Welcome to the middle of the week, everyone. Saying that reminded me of a very, very strange scene in a Monthy Python movie ("The Meaning of Life" I think) in which they randomly prance around and welcome viewers to the middle of the film. They make faces, noises, and do some genuinely odd things before returning to the movie. I'm not going to do that, but I thought you'd like to know what I reminded myself of.
So, when I bid you adieu yesterday, I had just told you about the Rope Trail and the beautiful valley we surprisingly found from atop it. We agreed to keep the trail as our secret and not tell counselors or others about it. Well there's one minor thing that I may not have explicitly stated yet about this camp: it was all boys. Therefore, when we attended a week in which the neighboring girls' camp was staying there with us, everything changed. We were now 12 or 13 I think, so this was a momentous week for us.
Day 1 of having the girls at our camp, the secret was already out. Drew, who was always the only ladies man in our group, started chatting it up with a few girls. Before long, he and I were acting like morons and getting laughs, so things were working splendidly. Then Drew got an idea and called the guys over. "What do you think about inviting the girls to meet us at midnight to go up the Rope Trail?" he asked. As if our pact had never even existed in the first place, we gleefully jumped on board. After all, what was the point of having a secret place if not to look cool disclosing it? So it was in hushed tones that we told them about the awesome trail and where to meet us. They agreed, and we spent all of dinner trying hard to contain our excitement.
Personally, I didn't think it would happen. There were too many variables involved. We had to successfully sneak out of our cabin without waking our counselor, the girls had to do the same, we all had to move quietly enough to avoid detection, and then sneak back into our cabins and bunks stealthily. Miraculously though, the plan went off without a hitch. When my digital watch hit 11:55, I quietly scootched to the end of the bunk and climbed down. The others followed my cue, and with flashlights in hand, we went to the rendezvous point. (Did you know that the plural of 'rendezvous' is also 'rendezvous'? I like that.) A minute later, we saw the glowing lights of an oncoming party. It was the two girls we'd met before plus a friend of theirs.
We greeted them, and DJ and Chrissy introduced us to their friend. I've never written out her name before, but it was pronounced "Kuh-NEET-uh." I've always pictured it as "Kanita," so that's how I'll write it in this space. Amid all the stifled giggles and shushing, we made it to the Rope Trail and took turns climbing up. Once we were all at the top, we took them over to the view of the valley and sat down. Although it was dark out, they could still see enough of the area with the flashlights to know how beautiful it was. There we sat for probably an hour, just shooting the shit and having a good time. Not to sound too immodest, but my friends and I were on fire. Full of great jokes and quick, witty responses, we felt really cool and were soaking up every minute of it (since it was such a rarity).
After the hour or so, we made our way back down the ropes and were about to head over to our respective cabins when Kanita stopped me. "I like you, do you like me?" she asked. It was more of a statement, really, and it caught me off guard. Here's where I think I differ from some of my male counterparts. Instead of stopping, surveying the situation (Drew and DJ were clearly hitting it off, as were Adam and Chrissy), and maybe having something of a real girlfriend for the week, I said this: "Uh, the thing is, I don't really know you. I mean, you only said like two sentences while we were up there. I'd like to get to know you though." She understood and said that we'd be seeing a lot of each other in the coming days. I was intrigued and a little frightened by the possibility.
The next day, we had some free time again and were hanging out by the flagpole area in the middle of camp. DJ snuck up behind me and took my baseball hat off as a joke. My hair was a mess, so I was about to ask for it back. Before the words could come out though, DJ was knocked to the ground with a forceful shoulder to the mid-section by a magically-appearing Kanita. She bent down, scooped up my hat, dusted it off, and said, "Here you go," with half a smile. "Thank you?" I said, before looking over at a stunned DJ to make sure she was ok.
A couple of days passed with the same kind of intense attention from Kanita, and she was really beginning to frighten me a little. Drew kept pushing me to kiss her, but I really didn't want to because I just didn't like her like that. Also, her neck was freakishly long and it really weirded me out. We had a dance one night, and I slow danced with Kanita once at the urging of everyone, making less eye contact with her than with my friends behind her. She was wearing a turtleneck after all, and that only accentuated her problem area.
After our dance, she asked if I wanted to go outside to talk, and I agreed. I guess I was more into looking cool in front of my friends than taking personal responsibility. Oh well, such is the way of the adolescent boy. We sat on a bench near the cafeteria/auditorium and talked for a little while. She told me where she was from (which I think may have been Denver for some reason) and how many siblings she had. I told her a little more about myself, and then we went back in to the undeserved hoots and hollers from our friends.
Then I messed up a little. I was hanging out with the guys and Chrissy, and talk somehow turned to Kanita. Jason N. said something about how I was probably going to marry her, and I replied, "No way, I don't even like her!" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a long-necked girl walking away quickly. "Uh oh," I thought, "This could be trouble." And trouble it was, gentle readers.
