Camp Wisahickon

Chapter Twenty

Vote if you love Poppy and comment if Carter is just too darn cute :')

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Poppy grabbed my shoulders and pushed me down on the log by the fire pit, determination shining in her eyes. The second we were done breakfast, she grabbed my hand and practically dragged me away, not even bothering to speak to me until we got here. Now, she put her hands on her hips and gave me a warning look.

"Talk." She demands, staring down at me as I fidget in my seat.

"About?" I ask coyly, but really, it's just because I don't even know where to start.

Her eyes narrow. "You know what."

I exhale a long breath and give her a look. "You're going to want to sit down. This will take awhile."

Poppy heeds my advice and sits on the log beside me, and from there, I tell her everything. I tell her about staying in the cabin last night with Carter, waking up with him, the phone call from my mom last night, the Juilliard audition, leaving camp in a week, and even my new realization about my intensified feelings for Carter.

By the time I'm done, Poppy looks like she's trying to figure out a difficult math problem, with her brow furrowed and eyes almost glazed over. After a moment of recollecting all the new information, she nods, and I'm relieved she understands. At least that means I don't have to repeat myself, considering I rambled quickly.

"You're leaving in a week?" Poppy addresses first, her eyes sad and lips set in a frown.

"Poppy," I whine. "I need advice, not a recap."

She rolls her eyes. "One thing at a time. Pretend like you have patience and answer me."

I let out a breath. "Yeah, I guess. I don't know. My mom said she's coming here to pick me up in a week, but what can she do if I say I don't want to go?"

Poppy's eyes widen. "You're going to ask to stay?"

"I don't know," I say honestly. "I want to, but you know how my parents are. They would freak."

After I say this, I think about Carter's words. Is Juilliard what you want? The answer was clear: no. Although sometimes I find solace in piano, it was evident to me that I didn't want to go to Juilliard. And then, Poppy asks the question that I had been asking myself ever since I considered asking my parents to stay at camp.

"Would you refuse to go with them because you don't want to go to Juilliard or because you don't want to leave a certain bad boy?"

I stare at her inquisitive gaze and feel myself falter. "A little bit of both, I think. I don't want to go to Juilliard, no way. But Carter..." I shut my eyes and exhale again. "I really, really like him. If we only have the summer, then I want it to last." I open my eyes and look at Poppy. "Is that bad?"

She smiles softly. "No, it's not bad. I'm a little offended you want to stay for him and not me, but that's okay."

Her words were meant to make light of the situation, to make me calm down at least a little, but I ended up feeling worse. She was right- I was blowing her off completely. Every time I went off with Carter, I was minimizing our time together. We only had one summer, and I spent half of it with a boy I had just met.