Lake Emerald Chronicles: The First Summer: A Reverse Harem Romance

by Melissa Adams

  This gets better by the minute.

  ‘So he sacrificed for the sake of your popularity and your future?’

  I said sarcastically.

  ‘No, of course he got lots of blowjobs out of the deal but when I went out with Kyle again he was absolutely into me and asked me to be his girlfriend.’

  ‘So you have a boyfriend?’

  She shakes her raven black hair.

  ‘No, we dated for a few months but we broke up last week before I came here. He was going to Thailand and Cambodia for the summer anyway, so it would make sense to be free.’

  I am absolutely shocked about this whole thing. Yes, I know I am a bit naive, maybe a lot sheltered by how strict my parents are but I thought Hazel and Brie were more or less like me. I knew that Brie had kissed Matt plenty of times but third base? This is a surprise.

  The sky is getting overcast and since we know that Lake Emerald’s weather is very unstable with sudden thunderstorms and torrential downpours during the summer months, we decide to head back to our cabin and get ready for dinner.

  A surprise is waiting for us when we arrive back as there’s a new girl sitting in the two seater swing chair on the front porch.

  She’s slim and short (shorter than me actually, I’m 5’3” and she must not be above 5’) with brown hair in a sleek bob and black framed glasses. She has brown eyes, a mouth which looks a little big for the rest of her face and is wearing tight black skinny jeans, a light grey crop top which shows off her flat stomach and her big boobs (she has really big boobs for her tiny frame) and light grey chuck Taylor shoes.

  ‘Hey, my name’s Jemma, nice to meet you all.’

  She drawls with a southern accent. I see Brie’s not happy about the new addition, she must be disappointed not to have her room for herself anymore.

  I hope she will give Jemma a chance, the last thing we need is cabin drama: one of the things I love about camp is that the adult supervision is quite relaxed unless you start having problems with your roomies, in which case you get on their radar and the summer gets definitely less fun.

  While we get ready for dinner, we learn that Jemma is 15, from Charleston, S.C. and while this is her first summer here, her older sister Erika used to come to camp too.

  ‘She is BFFs with Lucy’s older sister Joan and I think she went out with your brother Adam for a whole summer...’

  She addresses Brie and even though it’s almost imperceptible, I see her flinching: I will have to ask later why she seems to dislike Jemma more and more by the minute.

  Our new roommate has worn another crop top in black this time, with a flowing white mini skirt and red heeled sandals. She has put huge, thin hoop earrings in her ears and the only make up she’s wearing is a bright read lipstick that makes her lips look really big.

  ‘How do I look, girls? Please be honest, I am so short and these boobs are always in my way...’

  It sounds like she’s fishing for compliments and Brie doesn’t fall for it at all.

  ‘Wear whatever makes you feel comfortable, this is what we all do...’

  I am wearing a dark blue shirt dress with white wedge sandals and my hair is down and pinned on one side with a sparkly little hair pin in the shape of a star.

  Jemma is trying to make conversation while we wait for Hazel to be ready.

  ‘So, what’s going on with all the boys here? Are there already any couples? I was walking by the tennis court earlier on and I saw two very cute guys: Logan and Xander...’

  ‘Logan’s taken, so I would suggest you back off and so is Justin FYI...’

  Brie is being inordinately aggressive even for her normal assertive self.

  ‘Oh, who’s the lucky girl who bagged Logan? He’s a stunner!’

  ‘Our very own Clary. Logan is totally smitten with her...’

  ‘Well, we aren’t exactly official...’

  I start, getting a bit uncomfortable about my love life being discussed with a total stranger.

  ‘Whatever, Clary! He hasn’t got eyes for anybody else! So, Jemma, keep your little manicured paws off Logan, we abide to girl code in this cabin, is that clear?’

  Jemma totally ignores Brie’s remark and asks:

  ‘What about Xander, then?’

  I regret almost instantly what comes out of my mouth:

  ‘He’s a douche. Hook up at your own risk...’

  I shouldn’t have said that, if they really did hook up or even worse, date, she would hate me by proxy... Of course Xander knows exactly how I feel about him, so I am not worried about Jemma telling him what I just said...

  Hazel emerges from our room in a pink t-shirt and floral white shorts and her eyes are stunning lined with a dark blue eyeliner.

  Jemma starts talking to her and the two start walking ahead with me and Brie following closely towards the restaurant.

  ‘What’s up with you and Jemma? Don’t you think you were a bit harsh earlier in there?’

  I whisper to her.

  ‘Clary, I would be very careful with that girl if she’s anything like her sister. You know how Lucy has the reputation for sleeping around? Well, Erika is just as bad but with a twist: she’s all passive aggressive, prim and proper southern belle on the outside and a hypocrite and a cheater on the inside; she broke Adam’s heart dumping him by letter after making him chase her the whole summer before agreeing to have a serious, long distance relationship. She came to spend Thanksgiving with us and her and Adam slept together that weekend. I know because this year, when we talked about that third base business, he told me the whole story: it was Adam’s first time but not Erika’s obviously and she made him swear not to tell anyone that they were doing it.

