Summer Camp

Nick whirled around and stared at her in surprise. "Oh, hi babe! I didn't see you. Why don't you come and play with us. I'll get you some chips."

"How about we don't play and you come and spend some time with me," she countered.

Nick looked at Jeremy with a pained expression. "That sounds great to me. I'll just leave all my chips here and spend some time with you." He muttered. Jeremy grinned widely. "Andyoucan just shut your face!" Nick growled at him under his breath. Jeremy's grin grew even wider and Nick turned and stalked toward the doorway.

Jeremy and Sandy laughed together as soon as the other two were gone. "Sometimes it seems like my brother's only got half a brain," she giggled.

"Oh so you're trying to say that you've got one and a half brains," said Jeremy with a grin.

"Maybe," she answered and flipped her hair seductively. "Do you want to keep playing?" she asked.

"Naw, you have way more chips than me so we'll say that you won,"

"Are you trying to suck up to me?" she asked coyly.

"No, we could make this last a few more hours if you want, but I think you'd still take me. Legitimately of course."

"What was your eighteenth birthday like," she asked suddenly.

Jeremy blinked. "Well, let's see... My old man woke me up and congratulated me on being old enough to leave his house and asked if I wanted a cigarette."

"Are you serious? What did you say?"

"I told him why not and he handed me a smoke. I took a few puffs, coughed my ass off, and told him that I never wanted to see one again."

"What did he say?"

"He told me that I'd learned a valuable life lesson and that if I had that much sense, he figured that I could live with him for a little while longer," said Jeremy with a grin.

Sandy smiled. "That doesn't sound so bad."

"What was yours like?"

"Well it wasn't much of a birthday for me. Everybody pretty much paid attention to my brother and I kind of got left out."

"You're saying that everybody ignored you?"

"Well, not totally. I got some presents and everything, but the party was all about Nick. His girlfriend got to come over and spend the night for the first time, I had just broken up with Tim, and I was pretty much left to myself. Oh wait, I forgot about the part where my mom gave me college books for my birthday present."

"Is that a bad thing?" asked Jeremy.

"Well, it's not the kind of thing that you expect to get for an eighteenth birthday present. I mean I was going to pretty much get those anyway. I don't know... I guess that a girl just has higher expectations for that special birthday."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. It's the first day that you're officially an adult and you expect things to be different."

"Exactly! Nothing changed for me," said Sandy with a sigh. She glanced at her watch. "Hey, it's almost time for lunch. I guess that we should get ready."

"Yeah, I need to take these chips back to Nick. I guess I'll see you later."

"Ok, I'll catch you later," she said with a smile.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning the cabins and listening to Mr. Peterson talk about his experiences at Summer Camp. Jeremy wasn't used to getting up so early and he decided to make it an early night. He kind of regretted not looking for Sandy and he wondered if she had been looking for him. It was hard to sleep in the cabin because Nick had organized another Halo game and was being noisy. The next morning after breakfast Mr. Peterson announced that today was the day that they were going to hike to the top of Mount Hermit to camp. Nick and Jeremy hurried back to their room to get ready.

"I so do not want to go up that damn mountain," grumbled Nick. "Nicole isso excitedabout being out in nature," he mocked.

"She's getting on your nerves?" Jeremy asked as he tossed his toothbrush into his pack.

"Well, I don't know if she's getting on my nerves, but she's starting to become so bossy about everything. It's like she wants me to do everything with her all the time. I have no life! Be thankful that you're single Jeremy... At least I still have you to fall back on," said Nick patting his Xbox fondly.

"Too bad you can't take your Xbox up the mountain," said Jeremy with a smirk.

"That is a tragedy," Nick sighed. "This is going to be so unpleasant."

They finished packing and then met the rest of the group at the head of the trail. "Ok, I think everybody's here now," said Mr. Peterson as he finished counting. "I want everybody to stay together while we're doing this. If you need to go somewhere for some reason, let me know before you do it. This is not optional. Does everybody have everything?" The kids looked around at each other and then looked back at him. "Good, this is your last chance. I don't want hear any complaining about stuff that you forgot. Got it?" Everybody nodded. "Ok then, let's get started."

They started up the trail and Jeremy followed behind Nick and Nicole. They had been hiking for about an hour when Nicole started talking.

"Isn't this all so beautiful Nick?" she gasped.

