Lipstick Lullibies

The phone rang loudly through the house.

         “I got it!” I cried, running downstairs to answer the phone.

         “Hello?”

         “Hi, is this Callie?” a woman asked in a polite voice.

         “Yep,” I replied.

         “I'm just checking to make sure your still coming to camp tomorrow? I'm Faron, your counsellor.”

         “Yeah, I'll be there,” I replied glumly.

I was really not looking forward to this camp. I said goodbye and hung up the phone. I headed back upstairs to continue her packing.

         “Callie! Wake up! We have to go!” mom shouted up the stairs.

I pushed my covers onto the floor and got up off my bed. I showered and dressed quickly and, grabbing my duffel bag, headed downstairs. I ate a quick breakfast and then loaded my bag into the car. I got into the front passenger seat and shut the door.

         “Why do I have to go to this stupid camp again?” I asked mom.

         “It's not stupid. You'll have lots of fun and make some new friends,” mom sighed wearily.

         “Yeah, when I could be back home with the friends I have already,” I shot back.

I rolled my eyes and stared out the window. Camp was going to suck. I wanted to stay home and go to parties, shop and work at my part-time job to earn some money.

         “We're here!”

Mom's voice awoke me. I sleepily lifted my head and looked out the window. A large wooden sign was planted into the ground on a stake. It read 'Camp Arowhon'. A sprawling mess hall was the only building in view. There was a baseball diamond and soccer field on their right and a narrow dirt path that lead farther into the camp. I got out of the car and stretched. There were kids of all ages wandering around or sitting on top of their luggage.

“Bye honey! Have a good time! I'll see you in two weeks,” her mom gave her a huge hug.

“I hate you,” I muttered.

Her mom sighed and climbed back into the car. She drove back the way they had come, waving out the window.

I picked up my bag and walked toward a counsellor holding a sign labelled LITs.

         “Hi! You must be Callie!” the counsellor said with enthusiasm.

         “That’s me.”

I looked around at the other LITs and noticed a guy staring at me intently. I looked away quickly and turned back to the counsellor.

         “So, the girls cabin is over there. You can take your bag and go get settled in. I'm waiting for one more camper and then I'll be over.” she pointed to a cabin a hundred meters away.

I picked up my bag and hurried over to the cabin. I pulled open the screen door and stepped inside. There were five other girls. They introduced themselves and then continued unpacking. I took a top bunk and laid out my sleeping bag and pillow. Suddenly, Faron pranced into the cabin.

         “Hey girls! Ready for a fun time at camp?”

         “YES!” a girl named Katie cried.

         “I like that enthusiasm. Anyways, we have ten minutes to finish unpacking and then we have to go meet the guy LITs before lunch,” Faron stated.

The ten minutes passed quickly. The girls had been talking about themselves and making friends and acquaintances with each other.

         “Well girls, let’s head out!” Faron declared.

The girls pulled on their shoes and headed out the door. The boys were waiting for them in the rec hall. They introduced themselves. The guy who had been staring at her was named Xavier.

         “Hey,” he said.

         “Hey.”

He had dark green eyes and shaggy brown hair. His eyes locked onto mine and we just stood there, gazing at each other. Finally, I looked away. He laughed.

         “I always win at that game,” he said, winking at me.

I laughed. Faron interrupted the moment.

         “Time for lunch!” she declared, ushering us toward the mess hall.

We ate lunch and then went canoeing. After playing a game of soccer baseball, eating dinner and playing a camp-wide game of Clue, it was time for bed. We headed back to the cabin. I put on my pyjamas and crawled into bed.  I turned over and heard the rustle of paper. I hunted around for it with my hand and finally found it.

I turned on my IPod and used the light to read what it said.

         Meet me at the rock at midnight.

                                       Xavier, xo

I glanced at the time on my IPod. Ten thirty-seven. Should I go? I decided that I may as well go. I had to have some fun at this camp! I lay in bed for another hour and ten minutes. Making sure that everyone was asleep, I climbed down the bunk bed ladder and out the door of the cabin. What rock was he talking about? I hadn't seen any rocks so far...

