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Summer
God, everything about camp was even more crazy than he would have expected. It was enough that Ted seemed terrified of getting too close to campgrounds, Pete had never known Ted to be scared of anything. And this being abstinence camp, he full expected to hear some fundamentalist bullshit during the summer, but the amount and frequency was almost obnoxious. And that was coming from him.
But if you told him beforehand that he’d at one point be trying to escape solitary confinement and being chased down by, and forced to fight off, the most unhinged of all the counselors (with a hot girl no less!), he’d laugh it off nervously and assume his leg was being pulled.
Well right now, it was not being pulled.
In fact, it was currently broken.
Steph certainly hadn’t expected her summer to become so crazy, either. She certainly had a history of getting into things. That was how she ended up at camp in the first place, after all.
She hadn’t predicted though, that she’d at any point be literally running for her life.
She hadn’t seen herself catching feelings for a boy from school.
She wouldn’t have guessed just how charming and cool Pete would be, for all his self-proclaimed nerdiness. He was even kinda badass, with his Sticking It to the Man and confident one-liner.
Up until he broke his leg trying to savor the moment.
Pete swore silently as Steph felt his leg. Definitely broken. How were his bones so brittle that his leg snapped upon hitting a shovel?
Steph still had to admire him, though.
“For what it’s worth, you looked pretty cool up until the end,” she said.
Pete recoiled. This was just like how things always were. And now even Stephanie Lauter got to see how pathetic he really was. That sucked a lot. Pete was beginning to really like her, but even if he did have a chance (no matter how slim that possibility was), there was no way she saw anything in him now.
It’s just like always. He tried to downplay it anyway.
“Tripped at the finish line. Story of my life.” he muttered. May as well be truthful about it. It was like he even said before, he’s a loser, Steph was…well, Steph. So it’s not like this little fling would last after the summer.
Steph didn’t see it that way.
“Hey,” she assured him. “I’m not into jocks.”
And that’s when she leaned in for a kiss. And Pete kissed her back, a bit awestruck. The whole world could have melted away and time may have stopped, that’s certainly how it felt in Pete’s mind. He could’ve savored the moment forever.
So of course Lumberaxe himself had to show up, ready to kill.
Why couldn’t he have just been a rumor?
At least if Pete was going to die, he at least finally had some sort of romantic experience. For now, Steph and Pete just had to run. They had to run the best that they could.
Autumn
“I don’t know anything about football,” Pete admitted.
“Really?” Steph grinned and pushed a lock of hair out of her face. “What are you doing at the homecoming dance, then?” she asked teasingly.
“Rite of passage,” Pete said. “It’s my senior year and I’ve never actually came to a school function, outside of academics, anyway. Besides, do you know anything about football?”
“Not really,” Steph admitted. “My dad certainly wants me to know more so I can really represent the school or something. Just another ploy to stay in office.”
“Oh,” Pete said. “Well, anyway, uh…if you’re n-not having fun, we can just leave—”
“I’m fine here,” Steph said. “It’s okay, really.”
The gym lights dimmed and a slow song began playing. Steph and Pete made eye contact for a split second, and both blushed. They hadn’t been on an official “date” since camp ended. They had lunches together at school and trips to Beanie’s and movie nights, but this was the first time it was pretty hard to deny what exactly this outing was.
Pete was the first to look away. Everyone else was coupling up, what was stopping them?
“So, you wanna, uh…” he gestured towards the dance floor.
“Sure,” Steph said. She took Pete by the hand and walked with him closer to the other couples.
Couples, huh. Guess it’s official now.
At the time, Pete sorta wished he’d asked his brother a little more about girls. How to slow dance with one, and how to not show what a dunce you really are and not scare her off.
Hopefully vaguely swaying back and forth was okay, too.
“You know?” Steph said after a few songs, “This is really nice.”
“Really?” Pete asked. “…what part of it?”
“All of it,” Steph said.
“Neat,” Pete said quietly.
Neat?! I’m such a doof, goddammit!
Steph could tell that Pete was having a moment of self-judgment.
“Hey, Pete. Don’t worry. I’m having fun, I love this.”
“Oh!” Pete exclaimed. “Well, uh…if it’s okay, can I…I mean, may I, ugh, fuck—”
Steph caught on.
“Go ahead,” she said.
As if Pete wasn’t feeling awkward enough, he realized reaching Steph would be terribly hard. She already had three inches on him, her heels just gave her extra height that Pete wasn’t sure he could ever make up for. He got up on his tiptoes, praying he wouldn’t lose balance, and leaned in. He still struggled.
Steph smiled with fond exasperation. She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss.
Pete only blushed twice as hard as earlier.
Winter
“Ted, what’s the point of all the mistletoe again? It’s not like it’s gonna do either of us any good?”
