Camp Direction

Chapter 5

A/N: sorry it's short... I couldn't think of anything and this chapter probably sucks :( Ten votes to the next chapter, though. THANK YOU FOR READING, MY LOVELIES!

Harry had done exactly as told: changing into his swimming trunks and waiting in front of the bathroom for the rest of the boys. Liam hadn’t returned yet from his little ‘walk’ and what not, Zayn was asleep, and God knows what Niall and Louis were doing. The girls were either in the bathroom or in their cabins, getting changed.

“Harry? Harry!” someone called, shaking his shoulder. He opened his eyes, only then realizing that he had fallen asleep on the benches. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, sweeping his brown curls out of his face. He faced Kate, who was standing there in her swimsuit with her eyebrows raised. Her hands were behind her neck as she held the ends of her swimsuit from falling.

“Er, hi,” he said awkwardly, squinting at her.

“You’re lucky I found you, everyone’s down at the lake,” she said, laughing. Harry just looked at her with a smile, wide awake. “Oh, would you do me a favor?”

If I say yes too quickly, she’ll think I’m desperate. I don’t want her to think I’m desperate, Harry thought. Okay, I’ll just be myself.

“Depends on what it is,” he said with a sly smile. She smiled back, turning around.

“Tie this for me?” she asked, holding the ends out for him. “I couldn’t find any of the girls, so…”

“I got it,” he said, taking the strands from her grasp and tying a small bow tie. His fingers touched her pale skin. “Oh my gosh, you’re freezing!”

“Oh, it’s fine. I’m wearing a swimsuit anyways, it should be getting warmer in a few…” she trailed off as Harry pulled off his t-shirt, leaving him in a white tank top. He handed her the t-shirt, and she stared at it in her hands.

“Well, put it on and we’ll go to the lake, yeah?” he said, walking away as if there was no care in the world. Kate did as told and slipped it over her head, inhaling his cologne. She quickly scolded herself for taking notice of it walked on, trying to keep up with the curly haired boy.

“Lake’s this way, Harry,” Kate said, grabbing his shoulder and leading him the opposite way. Harry blushed and quickly became embarrassed.

“Oh, er…”

“It’s fine, Harry. It’s only your first day, after all,” Kate said, smiling at him. She skipped away towards the lake, and now Harry had to sprint to catch up. “Tag, you’re it!”

As she tapped him on the shoulder, she sprinted off running. He tried running equally as fast, but it didn’t work out as well. When they finally got to the lake, everyone else was sitting in the swimsuits on the dock, their bare feet in the water.

“Nice shirt, Kate,” Louis said, smiling. Kate blushed, staring down at the black Ramones shirt. Harry watched as she pulled off her jean shorts. “HAROLD! TAKE OFF THAT TANK TOP AND GET YOUR ARSE OVER HERE!”

“DON’T SWEAR, I’M ON MY WAY!” Harry shouted back, pulling the white tank top over his head and putting it next to Kate’s shorts. They joined everyone on the dock, swinging their legs off the edge and feeling the cold water in between their toes.

“Kate,” Penny whispered in her ear. “We’re all in our swimsuits, and you’re bound to get thrown in the water. Take the shirt off.”

“No,” Kate said sternly, more blush creeping onto her cheeks.

“Come on, Kate. It’s not that bad. No need to worry about it,” Jenny said.

“No,” Kate repeated.

“Kate, I’m going to say this once. Take the shirt off,” Celine said.

“Again, no. You can’t make me,” Kate said, her teeth clenched.

“Please, Kate? There’s no need to be insecure. You don’t want Harry’s shirt getting in the dirty lake water, do you?” Tori said. Kate sighed and got up from her seat, stomping off to where Harry’s clothes and hers were. She stripped off the shirt, leaving her in her white bikini, and walked back to the dock with her arms hugged around her own waist as if in protection. She scowled at her friends and sat next to Harry instead. He seemed to be laughing at something Niall had said when he noticed Kate hugging her waist to hide her stomach.

“Something wrong, Kate?” he asked, as they sat in their canoes. Jenny paired with Celine and Tori paired with Penny, leaving Kate alone. Louis paired with Liam and Niall with Zayn, leaving Harry alone as well. “Oh, mind being in a canoe with me?”

“Not at all,” Kate answered to both questions. Even though both counselors and campers were supposed to wear life jackets, the group didn’t listen to the rule, considering all of them could swim. Well, most of them. Penny wasn’t able to stay in the water for long, so she had pulled a life jacket on. Zayn had sneaked one behind his back and was going off to the canoes when Penny noticed.

“Can’t swim?” she asked with a sly smile. Zayn whirled around and became red faced, staring at the brown haired girl. When he noticed she was wearing one too, his expression relaxed. “Don’t worry, I’ve always been afraid of the water. Anyways, we match!”

Zayn smiled at her and they walked onto the dock together, both staring at the water with worried glances before they sat in their canoes. Kate looked back at the life jackets, noticing that they would cover her stomach if she wore one.

“Don’t you dare worry about your weight. You have a beautiful body and have nothing to worry about,” Harry whispered in her ear when he saw what she was looking at. His words stunned her for a moment, but then finally sunk in.

“Thank you, Harry,” she said, tears in her eyes a moment. Realizing she was being a bit too emotional, she quickly let go of her waist and grabbed an oar. They paddled to the middle of the lake, before the unthinkable happened.

Liam and Louis used their oars to splash Jenny and Celine with the lake water. Jenny gasped as the cold water hit her, and Celine was completely knocked backward. The canoe swayed back and forth and the girls struggled to grab the sides and keep from falling off. That didn’t work for Celine, however, as she fell in the water.

“Oh no! She’s not wearing a life jacket!” Tori shrieked from her canoe. Liam’s laugh faded from his face as he realized what was happening. He searched the water for Celine, but she never surfaced. He put his oar down and dove into the water in search of the girl. He opened his eyes and searched, but didn’t find her. Tears sprung to his eyes when he surfaced.

“I can’t find her-“ he was cut off by something or someone yanking on his ankle so hard he went under water as well. Everyone else screamed and shouted, searching for both Liam and Celine under the water. The canoe Niall and Zayn were in flipped over, sending him falling into the water as well. Next was the canoe Louis was in, and then Harry and Kate.

“What’s going on!?” Penny shrieked, but was silenced by the canoe that she and Tori were in flipping over. Lastly, Jenny’s canoe flipped over. Everyone surfaced laughing, finding out that Celine and Liam had flipped over all the canoes for fun.

“I’m glad I had this on,” Zayn said, motioning to the life jacket as they swam over to shore and crawled out onto the sand. Penny smile at him, the little insecure moment they had had before together clearly making themselves feel less alone. They all collapsed laughing and were silent a little until Louis walked over and put his arms under Jenny’s knees and around her shoulders, picking her up bridal style.

“No! LOUIS NO! Put me down this instant!” Jenny yelled, kicking and screaming as he walked across the dock and stood there, holding Jenny over the water.

“Girls, should I?” he asked, extending his arms a bit.

“No, PLEASE NO!” Jenny shrieked, but she couldn’t help but smile. Niall walked over behind them.

“I’ll do the favor!” he shouted, pushing both Louis and Jenny into the water.