Page 38 of Fate Fiction

“It’s not officially that, it’s just a secret beach I found when I was younger and made Sue not tell anyone about,” I shook my head.

“And I kept my promise!” Sue interjected.

“Too bad it’s a secret,” Evan put on a faux disappointed voice and gave puppy eyes. They might work.

“Yup. Too bad.” I replied flatly. Sue gave a shove. Evan gave a wink. It sent a chill down my spine that I hoped wasn’t noticeable.

“We’ll see later in the week if he’s earned it,” I genuinely didn’t want to take Evan to the hidden beach, that was my last piece of guaranteed solitude.

Plus, that’s where I had hooked up with Nick any time he was at camp. Many, many times. There was already a strange haunted reverence to the place, I didn’t need that to get worse.

I got up and placed the peas back in the freezer, my hobbling already significantly better. “I’m going to shower real quick before dinner.” I tossed my bag over my shoulder.

Evan grabbed his bag as well and held the door, following me as I walked out. “I guess the ankle means you won’t be able to go for yet another run tonight.” He gestured at my pink and swollen leg.

“You underestimate me.”

He was watching me closely as we walked. Almost checking to see if my ankle would give out again. It was protective, perhaps overly so, but sweet. The walk to the cabins was short, but both of us seemed to slow our pace so we could savor it.

The sun hung lower in the sky and was peaking through the trees to create wavy shadows on the grass. The lake was a deep rich blue, and perfectly sparkling and flat, with small ripples dancing across it whenever the breeze blew. It was difficult not to romanticize the place, even without Evan next to me. Camp had a magical element to it, some spark that was indescribable. Perhaps it was lingering nostalgia, a time capsule of a less complicated version of myself.

“You wouldn’t mind if I shower at the same time as you, right?” Evan politely asked. I tensed up.

I actually mind, like a lot, the thought of us both being naked with nothing but a shitty wooden wall separating us is my personal hell.

“I promise I won’t make you turn on the water for me this time,” he continued, “and I’ll ignore you if you sing. I want to get all the sunscreen and bug spray and fish piss off me.”

“Yeah, yeah obviously that’s fine,” I wouldn’t think about him or his toned, naked body in the stall next to mine. “And I definitely won’t sing.”

“Hmm that’s a shame. I might have been actually looking forward to more of your covers.”

I scrolled through my phone to pull up a playlist to drown out my thoughts, then pressed play and turned up the volume as loud as possible. The door opened and shut next in the stall next to mine, and the shower immediately turned on. I did the same with mine, stepping in before the water had a chance to warm up to shock my nervous system a bit.

The tinny music was blasting from my phone, and the songs were switching one into another. I almost forgot Evan was next to me as I scrubbed shampoo into my scalp. Almost. Then he started singing along. Just a little, and slightly off beat, which to his credit was more the fault of the wall between us versus his capabilities.

Evan could sing. Surprisingly well. I already knew this, I saw him do Carpool Karaoke, some music sketch on The Tonight Show, and a duet during a surrealist jukebox musical episode of Thorndown.

I could have my romcom moment and join alongside him, or I could pretend the wall wasn’t thin enough to hear him.

I went for the latter.

Expressing interest by following him along in karaoke was try hard behavior. Fan behavior. So therefore, not my behavior.

As my eyes closed all I could envision was a toned torso, slightly sunburnt skin, messy light brown curls, and piercing blue eyes. My wandering hand found itself between my legs before I stopped myself. Abso-fucking-lutely not. It had been a long time since I touched myself to the thought of Evan McLeod and I was certainly not going to start now.

The song switched again, and right before it ended Evan’s shower shut off and the door hastily opened and shut.

I rinsed the conditioner out of my hair and impulsively switched the water to cold again. I stood under the frigid stream for a few seconds, gasping as my entire body contracted from the shock. I slammed the water off and stood in the shower stall for a few seconds to catch my breath.

It was only Monday.

There were roughly four and a half more days of this and I didn’t know if I could keep it up.

Maybe I was a crazy person, but what’s “normal” when you’re thrown into this sort of situation?

The warm towel hit my face as I pulled it off the hook. The smell of cotton and laundry detergent brought me back to earth. It smelled like my apartment, which even though this entire trip was built to escape it, felt like the preferred alternative to my present reality.

If only my ankle had actually broken. Then I’d have the perfect escape. Somehow though, Evan would probably volunteer to be the one to drive me to the hospital and he’d burst through the doors of the ER carrying me in his arms shouting for a doctor.