Camp Jameson (30 page)

DAY THIRTY-EIGHT:

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

BARN DUTY

F
or
two days, I had spent all my extra time with Sara grooming the horses in the
nearby stalls. Avery was on a rampage, punishing everyone that slept with me,
including Sara.

It was awkward running into
Ethan, Sean, and Wren since it was easy to figure out they were being punished
because of me. But I found an instant calm each time I was near one of the
horses. I purposely only groomed the white one and kept away from the brown
one. It was childish to think a horse had the same color hair as Avery but I
kept that to myself. I had done well so far, avoiding any explanation of my
situation to Sara. But the Camp Olympics were starting tomorrow. Three days of
more competition.
Yippee!

I knew I needed Sara to get
through this week. I had never seen her so mad at me before.

I brushed the white Arabian,
thinking how Sara and I hadn’t spoken since unloading the truck outside the
Main Lodge and I was overwhelmed emotionally. I hadn’t slept since then, thus
the bags under my eyes, as I looked in the mirror above the bench trying to figure
out how it all went wrong.

I moved to the doorway of the
stall and looked out to the extravagant barn that Avery had built. I could hear
Sara filling water buckets at the outside spigot. The fragrant wild orchids
nearby made me think of Avery’s Lagoon. I breathed in the fragrance of the
horses and tried not to let my thoughts go down that path. I walked over and
sat on one of the benches in the barn along the row of horse stalls. Avery kept
returning to my thoughts. He thought I slept with Pierce. He knew about Ethan.
He knew about Wren. He saw me with Sean and Sara.
God, who was I turning
into?

I finally let the floodgate
release as I laid my head over on the bench and cried. I felt Sara sit beside
me and lift my head onto her lap. She gently ran her fingers through my hair.

“Aria, you’re scaring me. I know
you don’t want to, but please tell me what happened,” Sara begged.

I sucked in a deep breath and
turned toward her. I studied her. She was my best friend. I let out the breath
I’d been holding and started from the beginning.

Through my tears, I poured out
my soul to Sara. I had so much built up inside me that I had to get it all out.
How Avery seduced me emotionally the first day of camp. How we had breakfast by
the waterfall, and how we had sex during the Masquerade Ball. I told her how
fantastic the sex was and how caring, passionate, and kind he was. How he
fulfilled one of my fantasies and he took me up against the wall. The way he
took me in the shower, and the delicious time in the bedroom. I told her how we
made love to the most perfect song. How I saw so much caring and compassion in
one man’s eyes that it took my breath away. Just like the song was speaking to
my soul, I knew then I could never let him go.

It hurt too much to relive all
of my emotions that night. Then I told her what happened during bungee jumping.
And later how Pierce took me to confess my love to Avery and how it devastated
me to find him with Caitlyn. Then to find out how Caitlyn blamed me for all the
pranks she pulled on me and said it was all my doing. I told Sara everything
that led up to this point. She sat with her mouth opened, stunned as I spoke.
It felt good to get it all off my chest, not to hide it from her anymore.

“Oh, Aria. I didn’t realize. If
he doesn’t want you then he’s a fool,” Sara bellowed. I loved that Sara
supported me. She always had my back. I frowned, knowing she was right. “Look,
we go back to Ohio next week. You’ll be back in school and you’ll soon forget
everything.”

“I don’t think I can,” I said.
“How can I forget all of this? I love it here,” I said, as the tears fell
again. Sara’s eyes bored into me. It was what she always did when she was
trying to read me.

“You love him don’t you?” Sara
inquired. I didn’t respond. She sighed heavily. “Look, Colt has been coming
here since the camp opened. He said he’s never seen Avery like this. He’s never
taken interest in anyone. Work was all he knew. All he’s ever done.”

I let her words sink in then
looked at her. More tears fell from my eyes and I quickly wiped them away. She
studied me.

“What am I going to do with
you?”

I shrugged, “Want to know
something else?” I asked. She looked at me curiously. “I got my belly button
pierced.”

She gasped. “When?”

“After the fight,” I frowned.

“Let me see,” she said pulling
up my shirt. Her fingers traced the shimmery sapphire blue butterfly bead and
she smiled at me. “Whore,” she teased. We both giggled. It was what I had said
to her when she got hers pierced right after she met Colt.

“I know,” I chided.

