•Kaila's POV•

After chapel, I was extremely tired. I felt like I'd just run a marathon. I hobbled my way out the doors, feeling alive. There was a physical weight lifted off of my body, and I wanted so many people to know.

Suddenly I saw a huge group of people running towards me. I stopped in my tracks and saw it was all the girls from my cabin. For the first time in a while, there was no heart pounding at the thought of people coming towards me. I smiled thinking about it.

"Kaila!" Amber yelled happily. "The boys are being so stupid, we thought we'd come and find you and leave the snack shack."

"Yeah, they're like dipping pizza crusts in each other's root beer floats." Claire agreed, huffing, and puffing.

I laughed, "That sounds disgusting."

All the girls laughed, telling me various stories of what they had been doing before I came outside. We decided to stroll over to the lake just to chill and see the sunset.

"Hey!" We heard from behind us, the girls stopped and turned around to see Hunter and Alex running towards us.

"Where are y'all going?" Hunter asked, catching up to us. We made brief eye contact before I looked towards the lake again.

"To the lake, wanna come?" Alexandra asked.

The boys nodded and walked with us towards the lake. There was already a group of people near the water, so we steered towards a different area of the lakefront.

Everyone settled at a spot, just as the sun was close to disappearing over the horizon. The clouds covered the sky in blazing orange and pink highlights, the water reflecting its beauty. I sighed watching the sun, taking in the moment, trying not to let all the trauma from earlier today catch me off guard once more. I wanted to enjoy a moment of true rest before anything else happened.

The group around me spoke softly to one another, laughing about something that happened at church when they were younger, and reminiscing about memories at camp from years ago. I listened and laughed quietly, embracing the friendly chatter.

I wasn't used to being around so many people at once, it was nice to hear voices that weren't my own consuming thoughts.

"What was it like for you?" Jordan asked me, everyone looking at me at the same time.

My heart sped up seeing all the eyes but calmed when I made eye contact with Hunter. "I'm sorry, what was the question?"

"What was camp like for you before you came here?"

It was a peculiar question, they must've been talking about other camps they've been to, or something of the sort. "Oh, this is my first time going to summer camp."

"What! Oh my gosh, that's so crazy!" Every single one of them was surprised.

"Wait, have you heard of Banquet?" Alexandra asked, the rest of the group quieted down.

"Uh, I think my brother told me to bring a dress for some sort of event, but I wasn't sure what it was for. So, no?" All of them got loud again. "What is it?"

Alex stood and went next to the water. "I can explain this one, y'all." He cleared his throat. "It's the last night of camp, where everyone wears their Easter best, except its summertime, so not really Easter. Anyway, boys can ask girls to be their 'date' to Banquet, and we have a fancy dinner, and then we party it up for the last chapel."

"So, there's no like... dance? It's just chapel?" I was a bit confused as to why this was so hyped up, maybe it was just a way to commemorate the last day of camp, but it was still a little bit overhyped.

"Yup, just chapel. I personally think it's a little silly..." The girls started arguing with Alex. I couldn't hear a single word being said, but I still laughed regardless. I looked behind me at Hunter, and he was laughing too, watching his friend being yelled at.

"Hey! I think you guys should throw Alex in the lake for all this nonsense." Hunter egged the girls on. They all got up and started attacking Alex to get him in the lake. That left Hunter and I to be on the beach by ourselves.

He scooted closer to me. I kept watching the girls attempt to throw Alex in the lake, laughing whenever another one's attempt ended up in her almost thrown into the lake.

"What's your youth group like back home?" Hunter asked as we continued watching the tomfoolery.

"My youth group?" I didn't remember the last time I was back with them. It'd been quite some time since I saw them. "Truth is, I haven't been to youth group in a long time. Probably since I started high school."

He looked at me, a small smile came across his face. "I was that way too, up until this time last year. My family had just moved here to Waupaca from Iowa. We had originally lived up here, but to some family circumstances, we had to move. It was hard to get connected to a church, but once my mom and I stepped into the building, it felt like home. Then I met all of these goobers, and well, I never left."

I smiled. It was the first time in a really long time that anyone had really opened up to me about their lives, I felt really comfortable around Hunter. "Thank you for sharing that with me."

He nodded, looking back at the girls who had finally managed to get Alex somewhat in the lake. Hunter burst out laughing at the girls who were almost on top of him. I laughed too.

Suddenly we heard a voice come from behind us. "Hey! What are you kids doing down here?"

The sun had gone down, except for a blue glow in the sky as stars started shining brighter. Every one of us stopped in our tracks and looked at who was yelling at us. It was one of the pastors. Spotted us messing around on the beach.

"You kids can't be down here without adult supervision. Please go back up to the main camp." He said sternly.

We all gathered our gear, replied with "Yes, sorry." And left the beach. Hunter helped me get through all the rocks and tree stumps on the way up, and I was thankful.

When we got to the top, I smiled at him. "Thank you, Hunter. I appreciate it."

"Of course, Kaila. Anytime." The sound of my name coming from his mouth made my heart flutter.

"Well, I think I'm going to go get ready for bed before everyone needs the shower. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Do you need someone to walk with you?"

"No, no. I'm alright. Thank you though, I think I got the geography of the place down."

I headed towards my cabin, crossing the street, passing campers who were chatting and laughing. Some were playing tetherball others playing volleyball.

It wasn't I made eye contact with the one person I didn't want to see again. The memories flashed in my head. I knew he saw me, I didn't move as he approached me. "Hi again, Kaila."