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"This is your last night, kid. Lock up when you're done and put the spare key above the back door," Ruth greeted me as I walked in the dining hall at nine o'clock.

I raised my eyebrows at her. "Really? It's already been two weeks?"

She pulls her jacket on and gives me an uninterested look. "That's what I said, isn't it?"

And without another word, she exits through the back door, leaving me alone in the dirty dining hall. Despite her poor attitude, I still found myself grinning. I was finally done cleaning this grotesque dining room after tonight. It was weird how easily it became routine and I forgot I was only here because I covered for Carter.

"Whatcha doing?" Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

I turn around and see Carter leaning against the frame of the open door with an amused expression on his face. After shaking off the initial shock that Carter had appeared so suddenly, I smiled again.

"Tonight's the last night of cleaning," I announce with a cheeky grin.

Instead of returning my excitement, Carter pout at me. "But I quite liked spending my nights with you."

Even though he was saying this in a teasing manner, I still felt my heart warm a little when he says this. I can't help it; I'm a girl, when a cute boy says a cute thing, I can't help but be in awe.

"I mean, seeing you dance was something I'll likely never forget," Carter continues.

His grin turns wicked with I narrow my eyes at him, and because I was still a little at a loss for words, I responded by sticking my tongue out at him. At this, he laughed heartily, and took a few steps inside the dining hall.

"Very mature," Carter mocked with his boyish grin.

I roll my eyes. "Says the most immature male on the planet."

"I happen to take extreme offense to that," He says seriously, but his twinkling eyes give him away. "My mother raised me a gentleman."

I look at him blankly. "So it was a gentleman who pushed me off the kayak yesterday."

Carter waves me off. "I didn't push you, I tipped the kayak," He corrects, like this has all the meaning in the word. "Besides, you can't hold me accountable for things I do out at sea."

I snort unattractively and remind him, "Were on a lake, not out at sea."

"You really don't want to let me have fun tonight," He pouts immaturely, not at all appreciating my correction.

A thought pops into my head that makes me smile, and Carter immediately notices my change in demeanor, thanks to his keen observational skills. His mock pout subsides quickly as he studies me.

"Who said we weren't having fun?" I question innocently, batting my eyelashes with a coy smile.

Before he can answer, presumably with a smart comment, I turn and disappear into the back. I found what I was looking for on the bottom shelf in the kitchen, and brought it out to the dining room, where Carter was waiting patiently. When I put the radio on the table, a boyish grin spread across his lips, like he knew exactly what I was up to.

I flipped the radio on and it was already on our favorite station. A Billy Joel song filled the silence between us in the dining hall, and I grinned at Carter. He was already walking toward me and, before I could blink, he grabbed my hand and twirled me around in a quick circle. One hand was in mine, one on my waist when he pulled me into his chest, keeping me close. I looked at him through my lashes with a smile and noticed our close proximity when my heart started thumping erratically in my chest.

"...I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints..." Carter's lips moved along with the words. "The sinners have much more fun..."

He leans in a little, and my eyes slide shut upon instinct, expecting him to kiss me. But I feel my hand jerk and suddenly he's spinning me again, and I can hear his laughter in my ears. I can't help but smile too, giggling as I twirl around in circles. It was a moment I'll never forget; one that I'll look back on fondly when I'm older. Just dancing there to the sounds of an old static radio with Carter, laughing as we fell into our own little world.

He stopped twirling me to pull me close again, his eyes glittering with happiness, a smile still on his lips from laughing. His warm hazel eyes floated over my face, which hurt from smiling so much, before he met my gaze again. We were moving in closer to each other, so close that I could feel his warm breath against my cheeks, so close that I parted my lips in anticipation of what would happen next.

But as our lips grazed each other as if to test the waters before plunging in, my back pocket started ringing. Surprised by the noise, I jumped back a little, and Carter leaned back. I met his gaze sheepishly and he ran a hand through his hair, gesturing for me to take the call. Reluctantly, I reached for my phone and pressed it to my ear.

