Crunch.
I paused the video and shot up like an arrow. I had definitely heard something. I wasn't sure what, but it sounded loud, which in my book meant big. Was it a wolf? A bear? Hitch still hadn't given us any information on wolves, as much as I was hoping he would, so I wasn't sure what to do if I saw one. I stared at the woods for what seemed like an hour, looking for any sign of movement. There was nothing, so I sat down and hit record again. Maybe it was just leaves blowing in the early morning breeze.
"The chore wheel was another shocker," I added, looking at the woods again just to be sure. "I knew we'd have to clean up after ourselves, but scrub the toilets? EWWW! One of my bunkmates, this really nice girl named Em, must have seen my face turn green when our counselor Meg said that because she told me that sometimes people trade favors to get out of doing the more unseemly chores. Kitchen duty, which CITs have to do once or twice a week, isn't so bad, but I'd give all my canteen snack money to get out of cleaning the toilet. Then there's the problem with the showers. I'm wondering if bathing in the lake is a better bet."
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
I scrambled to my feet and looked around for the nearest branch or log to defend myself with. I wielded it like I was Obi-Wan Kenobi preparing for a duel. Out of the corner of my eye I looked at the video camera again. The red light was illuminated. I had forgotten to press pause. I burst out laughing. Maybe it was just a branch rustling.
"You must think I'm a total moron," I said to the screen. "I keep hearing noises and I thought it was a wolf. You know how that was my biggest fear about coming here? Well this guy named Hunter -- who is really hot, by the way -- told me that there ARE wolves here and I've been flipping out." I glanced around again, just to be sure, but I didn't see anything so I sat back down, keeping the stick handy. You know, just in case.
"Okay, now that the action part of this video is over, I'll return to our regularly scheduled message," I joked. "I've decided there should be a warning on all camp info packages that says: CAMP SPIRIT REQUIRED. I've never seen such togetherness before, Mal, and I know we come from a close-knit high school with fewer than a thousand students who all think 'Go green' means 'Go Carle Place!' Sure, we have pep rallies and sometimes people wear our school colors to a football game, but Mal, we don't break out into song at a moment's notice. I've already heard three chants of 'The Pines has spirit, yes we do! The Pines has spirit, how about you?' And we've only been here THREE DAYS. This other girl in my bunk, Grace, says camp solidarity is as big a part of camp as something called Color War. She said not to worry about that part yet or I might freak out. But the only thing I am freaking out about is this guy Hunter. He's so cute, Mal. He's older and a counselor so he's sort of taboo, but --"
CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
The sound was louder and getting closer by the second. I grabbed my stick and started screaming, running over to the large rock my camera was on. I swung the palmcorder strap over my shoulder and jumped up hoping I'd be out of reach of a wolf. "HELP!" I called out. "If anyone can hear me, I'm being attacked by wild animals!"
Who was I kidding? Everyone sane was still asleep. I was done for.
"Sam?"
Huh? Since when could bears or wolves talk?
Walking out of the woods was Cole. He looked like he had been out for a jog. He was in sweats and a faded blue tee that was wet around his neck all the way down to his waist. The wet outline highlighted his abs. Cole's curly hair was matted to his head. He had a slightly comical expression on his face, and his eyebrows were raised. I could tell he was ready to burst out laughing at the sight of me, standing on a rock, holding a large stick, and screaming for help.
"I'd offer to rescue you, but the only thing in these woods are squirrels, and maybe an occasional jogger," Cole said with a wry grin. "That would be me."
"You scared me half to death," I said and started to climb down off the rock. Cole reached out his hand and, not thinking, I took it. His hand was warm and I held on as I jumped off into the sand. I slowly let go and folded my arms self-consciously across my chest. "How much of my conversation did you hear?" I asked nervously. I prayed he didn't hear me talking about Hunter.
"Not much," Cole admitted. "I thought I heard someone talking, but every time I got close, the sound stopped." Cole looked at my palmcorder. "So what are you doing with a recorder here anyway? Composing a love letter for Hunter?"
