chapter 5
I woke up late the next morning and found that I had missed Tracey’s call. “I guess my phone was on vibrate,” I said, dialing into my voicemail to listen to her message.
“Paige, you are supposed to be up. I just had the best date ever and can’t wait to tell you about it. Call me!”
I decided to get myself cleaned up and jog down to the lake before giving Tracey a call back. I didn’t have anything else going on since my parents had already left for their Cider Mill tour. Since Ashley said they weren’t going to be around either, I was hoping I would have the beach all to myself. I put my navy blue bikini on under my running shorts, threw on a white tank top and headed out.
As I was jogging down the path, I spotted Travis walking back up. His hair was wet and he was carrying his shirt over his shoulder. It gave me a clear view of his abs and the boy was ripped. His tan skin was glistening with either sweat or water, which accentuated his muscles further. Seriously, he is too sexy for his own good, I thought, slowing my pace as I reached him. Just as I was about to stop and chat, I noticed Ashley and Scott coming up from behind. Interesting. I thought they were supposed to be gone for the morning. Apparently, she lied to avoid having to include me in their plans. “Hey Paige!” Travis said as I passed.
“Hey!” I said, jogging right on by. I then passed Ashley and Scott and not surprisingly, Scott was the only one that responded.
When I got down to the beach I gave Tracey a call right away. I needed to hear a friendly voice and I was eager to learn about her date. Of course, we spent the first thirty minutes of the call discussing every single detail of her night out with Tom, which apparently went extremely well.
“So anyway, how is it going there?” she asked and the conversation was now turned to me.
“It’s going,” I said, flustered by the frosty welcome I had received from the girls.
“Uh oh, what happened?” Tracey asked, picking up on my tone right away.
“So far it’s been great with my parents, they are really getting into this whole camping thing and my dad even went tubing.” I highlighted the positives first.
“Wow, Paul went tubing. Now, that is shocking,”
“I know, right,” I agreed. “It was fun though. My mom has even been attempting to cook, well, let’s say she has been pouring the cereal,” I said, giggling at the fact.
“Seriously? Your folks are really into this, huh! So, what’s wrong?” she pressed further for the negatives.
“Well, the guys up here are like Sex Gods. Literally, the most attractive guys I’ve ever seen.”
“What’s wrong with that? That doesn’t sound bad at all,” she interjected.
“Well, the girls are like Satan’s mistresses. They pretty much looked at me and decided they didn’t like me.”
“Ugh, that bad huh?” Tracey empathized and understood right away what I was being subjected to. Being from East Hampton, we had encountered our fair share of rude/obnoxious girls that believed themselves to be God’s greatest gifts. So Tracey knew exactly the type I was referring too.
“Yep. That bad. Nothing but rude glares and stare downs. Even in front of Travis’s mom, this one girl, Ashley, blatantly shunned me.”
“Wait, who’s Travis?” Tracey interrupted.
“He is the most gorgeous one of all and happens to be the owner’s son. Actually, he will be attending school with us next year,” I exclaimed.
“Um, hello!” Tracey shrieked. “Why haven’t you text messaged me about him? What is he like?” she demanded, curious for any juicy gossip.
“Well, he is super sweet, incredibly sexy, makes me want to rip his clothes off and devour him every time he smiles, and I think is dating the most obnoxious of the girls here,” I explained very matter of factly.
“Wow, Paige! I think you’re drooling through the phone,” Tracey teased. “So, do you know for certain that he’s dating her?” she asked.
“No, but I get the impression that they are.”
“Well, you should definitely find out. You might as well enjoy some wood, while you’re stuck out in those woods all summer long.” She laughed at her ridiculous joke and I fed her ego by giggling along with her. “Either way, I think you should give them more time. It’s only been a DAY!” She highlighted the fact, and insinuated that I might be overreacting.
“I don’t think they want more time with me, and I, for certain, don’t want to be the subject of ridicule for the next two months. So, I think I’m going to spend the time with my parents and work on the dance. I would like to enjoy my summer!” I finished, determined to keep to myself and not get involved in any of the drama.
“Don’t let them scare you off Paige. They are probably just nervous having a new girl around. Please don’t lock yourself in that box all summer long, promise me you’ll at least give it one more shot,” she encouraged, convincing me to try again
“They are having a pool party later this afternoon, maybe I’ll go to that and see what happens,” I conceded, but silently I decided that if they still acted like jerks I was going to start participating in the adult events.
“Good. Well, call me if you need me and send over some moves when you get them done.” Tracey and I finished our call discussing the dance for the festival, and some other matters that we needed to take care of concerning some of the charity fund disbursement.
