I had game, but that's just-"

"Cool it, Casanova. At this rate, the hearts are going to break themselves!" Joking aside, I let out a small sigh. "Hey, I have to go... I already skipped breakfast with the other campers. Don't cause too much trouble, okay?"

He fired back a quick reply. "Without you? Wouldn't think of it." He was quiet for a short moment before he quickly added, "Love you, Vin."

"Love you too," I piped back and ended the call, the corners of my lips turned up in a faint grin. Even if my best friend had an ego the size of Russia and the attention span of a goldfish (guess that's what happens when you have the smashing good looks of a Calvin Klein underwear model), I adored him and couldn't wait until we'd be reunited again. Just a few more weeks, I reminded myself.

***

~~ We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in. I had to learn what I've got, what I'm not, and who I am. I won't give up on us, even if the skies get rough. I'm giving you all my love. I'm still looking up. ~~

A soft tap on my shoulder caused me to flinch. My eyes darted up to find Trevor standing in front of me. I'd left the cabin to find some peace and serenity, just me and my music, but apparently Jason Mraz and I couldn't get any privacy. Not even as I sat on the shore of the lake. You were never really alone at Camp Castaway- even when you were alone. I slipped my headphones off my ears and let them hang against my neck. "What's up?" I asked, peering at the counselor curiously.