6. Autumn
six
Autumn
Sharpening axes was a hobby I never expected to love. Could it even be considered a hobby? A chore? Either way, it was therapeutic. There was something rejuvenating in the act. The freshly filed metal and dual grit sharpening stone coming together to make something new again just made me happy.
I made sure to give myself enough time to sharpen the ten axes needed for my first activity. I was in charge of ax throwing, archery, and wood chopping—a surprisingly loved exercise. If you wanted to take out some aggression on wood or a target, I was your girl.
Target sports were on the far edge of the premises. Our space consisted of three massive wooden ax-throwing targets, three archery targets, and a wood chopping station, which supplied some of the wood for our campfires.
One of my favorite parts about working at Camp Starlight was the off-seasons.
I got to work on projects around the camp, help with general maintenance, and learn construction skills.
I’d had a hand in constructing every pod in this place, as well as the activity zones and the Camp Starlight entry sign.
It was an accomplishment I never expected to have in my life and an excellent stress reliever.
My blood, sweat, and tears went into a lot of places in this camp, but this was the first project I’d taken on my own and I was proud of it, despite its simplicity.
I’d shown a genuine interest in woodworking, and Jack had been a great teacher, so four years ago, I dove in and built something with my bare hands.
So how did I end up in a field teaching people how to throw sharp-tipped weapons on a Saturday?
It was a funny story. We’d been low on wood, and I’d joked that we should have the guests cut it as an activity.
Hazel hadn’t found the idea as hilarious as I had.
She’d seen thirst traps on TikTok and had immediately been all in.
I’d expected no one to be interested up the first time I ran this activity, but ten people had shown up, and we hadn’t had enough wood to chop.
Now we were prepared. I’d added ax throwing and archery. They were just as popular as chopping these days, which was great because wood was a finite resource and we only had so many fallen trees to chop. This was my life now—thinking about the logistics and cultivation of wood resources.
My first class started at nine, and today was gearing up to be perfect.
There was a new pod energy buzzing throughout camp, and cherry on top, my hair was actually cooperating.
With the last ax sharper than a model’s jawline and in its bin, I stretched my arms high over my head and tilted into the feeling.
The skies were a cloudless bright blue, and the sun shone over Lake Starlight, highlighting carefree ripples.
The birds nearby soothed my soul as I soaked in the Oregon summer, which was just a few short months of sheer beauty that I never wanted to take for granted.
I always carried sunglasses because my eyes never adjusted to the sun after nine months of rain, overcast weather, and darkness. Today, it was gorgeous.
Most campers were early and bright-eyed, with very few stragglers.
I let them rest on my periphery while our seventy-six-year-old sous-chef, Bobby, introduced himself as my assistant.
I placed axes in each of their boxes and gazed upon our area.
Everything looked in order. I grabbed a bow and held an arrow along the arrow rest, meeting everyone on the edge of the woods.
I took in my group of eleven, happy to see some from my pod had shown up.
Kelly and Kelli, now known as Kell-y and Kell-i, were the only two with the same name this session of camp, and thanks to an oversight, I’d been lucky enough to get both of them in my group.
Thankfully, this didn’t turn out to be a negative.
They were already thick as thieves, goofing off together and whispering whenever they were around each other.
They were comfortable with us giving them nicknames, and they even seemed to enjoy it a little bit.
“Welcome, everyone.” I smiled brightly. “I’m Autumn, the activities coordinator at Camp Starlight, and I look forward to meeting everyone.
Today, Bobby and I are going to be working with you as you aim sharp objects at targets.
” I pulled an ax from the nearby box with a grin.
“I know it goes against your instincts to do that, but we won’t tell your parents if you don’t.
” A couple of chuckles were emitted, but I’d have to up my joking game, even if it was early in the morning.
“Today, we have ax throwing and wood chopping, and we’re also going to shoot arrows at targets, which is not as difficult as it sounds.
How many of you have participated in any one of these activities?
