Chapter Thirteen (Yolo)
My real name isn't actually Yolo.
But we'll keep that between us.
Now, what was there to say about Camp Savior? Well, the geographical layout of the camp was rather nice. I enjoyed the forest and the animals that came along with it. The cabins were heated in the winter, cooled in the summer. Three bunk beds, six guys per cabin and a cabin counseler that visited every so often. A beautiful lake that was perfect for skinny dipping in as well as beautiful nature trails that went the full length around the camp grounds.
Everything else? Well, as my people say, que mierda! What shit.
The camp itself was some kind of prison. Three meals a day, cheesy activities to keep you educated and active. Counselers who bullied you and used religion as an excuse. And the head counseler, Eric, was as bunch of a douchefuck as all the other counselers. He was like Hitler leadng the Nazis, except he worked on your brain.
It didn't help that half of the camp was buying into his preachy bullshit. He would press into us, telling us how worthless we were, how sick and gross and demonic we were. Half the camp would sink back and start praying for forgiveness and sneaking in straight porn to try and convert themselves.
Oh yea, like that was gonna work.
But I preferred the side of the camp that didn't.
And that side included my cabin mates.
First, there was our newest member. His name was Dominic Smith. He was a cute little thing with hair as black as night and eyes as blue as the sky. He reminded me of those China dolls the way his skin was smooth like porcelain. He also knew what style was. He wore just the right clothes and plenty of black. Strange because he wasn't depressed or anything. He was usually smiling.
Then there was his secret boyfriend, River Lee. River was the oldest of us all, with sandy blonde hair and hazel eyes. He had the sexy muscled body of a professional swimmer and he could pull off a speedo better than any model I'd ever seen. Too bad he was a prick half the time. He didn't really show you what he was thinking and the only emotions I'd ever seen him have were anger and exhaustion. Did that last one even count?
Oh yea, so after him was Derrek Johnson. Derrek was an attractive brunette with light blue eyes and manly stubble on the lower half of his face. He was pretty sarcastic and douchy and thought he was all that. I would never understand why Ryan liked him.
Ah, Ryan Schuff. Ryan was pretty cute in a dorky kind of way. His brown hair was cut super short and his matching eyes were always sparkling like he was up to something. I'd be lying if I said that didn't turn me on. He was the peacemaker of our group, constantly trying to get people to calm down, but he could be such a negative thinker sometimes the way he thought Derrek didn't like him.
And then there was Kyle Finn.
Kyle was beautiful. His hair was a light brown with lighter highlights, darker lowlights. His eyes were light baby blue and so attractive. I loved blue eyes so much. And I loved Kyle so much. It was pretty obvious and I made it that way so Kyle would notice me, but like a good portion of the camp, Kyle was too scared to do anything about it because he didn't want to get in trouble with his parents or get kicked out of our cabin.
That pissed me off, but I understood it, I suppose.
It just drove me nuts having to stand so close to him and being unable to do anything about it.
Like standing next to him in the breakfast line. He was wearing his baggy black sweatpants and basketball jersey over black underarmour. He was even still wearing his fluffy gray socks as he reached out, dropping gravy over his biscuits before he yawned.
Damn, he was adorable when he did that. His hair was still a messy bedhead style that made him look younger and boyish. I didn't say anything, though, just stood there and smiled innocently as he stepped out of line, heading to our table a few feet away from the buffet. I turned back, reaching out to get some Fruit Loops.
"You know, you're making that too obvious. The counselers will do something about it eventually." I blinked and frowned, glancing to the side to see Jacob, from the cabin across from ours. His hair was dark and damp from a shower, his blue-green eyes twinkling mischeviously, but I knew what Jacob was like. And I didn't like him, so I just huffed and stuck my nose in the air, pouring lactaid milk over my cereal before heading to my table.
I heard Jacob laugh behind me, but rolled my eyes and ignored him as I came over and plopped into my usual seat beside Kyle, who was resting his cheek against his knuckles sleepily.
"So, you guys ready for the bonfire on Friday?" I asked excitedly, referring to the annual Halloween bonfire that the camp celebrated. They set up a huge fire just beside the lake on the other side away from the cabins. Dinner was also around that time, so they had a huge buffet set up with hot dogs, smore things, apple cider, apples, and those little Debbie pumpkin snacks.
