It was hard to concentrate. Devin served the ball over the net to me to volley back, but I didn’t care about practicing. I just wanted him to take me to our room and hold me. My thoughts must have been obvious to Devin because he didn’t seem to be trying either. He looked kind of worried seeing me show no enthusiasm.
He had us all stop with our partners and get into groups of three to work on drills and rotating among three positions to hit the ball. When we counted off for groups, I missed being in Devin’s. To make matters worse, I ended up in a group with Marissa.
“Dahlia, you need to bend your knees a little more,” Marissa said. And that was one of the many things she pointed out about what I should do—because she was an expert, apparently.
Marissa was overtly nice to the other guy but treated me like I didn’t know how to play. Then there was the condescending tone she used with me—it felt intentional. I wondered why she’d act that way, since she didn’t know me. But I thought maybe Blake had mentioned Devin liking me or something.
After the third time she criticized me, I said, “Like this?” My tone was mocking, and I purposely did the position wrong just to see her reaction.
“No. That’s not how I showed you.” She sounded annoyed.
“Well, then you better show me again—and again.” My statement was full of sarcasm.
But she didn’t seem to care and proceeded to show me again.
At one point, she made me practice setting with her and demonstrated in slow motion how to do it, as if I didn’t know. Her criticism of me was so obvious that even Devin stopped and looked over to see what she was saying to me. But when I gave him eye contact to help me, he turned away and continued working with his group. It hurt so much, and I no longer wanted to be at practice.
The first chance I had to go get a drink, I took. But I didn’t return to practice. Instead, I went back to the cabin and fell across my bed feeling so depressed Devin didn’t defend me by telling Marissa to shut the hell up.
***
When I opened my eyes, I realized it was nighttime. The clock said it was after seven. I’d missed dinner. No one had noticed or checked the cabin for me. Seriously? If something happened to me, would anyone even know? Like what if a bear had come in and attacked me and dragged me off somewhere?
I got off the bed and turned on the cabin light so I didn’t have to sit in the dark. Tonight was another movie night, so most of the camp was probably in the rec hall for that. Since no one had checked on me, it seemed I could get away with getting ready for bed. I decided I’d just skip all the events tonight, then tell Caroline I didn’t feel well.
It didn’t take me long to put on my cute pajama set. Then, deciding to leave the light on, I got back on top of my sleeping bag and stretched out on my side.
I missed Devin. Being alone in my thoughts like that made me long all the more for him to come find me—to show he missed me—even if just a little.
A creaking sound startled me, and I realized it was the cabin door being opened. Footsteps approached my bed, but I didn’t bother to look who it was and pretended to be asleep.
“Oh, hi, Dahlia,” said a familiar voice, sending the hairs on my arms to stand on end.
Quickly, I sat up to see Blake standing over my bed.
“I was passing by the cabin on my way to get a jacket and saw the light was on. Why are you dressed for bed and not at the movie?”
Suddenly, I didn’t want to be seen in my cute pajamas—especially by him. “I wasn’t feeling well, so I was going to skip the movie and go to sleep.” My voice sounded high pitched and nervous.
Please leave, and go find Lauren.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, trying to sound concerned. He sat down on my bed. And I reacted by pulling my legs tightly to my chest and hugging them.
“Nothing, really.”
Blake reached over and put his hand against my forehead, making me flinch. I could tell my breathing had picked up from his unwelcomed touch. Unwanted images of Lauren on all fours and Blake having his way with her came to mind.
“You feel a little warm.” He smiled at me, removing his hand from my head.
“I’m feeling a little better. Maybe I’ll go to the movie.” I swung my legs over the side of the bed to stand up.
“Wait.” Blake caught my arm so I’d stay put. “We both know why I’m here.”
“What do you mean?” I didn’t have the slightest idea why Blake was in the cabin with me.
“You know things about Lauren and me,” he said quietly, giving me a look.
