26. Autumn
twenty-six
Autumn
“I just want one selfie, Sawyer—get back over here.” Nat chased an oblivious Sawyer down and pulled out her phone, ready to snatch a photo with them.
This was the last day for our campers, but our staff was also running out of time. Most of us would be separating after our end-of-summer reset once campers had left on Thursday. Some staff might return next year, but the majority would probably move on.
Move on. That was a painful pill to swallow.
The counselors had all gathered for a quick fifteen-minute huddle before dinner. Hazel organized stacks of photos for each of us. I drew little swirls on my notebook, like I wasn’t saying goodbye to all of these people I’d grown close with for the past several months.
I was terrible at goodbyes.
Lamar cleared his throat beside me. “Looking forward to the offseason?”
“Yep.” I nodded. “There’s a lot to do during the year, but it’s nothing like this.”
We hosted Outdoor School for local middle schools and held corporate retreats, and then there was recruitment and setup for next year. Jack would work on new cabins, and I would run events alongside Hazel and Leo. It wasn’t better or worse than our summer sessions. It was just different. Quieter.
Sometimes, I liked the quiet, but this time, it felt like it would be harder to enjoy.
“What about you? Where are you off to?”
“I have a job lined up with an adventure excursion company.” Lamar dipped his head, but I could tell that mixed in with the sorrow was excitement. “I think this is my last season here.”
I nodded regretfully, knowing that was where this conversation was headed thanks to the guilty look on his face. Lamar was a popular counselor and had been with us for two years before this. He worked in eastern Oregon during the offseason, and he loved it there.
“You’re going to love that new job. Do they have river rafting?” I’d learned asking questions was the perfect distraction from dealing with sorrow, and this was no exception.
“That’ll be my role, actually. Full time during rafting season and camping during the rest of the year. Who knows? Maybe I’ll pick up a new hobby like free climbing while I’m at it.”
“That sounds amazing. Minus the camping in the rain and snow.”
“Come visit me and we’ll see how you feel about it after.”
“Or I could do anything else.” I preferred enjoying the wilderness from the comfort of my cabin during the rain and snow seasons. I smiled at him and took his hand in mine. “I’ll come visit, though, I promise.”
Lamar had been one of my favorites. He was funny at all times and a great listener, and he made the best chili I’d ever had. He always had dog videos to show me, and I wished I had one of those right now because my eyes were starting to well up.
The atmosphere was mostly cheerful, which had me in a different mode, like I was on a sitcom where the main character was looking back on both sad and happy memories leading up to the big finale.
But there was no big moment for me. I would be staying back and working my dream job.
It was just the people that would change.
Thank goodness Hazel, Leo, and Jack were staying too.
Things were wrapping up, and we were about to go over announcements, but in a rare show of indifference, Jack turned from Nat as he saw her approaching him and walked away from her.
A look of dejection spread across her face, but she played it off, turning to Felicia and walking arm and arm to the other side of the table.
I tried to get his attention with my eyes, but he slumped into his seat beside me and stared at his pile of photos.
“Okay, everyone, we are in the home stretch. Last day, last dinner, last campfire.” Hazel walked behind us, passing out the remaining bundles of photos for counselors to hand out.
They took painstaking effort to make sure every camper left with images of their friends and their best moments captured at camp.
“I know there’s a wave of melancholy going through this group right now, but our focus needs to be on positive end to this session and the season.
Then, at our final campfire, we cry.” Like there was any choice in the matter.
“Once we finish with housekeeping tomorrow, we’ll break for staff dinner and campfire. Now, does anyone have any updates?”
After a mostly cheerless meeting, I headed to my cabin to get a refresher, maybe even a mini depression nap before dinner. That was, until I made it to my pod.
They were already waiting for me. Shit.
Kell-i, Kell-y, Janna, Irene, and Diego were gathered at our small campfire, laughing and crying with each other as I approached.