"Hello?" I answer, and I'm embarrassed at how breathless I sound.

Carter smirks at me when he realizes this too, and the prick decides it's a good idea to take another step toward me, to regain our small proximity. I eye him suspiciously and wearily, confused as to his actions, but my eyes widen when he starts kissing my neck.

"Amelia, what are you doing?" My mothers cold voice comes through the phone. "Why do you sound out of breath?"

Carter starts to suck on the hollow spot of my neck, and I have my bite my lip hard from letting out a moan. My free hand pushes against his chest, and I can feel him smirk into my neck, but doesn't budge.

I try to find my breath before I lie quickly, "I was on a run when you called."

"You're running again?" She asks, seemingly impressed. "Good. You could shed some extra pounds before your audition. Juilliard expects perfection, and nothing less."

Usually, I would've taken offense to that jibe at my weight, but I was a little preoccupied right now. As in, I had a hot boy kissing my neck, his hands slowly running up my sides under my shirt, and I was doing everything I could to stop myself from a) moaning Carter's name or b) throwing my phone across the room and kissing him back.

"Right," I breathe, because right now, I didn't trust myself to complete a full sentence.

"Anyway, I'm calling because I have good news. I pulled some strings and managed to get your audition moved up to next week." My mother announces proudly.

However, it feels like a bucket of ice water is thrown over my body. I freeze, feeling my blood boil when I realize what she's done. She scheduled my audition for Juilliard, one that I didn't even want to go to, during camp. She was making me leave camp- my last year at Camp Wisahickon- early.

"You did what?" I respond with a steely edge to my voice.

Even Carter noticed my change. He pulled away and looked at my questioningly, studying my hardened expression and the fire in my eyes. I didn't look at him, but instead kept my glare zeroed in on the wall behind him.

"You have a better chance at getting in if you audition earlier," She explains. "And you'll be freshly done practicing with Mrs. Brady."

I turned away so my back faced Carter and started walking around, wracking my brain for any excuse as to why she should let me stay at camp until it's over, and audition during my school year, like we were supposed to do.

"But Mrs. Brady is sick for the next few days, I haven't gotten to practice with her," I try.

"You've been with her for three weeks so far. I'm sure you've improved by now," My mother waves off my excuse.

"But that means I have to leave camp early," I try desperately.

"It's just a camp, Amelia. This is your future we're talking about. Why are you making excuses? I expect some gratitude for what I've done for you." She snaps.

I want to seethe at her, tell her she has done nothing for me except make my life miserable, but I bite my tongue. Like I always do.

"Thank you," I force through gritted teeth. "I have to go."

And, without waiting for her rude remark, I hang up the phone and shove it back into my pocket. My hands run through my hair in frustration as I lean against the wall and shut my eyes, feeling myself slide down until I'm sitting on the ground.

When I open my eyes, I see Carter walking toward me, reminding me of his presence. He sits down beside me on the ground, leaning against the wall silently. All traces of his earlier happiness and boyishness were gone, replaced with curiosity and concern.

"What'd she say?" Carter asks cautiously, like he knows he's treading on thin ice.

I turn my head to meet his gaze and say quietly, "She moved up my audition with Juilliard to next week."

He's silent for a moment, the only sound between us being the radio. I felt my heart beat quicken for some reason, like his answer to this was important. And that's when it clicked: leaving early didn't just mean I was saying goodbye to camp, but I would have to say goodbye to him, too.

"Why are you doing it?" Carter asks suddenly, his voice hard. "Why don't you tell her that isn't what you want?"

I look away. "I just..." I squeeze my eyes shut. "It's guilt, I think. My parents practically hate each other, but they cherish me," More like cherish my ability to play piano. "I know I'm the only reason why they're still together. I feel obligated to make them happy."