I pushed the palmcorder strap behind me. "It's none of your business what I'm doing," I said huffily.
"Yep, it's for Hunter," Cole said as if to himself.
"No, it's not," I said. I didn't know what it was about Cole, but for some reason, he seemed to get under my skin. "If you must know, I was sending a message to my best friend, Mallory."
Cole was stretching now and he put one leg up on the rock I was standing next to and leaned in. I couldn't help but stare at it. His calf muscles were huge. "Haven't you ever heard of a phone?" he asked me with a grin.
"We like taping our messages," I said as I tucked the palmcorder safely into my backpack. "It's more personal this way. Whenever one of us is on vacation, or grounded, this is what we do."
"That's cool," Cole said. "My mom's lucky if she gets two phone calls and a postcard all summer."
I couldn't help but laugh. "Well, my mom probably won't do much better," I admitted. "I promised Mal I'd video all the time, and some of my other friends asked for video messages too, so Mom has kind of been pushed to the back burner."
"Are you sure you're going to have time to do CIT duties with all your directing?" Cole questioned. "Sounds like you made an awful lot of promises."
In the distance, we could hear a trumpet blare. It was 8:30 AM. Our very own alarm clock was going off. I kind of preferred the sound to the old, annoying beep on my clock radio at home. The sound meant we had a half hour to get to breakfast.
"Are you hungry?" Cole asked. "I bet Beaver is already flipping pancakes. If we get up there early, we might actually get a warm breakfast this morning."
"Sure," I said awkwardly. I didn't know why, but I felt a little nervous. The two of us slowly started walking up the hill back toward the main part of camp and the mess hall. The camp was still pretty quiet. All of the action stations, like the arts and crafts cabin, were empty, and the only sound I could hear was birds and the faraway neighing of horses down at the stables.
"So, Sam," Cole said, looking at me as we walked past the camp vegetable garden, "I've done some checking up and here's what I know about you: You starred in the Dial and Dash commercial, you claim you wish you hadn't been in it, you're from Long Island, and this is your first time ever at camp, right?"
"How do you know all that?" I asked, surprised.
"I have my sources," Cole said cryptically. "But seriously, what brought you to camp? We don't get many stars up here, you know. Except for Ashley, who thinks she's one. No one has the heart to tell her that the Pines video won't win her an Oscar nomination."
I laughed. "I don't know," I said. "I guess I was looking for a change of scenery. I saw my summer in front of me and I didn't like it so I decided to try something new." I figured it was better not to tell Cole I was trying to get away from my best friend and her suffocating boyfriend. "Why do you go here?"
"I've been coming here since I was seven," Cole told me. "I couldn't imagine spending my summers anywhere else. My family lives and breathes camp, even all winter long. I'm the youngest of three siblings who are all Pines veterans. My brothers are always teasing me about whether I'll actually make senior counselor. I keep telling them I have to make it past CIT first." He grinned and I noticed that his teeth were all perfectly straight, unlike mine. Even after braces, my mom liked to joke that my eye teeth still looked like fangs.
"I'll just be happy if I survive being a CIT," I admitted.
"You'll be fine," Cole told me. "Everyone acts as if you have to be a lifer to do this job, but to be honest, you just have to be good with kids. The rest will come to you."
I smiled. "You know, you're not so bad, Cole, when you're not bothering me about what's-his-name."
Cole grinned. "We were just getting warmed up," he said. "So about Hunter..."
I groaned. "Why do you care so much if I like him?"
Cole's sunny face got a little foggy when I said that. But before he could answer me, I heard someone calling my name. Cole and I turned around and I saw Grace, Em, and Court hurrying toward us.
I grabbed Cole's arm. "Listen, they don't know about my palmcorder," I said awkwardly. "I know I'm not supposed to have one here, but it's more than that. I just... I just... I kind of..." We'd totally bonded, but my videotaping was something I felt was private. I wasn't ready to share it just yet. "I..."
