Chapter Five

I spend the next week ignoring Carter Miller's presence. It was easy, for the most part, considering I only really saw him at night, when we snuck to Cabin 14. Besides, it didn't take much effort anyway, considering I rarely thought of his existence unless he was in front of me. So the week went on smoothly, and I got back on track with my piano lessons, rarely making errors in my work when I played. Often times I would stay later and try to continue my composition, but after the one day in the beginning of the week of inspiration, I had come to another stalemate.

By the time Friday morning came, I didn't even bother staying after my allotted lesson time, but instead walked around the camp grounds. People were milling about by now, but a lot of campers were still sleeping in, taking advantage of the flexible schedules. As I passed behind the dining hall, I heard a lot of pots and pans rustling, and then hushed whispers that sounded like fighting. I inched toward the screen door in the back of the kitchen and peeked in to get an idea of what was going on, but when my eyes landed on the culprits, I was hardly surprised.

"Stop making so much god damn noise!" Justin hisses at his brother, his eyes narrowed accusingly.

James glares back, whispering, "I'm only making noise because you pushed me, you idiot!"

Instead of answering, Justin shoves James, making him teeter back before narrowly saving himself from collapsing onto a stack of boxes. James takes a step forward and shoves his brother back, and Justin actually does fall onto his butt on the ground. He quickly shoots up and takes a step forward to retaliate, but Carter emerges from somewhere I couldn't see him and breaks it up.

"Both of you need to chill before we get caught," He says, his low voice full of authority.

They both stare at each other with a hard glare before nodding, and upon seeing their agreement to act civil, Carter lowers his hands and nods himself.

"Good. Grab a box and let's get out of here," Carter orders.

Seeing as I've been avoiding Carter all week, I thought that I would walk away. Really, I should walk away. But my curiosity wins over, and before anyone can make a move for the boxes, I open the door and step inside. All eyes snap to me and I cross my arms, raise my eyebrows, and examine their guilty expressions.

"What are you doing?" I demand, trying to project the same authority in my voice as Carter did in his.

The devil himself covered his fleeting look of nervousness with a smirk instead. "Long time no see, princess. You miss me?"

I narrow my eyes at his attempt to divert my attention. "What are in the boxes, Miller?"

He glances to the boxes James and Justin are both holding, then back to me, shrugging with a nonchalant expression. "Just some supplies. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have to go put them in our cabin."

James hurried past me before I could object, and as I turned to frown at him, Justin slipped away from the other side. I whip around and glare at Carter, who made no move to leave, but instead smirked in victory when he saw my annoyed expression. What the hell were in those boxes? My curiosity was exploding, and all the reasonable explanations- like food, or maybe even cleaning supplies?- didn't add up.

"You done staring?" Carter asks boredly, but his smirk is intact. "I know I'm good looking, but shit, you must be done by now."

My expression contorted into a scowl. "Is your ego really that big, or do you just pretend to be a douchebag?" I snap, and then take a breath. "Tell me what are in the boxes."

Instead, he takes a step forward, an amused look on his face. "You'll find out soon enough, princess. But for now, I have to go plan."

Like Justin had, Carter slipped by me easily, and walked toward the boys cabins. I watched his retreating figure with narrowed eyes, a piqued interest, and annoyance coursing through me. I huff in exasperation to no one in particular and cross my arms over my chest like a spoiled child that didn't get her way.

"What are you doing in here?" An old voice snaps from behind me. "This area is restricted to campers. Staff only."

I turn in time to catch the glare that the kitchen worker is giving me and mumble a lame apology before walking away. It's not like I'm the one that stole your supplies, I want to add bitterly, but I bite my tongue and walk to my cabin. When I reach the familiar wood safe haven, I step inside and see Rachel, Julie, and Poppy still passed out asleep, while the other girls are nowhere to be found, sans Katie, who was doing her makeup in front of the mirror.

Energy is still bursting through me just enough to keep me from falling back asleep, so I opt out of lying in bed for a visit to The Water Hole. Quickly, I change into my bathing suit- a black bikini- and throw an oversized tee shirt over it. I toss my phone, songbook, pencil, and towel into a bag before heading back out, feeling content with my own company.

I walk past the lake, through the thick forest of trees, walking along my favorite unbeaten path. To anyone else, it wouldn't have looked like a pathway, but thanks to my familiarity with the area, I could detect the barely-there worn path that lead straight to The Water Hole. I often found myself coming here when I needed to think, and thinking is exactly what I need right now.