"It sounds like fun; I've never been to a bonfire before." Dom said with one of his adorable little smiles. I beamed, then looked at Ryan, who shrugged and nodded.
"Sounds like this year's gonna be great. I heard Chris got one of those scary story books from his parents, so that'll make things interesting. Hope the counselers don't ruin our fun, though." He added with a snort.
"Tell me about it," I agreed, disgruntled, "They did that last year when Jason tried to tell us about the story of Satan trying to come out of the lake. Christians can enjoy scary stories too!"
"Just not about the devil." Derrek corrected seriously, then rolled his eyes and waved it off, making Ryan and I smirk.
"I'm probably not gonna go." Kyle said, sitting up as he poked at his eggs. I blinked and looked at him in disbelief.
"Whaaat? No way!" I protested. He was ruining my evil plot! By evil plot, I mean my plan to jump his bones once it got dark enough and the counselers would lose track of people. I knew why Kyle was walking on egg shells around me. Dominic and River had already gotten in trouble and Kyle didn't want to risk being moved to a new cabin, or worse, getting kicked out.
"Parties aren't my thing." Kyle told me calmly, giving a lazy shrug before he yawned again, but winced as I slammed my hands on the table, making a few other people stare at me, but I didn't care as I glared at Kyle.
"You are going, niñito! We've been waiting for this for weeks! It's finally a chance to do something out of the norm. It's not like we can skinny dip anymore since it's colder than fuck out there!" I protested angrily, then plopped back down in my seat as Ryan shushed me and Derrek hid his face in his hands. I looked at Kyle, seeing him blush lightly in embarrassment, but roll his eyes nonetheless.
"What are we supposed to do? Sit there and let them preach about Satan coming out of the bonfire to torment us?" He asked flatly. I scowled, folding my arms over my chest tightly and leaning on the table.
"What crawled up your ass and died?" I demanded. Kyle shrugged, reaching up to scratch his head as he yawned again, making the rest of us yawn in turn.
"Nothing. I just don't wanna put up with that preachy crap. I'm gonna hit the showers." He stated, then got up and departed the breakfast room, stopping to let the counselors know he was leaving for a shower. I frowned, watching him leave before I snapped my head to glare at the others.
"Okay. Spill. What's wrong with Kyle?" I demanded. Dominic blinked, looking confused and cute at the same time since one of his cheeks was filled up with food, making him look like a hamster. Ryan had gravy dripping down his chin in a totally not attractive manner while Derrek rolled his eyes and River just stared at me flatly.
"He just doesn't feel social?" Ryan tried after gulping down his food and wiping his mouth, smearing it on the back of his hand. I made a face of disgust, then looked at Dominic, who chewed up his food and swallowed, giving a little shrug.
"Maybe all the lectures are getting to him... I'm starting to wonder how I can deal with it myself." He added, looking a little uncomfortable as he glanced down at his meal. I frowned, and noticed the way he smiled faintly as if suddenly remembering something. I sighed in frustration and got up.
"Fine. Might as well ask the douche myself!" I retorted, making them stare at me flatly. I pushed my tray away, asking Dominic to take it back, knowing he'd do it anyway because he was nice like that. I told the counselors I was feeling sick and made a scene of sprinted to the bathrooms. I slid inside, but came out the back, walking the short distance to the showers. I peered in through the back, hearing the showers running.
I came in a little further, moving as quietly as possible when I heard someone breathing hard. I raised an eyebrow, smirking a little as I came up to one of the cubicles squished between three others. The shower cubicles were all lined up. At least twelve on each side of a wooden wall that had a lot of conveniently drilled holes that people had made over the years to catch a glimpse of what I was about to look for.
I approached the one on the other side of the running cubicle, trying to move as quietly as possible as my sneakers squished in the water. I searched for a hole and found one a bit high up so I had to stand on my toes. I peered through and felt my body instantly react to the sight of Kyle leaning against one of the wooden walls, breathing hard.
His eyes were shut and one arm was thrust up over his head, his hand clenching onto the top of the wall desperately as his other hand worked at his groin. Tugging wetly as the shower water splashed down on top of him, making his highlighted hair stick to his face. He bit his lip every so often to keep from making loud noises, but that didn't matter to me.
