camp sternhike - Chapter 4 - peppercornhater

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so these are just some fillers until the kids come to the camp, but i still wanted to write some more cute little one shots, hope u enjoy until chapter 5!! Also i really appreciate the comments, kudos, everything :3 tysm ! - pepper

OS 1: Flower Crown

Riiiiing!
Lily and Amber woke up in unison, the two girls cursing under their breath. The small digital clock on the small nightstand next to their bunk bed read “7:00 AM” when it really felt like 4. Today was the day they would have to establish a morning and night routine. The two grabbed their hygiene bags, Amber snatched her glasses from her drawer, and they went off to the bathroom. Luckily no one thought to use it first, so they had it all to themselves.
The bathroom was a decently sized room, with cabin exteriors but normal bathroom interiors: the white tile floors, plain walls, dim white lighting. There were only three showers and five toilet stalls, but they’d figure it out. Surprisingly, it didn’t smell too bad for a summer camp bathroom, only the slight scent of feces remaining in one of the stalls.
“So, four eyes, what was the ruckus about last night, hm? There's no way you guys hooked up on the first day. That's WILD,” Lily smirked as she started brushing her teeth.
“What the- no! NO,” Amber started, “he- remember when I told you about the letter thing? I guess he couldn’t wait till f*cking today and he decided to wake me- us- up at like 1 AM. N-nothing happened, really,” she tried stating nonchalantly. But Lily knew something was up, and they had done something. It was so obvious.
“You guys f*cked, didn’t you?”
“No, what the hell Lily! Do I really come off that way?”
Lily sighs. “No…did you guys kiss?” Amber stops washing her face and rinses off quietly. “OHHHHH!” Lily exclaims with her hands up, taking pride in her being correct. “I KNEW IT.”
“Knew what?”
“That you guys kiiiiised,” she teased, nudging Amber’s arm.
“No we didn’t, I did not confirm that.”
“Well you’re shying away from the subject which signals that you guys DID kiss.”
It was Amber’s turn to sigh. She buried her face in her hands with embarrassment & started pacing around the bathroom. “Dude, it was actually so embarrassing. Like, we were having a great time just writing and sh*t, and then I just kissed him and started running off. Oh my God, what if he hated it. Fuuuuck dude… and I didn’t give him time to say anything, I just f*cking ran, damnit. And now it's gonna be awkward and he probably won't talk to me and- sh*t!” The girl fumed as she continued pacing around the bathroom, groaning out of shame & regret. She was really going through it, and on her second day? Damn, the kids aren't even here yet and there's already drama.
Lily grabbed her friend’s shoulders to stop her from pacing. “Shut the f*ck up. You don’t know what he thinks, you don’t know what's gonna happen, and it's not the end of the world! So I’d recommend you stop pacing around, get a grip, and we can go do something that will calm your ass down.” Thankfully, she had always been the more sensible friend, which Amber was in desperate need of, considering her panicking self.
“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Amber uttered, avoiding her friend's eyes, even more embarrassed that she was panicking so much for such a little event.
“Don’t be, I get it. Let's go.”
The two girls got dressed, Amber putting on a white tank top, green cargo pants, and her trusty black adidas. They had a few scratches and the paint was heavily chipped, but they were her favorite and matched with all her outfits. Plus, they were hole-free! Lily put on a black tank top with a Hello Kitty in the middle, some long jorts, and a pair of white air forces. They both grabbed their tote bags, Amber’s mustard yellow and Lily’s black, and headed outside.
“Breakfast doesn’t start until 9, so we’ve got like, all the time in the world,” Lily made sure to check the clipboard hanging next to their cabin entrance, which had the full bell schedule.
“Great! Nice watch,” Amber noted, pointing at her blue sonic watch.
“Thanks, I stole it from my little brother.” They both giggled as they turned a corner, noticing a more open area.
“Wait where are we going?”
“Exploring until we find a beautiful field of flowers, duh,” Lily remarked matter-of-factly.
“And where the hell are we gonna find that in mid-July?” It was dry, and very hot at that. There were many trails to explore, but all of them only had dirt, no sign of lush fields anywhere. The two walked for about 25 minutes until Amber spotted something out of the corner of her eye. “sh*t!” she exclaimed, running toward the field & crashing into a plethora of yellow dandelions. Wishflowers, she had called them as a little kid. The little petals of them flew into the air as she landed, and she immediately regretted jumping into them when she felt the pain. “Ah…f*ck. That really hurt.”
The two girls laughed, sitting down criss-cross from one another to chit chat. They’ve had several yapping sessions by now, but with the scenery around them, this should be the best one yet. “Here,” Lily said, while handing Amber a poorly made flower crown.
“Ahh, thank you!! It's so cutesies,” she sang while putting it on carefully.
She would savor this as a…token of friendship? A kind gesture? A simple gift? Whatever it was meant to be, it meant a lot to her. The two girls continued playing with the flowers, rambling away at whatever came to mind until it was time to head back for breakfast.

