Camp Wisahickon

Chapter Twenty One

WARNING: MATURE CONTENT! I don't go too into detail, so don't worry, but just a fair warning. Enjoy :)

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I didn't go to piano practice on my last full day at camp.

I didn't care if Mrs. Brady called my parents to tell them, either. All that mattered was that I was spending time with the people I cared about most. And, more specifically, that I got one more morning of heaven, waking up next to Carter... at a sensible time.

I woke up before he did, on my side cuddled up next to him, while he lay on his stomach with an arm draped over my midsection. His light breathing tickled my neck, moving small strands of my hair across my jawline with each exhale he took.

Lying there beside him, I tried to remember the details of his face, just in case. I tried to remember his long eyelashes, the way his lips parted when he slept, the slow rising and falling of his back, the warmth of his body, the way his bare skin against my bare skin felt heavenly.

Someone said once that there was nothing more amazing than watching a person wake up beside you and, when they're still half asleep and can hardly control their reactions, see you and smile. The way that they haven't even processed anything through their sleep induced haze, but the way they look at you in that moment, when all they know is that you're there, is incredible.

And that's how I felt when Carter stirred awake, his eyelids fluttered open to look at me, and a sleepy smile adorned his lips. His hand splayed across my stomach moved until his fingers were grazing my waist, bare from where my shirt had ridden up in our sleep, and he pulled me closer into him.

"Go back to sleep," He murmurs into my neck, his voice thick with huskiness. "We didn't fall asleep until late last night, princess."

I smiled at the memory of us, huddled together on the small bed in the extra cabin tucked behind all the others, talking all night in hushed tones, even though no one could hear us. We spent all of our nights like that recently- just talking about everything and nothing, and when we got tired of talking, we moved to kissing.

"I'm not tired," I whisper lightly. "But I'm not going anywhere. Go back to sleep."

Yet my words seemed to have the opposite effect, and reminded us both of the unfortunate reality we had to face. This was supposed to be my last day at camp: my mother would be here to pick me up tomorrow. The last few days passed in a blur, spending as much time as possible with Poppy, Teddy, the twins, and Carter, and yet Poppy and Carter were the only ones that knew of my mom's plan for me.

It was partly because I didn't have the heart to tell anyone else, and partly because I had already made up my mind on what I was going to do. I couldn't leave, not yet. I was going to stand up to my mother, tell her that I was going to stay and I wasn't going to audition for Juilliard, and that I wasn't going to Juilliard at all, that I wanted to do something else with my life.

Carter pushed himself up in bed, his messy mop of hair falling in his eyes, but he flipped onto his back and pushed it out of his face, then looked at me. "Today's the last day, isn't it?"

"It's supposed to be," I tell him carefully. "But I'm not going to go with my mother."

His brow furrowed. "What?"

My eyes searched his for any sign that he didn't want me to leave, but all I found was confusion, and I felt my heart sink a little. "I don't want to go with her. I'm going to tell her that I'm not auditioning at Juilliard."

Just when I felt idiotic for saying the words aloud, when I began to reconsider if Carter actually did think more of me than just a summer fling, a wide grin broke out on his lips. He sat up on his knees, took my face in between both of his hands, and kissed me, morning breath and all. The passion in the kiss took my breath away and made my toes curl underneath the thin sheets we shared.