  Then she went home and Adam was supposed to go to Charleston for Christmas but the day before his flight, he got the famous letter saying that she had made a mistake and they were over.

  Adam was very good friend with Erika’s older brother Brick and he called him to see if Brick knew anything or could help Adam make sense of why the sudden change of heart.

  Well, Brick was surprised to hear that Adam and Erika had been involved at all because Erika had a serious boyfriend and apparently there was an engagement party planned for New Year’s Day. So, Erika had lied saying she was going skiing in Aspen for Thanksgiving and she had kept her relationship with Adam a secret from everyone. My brother ended up in therapy that winter and he still has trust issues with girls. He actually now sleeps around because he thinks every girl is a liar and his therapist told him he needs validation about his sexual skills because being dumped straight after losing his virginity made him fundamentally insecure and emotionally unavailable as a defence mechanism. So, there. I don’t trust Erika’s little sister.’

  We had stopped walking and Hazel and Jemma were out of sight:

  ‘I get how angry you are with Erika but don’t you think it is unfair to judge Jemma before you get to know her?’

  Brie doesn’t flinch.

  ‘I just want to make sure that she knows where the line is and she better not get in our way and think to have her pick of the boys at camp. Have you heard how she was fishing for compliments about her outfit? Ok, we get it she has big boobs and the flattest tummy I have ever seen and she obviously knows it because I don’t think she owns any top that doesn’t show her navel. Just be careful, Clary, it’s all I am asking.’

  I don’t know wether or not Brie is right but I hate prejudice and I really want to give Jemma a chance, especially since she’ll be sharing our cabin for the next 6 weeks.

  After dinner, Brie and Hazel go to the clubhouse following Rob and and Justin and Jemma tags along with them, I am sure I won’t hear the end of it later on from Brie and I head towards the arcade to meet up with Logan.

  I haven’t seen him since the beach incident earlier on and for once in my life, I miss text messages with the camp having no cell reception, because I have no way to tell if somehow he’s changed his mind about wanting to hang out.

  Some of my worr
ies are soothed as soon as I round the corner and see the arcade building: Logan is out there waiting for me.

  I almost run the last few yards and he opens his arms to me. His cotton candy scent engulfs me when my forehead touches his collarbone and I lift my face to his to kiss him on the cheek.

  He gives me a soft smile and for a moment I get totally lost in the blue of his eyes: tonight he’s wearing a baby blue t-shirt that makes his eyes stand out and I could literally drawn in that endless blue.

  ‘I missed you...’

  I whisper.

  He squeezes me tighter for a second and says softly:

  ‘I missed you too. Clary... I am very sorry about earlier at the beach. Somehow I hadn’t anticipated that being that close to you in a bikini would be too much... I mean too much in a very good way... But obviously not that good because... Well, you know how boys are... What I mean is...’

  He blushes and I put him out of his misery:

  ‘It’s ok, Logan. You don’t have to explain and I am not and I wasn’t upset. Maybe just a little surprised about...’

  He perks up giving me a mischievous smile, reminiscent of the way he would smile last year when he followed me everywhere and I would tell him to find someone else to stalk.

  ‘You are such a crazy girl, my beautiful Clary! How can you be surprised about the effect you have on a boy when you are in a bikini? I think every boy on the beach would have fought me to death to swap places with me.’

  I won’t lie, Logan’s compliments are like a balm to my fragile teenage ego: I won’t even start telling him how much I hate my body and how many things I would change about it if I could.

  ‘What do you say, are you up for some air hockey?’

  He winks.

  I start giggling at his goofiness: last summer he kept challenging me at air hockey and always put a wager that if he won, I would spend the whole evening playing any game of his choosing and not complain once about him following me everywhere.

  ‘Sure! As long as you don’t cheat like you always do...’

  I smile back and he assumes a fake wounded expression, touching his heart with one hand:

  ‘Me? Cheat?’

  I laugh and follow him inside the building and for the next couple of hours, we play air hockey, table soccer, shoot zombies and try to smash moles with a hammer: it’s fun and we can’t stop laughing because we both try to cheat our way to victory.

  The arcade tonight is fairly popular and there’s lots of people sitting in the bar area playing cards: Lucy, Xander, Joel and Leah, the frizzy haired girl who kept hanging around Logan last night at the pool, are playing a game of Uno and I occasionally catch them looking at me and Logan.

  The arcade has lots of vintage games like street fighter 2, Pac-Man, there’s also a jukebox and Logan puts some money in it and selects one of my old classics favourite: Dreams by the Cranberries.

  ‘Would you do me the honour to dance with me?’

  He asks charmingly, offering his hand.

  Before I know it, I am in his arms and we are swaying slowly to the ballad and it certainly feels like a dream to look in his eyes and the rest of the room fades away, leaving only the music and each other.

  He smiles softly and whispers:

  ‘You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now. But there’s too many people here, I want to wait until we are alone.’

  He holds me tight, our bodies touching everywhere possible, the music encouraging us to move in synch and to not leave any space between us: my arms are around his neck and he envelopes me placing one hand between my shoulder blades and one just above my backbone.

  I place my head on his shoulder, my nose and my lips touching his neck and he squeezes me just a little tighter and says with a low growl:

  ‘I really want to go somewhere less crowded...’