“Aria,” Caitlyn said. I bristled
at the sound of her voice as she walked up to us.

“What do you want, Caitlyn?” I
replied, stagnantly not bothering to look up from the bench.

“You to back off from Avery,
that’s what,” she said.

“What are you talking about?”

I saw Sara get up and walk a few
feet to her horse and start grooming the same side I just finished. I knew it
was only to be within striking distance if this got ugly between us.

“I see the way you look at him.
He would never give you the time of day. So, just stop embarrassing yourself,”
Caitlyn snapped.

I finally looked at her. She was
wearing tan breeches; black riding boots, a navy blue short sleeved riding
jersey, and her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, everything about
her wardrobe screamed money.

“Funny. I was just thinking the
same thing about you.” I’m pretty sure I heard her growl as she took a step
closer. I didn’t know what really happened between her and Avery and
truthfully, I didn’t want to know, but a part of me knew that if he still
wanted her then she wouldn’t be here now.

“You better watch it,” she
hissed then went on. “Look, Bambi, I hate to break it to you but a man like
Avery would easily get bored with a girl like you. Look at you,” she said,
scouring me with her eyes from head to toe. “Fantasies don’t come true for
people like you. You could never be the woman Avery wants.” She stalked around
the barn like a tiger about to eat its prey. But I didn’t care.

“Get over yourself. Gold digging
dried up a long time ago. Maybe you should try a paint-by-numbers class or
something that wouldn’t interfere with all that silicone.”

She stomped her foot. “Little
girl, I’m warning you. Back the fuck off of Avery.”

I laughed at her absurdity. She
stepped closer. She was taller than me, but I was pretty sure I could take her
if we fought, and my stubbornness overrode my common sense as I stepped closer
to her. I had a lot of fuel in the fire.

“What makes you think he’d want
you anyway? I mean look at you. Let’s see, fake hair. Fake teeth. Fake boobs.
Fake tan. What more could a guy ask for?”

“Why, you little bitch,” she
said, pulling back her fist.

“Is there a problem here,
ladies?” his magnetic voice rang out through the barn walkway.

I cringed when I heard his voice.
Caitlyn could have spun on a dime the way she dropped her hand and smiled
pleasantly to him.
Oh, she was good.

“Hi, baby. Aria and I were just
having a difference of opinion on riding saddles is all. Weren’t we?” She
widened that bleach white smile of hers and I suddenly imagined her teeth all
knocked out and I laughed at her.
She was ridiculous.

I motioned for the horse to
follow me into its stall and I closed the door. I slammed the brush into the
wooden crate for cleaning and turned toward the exit.

“Avery, did you come here to go
riding? I’m free right now, I could go with you,” her voice was like nails on a
chalkboard.

All I could think about was
getting away before I lost my temper on her. I was halfway down toward the exit
when I heard Avery blow her off and run after me. I picked up the pace and
ducked out the side door.

“Aria, wait!” Avery bellowed.

I didn’t stop. I just wanted to
get away from him. My body was shaking with anger. Avery put his hand on my arm
and I recoiled it. “What?”

“I heard what Caitlyn said. I
could never want a woman like that,” he said.

“That’s not what it looked like
on your front porch that night,” I seethed.

“I got very drunk on whiskey
that night and yes, I fucked her,” he huffed. “Look, I’m sorry. That wasn’t one
of my proudest moments. I got back from the party that night hammered. I was
trying to drown out the thoughts of those guys all over you at the party when
Caitlyn was waiting for me there on my front porch. She offered herself to me
and I just went with it. I needed a good cum to clear my head.”

I blinked up at him as the harsh
reality of it all set in.
That sounded really familiar.

“Like I care about your sex
life. Why are you here anyway?” I said, crossing my arms.

He raised his brow at me. “My
Kitten has claws. You seem to have a lot of pent up anger.”

“I am not your Kitten!” I
stuttered. “And I only act this way around you!” I dropped my arms to my sides
with my fist clenched. I shook my head and took a slow deep breath, trying to
calm down. “Don’t do that. Don’t act like you care about me when you don’t,” I
seethed, stepping closer.

He grabbed both my arms and
closed the gap between us. “I care about you. Christ, Aria, why can’t you see
that?” he said in a husky low voice. I ignored the way his voice vibrated through
me and struck me down deep.