It's silent again between us. It's weird, how quickly things change. Ten minutes ago, I felt like I was on cloud 9, but shortly after, I free fell from the clouds face first back in reality. And the reality was that everything was messy. What I want didn't correlate with what my mom wants, or what my dad wants, or what Carter wants, and I was stuck in the middle of it all.

"I understand," Carter murmurs quietly from beside me.

I open my eyes and look over at him in shock. "What?"

His eyes search mine before he speaks again, choosing his words carefully. "I know what it's like to have guilt make your decisions for you."

While I didn't quite know exactly what he meant, I knew that his words made sense, and I nodded slowly. He did understand. We sat there for I don't know how long, silently communicating through our gazes, establishing a mutual understanding.

After awhile, we got up and decided we had to finish cleaning the dining hall, or we'd be here all night. Music was the only noise between us as we cleaned, because I had too much on my mind to speak, and from the looks of it, Carter did too.

It only took us forty minutes to finish cleaning up before we left silently, and I tucked the key away where Ruth told me to. When we got outside, Carter grabbed my hand and interlocked our fingers, still looking lost in thought. I watched him for a moment, studying his expression, before I remembered something.

"I need to change into more comfortable clothes," I say lightly, tugging his hand to grab his attention. "Then we can go to Cabin 20."

Recognition dawns on his features too, and he stares at me. "You're seriously going to stay with me tonight?"

I offer a small smile. "In a bed this time. I can't sleep outside anymore. It's killing my back."

Something flashes in his eyes as Carter watches me, like what I said just made a difference. However, he doesn't comment on it, nor does he take the opportunity to make a crude remark. Instead, he returns my small smile, and squeezes my hand.

"Go change and meet here in ten," Carter instructs.

I agree and go off toward my cabin, walking in quietly. I still didn't know what I was going to say to Poppy when she realizes I didn't sleep in my own bed. I didn't want to lie to her, but I didn't want to tell Carter's secret about his nightmares. That was for him to tell, not me.

However, when I got in my cabin, Poppy wasn't even there. I took the opportunity to change into pajama shorts and an oversized tee shirt that almost covered my shorts for maximum comfort. Then, grabbing a pillow off my bed, I made my way back toward the dining hall.

Poppy and I had slept in Cabin 20 before. Unlike the other unoccupied cabins, there was a bed in there, made for a counselor in case they ever hired an extra. Unfortunately, Marcus' poor organizational skills proceeds him, and he's never able to get it together long enough to hire another counselor.

I found Carter leaning against the dining hall lost in thought again, but he snapped out of it when he heard me approach. I wanted to ask what he was thinking about, but decided against it for the time being. He grabbed my hand again and we walked toward Cabin 20.

Once we were inside the Cabin, I didn't even bother to flick the lights on, but tiredly approached the bed and fell onto it.

"You better not think you're taking up all that space tonight," Carter muses above me.

I glance up at him through strands of my hair and grin. "I'm a big girl, I need room to be comfortable."

He snorts. "Big girl my ass. You weigh what, a hundred pounds?"

This time, I snort. "Who weighs a hundred pounds? Maybe the plate of chips I ate yesterday afternoon."

Carter chuckles and gets in bed beside me, forcing me to move over. In the end, I had my head placed between his shoulder and chest, with his arm wrapped around me, both of us on our backs. It was weird, how comfortable I felt around Carter. It was like second nature to be touching him and be near him.

We talked for a little, but Carter seemed distracted, like he wanted to say something but didn't know how. I waited patiently for him to spit it out, but when he never did, I decided that he needed a little push.

"What's on your mind?" I murmur, looking up at him.

He looks down at me, directly in my eyes, like he was trying to find something. And after a moment, he clenches his jaw, and I can see he made a decision. "You know how earlier, you said that you constantly felt guilty?"

I nod slowly, and he looks away from me, his jaw ticking as he stared at the ceiling.

"I feel that way too," Carter murmurs quietly, his fists clenching. "It was my fault that my dad died."