Cole grabbed my hand and smiled. "It's okay, Sam," he said. "Your secret is safe with me."
"Thank you," I managed to get out before the girls were in front of us, all dressed in some variation of the standard camp outfit -- a cute tee (in Court's case, one with a flashy logo. Hers said "Princess-in-training") and shorter-than-short shorts. I had a feeling I wouldn't be pulling the baggy gym tees I had brought with me out of my trunk all summer.
"Cole!" Court squealed, hugging him fiercely. "I feel like I haven't seen you yet. How was your year?"
"How was your year?" was a sentence I'd heard about a billion times already. I'd quickly learned that Pines lifers (as so many counselors call themselves) break their year into two categories: time at camp and time away from camp. Time away from camp seemed to be spent pining for camp, having reunions, or talking to other campers on the Pines MySpace page.
"Great," Cole said before hugging Grace and Em as well. "How are you guys doing? Who do you have your sights set on this year, Court?"
The rest of us laughed and Court looked at me mysteriously. She pointed to the two of us. "What are you two doing together?" she asked in a way that made me blush.
"We bumped into each other on the way to breakfast," Cole said smoothly and that seemed to satisfy Court. For the moment.
"So you guys heard the news then," Grace said breathlessly. "CIT assignments are going up this morning, not this afternoon."
Cole and I looked at each other. "Uh, yeah," we both said, but it was obvious to me that neither of us knew this.
"I have to get Colleen!" Grace said. "If not Colleen, then definitely Briel. Or Dana. Dana's not bad either, I guess. Hitch wouldn't DARE give me Melanie. I mean, Melanie doesn't even know what a soccer ball looks like. She's always like, 'Let's make a lanyard!' Hitch CANNOT give me Melanie."
Em giggled. "Can you tell she's a little worked up about this?"
"I'm not the only one," Grace said indignantly. "Ashley and Gabby sprang out of bed at eight and headed up here to wait for the posting. I wouldn't be surprised if they were at the mess hall right now." Grace rolled her eyes. "As if Ashley has a single worry about her assignment. She's obviously with Alexis."
Court shook her head. "It's so unfair. Alexis is probably the coolest counselor here. Ashley isn't worthy. Even if she is family."
"I take it you two still aren't getting along," Cole pointed out.
"What's there to like? Besides, Ashley isn't talking to Grace or Em either," Court said stubbornly. "And you can tell she doesn't like Sam."
"Court!" Em admonished and I laughed.
"Well, it's true," Court told everyone. "Anyone who competes with her star status is done for."
"Enough catching up," Grace said, tugging on Em's and Court's arms. "We have to get to the mess hall." The four of us started walking again with Grace leading the way.
"Is getting the right counselor that big a deal?" I asked as we headed toward the mess hall. Grace stopped and stared at me. "I mean, how bad could it be? CITs are nothing more than glorified campers, right? We help out a few sessions a day, and have rotating kitchen duty, but the rest of the time we have the same camp privileges as everyone else. Who cares if we don't love our senior counselor?"
"You don't want to get the wrong counselor, Sam," Grace said darkly. "Get a lousy counselor and your summer as a CIT could be hell. The right counselor will not only train you for next year, she can change your whole social status. The other counselors will respect you, you'll have a great recommendation for next year, and you'll get more free time."
"I know a girl whose sister got a lousy senior counselor her CIT year and spent the summer running a cabin of screaming kids while her leader was off with her boyfriend," Em added, her eyes wide. "Those kids almost got her expelled from camp after they set fire to one of the bunk beds when she went to take a shower."
Gulp. "I guess the right match is important," I said nervously. Who would I get? Sophia seemed a little high-maintenance. Dana wasn't that bad. Neither was Melanie, in my book. But sports weren't my strong suit.
"Guys, stop freaking Sam out," Cole told them. He looked at me. "I'm sure you'll like who you get. I know for a fact the senior counselors had a say in who their charges were so whoever picked you has to already like you." My shoulders relaxed a little.
"How do you know about the senior counselors having a say?" Grace demanded.