Once we were done, I scrolled through my play list trying to find the perfect song for the dance. For some reason Travis and tattoos were on my mind, so I decided on “One More Night” by Maroon 5. It definitely had a great beat, and would incorporate all of our dancers, including the guys. “Perfect!” I said, then registered the time on my phone. It was already 1:30, so I decided to head back to the RV, grab my dance book and then go to the pool party. I thought that maybe if I were to lay out and get some work done, the girls would see that I’m not trying to force myself on them, but that I would like to participate in things. “I don’t know, it’s worth a shot,” I muttered and then started my jog back up the trail.
The party had already started by the time I got there. Dance music was playing over the speakers, people were lying out on lounge chairs and others were splashing around in the pool. To the side was a table, where Travis was dishing out ice cream to everyone. Although there were a few younger kids around, it was mostly just the “Big Kids.” All of them were hanging around the deep end, so I decided to find a spot on the opposite side. Upon my entrance into the pool area, every single one of the girls stared at me. Thankfully, Travis and the guys were too distracted with the ice cream to notice.
I unwrapped the sarong around my waist and then turned to get my lounger situated in the right position. For some reason, I couldn’t get it to stay upright and no matter what I tried it kept flopping down into the flat position. The other girls were probably loving the show. I rolled my eyes at the thought. As I made one final attempt, I heard Travis come up from behind.
“Hey Paige! I’m glad you made it. Can I give you a hand with that?” he offered, moving to the back of the chair and clicking it up.
“Thanks!” I said, embarrassed by the situation.
“Did you have a good run?” he asked, looking at me with his gorgeous smile.
I looked up at him to answer and found myself admiring his blue eyes. I noticed them discreetly glance down my body, which was subtle, but I knew that he had checked me out. The realization made my stomach flip.
“Yes, that trail is great and the lake is absolutely breathtaking,” I finally spoke.
Actually, seeing Travis in his navy swim trunks with his t-shirt clinging to his muscles was just as breathtaking. I had to brush the thought away, because I knew my cheeks were becoming heated.
“So, are you a hard core runner?” he asked. His question puzzled me, but maybe he just had gotten the impression since I had gone running two days in a row.
“No. I love it, but I don’t compete or run marathons or anything.”
“Oh,” he said, looking slightly disappointed by my response.
“Why do you ask? Do you race?” I returned the question trying to understand the reason for his expression.
“No. It just seemed like you didn’t want to break stride today to chat, so I just figured you were timing yourself.”
Travis’s answer made me aware that I had been a jerk in the woods earlier. Maybe Tracey was right, and I needed to give everyone a fair shot and just be myself. Running by him was so out of character for me that I was mad at myself for doing it. “I’m sorry. I just had a lot on my mind this morning and needed to jog it off,” I explained, hoping to smooth over the situation.
“I get it. I run to clear my head too. Is everything okay?” he asked, sounding concerned and I realized I had said too much.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. So, what kind of ice cream are you serving?” I changed the subject to avoid having to reveal my Ashley dilemma and the fact that I was hurt that everyone had shunned me.
“Chocolate and vanilla. I actually need to go get some more containers out of the freezer, but I’ll be back. Can I get you some?” he offered, giving me his sexy smile again.
“Sure. I would love some chocolate.”
“Chocolate it is. Coming right up!”
He winked and then turned to make his way out of the pool area. As he was leaving though, he stopped to pull his shirt off over his head and tossed it down on an empty chair. He turned and gave me another wink before leaving. I was practically drooling over his body, and wondered if he had intentionally stopped to give me the show. With a body like his, he had to have a girlfriend so I forced myself to shake off the inappropriate thoughts that were running through my mind.
As I waited for Travis to return with the ice cream, I began working on my dance. The music over the loud speakers was a bit distracting, since I was trying to come up with moves to a different song. So I plugged my headphones in, and put “One More Night” on repeat. Moves started coming to me, and I began to jot them down in my notebook. Of course I wasn’t about to get up and try them out, but I had been dancing long enough to be able to visualize most of it. Then later, I would practice them on the beach to make sure it all flowed together.
I was thoroughly engrossed in what I was doing and hastily writing in my notebook when I was startled by an ice-cold feeling on my leg. I jerked my head up to see Travis standing next to my chair holding a bowl of ice cream.
“One bowl of chocolate ice cream!” he exclaimed, handing me the dish and offering me a wink. I took my headphones off so that I could hear and thanked him.
“So, what are you busy working on? I’ve been standing here for a minute, but couldn’t get your attention. I was beginning to think you were trying to ignore me,” he said, giving me an adorable pout that came across as a little flirtatious. He then took a seat on the edge of the neighboring chair and put his hands on his knees.
“Just coming up with a dance for something. Sorry, I kind of get focused when I work. Thanks for this!” I said, taking a bite.
“No problem. So you’re a dancer.”
“Yeah, it’s just something I like to do in my free time,” I answered and then glanced over to see that Britney and Ashley were now swimming down towards our end of the pool.
“And you also choreograph? Do you work for a dance studio or something?”
