Congratulations to our 3rd place winner! ♥

"Timothy, do not try to fit that tennis ball in your mouth!"

That was a sentence Sage never thought she'd have to say. Then again, she also hadn't foreseen that one day she'd be trapped in a minivan with seven little kids playing (a rather twisted) game of Truth or Dare as she drove around in the middle of Practically-Nowhere, Iowa. Sage took another look at the map she had spread out on the passenger seat. Camp Lake Crowpire wasn't too far away.

"Miss Sage?" Someone piped up from the back. "Do you know where we're going?"

"Of course!" she replied. Hopefully.

She wasn't sure how she got stuck with picking the kids up from the train station, especially since she was the newest counselor. Had it not been for Sage's cousin convincing her parents to make her take the job, she would've been having the time of her life in Florida. With or without her lying ex, she was sure she'd enjoy it much more than summer camp.

After 45 minutes, a burping contest, and two restroom breaks, they made it to Camp Crowpire. They bumped up the gravel parking lot, where two people were waiting. Sage had barely turned the engine off before the campers jumped out, yelling excitedly. She stepped out after them and stretched her back as they unloaded their supplies from the trunk. Sage tilted her head to one side, causing a satisfying string of cracks. She grinned and turned her head for the other side when she met eyes with another girl, who was wearing a mildly horrified expression.

Sage froze, feeling the awkwardness settle in as neither of them broke the gaze. Finally, she stuck her hand out.

"I'm Sage Quilson. I'm a new counselor this year."

The girl shook her hand. Based on her shirt that said Lake Crowpire : Staff, she was a counselor as well. "Laurel Houdini. We're leading the Clover Team; you get the boys and I'm in charge of the girls."

Without another word, she started walking away to help the kids with their sleeping bags and gestured for Sage to follow her. Laurel was about a head shorter than her and had long red hair pulled into a braid. Sage had always wanted hair long enough to braid, but she couldn't stand to let her curls grow past shoulder-length. Considering her job as a summer camp counselor, she was probably the same age as Sage was.

A mustached man looked up at them from where he struggled to stuff three pillows into one bag. He smiled widely and stood, pulling Sage into a (sweaty) hug.

"Sage," her cousin, Theo, bellowed. "We're so glad to have you this year."

"It's good to be here," she replied. That wasn't a total lie.

Theo clapped her on the back and nodded to Laurel. "I take it you've met Lora already. You two will be working together for the next four weeks, so buddy up." He went back to his pillow wrangling, gave up, and just carried the bundle down the path to the camp. The kids all followed him, leaving Sage and Laurel alone.

"So," Sage started. "Have you been working here for long?"

Laurel responded, "This year will be my third."

The only expressions that Sage had seen from her so far were Ew and I Find You Boring But I'm Polite Enough To Keep Talking To You. Sage wouldn't have minded her attitude so much if it weren't for the fact that they needed to work together for a whole month and that the little voice in the back of Sage's head kept saying We would make a hecking beautiful couple.

"I'm not planning on doing this for two more years. I'm only here now because Theo bribed me into it."

Finally, Laurel let out a short chuckle. "He's good at talking people into things."

"He sure is!" Sage found herself laughing, even though Laurel's statement wasn't all that funny. On the plus side, she was relieved that the redhead was at least capable of facial expressions. In fact, she had a rather nice smile. +

They walked after the campers quietly. Sage thought of something to say to break the ice.

"My cousin called you Lora. Is that what you prefer to go by?"

Laurel thought for a bit, and said, "No. But you can call me that."

"Okay, Lora."

Having spent just two hours at Camp Lake Crowpire, Sage was ready throw herself off a pine tree. Not that the campsite wasn't beautiful, but the creaky tree houses used for cabins and the bright yellow Port-a-Potties weren't exactly her style. Everything was sticky and smelled like bug spray. The lake itself was pretty much the only upside to the whole situation; kayaks and canoes lined the dock and a shrub maze was on the small island in the middle of it. At the moment, Sage was sitting on a mossy log as the campers were given an orientation speech.

"Hey." Lora sat down beside her, snapping her out of her hazily counting the spiders crawling through the moss.

"Hi!" Sage said back a bit too loudly, earning her a shush from another counselor. She had learned that he was the eldest of the staff and probably found joy in making the summer miserable for everyone.

Lora rolled her eyes at the back of his head. "Ignore Quinto. He thinks he's the alpha of the pack. He's wrong."

"Who is the alpha?"

"Me, obviously," replied Lora with a completely straight face.

Sage studied her expression. "I can't tell if you're joking or not."

At this, Lora grinned. "Don't tell Quinto or Theo I said that. They like to think that people listen to them."

Sage laughed behind her hand. Her first impression of Lora was that she had a stick real far up her butt, but she was getting used to her sense of humor.

"Are you close to Theo? He seems to like you," Sage asked nonchalantly. Laurel did seem like her cousin's type; funny, gorgeous, smart... and Sage was getting way ahead of herself.

