Edge of Eighteen: A Slow Burn Summer Camp Love Story

by Melinda Hazen

  As soon as I turned back around to watch them race, I saw Devin fly down the field with Blake pushing hard to beat him. Devin crossed the line first, and his group cheered. That made Blake angry. He came crashing into Devin, causing him to fall forward. The tension between them was high, and I was worried Devin might punch him. Blake muttered some more words under his breath, and I wasn’t sure who heard him. Devin glared at him, then walked off, heading away from the field. That’s when Marissa ran over and told Blake to stop.

  At that moment, I didn’t care anymore who saw us together but only cared about Devin, so I ran after him.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, very concerned.

  “Go back to the games, Dahlia.”

  “No. I want to be with you.”

  Devin stopped walking and looked at me. “You can’t help me. Go back to the field.” Before I could respond, Devin took off in a full sprint and was gone, which left me completely lost.

  When I’d rejoined my group, Blake and Marissa were seated at a table, and it appeared Marissa was doing all the talking. Everyone else was back to racing like nothing had happened, so it didn’t seem like their scene was too bad. The director of the camp was busy in the field and didn’t seem to notice any of it. In my opinion, she was the most clueless director and never knew what any of her counselors were up to.

  Lauren had walked over to me. “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know. Blake and Devin have some unresolved issues, and I’m not sure what it’s about. Has Blake ever mentioned it to you?” I searched her eyes for a possible answer.

  She shook her head. “I don’t know anything about it.”

  “Well, I’m going to go lie down. My head hurts.” And then I’d left and went straight to the cabin and fell across the bed to think.

  I’d been sitting in the cabin for over an hour hoping Devin would come looking for me and explain, but he never did. Feeling stir-crazy, I decided I had to do something drastic. Being kept in the dark about what was happening between Devin and Blake had gone on too long, and I wanted some answers.

  Grabbing a notebook out of Caroline’s bag, I tore a piece of paper off. Hastily, I wrote: Come to the cabin. I’m not leaving until you do. If you don’t show up, then I’m going to sleep there.

  At that point, Lauren had come back to change her clothes.

  “You’re just in time. Here.” I handed her the note. “Please find Devin and give it to him.” Then I walked out of the cabin with Devin’s sweatshirt in my arms and headed to the craft cabin to wait.

  ***

  I was lying on our bunk in the craft cabin just thinking and wondering how long it was going to take for Devin to show up. Maybe, I’d thought, Lauren couldn’t find him, and he had no idea I was lying here waiting for him. Bored out of my mind, I closed my eyes. I began replaying the entire camp experience, from the day we’d arrived to the first time I’d seen Devin. A timeline of events was sorted out in my head since I had nothing better to do than wait. At least these thoughts were good ones and helped me pass the time in a positive way.

  The cabin door finally opened maybe an hour after I’d given Lauren the note, and I knew he was there. The door shut, and then I heard it lock.

  Footsteps could be heard across the wooden floor going to the bunk, then the bedsprings creaked as he sat next to me. I felt Devin’s hand on my back before he slid in by me in a spoon position. One arm went protectively around me while his opposite hand combed through my hair and brushed it over my ear. Very gently, he kissed the top of my head. My hand came up and clasped his. We didn’t speak but just held each other.

  Devin shifted positions so that his cheek was against mine. He turned to nuzzle my face. “I love you, Dahlia,” he whispered beside my ear.

  A low gasp came from me, mostly in relief from wondering all this time how he truly felt about me. He’d decided today to reveal his feelings. He loved me, too.

  I rolled over so we were face to face. We stared into each other’s eyes, then he lightly kissed me on the lips. His hand simultaneously played with my hair, exciting me further. I wanted to know if we’d go even further than that.

  When our lips parted slightly, I whispered, “I’m still seventeen.”

  Devin smiled. “But that changes in two days.”

  “You remembered?”