” Four people raised their hands. “Okay, so most of us are beginners. There’s no pressure here, but I guarantee you’ll have a fun time. ”
I scanned the crowd and found the anticipated number of smiles before my heart jumped into my throat.
All of a sudden, a high-pitched ringing in my ears drowned out the sounds of trees rustling in the slight breeze.
He was blocked by a tall redhead who was fit to bursting, but he was unmistakable.
A very handsome and reticent man in a forest-green T-shirt and khakis had caught my eye for the briefest second, and it knocked me on my metaphorical ass.
He always did look good in green.
Leo insisted we learn the list of names before each activity. I ignored it, but now I was kicking myself for this oversight.
Jamie Davis.
I couldn’t have predicted this scenario in a million years. I figured we would have seen a celebrity here before I saw my high school ex-boyfriend.
A million memories came flooding back. The first time we met. The first time he weaved his fingers with mine. The night he cried, head in my lap, when his grandfather died. The way he always held me as if he’d never let me go.
But he did let go.
My stomach twisted in on itself as I gasped for breath, feeling like I’d had the wind knocked out of me.
The last I’d heard, he was still living in our hometown of Seattle, which was not a world away or anything, but it was still hours away from camp.
Either way, this was crazy. His family didn’t do the outdoors.
They flew to historical sites across the country or the occasional theme park.
He wasn’t an outdoorsy type. But there was a lot I didn’t know about him.
Maybe I was drawing conclusions off a cursory glance, but this man in his buttoned-up polo and khaki shorts screamed composed adult.
Reserved, well-dressed, and nothing like the cocky comedian and party-loving goofball I’d stupidly fallen in love with back then.
This guy used to wear athletic training pants and high school track T-shirts, not anything with buttons.
He did still wear his go-to Adidas Sambas, though, which filled me with a sense of nostalgia.
He topped off his look with wayfarer sunglasses, almost hiding behind them like a shield. I knew exactly what those eyes looked like. And they were trained on me.
Shouldn’t there be a rule against hot exes? I found myself glad I’d showered today, but I wondered if I’d worn my best sports bra. The one that made my boobs lift instead of smush.
It was definitely the one that smushed.
The logical side of me knew Jamie had obviously grown in the decade since I’d seen him, but this man looked different. He had a freshly trimmed crew cut, far removed from the longer textured style from his teens.
He lifted his sunglasses as though he needed a better look at me before his gaze darted away. In the brief look I allowed myself, he looked regretful at worst and apologetic at best.
I thought back to my late teen years and sighed. We had dated for three years, and it’d taken me just as many to get over him. Too long for a relationship from my formative years that had crashed and burned. And that still made me angry.
“You know what? To change things up, we’re going to start with ax throwing.
What do you think?” I looked at Bobby. Confusion marred his face, but I didn’t care.
The urge to get rid of some aggression rose up in me, and I needed more than a bow and arrow to release it.
I didn’t want to finesse anything. I needed to use blunt force.
We walked the thirty feet to the ax-throwing targets, and they lined up beside Bobby in the safe zone.
I tossed the bow to the ground unceremoniously and bent back down to pick up two axes.
“For those of you with an ax to grind”—I held for the guaranteed forced laughter—“you’ll have to wait just a moment while we go over the ground rules.
I know it’s obvious, but safety is the most important thing when using sharp objects. ”
I threw an ax and it hit the bull’s-eye to everyone’s surprise. They clapped and whooped. It was probably my coolest introduction ever, but I wasn’t focused on that.
“Oh my god, I think I’m having a sexual awakening,” a girl with raven-black hair whispered. I almost laughed, but I was trying to keep my shit together.
I held up my second ax and touched the tip, just hard enough not to break the skin.
“You can throw two-handed or one-handed. Remember, these are sharp, so when someone else is throwing, everyone is required to stay back and away from the throwee, cool? As you can see, we have several solid targets for you to get out a little bit of aggression.” I smiled, moving to another target away from the campers.
“So, just imagine the anger you’ve felt over work problems, friend drama, or that shitty breakup that took you years to get over—”