Fix A Heart

Stepping off the plane, I looked around for Aunt Sadie nervously, fidgeting with the strap on my duffel bag carry on nervously. There were people quickly pushing past me, trying to reach their loved ones who were waiting for them.

"Hadley!" a voice called out and I looked up to see Aunt Sadie hurrying towards me. "Look at you!" she beamed, hugging me tightly and releasing me, looking up from where she stood at five foot two to my five foot seven. "You've grown! You're so beautiful."

"Hi Aunt Sadie," I said. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." she beamed. "And I'm so glad you're helping me out this summer!"

"No problem," I assured her. "Anywhere's better than home now anyways."

****

"You're really going to love coming to Shady Oaks." Aunt Sadie chatted aimlessly while I looked out the window, seeing the North Carolina countryside pass by at a quick sixty miles an hour. "There's a beach, and we have campfires almost every night; there's the forest, and the dining hall. We're going to have so much fun together Had, just like old times, right?"

Shady Oaks was the summer camp Aunt Sadie opened about three years ago, for kids ages seven to nine. It was the only camp in the area, so I had been told it was fairly popular with people, so many kids went.

"There's three different cabins for the girls, and three different cabins for the boys." she explained to me. "And there's one counselor for each cabin."

"So which one will I have?" I asked her, not shifting my gaze away from the window.

"Well, you won't be in charge of a cabin." she said. "The cabins will be looked after by our counselors Brooke, Molly, and Maddie. You'll be up in the main house, with me and Connor. You won't be a cabin counselor, more of an activities counselor."

"Connor?" I asked, finally turning my attention away from the window and towards my aunt. "Who's Connor?"

"Connor's my other counselor, like you. He helps with activities and plays guitar for the campfires. He's been my next-door-neighbor for years, and I asked him to help me when I first opened up the camp. He's about your age, you two should get along well. How old are you again?"

 "Seventeen," I told her.

"Same as he is!" she exclaimed, her smile growing brighter.

Great. Just great. All I wanted to do this summer was get away from guys, just have a little fun while helping out the kids that were supposed to come tomorrow. And now that would all change, because of this 'Connor' character.

"Who are the other counselors?" I asked.

"Well, besides us, Connor, and the other girls, there's Luke, Brady, and Zach for the boy cabins." she explained.

I nodded, resuming my spot looking out the window. I could see a few cabins looming up ahead near a lake and some woods, and knew that we were arriving. To confirm it, there was a sign that read 'Shady Oaks Summer Camp.'

"Here we are." she said, pulling down the gravel drive.

The cabins were set up so there were three on one side of the open meadow area, and three on the other. By where the cars parked there was a two story building with four different screen doors on each floor, which I assumed led to each of our rooms: mine, Aunt Sadie's, and Connor's.

Aunt Sadie parked the car, and I got out, grabbing my duffel bag from the back seat and then my suitcase from the front. I looked around, looking for Connor or one of the other counselors, but not seeing them anywhere.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Well, the cabin counselors won't get here until tomorrow morning, before the kids come, and Connor went to go pick up some stuff for our dinner tonight, he should be back soon. Come on, Had, I'll show you to your room."

I nodded, picking up my suitcase and following her up the stairs and down the walkway to the last room on the second floor. She pulled open the screen door, and I walked inside, setting down the suitcase and pulling it across the small living area with a small couch and a coffee table, and went through the doorway to the small bedroom.

Setting down my duffel bag on the bed, I quickly changed out of my flight clothes and into a pair of denim shorts and a yellow half sleeve tshirt, heading outside my room to see a black Jeep pull up at camp. I set my hands on the railing, leaning over it as the front door opened and a boy stepped out, opening the back door to get a few grocery bags out of it.

"Hadley!" Aunt Sadie called from downstairs. "Connor's here!"

"Coming!" I called.

I got back inside, pulling on a pair of black Converse and coming back out, hurrying down the steps to see Connor. He had dirty blonde hair and clear blue eyes. He was wearing a plaid shirt and a pair of shorts, and held the two grocery bags in one hand, his car keys dangling from the other.

"Connor, this is my niece," Aunt Sadie said. "Connor, this is Hadley Simmons, Had, this is my neighbor, Connor Steele."

~Dedicated to wefariwe64 for her amazing trailer she made. Here's the link: https://vimeo.com/67442494~