Camp Kumoni : 38

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Camp Kumoni Ch. 38

by Anistasia Allread
Assisted by Nick B

“Wha . . . What, hap . . . Ow, my head.” Josh muttered.

“Quick, get me a rock . . .”

    

“What are we going to do?” Samantha posed. “We can’t just leave him here.” Erika eased her up to a sitting position.

“It’d serve him right.” Rachel sneered.

“I’ll go get Director Hobbs.” Erika volunteered.

“She won’t do anything.” Rachel spat. “That asshole . . .” she said, pointing to the unconscious jock, “tried the same thing with another girl last summer. His daddy donated a bunch of money and the whole issue was ‘forgotten’.” She used her fingers visually place the last word in quotes.

“We can’t let him get away with this.” Erika stated. “How about the cops? One of us could call the police.”

“They’ll want proof.” Rachel countered. “Do you want to have some Doctor checking out your privates?”

Thoughts of her nightmare the other day, flashed through Erika’s mind. “No.”

“Then we’ve got to take care of it ourselves,” Rachel sighed. “. . . and in a way that he won’t soon forget.”

The two girls looked at one another.

“Just how hard did you hit him? He’s still out.” Erika said, finally breaking the silence.

“Good. Just hope that he stays out until we get him back to camp.”

“We . . . could just stick him out in the lake face down.” Samantha spoke haltingly, breaking her silence.

“And kill him?” Erika shook her head. “I won’t be a party to murder.”

“We need to embarrass the crap out of him.” Rachel voiced. “What could we do that would humiliate him as much as a rape would to one of us?”

“We could ‘plague’ him.” Erika said. “It worked on Eric . . . I mean me.”

“What does that mean?” Rachel asked for details.

Erika quickly detailed the horrible experience that Eric had to endure at school.

“It would humiliate him, but it doesn’t seem to go far enough compared to what he has done.” Rachel paused. “Let’s get him loaded into the boat. Then Samantha and You can row him over to the camp.” she instructed.

”Why do we have to do it? What are we to do with him then?” Erika inquired.

“What about you?” Samantha added. “Where are you going?” The two of them looked at Rachel.

“I’m going to run back to the cabin and figure out something to tell Phoenix to explain why we aren’t back by curfew. While I’m there, I’ll grab the duct tape.”

It took all three of them to lift the dead weight of the jock over the side of the boat. He rolled against one of the benches and let out a moan. Erika jumped in the boat and pulled in the mooring line. She rolled Josh over on to his stomach and using the mooring line, tied his hands behind his back. The whole time, silently thanking her mother for insisting that Eric be in cub scouts when he was younger.

“Meet me on the shore next to the tree that Phoenix took us our first day.” Rachel instructed.

“What about the boat?” Samantha asked. “Won’t Todd be expecting it back?”

Rachel paused to think a moment. If you can, unload him at the tree and Samantha,” She looked at the cheerleader. “You’ll have to take the boat back and tie it up. If Todd or someone asks, just tell them Josh had to use the bathroom, and couldn’t wait.”

Erika helped Samantha into the boat, and seated the oars into their locks as Rachel shoved the row boat off the beach. Their eyes met. “Hurry!” She pleaded.

As soon as they were clear, Rachel sprinted towards the trail that would take her to the camp and the cabin.

Erika pulled with all of her might on the oars, using her legs and back as much as she could to pull the boat through the water.

Samantha sat on the bench opposite of her. She looked haggard in the diminishing light. The makeup that Tricia had so carefully and lovingly applied was like dark rings around her eyes.

The cheer leader began to shiver. Erika thought it was the cool breeze at first, but then her shivering became shaking and then she began crying.

Not yet. Erika thought. We can’t react yet.

“Samantha.” she said getting the girl she loved to look at her. The hollow dead eyes of her love drove a stake through her heart. She had seen those ghostly eyes before. The memory of Summer’s vacant look caused her to shudder. She shook the memory. Now wasn’t the time. “So much for spending the summer without getting beaten up, huh?” She meant it as a joke and tried to smile, but there just wasn’t any heart in it.

They were going to have to do this right, or Samantha would start down that twisted, lonely path into depression. “If he wakes . . .” Erika waited until Samantha looked back at her. “Hit him in the head hard. If he starts making too much racket, we’ll have to use the oar to quiet him again.”

Samantha just looked blankly at Erika, her teeth chattering, and her lips trembling.

Erika looked over her shoulder to see where they were in relation to their goal and altered their course with a few quick strokes of one oar, then again put her back and legs into pulling towards their destination.

