Chapter 16

When I woke up for the second time, it was morning. I knew where I was this time though, which was good. At least when you compared that to yesterday when I passed out on top of Stephanie. It had been a long, long night. The three of us ended up going for another round after we all came together and all three of us collapsed completely and utterly spent.

I tried to rub my eyes, but my left arm was trapped underneath Stephanie’s sleeping form, forcing me to use my right hand. I blinked my eyes clear and took in the room around me. The sun was high enough over the horizon that its rays formed bright, warm pillars of light that pierced through the windows. That’s when it hit me. I didn’t go home last night. I didn’t even call or check in!

Oh shit, Grandma and Grandpa are going to be pissed!

I started trying to get out of bed, but I was somehow trapped in an impressive tangled knot of sheets that were wrapped around my legs, and not just my legs, but Stephanie’s and Shawn’s as well. The three of us were all knotted and tied together, making a quiet, stealthy escape impossible.

The more I struggled, the more I was truly stuck. I barely managed to wrestle out from under Stephanie and instantly regretted that I had because my skin was immediately attacked by the sensation of being stabbed by a countless number of tiny needles.

I gritted my teeth as the feeling in my arm finally started returning to normal. It felt like an agonizingly long time to wait. It took some twisting and contorting to get myself free from the sheets, but eventually I managed it and slipped out of bed.

I looked back at the sleeping forms of Stephanie and Shawn. They were piled together, and it was tough to figure out whose arms and legs belonged to who. Seeing neither of them stirring, I made my way back to the bathroom, I needed to pee so badly I could hardly stand it.

When I came back out of the bathroom and walked into the main area of the cabin, I noticed Jeff and Sheila in their bed. When did they get back and where is Michaela? I looked around the room and that’s when I noticed a third lump in the sheets next to Jeff. I walked over slowly, sneaking on my tip toes. The closer I got, the clearer Michaela’s form became.

Standing between the two beds, the one Stephanie and Shawn were sleeping on and the other one where their parents and older sister were sleeping, I could see Michaela clearly. Her head resting on her father’s stomach, her hand holding onto her father’s morning wood.

I checked on Shawn and Stephanie again. They hadn’t moved. Where Jeff and Sheila’s position in their bed was pretty much what you would expect to see when you saw people sleeping, Stephanie and Shawn’s however was a different story altogether.

The best comparison I could think of was comparing my parents’ room to mine. My parents’ room was always clean and tidy. Rarely was anything out of place. My room, however, was a disaster. It might not look at it at first glance, but if you really looked, you would see it. Neither Shawn nor Stephanie were positioned how you would normally sleep in bed. If the bed were a compass the head of it would be pointing north, Shawn’s head was pointing west and Stephanie’s was northeast. I smirked at the ridiculousness of it. That just showed you how crazy yesterday had gotten.

“Sam?” I heard a feminine voice.

“Huh?” I replied, dumbly, my head snapping around to see Sheila on her side and yawning.

“You’re up early,” Sheila said. “Do you want something to eat? I can make you something.”

“No, I need to get back,” I rushed to answer. “I forgot to tell my grandparents where I was.”

“Oh, that’s not good.” I nodded, my eyes wide. “Why?”

“Uh, why what?” I asked, confused.

“Why didn’t you tell them where you were?”

“I umm...” My head dropped and I looked at my toes, nervously. “I uh, we lost track of time.”

“I see,” Sheila tried to keep her face neutral, but the corners of her lips were twitching, fighting to move up, forcing a smile onto her face.

“Yeah, so I really need to get going.” I was anxious to go. I knew the longer I waited the worse it was going to be for me.

“Sam, you don’t need to rush off,” Sheila explained. “We told your grandparents you were here last night.”

“What?”

“We saw them last night,” Sheila explained, sitting up and then sliding off the bed making sure not to disturb Jeff or Michaela as she did so. “They know where you are. So, you don’t need to race back right away.”

“Oh, thanks!” I grinned, suddenly feeling the tension that was in my shoulders release.

“You’re still going to need to talk to them,” Sheila’s voice was serious, but not angry. “But you can have breakfast first.”

Sheila was a very, very good cook. I almost felt guilty, like I was cheating on my mom when I came to the shocking conclusion that Sheila was the best cook I knew. The smell of the French toast, scrambled eggs, and sausage she made wasn’t any different than what my mom made at home, but the taste, my god, it was just different. I don’t know how, it just was.

While Sheila worked frantically to make breakfast, the rest of us scrunched together around the kitchen table. Stephanie was sitting so close she might as well have been on my lap. Jeff was across the table from the two of us with Shawn sitting on the right and Michaela on the left. Michaela didn’t have the same air about her as she did when I first saw her.

“Did you guys get to explore the camp?” Jeff asked, sitting right in the middle of us kids. Stephanie and Michaela on one side. Shawn, and I on the other.

“Yeah,” Stephanie answered, all smiles and sunshine. I felt her hand touch my leg under the table. I flinched, but didn’t move away. I turned to look at her, finding her looking at me at the same time. She smiled, and I returned it before we both shifted our focus back to her father. “Sam showed us around. We really liked the hot springs.”