"Yeah babe, it's great," he grumbled.

She turned and glared at him. "Why do you have to be so negative all the time? Can't you enjoy something pleasant for one minute?"

He stared at her. "I just said that it's great!" He turned and addressed Jeremy. "Did I just say something negative? Seriously! What is your deal?" he said to Nicole's back.

"Just come on Nick. You're pissing me off," she growled.

He let her walk ahead and fell in step with Jeremy. "See, this is the crap that I was talking about. She's fucking crazy!"

"Well you're not the easiest person to get along with yourself sometimes," said Jeremy.

"What, you're saying that this is my fault?" said Nick in disbelief.

"No, I'm just saying that it takes two people to make a relationship work and you're not doing your whole job either."

"I don't see you making it work with someone," Nick grumbled.

"You're right. I have no business telling you something that you should be able to see for yourself. My bad!"

Nick gave him a dirty look and ran up the trail and started walking next to Nicole again.

"You're right, you know."

Jeremy turned around to see Sandy coming up the trail behind him. "About what?" he asked.

"About my brother and the way that he treats Nicole."

"Well, I'm not saying that it's all his fault. I'm sure that there's a few things that they could both fix."

"True. I guess that maybe they're not the best couple."

"If they both put up with each other then maybe it's supposed to be," said Jeremy.

"You're right. They deserve each other," said Sandy with a laugh.

Jeremy reached out and helped her over a rock. "Thanks," she said and smiled at him weakly.

"No problem. This trail is kind of a bitch."

"Yeah, but they say that the view from the top is unbelievable. You know that there's supposed to be snow on the peak?"

"Really? I haven't seen much snow in a long time."

"Yeah, me either. Hey are those storm clouds over there?" She asked and pointed at the sky to their left.

"Looks like it to me. Let's hope that we don't get rained on. That would suck," said Jeremy.

"I really hope that they're not. I heard that they've been getting a lot of rain around here and that the rivers are really high."

"I'm sure that there's nothing to worry about. Mr. Peterson wouldn't have taken us up here today if we were going to run into problems," Jeremy soothed.

"You're probably right," she said while casting a worried glance at the sky.

They had only been hiking for another hour when the first drops of rain began to fall. It quickly escaladed into a downpour. It was starting to get dark when the worst became a reality.

"Look out!" yelled Nick pointing ahead of them. Water was gushing down the side of the mountain and the kids in front screamed as they tried to get to cover.

"It's flooding!" Screamed Nicole as Nick grabbed her hand and pulled her towards a big tree next to the trail.

"Grab onto something!" yelled Mr. Peterson.

Jeremy turned around too late and the wall of water caught him and knocked him over. He was helplessly pushed down the trail until he was able to grab onto a tree stump. Unfortunately he couldn't hold onto his backpack and the water ripped it from his grasp and washed it down the trail. The water was gone as quickly as it had come. The drenched teenagers gathered together in a small clearing near the trail.

"Is everybody here?" called Mr. Peterson. The kids looked around and checked to see if their friends were present. Mr. Peterson quickly took a head count. "Thank God, nobody is missing," he said with conviction. "Ok, does everybody have all of their gear?" There were some murmurs in the group and it became clear that things were missing. "Raise your hand if you're missing something significant from your gear." Almost half of the kids raised their hand. "How many of you are missing a tent?" Most of the hands stayed up. "Ok, everybody chill for a minute while I try to figure this out," said Mr. Peterson.

"What are we going to do," whispered Nicole.

"I don't know. It's too late to go back down to the lodge. It's already dark," said Sandy.

"I guess some of us will be sleeping under the stars tonight," said Jeremy.

"It shouldn't come to that. It'll be too cold. There's enough tents if everybody doubles up," said Sandy.

"Yeah, like Peterson's gonna let that happen," said Nick sarcastically as Mr. Peterson walked back into the clearing.

"All right, everybody come in close," said Mr. Peterson gesturing towards the clearing. "Like most of you have probably determined, it's too dark to go back tonight. So that means that we'll be spending the night here. I guess we'll see what everybody feels like in the morning, and if you're still up to it then we can still go and see the top. As for tonight, we're going to have to double up on tents. Now this is where our situation begins." He paused. "You can all see that the girls outnumber the boys in our group. This means that some of you will be sharing a tent with a member of the opposite gender. If that's going to be a problem for anyone, speak up now and I'll try to figure something else out." He looked around the group and when he saw that no hands were raised he continued. "If you have a tent, I need for you to find one of the people that had their hand raised. This will be our sleeping arrangement for tonight. I really need everybody to be on their best behavior through this. I won't be able to monitor you guys throughout the night, so we're just going to have to do this on trust. Do you all understand?" Heads nodded. "Ok, let's make camp."