“No. Well sometimes I help out with the younger classes at our local studio. But this is for the annual Labor Day Festival in East Hampton. My friends and I will be performing at it.” I didn’t elaborate or get into any of the details about my organization because I didn’t want him to think that I was trying to brag or make myself out to be a goody-two-shoes.
“So, do you work here all summer?” I asked, wanting to change the subject and put him in the spotlight.
“Yes, I fill in for my dad whenever necessary and then I run all of the youth events,” he said, gesturing his hand toward the party. I looked over and noticed the two girls were now just hanging onto the edge listening to our conversation. The nerves started to build in my stomach, but I had to remember not to let them get the best of me.
“That’s great. Do you enjoy it?”
“I do. I love being out here, and it helps out my dad a lot so it’s all good,” he said.
“It’s pretty great out here. Especially the lake, I’m in love,” I admitted and then the next thing I knew I was being drenched with cold water.
“What the hell!” Travis jumped up and turned towards the pool. “What was that for Ash?” he yelled and I realized that the girls had just splashed us. I was still trying to wipe my eyes and then looked down to see that my notebook was soaking wet.
“Oh no!” I cried, jumping up to grab the towel from my chair to dry off the notebook.
The girls were laughing and called back, “You looked like you needed to cool off,” as they made their way back down to the deep end. I was preoccupied trying to get my belongings dry and was worried about my dance notebook. It held over thirty of my dances and I couldn’t lose them.
Travis turned to help get my things situated. “Sorry about that!” he said in all sincerity. “Is your book ruined?” he asked, noticing that I was frantically trying to dry it.
“It’s soaked.”
“I’m sorry, it’s important isn’t it?” I could hear the concern in his voice and I looked up to see it showing on his face.
“Yes,” I answered, unable to disguise my sadness. I started to feel tears prick my eyes, so I wanted to remove myself from the situation. “I’m going to go to the bathroom and see if I can get it dried off with one of the blow dryers.”
I gathered up my things to leave and was turning to head toward the bathroom when I felt Travis stop me. “Can I help Paige?” He reached out to touch my arm and our eyes met. I felt a tear slip down my cheek, but when I saw the tender expression on Travis’s face I began to calm. His kindness was like a magic potion that soothed me.
“No, it’s fine. I’m going to go see what I can do,” I said and then made my exit.
I spent a good twenty minutes trying to dry my notebook under the hand dryers in the bathroom. The book seemed like it was going to be okay. The pages were a little stiff, but none of the writing had bled so I could still read everything. Thank goodness! I thought and picked up the rest of my belongings to leave.
I was just about to open the door when Ashley came rushing in. My nerves exploded in my stomach when I saw her because I wasn’t sure if she was coming in to give me more grief. She was frantic and I could see panic on her face as she rushed by me and went straight into one of the stalls. “No!” she shrieked and I was instantly worried that something was wrong.
“Ashley, are you okay?” I asked, trying to be friendly and wanting to make sure she was all right.
“No,” she snapped back.
“Is there anything I can do? Do you need something?” I wanted to be helpful but had no idea what was wrong.
“Do you have a towel or something?” she reluctantly asked from behind the door.
“Yes, why?”
“I got my period and bled through my suit. That’s why,” she shouted, clearly taking her frustration out on me.
I instantly felt for her. It’s a girl’s worst nightmare to be caught without protection and have a revealing stain show through your clothes. “My towel is soaking wet, so it might not work. Why don’t you take my cover up? It’s dark and you can just tie it around your waist,” I proposed, giving her a different option.
“How am I going to explain that to everyone? What, I went in the bathroom and you lent me your clothes?” She obviously didn’t want to have to come up with an explanation for her friends, but I couldn’t blame her.
“Just say I left it in the bathroom and you wanted to try it on. Then you can tell them you’re bringing it back to me and go to your camper to change. I won’t say a thing, promise, okay?”
She took the sarong from my hands and then tied it around herself. It did the trick and there was no way anyone would notice the blood. “You’re good,” I assured her and then picked up my things to leave. She was checking out her reflection from behind in the mirror to make sure she was okay, and barely offered a thank you.
“No problem,” I said then pushed the restroom door open to leave.
“Oh my gosh!” I shrieked as I ran smack dab into someone’s chest. “I’m sorry,” I sputtered out looking up to see that it was Travis.
“No worries. Are you okay?” he asked as he helped me find my balance.
“I’m fine.”
“How’s the book?” I was warmed by his concern and wondered if he had been waiting for me the entire time.
“It survived!” I cheered.
“Good! Is Ashley okay?” Oh, he must have noticed her panicked escape to the bathroom and been alarmed. I felt instantly foolish for thinking otherwise. Just checking on his girlfriend, I thought, feeling a twinge of jealousy.
“She’s good, just using the restroom. I’ll see you around Travis,” I said, turning to make my exit.
“See ya Paige.”