Chapter 15
Camp was abuzz with excitement on Monday. A few universities had released their students with more to follow suit and in four days there would be two new people in camp. Rocky and John had shown up on the newest schedule out of nowhere. When further inquiries were made it was discovered that Rocky had been a counselor for a couple of years and was trying out a role as a village director that year, which meant he would oversee all the six to eight year old counselors. It also meant that he would be living in a staff cabin once the year-round men moved out. John was a brand-new counselor who had just finished his freshman year of college at the University of Florida. He would be with the youngest kids under Rocky for the summer.
The newcomers also signified the beginning of the end. Summer camp was beginning in a month and within a matter of weeks the dynamic of Ontanogan would change forever, as far as the current staff was concerned. The dusting of culture they had built up over five months would be blown away in a matter of days.
“Well, it’ll be a nice way to break the new guys in,” Jabari concluded after most of the old-timers had regrouped in the lounge after a day of team-building sessions with middle-schoolers. He was talking about the farewell bonfire they were planning on having the weekend after the one coming up.
“Yeah, and if they’re not cool, what are they going to do, get us fired?” Gerri asked. A smattering of laughter answered her question.
“Let’s get out of here,” Sophie asked Miles with a whisper. Miles started moving without an answer. Sophie led Miles to the stairs behind his cabin. “Do you remember this?”
Miles nodded. “We shared a bottle of Merlot back here the first day we met.”
“And then we talked all night about…everything. I knew you for one day and I wasn’t afraid to tell you anything. Why was that? I should have known back then what would come of it all.”
“I remember hearing you and being scared someone would find me with contraband, like it was prison or something, and then seeing you. You were who I was hoping for.”
“You see? I knew you had something romantic to say.”
“Sophie, for as terrified as I’ve been about all of this, I’ve never had a doubt that it’s been worth it. Every time I look into your eyes-“
“Oh Miles, quit.”
“Sorry. It’s your fault. I was never like this until you came along.”
“I think that you’ve always been like this. You just didn’t notice it.” Miles nodded ad noticed that some things stayed the same. The peeling brown paint on the stairs and walls as well as the mosquito-burned lamplight was as static as the first time he had snuck a bottle onto the back ‘porch’.
“Yet another place we’ll miss,” Miles said, more to himself than Sophie. She sighed just the same. They would have said something more but anything they could have uttered to one another had been said a hundred times before.
“Miles, are we crazy?” Sophie asked eventually.
“Of course, Sophie. We’re out of our minds. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be?”
“If you say so.” They stared out into the woods silently for what seemed like hours.
“It’s so funny. We’re both from cities but we met one another in the woods. I never thought trees would represent so much, but here we are.”
“Would you have married me if you didn’t have to?”
Miles’ sober buzz was stopped short. “Um, well, probably not so soon, in all honesty,”
“That’s what I wanted to hear.” Sophie reaffirmed her position with a possessive kiss.
“I would have wanted you to come with me, though, as much as I want you to come with me now. So I guess it doesn’t really matter how it came to be. I never thought I’d be marrying someone when I came out here, that’s for sure. And I hope you won’t hate me for sounding really clichéd, but now I couldn’t imagine not marrying you.”
“I forgive you. Clichés exist because they’re true most of the time.”
“No one but you.”
“What?”
“Nothing. This is why I’m marrying you.”
“Right here?” Sophie leaned into Miles.
“Sophie?”
“Miles?”
“I wish there was something else I could say other than what I’ve already promised you.”
“I know. Shut up.” He did. They sat on the back steps of Miles’ cabin for a while longer, both realizing that it would probably be the last time they would set together at the first place they had really met, until cold and exhaustion got the best of them.
Tuesday, May 9
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
“Miles?”
“Yeah, Sophie?”
“I love you. Let’s run away together.” She giggled herself awake.
“You are ridiculous,” Miles answered after Sophie had regained her composure. “But for the record I love you too, and I think running away together would be a splendid idea.”
“We should call our parents today and tell them we haven’t planned a bloody thing yet.”
“I’m sure that they would love to here that. Shall we go to work first?”
“Do we have too?”
“How else are we going to pay for our extravagant life together?”
“Good point. You’re going to have to get a better job so I can bask in luxury.”
“There’s no question that’s what you deserve. But you picked me instead. So get up and hide those curves with a staff shirt.”
“Miles, you flatter me.”
“Just pointing out the obvious. You’re sexy, and you’re going to have to come to terms with that eventually.”