“Because you have a really lousy
way of showing it. Why can’t you open up to me? Tell me what you’re thinking.
Tell me
now
, Avery, because I’m losing my mind over all of this!” My
voice echoed off the barn beside us.

His eyes fell away and he
brought his hand up and rubbed the back of his neck. “I can’t...”

I held up my hand cutting him
off. “You’re exhausting. Here I’ll save you the trouble and this time
I’ll
walk
away.”

I jogged up the path farthest
away from him. I knew this was his camp. I knew I couldn’t leave here for five
more days, but damn if I had to be within ten feet of him. He crushed me and I
let myself get crushed. I was such a fool. I ran up the beaten path toward my
cabin. I fell hard into my bed and threw the pillow up over my face. I screamed
into it.
God, Avery’s head games made me so mad.

DAY THIRTY-EIGHT:

WEDNESDAY NIGHT

LADIES’ CHOICE KEY
PARTY

I
t
was the night before the camp Olympics, and only four more days until I could
get away from Avery Jameson for good.
And once I’ve gone from here, I am
never coming back.

I stepped through the doorway of
the Main Lodge to the Ladies’ Choice Key Party. Every girl got a key when she
entered the ballroom tonight. When she saw a guy she wanted to sleep with, she
was to give him her key and then they would meet up later in the room that the
key unlocked.

Each of the bedrooms had a theme
but you wouldn’t know the theme until you unlocked the door. It might be
Western, Moroccan, Hawaiian, Chican or a Doctor’s Office. Avery kept it
unpredictable. The idea was that you didn’t know until you unlocked the door
and got in there.

I stood taking in the gold and
silver key decorations. Giant golden and silver keys hung from the ceiling and
lined the walls. Combined with those keys, were giant gears and cogs
representing the locks that turned and moved showing whatever secrets were
being unlocked.

With each party, Avery seemed to
outdo himself each time with grander and larger themes. But as I stood in the
ballroom looking around taking in the massive display, the words of my
psychology professor echoed in my head. He used to say that keys are important
entities in our lives, and most of us never give them a second thought. Keys
are powerful commodities that symbolize the opening of one part of our life’s
journey and the closing of another. They represent the knowledge, mystery, and
curiosity of that journey. Always, there is a door to be unlocked.

When you think about it,
unlocking a door can bring you knowledge. But it also can expose your secrets
and this place was full of them. The knowledge of what lies inside can lead you
to new experiences and a completely new way of life, or it can awaken your
fears and force you to retreat from that life. The mystery of it comes from unlocking
those closed doors and seeing what’s inside. You might be unlocking something
inside your heart or unlocking desires that can breathe new life into your
journey. Who knows what adventures wait for you when you unlock something that
is hidden. Those new adventures might be more than you could have ever
imagined.

But there is a certain
empowerment that comes from being curious enough to turn the key in the first
place. When the door opens, when you’re strong enough, and brave enough, to
step through not knowing what you’ll find waiting for you on the other side.
Without the curiosity to turn the key in the first place, we wouldn’t be able
to step into that new way of life. Or find our way to happiness, or whatever
lives beyond those locked doors. But it all starts by the turning of a key. I
bet all those people wandering around this ballroom never gave any of that much
thought and I bet most of them didn’t care. But I cared.

Camp Jameson was the key that
unlocked my sexuality and for that I was forever grateful. I was a much
different person now than when I arrived a few short weeks ago and, good or
bad, this new person was here to stay. Of course, Avery unlocked my heart, and
even though I am suffering on the inside, I know that someday I will be a better
person for it. At least I learned to quit falling for every guy I sleep with. I
was pretty sure that revelation had cost me a relationship with Ethan, because
I was sure he wanted to be my boyfriend until I slept with his brother Wren. So
now, I was in the friend zone with both of them. It was just another chance at
love ruined.
Maybe someday, I’ll get it right but until then, I might as
well find someone to fuck.

As I continued my search for
that special someone, I made my way around the ballroom looking for Sara, who
was supposed to be meeting me at any moment. As I pushed my way through the
crowd, that sad echo of a once beautiful child interrupted my daydreaming with
her sour puss.

“Looks like you didn’t get the
guy after all,” Caitlyn sneered. Her voice was like stepping on a rusty nail in
your bare feet.

“Your point, Catface?” I said
harshly, not making eye contact with the annoying troll. I still hadn’t spotted
Sara yet.