Samantha mumbled something, but between the openness of the lake, and her shaking, Erika missed it. She looked at the cheerleader questioningly.

“Thank you, Erika.”

She didn’t know how to respond. No one ever thanked Eric for anything before, well except his mother, but it wasn’t the same as this. Erika smiled weakly, trying to instill some courage into her friend, her love.

The bow of the boat scraped up against the muddy bank. The jolt of the sudden change in momentum caused Josh to stir and moan. He tried to move his hands but couldn’t. Samantha nearly jumped into the water. She scrambled over the oars and on to the shore.

“Wha . . . What, hap . . . Ow, my head.” Josh muttered.

“Quick, get me a rock.” Erika instructed. Samantha just stood on the shore, frozen in place, looking as if she was about to bolt through the trees at the next word uttered from Josh.

Erika groaned with frustration. A rock would probably do too much damage, and Samantha was in no shape to be a party to that kind of brutality. She looked frantically for something hard to hit Josh with. The oar was too big to swing in such a tight area. She lunged forward and struck Josh hard across the side of the face. Pain shot up her arm. She had never connected a punch like that before. Her hands were not used to such violence. Pushing the pain into the back of her head, she looked back down at the jock and sighed relief. He was unconscious, but more importantly, quiet again.

“Hurry up, Rachel.” Erika swore to herself, while straining her ears to hear for movement coming from the bushes. She looked over at her friend. “Come on, Samantha. I’ll need your help to get him out of the boat.”

For a moment, Erika thought Samantha was going to turn and run. To her relief, the blonde, slowly put one foot in front of the other and was soon standing by the edge of the boat.

“You get him under his arms.” Erika instructed. “I’ll get him by the legs. That way, if he comes to, he won’t be kicking you.”

The two tried twice to pull him free from the boat, but were unsuccessful. Erika dropped his feet and hopped out of the boat and pushed Samantha gently to one side. “We’ll each take an arm.”

The two girls had just gotten him from the boat and on the grass when Rachel came barreling through the bushes. “The boat!” she hissed.

Erika turned and saw the boat slowly drifting out into the lake. The lack of weight and the movement caused by pulling Josh out must have set the boat adrift.

Rachel tossed a couple of things at Erika who barely caught them as the athletic girl sprinted out into the water and grabbed the boat, before it had gone far enough to have to swim for.

Erika found herself holding a roll of duct tape, a pocket knife and some lipstick wrapped in a towel. She pocketed the lipstick and knife, and dropped the towel.

Erika tore a piece of the silver tape and smoothed it tightly over his mouth. “Help me turn him over,” She asked of Samantha.

Once on his stomach, Erika wrapped duct tape around Josh’s forearms, binding them together. Once that was accomplished, she untied the rope from his wrists then taped his ankles together.

Rachel brought the boat back to shallower water and climbed in. “I’ll take this back. Keep him quiet. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

It seemed like an eternity, but ten minutes later, Rachel re-emerged from the bushes. “Where’s the pocket knife?”

Erika fished it out of her pocket and handed it over. Rachel took the knife, opened it up and knelt beside the bound body of the jock. She pulled the collar of his shirt tight and using the knife, cut the shirt from his body. Once the shirt was a rag in the grass she started on his pants.

“This son of a bitch will never try that shit again.” Rachel cursed. “Ever.”


The clock radio started pumping out music with a heavy bass drum. Erika groaned, turned towards the wall and pulled her blanket over her head. She winced as parts of her body protested. The side of her head ached from the blow that Josh had landed. Her fist hurt as well. Striking a semi-conscious person on the side of the head bare knuckled, definitely wasn’t the most brilliant thing that she had done in the past few days.

“Come on, Erika, we need to see if we can cover any bruises so that no one will tell.” Samantha prodded.

“Can’t we just stay in bed this morning?” Erika pleaded.

“This,” she waved “is for Krystal as much as us. Come on.”

Erika threw off her blankets and slid out of bed and followed Samantha bleary eyed into the bathroom. She shut and locked the door, before looking in the mirror. A close study of her face revealed that other than needing to shave, she had a nice purple bruise along her hairline on the side of her head. She poked at it tenderly, and winced from the pain that it had produced.

“How bad is mine?” Samantha inquired. “I’m afraid to look.”

Erika looked towards the voice and quickly looked away.

“That bad?” Worry filled Samantha’s tone.

“No.” Erika waved a hand in her direction. “You’re going to the bathroom.”

“Yeah, so?” Samantha yawned, paused and yawned again. “Oh, sorry, I forgot.”

