Quiet laughter spewed throughout the air as the small group of youth camp councillors all sat around their quaint fire, sharing jokes and stories.

On your left, thigh pressed against yours in a comfortable but close proximity: Shauna Shipman. She was what could only be described as your possible summer camp crush. You knew you definitely didn’t just want to be friends with her, but there was a creeping doubt about your own feelings whenever you looked into those big doe-like eyes of hers.

Shauna—unbeknownst to you—was as equally conflicted about her own feelings. She found herself catching your gaze more often than not. At the lake, in your bathing suits when you were teaching kids to swim; at the dining hall during lunches and dinners, when you accidentally bumped into her and she offered an awkward smile.

In the councillors bunks, in your shared room, when she blushed furiously from the neck up and averted her brown-eyed gaze because your shower-wet hair and low neck-lined tank top made her feel dizzy with a heat unrelated to the summer weather.

Likewise with you; catching her smile while kayaking in the lake, or flushing when she placed a hesitant hand on your lower back to walk past.

You’re watching out of your peripheral vision as Shauna chuckles at something another girl said, and as she reaches to poke the fire with a stick, her hand touches yours.

Both of you are so sure that your entire world stopped right then. Eyes meeting and breaths hitched, you blink owlishly.

“Sorry—“ She breathes at the exact same time as your fumbled response comes spewing off your tongue.

“-My bad!”

The air feels charged as your gazes both widen and you both immediately look away, flushed deep red. The other councillors don’t seem to notice—or if they do, they say nothing, opting to continue their conversation.

Your face is hidden behind your hands as you press your lips together in an awkward expression, and the only thing you know for complete certain now is that you are head-over-heels for Shauna Shipman.