Camp Jameson

CAMP JAMESON

≈

A
NOVEL

WENDY
LEA THOMAS

Copyright

Copyright © 2014 by Wendy Lea Thomas

www.wendyleathomas.com

Edited by: Mick Corcoran

Copy Edit by: Tina Lucas

Cover design by: Mick Corcoran

Girl photo: iStockphoto

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including
information storage and retrieval systems – except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or review – without permission
in writing from the author herself.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are
fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or
dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

ISBN-13: 978-0615935652

DEDICATION:

To my wonderful husband, thank you for helping me on this
journey. I can’t thank you enough. Without you, none of this would be possible.
Thank you for always believing in me, and for encouraging me when it got
difficult. You are my rock.

To our friend Brian, whose fantastic stories provided the
inspiration for this novel. If it weren’t for your shocking adventures, my
novel would have never been born.

Dedicated to:

My favorite rock band

Three Miles Out.

Your music has inspired me for many years. I can only hope
my readers will find their way to you and see how truly amazing you guys are.

The following songs provide the soundtrack for Aria’s
adventures:

1. Temptation


2. Comfort Zone 


3. I Need You


4. Something In The Water 


5. Only One 


6. If I Didn’t Have Eyes

Visit
www.threemilesout.com
or


download their music from iTunes.

ARRIVAL DAY

WELCOME TO CAMP
JAMESON

S
ix
weeks, I told myself. That’s 42 days of solidarity with my friends, peace, and resplendent
quiet, in the backwoods of Western Pennsylvania. No more three-inch thick books
to study from, weighing my messenger bag down. No more annoying classmates and
no more late night study sessions.

Final exams of nursing school
were officially over as I handed in my Chemistry final to my stale professor. I
grabbed my Chem book and trotted out of class, then headed straight for the
‘Book Buyback’ line. I had half a mind to burn it. I was certain I never wanted
to see it again. I never cared for Chemistry, except maybe what I felt toward
the guy who sat two rows in front of me in class. His name was Colt, but he was
off limits. Colt was property of my extrovert roommate, Sara.
How could one
man be so gorgeous, and smart? What I wouldn’t give to date somebody like him.

I couldn’t be compared to my
roommate. I was everything that she wasn’t – shy, awkward, quiet, with
way too many introverted tendencies that people mistook as bitchiness. That is,
until people got to know me, then they would learn that I would do just about
anything for those I care about.

It was late June already in
Northeast Ohio and Summer One classes were ending. So, when Sara suggested we
go camping for the remainder of summer break, I somehow relinquished control.
Honestly, I was reluctant to let her take the reigns and plan the entire trip.
I tried not to overthink it. I knew either I was a fool, or in for a fantastic
ride. My head told me I was a fool but my heart craved the latter. I tried to
overlook the fact that I would be vacationing with the two most sexual people I
knew, Sara and Colt. I made them promise that I wouldn’t have to share a tent
with them. Actually, I was quite relieved when I discovered that we weren’t
tent camping at all. We would be staying in a cabin. I hadn’t gone tent camping
since I was a kid and I wasn’t sure if I liked it. I could only hope for a
large cabin with a real bathroom and when sharing it with Sara and Colt, I knew
I would need my earplugs.

∞∞∞

It was Sunday afternoon and we
had just driven three hours east to somewhere just south of the Allegheny
National Forest, in Colt’s gunmetal Jeep Grand Cherokee, to a small town called
Paradise Lake. We took an off-road entrance marked by a carved wooden sign,
which read: ‘Jameson Country’. A smaller sign below stated ‘Registered Members
Only’.

“So Aria, are you excited, or
dreading this?” Sara twisted to look back at me from her passenger seat.



“Excited,” I beamed at her. A
lthough,
I was about to pee myself if Colt didn’t stop soon!

Sara had this
incredulous energy that would pull even the most solemn person into a smile
when she was around. I sighed in nervous anticipation. Colt had been a camp
counselor here since it opened five years ago. He raved about this place. He
explained earlier that this camp was remote and I’d be cut off from the entire
world for the next six weeks. But I had nothing planned, and I loved the idea.
Now,
if only I could pee because these bumpy back roads are killing me
.

The gravel crunched under the Jeep’s tires as the road narrowed into
one-lane. We were surrounded by forest. For about a mile, the trees seemed to
darken the day, until a wide lake appeared on both sides as we went over a
confined wooden bridge where another sign greeted us:
Paradise Lake.



My face widened into a smile at
its breathtaking beauty. The tires returned to gravel and we twisted and turned
down the road through numerous corners until we reached a large iron gate that
made the camp look more like a private upscale estate than a campground.