“I hope you have enough makeup to cover up the bruising on your face.” Erika looked back at her own face in the mirror. The bruising being just at the hairline would be fairly easy to cover up. She could probably get away with just wearing her hair down, and with her long bangs, it would probably just look like a shadow.

“No wonder my jaw hurts.” Samantha’s face joined Erika’s in the mirror. She lightly touched the blue discoloration on the side of her face.

“You’re lucky he didn’t break it.”

Samantha pulled her coverup out of her bag and went to work on disguising the physical marks on her face.

“What are you going to do about those?” Erika inquired pointing out the marks on Samantha’s wrists.

“I don’t know. It’s not like I can wear long sleeves. Maybe I can find some bracelets.”

“We could tear up some fabric and make bracelets, or something.” Erika shrugged.

“You turning into Julie Andrews on me?” Samantha pictured the cabin’s curtains being turned into play clothes. She winced after smiling at the thought. “What could we use that would not be missed?” Samantha pondered. “Our blankets and pillow cases aren’t fashionable enough. A white pillow case wrapped around our wrists would look like we were trying to be an ‘Emo’ cutter, or something.”

“Do we have any fabric left from our camp shirts that we modified?”

“That’s an excellent idea.” Samantha practically exclaimed.

A knock sounded at the door. “Come on in there. Stop hogging the bathroom.” Dani mumbled in an irritated tone.

Samantha put the finishing touches on her coverup and opened the door to trade places with her short cabin mate. Dani, rubbing the weariness from her eyes looked up at the two girls suspiciously.

“Rachel.” Erika sidled up to the athletic girl. “Samantha and I need to catch up to you guys on the trail. We have something we need to do.”

“Like what?” Rachel inquired in a low tone. “You’re not going to go check up on him, are you?”

“No. We need a few minutes to cover up the bruises on Samantha’s face and wrists.”

“He left bruises?”

Erika nodded.

Rachel muttered to herself through locked teeth. Erika thought she caught a few swear words.

Erika broke into Rachel’s private tirade. “Can you give us your scissors?”

The athletic girl nodded.


Erika shuddered. A cold chill went down her back as she and Samantha jogged past the location of the previous night’s incident.

“Just keep going.” Erika urged her friend as the cheerleader’s steps faltered. “Don’t let him get into your mind and control you.” She looked over at the white face of Samantha. “Just remember, we took care of him last night.”

“But what is to keep him from blabbing?” Samantha worried.

“What? He’s going to admit to trying to rape you, to explain it away? I don’t think so.”

“What if he does? Or what if they make him? What if the camp finds out that I . . . That I was . . . you know?” She bit her lip.

“I think the camp will be talking more about how we punished him than what he did to deserve it.”

“The camp will know?” Samantha looked down at the lavender wrist bands that the two of them had cut from one of Erika’s camp shirts.

“And they’ll know that he didn’t get away with it.” Erika reminded her. “No one will mess with Columbine cabin for a while.” She smiled viciously at her friend. “Come on, who’s going to mess with girls wearing lavender wrist bands after this?” She held her own wrist, wrapped in lavender up, and flashed a devious smile.

“What If they send us home?” Samantha continued her wallowing.

“That’s not funny.” Erika sobered. “Especially since, it would be hard for me to explain to my parents, how I came to have breasts.” She looked down at her chest.

“I have no idea what my parents would do.” Samantha sighed. “I should have known better.”

You didn’t do anything wrong!” Erika stressed her words. “Besides, they would probably cloister you in a convent, especially after what happened with Summer,” she muttered, more to herself than aloud.

“What?” Samantha stopped and glared at Erika forcing her to stop as well. “What happened to Summer?”

Erika felt a different kind of chill run down her spine. This time it wasn’t a chill fearing for herself, but fearing for her loved one. Erika scanned the area around them. They needed a place to sit, and have a talk. A talk that was long overdue.

Erika took Samantha’s hand in hers and led her down the path looking for a private, comfortable place. She found a small rise that was covered in a lush, carpet of thick moss. She sat down in the spongy bed and pulled Samantha down with her. “What do you know of Summer’s death and the events leading up to it?” Erika asked.

“My parents wouldn’t tell me much. Just that she was depressed and decided that she couldn’t live with her pain any longer, so she took her own life.”

“That’s all?” Erika asked incredulously.

Samantha nodded. Her face had gone white, making her coverup stand out against her pale skin accentuating the bruise instead of hiding it.

Erika sighed. “Why do I have to be the one?” she asked the tree tops. She took Samantha’s hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I can’t believe they haven’t told you.”