  “Yes, I’ve been counting down the days.”

  We kissed some more, but he didn’t allow his lips to linger for long. He took small breaks just to smile and look over my face.

  After maybe another minute, Devin let out a heavy sigh. “So, why did you order me to the cabin?”

  I stared into his eyes. “To give me some answers.”

  His eyes closed, and he said, “What do you want to know?”

  “For starters, why do you despise Blake the way you do?”

  Devin shifted positions on the bunk again so we could talk. He swallowed loudly. “You’d mentioned you came for only June’s session last summer. Well, Marissa and I only worked July’s session. Marissa wanted June off so we could spend it together outside of camp.”

  “Oh,” I replied for lack of better words.

  “But then I ruined the plans for June by taking a lifeguard position at a local water park that took up my entire day every weekday. To say she was upset is putting it mildly.”

  “Why?”

  “Why was she upset? Or why did I take the job?”

  “Why was she upset?” I clarified.

  “She said if I was going to do that, then we should’ve just worked June’s session—at least we’d still see each other daily. But if I was working somewhere else, then we wouldn’t see each other at all, and what was the point? I tried to explain to her that I needed the work, and it paid better than the camp did. And I took the job knowing I was going to quit for July even though the park hired me for both months—to accommodate her.”

  “So, was she upset by the time you got to camp?”

  “Yeah. She wasn’t too thrilled with me. Our plan had been for me to move in with her in June and try to find work in her city.”

  I hadn’t realized he’d been this serious about her. I didn’t like it. “What about school?”

  “She wanted me to transfer my credits to a college in her city.”

  “Oh.” Marissa sounded selfish to me. “What happened?”

  “Since I took the other job, and she already had her job, it meant we couldn’t be together during June except on the weekends. Basically, I’d ruined the plans by taking the job before consulting her.”

  “But you needed the work. She should’ve been understanding.”

  “That didn’t matter. I hadn’t asked her first. Instead, I just did it.”

  “Still… You’d be together all of July.”

  “Yes. That’s how I saw it, but she didn’t.”

  “What happened when you got to camp?”

  “She punished me for my decision,” he said flatly.

  “How?” I couldn’t picture anyone being mean to Devin.

  His eyes locked with mine. “She decided to get to know Blake.”

  Then everything clicked. So, Marissa cheated on Devin with Blake. I hadn’t seen that coming. It was a messy situation these three had put themselves into. I didn’t know Devin that well, yet I knew he was loyal. No wonder it had hurt him when he saw me in the cabin with Blake. He’d thought I was doing the same thing Marissa had done.

  “How far did they go at camp?”

  “I don’t know. I only know for sure she slept with him after camp.”

  I whispered, “How do you know?”

  “She told me. She flew to see him for a weekend. And without knowing, I came to see her the following weekend. She was very upset and informed me of what she’d done. Blake had used her. Apparently, she thought she was the only one and discovered she was one of many.”

  My eyes widened. “He did it to her?”

  “Yep. He had someone else at his place when she called him, and he hung up
on her.”

  This didn’t make sense to me. “Why did she let you come visit her if she was into Blake?”

  “Because she wanted me to forgive her and insisted she only loved me.”

  “Did you consider taking her back?”

  “No. I broke up with her, refused her phone calls, and haven’t spoken to her again until now.”

  “Wow. That’s a lot to absorb.” I placed my lips into his shoulder and kissed it. “Do you miss her?” I whispered.

  “Not at all. She wasn’t right for me. We got together when I was a mess.”

  “I’m confused. Why do you dislike Blake so much if you don’t want Marissa anymore?”

  “I don’t like Blake because he used her. That’s not how you treat someone. No matter what she did to me, he didn’t have the right to treat her that way. I can’t stand the guy. Lauren shouldn’t be mixed up with him either. She’s going to get hurt.”

  “She already is hurt,” I said with a sigh. “I just knew he was a player, and I warned her, but she wouldn’t listen.”

