Crossroads (18 page)

“
No way!” Marie replied
back. “It looks like something straight out of a scary movie. Why
don’t you?”

“
I’ll go if you pay me a
million dollars,” John suggested playfully.

“
That’s enough. I want you
to stay out, and if I hear of or see anyone even going near that
area, I’ll send you home.” Andrew looked as serious as he
sounded.

As Andrew was speaking, we were
distracted by the smell of spaghetti and food was the only thought
at that point.

“
Dinner is ready!” Chris
shouted, wearing an apron and holding a spatula in one
hand.

As we all sat around the picnic table
eager to eat, Andrew prayed. “Thank you for allowing us to get here
safely. Please help us do the right thing and help these teenagers
control their hormones, and make them listen to their camp director
so they won’t get into trouble,” he said with one eye open to see
if we were looking at him. I loved that he put a twist of humor
into his prayer.

“
Amen,” we all
replied.

After dinner, the red group was
assigned to wash the dishes. So Patty, John, Marie, and I went
straight to the kitchen area. There wasn’t much to wash since we
used mostly paper plates and paper cups; only a few pots, pans, and
utensils. Patty was busy flirting with Andrew, and John and Marie
were in a heated conversation about who knew what as they helped
“clean up”.

It seemed my group was busy trying not
to wash the dishes, so that left me to carry out the duty. I filled
the sink with warm water and allowed the pots and pans to soak.
After I wiped the working area around the sink, I dunked my hands
with a sponge to scrub them. I was thinking idly about Claudia, and
how it would have been nice to have gone camping with her, when I
felt someone’s arms around me. A pair of big strong hands was
gently rubbing and cleaning in unison with my own, as if our hands
were one.

I was flushed with embarrassment. Who
would come behind me and invade my personal space like that?
Wanting to see who was rubbing my hands that way, I looked up
accusingly into his deep dark brown eyes. An unfamiliar face stared
back at me. I jumped with fright, backing away with a sudden jerk,
and accidently splashed water on him.

“
Ahhh!” I screamed. “Oh my
gosh! I’m so sorry!” It took me a second to realize that he was the
waiter who had waited on my mom and me at my birthday
dinner.

“
Kinda late for a water
fight, don’t you think?” His lips curled into a smile. “Or is this
how you greet your friends?”

“
Hi…ummm…you shouldn’t
scare people like that.” Surprised to see him, I almost choked on
my words. “What are you doing here?” I demanded, as I grabbed a
towel and handed it to him.

He took it and wiped his face and
shirt. “Claudia, right?”

I was surprised that he knew my name.
“Yes. And you are the waiter from…?” Still in shock from seeing him
here, I lost my train of thought and forgot the name of the
restaurant.

“
Austin. My name is
Austin. Anyway, didn’t look like anyone was helping, so I decided
to jump in. Unless you prefer to do it yourself?” He was right.
Nobody in my group was helping, but I didn’t like the way he was
helping.

“
No. I didn’t mean…I’m
just surprised to see you here. I didn’t know you went to the same
church,” I said, trying to find the right words.

“
I don’t. Andrew is my
good friend. He invited me, so I drove up here after
work.”

“
Oh, I see.” Learning that
he was Andrew’s friend, my heart returned to its steady
beat.

“
Well, it looks like
you’re done, so I’ll help you dry the pots and pans.”

“
That’s okay. I’m sure
you’re not here to dry the…” Before I could finish my sentence, he
had already grabbed a towel.

In no time we were done, and everyone
was curious to meet the new person at our campsite. I could hear
the girls whispering and giggling about how cute he looked, and
wondering how I knew him.

Marie walked right up to him and
introduced herself. “Hello there, my name is Marie,” she said,
batting her eyelashes while extending her hand to greet
Austin.

I couldn’t believe she did that, but
then again, it was Marie. I wanted to throw up. I thought he would
flirt back, but instead he shook her hand politely and immediately
turned my way, which made her furious. She walked away pretending
not to care, but I knew deep inside it bruised her ego. Andrew
walked toward us to greet his friend, with Patty following
behind.

“
Hey, glad you made it,”
Andrew said. They exchanged a quick manly hug. He noticed Austin’s
damp T-shirt. “I see you already got acquainted with Claudia, and
had a little fun with the water,” he said, insinuating that we were
flirting. Patty’s eyes immediately widened.

“
No, no, no…,” I whispered
to Patty. I didn’t want her thoughts to wander to something that
didn’t happen, but she kept smiling and wasn’t listening to what I
was trying to tell her.

Suddenly Andrew jumped on a wooden
table to get all of our attention. “Everybody, this is Austin, my
best friend! He will be joining us this weekend! Austin, this is
everybody!”

Austin waved.

“
Hey, Austin!” everyone
shouted as they welcomed him.

“
Dishes are done! Great
job, red team! Let’s meet at the campfire!” Andrew spoke, always
short and to the point.

I hadn’t realized how dark it was. The
only places that gave light were the campfire and the kitchen area.
A dark blanket covered the “unsafe” areas that at one point looked
pleasant; the darkness was now uninviting. This eerie feeling was
so strong that I didn’t want to expose my back to the absolute
darkness.

The crackling sound of the burning
wood sent a warm feeling through my body. It was starting to feel
chilly as the night crept in. Many had already changed into sweats
or heavy jackets to accommodate the cold. We all huddled for warmth
near the campfire. I huddled between Patty and John. Just as I
decided to get my jacket from the tent, I felt someone behind
me.

“
Excuse me, may I squeeze
in?” Austin asked John.

I could tell John didn’t want to, but
he moved over anyway. I looked over to see Austin smiling, but I
just ignored him. Unexpectedly, Austin threw a light blanket over
my shoulders. I didn’t even know he was holding one.

