Saturday, July 2nd.
Arabella woke up with a smile. The sun was shining and there was a gentle breeze coming through the window. The Aphrodite cabin was pretty empty and Arabella could hear birds in the trees. That's not why Arabella was smiling, though. She was smiling because at 7 that night, Hunter was picking her up for a date. Was she nervous? Of course she was. Her and Hunter had been through a lot in such a short amount of time. They were only going on their first date and they already had so much baggage. But because of that history, Arabella almost felt more comfortable with him. She felt like she could trust him. They were starting over and she was so happy.
Arabella stretched her arms above her head and yawned. She rolled over, getting out of bed and she tugged on the hem of her shorts. It was early in the morning but she was so excited for the night that every second felt like it was an hour. She took a deep breath and tugged on a pair of yoga pants, threw her hair up into a bun and she padded out of the cabin. She was in desperate need of coffee.
The camp seemed pretty quiet for a Saturday morning. Most people were in the mess hall, but a handful of kids were at the arena and Arabella was sure she saw a few of her siblings on the beach. She yawned, walking over to a table and sitting down beside Daniel. "Mmm...coffee" She said with a happy sigh to her cup and smiled when it filled up.
"You seem chipper this morning" Daniel said with a small chuckle and he popped a grape into his mouth.
"Do I?" Arabella smiled, blowing on her coffee to cool it down a bit.
"Yeah, I mean, I know that winning the game last night was great but you seem very, very happy" Daniel said and nudged her "Did I miss something exciting last night?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Arabella rolled her eyes and nudged him with her elbow.
"No, Danny. Get your head out of the gutter" She teased and took a big sip of her coffee.
"Well, what happened?" Daniel asked and Arabella smiled a little bit at the table before looking up at him.
"Hunter asked me out on a date. And I said yes." Arabella told him and squeaked a little bit out of excitement. She wasn't really sure what kind of reaction she was expecting from her brother but she certainly didn't like how he did respond.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Daniel sighed, sounding horrible exasperated. Arabella furrowed her brow and looked over at him, a little confused. "After everything that happened last summer, that happened last summer, you're just gonna go on a date with him?"
"Daniel, that's really not fair-"
"No, it's completely fair! I spent HOURS this past school year, IMing with you when you were sobbing and wishing that things had been different. Hunter made you cry all year and you've been heart broken over him for too damn long" Daniel huffed, pushing his tray away. "He doesn't deserve you and you shouldn't be going on a date with him"
"I don't need your permission, Daniel, and I sure as hell don't need your approval. So shove it" Arabella slammed her cup down on the table and pushed away, storming back up to her cabin, not bothering to look back at her brother. Arabella couldn't believe him. Had her and Hunter been through a lot? Yes. Did she cry over him and how they left things last year? Yes. But why did that mean that they should never five it a try? Arabella was happy and she was excited and she didn't want to let someone ruin her mood.
She didn't stop walking until she got up to her cabin and into her bed. It was a beautiful day, as usual, and all of Arabella's siblings were down by the beach. Arabella couldn't blame them, really, she would be down there with them too but she had too much on her mind. So she cleared off her bed and started to lay out her clothes, trying to find the perfect outfit for her date. Arabella spent the rest of the day in her cabin. She was just so excited and she felt like she had so much to do before that night. So she cleaned her space in her cabin, she cleaned the whole cabin, she organized her trunk, she picked out her clothes for the date and she even had time for a nap.
Arabella checked the clock, chewing on her lip. It was 6:30 and Hunter was going to be picking her up at 7. For the first time that day, Arabella was starting to feel really nervous. She sighed, deciding that it was about time she started to get ready. Everyone from her cabin was down at the mess hall eating supper and Arabella wanted to get dressed before her sisters came in and wanted to voice their opinions on her dress.
Just as she tugged on the navy and white striped dress, Arabella heard the door open. She turned around to see who it was but when she saw that it was Daniel, she huffed and turned her back to him. "You look good" He said in a slightly awkward voice.
"Thank you" Arabella said, still not looking at him. They hadn't spoken since that morning and Arabella wasn't really sure if she forgave him. After a few seconds, Arabella could hear Daniel shuffle over to his bed and sit down. She could still feel his eyes on her but she ignored him and sat down by her makeup mirror, starting to put on her mascara on. There was a few minutes of silence before Arabella couldn't take it anymore.
"You know what, Daniel? I like him" She said and put down her mascara, turning to face him. "I like Hunter, I like him a lot. We might have a bit of a past and we might have a little baggage but it doesn't matter! Because he makes me laugh and he makes me smile and he makes me feel safe and he's warm and kind. I'm going on this date and if it goes well, I'm going on more dates with him and I don't really care if you approve or not." Arabella finished with a huff and she turned away from him, running her fingers through her hair. Daniel was quiet for a long time, watching her struggle as she tried to figure out what to do with your hair.
"Do you want me to do your hair?" He asked her in a low voice. "A sock bun would be nice"
"Yeah, yeah. I guess that would be nice" Arabella said and looked over at him, smiling a small smile. He smiled back and rushed over to bed, getting to work on her hair. They talked while he worked, putting a perfect bun in her hair. There was no need for them to talk about anything, they knew each other too well to fight for very long.
After what felt like forever, there was a knock at the door and Arabella's hear raced. Daniel ran to open it for Hunter while Arabella slipped into her high heels. She was finally going on a date with Hunter and she couldn't be more excited.