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simplewriterlivingasimplelife · 2 years

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Original Work:

Honestly I don’t know, I wanted to post this here. It’s a new work I’m trying to go through with and it’s exciting.

Chapter 1:

June 8th, 1986

4 weeks before Camp Wildwood Opening

Valkyrie Wexler used to be just a cute girl in my calculus class. She always sat in the same place one seat away from me; the third row, five seats over. She was super smart; she got A’s on all the exams and always answered the questions that should have made more sense to me. I heard from Gretchen, the girl next to her, that she wanted to be an engineer.

She came to the roller rink every Friday, right after her last class. I was working there at the time and I still honestly am; it’s my fault I wanted to go to a college that cost too much so I really didn’t want to be broke by the end of it. I kind of was forced to talk to her but I wouldn’t call it much of a conversation; sometimes she’d say hi, and other times she’d say she liked the music. One Friday things went different when she leaned up on the counter with the same polite smile on her face, “Sorry for being so unobservant before but…aren’t we in the same calculus class?”

My brain pretty much shut down and I’m lucky I managed a response, “I, um, yeah. I like to suffer in there, that’s why I registered.”

I didn’t realize how stupid that sounded until after I said it, but it got her to laugh. I was honest about the class literally killing me and she offered to tutor me, free of charge. Even if I did kind of feel bad about the whole thing I accepted and she looked beyond happy about it, saying that we could meet up soon. I remember watching her walk away with her skates and I still can’t help but wonder how I didn’t freak out through that whole conversation.

We studied a lot and she kind of gave me some hope that maybe I wasn’t so bad at math after all. One week before the final, I asked her if she wanted to go to see a movie.

I remember her giving me a smile, “Sure. Movies are pretty neat.”

Jackson called it a date and deep down I knew that it kind of was, I just didn’t want to admit it. I didn’t really know where her heart was at the time, it’s hard when you’re a girl that likes another girl, so I wanted to be sure before making assumptions.

I ended up getting all the answers I needed when we walked out and she shyly reached over to grab my hand. I stared at our interlaced fingers for too long, completely freaking out on the inside as I looked back at her. She had that same cute smile on her face and her cheeks were bright pink, “Movies are neat, but I think you’re pretty neat too.”

All at once, I knew she was the one for me.

I drove her back to her apartment and she asked me to go skating with her on Saturday. I told her that sounded like a plan and then she leaned in to kiss me on the cheek right there at her front door. I was honestly speechless as I watched her pull away with a smile, telling me to call her in the morning.

We called it something official on the second date and five months later we’re still together, so I clearly did something right. She still comes by every Friday and I watch her go around the track among the sea of people, always having the time of her life.

“We need to start packing Nora.”

It’s Friday again and Valkyrie’s perched up on the counter, swinging her legs back and forth with a smile on her face. I handed the last kid his skates before looking over at her with a nod, “We still have the weekend we’ll be fine.”

For the next four weeks, I’m going to be an official counselor at Camp Wildwood. The place had a pretty bad reputation; there was a massacre in the seventies, a total bloodbath, and they never found out who did it. People have made crazy rumors about that place and I don’t know if I believe them all, but I do know the place is bad vibes. I probably wouldn’t have dropped it by now if the paycheck was terrible. I also convinced Valkyrie and a few of my friends to come with me too so, I felt a little less bad about facing potential ghosts.

It’s hard not to laugh at her comment and I can see her smiling as she looks over to my left, “Did you pack yet Jackson?”

Jackson was in the middle of putting returned skates back on the shelf when he looked up at Valkyrie, giving her a look that clearly said the question caught him by surprise. I met him when I started working here; we both had the same day and really didn’t like each other at first. The laws of the universe clearly had other plans though because now, we’re best friends.

He put the skates away before he got up and combed a hand through his hair with a shrug, “Nope, I’ve been too busy refreshing on first aid since I’m pretty much the camp nurse. I’ll have all my shit packed tomorrow.”

Jackson’s going to be a doctor eventually so along with being an asshole half the time, he’s also super smart.

“Are you excited about Adam coming?”

I glanced over at Valkyrie who was already smiling before looking back over to him, clearly seeing the question hit a nerve. He looked away shyly, running a clearly nervous hand through his hair as he tried to act nonchalant, “Yeah, sure. It’s whatever.”

Jackson’s been pretty terrible with long-term relationships. He’s had a total of three long-term girlfriends, two in high school and a business major doing a junior year of winter quarter. They all obviously ended and since then, he still hasn’t found his ‘ideal woman’. Even if he was one of my best friends his failures with love weren’t really my business until I realized that girls might have actually been the problem.

It started the day he met Adam. They were polar opposites and it took some time before Jackson admitted they were friends, but they actually did get along really well. My suspicions of Jackson having a crush on him turned out to be right after I started noticing things the more they hung out. He always talked about him nonstop even if they supposedly always argued, he was honestly in a better mood around him, and I’ve caught him staring more than once. Adam clearly was feeling the same way, he was obviously flirting and giving Jackson google eyes every time they were together.

“Are you going to tell him you like him or are we going to have to do it?”

Jackson turned bright red and his eyes went wide, “We’re just friends.”

Valkyrie tilted her head and innocently asked, “Then why are you blushing?”

She’s good at reading people, it’s just one of her many talents.

There’s music but the silence between the three of us is a little too loud. Jackson looks lost for words, eyes wide with surprise and obviously blushing. Eventually, he tries to cover it up with an irritated look as he turns to the skate shelf with a frustrated sigh, “I’m not blushing it’s…okay listen. Adam likes shitty music, he’s annoying, and he’s really fucking reckless, and I do care about him. As a friend though okay? That’s it. I don’t know what the both of you are trying to imply but just drop it because it’s nothing. We’re just friends.”

