Offline/You arrive at camp with Nicole
Nicole
A few twists and turns later and a cabin makes itself visible through the trees. You've practically driven into the middle of camp by the time you notice it.
The old trail leading in came through thick, dense forest, but the camp itself is on the edge of much thinner brush on rocky land before the river. There's a lot of thin grass and weeds that have taken over the clearings of the camp, but your uncle was prepared for that. Before you can even disembark from the bus, he's pulled out a monstrosity of a weedwacker from his jeep and brings it to life to mow down the offending bits of nature in his way.
It was more recently abandoned when you were here a few years ago. With the forest creeping inward it already seems a lot more run down. The wooden cabins are loosely grouped, and although there doesn't appear to be a reason why some are closer or farther than others, there definitely was some sort of logic to it all at some point. There's one large fire pit near the center along with a couple smaller ones and even a burning barrel in front of particular cabins. There's a pair of outhouses close to some of the cabins and another pair pushed back into the bush. Under the grass and weeds are a few well designed stone walkways and even a decent size patio of sorts between one of the cabins and the main fire pit, a testament to the time and effort someone had put into this place at one point. The gentle sound of the river in the background is in no way discernible over the sound of your uncle's whacking, but you remember it clearly from when you were last here.
It's somewhat surreal to be back again, and equally so to know that you're stuck here for a week, but a part of you is excited. Having your own cabin should be pretty sweet, even if you're sharing.
You grab your bags from under the bus along with your cousin and quickly usher her down an invisible path into the forest and away from your shared relatives. It's feels even thicker than last time when you were idly wandering through the bush, but it's mostly grass and at least this time you know where this path takes you.
After a couple minutes, the commotion behind you (save for the weedwacker) is completely drowned out by the forest. But your tiny cabin is right where you left it in a thinned out clearing. You proudly open the door to the (if you're lucky) 7 by 10 foot box that someone made the effort to build and that you convinced your cousin into sharing. It seems smaller than when you were here last; in fact, you've been in larger tents. You can tell that laying down on either end you wouldn't be able to get your arms all the way stretched above your head. Laid lengthwise in front of the door you could but without much room to spare.
Nicole is once again hard to read as she takes in the limited floor space and sparse features of this shack. A window resides on each of the short walls, the door being centered on the long wall and helping to split the cabin in half. A missing wood stove is opposite the door, only it's metal chimney still present near the roof. There were probably small beds, maybe even bunk beds, setup here at some point, but they've long since been removed. Your uncle did warn everyone that the camp had been stripped of most anything useful and that you'd be roughing it despite the cabins so most people brought either foam or air mattresses with their sleeping bags. Having to sleep on the floor is still a tad demoralizing. Nicole has to be questioning her decision to join you, but while you think of a way to talk up this pathetic shack she just sets her bags down inside the door.
"I'll take this side," she declares, pacing the few short steps along the left wall.
"Sure! Hmm. Which side should I..." You ponder for a moment then toss your bag at the opposite wall with a satisfying smack. You at least get a smile from her.
The two of you setup your ‘beds' and chat a little in the process. You have more in common than you realized. She plays a few video games and has read the odd graphic novel along with her novels, but she's also really into baking (which you're a little jealous of; you've destroyed your kitchen enough times that your mom keeps you far away from the oven). Nicole seems pretty easy going and easy to talk to which is reassuring. At least you won't be bunking with someone you can't get along with.
You spend some time together in your now fully claimed cabin just hanging out, already avoiding other people. You discover that you actually want to hang out with her, a pleasant surprise. But after a couple hours she convinces you to head back to the camp.
Having arrived later in the day there's a common sense of urgency in the air to get the camp together. Most of the younger kids are just goofing around, but the adults are split between tidying the camp and making sense of the cabins and trying to put a meal together. The big pit has a fire going and some people are spreading out food and supplies over the only visible picnic table. It's determined that you and Nicole are "adults" in this instance, and seeing as you're both standing off to one side observing the chaos you're quickly ordered around and assigned separate tasks. You help with lugging smaller debris off to one side while Nicole does something with her mom. You think about Nicky a lot while you work and even share a few glances and funny faces with her across the camp, but it's not until long after a dinner of hotdogs and smores are served around the campfire that you actually meet up again.
Uncle Dave has his guitar out and is happily strumming away with mediocre vocals as entertainment for the nearly fully congregated family, enjoying the fruition of his dream to the fullest. Everyone is staying up late, the adults drinking and the kids running around like tired animals, slowly giving in to their exhaustion. You cross paths with Nicole on the way to the far outhouse, and are then surprised when you find her waiting for you on the edge of the camp afterward. Standing there in the dark, her silhouette lit only by the orange light of the fire, she looks really pretty for a second. That's a feeling you quickly push away, embarrassed to have had it.
"Sorry, not trying to be creepy," she quickly apologizes as you approach, apparently noticing your pause when you saw her.
"Nah, it's cool," you reply, trying to sound super relaxed. You cross your arms at first then switch gears and shove your hands in your pockets instead. You both stand together awkwardly for a few moments, the first time the conversation between you has felt in any way forced. "This is... actually pretty decent huh?"
She nods. "Yeah! I'm surprised Uncle Dave made it work. It sounded stupid. I mean, kinda neat but crazy."
"Yeah, really crazy."
Silence again before she speaks up.
"Sorry, I wanted to head back to our cabin, but I didn't want to go into the trees alone at night. Can you help?"
"Yeah! Of course!"
The two of you borrow a flashlight from the drunk adults and wander into the bush. You panic a little inside when you worry that you've lost the trail, everything looking so much different in the dark. Thankfully, even without the trail, you do find the cabin still buried in the forest. Nicole thanks you with a smile and heads inside. It isn't until she closes the door that you notice the butterflies creeping into your stomach.
