Oak Ridge

sunday. june 23

I barely got any sleep last night. I stayed awake listening to the crickets and cicadas while thinking about Mary Anne. When the sun came up this morning, I got ready for the day and waited until the rest of my group woke up before going to check on the other cabins.

The morning sun beats down on my back as I walk down to Scotch Pine. Chase shouts through the door that they're all up so I go across to White Oak where Emily meets me at the door to inform me that everyone's getting ready. My last stop is Sugar Pine and I brace myself for a possible awkward encounter.

I see Mary Anne through the screen when I knock and she comes quickly to the door to answer. She's fully dressed and ready when she walks outside on the small porch. She leans back against the building and snakes her hand behind her back. I know she's fiddling with the ends of her hair- something she does when she's nervous.

"We're all good in here," she says simply, but stays outside.

"Are you okay?"  I ask, deciding not to skirt around the obvious issue.

"Yeah I'm better now." Mary Anne nods and moves her hands back in front of her. "I just needed to sleep it off."

"Good to hear," I say.

It's obvious to me that whatever was on her mind last night is still bothering her. I know for the sake of avoiding a fight she's just putting it off, but I know she'll come around eventually.

"I'll see you at breakfast okay." She pushes her hair back with her bandaged hand, reminding me of the rope burn she got yesterday. I'm gonna have a serious talk with those boys.

"Okay."

I walk back across to Dogwood and finish packing up my stuff for the day. My hair keeps getting in the way and I seriously regret not getting it cut before camp, and there's no way I can get it cut in the next month. I ignore it and get the rest of my stuff thrown in my backpack before the bell rings for breakfast. I seriously have to pee before I go, so by the time I make it in and get my tray, most of the seats are full except for one next to Mary Anne where she has her backpack sitting.

"Saved me a chair?" I ask as I sit my tray down.

"Of course."

I start to eat my food, but once again my overgrown hair starts falling in my eyes. I groan and try to tuck it behind my ear or something, but it keeps falling back. Mary Anne laughs from beside me and pulls a hair tie off her wrist from her collection of bracelets. As she looks up to my face, her expression just drops like she just got shot. She hands it to me and I take it before I realize that I have no clue how to tie it back.

"I need help," I whine.

"Fine," Mary Anne sighs as she gets up from her seat and gets behind me.

She starts raking her fingers through my hair to gather it back. I'm not gonna lie, it's one of the best feelings in the world. Once she's done she sits back down and continues eating her food quietly.

When everyone's finished and the bell rings for us to dismiss to meet with our groups, Mary Anne gets up without a word and leaves the room. She's out the door before I can catch her and Princeton shoots me a weird look from a couple of tables over. I shrug at him and go after her, but when I'm outside she's nowhere to be found. I know she's probably on her way to meet her girls at the Big Oak Tree and I would go find her and see what's up, but I'm running late to collect my boys at our spot.

We'd decided to do more trust exercises today after what happened yesterday, which I'm still pissed about. I lead the boys back to the ropes course where there are multiple wooden platforms that are perfect for our challenge this morning.

When Mary Anne and the Armada arrive, she steps up next to me and I expect her to explain what we're doing down here, but she stays silent.

"Okay everybody," I start. "After yesterday's challenge, we've decided that the boys could use a little more of a challenge. So girls you automatically win this first challenge."

The boys look bummed out but honestly they need the reality check. They could've seriously hurt Mary Anne yesterday and in all honesty, they could seriously hurt her today.

Usually Mary Anne will finish where I left off but she remains quiet so I clear my throat and continue.

"So this morning we're doing trust falls," I announce. They boys eyes go wide. Good. They'd better be scared. "Mary Anne is going to climb up each of these platforms and fall backwards when she gets to the top so you'd better be ready to catch her. If she hits the ground, she could seriously hurt herself. Do not let that happen."

I continue explaining what to do and I direct them on where to stand. Mary Anne seems calmer than usual and the bright smile that's normally on her face is gone. I don't know if it's just from nerves about the challenge, or if she's still thinking about what happened last night. Still, she climbs up the ladder of the first platform, about six feet tall.

The boys get ready to catch her and I stand close ready to swoop in. If I had it my way, they'd be catching me, but Mary Anne said yesterday that even though they seem strong enough, I'd probably be to heavy for the boys to catch.

Mary Anne walks to the edge of the platform and the wind through the trees blows her red hair around. She turns around to face away from us and I pray that these guys catch her even from this short distance.

"Okay fall," I direct.

She falls backwards and lands safely in the arms of the Legion. I let out my breath that I was holding as the guys put her down. They all have stressed out looks on their faces as Mary Anne climbs up the next ten foot platform.

"Drop!"

Mary Anne falls again and again the guys catch her. It's a little more wobbly this time but they still manage to keep her off the ground.

"Good job guys," I congratulate the team as Mary Anne moves up to the fifteen foot platform. My heart races as she climbs up with a blank expression. The staff has done the same exercise multiple times but I would be freaking out if it was up to a group of campers to catch me.

"Listen carefully. If you drop her-"

"They get it, Myles! They're not gonna drop me," Mary Anne shouts from the top of the platform.

I sigh and decide just to shut up. Maybe I am being a little overbearing.

"Fine. Fall!"

She drops off the platform and falls through the air. I hold my breath the whole time as the boys keep their eyes on her with their arms out. I don't breathe until Mary Anne is safely on the ground.

"Good job boys. Thank you for catching me. I think you learned a good lesson so hopefully your leader can quit being such a hard ass," she glares at me. "That's it for today but we still have a lot of time before lunch so go back to your cabins and don't let Eric see you."

They seem grateful to have some time off and hurry out of the woods and back to the main campus.

I turn to ask Mary Anne if she wanted to go down to the lake and talk for a while, but when I look, she's walking a little behind the group. Sighing, I pick up my backpack and make my way out of the woods and to my cabin.

She'll come around eventually.