"You always this antisocial, Minnie?"

His voice cut through the music in my earphones. I turned the volume up.

"Go away," I said when Luke's body appeared next to mine, "Please."

Almost forgot my manners.

"I won't."

He clearly forgot his.

I refused to look at him. I didn't know why he left the others to join me, but he shouldn't have. I remembered what he said to Tamara when she complained about me: We have better things to talk about.

So I said to him now, "I thought you had better things to do."

"I do." He agreed and sat down beside me, "But I want to be here."

His words replayed in my head. Is he high?

"I don't know why," he admitted, thinking the same thing, "but I do."

There was nothing I could do to make him leave and I didn't want to. It was nice having someone sit beside me. The cool air brushed past us, playing with my hair as it went. We heard the sounds of the campfire behind us and gasps from the frightened campers listening to ghost stories. We sat side by side in silence.

Until he broke it.

"Can I have one?" He pointed at my turkey and mayo sandwiches.

I had made them for the other counselors, though no one wanted any. I nodded, still avoiding looking at him.

Then he picked my phone up without permission, sandwich in his other hand. He checked the music I was listening to, while he bit half his sandwich.

He raised his eyebrows, "Didn't expect that. Weren't you singing Shawn Mendes the other day?"

"You saying I can't have a diverse taste in music?" I asked, "A girl can be into Shawn Mendes and Lil Uzi."

"Nah, I'm surprised because you are the most PG girl I've ever met. You freak out when I take my shirt off, you never swear, you-"

"Ok, ok, I get it."

He knew more about me than I expected. Just talking about his shirt off made me blush.

He smirked and leaned over. He took the earphone out of my left ear and his fingers softly brushed my earlobe, sending shivers down my neck. Then he came closer and put the earphone in his right ear.

Curvy little body, love your surface

Yeah, I'm all on your body, make you nervous

I like the way you keep up with your earnings

I didn't realize how nervous I was. Our knees were almost touching, and he was listening to my playlist... that's personal.

I thought everything was right, that's when you left

Swervin'

How you look so perfect on your worst days?

I can relate...

lol. I smiled at my own joke.

And Luke noticed.

I forgot that we were listening to the same lines, feeling the same beat, and damn was that boy perceptive. He looked at me, almost like it was for the first time.

"I haven't known you for long," he spoke sincerely, his voice had a soothing effect, "But your eyes don't light up when you smile. You're not happy, are you?"

I didn't say anything back. I couldn't. My breath was caught. How could he have noticed?

He continued, "I saw how you changed when we were on the beach the other day. You turned into someone different. Carefree, and your smile lit the place up."

I battled with myself. Do I tell him? Do I tell Luke Dawson my feelings? Does he actually care?

He took my phone out of my hand and put the music on pause.

I guess he does.

I took the earphone out of my ear and my hair accidentally fell over my eyes. I brushed it aside, feeling his eyes on me the entire time.

"I fell in love with a boy who didn't love me back," I said, "Same old story."

A real classic.

"You had a boyfriend?" He sounded surprised.

I tell him my heart's been crushed and that's what he focuses on??

"Yes."

Why was that so hard to believe?

I tried to push the memories from flooding back. The last thing I needed for my nonexistent social life was to break down in tears in front of the only guy who talked to me.

"And he broke up with you?"

"He cheated on me and left me for her. My friends chose him as well. I don't have many friends to begin with, not sure if you noticed that," I joked at my own sad life, "But now I only have one."

"They were never friends if they're that fickle."

Good point. "Anyway, that was a month ago. We broke up about a month ago."

One brutal month. Full of ice cream.

He nodded and said, "Then I'm a good distraction for you."

Was he trying to comfort me? I expected cocky jokes from Luke Dawson but the problem with this joke... is that it's real. He really was a good distraction.

"What's your distraction then? You must be here for something." I said, realizing that I had no idea why he was at Camp Beaver Hill.

He didn't need the money, and this wasn't exactly his vibe.

He shifted uncomfortably, "You're the first to ask me that."

"Really?"

"People don't ask me real questions," he said and breathed out, looking at me, deciding whether he was going to tell me...

They expected his life to be perfect all the time. I was guilty of thinking that as well.

"I'm here because I have to be," he said, finally unveiling the truth, "I'm going into senior year and I want to be recruited for college basketball. I, uh... am not enough of a team player apparently. Coach wants me to be a counselor here so that I learn how to support others."

Luke was the star of the basketball team. The player who makes incredible layups and scores the winning shots. I didn't realize his weakness was ego. It was surprising that his coach wanted him to learn how to set others up for success. I guess it makes sense. A team is stronger than an individual.

Luke glanced up at me with blue eyes that pierced through mine. The depth in them was unreadable, but I could see how his eyes searched mine, almost expecting judgment. He'd gone deep.

I smiled at him, "I think you just admitted that you're a selfish jerk."

His face softened, and he laughed, a blend of amusement and relief in his voice. He liked when I was myself.

I added, "I mean I've always known that, but to hear it coming out of your mouth is just... perfect."

He laughed and nudged me with his elbow. I ignored the butterflies in my stomach. He gave me my phone and stood up.

"Nice chat, Minnie."

"It's Millie."

"Yeah, sure."

"I'm not joking. That's my actual name. Try it sometime."

He ruffled my hair, looking back at the counselors who were staring in our direction. I wondered if they'd been watching us this whole time, shocked. I'd forgotten how they excluded me. Luke had taken me out of my sad thoughts.

"Thanks for the talk," I said, looking up at him, "It's nice to have someone to talk to. Even if it's you."

He glanced down at me and gave me a comforting smile. He saw the loneliness that would creep back the moment he left. I think he could see how I didn't really have anyone. I hated being so vulnerable, so exposed.

"Smile more," Luke said, "Your smile is crazy contagious."

Really?