May 23rd - Saturday / Midnight
Thanks to Aiden and Luna, Lane hobbled back to the staff cabins through the dark woods. Only the gentle downward slope of the path and dim light from the gas lanterns hung from the archways of the five cabins gave them a vague sense of where to go.
Luna groaned, "Physical activity may not have been a wise idea."
Lane whispered, "What about the Midol?"
Thirty feet from the cabins, Luna paused to grab her midsection; "It's not a miracle cure, Lane. It only temporarily dulls the small demons trying to claw their way out of my kiwi." With that information out in the air, Aiden subtly strolled up to the cabins.
An impulse twitched within Lane. Everything below his waist desperately wanted to help relieve Luna's pain as he had earlier that afternoon; undress her, hold her, slide inside her. Fuck, that was selfish. Why would even a shadow of that thought even cross Lane's mind? Everything about the whole situation was horribly wrong. Each attempt he made to fight off the impulse to thrust himself deep inside the woman he'd fallen for was in vain. It was all a futile, like trying to extinguish an electrical fire with a spray bottle.
Sleep. Perhaps sleep could clear the thick mental fog that settled over Lane's normally bright mind? As Luna righted herself up to a standing position, they both limped up the six wooden steps to the deck. As exhausted as the other councilors appeared on the walk down, it was surprising to find the majority of them idling outside on the patio deck.
Grumbling, mumbling, and shaking heads from the group finally peaked as one of the girls, donning the new alias London, cried out, "Seriously, what is this shit, Aiden?"
A sturdy Japanese boy, Topeka, scoffed, "What's the problem? Sounds like fun."
Before Lane asked what the issue was, he hobbled over to the door of the first cabin to his left. Posted on the door was a plain white piece of paper. Conveniently enough, his name was printed on it. Below Lane's name was his bunkmates; Bozeman, and Nina. He read the paper again. Co-ed cabins? That was... unusual, wasn't it?
Scanning the crowd, he tried to find another Lead Councilor, but couldn't. Mara had apparently retired to her cabin after the game. Brock was taking his sweet time to walk back down from the Rec-Field. Striding over to the most friendly face he could find, Lane tapped Aiden on the shoulder, "I take it mixed cabins aren't the norm?"
Aiden shook his tired head, "No. That's not what I typed up and submitted last week. It's, um, not really... I don't know why... who would change..." He stammered trying to reach for words out of his exhausted grasp.
Lane's tired mind struggled to form coherent thoughts or a plan; "This is, like, a faith-based camp right? Putting a bunch of twenty something's together is usually frowned upon by the religious folks. So, why do it?"
Equally as baffled, Aiden shrugged, "I mean, technically it's an interfaith camp. It used to be run by a Presbyterian church before Jude became the director, but even still, one of the rules for campers is boys with boys and girls with girls, so hell if I know. You think we'd set the example?"
Lane was grasping at straws; "Maybe a handful of us should bring this up with Jude? Looks like the majority are a little weirded out. Or, we just switch cabin mates ourselves like adults?"
Before Aiden added his thoughts, Brock's booming voice shot up the steps; "What's all this standing around? We're up at dawn tomorrow for team training. Hit the racks."
London, the dark, feathered-haired girl from earlier spoke up, "Yeah, don't know who thought it'd be funny to play match-maker with the cabins but, I ain't havin' it. Any gentleman in the crowd wanna switch me spots?"
Brock waved his hands and roared again, "Cabin assignments are finalized: part of the team bonding experience. So, suck it up. We're all adults here. All your gear has already been stowed away inside your assigned bunks. Now shut up and turn in."
London stood with arms folded, waiting for a volunteer. None came. Without another word, she stomped across the deck to her bunk and slammed the door behind her.
Brock yawned and scoffed, "Well, that'll certainly be a treat to wake up with." Vegas followed after London, and shouted over his shoulder, "The rest of y'all get to sleep."
The screen and cabin door slammed behind Vegas.
Nina had crept up between Aiden and Lane. With a whisper, she suggested hesitantly, "Maybe everyone else will want to switch?"
That didn't seem to be the case.
Luna had taken the initiative and wandered toward her cabin, the one at the nine O'clock position beside Lane's. Grabbing the list in her hand, she called out for her cabin-mates, "Sitka and Reno, please report to the sexy cabin for sleep. Sitka and Reno?"
Wandering from the crowd, the devastatingly beautiful young woman with electric purple streaks in her shoulder-length blonde hair strut toward Luna. With a sleepy smile, the girl dubbed Reno gave Luna the once over, "It's certainly the sexy cabin now. Shall we?"
Luna held open the door for Reno and curtsied, "Certainly."
Reno returned the gesture and skipped her way inside.
Not far behind Reno, a less boisterous girl shuffled up to Luna. Sitka, clad in a blue jean dress and long golden braids kept her eyes down on her cowgirl boots. A soft, "Hey," fluttered out of her mouth.
