Chapter One - Part Three

A note to my friends who lived this story? I make up things in here, too. Fiction. Got it?

Bianca wasn't quite sure how it had happened, but what had gone from a camping trip of five had turned into one of three: her, Mike and Megan. When Kitty had backed out, citing some ridiculous argument from her boyfriend that she'd be hanging out with men she didn't know, both Megan and Mike asked Bianca to please, please still come, so it wouldn't just be the two of them. Neither was, apparently, ready to have that sort of alone time. So, as Megan's Saturn rolled up to a large wooden building after a ride made exponentially longer by the awkward conversation in the car, Bianca wondered why she hadn't tried even just a little harder to persuade Kitty. She knew she was in for a long couple of days.

They'd concocted this trip over another round of pepperoni and ricotta, hoping to get away from campus for a little while and maybe even get some studying done. Finals were rapidly approaching and the girls, in particular, were feeling rather stressed out about them. Mike, perpetually laid back, wasn't worried in the slightest. This was probably due, in part, to the fact that for the last few weeks, Megan and Bianca had been jointly helping him with his essays to make sure he passed his classes.

All this rushed through Bianca's head as they pulled up and were greeted by the caretakers of the camp who had, apparently, been briefed on the budding potential romance between Mike and Megan as the greeted Mike like a son, appraised and greeted Megan jovially and then merely shook Bianca's hand. Great, she thought to herself, five minutes and I'm the third wheel already.

Collectively, they trudged into the main cabin. What had appeared a rickety, barely standing structure from the outside was actually quite cozy in the interior. A fireplace fashione, at least externally, with hewn logs, engraved with the motto of the YMCA, "That they all might be one," was the focal point of a living room littered with mismatched sofas and recliners, clearly donated or picked up at second-hand stores. Bianca settled herself into a pale pink chair with faded red rosebuds dotted across the cushions. Megan sat near her on a plush seagreen sofa while Mike followed the caretakers into the kitchen. It was nearly lunch time and they'd prepared food for the trio.

"Not quite what I expected," Megan whispered, leaning over to Bianca.

Bianca pulled her bag of schoolwork into her lap and began rummaging for her textbook for Religious Texts. She was behind in her reading on the Qur'an and knew it would be her weak spot on the exam. "I'm not sure what I expected," Bianca whispered, looking up and throwing a grin in Megan's direction. "I'm just here because you didn't want to get all 'mmmm mmm smoochy' instead of studying." Bianca contorted her face into one of mock kisses, eyes squinted shut. That proved to be a bad idea as before she could open them, Megan was mercilessly assaulting her with a pillow from the couch.

"Don't say things like that here," Megan half-giggled, face flushed. Bianca could tell that she was embarassed when she opened her eyes and threw up her hands to defend against the pillow.

Half-laughing, half-gasping for air, Bianca let her bag slide off her lap, spilling its contents across the floor. It was this noise the prompted the return of Mike and the caretakers Carrying a tray of assorted deli meats, Mike wore a perplexed look as he turned the corner. Close behind him, Dave, one of the caretakers, carried a basket of breads and Willow, his wife, a tray of water glasses.

"Watch out!" Bianca gasped, noticing that Mike was about to step on her notebook, which on a hardwood floor would most definitely send him flying. She scrambled to her feet and gathered her things as Mike neatly side-stepped the strewn books. Dave, not far behind, laughed as he shook he head at her.

"None of that here. Relax. Worry about school later!" He chortled as he set down the basket for bread on the pine coffeetable.

Bianca from her spot on the floor turned back to look at Megan, casting her a glance that plainly said Are you kidding me? Megan met Bianca's eyes and returned the sentiment. As the glasses were passed around, Bianca settled back into her chair as Mike took a seat next to Megan and draped his arm over her shoulder.

"We're just going to go handle some stuff on the grounds. Enjoy your lunch," Willow said softly before she and Dave headed out the side door. As the screen door clanged shut, Willow turned and gave a small wave.

Mike wasted no time digging into the bread and meat, smearing a large glob of mayonnaise on each slice. Bianca watched, eyes wide, as Mike devoured the sandwich in three bites and Megan brushed crumbs off her pants.