Colt pulled up outside the gate
and waited behind a line of five cars. A young man stood by the side of the
gate as the driver of each car took their turn signing what looked like a thick
leather registry, and then the man punched a code into the keypad and waited
for the gate to loudly slide open.

“What’s with the high security?”
I asked.


“Don’t they have this at
every camp?” Colt teased. I felt a gentle squeeze on my knee.

“Relax. This will be fun. I
promise,” Sara said.

An unsettling worry came over
me. I nervously tugged at my long silver necklace that held my father’s
military tags. It was what I always did when I was trying to work through
something.
Something was up. I just didn’t know what.

“Welcome to Camp Jameson. Name,
please,” the tanned, perfectly built, man with a deep voice said. I slyly
glanced at his nametag.
Hellooo Jamie, I wished my old counselors looked
like that back at Indian Princess camp when I was a kid. I would have had much
more fun.

“Colt Thompson, Sara Cox, and
Aria Mason,” Colt nodded at each of us as he spoke our names. 
“Let me
see,” Jamie flipped through the one-inch thick list on his clipboard. “Is Aria
short for Arabella?” He looked back at me with a bleach white smile. 


“Yes,” I replied, choking on my
dry throat.
Whoa, he’s so hot!

His smile widened when he saw my
reaction.

“Here’s your parking pass.” He
handed us our pass then he punched the code into the keypad and opened the gate
for us. “Proceed to the Main Lodge to unload your things. Cubs are housed to
your left, Kittens to your right. Enjoy yourselves.”


Colt nodded and pulled
forward. “No turning back now, Aria,” Colt winked. “Remember, what happens at camp,
stays at camp,” he said. All I could think about was peeing.
Please hurry.
Please hurry,
I repeated to myself. 


“Stop teasing her, Colt,” Sara
snapped at him but her hand rubbed his thigh in another suggestive manner. I
knew that it wouldn’t be long before I had to take an extra long walk by myself
so they could have some alone time. I rolled my eyes, reminding myself from
experience that they could go all night. I felt in the front pocket of my
shorts.
Thank whomever for inventing earplugs.

Colt was twenty-five, six years
older than Sara and me, and they both were the most beautiful people I had ever
met. They were perfectly sculpted. Like models.

I sighed inwardly as Colt pulled
the Jeep through the gate to a building called the Jameson Main Lodge.
According to Colt, the Main Lodge was over 37,000 square feet.

I took in the intricate
three-story design of elegant redwood and stone. The tall row of windows that
lined the front enhanced the panoramic view overlooking the massive lake. The
grounds were immaculately groomed and the grass was a luscious green. Vivid
white and pink wild orchids were fused into the shrubs adding just the right
amount of color. The pathway was lined with grey sandstone walkways and
decadent lighting. This place was an extravagant estate. Not at all what I
pictured a camp to look like. This place was for the elite. It was breathtaking.

Sara jumped out of the Jeep and
darted inside. I followed quickly but I lost track of her as I headed for the
restroom. Colt unloaded our things.

When I returned I began pulling
his suitcase toward the lodge, just to help out, when his hand stopped mine. He
shook his head.

“This is Kitten Territory. I’m
over there.” He pointed to the left. 


“You’re not staying with us.
Why?” I wrinkled my brow.

“You’ll see soon enough,
newbie.” 


“Grab your suitcase,” Sara said.
In the midst of my confusion, I hadn’t seen Sara return and she startled me
when she spoke. “Don’t forget your second one. I packed you another one just in
case.” 


“In case what?” I eyed the dark
grey extra-large suitcase and wrinkled my brow.
Sara was definitely up to
something.



“Trust me, you’ll thank me
later. We have to hurry to get the good cabins,” she called back over her
shoulder as she ran down the hill. I ran after her in hopes she’d tell me what
was going on.


“Did Colt tell you where
the best cabins were?” I asked, trying to get a good look around at all the
cabins as we ran down a little hill away from the Jameson Main Lodge. This
place was huge. There were at least ten smaller cabins surrounding me and they
seemed to go on for miles.

“Yea, both Colt and Sienna told
me where to go. I told you about her, right?” Sara said. I racked my brain
trying to remember Sara ever mentioning Sienna. 


Sara wore a tight white tank top
and denim Daisy Dukes. I looked at my tan cargo shorts and navy blue Air Force
t-shirt and flip-flops and suddenly I felt self-conscious. Sara and I had been
best friends for two years now. We sat next to each other in our trigonometry
class senior year in high school, and we hit it off instantly. 