Lora went back to her stoic expression and shrugged. "He likes everyone, even Mr. Grouchy over there." As if on cue, Quinto turned around and glared at the girls. Lora made a face at him.

Yeah, Sage definitely wanted to be friends with this girl.

Lora leaned into Sage's ear and whispered, "Follow me."

They snuck away from the group and Sage followed her up a ladder to the treehouses and around to the back of the supply cabin. Lora pulled a tarp up, revealing huge barrels of colorful water balloons.

"Is this what I think it is? 'Cause I'm totally down for some pranking," Sage said, eyes gleaming.

The other girl nodded and smirked. "I decided to make a new initiation tradition this year."

"Damn, you're definitely the alpha, that's for sure."

Lora winked, and Sage felt her heart skip a beat. Nope, nope, nope; what are you doing? She's too perfect to not be straight.

"You know," Lora said, fumbling around through the barrels. "You're our newest counselor."

"Uh, that's correct?" Sage had an uneasy suspicion as to what she was about to do. The other girl whipped around and dropped a balloon on her head, yelling, "WELCOME TO CAMP!"

Sage screeched and reached for ammunition to avenge herself. She had just gotten her hair straightened before coming here! In a matter of seconds, both girls were soaked and cackling, holding their stomachs. In their glee, they didn't hear the footsteps outside the treehouse and before they knew it, Quinto marched into the cabin with a a scowl.

"Shoot," the girls whispered in unison. They looked sheepishly at each other as he pointed a finger at them, getting red in the face. Lora glanced at the barrels and flicked her eyes to Quinto. Oh yeah, Sage liked the way this girl thought.

The look on his face as they lobbed water balloons at him was priceless, and the whole situation got funnier when Margot, the head counselor, rounded the doorway and got decked in the face by a stray balloon.

Soon, nearly all of the camp was running through the tree houses and balloons were flying everywhere. Somehow, Sage and Lora got cornered by some campers and were holding onto each other as they were pelted.

"Clover Team!" Lora tried to yell through the commotion. "This is treason to your team leaders! No dessert for- " She didn't get to finish her sentence because a water balloon hit her square on the forehead. Sage was howling with laughter, until one splashed on her chest and she was out for vengeance.

Second Week of Camp Lake Crowpire

The Commons treehouse was surprisingly quiet for 6 in the evening. Normally after dinner at this time, the campers would've been playing cards or climbing the tree vines, but Sage was alone. In the past week, they went canoeing, where Sage turned around to get a picture of everyone and smacked into a low-hanging tree branch; played a very intense game of Capture the Flag which Team Clover absolutely demolished the others at; and had three successful campfires and one that a kid lost her flip flop in. So far, wilderness camp has been.... wild.

Sage rested her chin on her hand and stared at the Team scoreboard. It was split into eight fractions, four for the junior high kids and four for the older ones. Her team was tied with Team Dandelion in their age group but Team Minnow was in the lead overall. Sage wasn't sure what the prize for winning was, but she was determined to win.

She heard someone coming up the ladder and she straightened her back and tried not to look bored. Dani, a 7 year old girl on Sage's team rushed onto the Commons directly to where Sage was sitting.

"What's going on?" Sage chuckled as Dani hid behind her, peaking over her shoulders.

"Sshhhhh! She's going to find me!"

Sage looked around the empty treehouse. "Who is- OH SHIT!" Both camper and counselor shrieked as a red headed someone jumped down from the tree vines.

"Lora, you demon!" Sage shouted, startled. "I almost pissed myself." Dani herself looked like she might have actually.

Lora continued cackling, evidently finding others' terror amusing. She ruffled Dani's hair as the younger girl crossed her arms and pouted.

"You hid really well, champ," Lora comforted. "You were the last person I found." So that's why Sage hadn't seen anyone since dinner; they were playing Hide and Seek. She was slightly offended that no one told her.

"Really?" Dani beamed. "Does that mean we can play another round?"

Lora got a gleam in her eye. "Sure." She slapped Sage on the shoulder, shouting, "You're it!" and sprinted through the treehouse with Dani giggling behind her.

She sat for a second, baffled. Realizing that she was now part of the game, she jumped up, yelling after Lora, "I'll kick your ass!", to which the other replied, "Watch your language!"

9pm Campfire

Sage greatly underestimated how large the camp was, and it took her forty minutes before she found everyone. Quinto was very smug that she didn't find him, but that was because he hid in the Port-a-Potty. Disgusting.

She was coming down from the supply room with two bags of marshmallows in her arms and a bag of chocolate between her teeth. Somehow, she managed to not drop anything coming down the ladder. Theo was waiting for her before they made their way to the campfire, where all the campers were eagerly waiting for s'mores.

"How have you been enjoying the camp?" her cousin asked.

"It's been fun. I didn't think I'd like the kids this much."

Theo laughed, "Me neither! Remember that one Thanksgiving dinner when you threw a spoon at Richie?"

She laughed too, recalling the memory of Richie, Theo's little brother. "He was being very annoying."

"He was 5 years old!"

"Still."