“Oh. Well, she might have mentioned you sometimes meet.”
I wondered how that involved me. Was he hoping I’d keep their secret from Devin?
“You don’t have to be envious. We can meet, too, if you’d like.”
At first, I wasn’t sure if I’d heard him right. He stared at me, then smiled. He was exactly what I’d pegged him to be—a douche bag.
“I understand Devin pushes you away. That must hurt your feelings—I mean being you’re such an attractive girl, but he’s not showing interest.”
Lauren was absolutely stupid to tell Blake about Devin, but I couldn’t think about that then. My priority was to get out of the cabin.
I got off the bed. All I needed to do was grab my boots and a jacket, then I could take off for the movie. No one would care if I was still in my pajamas, because it was a movie night.
Blake got off the bed, then hovered over me while I scrambled looking for my boots. When I couldn’t locate them, I moved to the open doorway. I thought maybe I could run down the path in socks and not do too much damage to my feet. Blake moved around me and closed the cabin door. Then he reached past me and switched the light off.
The room went black. “What are you doing?” I asked, sounding frightened. In a panic, I reached out to locate the cabin door but instead touched Blake’s chest. A sick feeling took hold of me.
“Shh. It’s okay. I want to give you a kiss. Then I’ll go.”
Lauren must have told Blake about Devin refusing to kiss me for him to have suggested that. I didn’t even understand all the interest in me. He had Lauren doing crazy sex positions with him. What did he care about me?
Before I could say no, Blake grabbed hold of my shoulders and started to pull me to him. I could feel the heat from his mouth near my face. At any second he was going to attempt to kiss me. My mind reeled. Should I let him, in order to get him to let me go? Or should I bite him? What would make him leave?
“That’s it, relax,” he instructed. “I promise you’ll like it.”
I turned my face away from him so his lips touched my cheek. Feeling fearful of what he’d attempt to do with me next, I tried to push him away.
Suddenly, the cabin door opened, causing Blake to jump out of the way to avoid being hit. The light was switched on, and we stood looking at a very confused Lauren. Blake immediately let go of me and took a step backward. I thought I was in shock but also so relieved she was here and saving me from what Blake had in store for me.
“What the hell?” She looked at Blake, then back at me. “Why are you both in here with the lights off?”
“I was looking for you,” Blake explained without any hesitation. The speedy response made me think he’d had to make up stories on the fly a lot. “Then Dahlia turned off the lights to be silly.”
“What? I didn’t turn off the lights,” I said, my voice raised. “Blake came in here—”
Lauren cut me off. “So because Devin won’t fool around with you, you made a move on Blake?”
Her eyes narrowed into slits as she accused me. Lauren knew me better than anyone, and there was no way she could believe I was capable of that kind of behavior. Then it dawned on me that she could only handle it if it had been me making the moves, and not the other way around. The second scenario would show someone liked me more, and she wouldn’t be able to stand that.
I was about to defend myself to keep it from getting any more out of hand whe
n I heard a sound outside the door and knew we weren’t alone. Looking past Lauren, I saw Devin had walked up the porch steps and was taking in the situation. Things were getting worse by the minute.
“We were just talking about you,” she called to Devin, who looked very confused. “It seems Dahlia is using Blake to get back at you.”
Devin looked at me for answers. I shook my head. Lauren hurled some curse words at me, gave me a hateful look, then stormed past Devin out of the cabin. He proceeded to stand in the open doorway, sort of staring at me with an odd expression I hadn’t seen before.
“Dahlia, if what Lauren said is true, then I need to set the record straight. I’m a counselor and can’t do anything with the campers,” Blake said. “I was grabbing a jacket when I saw the cabin light on and wanted to know who wasn’t at the movie. She closed the cabin door and turned off the lights. She made moves on me,” he explained to Devin, who still hadn’t said a word.
They exchanged looks, then Blake shoved past him and took off. Devin stared at me for an explanation.
Finally, I spoke. “What are you doing here?”