Samantha looked at her expectantly.

“Samantha,” Erika looked her friend in the eye. “A few months before Summer took her life, she . . . “Erika swallowed a large lump. “She was raped.”

“What?” Samantha’s mouth was agape in disbelief.

“She was on her way home from clubbing in a rougher part of town. You know how much she liked that harder, rawer music. Apparently, someone slipped her something–probably a Roofie. She said she didn’t remember a whole lot before waking up on the pavement in a parking lot.”

Samantha’s bottom lip began to tremble.

“I won’t go into the gorier details.” Erika decided. “Let’s just say, it wasn’t pretty.” Tears were breaking loose in both of their eyes. “A month later, she found out she was pregnant.”

“Pregnant!?” Samantha was horrified.

Erika nodded. “She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t tell your parents about the rape; she was too ashamed and embarrassed. Besides, your parents aren’t exactly like Juno’s.”

Samantha nodded in understanding.

“She kept it from everyone.” Erika continued. “I didn’t find out until after.”

“After what?”

“When she was about six months along, she miscarried.” Erika could feel Samantha’s hand tighten in hers. “It was horrible. They had to go in and scrape the uterus and everything. She still hadn’t told your parents anything, even after that. How else could she add to her embarrassment, her shame? Not only did she get raped by someone she couldn’t remember, but then she couldn’t carry the baby to term.”

“Oh my God, Summer.” Samantha sobbed. “Why didn’t she tell me?”

“How could she?” Erika asked. “She couldn’t tell anyone, and she made me swear not to either. How could she tell you? You were the good child; the Sandra Dee of the school.” Erika pulled Samantha’s head to her shoulder and gently rocked her and stroked her hair. “The hormone crash after losing the baby must have been too much for her. She became more and more depressed. More and more distant, even with me. “

Erika held the cheerleader tight. Under different circumstances, she would have found this position quite desirable. But this was nothing but raw emotional pain. Eric had the last year and a half to digest and grieve over the loss of his best friend. It still hurt thinking about her. Erika could therefore understand how painful this process was for Samantha. As if in response to her thoughts, Samantha held Erika tighter.

“Did your parents tell you where or how she died?” Erika sniffed.

“They told me she died through carbon monoxide poisoning.” Samantha’s shoulders shuddered with another sob.

“Is that all?”

Erika felt Samantha’s head nod against her shoulder. “Do you want to know the details, or stay in blissful ignorance?”

Samantha didn’t answer. One hand unwrapped from Erika and wiped the salty tears from her face then regained its former hold on her.

“It’s okay, Sam.” Erika tried to comfort her friend. “I won’t tell you, and you don’t have to know.”

“But I want to know.” Samantha pleaded. “My parents won’t talk about it. They won’t talk about her. It’s as if they have erased Summer from their minds. I don’t want to forget her. I’ve already forgotten so much,” she wailed. “I can’t even picture what she looked like anymore, without seeing a photo. . . I’m forgetting my own sister.” She pulled back and looked at Erika. “Please tell me. I need to know. I know it will hurt, but I need to know. No one else will tell me.”

Erika swallowed. She wiped her own tears with her new wrist band. “Where is your sister’s favorite place?” she asked.

“Clearwater Falls.” Samantha answered without pause.

Erika nodded. “She drove there with a bottle of Jim Beam and a bottle of sleeping pills. She rigged a hose to the exhaust pipe and directed it back into the car. From what I was able to hack from the coroner’s report and the tox screen of her blood, she drank most of the alcohol with the sleeping pills and right before she fell asleep, turned the car on. She didn’t feel anything.” Erika assured.

The two held each other for comfort as they poured their souls out. Erika’s diaphragm was beginning to hurt from all of the crying. She could only imagine the pain Samantha was feeling at this moment. Yes, the last few months of Summer’s life was horrible, but to keep the details from their remaining daughter, to keep her wondering for more than a year? What pain the blonde must be feeling. What anguish she had to be dealing with.

Slowly Samantha’s sobs slowed. Although her eyes burned, she was out of tears. The fact that she was out of tears for her sister seemed to make her heart ache even more. Her chest felt as if some giant was squeezing it, attempting to crush the life from her body.

Samantha looked up at her dark-haired friend. She was so beautiful. He was so beautiful. How could anyone at school treat Eric the way they did? How could Eric, for all of the abuse he’d gone through remain so warm, so loving, so tender hearted? No wonder her sister confided in this person; this wonderful, caring individual who needed to be loved.