  I’m about to say let’s go when from the Uno table I hear Lucy yell at us:

  ‘Hey you two, get a room! Actually, don’t get a room, it’s almost curfew, you better be in your own cabins very soon! I have seen girls getting pregnant for way less...’

  Leah laughs and whispers something in Lucy’s ear while Joel looks really pissed off, I don’t know if at me and Logan or at Lucy’s mean remark. Xander’s expression is quite blank and for once he doesn’t make it any worse with one of his snide comments.

  The song ends and Logan and I start walking hand in hand towards the arcade’s exit when Xander catches up with us:

  ‘Hey, Logan! Wait up, can we talk for a second?’

  ‘Sure...’

  Xander looks at me and nods.

  ‘Clary...’

  ‘Hello, Xander.’

  Logan squeezes my hand and tells me to go ahead to my cabin and he’ll see me after breakfast because he has a tennis practice match at 8 am. He lowers his head and kisses my cheekbone before letting my hand go.

  I walk the short distance to my cabin, wondering if I should worry about Xander talking to Logan: obviously he doesn’t like me and who knows if he could convince Logan that I am not that cool...

  I shake that thought away: one thing I have learned in my not that long life is that worrying about things that you have no say in is a sure way to make yourself miserable.

  Talking about things I have no say in, the scene that greets me in front of my cabin is certainly one of those things: Brie and Justin are kissing on the porch and he has her pinned down against the wall.

  I walk past them and go straight to my room where Hazel is already in her Pjs sitting on her bed.

  ‘Are you all right, babe?’

  She looks sad.

  ‘Not really... There’s a new yoga instructor, a blonde named Hayley and Rob spent the whole evening talking to her... he will never notice me...’

  She covers her eyes with her hands and I certainly sympathise with her: her situation with Rob is like mine with Joel in the respect that she pines for him and he doesn’t seem to even notice.

  At least Rob talked to her while I was sure that Joel didn’t even know my name, until yesterday...

  I climb on my bed and tell her about Brie and Justin.

  ‘Do you like that guy?’

  I ask her twitching my nose in displeasure.

  She admits that he seems a bit rough around the edges but Brie seems so taken with him that she says we should give him a chance.

  I am about to retort something when the front door slums shut and we see Jemma walking towards her room while Brie runs into ours and jumps on my bed while she throws the door closed.

  ‘Can I sleep in here, tonight?’

  I ask her what’s wrong with her own bed and she states that her bed is totally fine, it’s the one nearby that contains something that will give her nightmares.

  ‘You seriously need to leave that poor girl alone, Brie!’

  She looks at me pointedly:

  ‘And that’s exactly what I am trying to do... hence, can I sleep with you?’

  I agree but just for tonight and tell her that from tomorrow she will have to put her big girl panties on and play nice with her roommate.

  Once I am under the covers, I drift away to sleep pretty quickly, the last thought on my mind being Logan and how much I want some time alone with him.

  4.

  Truth or dare

  I wake up at 7 and look around the room: Brie and Hazel are still fast asleep and I know better than attempting to wake those two up, so I take a quick shower and wander outside in the crisp morning air deciding to take Joel’s suggestion and try something new: this year they added a brand new archery and shooting range and I would like to channel my inner Katniss Everdeen and have a go with a bow and arrow.

  I think for a moment to go and watch Logan play tennis but he will be playing with Xander and I would rather not subject myself to his irritating company this early in the morning.

  The range is a bit out of the way and I walk by the section of camp where the staff cabins are.

  Everything is quiet th
is early in the morning: most people are still sleeping or at breakfast so I walk leisurely around, when I hear a door slam shut and see Lucy exit a cabin wearing last night’s clothes and holding her high heeled shoes in one hand.

  She looks around as if she’s trying to make sure not to be seen and comes down the porch steps when the cabin door opens and Justin calls out to her:

  ‘Hey Luce! You forgot this!’

  And throws what looks like some kind of lacey black underwear to her. She catches it in the hand that isn’t carrying the shoes and then looks around to make sure that nobody sees her walk of shame: her gaze turns towards the direction I am coming from and I don’t know why but I quickly backtrack my step and hide behind a tree; I am not sure if she’s seen me or not but I definitely don’t fancy an exchange with her after the pregnant remark last night.

  While last year Lucy mostly ignored me, this year she seems to dislike me and I admit that the feeling is quickly becoming mutual: not that I liked her before, I know she had a fling with Joel last year but she was also sleeping with Rob and Dennis, one of the waiters.

  This year she doesn’t seem to have changed her ways seeing as the first night she was hooking up with Xander on the beach and last night she obviously slept in Justin’s cabin and I can only imagine what happened there.

  I enter the range and find nobody by the main counter, so I decide to check out the archery section while I wait for the instructor to show up.

  The range is nothing but a large field bordered by trees and fenced up by high bushes and shrubs and I see several round targets made of hay and that weird whicker material and with bullseyes painted on them but I can’t see any bow and arrows.

  At a certain distance from the targets, there are some wooden benches and I sit on one on them adjusting carefully my white denim mini skirt.