"I have my sources," Cole said with a twinkle in his eyes.
"He says that a lot," I observed.
Grace took a deep breath and I looked up. The mess hall was right in front of us. "Here we go," she said as she climbed the creaky wood stairs two at a time and hurried onto the wrap-around porch.
Now I knew why the campgrounds were deserted. Every CIT on campus was already here crowding around a large scroll of paper. It was like the tryouts for the school play. People were screaming and hugging, and the sound was deafening. Suddenly the crowd parted quietly and Ashley and Gabby pushed their way through. Ashley's expression was like steel and she strode purposefully toward the administrative buildings. When she saw Court, Cole, Em, and me staring at her, her whole look changed.
"Hi, Cole," she said, batting her eyes. "Hi, girls!" she added a little too cheerfully to be believed. "Exciting day, isn't it? Gabs and I are thrilled with our match-ups."
"We are?" Gab asked, and I saw Ashley stomp on her foot.
"Where are you guys off to? Aren't you having breakfast?" Court asked curiously.
Ashley looked taken aback for a moment. Gabby opened her mouth, but Ashley nudged her. "Of course. I'll catch you girls inside. I just needed some, um, air."
The rest of us looked at each other, and headed over to the list. The crowd had dispersed a bit and I noticed Grace was already scanning the names. Cole hung back to talk to another CIT named Dylan, who with his dark hair and tall physique, not to mention the Superman tee, sort of resembled a less dorky Clark Kent. Or from the look on Em's face, Superman himself.
"Oh my God!" I heard Court exclaim. Grace and Em collectively gasped. "Sam, you have to get up here." Their faces were anxious and they quickly made room for me.
How bad of a match could I have gotten? I put my finger on the list and scrolled through it. Grace got Colleen, just like she wanted, Gabby was with Melanie, Em got Briel, and Court got Dana. And I got... no. No way. It couldn't be.
"I got Alexis?" I said out loud. I checked the list again. How did that happen? But there it was in ink: Samantha Montgomery and Alexis Hitchens, peeps, ages six to eight, bunk 5A.
Yep, I had read it right. And then just to be sure, I looked up Ashley. She was with Morgan.
"This is priceless," Court laughed. "No wonder Ashley is acting freaky. Morgan is strictly by the book. There is no way Ashley is getting out of kitchen duty! You are so lucky, Sam. Usually the most promising CIT gets Alexis since she's Hitch's number two. That is so not Ashley, even if she's been bragging that it would be her for years."
"I adore Colleen, but you are in a great position," Grace told me. "They must really like you here. Already."
My stomach was fluttering wildly and I grabbed it instinctively, willing it to stop moving. "This is a disaster," I said. "Ashley must be furious." She already disliked me, between the atte
ntion I was getting for Dial and Dash and the fact that her sister picked me to be her partner on the nature hike. As much as I didn't think Ashley and I would ever be friends, I didn't want to be her enemy either.
Em patted my back sympathetically. "She can make a person's life pretty miserable."
"Who cares? She hasn't left me alone for years," Court says cheerfully. "Consider it an honor that you're her enemy. She only hates people she's really jealous of."
"Hey." Cole walked over with Dylan. "Do you two know each other?" he asked me.
Dylan shook my hand, but his eyes were on Em. "Not formally. Hey, Em," he said.
"Congrats on scoring Alexis," Cole said to me. "She's really cool."
"Thanks," I said distractedly.
"Are you okay?" Cole asked.
"She's afraid Ashley's going to flip out that Sam got her sister over her," Grace explained. The color in her face had returned now that she knew her assignment and it was the one she wanted.
"She's harmless," Cole told me, but I heard Em cough. "I don't know why girls get so worked up about her."
"Who'd you guys get?" Em asked the guys even though she was staring right at Dylan.
"Thomas," Dylan said with a shrug. "He's decent."
Cole glanced at me. "I got Hunter," he said and I looked down at my flip-flops.
Court squealed. "You're so lucky."