“You left volleyball practice without a word. Then you didn’t show up for dinner. I thought maybe you were sick. So, I decided to check on you. But it looks like you feel fine.” He sounded like he didn’t want to care but at the same time sounded upset. He turned to leave.
“Wait.” I caught his arm. “Don’t you even want to hear my side of the story? I know we can’t talk here without others showing up. We could go to the craft cabin.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.” Devin turned to leave again, then stopped and looked back at me. “Tell me, what were you doing with him?”
“Nothing. Do you think I’d want to do anything with Blake when I want you?”
It did look bad that the lights had been off. Lauren was of no help to defend me in front of him. All of it looked suspicious, but I had to trust Devin would believe me over Blake.
He didn’t respond but continued to stare at me. He licked his lips and sighed heavily. “Did you set this up hoping I’d find the two of you? Maybe you thought a little flirting would shake me up enough so I’d do what you wanted.”
“What? You think I deliberately asked Blake to come to the cabin?”
Devin shrugged. “Maybe you didn’t anticipate how far Blake would take it, and you got in over your head.”
I wondered how Devin could believe I’d do something like that. I had to defend myself. “That’s not true. And I wasn’t flirting with him. It was all Blake. He’s been doing things for a couple of weeks now, but I couldn’t tell anyone. I-I should have.”
He didn’t respond and continued to stare at me. The silence was bad, but Devin not believing me over Blake was killing me.
“It was Blake. Why don’t you believe me?” I whispered my question.
Devin walked across the porch and down the stairs, so I ran to the edge of the stairs to stop him. He realized I had followed him, so he turned back around to face me.
“I missed you today, Dahlia. I missed your beautiful face. And I wanted a chance to hold you some tonight. So, if that’s why you did it—to get back at me for not being there for you earlier today—then you should know this stunt worked. Finding you and Blake alone like that… I felt jealous.”
Devin’s words left me speechless. He was telling me exactly what I wanted to hear. If the Blake incident hadn’t happened, then we’d probably have been alone in the craft cabin holding each other right then. Hatred coursed through my veins at the thought of Blake ruining my relationship with Devin for his purely selfish reasons.
Again, I attempted to defend myself. “But I wasn’t trying to do that. I’ve watched you with Blake, and I know you don’t like him. You know what he’s like with all the girls.”
I was about to say more, but then we were interrupted. Some of the girls from my cabin ran up the stairs and past me into the cabin. Devin started to walk off.
Suddenly, I didn’t care who heard me because I cared more about setting the record straight. While still only wearing socks, I ran down the steps and in front of him to block him from leaving. I held him by the shoulders so he had to listen. “I’m telling you the truth. I didn’t speak up when I should have because I didn’t want to hurt Lauren.”
Seeing Devin’s expression up close, I could tell he was hurt. He wouldn’t even look at me.
“You didn’t defend me with Marissa today, and now you’re not defending me on this. For someone who’s said he cares about me, you sure aren’t showing it right now. And I need you to defend me on this.”
That got Devin to look at me. But I didn’t wait to see what he’d say. Mindlessly, I broke from him, ran back up the cabin stairs, and went inside the cabin without looking back to see his response. I locked myself inside the bathroom so no one would see, knowing I was going to cry.
I remained there until others knocked, needing to use the bathroom. When I finally emerged, I went to my bunk and fell over face down.
Lauren returned to the cabin within thirty minutes. She walked right over to me and in a very quiet voice said, “Blake explained everything to me. You were trying to get back at Devin. I’ll eventually forgive you for your poor judgment, but for now, I’m angry.”
She didn’t care what I had to say because she needed to believe Blake only had eyes for her. Feeling completely defeated, I rolled over and faced the wall.
More than anything I’d wanted Devin to come to me and tell me he believed me. I needed him to stand up to Blake for treating me this way. Apparently, that wasn’t going to happen. Not tonight.