"What?" Mike said, looking up at the girls, clearly oblivious to the dab of mayo clinging to the corner of his lip.

Megan just shook her head and laughed before making her own sandwich. The three sat in silence only occassionally punctuated by hysterical laughter spurred on by a glance or a hand gesture between the two girls. Brushing her hands together, after two sandwiches and multiple glasses of water, Bianca leaned over and grabbed her school books again, sliding to the floor and leaning against the back of the chair.

"No. Not yet," Mike said, mouth full of his final sandwich. Swallowing hard, he chugged the rest of his water. "No. Now, we hike."

Bianca's eyes bulged out of her head, but she put her things back in her bag when she saw Megan's face. As far as Bianca could tell, it clearly read please don't make me go by myself. While Bianca was definitely not a hiking person, Mike clearly wanted to show off his camp and Megan clearly wasn't ready for alone time.

Mike gathered the plates and baskets and walked them into a large kitchen full of commercial equipment and laid them on a stainless steel counter. "We'll go out this way," he called the girls, slipping through the kitchen's screen door and out onto the grounds. Walking past pine trees and large oaks, Mike stepped over fallen logs as he bobbed and weaved through the brush. Megan followed swiftly after, but Bianca huffed and puffed as she tried to follow.

Bending over to catch her breath, Bianca planted her hands on her knees and coughed, trying to get some air. They were moving quickly and she was losing them. When she looked up, they'd paused further ahead at the edge of a lake, hands clasped together. Bianca winced, definitely feeling awkward. Megan certainly didn't look like she needed company. At least, not company other than Mike. Standing back and observing the clearing from the woods, Bianca felt a pang of regret. She never should have come.

Lost in her thoughts until she heard Megan call out for her, Bianca straightened up and decided to take a different route, rather than follow the path Mike had trampled down. Megan and Mike had disappeared over the crest of the hill, as they walked down to the edge of the water.

Hurrying, she didn't notice where she was going, and Bianca ran smack into something sticky. Something webby. Something... itchy?

"SPIDER WEB!!" Bianca screamed and flailed and bolted out of the woods down to the water. "It's in my HAIR. It's.. BLEHHH. It's in my mouth! Getitoff getitoff getitoff!" Bianca's eyes watered as she squeezed them shut. Terrified of spiders, she was. "Make sure there aren't any.. any bugs!" Thin strands clung to her hair, her earrings, her glasses, everything. She had run clear into a huge web and, unbeknownst to her, a spider was making its way up her curls.

But no one was moving. Instead, Mike and Megan had turned to look at her and burst into hysterical fits of giggles in the face of her plight. Bianca's arms lashed out, half grabbing, half smacking at the two of them. "Help. me. you. idiots." Tears streamed down her face and her bottom lip trembled. "These really freak me out."

Just then, she felt a familiar tickle on her temple and her hand immediately shot up as she screamed. "AHHHHHHHH. SPIDER! GET IT GET IT GET IT!" And and she flailed, and tried to throw the spider off, her arm caught Mike in the chest, knocking him off balance. He reflexively grabbed onto her arm, pulling her with him, and Bianca's foot caught Megan's leg and pulled her down with them.

Into the lake.

It wasn't just falling into a foot of water and getting a little wet. As Megan landed on Bianca, who had landed on Mike, they were covered, head to toe, with slimy, goopy, camp pond water. A fish swam by, tickling Bianca's hand and she slipped, sinking a little deeper into the sludge at the bottom of the pond.

Sheepishly looking at her two friends, whose romance gaze at the lake she'd totally destroyed, as they pulled themselves out of the muck and brushed wet hair away from their faces, Bianca hazarded a joke. "Well, at least the spider webs are off?"


After making their way back to the cabins, dripping wet, Mike went in search of Dave and Willow as the girls sat, shivering. It was spring, but the air still held just the smallest bite of winter chill. Feeling embarrassed and a little out of place, Bianca turned to Megan.

"I'm really sorry about this." Bianca spoke in a low voice, afraid that Megan would be upset with her. Her shoes squished, full of a mix of water and pond slime. A green bit of... something... clung to her hair.

"Don't be," Megan said brightly, smiling as she looked at Bianca. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't, and... I'm frankly not sure I'm ready for what might have." Megan's long hair hung stringy and wet like old ratty curtains near her face. Bits of pond plant-life were tangled there and made her look something of a sea monster, come to feast on campers.