Nick grinned. "Obviously Nicole and I will be rooming together," he said.

"Obviously," said Nicole sarcastically as she followed him towards the camp area.

"Do you have a tent Jeremy?" asked Sandy.

"No, do you?" he asked.

"Yeah. I guess that makes us roommates," she said with a shy smile. They walked to the camping area and Jeremy quickly put together the tent. Mr. Peterson gathered some wood that hadn't been soaked and made a bonfire in the middle of the tents. The kids sat silently around it and shared the little bit of food that had survived. The stars were high in the sky when Mr. Peterson decided that it was time to turn in.

Sandy disappeared into the tent and came out wearing pajama bottoms and another spaghetti top. "Do you have any extra clothes," she asked Jeremy.

"No, I lost everything with my pack," he said sadly.

"Well, you're still soaked. Is your underwear half-way dry?"

"It's dryer than the rest of me," Jeremy said with a grin.

"Just wear that then."

Jeremy crawled into the tent and started undressing.

"Let me know when you're ready," Sandy called.

Jeremy slid out of his soaked jeans and pulled off his t-shirt. He unzipped the tent and tossed them outside. "I guess I'm as decent as I'm going to get," he said.

Sandy crawled into the tent and Jeremy lay back in the sleeping bag. She zipped the tent shut and crawled into the sleeping bag next to him.

"God Jeremy! You're freezing!" she gasped.

"Sorry," he said and tried to make some room between them.

"No, its ok," she said as she snuggled against him. "We'll use our body heat. Then we'll both be warm." She grabbed his arm and pulled it around her waste. "Is that better," she whispered.

"That's a lot better," he said huskily.

They went silent and Jeremy was aware of how close she was. His hand was on her firm stomach and he could smell the sweetness of shampoo in her hair. Her ass was pressed firmly against his crotch. He slowly moved his fingers against her stomach and listened to her breathing.

"Hey," he whispered softly. "Are you still awake?"

"Yes."

"Do you mind if I ask you something?"

She rolled over onto her back and looked up at him. Her dark hair was loose and it fanned out softly against the pillow. He noticed how beautiful her brown eyes were.

"What?" she whispered.

Jeremy swallowed and gathered himself. "Do you mind if I kiss you goodnight?" It came out in a rush and he immediately wished that he could take it back.

She was silent and Jeremy feared the worse. "I'm sorry that I asked. I think that I should sleep outside," he said weakly.

He started to get up and she grabbed his arm. "I think it would be nice," she said softly.

He looked back down at her. "What?"

"If you would kiss me goodnight."

He looked down at her and saw that she was serious. He lowered himself back down and hovered over her for a second before he met her lips. At first they just brushed and then he leaned into it and kissed her passionately. Their tongues caressed each other and he could feel his nose gently brush hers. She smelled so sweet. Their lips finally parted and he looked down at her. She opened her eyes slowly and smiled.

"That was nice." Her words were barely a whisper.

He brushed her cheek with his fingers and she gently held his hand for a moment.

"Good night Jeremy."

"Good night Sandy."

She rolled back over onto her side and he lay down next to her. She took his hand and pulled his arm around her again and pressed herself into him. They lay quietly for a little while and then Jeremy began gently caressing her stomach. His touch was light and he felt the softness of her shirt. He moved his fingers slowly until he had pushed up part of the hem. He could feel silent shivers go down his spine when his fingers first touched the soft skin of her stomach. A few fingers at a time, he slowly worked his hand under the front of her shirt. She never moved a muscle. Maybe she was already asleep. He continued to gently stroke her soft skin, and with each slow motion he worked his hand farther up her shirt. He froze when the backs of his fingers touch the bottom of her bra. She sighed softly. He still couldn't tell if she was asleep.

