Heather gets a phone call

After the initial cheering and jeers subsided, the group of teens quickly fell back to just having a good time in the lake. Everyone was content to just relax and enjoy the water and sun. Brandon eventually rejoined them and promptly tossed Ashley over his shoulder, starting a chain of rough horsing as everyone tried to dunk each other. Screams of amusement and shock filled the air. After a while, people grew calmer and started making their way onto the beach to relax. Madison finally rejoined them as well, though she was now wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

Heather lay on her back and smiled as she felt several pairs of eyes on her. Her good mood was interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone. She looked at the call ID and groaned before answering it. "Hi Dad." Her dad's voice wasn't discernible but Heather's face made it clear she didn't like what she was hearing. "But you said we could have the cabin for two weeks. It's only our fourth day. I don't care if it's only one night. Take your floozy to some cheap motel. FINE! But you better bring more booze. You owe me!" She hung up in a huff.

"That didn't sound good," Ashley was propped up on her elbows looking at Heather.

"My Dad needs the cabin tonight and doesn't want us around, probably so he can fuck some cheap whore." Heather was fuming as she started collecting her things.

"Why would your dad need the cabin?" Victoria chimed in. "I thought he and your mom were split up. Can't he just bring whoever back to his place?"

"He is known to throw some pretty crazy parties," Brandon added.

"I don't know," Heather took a deep breath to calm herself. "But regardless, we have to get out of here tonight. Fortunately, we keep some tents in the utility shed. There are some islands in the middle of the lake that are supposed to be good for camping. It's been a while since I was out there, but I can't imagine much has changed. If we're going to do this though, we need to start collecting gear now."

There was a mixture of grumbling, mostly from Kurt, and excitement at the prospect of camping as everyone gathered up the beach supplies and headed back to the cabin. People quickly set about cleaning up and gathering supplies. The boys were tasked with gathering the tents while the girls packed drinks and food into the cooler. Once everyone was showered and changed, they headed down to the lake's dock.

Heather motioned to a boat as everyone listened. "The boat can only fit about five people, but we've got all the gear too, so it's going to take a couple trips to get everything and everyone across. I'll go over first and scout out a site while you guys bring over the rest of the gear."

Everyone agreed to the plan. Brandon offered to handle the rowing and the first trip had him carrying Heather, Zack, Chloe, and Kurt across. Once they were unloaded he headed back for the gear and others. Heather quickly led her small party into the woods to scope out a camp site. The island wasn't overly large and they didn't have to go too far before the trees opened up into a couple of small clearings. Zack noticed that one of the clearings already had a couple tents in it and was about to say something when a voice surprised them.

"Chloe?"

The four friends turned to find a petite girl carrying some tree branches. Grey eyes watched them, framed by pixie cut hair dyed white. Chloe gasped as she recognized her friend. She gave a little squeal and ran up to hug her friend, knocking the wood out of her arms.

"Meagan! What are you doing here?"

Meagan blushed as she pushed away the energetic Chloe. "I'm camping with my gir...with my friends. They invited me up to stay at their cabin."

"That's crazy." Chloe motioned for the others to join her. "We're doing the same thing. Heather has a cabin out here and we're spending spring break at it." Chloe quickly introduced Heather and Kurt. Zack already knew Meagan though he'd only chatted with her a couple of times. As the introductions were being made, a boy and girl came out of the tents Zack had spied and came up to see what was going on.

It was Meagan's turn to offer introductions. "Guys, this is Caitlin Griffin, my...friend." She motioned to the girl with long blonde hair and the shy smile. "And this," she motioned to the boy with short dark hair, leaning against a tree, "is her twin brother Leon."

Leon smiled and put his hands on Caitlin's shoulders. "Meagan, you and Caitlin are sharing a tent and neither one of you are quiet in your activities. If you can't admit she's your girlfriend, I'm going to seriously question your intentions towards my sister."

Meagan and Caitlin both blushed with the latter girl turning to punch Leon in the side. Chloe looked at Meagan and made her own blush as she realized the secret her friend had been keeping from her. She took Meagan's hand. "We've been friends for five years, Meagan. I don't care. I just wish you'd told me sooner."

Meagan gave Chloe a relieved smile though Caitlin still looked upset at being outed. Heather interrupted the confusion to try and get everyone back on point. "Well it looks like we either share space with everyone or find another island."

"How much space do you need?" Leon was holding his side in mock pain from Caitlin's punch.

"We've only got three large tents," Kurt announced.

Heather spun on him. "Wait three? I thought there were more."

"Nope," Kurt shook his head. "Just three."

"And you just now are revealing this information." Heather put her hands on her hips and stared at her cousin. "Fine, we'll make do."

"Three more tents should easily fit in the clearing next to us," Caitlin offered tentatively. She still seemed a tad shy.

With the camp site question out of the way, Heather took Zack, Kurt, and even Leon back to the shore line to greet the others while Chloe went with Meagan and Caitlin to check out the clearing. It took a little while but they soon had the whole gang setting up the three tents in a large clearing after further introductions were made. Once everything was setup, Leon, Caitlin, and Meagan retreated to their tents while the others decided on sleeping assignments.

"Since no one bothered to tell me beforehand about the number of tents," Heather glared at Kurt again, "we're going to have to get extra close with each other. Zack, Gavin, and Kurt can take one tent. Chloe, Victoria, and I will take the second. And Madison can go with Ashley and Brandon in the third."

No one objected to the arrangements, though Madison and Brandon both had concerned looks on their faces. The sun was beginning to set, so Brandon offered to get a camp fire going. Zack grabbed Gavin and they joined him in hunting for some firewood while the Victoria and Madison started pulling out food. Chloe wandered over to invite Meagan and the others to hang out with them.