Oak Ridge

wednesday. july 3

"Love that no one decided to play dodgeball today," Emily groans, plopping herself down on the grass next to me. When Mallory sees her, she moves from her spot to come closer to the two of us.

"Well it's so hot out, most people are probably doing the inside stuff," I reason. "So welcome back to the main campus, Em."

"Yeah, I'd be happier about it if I didn't have to walk a mile to get here," she pouts.

"I don't think it's quite a mile, babe," Mallory laughs.

"Feels like it." Emily lies down on the grass.

I check back in on the basketball game I'm supposed to be watching, seeing that everything is going alright. I take the opportunity to observe Blake who's overlooking a game of washers across the gravel path.

"Do you think he ever gets tired just playing those dumb games?" Emily asks.

"No, you'd be surprised at how much he likes them, actually," Mallory laughs. "Over Christmas break that's all he and his friends would do. They'd all come over and cook out and play all these stupid games."

"Gosh, it sounds like you were there," I chuckle.

"Well I wasn't," she defends quickly. "I was visiting some friends from school."

"Well actually, now that I think about it, I think I did see you at Blake's house on Donny Haybrooke's Snapchat." I remember.

"Oh yeah, I figured it'd be rude to be in town and not stop by and see Blake."

"Gee, I wonder why," I say sarcastically.

"Get off her back, Prince," Emily laughs.

"Well, Em, it's pretty obvious that they like each other."

"Wha— I do not like him!" Mallory defends.

"We've been over this, Mal. It's okay."

"Whatever," she pouts. "I'm going back over there to my game. Far away from you."

She stands up and walks back over to the volleyball court. Emily sits back up the second Mallory's gone and gives me an accusing look.

"What's with you?"

"Do you bug her like that every day?"

"Pretty much," I sigh. "I mean, it really is obvious that they like each other! Think about it, they never used to hang out together as much as they do now. She stares at him every day from over here and every day he comes over to help her take the net down."

"So what? Just leave her alone."

"Aw, come on, Em, it gets boring around here."

"Well then find something else to obsess over."

◾️◾️◾️

It's just after nine when we're all released from Camp Meeting. It ran a little longer tonight because Eric was talking a bit about Focus Week. He says he plans on telling the staff who will be speaking within the next few days.

As I'm walking up the gravel path, I see Emily a few steps ahead of me. I quickly jog to catch up to her, pulling her off to the side.

"Hey are you really upset with me because of earlier?"

"No, it's just," she pauses, taking a deep breath. "Can you keep a secret if I told you something?"

"Yeah, of course. What is it?"

"I caught Mallory and Blake making out behind her cabin," she blurts.

"What?"

"Yeah apparently she was with him all Christmas break. I promised I wouldn't tell anyone but it's driving me insane because I feel like this year is just different like something's gonna happen or—"

"Hold on, Em, calm down," I say. "How do things feel different?"

"Well," she starts, "Myles and Mary Anne had that fight at the beginning, which was weird. This crap is going on with Blake and Mallory. Chase is acting totally depressed and I'm pretty sure Penelope is trying to bang Johnny from the kitchen."

"That's a lot, yeah."

"And I'm also worried about Focus Week."

"Why's that?"

"I'm scared that Myles is gonna have to speak," she says. "Hasn't it been ten years?"

"Yeah I think this year is. But, hey, I wouldn't worry about it, Em. He's a big boy. I'm pretty sure he'll be okay talking about it."

"I'm also pretty sure Jacob is cheating on me."

"What?"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you that," she says quietly.

"No, it's okay, I want you to talk to me about it. Emily we're best friends! What's going on?"

I half expect her to ignore me and keep walking up the path. She surprises me by grabbing my arm and pulling me to sit down with her on the grass. Now, I really don't know how to give relationship advice, but I'm hoping that just listening to her will make Emily happy.

"You know he hasn't answered a single one of my calls since I got here?"

"Really? Don't you call him every day?"

She nods. "I've been checking my Instagram to see if he's active before I even try to call him. He still ignores me."

"That's fucked up."

"You think?" She asks sarcastically. "He used to talk all the time about how much he loved me and he said he wanted to marry me and— I'm sorry for telling you all this. I'm probably annoying you."

"No it's not annoying," I tell her. "It sounds like Jacob's acting like a real jerk."

"Tell me about it, Prince."

"So why do you think he's cheating on you?"

"There's this girl, Jessica, that I kept seeing him talking to around campus. I figured they were just friends or something but then we graduated so I thought they'd stop talking."

"But they didn't," I assume.

"Right," she says. "So I figured they weren't talking anymore, but when he was helping me pack for camp, he left my apartment out of nowhere, saying he was going to meet with his friend, Hayes. I looked out the window and it was Jessica picking him up."

"Damn."

"And I really thought he was the one, you know? At this rate, I'd be lucky to be married by the time I'm thirty," she laughs.

"Well, Em, how about this? If we're both still single by the time we're thirty, we'll marry each other," I joke.

"Sounds like a plan," she agrees seriously. "I'm gonna break up with him the second I see him. Hopefully I can find another guy in that stupid town."

"I wish you the best of luck," I say, standing. "Now let's get you back to your cabin."

"Thanks for listening, Prince. Don't forget to keep that secret, okay?"

"Okay, Em. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."