Just seeing him like that made my heart leap into my throat, but my chest ached because I wanted to be the one helping him. Not him helping himself. I was tempted to sneak around and take care of it for him, but knowing him, he'd be pissed that I was spying on him.
That didn't make me a bad person, did it?
I mean, I wasn't a pervert or anything.
I loved Kyle.
There was a difference between love and perversion.
At least, there was in my book.
I just restrained myself the best I could, peering through the hole as Kyle tilted his head back against the wall, arching his back and letting pretty little moans slip past his lips. His face was flushed deep red as his body trembled release and I fought the urge to giggle.
He was so cute!
It's not fair, why did we have to meet at this shithole camp? Why couldn't we have met at, like, church or something? Or the mall? Or Sears? Or Men's Wearhouse? What was God trying to tell me by putting us in this situation? My papi always told me that God did things for a reason. So, what reason did this whole thing hold?
It was as little exciting. It was like watching one of those Spanish soap operas. Only nobody was going to rape me or Kyle... At least, no one better get anywhere near Kyle or I'd shove my foot up their--
I stepped back instantly when I realized Kyle was shutting off the water. I held my breath, peering at a distance through the hole as Kyle shut the water off. He leaned on the wall, his eyes squeezed shut for a moment before he slammed his fist into the wall, making me jump and almost slip and fall.
Why was he angry now?
Talk about bipolar.
But whatever, he could be freakin' psychotic and I'd still love him. Something about him was just so magnetic! I was drawn to him the moment I saw him. At first I thought it was just me being shallow, because it'd be a lie to say that Kyle wasn't attractive. He was model worthy and that was hardly an opinion, but a fact! Then I started to see more and more of this guy's personality. He really had no idea how sweet he could really be and the look on his face when he was embarrassed was adorable as fuck.
I loved Kyle.
I did the moment we met. And I knew he liked me back. He had to. Everyone in our cabin agreed. At the same time, according to Dominic, Kyle wouldn't get close to me because he was afraid they'd switch cabins or kick him out. I didn't want that to happen, so I sort of kept my distance when it came to touchy feely things.
But it was so hard.
And this bonfire night was my perfect chance to let it all out.
It'd be way too dark and there were new campers coming in that night too, which meant more people that the counselors would have to watch. Not to mention, with Xavier gone, they were short one person to keep an eye on each of the cabins. It was the best, and probably the only, chance I'd get to be with Kyle in more than just a friendship manner.
I'd get to show him how I really felt about him.
There was no way he could miss the Halloween bonfire on Friday!
I managed to creep out of the shower building, shaking the water off my sneakers as I rounded the corner and almost smashed into Jacob, who smirked down at me. I twitched and leapt back away from him dramatically to show him how gross I thought he was.
"Ew! Stop running around and spreading cooties!" I accused. Jacob snorted, but smiled sweetly at me anyway. I couldn't tell if he was flirting with me or just being an overall creep.
"What were you doing in the showers?"
"What's it look like? Showering!"
"Without a towel and only your feet are wet?"
"What is this? A skit from Sherlock Holmes? Muérdeme!" I snapped at him, sticking out my tongue and retreating to the other side of the shower house to sneak off toward the cabins. I was irritated to hear Jacob's footsteps following behind me as I found my way to the small wooden steps that led down to the shore of the lake.
"You know I don't understand that Spanish gibberish," Jacob chided, shoving his hands into the pockets of his shorts as he followed me, "But I'm guessing it was something mean. Why can't you just insult me in English?"
"Cuz it's better to see you whimper and whine about it, gringo!" I responded rudely, then flipped my hair and looked away from him as I continued down the shore toward our cabin, which was closest to the lake. I glanced out at the lake, watching the cold water ripple gently in the autumn wind. It was getting closer and closer to winter and that was my least favorite season at this camp. I just wanted to sit inside the heated cabin and never leave.
I was too used to the warm weather of California. Cold weather in the North was driving me insane, but I knew Kyle liked it. He was always on the move, so he hardly ever got cold. He was too busy sweating and moving around to notice.
"You know, stalking the guy isn't gonna make him fall in love with you." Jacob called to me teasingly, making me stop abruptly to whirl around and glare at him. I put a fist on my hip, scowling at him.
"For your information, Kyle already loves me, so you're out of luck!" I responded snootily, snapping my head to the side, ready to walk away again until Jacob laughed, making me frown and tilt my head at him.