“Not at all like the hot springs we have visited, is it?” Jeff smirked.

“It’s like a little lake!” Stephanie replied excitedly. “Why didn’t you tell us about that? I wish we could have come here before.”

“You know why we couldn’t kiddo,” Jeff said, his voice suddenly soft and soothing.

“I know,” Stephanie murmured. “It’s a stupid rule.”

“Definitely!” Shawn interjected.

“We have to follow the rules, even if we don’t always agree with them,” Jeff explained, and then turned to look at his eldest daughter who was keeping her head down. Jeff’s eyes narrowed as his ire landed on Michaela, but quickly the look on his face vanished before his attention turned back to us.

Something happened. I had no idea what, but whatever it was, Michaela had broken some sort of rule yesterday. That was the only way to explain why Jeff had given her that look and why Michaela’s gaze never lifted from her plate.

“I know,” Stephanie nodded, using her fork to push around a small pile of cheesy scrambled eggs around her plate.

“How was the other side of camp?” Shawn asked, his voice bold and confident. “Since we don’t get to see it ourselves.”

“It was okay,” Sheila answered, placing a fresh plate of French toast on the table. “Different from back home, but still fun.”

“Duh, of course it was fun,” Shawn rolled his eyes. “But how was it different?”

“It was different because we didn’t know everyone,” Jeff answered.

“When you go to a place like that, you can meet a lot of really interesting people,” Sheila explained. “Or you might meet a lot of assholes and people who don’t know what they’re doing because a lot of these people have never seen a place like this before.”

“Meeting interesting people sounds fun.” Stephanie said.

“Usually, that’s true,” Jeff said. “Sometimes it’s not though.”

“What happened last night?” Shawn asked. “Michaela is acting strange.”

“We’ll tell you about it later,” Sheila said, her voice brokering no argument.

I could take a hint, even one as veiled as that.

“I think it’s time for me to go to my grandparents,” I said, standing up and grabbing my empty plate.

“You’re going to come back, right?” Stephanie asked, suddenly looking worried and unsure.

“Yeah, I’ll be back. I just need to check and make sure I’m not in trouble or something.” I took my empty plate into the kitchen.

“Just leave that in the sink and I’ll take care of it.” Sheila said, scooping the last of the cheesy eggs into a big serving bowl.

“Thanks,” I replied, setting the plate in the sink. “I’ll swing by later, hopefully. Assuming my grandparents let me leave the house again.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Jeff chuckled.

“Grandma, Grandpa!” I called when I walked in the front door. “I’m back!”

No one answered my call. I walked down the hall towards the bedrooms. When I saw their bedroom door open, I peeked inside, but it was empty. I turned on my heels and walked back to the kitchen. No one.

Where are they?

I looked out the back patio door and sure enough, Grandma was just sitting at the table staring off into the trees.

I slid the patio door open and walked out onto the back patio.

“Hey, Grandma,” I said.

“Ah, there you are,” Grandma replied, looking over her shoulder and watching me as I walked over and joined her in my usual seat. “What happened to you last night? You didn’t even come for dinner.”

“I know,” I hung my head. “I was hanging out with Stephanie and Shawn and I ... kind of lost track of time.”

“That’s not good enough, Sam,” Grandma’s voice was suddenly firmer. She was obviously disappointed.

“I’m sorry. I should have come back before the three of us went to their cabin.”

“Yes, you should’ve. We were worried.”

“I’m really sorry,” I pleaded. “I didn’t want you to worry about me.”

“Sam, if you want to be treated more like an adult, then you need to act like one,” I looked up to see Grandma leveling a displeased look. I had never seen her mad at me before. I wasn’t sure what to do. She wasn’t truly mad, more just disappointed. My mom would give me that same feeling too, which I think was worse than her just being mad at me for whatever I did wrong. I gulped. “Look, I know this summer hasn’t been exactly what you thought it was going to be. I’m sure you miss Sara.” I nodded, my throat feeling a little choked up and I rubbed my eyes.

“Your Mom, Dad, and Sara will be here soon enough, you know.” I nodded again, regaining my resolve and control over my emotions. “You’re lucky we ran into Jeff and Sheila last night; they told us you were over at their cabin.” I looked up to see Grandma smiling. “Next time, just tell us if you aren’t going to come back for dinner or if you’re going to stay at their cabin. Deal?”

“Deal,” I agreed. “I really am sorry, though.”

“Oh, it’s fine. Now, did you get some breakfast, or do I need to throw something together for you quick?”

“No, Sheila made breakfast.”

“She did, did she?” Grandma replied, an eyebrow raised in question. I nodded, a smile creeping up on my face. “She’s a good cook, isn’t she?”

“Oh my god!” My eyes widened. I couldn’t agree with that statement fast enough. “Her food’s even better than Mom’s!” Grandma started cackling at that pronouncement. “Don’t tell her I said that though!” I hurried to add, my face flushed from embarrassment.

“Don’t tell who, your mom or Sheila?” I narrowed my eyes at her, which only got her laughing all that much harder. “I’m sure Sheila would love to hear you say her cooking is better than your mom’s, but I won’t say anything to either of them. Don’t need to start up another competition between those two girls.”