“Oh my God, you’re re ridiculous.” Sophie glided off the bed nonetheless with Miles close behind.
They made it to the dining hall with well over three minutes to spare. The routine they had become so very accustomed to was slipped into unconsciously. Another day of team-building and faux-outdoor education was on the agenda. It was a different school, but the faces and activities all seemed the same by the first week of May.
“Don’t you worry, Sophie. We’re going to do sensational things together. I can feel it. We’re too fun.” She smiled and nudged his shoulders with hers.
“Let’s have fun with this, man,” Miles said as he and Jabari stood waiting for their group in the dining hall after breakfast. “Let’s do this like we don’t give a shit. Have fun.”
“Yeah,” Jabari chuckled. “What are they going to do? Fire us?”
“Exactly. I want to be laughing the whole damn day.”
“That sounds like a fucking plan, man. I’m with you. Let’s get these kids out there.” The duo’s group amassed in front of them just after the last of their plan was formulated.
The cohorts led their group out onto the challenge course to begin the activities. The first element of the day was called ‘whale watch’. The object was to get everyone on a deck straddling a fulcrum. The challenge would be bested when the group was all on the ‘ship’ and it was balanced with neither side touching the ground. Miles and Jabari eschewed the textbook story and spun a yarn to the effect of a James-Bond type sensor pad that had to be turned off before they could move on to the next top-secret spy thingy. It felt so good to both of them to ad-lib bullshit after so much repetition that they could not help but smile.
As a result of their shenanigans the morning disappeared faster than they had ever seen and they were the only ones smiling and jabbering as they walked into the dining hall for lunch.
“What the hell has gotten into you two?” Sophie asked, smiling contagiously.
Miles kissed her on the cheek. “We had a blast this morning.”
“What did you do?”
“I don’t even know.”
“Some James Bond Shit!” Jabari laughed and slapped hands with Miles.
“We told the kids everything was a top secret spy mission. We were doing barrel rolls and ninja-creeping and shit all morning. Stuff I haven’t done since I was a kid. They loved it!”
“Wow. I haven’t seen you this excited about a group since…I’ve never seen you this excited about a group.”
“We decided this morning that we just didn’t care anymore. Not in a bad way, I suppose, but we just wanted to have fun.”
“Oh. That’s good. I’m glad you’re in a good mood.”
“I am in a great mood. If there weren’t so many people around I’d take my extra energy out on you right now.”
“Miles!” Jabari laughed behind her and punched the back of Miles’ shoulder.
“Ah, enough of that. Let’s get some lunch.”
Jabari and Miles settled down a bit during lunch but the cool spy tricks they made up with their kids on the low-ropes activities were nothing compared to what they came up with when they were doing the giant swing and the zip-line after lunch.
“We even made up a handshake,” Miles said to Sophie in the buffet line. “Watch this.” He had spotted one of his kids making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at a cart-island diagonally ahead of them. “Hey James!” The kid ran over. Miles held his hand out and he and James started into a series of choreographed grasps. After a quick ninja-bow James went back to slathering grape jelly on his bread. Sophie nodded and shook her head, smiling with confusion.
“So is this the new Miles?” Sophie asked once they had set down at the staff table with full plates.
“I don’t know. You know how we decided that we’re the most important thing to one another?”
“Yeah, the whole marriage thing, right?”
Miles smiled. “Right. Well, when I’m with you I don’t care about anything but you. Every time I look in you eyes, and I’m so sorry if this sounds like something out of a movie, but every time I look into your eyes or see you smile or feel your skin, I don’t care about anything else but what would make you happy because that makes me happy. But I only do that with you. So, this morning I decided to feel like that with something else. Makes me feel guilty, actually. But it worked. I just gave myself to this crazy adventure fantasy and I was thrilled with it the whole day. It was great.”
“Wow. That’s…that’s really amazing. I like seeing you this way. I was getting worried.”
“Well, it’s a work in progress. But maybe I found out I like this stuff, doing it by the seat of my pants, anyways. Maybe you made me feel so good that I wanted to start feeling that way all the time. I don’t know.”
“That’s sweet.” And in an unprecedented move, Sophie initiated an open-mouthed kiss in public.
Weariness set in during the evening campfire but even as Miles walked with Sophie to their bed a spring could still be found in his step.
Miles stared at Sophie without moving until his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He waited until he could see either the moon or a street lamp in her eyes before he spoke.
“I love you, Sophie.”
“I love you, Miles.”
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