You wait for a minute before deciding to go back to rejoin the party, not wanting the night to end. Despite your willingness to participate in a family activity for once, it's not long before the party thins out with only a few people left lounging around the fire. You try to join in on their conversation but when the well inebriated adults start arguing about politics you finally decide to call it a night.
Part of you hopes Nicole is still awake but she doesn't stir when you enter the cabin. You quietly slip into your sleeping bag and strip down, content with the knowledge that you can at least sleep in tomorrow.
A loud banging on your door startles you awake. It's a little scary at first but you only realize someone is saying something on the other side when the door suddenly swings open.
"You're going to miss breakfast if you don't get up now!"
Thanks dad. You catch a glance from Nicole somewhere between annoyance and understanding with parents barging into rooms. But you sure aren't going to let dad embarrass you.
"Dad! Go away! We'll get up when we want to!"
"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you!"
Dad leaves and you wait a few seconds to make sure he's gone before apologizing to Nicole. The two of you lay there for quite a while, stubbornly clinging to your beds, hardly even talking. It takes that long to admit to yourselves that you're not getting back to sleep, the sunlight pouring in through the window. Worried that you might actually miss breakfast if you wait any longer, eventually you concede and start putting yourselves together.
You both change inside your sleeping bags, a challenging exercise but one that also goes undiscussed. Stray thoughts keep reminding you that your cousin is getting naked a few feet away, even if it's inside a bag. Her hair is down and somewhat wild and you notice she's not wearing her glasses yet. You idly wonder as you pull on new boxers if you might be able to change out of your bag without her seeing anything. You've never needed glasses so you're not sure how that works, but it's a weird idea. One you're too chicken to test.
Watching her a little too closely, you see her reach out of her sleeping bag and expose her bare arms and shoulders, the top of the bag held under her neck. You quickly confirm that she must be topless when she retrieves a bra from her bag, pulling it in with her as carefully as possible. Why is this doing anything for you? Seriously penis, she's just getting dressed. And she's your cousin! Albeit one you've rare ever seen.
Begrudgingly, you exit the cabin together once fully dressed and head to camp. You're told about toast and eggs and hashbrowns left over from early morning activities, but it's all been disposed of. You and your cousin root around for what else you can find, the few snacks the adults aren't keeping locked up, and scarf it all down, getting just enough to satisfy your empty stomach.
The two of you spend the next hour wandering around the camp. You poke your head into some of the other cabins. Overall they're definitely nicer than yours but they're also packed with sleeping bags and cots. One cabin does have some bunk beds installed though, which is kinda cool. Some of the youngest kids are shacked up in that one.
The riverbank is your next stop, the rippling rush of the water drawing you down to its edge. The outside corner of the river bows out into some broad shallows, creating a calm little pool of water very near the camp with a small section of sandy beach surrounded by rocks. It's no wonder someone set up a camp here, the large slow bank of the river offering a decent little swimming and bathing spot. You're not sure if the river water is drinkable, but you know that the family brought along a large supply of water and you're not going to be the one to put nature to the test.
An aunt shouts down to you two warning you not to go into the water alone. They've been telling all the kids this so far, and apparently you also qualify in this moment. But the next moment after wandering back into camp you are adults again since you're put to work tidying the camp some more. There are still plenty of weeds and small trees growing up between the rocks all around the campgrounds and you've been officially declared as weed pullers. You're both given some gloves along with some vague instructions on what to pull and where it should go. You want to complain, but at the same time there's not a lot else to do here. So you and Nicole chat some more, sharing stories about embarrassing parents and funny things from school while tugging the local plant life.
Lunch comes and goes, then dinner sneaks up on you soon after. You've manage to shake your sister from bugging you since you're "stuck doing chores" and spend most of the day chatting with Nicole, lazily completing your assigned task together.
Nicky somehow gets you to run around with the younger kids as the sun goes down, leading the herd of cats through some silly little games that you have to admit is all still kinda fun. But once the kids start to get worn out you sneak some snacks back to your cabin. The butterflies from yesterday creep in again. You can't figure out why you're still getting so anxious at the prospect of spending time alone in a tiny room with your nerdy cousin. You spent all day with her. Granted, you've never connected with a girl like this before, but obviously there's no way anything would happen with her... right? And it shouldn't! She's still your cousin.
You sit on your respective sides of the cabin munching away under moonlight and flashlight and poking at various topics of conversation before you finally approach one that's been gnawing at you.
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
Nicole shrugs. "My mom doesn't let me date."
"Okay. That's not really an answer though."
"I mean..." she sits up a little, getting flustered. "I guess I thought I did for a while. It's a little embarrassing, but... I had a pen pal for a long time. We started flirting one day and I thought maybe he liked me. Then he said that he loved me, out of nowhere. But a few days later he dumped me, said I wasn't worth it. Then I never heard from him again."
"What a dick!" you exclaim.
"It's just kinda schizo, you know? Like, psycho even. I don't know why he did that. It hurt, but it was really confusing too."
"So that's the only boyfriend you've had?"
"Yeah. If you can call it that I guess," she says, kicking at her bag. "Have you had a girlfriend?"
"Oh yeah. Totally. I've had a couple," you lie, trying to sound cool. "But... no one right now."
"Oh. What do you look for in a girlfriend?" she asks. She's been prodding her luggage with her foot since this topic came up.
"I dunno. I guess she would be pretty... but personality is real important too," you add, trying to not come off like a douche. "But physically, yeah, nice curves and stuff."
"Maybe that's my problem then. I don't really have curves. I'm kinda flat all over," she laments to you as if you were blind.