Samantha’s brown eyes stared into Eric’s gentle blue ones. She raised her chin a bit and leaned forward.

Eric was taken in by Samantha’s blood shot, but warm, luminous brown eyes. Her cheeks still wet with tears; she was never so beautiful. Samantha lifted her chin and shifted, gently raising her face towards his and ever so lightly their lips met in a heartfelt embrace.


To be continued . . .

** Juno is a reference to a recent movie about a teen girl getting pregnant and deciding not to abort, but to give birth and give it up for adoption. Her parents don’t ‘freak out’ about the situation, but calmly help her in achieving her decision.

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Comments

Anistasia, How COULD you?

Anistasia, How COULD you leave us hanging by our fingernails and not knowing what happened to the revolting Josh. Ah well, I suppose next time will do.

Great episode; what a dreadful thing to happen to Summer.

Gabi

Gabi.


“It is hard for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs.” Thomas Hardy—Far from the Madding Crowd.

We'll see what the girls have to say about it.

Gabi,

I had every intention of showing what happened to Josh in this chapter, but girls will be girls. Samantha and Erika hijacked the story and demanded that I resolve their issue first.

Next chapter should be an eye opener. At least i hope so. We'll see what the girls have to say about it.

Thanks for reading, enjoying and commenting

A.A.

Anistasia, when a story gets…

…hijacked by its characters, it shows that those characters are living inside you, the author. In my life as a writer, albeit mostly as a journalist, I have written a children's book and had it published, and I found very early on that my “children” took complete control of the story, and went in very different directions to those which I had intended in my original synopsis. At times the two main characters were so horrid things to each other that tears started flowing down my cheeks. It made me feel so silly that two fictional children of my own creation could upset me so much.

Keep on writing, girlfriend,

Hugs,

Gabi

Gabi.


“It is hard for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs.” Thomas Hardy—Far from the Madding Crowd.

wow

it made me cray like a baby so mutch so fastto a young girl and her friend and now her sister .not cool .have a good one love awalys [email protected]

mr charlles r purcell
verry good story i wood love to see a lot more of this all i can say is wow verry good thanks for shareing

Duct tape, lipstick, no pants

I keep trying to add it up and arrive at "He'll never do it again"...

And note that Samantha finally got her wish, the reason that she wanted Eric/ka to come: now she knows why her sister killed herself.

Never do it again?

I doubt whether he would be stupid enough to show his face again, never mind do it!

I don't suppose daddy will be able to get him out of this one.

:)

NB

Jessica
I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way.

don't forget the towel

I suspect that it is going to be a very short mini-skirt. Too bad it is a kids Camp. Josh could wake up with arms tied off behind his back and pulling upwards driving his face over into a conveniently rigid protrusion and his face tied to it making it look like he was tied down to giving a BJ. He would never live that down as long as anyone at the Camp lived.

Kids Camp means that the admin would go ballistic if they tried, and blatantly not care that Josh was stopped from quietly raping a girl that they could have simply covered up again.

I just am trying to figure out which adults are going to be told of how hard it was to convince the kids (I am not sure if it would be better to imply boys stopped Josh or leave it at girls) not to leave him floating face down in the lake. Before they found out he had done it last year as well.
And the rumor mill has it that if he shows up at Camp next year that restraint will be seen as regretfully stupid squeamishness that got more girls raped.

All the "girls" hang on to boys other than Josh's cabin implying that they and their cabin mates might have been involved ...
Actually a chance for Eric to set up Dani with Derek as well.

Tattle Anonymous to the camp director or Josh's father or just rumor mill to the whole camp and let the adults pick up what they can?
Actually Eric's (strive for deeper) voice in phone call to Josh's father implying boys pulled Josh off while raping a girl and will take care of him if he shows up again... could work too.

Josh needs to be on Depo-Provera like other rapists.

Speculation can be such fun

After This Josh Incident, Samantha And Erika Will Be

Getting closer now that Samantha knows the truth about her sister. But now, I wonder if she will want Erik or Erika or if it will really matter. And will Erik still want to be Erika after Camp?
May Your Light Forever Shine

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

I approve greatly.

This was so heart warming.

Thank you.

Gwen

Wow! Great Chapter

My guess is that Rachel will have no more issues with Erika. I hope that Samantha and Erika/Eric continue to connect. Will they be really good friends (sisters) or a couple?