They were interuppted by Dave coming around the old building, from the opposite direction in which Mike had left. Feeling more than a little embarrassed, the girls looked up at him sheepishly as he spotted them, silently shook his head with a small chuckle, and headed inside. He returned moments later with a stack of towels and two plastic bags for their clothes, which he left on the bench before simply saying, "there's a shower back over in that building," with a nod of his head before heading inside yet again.

"Um..." Bianca looked at the pile, then the building, then back at Megan. "What are we supposed to put on after we shower? I mean, I don't want to drag this stuff through the lodge to go get clean clothes."

"Right." Megan frowned slightly and pulled a wet clump of hair away from her face. "And where'd Mike go anyway?"

As if on cue, Mike emerged from the lodge, freshly dressed and pond scum free, carrying their bags. With his trademark cheesy grin that clearly said 'don't kill me,' he handed the girls their things before scurrying back into the lodge, making it impossible for the girls to scold, question or otherwise "re-pond" him.

With obvious confusion written on their faces, the girls looked at each other and shrugged, before making their way up to the building Dave had indicated. Taking turns with the only shower in the building, the girls talked over the wall about nothing in particular, laughing as the drain swirled with muddy water and bits of plant and sludge. When they were finished and toweled off, they made their way back across the grounds to the lodge, towels and clothes-filled plastic bags in one hand and their travel bags in the other. Not having brought other shoes, Bianca's feet slushed in her still-soaked sneakers, not having wanted to walk across the grounds barefoot. Pausing at the lodge door to take them off and towel dry her feet, Bianca silently wished that they'd dry by morning.

Headed back into the lodge, clad in their pajamas, they were greeted by Dave, Willow and Mike preparing dinner in the large kitchen. Pots bubbled on the stove and Mike tossed a salad in the corner while Willow made garlic bread. Feeling just a touch out of place, Bianca, tugged on Megan's sweatshirt sleeve and nodded back to the room they were staying in, holding up the bags as if to say 'we'll go take care of these.' Shuffling past the kitchen group in her now bare feet, Bianca kept her eyes down. She was feeling increasingly uncomfortable, like she was intruding on Mike's camp space and his time with Megan. She distinctively got the impression that he'd brought Megan there to introduce to his camp family and Bianca was just there to make Megan feel comfortable.

Dinner was a mix of uncomfortable silence, punctuated by the odd embarrassing story about Mike's hijinks as a camper and then as a counselor, and the awkward attempts of Dave and Willow to get to know Megan. With the dishes cleared away and the dishwasher set to 'ear-splitting,' the group retreated to the living room, where, Bianca and Megan had assumed the caretakers would take their leave. But instead, Mike persuaded the couple to stay with him, pull out the guitar and sing camp songs. So while Bianca and Megan had pulled out their books to attempt to do some studying - the purported purpose of this trip - they instead played audience to a full set of folk songs, camp favorites and the occasional round. By the time the trio tired of singing, it was clearly time for sleeping, the day having been rather full and still, rather unproductive.

Turning in for the night, Mike took a top bunk over the bed Megan had selected while Bianca settled into a bottom bunk across the room. Megan shot Mike and inquisitive look as he climbed into the bed above hers. There were at least five other beds available in the room. "Why a top bunk?" she asked, clearly also implying why the top bunk above her.

"Too tall," he said simply, pointing to his head. "I hit it. Plus, it reminds me of a joke we tell here all the time."

Bianca looked at Megan. Megan looked at Bianca. Mike's jokes were... sometimes suspect. But before they could say anything, he proceeded to tell it.

"So, this guy, he shares a room with his younger brother. Older brother is on the top bunk, younger on the bottom. Well, the older brother's girlfriend is staying the night in the guest room and sneaks in to theirs and climbs into the bunk. 'Ok, remember the plan,' the older brother whispers. 'Bread for faster, lettuce for slower, tomato when it's good.' So, they're having sex and the girl is going 'bread... bread... tomato.. lettuce, lettuce...tomato. Tomato! TOMATO!' in hushed, hurried whispers. And it's working out great." Mike paused there for a moment, grinning evilly.