Great. 12:53.
“Good luck, pookie bear, tell me if anything happens!”
“I think you’ll see it on my face when I clean up your table.”
Amber hesitantly walked over to the main cabin to be greeted by Lupe, Michael, and unfortunately, Schlatt. You know what? She wasn’t going to let him ruin her camp experience. If some drama sh*t goes down, fine, whatever. She was here to have fun & take care of kids for a week. That's all. If he tried anything, she wouldn’t care because they’re friends and she didn’t like him. Right? She was indifferent towards the man!
Although it was wrong for Amber to assume he would try anything (considering she was the one who kissed him,) she loved to play the accuser, not the accused.
As she opened the double doors, she was greeted by the three of them and a medium sized cleaning cart filled with sprays, small towels, brooms, paper towels, and a mini trash can.
All Lupe did was smile, and Schlatt merely looked down. Maybe he was feeling the same, especially after Amber just ran out on him. “sh*t…”
Michael broke the silence. “I’m assuming you adults know how to clean, am I wrong? Divide the work up evenly, you aren't middle schoolers. Same thing with the dishes, the only thing you don't have to clean is the kitchen counter tops. Capiche?” He had a Jersey accent, which was slightly more intense than Schlatt’s New York accent.
“Yes,” Amber spoke stiffly.
“Capiche,” said Schlatt. He meant to correct her.
“Alright, do your sh*t, we’ll be back at 2-ish to start lunch.”
“Where are you guys headed?” asked Schlatt, like it was his business.
“Work,” stated Michael.. Lupe gave him a cheeky smile, & they were off. He was whispering to her in spanish, the two letting small giggles out. Who knew? That left Amber and Schlatt, all alone, again. How fun.
“So,” started Schlatt dryly. “I wipe tables and you broom?”
Amber groaned, both at the idea of brooming and Schlatt talking to her. “I hate brooming, can we switch?”
“Alright, I broom you wipe.” He chuckled and began to grab a broom & a dustpan. The two quietly, (awkwardly,) worked on their tasks. Amber was planning on getting her sh*t done and ignoring him the whole time, just to play it safe. But he had different plans. He studied the girl in front of her, once again taking the sight of her. She was wiping down the wooden varnished tables, solely focusing on her work; she didn’t let any thoughts of Schlatt, or anyone else invade her mind.
“Nice ass, sweetie,” he said in a low, sarcastic tone. He was wearing that same sh*t-eating grin that he wore every time he said something mildly dirty, and Amber knew he wore it without having to turn around. She didn’t say a word.
“You know, you can’t ignore me forever. I mean, I am your boyfriend after all.”
“Yes I can. Also, not my boyfriend. Now move, I have to do this table,” she commanded bossily. His large frame was in the way of her chores, and it was pissing her off already. Did he really have to be here? Luckily he stepped out of the way; still circling her table, but out of the way.
“Aww, I’m not? Boo,” he whined, fake frowning.
“Will you just shut up?” And he did. For 20 f*cking seconds.
“Okay Amber, I know I’m not your boyfriend. I think we both know that the whole thing is a joke. But what happened last night, I don’t think you were joking.” He switched to a serious tone, Amber remaining silent. “Just to clarify, me personally? I liked the kiss. So if you were scared of thinking it was gonna be a whole, awkward weird thing, you’re wrong.” He paused, examining the expression of the girl wiping the table, making slow, circle motions so as to not look up at him above her. She remained with an emotionless, blank face. This was gonna be hard. “You don’t have to talk.”
“Alright.”
The man let out a long sigh. “I- I just wanted some closure as to why you kissed me. Again, not that I had a problem with it. Last night was- nice, and I mean, I kinda wanted to… nevermind.” He started to get clammy, struggling to retain the words that he didn’t want to say and let out the ones he did. His heart was now beating hard, and he hoped she didn’t hear it. God, he was lightheaded, and she was still silent! “I just need to know why, because- f*ck. If you didn’t know what you were thinking at the time, it's like a drunk person is kissing me. It doesn't count.” He paused, Amber was now sitting on the bench, defeated. She was willing to listen. He sat down next to her and continued, heart still palpitating.
“But if you felt something, anything, then I guess…it meant something.” Amber took his words into consideration, trying to think back to that moment. What was she thinking..? Did she do it because she liked him, or out of spite for whatever reason? Her silence was menacing to Schlatt, he got more nervous by the second. He glanced at the girl next to him, secretly hoping she would say what he hoped she would; he couldn’t keep fake flirting. It was hard to differentiate when he wasn’t joking, but Amber seemingly took it as a joke. He didn’t have a chance of her ever knowing that he wasn’t joking, but he was going to have to be okay with that. He was willing to wait for her, if there was the slightest possibility of her genuinely liking him; but would she do the same?
“I- I’m gonna be honest, I was all lost in my emotions and I didn’t know what I was thinking. But I'm still trying to figure it out, and I’ll tell you when I’m done.” The two were staring at each other now, Schlatt processing what she was saying. He had a slightly let down look on his face, but he put on a big grin to hide it.
“Alright then. Thanks, Amber.” She wasn’t aware about how he felt, but she didn’t care to notice. She was too caught up in the assumed victory that she had overcome an awkward phase, and that she would go back to normal. Schlatt, on the other hand, was thinking the opposite. To say he was disappointed was an understatement, but he tried his hardest to not let it seep into his face. He wanted to act as if he thought the same; he didn’t want to make things weird again. So they were just friends, is what was established. And as “just friends,” they sat together for a bit longer, enjoying the silence instead of dreading it.
This continued for 40 seconds until Amber couldn’t handle it anymore; she quickly grabbed his jaw with one hand & kissed him once. “sh*t! Not this again.” She felt a wave of emotions rush over her. Mainly guiltiness, it hadn’t even been a full minute yet she couldn’t contain herself. This would only confuse Schlatt more, she thought! Had she not learned her lesson?
But the difference between last night's kiss and this one shared right now was why she did it. Last night, she had been in a state of euphoria: Schlatt had her thoughts racing, she was looking forward to receiving a letter back from her family, and she was having a great night overall. But Amber, after evaluating her feelings (for a mere 40 seconds,) she had decided she really liked him. His handsome looks and smooth talk didn’t help either, and she had extremely horrible impulse control. She wanted to say she was working on it, but in all honesty, she wasn't. She rarely thought before she spoke, thought before she acted, thought before she did anything, really.
Although Schlatt was shocked, he wouldn’t let this opportunity go to waste. With her hand still on his jaw, he kissed back passionately while running his large hands through her wavy, dark red hair. His tongue immediately intertwined with hers as he savored her sweet taste, and damn was he a good kisser. They both were in a haze, the kiss intensifying as the girl pulled low groans & hums out of him; were they going to regret this?
They pulled away, panting & catching their breath. Schlatt looked at Amber with a confused, exasperated look on his face. “So what did that one mean?”
“I think I like you.”