“
Thanks,” I said, thinking
that I barely knew him and feeling uneasy about him becoming so
personal with me. However, I was cold and it was thoughtful of him.
Patty looked at me with a huge grin on her face.

“
You looked like you could
use one,” Austin commented.

“
Thank you,” I said
warmly, giving him a quick smile, and turning my attention back to
Andrew’s scary story.

“
Let’s go get some hot
cocoa. That should warm you up a bit more,” Austin
whispered.

“
What?” I asked, surprised
that he asked me.

“
I could use some help in
the kitchen,” he said, with pleading eyes.

“
Oh, sure,” I said, not
wanting to go with him, but thinking I should since he had helped
me with the dishes.

“
Where are you going?”
Patty whispered.

“
Hot cocoa,” I whispered
back.

She smiled and pointed to Andrew and
herself. “Bring us some.”

As we walked toward the kitchen, the
cold air made me shiver. I gripped the blanket by my neck, wrapping
it completely around me.

“
That cold?” Austin asked
when we reached the kitchen area.

“
I’m fine,” I said eyeing
a couple of pots boiling on the electric stove.

He gestured to the stove. “I started
boiling the water when you went toward the campfire. I hope you
don’t mind?”

“
No, it’s fine. I mean,
thank you for thinking ahead.”

“
Hot cocoa will help,” he
said as he placed the cups on the trays. He scooped the cocoa
powder into the cups, poured the hot water, and stirred them with a
spoon.

“
Is there anything I can
help you with?” I asked, feeling awkward just standing there
watching him do all the work.

I looked up for an answer. He turned
to face me, but I quickly looked away when his eyes met mine.
Before I could move, he placed his warm hands gently on my mine,
still gripping on the blanket. For a minute, I thought he was
making a move on me, but instead he let go of my hold on the
blanket and placed my hands straight down. He fussed over the
blanket and finally managed to tie a big knot by my neck area. The
blanket still enclosed me, but left a slit in the front, which
allowed my hands to be free.

“
You can help by holding
this,” he said, handing me a cup of hot cocoa. “Now your hands are
free, and you can drink.”

“
Thanks,” I said softly,
with a quick smile. “How about I help you hold the other
tray?”

“
No worries. I got it.
Remember, I’m a waiter.” Somehow he managed to hold two trays. I
couldn’t believe he was able to hold both of them; not a drop
spilled from any of the cups. As I walked behind him, I took a sip
and thought to myself, Ahhhh…it really does hit the spot. I
couldn’t help notice his muscular arms that held the trays
tightly.

Austin passed out hot cocoa to those
who wanted it. You could hear everyone savoring the taste and
graciously taking warmth from it. Some were exchanging scary
stories as well as funny ones. It was a joy just sitting around the
campfire among my friends, and the best part was, no parents! I
thought about how glad I was that I came to experience camping and
why I had dreaded it so much before; it wasn’t so bad after all,
besides the fact that Gamma didn’t want me to go.

Many of our friends had left for their
tents, except for Andrew, Patty, Austin, and I. We were the last
ones left. Andrew offered to walk Patty to her tent, and I stayed
behind, so I wouldn’t be a third wheel. I wanted to give Patty and
Andrew some space. Feeling a bit nervous, I sat there wondering
what I should do or say. I looked straight up to see the night sky
filled with thousands of luminous stars. They were so mesmerizing
that I couldn’t peel my eyes from them. Thinking it was about time
for me to head to my tent; I was just about to excuse myself when
he spoke.

“
Beautiful, isn’t it?” He
leaned closer and pointed up to the sky, invading my personal space
again.

“
It is,” I agreed, looking
up again and slowly widening the gap between us.

“
Do you know that there is
a myth about how the stars came to be?” he asked.

“
Really? There is a myth
about the stars?” I asked excitedly. Curiosity got the best of me,
and I wanted to stay and listen.

“
They say when humans go
to heaven, their souls turn into stars. Each star’s purpose is to
guide other humans still on Earth. It acts as a beacon that guides
them to the right path so that he or she can become a star when
they die.”

“
Wow! I’ve never heard of
that.” I was fascinated.

“
Well, I don’t know if
that’s true, but it sounds interesting.”

“
I guess I’ll never look
at the stars the same way again,” I stated.

“
Can you see Orion?”
Austin asked.

It was hard to distinguish at first
because of the many stars that sparkled clearly that night. They
seemed to be closer and brighter in comparison to the way they
looked at home. “Orion, the hunter. I think…it’s those
stars…connecting there.” I pointed to several stars, not realizing
I had leaned close enough to almost touch his lips. I jumped from
what could have happened and slid further away from him. I saw a
smile on his face from the corner of my eyes. That was pretty
tricky, I thought. I’m gonna have to be careful with this
guy.

“
Pretty impressive. You
know your stars,” he praised.

“
Orion is one of the most
recognizable constellations besides the Big Dipper,” I said
proudly.

“
Do you know the myth
behind Orion?”

“
You sure know a lot of
myths.”

“
Yeah, I read a lot and
hear about these things. I think it’s interesting. There are
different versions of Orion, but there is one particular version I
like the best. Orion, the hunter, hunted various celestial animals,
including
Lepus
, the rabbit,
and
Taurus
, the bull.
According to Greek mythology, Orion was in love with Merope, but
Merope would have nothing to do with him. Orion's tragic life ended
when he stepped on
Scorpius
, the
scorpion. The gods felt sorry for him, so they put him and his dogs
in the sky as constellations. They also put all of the animals he
hunted up there near him. Scorpius, however, was placed in the
opposite side of the sky so Orion would never be hurt by it
again.”

“
Wow! That’s a cool myth,
but sort of tragic.”

“
I think he’s one stupid
hunter for stepping on the scorpion,” he said.