“Rumor has it, Avery has a
girlfriend. Like I told you he would when he got bored and moved on,” Caitlyn
smirked.

I figured Caitlyn started that
rumor herself, but she was wrong. The whole camp knew Avery was a player,
except for me, and that he would never have a girlfriend. He didn’t need one.
This camp was his personal procurement center. The women came here to him.

“Caitlyn, Travis needs you,”
Sara trilled. “There’s a leaky window in Kit Kat cabin that needs silicone to
seal it. Why don’t you run along and help him out with that,” Sara said,
molding her hands around each breast and giving them a little wiggle. “I would
help him, but mine are real,” she said, in mock disappointment.

Caitlyn huffed, then spun on her
heel and headed toward the bar. I was thankful for Sara rescuing me. I wasn’t
sure how much more I could take.

My eyes scanned the room. Avery
was nowhere to be found tonight. He must be getting ready for the Olympics
tomorrow. There were decorations and bleachers going up all over the camp. I
actually passed a medal ceremony stand on my way here tonight. The whole place was
transforming, into what… I don’t know.

Sara and I were in tight fitting
sequined mini dresses. Hers was gold. Mine was a silver, short, sparkling mini
with a sweetheart neckline and glimmering teardrop-shaped sequins. It favored
my rhinestone silver strappy heels that Sara had bought me. Gold and silver
seemed to be the color scheme tonight. Most of the women passing by had on
something similar and the guys, as always, wore black. I walked with Sara
across the hall toward Pierce. He was leaning against a support beam near the
bar with his arms crossed, watching us from across the room with interest.

“Taking care of the trash,
Sara?” Pierce asked.

“Always,” Sara answered.

He grinned mischievously. “I
have to be dreaming. The two hottest ladies in the ballroom, are standing in
front of me. What do I owe the pleasure?”

“I’m saving the best for last.”
Sara slipped her key in Pierce’s hand and winked. I was shocked at Sara’s
forthrightness and Pierce smiled wide as he looked to me with hope in his eyes.
I shook my head lightly and looked away. I was saving mine for now.

“How are you, Aria?” he asked.

I shrugged, not wanting to
answer. I kept my eyes on the high priced flooring, trying to distract myself
with something other than looking at him. Except for his eyes and blonde
highlights, Pierce was a younger version of Avery and it was difficult for me
to be so close to him like this.

“That bad, huh?” he inquired.

I put on my best smile and
looked at him. “Have fun you two,” I said, taking a few steps toward the bar
but making sure that it was the opposite side that Caitlyn occupied.

“She’s miserable,” Sara
muttered. I tried to ignore the fact that they were talking about me like I
wasn’t three feet away.

“You can see me standing right
over here can’t you?” I asked sarcastically as they ignored me.

“So is Avery. I tried everything
I could.” I heard Pierce say as they walked away toward a room.
Was Avery
really suffering like I was? If so, why the hell wouldn’t he tell me how he
feels? Ugh. All I wanted to do tonight was get drunk.

A while later, I’m not sure
exactly how long, but I was on my fifth or maybe sixth…oh god who knows…
wheeee…
my head was spinning
….
Jameson and Diet Coke
. I looked up to see a
smiling Sara bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“Done already?” I said, surprised
and trying not to slur.

“Yep, and guess what?”

I quirked my eyebrow at her,
Well
at least I think I did, I wasn’t sure it came across the way I wanted it to;
the alcohol was limiting my muscle movement.

She snickered at me. “You’re wasted.
Happy you’ve succeeded?”

“Yep. I fought hard and won this
round,” I chirped.

Kim handed me an energy drink
and a tall ice water. I frowned at Sara.

“You’re such a buzzkill,” I
whined.

“Down them, and hurry,” she urged.
“We have something to do.”

“What evs,” I said.

Sara and I snuck out of the Main
Lodge in our mini dresses and stilettos and we made our way toward the Pinky
Princess Spa Cabin. Sara reached down behind a bush and pulled out her camp
backpack and slung it over her shoulder. I followed her to the back of the
salon to a single glass door and she knelt down and started to pick the lock.
My eyes scanned the perimeter sluggishly.
Too much alcohol tends to slow
your reflexes.