OS 4: Lunch is Served (Schlatt & Amber)

The remaining 40 minutes of their time was spent cleaning, talking, and goofing around. Despite the frequent distraction of one another, they turned out to be a productive team, easily working together argument-free. After they had finished cleaning the main area, they explored the kitchen to see if it needed any cleaning. To their surprise, it was mostly clean, (aside from the corners filled with cobwebs. Amber was sure they wouldn’t mind though.)
It was a small room, sectioned off by a wall with a large opening to serve the food. There was a large metal sink, a fridge, empty countertops, pretty much your average school kitchen. For some reason there was an island table, with medium-sized plastic trays on them. There were no dishes in the sink, and no (safely edible) foods to consume in the fridge, so the two were just hanging out. But after long yap sessions, at some point it has to end.
The two were leaning on a counter, rambling away, until Schlatt had started to stare- admire, I should say, at Amber’s face. She was so cute when she was actually invested in conversations, the way she’d go on and on, motioning with her hands and sh*t; nothing could stop her. But he could.
“So,” started Schlatt, wanting to get this looming question out of the way, “what exactly…are we?”
She stopped geeking out about co*ckatiel birds & paused to think. “I- we hadn’t thought about that, had we?”
“I have.”
“So what's the verdict?” she grinned.
“In all honesty, I think it's too soon to call us a ‘thing,’ don’t you think? I mean we pretty much just met, and we hardly know each other. I think we both need to be friends for a little while before we’re actually, y’know, like that.” Amber was processing what he had just said, slightly shocked that he had said such wise words. She didn’t expect that from him, but it was well said nevertheless.
“Y’know what pretty boy? I agree. I mean, I think I need to know all your secrets first,” she giggled.
“Oh yeah? I’ll tell you one. When I was little I used to have a crush on Tricky from Subway Surfers,” he confessed, with a slight blush.
“OH MY GOD, no way. I’ll hold you accountable forever,” she teased. His heart fluttered when she had said “forever,” but he decided not to mention it. “I had a crush on the f*cking big brother from My Little Pony… crap, what was his name? f*ck-”
“f*ckING SHINING ARMOR???” Schlatt exclaimed.
“YES OH MY GOD!! You watch MLP?!?! Damn, we really were meant to be,” she boomed.
“OF COURSE! I mean- only because of my sister,” he said, flustered.
“Excuses, excuses, excuses. You had a crush on Princess Luna, didn’t you?”
He gawked at the girl in front of her, shocked that she had guessed so accurately. Damnit. “Maybe,” he admitted, mumbling in embarrassment.
“Knew it,” she teased once again.
“Hey, by the way, I dropped off the letters to Mr. Kurt, he said he’d drop them off at the post office later today.”
“Oh crap, thanks! I forgot to take mine after like, kissing you and sh*t.” She was still embarrassed about it, but now that they were back to normal, it was all a joke. Mostly, anyways.
“Hm, too bad,” remarked Schlatt before quickly pecking Amber on the lips.
“Well that wasn’t very nice, now was it?” said Amber, kissing him back in response.
“Aw, am I being too mean? I’m sorry Amber, I’ll do better next time,” added Schlatt, before actually passionately kissing her. He grabbed her chin to angle it up to his face, she was too short even when she was on her tiptoes.
“You better,” replied the girl between kisses. This was okay, right? I mean, it's not like they didn’t like each other. They were still friends, just, friends that kissed! That was completely normal in Amber’s point of view. She assumed it was fine with Schlatt, considering he’s the one who even started their very third kiss. She didn’t even know, at this point.