He continued to caress her, making sure that each time he touched more and more of her bra. He could hear the sounds of insects breaking the stillness of the night. Jeremy finally worked up the nerve to ever so slowly move his hand over her breast. He could feel the soft material of her bra against his palm and he lay completely still for several moments. As gently as he could he added more pressure to his grip. It felt so good! He realized that he had been holding his breath. Suddenly she sighed and rolled over onto her back.

Jeremy jerked as if his hand had been in a trap. She looked up at him. "I'm so sorry," he gasped as he frantically tried to pull her shirt back down. She sat up and looked at him for a few seconds that seemed to last for years. Then she leaned in and softly kissed him. When she pulled back she giggled at the surprise on his face.

"You're not mad at me?" he asked.

"No, I think you're very sweet. And you've got a nice touch," she said as she lay back down and looked at him.

"I'm still sorry. I feel like I've taken advantage. I'll leave you alone, I promise"

She took his hand. "It's ok Jeremy. You can touch me if you want to. I kind of like it." She moved his hand over her breast and he gently felt her firmness through the material of her shirt. He leaned down and kissed her and she kissed him back passionately. He pulled back and slowly lifted her shirt and pushed it over her bra. He leaned down and kissed her stomach above her navel and gently worked his way up her chest. He paused and then lightly kissed the top of her breast above the bra.

She sat up slightly and pulled her shirt over her head. He decided to be bold and reached around her and clumsily undid her bra. Before he could remove it, she put her hands on his face and kissed him deeply as she lay back down. He pulled away from her kiss and began gently kissing her neck and then he nibbled softly on her ear lobe. Sandy gasped as he pulled away. He sat up straight and looked down at her for a moment.

"I don't think I've ever told you how beautiful you are to me," he said softly.

"No, I don't think you have."

"Believe me I've wanted to, but I never really thought that things could work out," he said.

She sat up a little. "Why not?"

"I don't know. Probably because I'm friends with your brother and it just seemed too complicated."

"That's not a good reason Jeremy, and you know it."

"If you want the honest truth, the reason that I didn't date anybody this year was because I honestly wanted you and I knew that I couldn't have you."

"How long have you felt like this?" she asked quietly.

"I guess it started when I was dating Ashley. That whole thing was so fake to me and I know that I want something deeper than that."

"So you haven't been mopy about losing Ashley, you've been mopy about me?"

"Let's just say that I wasn't looking for anyone this year because I knew that I'd already found her," Jeremy said leaning over her.

"That's probably the sweetest thing anybody's ever said to me," said Sandy.

"Like I already said, I don't want to take advantage of you. If this doesn't feel right to you then we can stop right now and I won't bring it up again."

"Right now, this feels like the only right thing in the world."

She took her bra and slowly laid it to the side. Jeremy's eyes never left hers. He kissed her softly before he let his gaze drop.

"Have I mentioned that you're the most beautiful creature in the world?" he asked.

"You've said something along those lines," she giggled.

He leaned down and gently ran his tongue around her areola. He moved his hand over her other breast and felt the nipple rise against his palm. Jeremy carefully took her nipple his mouth and sucked it softly. He released it and flicked her other nipple with his tongue. He ran his hand firmly down her stomach and back up to her chest. He paused and kissed her neck.

She ran her hands over his firm chest and then through his hair. He moved his hand down to her crotch and gently rubbed his finger against the outline of her lips. Jeremy continued to feel her through her pajama bottoms while he delicately licked her nipples. They were both hard and aroused. He leaned down and began kissing around her navel again. This time he began to work his way down. He used his free hand to expose more skin. She lifted her ass to allow him to slide her bottoms off. She was left with only her thong.

He knelt between her legs and ran his tongue across the fabric of her thong. She leaned back and sighed softly. He kissed the inside of her thigh and gently pulled her underwear to the side. Jeremy ran his finger along the lips of her pussy and paused before he tasted her moisture on his hand. He quickly lifted up her ass and slid her thong down her legs where it joined her pajama bottoms in a pile on the floor.

She reached for his crotch and gently grasped his hardened member through his boxers. He moved his face between her legs and pushed his tongue into her waiting crevice. She gasped in pleasure as his tongue sunk deep into her pussy. He gently sucked her clit into his mouth and released it. He flicked his tongue over it quickly and Sandy grabbed onto the folds of the sleeping bag as pleasure threatened to overwhelm her. She panted as she fumbled with his boxers. He continued to work his mouth over her wet pussy while she made an effort to remove his underwear. He paused so that she would have enough control to finish.