“Did you know that Caitlyn goes
spray tanning every Thursday morning?” she said casually like we were leisurely
getting a manicure or just hanging out in a coffee shop gossiping like two old
ladies would.
I knew that bitch spray tanned. She always passed it off as
natural outside tanning. She was so phony.

Sara stopped what she was doing
to wait for my reply.

“No,” I said, shrugging my
shoulders at her. Sara went back to picking the lock.

“Did you know she has the first
appointment of the day? Yep, every Thursday at 9am,” she added concentrating on
the lock. “And she always uses bed number three because that’s the only spray
tanner. The other two are regular UV beds.

“Okay,” I said, crossing my arms
and looking around to make sure no one was able to see what we were doing. “How
do you know this and what’s your point?”

“You’ll see,” she said. She
strolled up to the computer and the screen popped awake. She scrolled through
and tilted the screen for me to see that she was right. Caitlyn was the first
appointment of the day tomorrow. I nodded. “Booth 3,” Sara added.

Sara stepped down the small
maintenance hall to the back of booth three and lowered her backpack to the
floor. She rummaged through it and pulled out a large wrench that looked like
something a plumber would use and set it beside her feet on the floor. Then she
pulled out a Phillips screwdriver and started unscrewing the screws to some
kind of access panel.

“Did I ever tell you that my
cousin Ronnie was a plumber?” she asked in that casual tone again.

“No, but that doesn’t surprise
me. I’m thinking that you picked up a few tricks from him over the years,” I
whispered.

“Why are you whispering?” she
said loudly, startling me and causing me to jump as she kept moving to undo the
second screw.

I fanned my hand out to the
empty and dimly lit salon, showing her that I thought we should be quiet and
not chatting as if we were browsing through a shopping mall.

“No one’s here. Stop worrying,”
she pressed. “Anyways, my cousin used to take me on some of his house calls
when he babysat me and I used to help him. That’s how I got pretty handy with
tools,” Sara said, moving to the bottom of the panel. I watched as Sara
unscrewed the bottom two screws and stood.

“Help me with this panel,” she
said.

I went to the other side and
helped her lift it away and set it down against the nearby wall. She reached
over for the large wrench.

“Pipe wrench, the best tool a
plumber can have,” she said with humor in her eyes. She was having fun with
this and I was freaking out inside. I saw a shadow dance on the wall beside us
and I jumped. My eyes focused on it a little more and I realized it was just the
wind blowing a nearby tree.

“So,” she said placing the
wrench on one of the fittings and went back to her work
. I still didn’t know
what she was planning to do. And I was sad to say I had lost my buzz.

“When you need to unfasten any
fixture you use this tool,” she added.

I stayed silent watching her
turn a valve to the off position. Then she made quick work of untightening a
long metallic flex hose with brass fittings.

“Hand me that container from my
backpack, would you?”

I reached inside the backpack,
brought out a large cylindrical tube, and handed it over to her. She poured the
entire contents into a copper reservoir at the back of a large tank and put the
pipe back together.

My eyes widened in curiosity of
what Sara was planning.
Holy shit.
I ducked when I heard the sound of a
key being turned in the front door and a flirty giggle echo across the cabin’s
hardwood floors. I grabbed Sara and we knelt behind the booth. Our dresses
might as well have been a flashing gold and silver neon sign the way we were
sparkling from the sliver of white light that danced through a small window on
the side of the cabin.

Two voices, one male and one
female, delicately danced across the cabin to our hiding ears. All I could think
about was Sara and I peeling potatoes and shoveling more horse dung when we got
busted in here. I decided I’d give myself up, hopefully causing a distraction
enough for Sara to get out. When I went to stand up, I felt Sara’s hand on my
skirt yanking me down hard on my ass.

“Oww,” I whispered. “What did
you do that for?”

“I’m keeping you from getting
both of us busted you dumb ass. Now don’t move,” Sara said, leaning over to get
a glimpse of who came in.

“I’ve wanted to fuck in here
since I’ve got to camp,” the female said. “I fantasize about it all the time
while I’m here at work,” she purred in the male’s ear.

“All right, baby,” he shrugged.
“Just tell me, when are you going to put that beautiful mouth on me?”

“Wait a minute,” I whispered to
Sara. “That fucking asshole used the same line on me?”

“Who?” Sara whispered back.

“I’ll show you who.” But as I
went to stand up, I felt Sara’s hand grab me and yank me hard on my ass again.