As hard as it was for Erika

As hard as it was for Erika to tell Samantha about her sister's death, it was the beginning of the healing process for Samantha. She needed to know and now she does know why her sister "deserted" her by committing suicide. Erika has shown everyone that she is and can be a true friend in all ways. Lets hope she and Rachel get back together as real friends also. J-Lynn

Another Wonderfup part of the Saga

A.A.
Please don't ever change your writing style, even though we complain about the cliffhangers it is just to damn good.
I can't believe that some people are so dense as to not realise that hiding information is nit the way to do things. Again this part of the sag is wonderful. Keep up the inspiring effort.

Jayme Ann

The answers to all of life's questions can be found in the face of a true friend

The answers to all of life's questions can be found in the face of a true friend

I hate to be a wet blanket

Angharad's picture

but anyone who was unconscious for that long would likely suffer brain damage, and as for a second blow to the head....

Still, grpping stuff AA.

Angharad

Angharad

I dunno

Edeyn Most folks are unconscious for 6-8 hours every single night. He wasn't without oxygen, he was knocked out. It would be the lack of oxygen that would cause brain damage. He very likely has a severe concussion, but not brain damage.

Edeyn Hannah Blackeney
Wasn't it Jim Henson who said, "Without faith, I am nothing," after all? No, wait, that was God... Sorry, common mistake to make...

I hate to be a wet blanket...

... but concussion is miles away from sleeping. People that suffer severe concussions die from brain damage caused by increased inter cranial pressure. Anyone knocked out for two minutes should be hospitalized. Concussion cause bleeding inside of the skull. The brain hits the front and back of the skull bursting a myriad of blood vessels.

A person with a head injury can seem normal for hours and suddenly die from their injury.

Love,

Paula

Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.

The Coda
Chapterhouse: Dune

Paula

Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.

The Coda
Chapterhouse: Dune

Are you thinking Concussion?

... That's not to say he wasn't "brain dammaged" BEFORE... But he may have come by that dammage "naturally"... :-(

Annette

I really liked the chapter but...

A couple of issues with it.

How did the camp ever allow Josh to return? Sure, daddy's money got the rape last year covered up but any camp administrator put in that position would never allow Josh to come back. (I guess unless they were in a huge money crunch... and why would daddy send him back to that camp? Lots more camps available where there will be no history.) Probably would have been better to have had the rape happen at another camp and Rachel know about it in some way. Maybe she was there.

Relationship between Samantha and Eric/a? Sure, Samantha sees Erica in a new light right now when she's in pain but how will she feel tomorrow when she's had a chance to recover? I'm pretty cynical about the thought processes of teens and I worry that Erica will just be hurt worse when Samantha goes back to being her old self. I guess she might be less resilient than I thought considering how she was brooding on her sister's death. Of course brooding didn't keep her from her normal alpha teen girl activities and attitudes. Do we think this will change her? I was very glad to see this line in Samantha's thoughts, "She was so beautiful. He was so beautiful." Gives me hopes for a relationship at least.

"Everyone" at camp knew that Josh and Samantha had a date. Won't that point a pretty solid finger at Samantha and her friends when Josh shows up in some wierd position / outfit? I can't imagine that who did whatever was done will remain much of a secret. Hey, Josh knows and he feels confident that Dad will bail him out of any trouble. He could easily make up a story.

Samantha's sister was six months pregnant and Samantha had no idea? Possible but not likely. I suppose Samantha was so self involved that she didn't pay much attention to her "wierd" sister. Doesn't make her a very good sister.

But, this is a fantasy and a well thought out, well written one. I do hope for the best for Eric/a and I suppose for Samantha although she's been a pretty shallow friend so far. AA, please don't take these criticisms too seriously. You're doing a great job on this story and creating characters that I put a lot of personality behind. I really appreciate your sharing this work with us.

Details, Details...

I would agree that a first-trimester miscarriage would a) fit the timeline better, and b) be less likely to "show", at least prior to the miscarriage. So, change the 6 to a 3, and it works just fine. I already did that for myself, mentally. Nothing else in the story depends on it being 6 months, anyway. It's not a detail that's critical to the story, so just ignore it.

A not-so-brief rebuttal

Edeyn Just a bit of my thoughts on the points you brought up.

If daddy was never told the nature of the "trouble" the boy was in, and the camp would likely have changed directors -- this tends to happen almost yearly in camps such as this -- and the former director would be the only one that was "in the know" then he'd be allowed back. New directors are usually pulled from assistant directors in the hierarchy. There wasn't a relationship mentioned between Samantha and Erika, just a kiss -- and what looked to me to be more of a sisterly kiss. What it looks like to me is that Samantha will assume even more of a "big sister" role for Erika, much to the frustration of Erika.