Then, I suddenly remembered. There had been that rock they had passed on their way to the baseball diamond. It was a big flat rock, stretching out along the water a little ways. I headed in that direction. As I got closer, I noticed a figure standing at the edge of the water. His back was turned to me and he looked lost in thought. I crept up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He screamed and turned around quickly.

         “Jesus! You scared me!”

I laughed.

         “Just trying to be friendly.”

He smiled his amazing smile and sat down on the rock. He motioned for me to take a seat next to him. I sat down and gazed out over the water. I took in the scent on the cool night breeze and listened to the sounds of animals rustling around in the woods nearby.

         “Why did you ask me to come here?” I asked, after a few moments of silence.

         “No real reason really. You just seem like a pretty cool girl.”

I laughed at that and lay back on the cool surface of the rock.

         “I've never been described as cool before.”

He shrugged.

         “Glad to be the first.”

He lay down beside me and looked up at the stars.

         “I love being outside at night. It's so relaxing, so beautiful. It’s like no one else exists in the world except for you and me. It gives me so much energy. Makes me feel like I'll live forever,” he prophesied.

I didn't say anything. I thought about what he had said and how true it all seemed. He seemed like a really amazing guy. But why had he asked me to come out here with him? We lay there for a long while in silence, listening to the waves roll in toward the shore.

         “We should probably be getting back,” I said, standing up.

         “I guess we should.”

He stood up and took my hand.

         “Wanna meet here again tomorrow night?”

         “Yeah, that would be nice.”

I started walking back the way I had come. I only turned around once. He was still standing there, gazing at me thoughtfully.

The bell rang.

         “Wake up call!” Faron called out, waking all the members of their cabin.

I got up out of bed and dressed quickly. This was going to be a long day. I started out the door after the other girls but Faron stopped me. I was the last one out of the cabin so she pulled me back inside and shut the door.

         “One of the rules at this camp is that there are no relationships. I see that something is going on with you and Xavier. If it goes any farther than it has already, you’ll both have to go home early,” she stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

         “But there's nothing going on between me and Xavier! We're just friends,” I said honestly.

         “And let's hope it stays that way.”

She motioned toward the door.

         “Let's go eat,” she walked out the door.

I followed her outside, closing the door behind me.

The day passed by slowly, and I didn't even have one chance to talk to Xavier alone. Finally, it was free time. Xavier asked if I wanted to go canoeing with him. Obviously, I agreed. We put on life jackets and grabbed a couple paddles. We paddled along for a while, not paying much attention to our surroundings. Then we just started talking, not even paddling at all, just letting the canoe float across the water.

         “We should probably head back now. Free time must be over,” I suggested.

Xavier looked around. I followed his gaze. All we could see in all directions was water, except for a small island a few hundred meters away.

         “Do you have any clue where we are?” Xavier asked, turning toward me.

         “Nope. I guess that means you don't either?”

My stomach knotted with fear.

         “We're officially lost,” he declared, laughing nervously.

         “Let's go to that island over there,” I suggested, pointing toward it.

We paddled over to the island and tied the boat to a tree. We walked around the whole island, it wasn’t very big, and discovered that it was uninhabited. We didn’t have any food or water and nothing to start a fire with. What were we going to do?

I woke up and rolled onto my side, remembering where I was. Alone. With Xavier. On a deserted island. With no food or water. I was freezing cold and soaking wet and I just wanted to go home. I sat up and hugged my knees, rocking back and forth slowly. Xavier woke up and sat up beside me.

         “So…”

         “So…”

We stared out at the water, stretching on forever it seemed, for a while.

         “What should we do?” I asked worriedly. “What if no one ever finds us?”

         “Someone will find us. It will be okay,” he assured me.