  “I guess he’s really charming.”

  I squeezed Devin’s arm. “He doesn’t compare to you at all. I want you.”

  This time I made the first move to kiss him. He didn’t pull away but allowed me to fully cover his lips. When I moved back to look at his face, he had his eyes closed and seemed more appealing than ever.

  Devin opened his eyes and looked at me curiously. “You’re very understanding, Dahlia.” He embraced me.

  “What did you say to her yesterday?” My heart started to beat faster.

  “Oh, I’d almost forgotten about that. After you left the cabin, she grilled me about you. I insisted you have an innocent crush on me.”

  “Did she believe you?”

  “Doubtful. The conversation shifted back to us and whether I’d thought about my decision to get back together with her.”

  “I see.” I started to pull away.

  Devin caught me and pulled me closer to him and said, “That morning and yesterday, I made it very clear it was over between us—that I no longer had feelings for her. She gave me a look I didn’t like. And I left.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. Dahlia, I was interested in you long before Marissa got to camp.”

  His words caused my heart to flutter, and I had to catch my breath.

  Devin clasped my hand, and we didn’t speak for a few minutes. Then he said, “My relationships haven’t ended well. I seem to use bad judgment.”

  I didn’t like thinking I was another mess Devin had gotten himself into, so I asked, “What am I, then?”

  Devin rolled over on top of me and buried his face into my neck. “You are—” His mouth had moved to meet mine. He kissed me intensely. Then suddenly he stopped, leaving my lips tingling from the sensation and longing for more. “—the girl I’ve fallen in love with.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Hard to believe we leave on Sunday,” Lauren said.

  I looked over at her from my bunk and let out a deep sigh. I dreaded the day arriving. “I know.”

  “And to think, you didn’t even want to come with me. Look at where you are now.”

  I smiled glumly and looked away. “Yeah. I don’t want to leave.”

  When I started camp, I figured it would merely be a convenient and fun way to pass the time before my eighteenth birthday. I’d return home and could start the next journey of my life—filling in the gaps of my unknown identity with the gift of my birth certificate. These seven weeks changed my life in a way I hadn’t anticipated. “Before we got here, all I’d thought about was finding my birth mom. But now…”

  “Your boyfriend?”

  I liked how that word sounded and couldn’t help but grin. I looked at Lauren and nodded. “Yeah. I don’t want to leave him. This relationship is now the most important one to me.”

  “It must be. Has he brought up what to expect after camp?”

  I shook my head. “Still waiting.”

  Devin hadn’t mentioned the topic yet, so I didn’t know if he even wanted to see me after camp. No. That was the insecure saboteur voice inside my head talking nonsense. Devin loved me, and I needed to learn to trust he wouldn’t walk away from me.

  “I’d like to skip skit night,” she said.

  I didn’t hold the same opinion because I wanted to know what Devin’s talent was. The notion of seeing something else Devin was good at greatly excited me. I’d brainstormed so many ideas, but nothing came to me. Even though I couldn’t wait to see his talent, I was scared to sing in front of him. If only I could get out of it. But that wouldn’t be fair. We’d made an agreement.

  ***

  After breakfast, I found a note from Devin inside my secret pal pocket. It said: The Beatles – “It Won’t Be Long”.

  The title had so many implications, and I wasn’t sure what he’d meant by it since I didn’t know the lyrics. I also had no way of looking them up until I’d gotten away from camp.

  Tomorrow, I’d turn eighteen, so maybe he was referring to my birthday. Possibly it was merely the last song he’d listened to before going to bed, and he’d decided to tell me. Certainly, he couldn’t mean the end of camp—I hoped he didn’t want our summer romance to end either.

  It took a few minutes to locate a pen inside the dining hall so I could scribble a note back to him. Tearing off a part of his note to use the paper, I wrote: Meaning?