The trees finally split to reveal the gorgeous waterfall, as high as fifty feet up, rocks daring you to climb up as high as you could. The water was a clear shade of blue, falling into the pool below the waterfall and trickling down the rocks surrounding it. I shut my eyes, took a deep breath of the fresh air, listened to the rapping of water against water, and soon enough, I felt a sort of relaxation roll through me.

If only every time I got stressed out at home, I could return to The Water Hole. It was an instant sort of relaxation for me, one that loosened my tight muscles and relieved my stress with just the sounds of the water. With my drawstring still securely on my back, I began maneuvering through the opening so I could reach the rocks, and once I did, I started climbing to my absolute favorite spot.

It was only fifteen or so feet up, and hardly a difficult climb. There was a little alcove in the rocks, where it caved in and gave a smooth surface that a two people could fit on comfortably. I slipped the bag off my back and onto the ground, and then drew my knees up to my chest, setting my songbook on top. If I couldn't add to my piano composition, then I decided to add to the melody that accompanied it.

I look at the words I've already written, and pull out my phone to play a recording of the piano composition. Carefully, I press play, and take a deep breath before I sing along with the melody the piano keys were carrying.

"Sometimes I feel I've got to run away, I've got to get away from the pain you drive into the heart of me," I sing quietly, the lyrics conjuring Jake's image in my mind.

"The love we share seems to go nowhere, and I've lost my light for I toss and turn, I can't sleep at night," My voice grows as passion sparks behind my words.

"Once I ran to you, now I'll run from you.." I'm singing at full volume, but my words are drowned by the sound of the water falling heavily into the lake beneath it. "This tainted love you've given, I give you all a girl could give you, take my tears and that's not nearly all, tainted love."

My phone stops playing the composition and instead is replaced by an incessant ringing sound. I open my eyes, which I hadn't even realized I had closed, and stare at the screen, trying to catch my breath. When my eyes graze over the name on the screen, I freeze, my eyes staring at the name wide eyed, unsure what to do.

Jake.

Before I can think better of it, I reach out and answer the call, then place it to my ear. "Hello?"

Almost immediately, I internally curse myself. You shouldn't have answered the phone! He doesn't get to call you out of nowhere, and you shouldn't answer! It was a stupid, idiotic, dim witted move to answer the-

"Amelia," Jake's voice sounds deeper through the phone, and the one word holds me hostage. I screw my eyes shut tightly, frustrated that I was so affected by him, especially after what he did to me. He cheated on you, I remind myself. Don't forget that. "It's good to hear your voice."

I shake my head fiercely to myself, as if not to allow the statement get to me. Instead, I ask weakly, "Why are you calling me?"

"Oh, right," Jake mutters, and I can almost see him running a hand through his hair, something he does when he gets nervous.

"I actually wanted to know if there was someone new at camp this year."

My eyebrows furrowed, and I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, putting a hand to my forehead to calm my thoughts. "There are new people every year. Why does this matter?"

Finally, my voice held some strength, some conviction, and I no longer sounded like a love sick puppy. On the other end, Jake paused, like he was trying to gather his thoughts. I, on the other hand, was desperate for this conversation to be over. I hated the way that he made me feel, even after everything that happened. I hated that he still had control over my heart. And the worst part was, I didn't even hate him.

"I heard Carter Miller was there this summer," Jake finally chokes out, taking me by surprise. His voice was considerably lower as he spoke, "Just... Stay away from him, alright?"

How the hell did Jake know Carter? The question was on the tip of my tongue, but something else bothered me more.

"Why do you think you can tell me who to stay away from?" I snap, my confidence finally returning as anger surges through me. "Sorry to break it to you, but you lost that right when you cheated on me."

Again, he hesitated, but tried again. "Amelia-"

But I didn't want to listen. "No," I say with finality, shaking my own head. "I'll hang out with whoever I want to hang out with. Don't call me again."

And then I hung up, just barely holding myself back from throwing my phone in the mix of the waterfall, or smashing it on the stone ground beneath me. My chest was rising and falling at an alarming rate for not having been on a run or done any sort of physical activity, and I knew that it was all anger.

Hell, I didn't even want to talk to Carter Miller, let alone hang out with him, but I refused to let my ex boyfriend tell me what I can and cannot do. And even though I would've rather known exactly how Jake knew Carter, it was much more self satisfying to give him a piece of my mind. But still, the question lingered in the back of my mind.

"Was that Jake?" A familiar voice asks, and I see Poppy's bouncy curls pop up as she climbs onto the platform with me, out of breath. "I couldn't really hear; the water drowned it out."

I look at her and sigh instead of answering. "How did you know I was here?"

She smiled sadly, getting comfortable beside me. "You always come here when you need to think, and I happen to know you've been a little stressed out lately."