He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in close. We stayed like that for a while, just thinking our thoughts. I liked him. I had been trying to tell myself that I didn’t since that first day, but deep inside I knew that I did. I just wanted to stay like this forever, sitting here on this rocky beach, with hardly a care in the world. He was gazing at me again, with those green eyes of his, and I knew what he was about to do. He kissed me tenderly, without a sound, and pulled away from the embrace quickly. Before I even had time to think about what had just happened, the sound of a boat’s motor broke the quiet of the island. We both stood up quickly and began waving at the boat.

         “Hey!”

         “Over here!”

The driver of the boat saw us and turned the boat toward the island. He anchored the boat a little way out from the shore. We paddled out to him in the canoe and hopped on board.

         “So this is where you two have been hiding. The whole camp’s worried sick about you. They nearly called the police,” the driver declared, smacking a piece of gum around in his mouth.

         “We went canoeing on free time. We just got lost somehow,” Xavier stated over the roar of the boats motor.

Soon we arrived back at camp. Faron ran up to us as soon as we stepped off the boat.

         “Go pack up your things right away. Both of you. You certainly will not be allowed to stay at camp after this nonsense,” she said sharply.

         “Yes Faron.”

We trudged to our separate cabins. I opened the door and stepped inside. Immediately, I was met with a barrage of questions from my fellow cabin mates.

         “What happened?”

         “Are you two going out?”

         “Did you get lost on purpose?”

I just waved away their questions and began re-packing my duffel bag. Faron waltzed into the cabin a few minutes later. She watched me packing up my things but didn’t say anything. She sat down on the edge of her bunk and began to read a Seventeen magazine. I finished packing and then rolled up my sleeping bag, tucking my pillow inside.

         “Your mom’ll be here in a couple hours. You can do whatever you want until then, it’s not like it matters anymore,” Faron said without looking up from the magazine.

I headed out the door and spotted Xavier sitting on the rock. I sat down next to him.

         “So I guess this is goodbye,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant.

         “I guess it is,” he replied glumly.

He took my hand but didn’t let go right away this time.

         “I think that if we had met each other at a different time, in a different place, something more would have happened. But it didn’t and it won’t now,” he sighed.

We talked for a long time, about nothing in particular. Finally mom arrived and I had to go.

         “Bye,” I said sadly, giving him a hug.

         “Bye.”

He hugged me so tightly I thought he’d never let go. I got into the car and drove off, preparing myself for moms rant. But she remained silent, staring out the windshield and acting like nothing had ever happened. When we got home I crawled into bed and turned out the light. I tossed and turned all night and eventually gave up on getting any sleep at all.

In the morning, I headed downstairs for breakfast. The smell of pancakes and bacon was wafting through the house. Mom and I sat down at the table and began to eat.

         “So,” she said, trying to make conversation. “It looks like we have new neighbours. You should go introduce yourself later.”

Normally, I wouldn’t have but since I really wanted to be on her good side right now…

         “Sure mom, I’ll go over a little later.”

I went upstairs and got ready for the day. I took a long hot shower and blow dried my hair. I put all my dirty camp clothes in the washing machine and got dressed in my favourite outfit. Then, I headed over to the neighbours house. I knocked tentatively on the door. A woman opened the door. She was kind of chubby, with bright green eyes and long, wavy brown hair.

         “Hello!” she said cheerfully. “You must be our neighbour, am I right?”

         “Yes, I’m Callie,” I said, shaking her hand.

         “I’m Liza,” she said. “I have a boy about your age. Why don’t you come inside and meet him?”

Not wanting to seem rude, I stepped into the house. She pointed me into a living room and I took a seat on the couch.

         “Xavier!” she called out. “Come meet our new neighbour!”

No, it couldn’t be. It had to be another Xavier. But the brown hair? The green eyes? He stepped into the room and, seeing me sitting there, a huge grin spread across his face.

         “I think this is the right time and the right place for us to be meeting,” he said, chuckling to himself.

         “I’m Xavier. What’s your name?”

         “It’s Callie,” I said grinning. “Callie.”