  Carefully, I folded the paper, then placed it inside Devin’s pocket and turned to leave. I gasped when I caught Marissa watching me. She was standing in the doorway, leaning against it with her arms crossed in front of her. It reminded me of a prison guard trapping me from an escape.

  This wasn’t good. At least I hadn’t written anything revealing on the note. But she had to know I’d slipped something into Devin’s pocket. Can I go without a confrontation?

  “What’s that paper you’re holding?” she asked. Nope. This could get ugly.

  I sort of glanced down at Devin’s note, which was still clutched tightly in my hand. “A note I wrote to myself.”

  “What did you need to write down?”

  “Um. I wanted to remember a song title so I can look up the lyrics when I get home.” There. I was sort of telling the truth.

  “I’m good at that kind of thing. Let me see it, and I’ll try to figure out the lyrics for you. Is it a current song or a classic?”

  It’s none of your business.

  If I were to let her see it, then there was a chance she’d recognize Devin’s handwriting. After hesitating, I finally handed the paper over. Marissa opened it and read it. She scoffed, then laughed.

  “We both know you didn’t write this, don’t we?”

  I licked my lips just waiting to find out what lashing I was going to receive from her then.

  “He wants to belong to you. That’s what the song is about.” She handed the note back to me. She seemed irritated and was possibly masking her hurt.

  “It is?” And what would you think of the song about not playing with fire?

  “Yes. Why do you suppose Devin wrote this to you? He is, after all, a counselor and not allowed to belong to any camper. He knows that.”

  Hmm—because he belongs to me and not you?

  “I really don’t know,” I said under my breath. “Maybe it was just a song he listened to and wanted to share with me.”

  Before she could retort, I walked around her and out of the dining hall, just praying she wouldn’t stir up something with Devin. We only had a couple more days of camp left, and I didn’t want her to put him in a bad mood. Not then.

  Immediately, I found Lauren and told her what Marissa had done. She then came up with an evil but funny thing to do to her.

  We found Dirk inside the rec hall.

  Lauren said, “Hey, Dirk. We have a request for you.”

  “Hi, ladies. What is it? I’m at your service.”

  Lauren and I exchanged looks and tried not to giggle.

>   “We need to make sure Marissa gets a foot massage from her secret pal. Would you be willing to do that?”

  “Oh. That’s a good one. I’m great at massages.”

  “I bet you are,” Lauren said. “And please be sure to give her a long one. Her secret pal neglected her a lot and feels bad.”

  “Extra-long. I’m on the job. Good day to you, ladies.”

  We took off from the rec hall, bursting with laughter.

  “I wish we could see it happen,” I said.

  ***

  “Let’s finish up our skit practice. I know you have afternoon activities to get to. Hurry up,” Caroline said, clapping her hands to get our attention. We gathered around her to practice one last time.

  Tomorrow would be our final volleyball game against Blake’s team. Devin wanted to beat him more than anything, and I wanted to help him accomplish that. We’d gotten the good news that Blake had lost two players, so Marissa had to switch to his team to even things out. This meant I wasn’t going to have to see any more of her and only had to kick her butt tomorrow with Devin’s blessing. Life had suddenly picked up again.

  “You never did tell me why you chose this particular song to perform,” Lauren said. We were standing off in our corner of the cabin, waiting for our turn to practice our song for the skit.

  “Because Devin played it for me. He referred to me as fire. It’s dedicated to him, you could say.”

  “Oh… But are you still fire?”

  “No, I don’t think so.” I smiled at her.

  Devin would appreciate the song even if no one else knew why I was singing it. I’d been able to write down the lyrics and memorize them, and Lauren tried to learn the chords. It didn’t sound much like the real song, though.

  After our cabin finished the rehearsal, I had to get changed and back out of the cabin to volleyball practice. This was my one legitimate hour in Devin’s presence where I wasn’t questioned on why I was around him. We didn’t have to hide but only had to pretend nothing was going on between us.