I nod, thankful to have a best friend that knew me so well. "Yeah, it was him." I pause, unsure how much to tell her, before deciding to tell her everything. "He called me to tell me to stay away from Carter Miller."

Poppy gave me a bewildered look. "How does Jake know Carter?"

"That's what I was wondering," I mumble, now feeling the regret of not asking Jake when we were on the phone.

"I take it you didn't ask him?" Poppy questions, arching her eyebrow.

I bit my lip, looking at her sheepishly. "No, I was, uh, a little occupied discussing other things with him."

She doesn't comment on the vagueness, but instead smirks a little, nodding her head. Her gaze drifts to my songbook, discarded on the stone between us, and she raises her eyebrows.

"You've been writing again," She states rather than questions. "Can I see?"

Poppy reaches for the book before I answer, but I intercept her hand and grab it myself. I didn't want her to see what I had written when it had so obviously been about Jake, so I shook my head and kept my gaze down.

"Not yet," I supply lamely, glancing up at her.

She nods in understanding, then smiles a little, nudging my arm. "How about we go swim? I didn't walk all the way here for nothing."

Her attempt at lightening the mood worked, and I eagerly accepted it. Quickly, I tossed my things back into my drawstring bag, and we climbed down the rocks to get to the base of the waterfall. I peel off the oversized shirt and join Poppy in the clear water. Within just a few minutes, my sour mood has reversed, thanks to my curly headed girl I get to call my best friend.

***

"I want a rematch!" Zach splutters, narrowing his eyes at me and Teddy. "You two cheated!"

I raise my eyebrows, a small smirk on my lips. "And how did we manage to cheat, Zach? Please, enlighten me."

His eyes dart between me and Teddy accusingly. "I'm not sure, but there's no way that you two can win flip cup five games in a row."

"That's where you're wrong, dude," Teddy points out with a self satisfied smirk. "Because we just did."

And we had. Like I said, Teddy and I were both very competitive, which was good for the both of us when we worked together. We were frequently drinking partners and, like tonight, we had managed to beat Zach and Mike at flip cup a grand total of five times. While Teddy didn't feel the slightest bit tipsy yet, however, I was more of a lightweight, and the beers had gone to my head already.

"One more time," Zach demands after studying us with narrowed eyes for a solid minute.

I accept the offer easily, and Teddy simply laughs at the challenge before refilling our cups. Zach made a point to watch

Teddy as he filled all four cups to the exact same height, and he took his and his partners' cups hastily. Like before, Mike and I started, and I chugged the beer, letting the liquid slip down my throats with ease.

Mike finished chugging before me this time, which I blame on my drunken state, but I managed to flip my red solo cup on the table before he did. Teddy finished his beer in four large gulps, and on his first try managed to flip the cup on the table. Once again, Zach fumbled to flip the cup, and when it finally landed, he narrowed his eyes at us again.

"Rematch!" He demanded, his voice slurring a little bit.

Before we have the exact same quibble as we had the past five times, Poppy steps in, rolling her big eyes at Zach. "Stop embarrassing yourself, Zachary. Admit defeat."

Zach's gaze shifted to Poppy and it softened instantly- the effect she had on most boys. He quickly turned his attention to flirting with my best friend, so I took the opportunity to look around cabin 14. Strangely enough, Carter wasn't here, though his friends were. I scrunched up my nose in distaste when I recognized his absence, silently asking myself why I cared.

"Hey Mina," A familiar voice greets.

I turn around and see Justin and James standing there, the devils' accomplices. Like me, the twins have been going to camp here for a few years, and we've come to have mutual respect for each other's pranking abilities. That being said, we never exactly hung out and talked. That is, until now.

"Hey guys," I greet somewhat cautiously, glancing in between their always-mischievous expressions. "What's up?"

"We heard you were the one who put itching powder in that girls bed," James announces loudly with a smirk.

Justin smacks his arm roughly and hisses, "Don't be so loud, you idiot."

James narrows his eyes at his brother, but smiles apologetically at me. "Sorry," he mumbles, and then his smile turns to a small smirk as he lowers his voice. "So, how did you do it? They don't sell any itching powder at the general store, we checked."

I smirk a little, proud of my prank, and tell them how I knew that there was a natural itching powder in a certain kind of nut,

and described the bush the nuts came from. They were practically wide eyed and drooling with the information of such an elaborate prank, but like me, they found the entire thing genius. When I was done explaining the entire ordeal to the twins, I eye them warily.

"You better not pull that on me," I warn them with narrowed eyes.

