It was just another day at the amazing camp. I was still trying to get the kids to either like me or appreciate me more. So far, the only time they would actually pay attention was when we were actually dancing. Like, proper dancing, scrap the warm-ups. The only problem was that the one thing that made this whole camp bearable wasn’t happening today. Instead of dancing, we were going to go on a full day hike! I could already tell that it was going to be a disaster. At least everybody was actually there on time, but they did not look excited.

“Ugh, miss, do we have to do this?” The same boy who had been hitting on me the first day groaned, trudging at the back of the group while we were still walking through camp.

“Unfortunately, yes.” I nodded, adjusting the straps of the backpack I already had on my back so it would fit comfortably the entire day. “But we’ll survive as long as we stay together. And what did I say about you calling me miss?”

“But miss!” He whined like a toddler not receiving the candy they wanted.

I sighed believing I was never going to get him to call me by my actual name. For some rebellious kid, he really did like to use proper pronouns. So, ignoring his complaints, I tried to cheer everybody up. “I brought a bluetooth speaker so we can play some music and scare the bears away. Anybody want to volunteer to put on something?”

“We weren’t allowed to bring our phones…” one of the girls explained when nobody jumped at the opportunity.

“Guys, I told you that rule doesn’t hold when you’re only with me! Or are you afraid I’m trying to trick you? Cause that’s not what’s happening. I just think it’s unfair that you don’t get to use them when I know I will use mine as soon as I get some reception. Now, did anybody sneak their phone along so we can play some music that we will all enjoy?”

Suddenly all of them were pulling their devices out of their backpacks, fighting about who got the privilege. It was quite a mess. They were all arguing about who had the better music and who had terrible taste despite most of the songs on their playlists probably being exactly the same. If I were them, I wouldn’t have volunteered. It would have meant that my phone’s battery was going to drain faster. Hence why I was also asking them to play the music. Being able to charge your phone was quite rare in these cabins, especially with all the other counselors putting up a fight.

“Ok, shut up!” I shouted at them as I stopped and turned around, almost causing them to all walk into each other. “You’re either going to chose one person, or we’ll make an agreement in which everybody gets a specific time slot. If we can’t figure that one out we will have no music or we will listen to my shitty music which consists of my boyfriend’s band’s music. Your choice.”

“Oh my god. You’re boyfriend’s in a band!” One of the girls gasped in excitement. “That’s fucking awesome!”

I nodded. “It’s why I have this whole phone policy. If I do manage to get reception at the right time, I’m going to call him. He’s out in Australia and Japan right now, so timezones are getting in the way.”

“That’s, like, so far away!” Another girl gushed, causing the boys to roll their eyes. “Is he famous?”

I wasn’t sure why it really mattered, but if it meant connecting with the kids a little more, then I was all for discussing this. “He isn’t Justin-Bieber-famous but he’s pretty well known in the alternative music side of things. I mean, I don’t know what you consider famous.”

“Does he have twitter? How many followers does he have? What’s his handle?”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. To me, all that never had mattered, so I never paid attention to it. “Something between the one and two million? I’m guessing a bit above one-point-five. But I honestly don’t know.”

“I am so going to follow him.” One of the guys in the back laughed.

“Whatever floats your boat.” I turned back around and started walking again, hearing their footsteps following me.

“Ugh, there’s no service!” He groaned next, probably having expected that he could have searched him up right now. “As soon as we do, I am going to follow him!”

“Ok, cool, but we still don’t have anybody playing any music!”

“We want to hear your boyfriend’s music!” A few of them exclaimed.

I sighed a little as I pulled out my phone. All I could think about was how glad I was that I brought a power-bank along with me, because my phone definitely was going to run out of battery. Something told me they weren’t exactly going to like the music. Maybe it was the fact that they definitely were teenagers who loved their favourite genre, but would be appalled at the idea of expanding their horizons. If that’s how they wanted to live, then I was cool with it, but they asked me to put it on.

After walking for another few minutes in silence other than the music playing through the speakers dangling from my backpack, the first person decided to speak up. It, of course, was one of the girls with the comment that was made, “is he the lead singer? The lead singer sounds hot.”

I shook my head, cringing at the fact that there were countless of underaged people swooning over my boyfriend and his band. “No, he plays lead guitar. Or at least that’s what he wants people to think.”

“So he doesn’t?”

“It’s just an inside-ish joke,” I brushed off, mentally facepalming for thinking that the joke would come over. “Everybody always says he can’t actually play guitar. That’s not really true, though.”

“Hmm… I kinda like it. I don’t think it’s something to dance to, but I can tolerate a few songs on my playlist.”

And that was how the rest of the conversation continued. They kept asking me questions the entire time. It first started off with just the music and Jack’s role in it, but as you can all guess that quickly escalated. Slowly but surely the questions turned less and less innocent. The music subject was dropped and eventually it was only about Jack. Then it turned into my relationship with him. In the end, there were questions I absolutely refused to answer. Those kids did not know about boundaries and when they were crossing a line.

When we finally reached the first ‘checkpoint’, we weren’t exactly alone. Although arriving from a slightly different path, Ben’s group was just a few steps ahead of us. As much as I just wanted to continue and avoid him, I knew the kids were looking forward to a break so much. Especially with it being an open field that could possibly have service. I could hardly force them to keep going just as I was starting to get them to break a little. I was not going to ruin my progress. If that meant putting myself right in the middle of an awkward moment waiting to happen, then I was all for it.

As soon as they all dispersed, taking out their phones with the excited exclamation that they indeed had service, Ben came up to me.

“So, how’s everything going?” He asked as he came way too close again.

I took a not so subtle step away, hoping he would finally get the hint and replied, “pretty great actually. Although it may sound strange, I really feel like they are warming up to me now because of this walk.”

“Well, that’s great,” he nodded and shuffled closer as if he didn’t realize what he was doing. Slowly, he touched my elbow with his hand before trying to slide it to my wait. “Quite a coincidence that we happen to be here at the same time right?”

I couldn’t take it anymore. I should have kept my cool, but everything I had done didn’t work. Was asking him nicely going to do any different? No, definitely not. So, I took a large step away, shaking his grip away. “You have got to stop doing that!”

“Doing what?” he chuckled awkwardly as all the kids stared in my direction, my outburst having caught their attention.

“Oh, you know what,” I seethed. “You keep flirting with me, you keep touching me. I constantly tell you to stop, but you just don’t listen. I do not want any of this from you. I do not know you. So if you would leave me alone, that would be great.”

“Come on, Ireland,” he sighed as if I was in the wrong here and reached out to put his hand on my shoulder.

“No!” I yelled and stepped out of his reach. “You keep telling me over and over that we do know each other. I. Do. Not. Know. You!”

“But--”

“You might know me. I will fully believe that, but I have told you before that all my memory from when I was 16 up until 22 is gone. So, if you would please act like normal strangers would!”

“Plus, she has a boyfriend,” the boy that kept hitting on me in class the first day stood behind me, cracking his knuckles.

“Not him,” one of the girls joined, “but she does have one!”

Her best friend hopped in as well. “And he’s way better than you’ll ever be. I mean, he is in a band, how much cooler can it get?”

“Let’s go,” one of the other girls linked arms with me and pulled me away, leaving Ben to stand there in confusion.

Who knew these kids would stand up for me? Their comments might have been a bit weak and strange, but it was the thought that counted.

Notes

Well, shit. I haven't updated this story in ages. Nobody seems to have complained, though.