“There she is,” Kell-y shouted, already a little sauced, if the two empty bottles of wine situated on the outdoor table were an indication of anything. “Autumn. Sit down.” She sounded exasperated, with flawless drunk girl desperation.
I plopped into an Adirondack and was handed a cup of the good stuff.
“Kell-y was telling us about your camp boyfriend,” Janna slurred happily. “We heard you went on a date today.”
Of course this had made its way through camp. Was I expecting any less?
“Not my boyfriend,” I corrected half-heartedly. I was never going to be able to call him that again. That filled me with a sorrow I hadn’t anticipated.
“We know,” Kell-i jumped in. “It’s just camp love.”
I forced a smile. Camp love. Love that lasted a camp session and then went up in smoke the moment you returned to the real world. That was exactly what was happening to me, and it didn’t sting any less as an adult.
“Nothing happened between us,” I lied.
Kell-y raised her eyebrow, but the rest of the group nodded as if they believed me. They overlooked my glare-down with the incredulous blonde, which was good because I lost.
Fine, one camper knew. Not a big deal. Why was I even bargaining with myself? She’d be gone in a day.
“Did you hear about Diego and Breanna? They hooked up last night.”
“ Since when did we involve me in this? ” He groaned.
I wondered if I should add that to the shipping board but opted against it since it wouldn’t be enough to sway the results. Man, if I had gotten to be the one to pry that trophy from Leo’s hands…
“Was it good?” Irene asked.
Diego was all smiles. “It wasn’t not good… Okay, it was great. I didn’t know it was possible to do that with your tongue—and I’m cut off.” He dumped his remaining ounce of wine into the small firepit. The whole group busted up laughing.
One of the only drawbacks of being with Jamie throughout this session was that I’d had fewer of these moments with my pod.
Less sitting around late at the campfire and seeing who was grumpy and who had bedhead in the mornings.
I had spent my time with them in activities and dinners and campfire moments, but it was just slightly less thanks to my preoccupation with my handsome ex.
Had it been worth it?
My pod was great, but the truth was that campers came and went every week like clockwork, but he’d only been here for the limited time I’d had him, and so much of that had been wasted.
Kell-y was buzzing with excitement. “Oh my god, you know who I saw leave Ian’s cabin this morning? Sariah!”
Why was the good stuff just coming out now?
Kell-y’s eyes went wide. “I thought he was with Becca.”
Janna looked mischievous. I loved mischievous Janna.
“Not since Monday after…” She paused a beat, considering if she should tell us of her misdeeds or not.
“I may have seen Peyton and Braxton go into her cabin for a late-night rendezvous. I wasn’t peeking into their rooms, I swear!
His window faces the pathway to the bathrooms, and he didn’t even draw the blinds.
And if I’m gonna see what looks like a threesome, I’m gonna watch for at least a minute or two. You’d all do the same.”
Kell-i leaned in. “So did it look like a threesome, or…”
“Oh, it was definitely a threesome,” Irene confirmed.
I hid my laughter behind my wine cup. I had really been behind in the chatter, and either some staff were hiding their knowledge of hookups (which was poor form) or they’d been shirking their responsibilities as camp gossips as well.
“That’s nothing. Once, there was a full-blown orgy.” Well, shit. It looked like I needed to be cut off too.
Kell-y’s eyes went wide. “Wait, what constitutes an orgy?”
“I think more than two people,” Diego contributed.
Kell-i had her phone out and was reading it to us. “It looks like it needs to include five people or more, but that’s just Yahoo Answers, so…”
That got some laughs. Until Irene’s lips twisted. “Well, shit. Then I’ve definitely been in an orgy.”
Guess I got to cross that off on my bingo card.
“Okay, tell us, Autumn,” Diego started. “Where the hell is there enough space to have an orgy in this place?”
“Does that mean you’re looking for one?” Janna asked
I cackled. “Let’s just say it was under the open air and leave it at that.”