Chapter Eighteen
This morning we got dressed in complete silence. If anyone else noticed the tension between Lauren and me, they didn’t say anything. As soon as Lauren was ready, she took off for breakfast without me. So, I skipped the meal, knowing I risked being in trouble. But I couldn’t miss family group, or someone for sure would come looking for me, and I feared it might be Blake. I was better off being in a public setting with him.
When family group was about to happen, I headed down the hill so I’d be on time. I didn’t bother to look for Devin because we wouldn’t be able to talk about the night before. Unfortunately, when I entered the room, I saw Blake was already there. I just pretended not to see him. I didn’t participate in the discussion but picked at my cuticles the entire time. At least Blake ignored me, too.
Lunch was next. I was hungry, otherwise, I would have skipped the meal. Once I had my tray, I sat by myself in the corner, looking at no one, and got some food inside me. It didn’t surprise me when Aaron sat down beside me. But I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him. He babbled away and didn’t seem to notice I wasn’t participating in the conversation. I felt guilty for treating him like that, but I didn’t have anything left in me to give to him other than to sit beside him.
When lunch was over, I left immediately. It was easier not to see Devin’s face, because if I did see him, I’d probably cry. The most romantic summer of my life was turning into a tragedy.
Caroline had a mandatory skit practice right after lunch, which I completely dreaded participating in. Lauren wouldn’t even look at me, but I had to sing with her as she strummed the guitar unenthusiastically. We stared straight ahead and did our part, then sat back down while the others performed theirs.
The cabin cleared out as soon as practice was over, but I remained on my bunk. Lauren was inside the bathroom. When she emerged, she saw me on my bunk. Volleyball practice was happening at that point, but I wasn’t attending. If Devin intentionally snubbed me during practice, I’d lose it in front of everyone. So I couldn’t risk it and go. If only we could talk in private. I knew we’d resolve this conflict immediately, then.
Lauren realized I was waiting to talk to her, so she hesitated.
“Will you please hear me out? I can’t stand this.”
“Fine,” she said and came over to me with her arms crossed in front of her ches
t. “I already heard Blake’s version. So, what’s yours?”
“You aren’t going to like it. But I’m telling you the truth. Blake’s been flirting a lot with me and saying things that aren’t appropriate. I wanted to tell you but knew you’d be upset.”
“What do you mean? What things has he said to you?” She looked irritated.
“Well, you’ve seen some of the things he’s done—like asking me to give him a massage or touching my hair. And when he asked me to save him a dance.”
She scoffed. “You call that flirting? He does that with everyone. You aren’t anything special.” Her dig at me hurt.
“There’s more, though. Like during family group he asked me personal questions. For example, when did I lose my virginity? I had to tell him to stop. Do you think he should be asking me that?”
“Come on, he’s really friendly. He knows you’re my friend, and he wanted to be nice to you.”
She was trying to convince me, but I could tell by her tone she was questioning Blake’s motives, too.
“Lauren, I’m telling you what he was doing made me very uncomfortable, and he was crossing a line with me. I rejected him, and he couldn’t stand it. We’re all conquests for him.”
“That’s not true. He—”
“It is true. He’s not a good guy. I tried to tell you what I thought, but you were so smitten you didn’t want to hear it. He would sleep with anyone if he could get them to.”
“This doesn’t make sense. His story is so different from yours.”
“I’m sure it is. Last night, he shut the cabin door and turned the lights off. He told me he was going to kiss me right before you walked in. He lied and said it was me to take the heat off him. He knew you wouldn’t believe me.”
Lauren shook her head. “Why would he do that when he has me?”
“Because he already got you. One girl isn’t enough for a guy like him.”
She looked perplexed. “I have to go.”
“Wait.” I sighed. “Lauren, I’d never hurt you and especially with someone like Blake. And I’d certainly not hurt Devin. I’m in love with him.”
Edge of Eighteen: A Slow Burn Summer Camp Love Story Page 18