“Is Sienna the girl you had your
little bi-curious adventure with?” I asked. 


“I promise I will tell you all
about her later.” A small smile played at the edge of Sara’s lips. “You’ll meet
her soon enough. Hurry up, pokey,” she continued. 


“She’s here?” I tightened my
hand around the leather handle and continued to wheel it behind me. She grinned
but continued in a hurried fashion – more like bee lined, toward the
A-frame cabin labeled ‘Jasmine’. 


We entered through the doorway
to a rustic décor. A slate fireplace stood mid-center of the wooden living
room. There was a tall picture window with a view of the lake. Even though we
were about a hundred yards away from it, the view was still breathtaking. The
pale accented kitchen was off to the left. Two French doors led to the back of
the cabin to a small patio with several Adirondack chairs and a small fire pit
made out of the same slate as the inside fireplace.
No musty smell? That’s
impressive, cabins always smell weird when you first walk in, until you get
used to them.

“You’re here. I’m in this one,”
Sara said. 


I walked through the living room
to one of the two doorways that sat opposite each other and entered with my
suitcase in tow behind me. I took a step backwards remembering my second
extra-large suitcase and lifted it in my free hand. The room was very modern.
It had plush bone carpet with a queen-sized bed. I lifted both suitcases to the
bed and then walked into the bathroom. It was spa-like. Ivory marble floors,
white garden tub, glass shower, black walnut walls. I walked back in the room
to the nightstand and picked up the Jameson Camp Manual.
Why is there a
manual for camp?



“Aria, hurry. We’re going to be
late. Throw on your sundress and your wedge sandals and make it quick,” she
barked, leaving me wondering why I had to pack such fancy clothes just to go
camping in the first place?
Who in the hell wears wedges camping anyway?
Sara
comes from a pretty well off family so I figured when in Rome. But I mean
really,
fuck the Romans. They died wearing sandals and shiny boots!

I set the manual down and did
what I was told. I changed into my navy blue sundress, black wedge strap sandals,
and then met Sara in the living room.

“Ready?” she bounced with glee.



“Ready for what, exactly?” I
asked adjusting my silver chain so it fell down under the front of my sundress.
I could never bring myself to take it off. Not yet anyway. 
Sara giggled.

“It’s time for the meet and
greet. Now promise me you will keep an open mind. I will explain everything
after we’ve been introduced to our instructors. Avery Jameson himself is
supposed to be there. I can’t wait to meet him. Now don’t go all gaga on me
when you see him. It’s not worth it. He never gets emotionally involved with
his guests,” Sara sighed amorously. “He only does one-nighters with women and
he never repeats. Some even say that the rich, eligible bachelor Avery Jameson
is deranged. They’re all fools, though. He is so…not crazy. He’s just distant
when it comes to women,” Sara said. 

What the fuck are you babbling
about?
I thought to myself.
Why would I care who this guy dates? He’s
probably some old man with a wrinkled wiener or something.

Sara led me to a small building
marked ‘Infirmary’. “First, we need to have physicals. This will only take a
minute.”
Why do we need physicals just to camp here?

“Wait!” I pulled Sara back by
the hand, eyeing her little black dress. “What do we need physicals for and why
are you so dressed up? Do I need to go change? Is this some kind of cult? Are
we joining a militia? It’s a militia isn’t it? Even though I do look good in
camo, I’ve never even shot a gun. Is there a supply hut or somewhere where I
can buy some camo? Wait, you didn’t say why you’re wearing a black dress and
not camo. What is going on here?”

“Shut up!” Sara snapped. “We
aren’t joining a militia or a cult, and we certainly aren’t wearing camouflage.
You look great. Stop worrying,” she said. I bit my lip and hushed the thousand
questions racing through my head.

At the infirmary, Sara ran off
with an older nurse while I watched as a large, round woman with ebony hair
quickly checked my blood pressure and drew a small vial of blood. My own
thoughts drowned out her endless chatter.
Why do we need physicals? And why
the hell did that woman just draw my blood?

“Are you on any medications?” the
nurse asked in a flat tone.

“Birth control pill,” I answered
just as flatly.

“How long have you been on it?”
the round nurse asked.

“Almost a year,” I replied.

“When was your last sexual
experience?”

What?
I blinked in
surprise. I could tell she was serious.
Just as serious as you obviously
take your cheeseburgers.
But I smiled calmly and half-willingly answered.
“Almost ten months ago,” I stumbled over the words.

“Were there multiple partners?”