Once again, the kiss was intensifying, she was knocking off his hat to run her fingers through his soft, curly hair. This urged Schlatt on, a quiet moan seeping out of his mouth. His actions only added fuel to Amber’s fire; she started humming & moaning softly just to get a reaction out of him. And boy did that work. She could feel his hands roam her body as they continued the kiss, tracing patterns on her waist with one hand & still holding her face with the other.
She decided to do the same, slipping her hand underneath his shirt while simultaneously playing with his hair. This, once again, urged Schlatt on. But this drove him a little too insane; she felt a growth brush against her lower stomach. “sh*t…” he grunted. The kitchen was now filled with quiet moans from the both of them. He decided to lift Amber onto the counter, and broke the kiss to admire the girl before him. He ran his hands across her thighs which spread across the surface, sending shivers all over her body. “You beautiful, beautiful girl…”
They started the kiss again, slower & more meaningful this time. Amber’s lips had now found his neck, nipping & kissing at it. And Schlatt, well, he was now feeling extremely euphoric as his hands traveled down her waist, then to her hips, then to her waistband…
His fingers slightly tugged at the fabric, wishing so badly that he could pull it down and pleasure her as he pleased. I mean, what was stopping him? Nobody was even there, right? “f*ck…” Amber whispered. He looked at her for permission, and she nodded her head quickly in response. And right as he was about to pull-
“Ah! Right on time!” Michael exclaimed sarcastically, crossing his arms upon entering. Lupe was right behind him, snickering out of amusem*nt. Amber immediately hopped off the counter, and they just kind of stared at the two seniors awkwardly. I mean, what were they supposed to do?
“Dejalos en paz, Mike, porfa. Solíamos hacer eso todo el tiempo a su edad, y pues nunca nos atraparon,” she said, in between laughs. Amber didn’t know much Spanish, but she thought she was defending them.
“Thanks Lupe,” noted Amber in her head.
“Fine, honey,” he whispered in a (somehow) caring tone.
“You guys better quit the smoochin’ or I’ll tell on ya to Kurtis!”
“Alright, have fun getting in trouble with us when I tell him you’ve been out with her for an hour instead of teaching and supervising us ‘irresponsible young’ adults,” said Schlatt nonchalantly.
“You know what, fine. It's our secret, pal,” sighed Michael.
“Thanks!” cheered Schlatt, content with his mini-victory.

The oldies cooked up whatever they could in 30 minutes, which ended up being baked chicken nuggets & fries. Nobody complained, though, when Schlatt & Amber served large trays to three tables. (The kids hadn’t yet come, so everyone filled only half the tables.) When Amber served her own table, which Lily sat at, she gave her a wide-eyed look & Lily sighed happily. Schlatt & Amber finished up their work & went to sit with the rest of their table. For now, all was well at Camp Sternhike.

OS 5: Epilogue (Amber & Lily)

“Psst, you still up?”
“sh*t, what time is it Lily?” Amber angrily whispered.
“Two. Do you love him?”
“Who, Schlatt?”
“Who else would I be talking about?”
“Yeah- I mean, no, not yet. He said we need to figure each other out before we would be really in love, and I agreed with him.”
“You guys are such dorks.”
“Goodnight, Lily.”
“Okay geekanator.”
Amber didn’t love Schlatt. She didn’t. But what she did know is that she really, really liked him, and was willing to take things slow. It was probably for the better, anyways.

camp sternhike - Chapter 4 - peppercornhater - jschlatt (2024)

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