Justin just chuckles. "Although a prank war between us would be epic, I'm not prepared for whatever tricks you have up your sleeve."

I smirk in pride again, and James nods in agreement. "Yeah, I mean, itching powder in a nut? Who even thinks of that?"

"Thanks guys," I laugh again, and then pause. "How'd you guys find out that was me?"

James smirks this time, nodding over to the table I had just left, where Poppy was flirting with Zach. "Poppy told us earlier."

I laugh again, shake my head, and feel my head start to spin with the movement. I stop moving immediately, waiting for the dizziness to pass, and mumble, "I'm gonna go get some air. See you guys later."

I vaguely hear them bid me goodbye as I stumble out the front door of cabin 14, in desperate need of fresh air. Carefully, I shut the door behind me, and took a few steps into the woods. I sucked in a deep breath and felt my head slowly stop spinning and return to normal, and I feel ten times better once it does.

Deciding that it was probably time for me to head back to my own cabin anyway, I whip out my phone and shoot Poppy a quick message telling her I left. My eyes glance at the time on my phone, and I'm surprised to see it's almost three in the morning. I had no idea I had been out that late.

Slowly but surely, I begin walking through the woods, trying to distinguish my own cabin apart from all the others. I get lost for a few minutes, but somehow end up stumbling my way to Cabin 7. Before I go inside, I lean against the side of the wood cabin, giving myself a moment to catch my breath.

"Amelia?" I hear a rough yet familiar voice ask.

I look up and can see a silhouette in the shadows of the trees, but I know exactly who it is. I laugh a little, somehow finding it amusing that the one guy I don't want to see ends up being everywhere I turn.

"Do you ever sleep?" I question, instead of greeting Carter. "You're always awake."

He steps into the light, and even though half of his face is hidden by the shadow of his black hoodie, I can still see the dark circles under his eyes, confirming that he actually does not sleep.

Carter smirks a little. "Are you worried about me, princess?"

I scrunch my nose up and push myself off the cabin, intent on telling him off, but instead I stumble forward, and somehow end up in Carter's arms with my face pressed against his chest.

He chuckles, the sound rumbling within his chest. "You don't have to throw yourself at at me, you know."

I roll my eyes, but don't say anything as he steadies me. Even though his words make me want to slap him, his actions were making him out to be somewhat decent. He made sure I was steady and could stand on my own before taking a step back, and when he did, I noticed his hood had fallen.

My eyes widened immediately. "What happened to your hair?"

Carter's eyes widened too, and he cursed before tugging the black hood back on top of his head, hastily covering the newly bright blue hair on top of his head.

"You're drunk, you're seeing things," Carter muttered.

Laughter bubbled up inside me. "No- well, yes, I am- but I'm not seeing anything but blue hair! What the hell happened? Did you decide you wanted a new look or something?"

My voice held amusement, and his eyes narrowed at me when he noticed how much I was enjoying this.

"I meant to dye Mark's hair," Carter explains in a low voice. "That asshole has been pissing me off all week,

so I decided to prank him. But somehow I fucked up the shampoo bottles in the dark, and ended up putting the food dye in my own shampoo."

At this point, I'm absolutely howling with laughter, unable to control myself. Although Carter wore an annoyed expression, I could see in his eyes that even he was amused, but just didn't want to admit it. I laughed until I got all of it out of my system, seeing strands of blue stick out from under his hood under the poor lighting of the moon and the dim porch lights.

"What a rookie move," I tsk, and then announce, "Miller, you suck at pranking."

The scowl on his face returns in a moments notice. "No I don't, it was just dark-"

"There are no excuses in the pranking world. You either execute it properly or you don't," I tell him with a serious look, but one look at the bits of blue from under his hoodie, and a smirk grows on my lips. "And you didn't."

For once, I'm actually enjoying Carter's presence, but that could easily be drawn up to the booze in my system, or the fact I'm just making fun of him. Regardless, this realization catches me off guard a little, and I straighten up when I realize I had let myself be so carefree around him. I almost think Carter recognizes my realization, because he sighs and crosses his arms, his playful demeanor gone and replaced with his usual arrogant guard.

"Go to bed," He demands.

I raise my eyebrows at the fact he think he can tell me what to do, but instead demand, "You too."

Carter smirks. "With you? Okay, my bed or yours?"

Why did I think, even for a minute, that I could enjoy Carter's company? I sigh, almost a little disappointed that he reverted back to his obnoxious self, and take a step towards my cabin.

"You wish, Miller," I mutter.

I turn around to walk to the door to my cabin, but before I put twist the doorknob, I hear Carter speak behind me. "Goodnight, princess."