I shared a look with Valkyrie to confirm the bullshit and by some coincidence, I saw a familiar face coming to the counter.

“Speaking of Adam…”

He’s wearing red plaid, ripped jeans, and the same snarky grin. He’s walking with a bounce in his step, confident and focused on whatever mission he had in mind. Adam used to honestly just be my weed dealer but then somehow we became friends. I think he has nice hair and sick tattoos, but I’ll still forever be bitter about the fact that he put on eyeliner better than me.

I looked over to Valkyrie with a smile on my face as we both witnessed Jackson trying to act like he wasn’t nervous.

When Adam got close enough he gave us a nod, “Ladies. As per usual, you both are looking very pretty today.”

I roll my eyes and Valkyrie gives him a warm smile, “If someone catches you being so nice all the time it’s going to ruin your image.”

“Image? I didn’t know I was cool enough to have an image.”

I honestly don’t think I could be friends with him if he was a shitty person to Valkyrie, but they actually got along really well so it was nice to see. He got her to laugh, “What do you mean? You’re super cool.”

“Careful V, you’ll kill a man with all the flattery.”

He winks at Valkyrie with a playful smile on his face before leaning up on the counter, focusing on who he obviously came to see. Jackson obviously knows he’s there and he’s doing a really shitty job of pretending to ignore him, “Don’t get jealous Jackie, I think you’re looking pretty today too.”

Jackson’s face is flushed when he glares at a still smiling Adam, “You don’t even skate man, why do you come here?”

Adam twisted a ringed finger around a strand of his hair and had a mischievous look in his eyes, “I can’t help it, I like a man in uniform.”

I raised my eyebrows in surprise as I looked over at Valkyrie who was trying to hide a grin behind her hand. Jackson was speechless as he just stared at Adam who started laughing, “Relax dude, I’m just fucking with you. I honestly just like the vibes this place has going on.”

That was only half bullshit. This place was defintely different from the vibes he liked, but it was also a popular place to hang out, so you’d be the weirdo if you said you hated it. If he was just coming here for the shitty nachos and pop music I’m pretty sure he’d bring his friends along. He also wouldn’t coincidentally show up every time Jackson was on shift.

Jackson was still red in the face and he let out an annoyed sigh, “Well…I’m working. So don’t distract me.”

Adam put a hand to his heart, “Me? A distraction? I’m so honored.”

He still had that dumb smile on his face as he looked back over at us, “So how about our journey into hell forest? Did you two pack yet?”

We both shook our heads and Adam laughed, “I guess that makes three of us.”

“Do you believe that stuff with the Witch?”

Adam looked back over at Jackson before looking back at us with a shrug, “A crazy bitch that steals the souls of campers who dare to go into her forest? Man, I'll have to see it for myself to believe it.”

We talk for a little bit longer and right when I’m about to make up some excuse to leave them both alone, reach across the counter to grab my hand.

“Go around with me?”

Her dark eyes are giving me the look that always makes me melt on the inside. I look over to Jackson who rolled his eyes, “Yeah, Yeah. I’ll cover.”

I grinned, “You’re the best.”

As I pulled the skates in my size from the shelf I saw him shrug with a small smile on his face, “I know.”

“Don’t let Adam distract you too much, I know he’s nice to look at.”

Adam has a cheeky smile on his face as he gestures to me and looks back at Jackson, “Hear that Jackson? She says I’m nice to look at.”

Jackson flips me off and I can hear Adam starting to laugh as I walk away with Valkyrie to a bench by the track. She sits down next to me and tries to not make it super obvious to Jackson that we’re talking about him, “He does have a crush on him.”

I nod as I lace up the first skate, “I’m glad I’m not the only one that sees through Jackson’s obvious bullshit.”

“Do you think he’s forcing himself to not accept it? He knows he’s safe with us.”

I start to get the other skate on as I think a little bit about what she just said. People here are a lot more open-minded about dating who you wanted compared to other places, but there are obviously still homophobic people around. When it came to Jackson, I never really ever saw him as that kind of person. He didn’t make it a big deal when I came out to him and he was actually always trying to get me dates with girls before I met Valkyrie. He failed obviously, he can barely succeed with his own dating life, but I really did appreciate the effort. After I met Valkyrie, he was always pushing me to make a move on her.

I know there’s always a chance that things are different for him on the inside, but I don’t think shame had anything to do with it.

I shook my head as I tied the last knot, “I don’t think so, or at least I hope it has nothing to do with that. ”

“I hope he knows Adam likes him a lot.”

If the obvious flirting wasn’t a sign that he liked him, I didn’t know what was. I shrug and refuse the urge to glance back at them, “I’m not going to be surprised if he doesn’t, Jackson’s really dense with stuff like this. If we get him and Adam to spend time at the camp though, I think it’ll all work itself out.”

I was also going to get twenty bucks from Dan if I got them to admit their feelings while we were there.

She smiled and I stood up, getting my balance on the wheels before offering up my hand. She took it without question and we made our way into the sea of people just as Girls Just To Have Fun started blasting on the speakers. The colored light was bouncing around on the disco ball as people made their way around; some racing by and others just trying to keep their balance.

I looked over to see Valkyrie singing her favorite song with a bright smile on her face. I followed her lead when she started moving her feet along the beat, and I honestly couldn’t help laughing. As I started to sing along with her, I looked up just in time to see Jackson and Adam talking. At the last second, they both looked up, watching us both go by with smiles on their faces.

I hope that somehow, despite all of the stories and potentially annoying kids, we can make these four weeks worthwhile.

#original story #writing #original work #original writing #my writing

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