"And then the younger brother pipes up from the bottom bunk. 'Could you two stop making sandwiches up there? You're getting mayonnaise on my face."

Mike bursts into hysterical laughter while the girls just sort of look at each other, not really sure if they're amused or kind of disgusted. Looking at each other knowingly, rather than respond verbally, they both grab their pillows and throw them at the top bunk.

"What? What'd I say?" Mike flails as the pillows hit him in the face mid-laugh. He tossed the pillows back, but not without first threatening to keep them.

"Good night, Mike," Bianca says, catching her pillow and tucking it under her head. "Megan." It wasn't a conversation worth having.

"Night."

"Night."

Bianca drifted off easily enough, but it was a light rest on an unfamiliar lumpy mattress in a building that betrayed a bit of wear and tear with its creaking walls in the wind and the draft that carried across the floor. Waking up, shivering, Bianca wondered if perhaps the top bunk would have been the wise choice when she heard voices. Flipping her head to face the source of the noise, Bianca squinted. Eyes crusted with morning goop, plus not having her glasses, she could barely make out the shapes of, not one, but two people, wrapped together in a blanket on the bottom bunk. From her vantage point, they seemed to be oblivious to her presence in the room as they whispered, and cuddled and... Bianca heard a lip-smacking noise. And kiss, it seemed. Bianca groaned, barely audibly, but enough that they paused their conversation and listened to see if, either, they had disturbed her or they were about to get caught. Bianca's stomach churned. So much for all of Megan's "I don't know what I want this to be" and "Thank you for being here so it doesn't get too serious."

Mike and Megan had only paused their conversation for a moment, and soon their voices met Bianca's ear again. And then a kiss. And another. And a giggle. Determined not to interuppt - Bianca was feeling terribly like a third wheel by this point - Bianca flopped around in her bed, feigning sleep and jammed the pillow over her head as she faced the wall. She wouldn't actually fall back asleep, but she wouldn't tell them that.

As they made their way back to the car later that day, having eaten, packed and not managed to do a single bit of studying, Megan pulled Bianca aside as Mike went back into the lodge to say goodbye to Dave and Willow. Megan's eyes searched Bianca's face, looking sad but serious. Bianca's brow furrowed, as she betrayed a puzzled expression.

"I... I think we might be a couple now?" Megan asked more than she told, her voice low and uncertain.

"You think? Well, isn't it you either are or aren't?" Bianca tilted her head to the side, considering her friend.

"Well, we talked this morning, before you woke up," Megan paused and Bianca tried her best to not betray that she had, in fact, been awake, "and I told him I wasn't sure because I didn't want to get hurt and he said that he would never let that happen. That he wouldn't want what happened to him to happen to me." Megan frowned. "And then he asked me not to hurt him, either. That he couldn't do it again and that he wasn't sure for the same reason. And I said ok. And he said ok. And then we kissed.

"But, I don't know. Does that mean we're a couple? And I have no idea what happened to him." Megan looked back at the lodge, making sure that he wasn't about to emerge.

"Maybe it does? You'd have to ask him that, though. I mean, if it's what you want," Bianca said noncommitally. Megan was her friend now too, but she felt a deeper allegiance to Mike, given their history. She didn't want to see either hurt, but especially not Mike. "And as for what happened," Bianca began to speak, but was distracted by a clanging sound that could only be the screen door swining open and then bouncing shut. Mike was back.

Mike made his way past the girls and began loading bags into the car, smiling sweetly at Megan as he passed. Bianca thought Megan needed to know... needed to know so that she wouldn't hurt Mike. So Bianca wouldn't have to be the girl whose the friend who only picks up the pieces but doesn't get the guy, again.

Dropping her voice low, Bianca put her hand on Megan's shoulder and steered her away from the car. "His last girlfriend got pregnant, aborted the baby he desperately wanted, and then cheated on him."

Bianca paused, letting the facts sink in as she watched Megan's face fall. "So, whatever you do, just don't hurt him." Bianca's eyes grew large and sad. She'd wanted to be the one to help Mike, be there for him, as more than a friend. If Megan hurt him, Bianca didn't know if he'd get put back together again. "It's like kicking a small, lost puppy."