“It’s festive, Petey!” Ted explained as he stuck a piece of plastic mistletoe to the apartment’s front doorway with clear duct tape. “Besides, just because I’m currently the brother out of luck doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun with your little girlfriend.”
“Yeah, right,” Pete said. “This isn’t a date. Steph’s coming over to study for semester finals with me, you’re making it weird.”
“It’s only weird if you make it weird, kid,” Ted said.
“I hate you,”
“No you don’t,”
“No,” Pete sighed. “I don’t.”
“Still embarrassed though, I bet,”
“Extremely,”
“Well, I’ll stay outta your way tonight,” Ted said. He tossed the duct tape to Pete. “Can you put this away for me?”
“Sure, I guess,” Pete replied.
“Thanks, Pete,” Ted said. As he left the room he yelled, “Good luck with your not-a-date!”
“Thanks, jerk!” Pete yelled back, smiling widely.
Everyone else in Hatchetfield could say what they wanted about Ted. Pete still thought he was the coolest.
Just as Pete began to walk to the kitchen to put the tape in the junk drawer, the doorbell rang, alerting Pete that Steph had arrived. And it would’ve been easier to save the trip and put the duct tape away on the way to the dinner table, so Pete opened the door to let Steph in.
“Hey, Steph,” he said.
“Hey yourself,” she said. “What’s up?”
“Just puttin’ this away for my brother,” Pete said, holding up the duct tape. “I can show you to the table if you want,”
“Wait,” Steph said while she shut the door. “What’s up with that?” She pointed at the mistletoe.
Pete groaned. “That was Ted’s idea,” he explained.
“Really?” Steph said. “You’re the one holding the tape.”
Had he been set up? Dammit. Pete should have seen that coming.
“I mean, yes, I am,” Pete said nervously. “But like I said, it was my brother’s idea. He wanted to decorate for the holidays or something. I’m just putting this away for him.”
“That’s what they all say,” Steph teased. “Well, you know what they say about mistletoe.”
Pete let out a gasp that sounded more like a mortified squeak than anything else. He quickly coughed to try to cover it up, which just made things all the more awkward.
“Agh! Pete it’s okay, you don’t have to if you don’t want to—”
“No, it’s cool,” Pete said. “I just didn’t expect that would happen that quickly. It usually takes a few minutes before someone resorts to flirting.” Pete leaned in a little closer. “Now. Could you lean over, please?”
Steph obliged.
Studying could wait. Steph could use some warming up from the cold and Pete wanted to savor the moment and try to make it feel less awkward in his mind. With his mouth on hers, they both sort of got what they were looking for.
Maybe Ted had been more helpful by setting up Pete than Pete had thought.
Spring
“I don’t know why I don’t come here more,” Pete said. “I think it’s cool that you live out near the lake.”
“It’s a lot lonelier way out here,” Steph said.
“Sure,” Pete said, “But it’s certainly a better view. Not just the water, I mean. You can see the stars way better than in town.”
Steph rolled to her side to look at her boyfriend. Pete had one hand propping up his head, the other was idly playing with the edge of the blanket they were laying on.
“Is that why you wanted to hang out here tonight?” she asked.
Pete turned his head to meet her gaze.
“A little,” he admitted. “But that’s not the only reason. I just wanted to hang out with you. Besides, the Lyrid meteor shower will only be visible this week. I thought it’d be cool if we both got to see it.”
“Well, it’ll definitely be fun as long as you’re here,” Steph said. “You’ll be around to explain all that nerdy shit to me. And of course, just hangin’ with you.”
Pete shot right up excitedly. “Wait, Steph, look! It’s starting!”
Steph sat up, too, and looked up to watch the meteors as they made bright strikes against the inky black sky.
“Isn’t it fantastic?” Pete asked, his voice shaky with excitement.
“Yeah,” Steph replied. “Gorgeous, really.”
Pete looked away from the sky and back at Steph. “Not as gorgeous as you, though,” he said.
Steph bit her lip in an attempt to stifle a laugh. It didn’t work.
“How long have you been waiting to use that one?” she asked.
“Since homecoming,” Pete said.
“Damn, that’s patience,”
“Not really. I knew the perfect moment would come. I was more worried about whether I could pull that line off. It was corny, and probably a little cliche, and—”
“—I liked it though,” Steph said. She gave Pete a quick kiss, but pulled away just as quickly.
“Is everything okay?” Pete asked.
“Hell yeah,” Steph said. “But it can wait. Let’s just watch the sky, like you wanted.”
“What I want is to just be with you,” Pete said.
Steph smiled. “Same here,” she said. She placed her hand in Pete’s. They both went back to watching the stars in silence, but it was each other’s company that really made the night worth it.