So, when I bid you adieu yesterday, I had just told you about the Rope Trail and the beautiful valley we surprisingly found from atop it. We agreed to keep the trail as our secret and not tell counselors or others about it. Well there's one minor thing that I may not have explicitly stated yet about this camp: it was all boys. Therefore, when we attended a week in which the neighboring girls' camp was staying there with us, everything changed. We were now 12 or 13 I think, so this was a momentous week for us.
Day 1 of having the girls at our camp, the secret was already out. Drew, who was always the only ladies man in our group, started chatting it up with a few girls. Before long, he and I were acting like morons and getting laughs, so things were working splendidly. Then Drew got an idea and called the guys over. "What do you think about inviting the girls to meet us at midnight to go up the Rope Trail?" he asked. As if our pact had never even existed in the first place, we gleefully jumped on board. After all, what was the point of having a secret place if not to look cool disclosing it? So it was in hushed tones that we told them about the awesome trail and where to meet us. They agreed, and we spent all of dinner trying hard to contain our excitement.
Personally, I didn't think it would happen. There were too many variables involved. We had to successfully sneak out of our cabin without waking our counselor, the girls had to do the same, we all had to move quietly enough to avoid detection, and then sneak back into our cabins and bunks stealthily. Miraculously though, the plan went off without a hitch. When my digital watch hit 11:55, I quietly scootched to the end of the bunk and climbed down. The others followed my cue, and with flashlights in hand, we went to the rendezvous point. (Did you know that the plural of 'rendezvous' is also 'rendezvous'? I like that.) A minute later, we saw the glowing lights of an oncoming party. It was the two girls we'd met before plus a friend of theirs.
We greeted them, and DJ and Chrissy introduced us to their friend. I've never written out her name before, but it was pronounced "Kuh-NEET-uh." I've always pictured it as "Kanita," so that's how I'll write it in this space. Amid all the stifled giggles and shushing, we made it to the Rope Trail and took turns climbing up. Once we were all at the top, we took them over to the view of the valley and sat down. Although it was dark out, they could still see enough of the area with the flashlights to know how beautiful it was. There we sat for probably an hour, just shooting the shit and having a good time. Not to sound too immodest, but my friends and I were on fire. Full of great jokes and quick, witty responses, we felt really cool and were soaking up every minute of it (since it was such a rarity).
After the hour or so, we made our way back down the ropes and were about to head over to our respective cabins when Kanita stopped me. "I like you, do you like me?" she asked. It was more of a statement, really, and it caught me off guard. Here's where I think I differ from some of my male counterparts. Instead of stopping, surveying the situation (Drew and DJ were clearly hitting it off, as were Adam and Chrissy), and maybe having something of a real girlfriend for the week, I said this: "Uh, the thing is, I don't really know you. I mean, you only said like two sentences while we were up there. I'd like to get to know you though." She understood and said that we'd be seeing a lot of each other in the coming days. I was intrigued and a little frightened by the possibility.
The next day, we had some free time again and were hanging out by the flagpole area in the middle of camp. DJ snuck up behind me and took my baseball hat off as a joke. My hair was a mess, so I was about to ask for it back. Before the words could come out though, DJ was knocked to the ground with a forceful shoulder to the mid-section by a magically-appearing Kanita. She bent down, scooped up my hat, dusted it off, and said, "Here you go," with half a smile. "Thank you?" I said, before looking over at a stunned DJ to make sure she was ok.
A couple of days passed with the same kind of intense attention from Kanita, and she was really beginning to frighten me a little. Drew kept pushing me to kiss her, but I really didn't want to because I just didn't like her like that. Also, her neck was freakishly long and it really weirded me out. We had a dance one night, and I slow danced with Kanita once at the urging of everyone, making less eye contact with her than with my friends behind her. She was wearing a turtleneck after all, and that only accentuated her problem area.
After our dance, she asked if I wanted to go outside to talk, and I agreed. I guess I was more into looking cool in front of my friends than taking personal responsibility. Oh well, such is the way of the adolescent boy. We sat on a bench near the cafeteria/auditorium and talked for a little while. She told me where she was from (which I think may have been Denver for some reason) and how many siblings she had. I told her a little more about myself, and then we went back in to the undeserved hoots and hollers from our friends.
Then I messed up a little. I was hanging out with the guys and Chrissy, and talk somehow turned to Kanita. Jason N. said something about how I was probably going to marry her, and I replied, "No way, I don't even like her!" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a long-necked girl walking away quickly. "Uh oh," I thought, "This could be trouble." And trouble it was, gentle readers.
Tune in tomorrow to get the end of the story...if you dare. Yeah, sorry, it's another "to be continued" one. I must think I'm Dan Brown or something.
5 comments:
Oh no...Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Especially a woman prone to physical violence.
Oh! I know this story! You've told it to us before, except I forget how it ends! I feel like a song is involved, however. Can you tell me if I'm warm?
Yep, you're warm alright, BKS. That's all I'm saying though; I don't want to spoil any of the (hopeful) fun.
Sweet. Oh man, I cannot wait. This is compelling stuff, big bro.
Is it "talk to the animals" in honor of her freakishly long neck?
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