"But he doesn't love you enough to break the rules." Jacob pointed out. I blinked and lowered my arm, turning to face him fully now as I frowned. I didn't like the way he said that. He was trying to make me question my feelings for Kyle, or maybe vice versa or something like that. Jacob never did anything for anyone else, he only did things for himself. He picked on people because it was fun. He always faked a nice face and kept on smiling even if he was stabbing you violently in the back with a safety pin.
"He loves me enough that being around is just enough for him." I answered carefully, frowning as Jacob just kept smiling. I hated that expression on him because you could never tell what was really going on inside that sick head of his. It made my scowl deepen as Jacob shrugged.
"Says you," He replied, "I bet it's not enough for you, and sooner or later, it won't be enough for him either and he'll get bored. He'll find someone else." I blinked, staring at him for the longest time before I frowned.
"Chya right," I returned in irritation, folding my arms over my chest, "And just who else would attract his attention?"
"The one who's not scared to make a move." Jacob responded with a playful grin. I glared at him, throwing my arms down to my sides, clenching my fists.
"If you're talking about yourself, give it up. Kyle doesn't even like you."
"Not now anyway." Jacob admitted. I felt a spark of irritation fuel a spiel of words that flew out my mouth before I could stop them. Most of it was Spanish and I knew he would't understand it, but it was the only way to express my hatred for him without him actually catching the words, like "horny bastard" and "cocksucker". Jacob just raised an eyebrow, holding his hands up.
"Hey. It's not my problem that you're too scared to make a move. Kyle's the type of guy who needs someone forceful and if you won't do it, I will." He beamed, giving me a little wave before turning and heading back down the shore to the cabins. I scowled and whipped back around, heading up the back steps to our cabin and getting inside. I lit a few cinnamon scented candles to cool down as I plopped on the floor, just as the door to the cabin opened.
I knew my face lit up the moment Kyle came in. He blinked, pausing with a towel on his head as he stood there, staring at me before he yawned.
"What're you doing back early?" He asked, heading to his bunk and tossing his towel on it. I beamed, leaning forward on my hands.
"I got sick! So, what can I do to convince you to come to the bonfire Friday?" I asked eagerly. Kyle paused, making a sour expression before he shrugged, walking to the dresser and pulling it open to take out an oversized navy sweatshirt. He tugged it over his head, pushing the hood back from his damp hair.
"I don't know. Bribe me." He responded casually, shutting his drawer and stretching a little. Just enough so that his sweatshirt rode up to reveal a nice, smooth stomach with little faint mounds of abs revealing themselves. I grinned.
"Bribe you? With what?" I pressed further. Kyle blushed, scowling at me as he dropped his arms, noticing my stare at his stomach. He straightened his sweatshirt, clearing his throat as he went to his bunk, flopping down with his back against one of the posts.
"I don't know. You have to figure that out on your own." He retorted. I pouted for a while, then crawled over to his bed, resting my head on the side of it as I peered up at him. He had his eyes closed for a moment before he peeked them open to look at me suspiciously.
Jeez, he was so pretty sometimes. I just wanted to hug and cuddle all over him. I wanted to embarrass him and watch his cheeks turn pink. I wanted to see him sweat.
But I also liked hearing him talk. I liked watching him shoot hoops at the basketball court. I liked seeing him run the track in a tank top in the middle of October with the temperatures dropping to the forties. It made me smile.
"What're you smiling about?" Kyle asked me dryly, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. I grinned, cocking my head as I rested my chin in the palms of my hands, elbows resting on his bed.
"Nothing. You're totally cute with your hair all messed up like that!" I exclaimed.
"You're too straightforward." He accused, looking away and reaching up to ruffle his hair before he decided on pulling his hood up, which only made me giggle. I leaned closer toward him, brushing my arms against his thigh, watching his eyes flicker curiously.
"Are you gonna go to the basketball court today? Huh? I wanna come watch!" I added brightly. Kyle averted his eyes for a while before mumbling a yes. I smiled.
"Great!"
That was usually how our conversations went. We hardly talked about anything deep because he was too withdrawn. I didn't know anything too personal about Kyle, but that would all change soon enough because I didn't care what Jacob or anyone else said.
Kyle Finn was going to be mine by the end of the week.