Theo shrugged, agreeing. They stopped at the top of the hill, catching their breath. The fireflies twinkling and the bonfire in the middle of the field looked like something straight out of a movie. Someone noticed them from the campfire and waved. Sage waved back.

"You two are getting along well," Theo said.

"I can't even tell who that was, honestly," Sage replied honestly, though she really only had one friend, so it was likely to be Lora. As they got closer, it turned out she was right.

"Lora's been the most lively this whole summer than any other year. I think she likes you."

"Yeah, me too. I'm glad to have a friend here."

"A friend, yeah." Theo raised an eyebrow at her. Sage stared at him unbelievingly.

"Wait, is she...." She wasn't sure how to word it.

"Gay as hell."

"Oh my lord, I can't handle this," Sage giggled, suddenly very excited. "Are you sure? But is she single? She's way too perfect to not be dating someone. Do you think she likes-"

Theo cut her off. "Go for it, Sage."

Sage was so going for it.

Monday, Week Three of Camp Lake Crowpire

"You like me. In a romantic way."

"Yes."

"Cool."

Sage would say that you could hear crickets in a metaphorical way, but crickets were actually chirping away from where she and Lora were sat on an upside down canoe by the lake, watching the stars. Well, Lora was watching the stars. Sage, on the other hand, was staring at the other girl quizzically.

"Cool," Sage repeated unsurely.

Lora nodded, still keeping her gaze on the sky. "Uh huh."

Sage was dumbfounded. Normally when she confessed her feelings for someone, it would be reciprocated. She wasn't sure what she did wrong in her flirting to get 'Cool' for an answer, but it just made her all the more determined to win Lora over.

"You know, this isn't how these types of conversations normally go," she stated.

Lora finally met her gaze. "I'm sure I'm not someone you'd normally have this type of conversation with."

This little...

"What do you mean?!" Sage threw her hands in the air. "You can't just say cool when someone says they want to be with you! That's not how it works!"

Lora raised her eyebrows as if amused and said, "Is this how you got Jake Perth to date you?"

"Yes, this usually- wait..." Sage trailed off. How did Lora know about her ex boyfriend?

As if she knew what was going through her head right then, Lora replied, "Our high school has almost 3,000 students and staff. Did you know that?"

Sage's jaw dropped open. "Bullshit."

Lora just laughed like it was the funniest thing to happen to her. "I'm a grade below you. We were in the same study hall last year, though I don't expect you to remember me at all. My mom is the Calculus teacher."

In all her life, Sage was sure that she'd never blushed harder, or felt more conflicted. She wanted to slap this girl, but also violently make out with her, and it took a lot of willpower to neither.

"You knew me all this time?" She stammered finally.

"I have to say, I'm a little offended that you don't even remember my face. Or my hair, even! It's very vibrant."

Sage ogled at her. "You threw a water balloon at me."

"I've always wanted to, honestly." Lora shrugged.

"What the hell do you have against me, Laurel?"

"Besides having a huge crush on you since I was a sophomore? Nothing," she said nonchalantly, as if it wasn't a really freaking huge deal.

Sage lost it. She grabbed the other girl by the shoulders and turned her to face her completely.

"I think I'm in love with you, and you're making me unreasonably angry right now," Sage said, articulating every syllable.

Lora looked at her with wide eyes before muttering, "If it makes you feel better, you're the reason I decided I'm a huge lesbian."

"My God, you don't know how to talk like a normal person."

Lora snorted, and Sage couldn't help but laugh at this girl who managed to steal her heart in two weeks flat and somehow be the person she'd been looking for all along, and yet was always there.

"Sage," Lora whispered. Their faces were close, close enough for Sage to count her freckles if she tried. "I like you too."

They weren't sure who leaned in first, but somehow they ended up kissing with Lora's hands around her waist and Sage's in her hair. They then realized, too late, that neither of them had good balance and therefore went toppling off the canoe and onto the sand. When Lora laughed, Sage was sure that she'd never seen anything more beautiful in her life.

They snuck back to the treehouse, careful to not wake the other counselors. Sage couldn't stop giggling and a flashlight turned on, and both girls sprinted the rest of the way to the Team Clover cabin. When they shut the door behind them, they completely lost it. Their cackling woke up the two campers, who groaned and shushed them.

Finally, they managed to calm down enough to crawl into their sleeping bags. The way it was arranged, their heads were next to each other's while their legs faced opposite directions.

"Lora," Sage whispered. "How exactly did I turn you gay?"

"The first time I saw you at the club orientation and you were wearing that candy wrapper dress," the other girl replied.

"Seriously? I had lipstick on my teeth that whole day."

"You looked cute. Second time was when you led the LGBT march during sixth period and got a detention."

"I was proud to get that detention."

"Yeah."

Sage sighed contently and gazed at the ceiling of the cabin. Little clover wind chimes hung from the windows. Clovers. Sage supposed that it was just her luck to find Lora this summer. She fell asleep thinking about how it was so worth coming to a sweaty summer camp to meet the most wonderful person.