Cabin Nine [[Revised Edition] Under FURTHER Revision]

Seven

thirteen years old

Teen camp year two is pretty much exactly the same with less hitting and more canoeing. Jack had me practice walking in heels all year just for my costume. Really, the only notable difference is that Jack is taller than me now. I'm still 5'2" but he's grown exactly one inch taller than me. And he's very proud of it. He keeps commending his ankles. I don't even know what to do with that.

School is definitely different.

It's our last year of middle school. I mean, thank God, but I think I'll miss it. Which is kind of a horrifying thought. Soon, we'll be right back at the bottom of the food chain as freshmen.

At least I'll have Jack, though. He makes everything better. I think it kind of doesn't even matter that my chest hurts every time I see him with somebody else. It's not unnatural to be jealous of your best and only friend being friends with other people, is it? I really don't think so.

Even so, I made some new friends to get back at him. I ended up actually liking them. Which is even more odd. But it's kind of amazing.

Julia, Dinah, and Dennis are all really average. Which is perfect for me. I'm average too. But Jack isn't. So it annoys him that I have perfectly average friends who are just like me. Jack is popular and I'm semi-popular by association. I don't even like most of the popular people. So it's fine. I have normal people to talk to while Jack is hounded by the popular girls.

Jack and them get along alright, though. He's really polite and nice whenever they come over. He always offers them drinks and snacks before I can, just to make me mad. It definitely works. I pride myself on my hospitality. Which is not something a lot of eighth-graders can proudly say. He knows me too well.

Jack and I made a deal. He's watching Supernatural for me and I'll watch Grey's Anatomy for him. I'm six seasons in and he's three in.

"Wait, what?" Jack asks.

"What do you mean?"

"What the heck just happened?"

"He died."

"But not for long, right?"

I don't reply.

"Right?!"

I like leaving him to worry. Though I know that nobody dies for long. I bet he's not happy that I convinced him to watch it. But the deaths in Grey's Anatomy are consistently permanent, so which is harsher?

But he's still only on season three. That makes it especially fun because they die a whole lot more and he reacts like this every single time.

Someone knocks on the door. Jack and I don't move from our places on the couch. They keep knocking until Louisa gets the door, muttering under her breath that I'm useless when Jack is here.

Julia, Dinah, and Dennis enter the living room and Jack automatically scoots away from me. I hadn't even realized how close we were sitting but now my left side is cold and I want him back.

"Can I get you guys some drinks or snacks?" Jack asks.

"You don't live here!" I protest.

He just laughs and smiles at me and goes to the kitchen.

Dinah laughs and plops down next to me, taking Jack's place on the couch. She's so close that our legs are touching. It's kind of really awkward. She's not warm like Jack is and he's still in the kitchen. I freeze up and stay still until he comes out with bottles of water and packages of mini donuts.