Chapter 6

I felt all eyes on me as I walked to the flat area on the rock where they had all gathered. Lake water dripped off me onto the granite slab. None of us had bothered to unpack towels since it was hot and we could lay on the rock. That was where I was headed when I reached them. Their open stares when I reached them caught me off guard though. I felt timidity creep over me and I wanted to look down at myself to see if there was something wrong, if something had moved out of place or fallen off.

No, I would definitely feel if it wasn't on me right. My new little red bikini fit me just about as snug as anything could without digging into me. I did start to wonder if I had gotten one too revealing at that moment though, but I resolved, Maybe it's just time to get use to eyes on me.

After having jumped off the rock and swam for half an hour we were all ready for a little break. We all just sat and laid sunning and chatting for a few minutes until Derek got up and got something from his pack. When he got back he sat and started loading a small glass pipe with green nuggets from a plastic bag. He inspected the bag carefully in his selection process. He never said a word about it, just found the right bud, tapped it in and reached it straight out toward me.

I had only smoked a couple times before this but I wasn't about to proclaim my lack of experience and separate myself from the group because of it.

I took the pipe, flicked the lighter and drew deeply. The hot smoke hit me too hard though and I choked and cough several times while clumsily trying to hand it off to Solomon to my left. It roused the group from their laziness and into laughter.

I knew someone would comment and it ended up being Derek, saying, "Go easy on it kiddo, jeez! Didn't you see? I have more. You don't have to try for all of it in one hit."

I just stuck my tongue out at him playfully in response, to which he wagged his eyebrows and grinned quite contentedly. I quickly slurped my tongue back in my mouth and looked away uncomfortably, knowing full well that he was toying with me over me seeing him in an intimate moment with Kristina earlier.

Kristina came to her aid, "She knows what she's doin. And don't act like any of you clowns haven't done some way more embarrassing shit either because I can start tellin stories."

I smiled as I heard them hem and haw and grumble.

The pipe went round and round, and Derek was in the process of reloading it for a third time. Again I observed his cool confident demeanor. What is it about him? He's so ... just likable. It's like he doesn't even have to try. I realized I was feeling warm and comfortable and fuzzy. It doesn't hurt that he is very nice to look at either. And looks like a pretty fantastic lover...

I was replaying what I had seen and staring bluntly at him when he looked up and gave me a quick wink. I smiled shyly, but he was back to working on his pipe. He finished and handed it toward me, but before I could take it a hand came out of nowhere and intercepted it.

"Well damn it! You bunch of corruptors!" Danny started, "I bring my baby sister up here, and leave her alone with you guys for a couple hours..." They all cut him off with laughs and moans of mocked annoyance before he brought the pipe to his lips. As stoned as I was, I didn't really even bother being upset by his "baby" comment, but rather just smiled and watched everyone else arrive.

The new part of the group sprawled out around the rock and the conversations and energy erupted. Among them were three of Danny's closest friends: Kevin, Sean and Bryan. All three were good guys that Danny had grown up and played sports with. Sean was probably the closest to Danny, partly because he lived close by. He had the potential to be a douche bag every once in a while, but deep down he had a big heart and would accidently let that show from time to time. Sean had also secretly introduced me to various forms of trouble over the years. I was thinking precisely about one of those times when we made eye contact and he gave me a little 'hello' head nod.

Kevin was all jock. If ever there was a prototype, he was your boy. Six-foot four, 225lbs buzzed blond hair and was pretty much straight-forward about anything he was focused on doing or talking about. He played summer programs, was the team equipment manager before he was old enough to make the team, he had ESPN updates texting him 24/7, and he played it all. And because of that, if you didn't play, you hardly knew the guy because he was always at practice. Therefore, I saw a lot of Kevin during baseball and hardly ever in the fall because Danny wasn't a football guy.

With him was a perky little chatter bug who I had never met before. She introduced herself as Maia, and I knew right away that we were going to get along. Even though she seemed as nervous as I had been when I got there, she just seemed like a lot of fun and was cute in all the right ways: petite, innocent looking, adorable in the way she responded to things. She and Kevin hadn't been dating long, but the fact that she was there probably meant that they were pretty involved.

Erin's good friend Breanne was also there. She was single and quite eligible from what I gathered from Erin's ramblings. I had never talked to her before but she seemed sweet. She was a native Hawaiian who had evidently moved here in junior high.

We all greeted and chatted, the pipe continued to pass around, and it all felt very good. I took one more hit from the pipe, but passed it off after that, usually to Danny who was eager to catch up. I noticed him look at me in a couple selected areas a few times, and I wondered what he thought of my swim suit.

One thing was clear though, as I observed them all interacting. Danny wasn't just the guy with the boat. This was his group. He wasn't some dominating figure or anything, but he was the cog. He was the one they referenced. They liked him and they just kind of naturally were all drawn to him. And he was perfect in that role.

My stoned brain cells were on analytic overload thinking about Danny and his dynamic with his friends. I caught myself in deep though and just laughed freely. I snuck up to him, feeling unrestrained in the moment and tickled his sides as he was trying to smoke.

He jolted out of my grasp, and said in a matter of fact tone, "Oh ... see, that's trouble little girl."

In a flash he passed off the pipe to Derek and lunged after me. I squeaked and dash away but he scooped me up before I got five steps. He bounded three more big steps and announced, "This is your own fault!" before leaping off the rock with me.

I absorbed the shock of the water and surfaced to the excited yells and laughs of those on shore. Soon they were jumping in after us while I wrestled Danny in the water. He pretty much restrained me on every attack, but it wasn't really a big loss to have his strong hands on me and holding me tight. It was a short lived sibling battle though and we moved to splash and swim around with others.

We started migrating back after another hour. The guys grabbed beers and started setting up tents while the girls stared getting food ready. I thought it seemed a bit domestic, like our own little independent community, and I had fun setting up stuff accordingly.

We ate and drank and listened to music. I chatted with Bryan and Breanne for a while, and went on a little walk with Maia to go pee. I felt a little put on the spot when she asked me about the boys and what I thought. I told her which ones I thought were cute, excluding Danny, but said that I wasn't seriously interested in any of them particularly.

"Well let me know if you need any protection, okay?" She said more frankly than I would have been able to, "Seriously, because I have extra. But, they're the big size though." Even as she said it she stopped and looked blankly to one side, realizing what she had just disclosed. I giggled at her reaction more than her admission.

This girl is too cute.

She giggled too but then looked at me seriously and said, "Promise me, kay?" I nodded in agreement before we went and did our thing, and then walked back.

Camp was starting to get dark. The fire was started and being tended to, by Sol of course. The music was turned up and everyone was seeming less reserved. The couples were kissing and touching more, guys were louder and rowdier, and I was feeling more and more comfortable in my own skin.