Josh won't show up until he's gotten himself straightened up, for that would force his deeds into the light. Instead, he'll be sent home early for having worried the counselors and director by being out all night. As for who did what -- the entire camp will know that he did something to Samantha and she (and her cabinmates) got even in some way. Details will be unavailable, and no one will care. The ones that will be left in the dark about it would be the adult-types.

A lot of girls pregnant in high school don't "start to show" until the end of their second trimester, and Summer wasn't exactly into fashion and such that would show off that her figure was changing. Baggy clothes, I recall being mentioned at one point. Not only would those circumstances make it easy to hide pregnancy for that long, I've seen quite a few do just that. Though, I will concede that 3-4 months would fit the timeline better.

It's also already been pointed out that Samantha really WASN'T a great sister, even in her own estimation. Samantha doesn't mean anyone any harm, she just lacks the skills to think ahead and realize how her actions affect others. She's not so much shallow as shortsighted, impulsive instead of pragmatic.


Edeyn Hannah Blackeney
Wasn't it Jim Henson who said, "Without faith, I am nothing," after all? No, wait, that was God... Sorry, common mistake to make...

With Josh Here About To Be Outed By The Girls, I Can See

That Rachel can cause the camp a lot of trouble because of them letting that rapist return. Does his father perhaps own the Camp? But I doubt that Rachel will out Erika after seeing that she fought Josh. That will cause her to rethink her attitude about the Plague. And what about Trish? Does she prefer Erik or Erika?

May Your Light Forever Shine

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Sniff...Sniff...

Please wait a moment while I get a whole box of tissue for this one.
:-O waah!!!

Hello A.A.!! ^___^ ;-D

Thanks for this chapter. I will gladly wait for the next chapter now that Samantha knows the truth about her sister. I am sure the morning discovery of Josh will be priceless. I had some ideas on what it could be. Making him look like a garish she-male comes to mind with some appropriate words written on the body and forehead with the lipstick might do it. That's one extreme idea. There could be others, but I will wait for yours.

Well have a wonderful week. Waiting patiently for the next chapter easily. No need to feel left hanging this time. At least one part of Samantha's life has some closure. She will have time to go through her emotions during the summer. Then when she sees her parents, hopefully that part will have some closure.

I just had a quick idea for a momento for Josh. Since he got scratched by Erica. All Rachel had to do was rub some dirt into the wound for an infection to set in. Then a nice scar will be there for all time.

Rachel

I'd worry abput Rachel, if I were Josh

She has access to tools and a pocketknife and she knows the girls were physically harmed in resisting the rape attempt.

He is duct taped to a tree with most or all of his clothes cur off. A couple quick stabs with say the leather awl on the knife or a hammer an a couple nails in just the right places and Josh will be lucky to ever father child or have an erection. Not that she would risk a criminal charge but she is very angry ansd saw the desparate fight to avoid being raped. She will be sorely tempted.

I agree with some of the speculation here, he had aiders and abettors in his cabin or had them cowed into staying quiet at least. As to the previoous years rape, from the camp's standpoint you have two teenagers in a coed camp. It could be easly dismissed as a fight between lovers. The camp would prefer it that way as a police investigation might not prove things either way -- strange, asault shoud be obvious to a good police investgator or doctor, consentual sex would not be as likely to leave injuries -- but the camp might fear a counter suit by the parents of Josh if rape is not proven and from the girl's parents for allowing a rape to happen. Better to sweep it under the pine needles.

The camp fears anything that would ruin the camps's reputaion. But if news of what they did last year and what it nearly led to this year gets out, this is the last year for the camp.

You go, Erik for finally telling Samantha the truth about her sister. Now tell her you love her but will wait until she feels better. Don't take her on the rebound but don't let her pigonhole you as *girlfrind*.

John in Wauwatosa

John in Wauwatosa

Bravo

Don't take this the wrong way, I liked the this installment. I liked seeing the bad guy get his due... but I don't exactly agree to how they handled things. The girls left themselves open to too many felonies to be counted. It was at least attempted rape by the boy, but they failed to see to the boy's care. The fact that he was unconscious for so long worries me. They also taped over his mouth, to me with my sinus problems that could be fatal. It would then be second degree murder at least. The rape charge would look like the girls were just trying to justify things. The way they left him there is poetic justice, but if he complains the first story the authorities hear is his story. The girls come out of it looking like they are hiding something. Attempted aggravated murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, sexual assault (yes the boy's can claim this too), kidnapping, unlawfull restraint, obstruction of justice, tampering with evidence and I don't know enough to keep on going.

As much as the creep deserved what he got, and as bad as reporting rape can be to the victim, not reporting it or late reporting of it is worse.

If you hurt someone defending your life call the authorities immediately. If you don't and he dies the Prosecutors can get very creative with charges. If you hurt someone and they live to tell their story first that effects your credibility. If you are raped I know how hard it is to subject yourself to the pain and degradation of having to prove you were attacked, and then having to relive the experience to hopefully receive justice. Reporting an attack days or week later only effects your credibility.

I am not trying to belittle what happened or side with the attacker (personally I think true rapists should be castrated), but all of the above things effect your credibility. TG's in the legal system already have two strikes against them in the eyes of the general public (not my opinion, but you know what I mean).

I am not trying to take away from your story, but things like your scenario do happen, as well as the points that I brought up.

Please don't throw rocks or stones at me.

Love,

Paula

Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.

The Coda
Chapterhouse: Dune

Paula

Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.

The Coda
Chapterhouse: Dune

More timing problems

Chapter 4, Samantha said her sister had committed suicide a year and a half ago. And Christmas time is a very high rate for suicides although not so much for kids in even nominally supportive families. Miscarriage at the end of second trimester means rape happened about the time summer vacation started. 3 months would mean after school started.

Chapter 1, Eric was in an art class with Summer, some time more than a year and a half ago.

Current timeline, chapter 1-3, Eric never thought of driving himself, or having a car, or even using a car, or fussing about missing his driver's test (or even regretting missing driving practice because he is away at Camp) ergo he is 15 or younger now. Same applies to Samantha by the way.

That means that Eric and Summer had art class in middle school together, and middle school is much less likely to mix age/grades. Samantha's age isn't given, but close enough that Eric did not think of her as too old for himself, just out of status range. Samantha despite apparently not being a driver dates "one of the best football players in the school". Usually senior?

Three months means that Summer snuck out during the school year, six months means she snuck out at the beginning of summer vacation;
at age 13,
and was out all night
and not caught by her parents
or Samantha.
I know which part of the year I believe a 13 year old is less likely and which more likely,
to get away....
and be out all night....
and not be caught.
Not to mention said 13 year old getting a car to Clearwater Falls.

A few "tweaks" if the story is ever rewritten.
1) Drop year and a half ago and six months pregnant (two years) to total 11 or 12 months between them. That cuts a full year off and possibly missing the pregnancy less of a social problem for the family members that missed it.
2) Make the kids older (Juniors?) Fix the driving and license issue. (have license means Erica should have official state issued ID and doesn't) If not, then have the school district drop driver's ed due to drunk students dying during Prom or something equally unlikely, but similarly plausible for power-mad unaccountable school boards. In a State (like Illinois) that requires passing school-based driver's ed for licenses before 18.
3) Have Eric's High School (not middle school) art class be normal "advanced" art class. Just a normal art class attended with older grade. And Summer is one of the (much) older grade students.

You could get Summer up to 17 or even 18 that way.

Oh, and give us at least some hint of the comparative age between Eric/Erica and Samantha

/grin

Such a sweet and touching end…A.A.

Such a sweet and touching end to this chapter, A.A. You had me weeping buckets when I read it and I know it will be a tear-jerker for T when we read it together tonight.

Now, I wonder what those wicked girls did to that "basket", Josh? Whatever it is, no doubt it is far less than he deserved.

Longing to find out,

Hilary

Proper Punishment

A tight knot around the scrotum would have been nice. When was the last time you ever heard of a eunuch raping anyone?

I am a grain of sand on a near beach; a nova in the sky, distant and long.
In my footprints wash the sea; from my hands flow our universe.
Fact and fiction sing a legendary song.
Trickster/Creator are its divine verse.

--Old Man CoyotePuma

Yesssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally someone suggests simple country justice. If it does not sterilize him, at the very least, he could swell up to the size of a cantaloup! Yaaaaaayyyyyy.

Having been on the bottom, I take a very dim view of rapists.

Gwen

That's some chapter...

So much cleared up... So much yet to resolve.

Thank you for sharing!

Annette

Stayed Up All Night...

,,,and re-read all 38 chapters. It's even better the second time.

Outstanding story, AA.

Eric

Duct Tape Waxing :)

Just thinkin of the possibilities...

Huggles,

Winnie
Winnie_small.jpg

Hmmm :) Thirty

Hmmm :)

Thirty seven

......................AND

..............................Waitiiing

:)
Yoron

...

I am so glad I am coming into this story late, I don't think I could have lived a week with this cliffhanger