Giggle Fits

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POV: Rowan


Even after already showing up late for the tie-dye, it still took another hour and a half before we were dismissed from the mess hall. I guess that's what Darlene gets for planning a lesson without me-- but, in her defense, she was down two pairs of hands for the most of it. I'll take credit for my own mistakes. Not that it was unintentional-- just, definitely on the short-sighted end of things. 

Even so, Frankie never ended up showing her face. It was fine because I'm pretty handy with tie-dye, but it certainly didn't help that our campers were repeatedly asking for her and to help with her t-shirt, which I ended up having to do myself. The girls fucking loved her-- and I was beginning to feel sort of like an underappreciated mom.

Hopefully she just went back to the cabin for a nap-- but I was a liiittle irked at her. Just because I let her break a rule or two doesn't mean she can just stop showing up.

"I see the dyke-y one abandoned you," Malik sneers, catching up to me as I lead our campers back to the cabin for a rest. He's just quiet enough that only I can hear him-- but just loud enough that I can't properly ignore him as I'd like to.  

"She's in the cabin." I reply sensibly, albeit, through clenched teeth. He really did put me on edge, but I knew I was safe with everyone milling about. Still, he sure took it upon himself to get a little too close. 

"Well, let me know when you're tired of playing lesbo and are ready for the real thing," He smirks, jogging to catch up with his own campers. What a charmer. 

"Is he your boyfriend?" A small voice pipes up beside me. I glance down at Briclyn, who had thrust her hand in mine. Aimee sandwiched me on the other side. I scoff, nearly going bug-eyed. 

"No!" I exclaim, revolted at the thought. The girls start squealing. Fuck. 

"Counselor Rowan has a booooyfriend!" Fallon and Erin chime in, singing one of those stupid little playground songs about sitting in a tree. I take a deep breath, trying not to think about him. He was no example for the campers here, much less crush-material. He was a filthy fucking--

"--Hey ladies!" Blake calls, standing huddled with Frankie outside of the cabin, both of them looking a little frazzled. Frankie won't meet my eyes. The girls run up to them, swarming the duo, and then making a beeline for their beds to journal and write letters home. I walk up to Blake and Frankie, my mouth clenched shut.

"Where were you?" I ask, unable to stop myself. I didn't want to be that.. weird, clingy, whiny bitch. And I promised myself I would be cool, but the exhaustion was catching up with me. Answering six different pointless questions without someone to bounce ideas off of was grueling. I cross my arms, still unable to relax. 

"--I realized I was allergic to the t-shirt dye, and Frankie took me to the infirmary," Blake babbles, lying straight to my face. I snort.

"So why are you still wearing the t-shirt?" I ask, already fed up with this. If Frankie wanted to lie to me, I wanted to hear it straight from her. I give her a look, and she stares at her feet. 

"No-- that's not true. I just had to take care of something," She mutters. Finally, she looks up. Her eyes are full of pain and I instantly feel myself soften. 

"Can.. we talk about it?" I ask. I glance at Blake, searching for some kind of support. They give me a stiff smile. Frankie looks like she's one word away from falling apart. 

Why couldn't she just talk to me? I would do everything in my power to fix whatever was wrong. 

"Can we talk about it later?" She whispers. Blake takes the cue to walk away, giving me a squeeze on the shoulder as they head down towards their cabin. Frankie turns to head inside ours, but I grab her by the wrist, noticing how strangely dirty her hands were-- dirt latched under her fingernails that hadn't been there before. 

"I-- uh, I know that I might not always be able to understand the things that you go through. I get that," I swallow, nodding to keep myself going. "But, please, Frankie. We can be more than coffee dates, and the kissing rock, and summer flings. I want to be more than that. I'll, uh, be here to listen. Whenever you're ready," I give her a kiss on the cheek, and she smiles at me so softly that my heart almost breaks. I wanted to say more, but I didn't know what. So, I kept quiet. And so did she.


Later that evening, we curled up at the campfire together on a woolly blanket. Other counselors were strewn about, but it was a relatively quiet evening. I guess everyone was starting to feel worn out.The mosquitoes kept attacking me, and Frankie valiantly fought them off for me, squishing one after another in the palms of her hands.

"Fuck!" I exclaim, slapping at my thigh. "They must like my blood," I smile, hoping to get a reaction from Frankie. She had been distant for the rest of the day and I was hoping she might finally open up to me. 

"Probably because you're so sweet," She murmurs, wrapping her arms around my waist from behind and kissing my neck. I melt into her, letting her body heat lull me into a daze. 

I lean upwards and pull Frankie's lips towards mine. If she's not going to talk to me, I just want to be close to her. I want to know her so fucking badly, but she makes it so goddamn difficult. But at least I know that I'm hers--

She pulls me in tighter, letting our lips fumble against each other. 

"Hey, lesbos," Taylor squats next to us, Blake in tow-- unfurling a blanket. It was nice to see that they really had reconnected, but I wasn't exactly sure how to reply to that. Blake gave Frankie a wide-eyed glance from over Taylor's head that I was just quick enough to catch. 

"Hey," Frankie mumbles, giving me one last kiss on the lips and then pulling away. I wish she wouldn't-- I want her near. I want to kiss her. I want to make her feel loved. As she readjusts, I feel the relaxed rhythm of her body grow sharp, and I grab her hand to set her at ease. 

I hated how Taylor was always so... abrasive. I mean, things were finally okay between her and Frankie again, why go making waves? I guess it was like second nature to her- she could barely enter a room without saying something mean. But, if Frankie could learn to hold her fists, I could learn to bite my tongue. 

"Where's Dylaaaan," I ask in a sing-song, giving Blake a wink. They blush, and Frankie breaks out into a grin, teasing them. Dylan was just about the only guy at this camp that wasn't a complete asshole. He hated Malik as much as I did, and used to bring Kalea flowers when she was sad. He was a total sweetheart, and I wished that we could all spend more time together. 

Like.. a double date. Like real couples do.

"Oh my god, he's coming!" Blake grumbles, whacking Frankie in the arm. "The boys have been staying up late and freaking each other out with horror stories, so one of us keeps having to stay and make sure they're really asleep. It was his turn," 

"When are you guys gonna bone?" Frankie sticks her tongue out and I laugh as Blake's eye bug out of their head. Taylor looks on uneasily, never quite fitting into the banter. 

"Oh please. Don't say that shit to me unless you want me to turn it right back on ya," Blake bites, giving Frankie a devious look, as if I wasn't sitting right here. Taylor smirks at me, finding a spot to pipe up. 

"You better be careful-- Frankie gave Cal crabs," She smirks. I swallow, not really sure what to say. Was that supposed to be a joke? Some kind of playful banter? Frankie tenses, and Blake laughs uneasily. 

I mean. The crabs thing was concerning, but I didn't really like the idea of Frankie sleeping with anybody either. I suppose I should assume that she probably has, but I didn't exactly need names and faces. 

"I didn't give anybody crabs," Frankie mumbles. I can feel her squeezing my wrists-- maybe it was time to get out of here. I move to stand up, but Taylor keeps talking. 

"Oh? That wasn't you? I guess I just assumed since, you know, you get around," She drawls. Frankie looks flabbergasted, but before she can even get a word out of her mouth, Blake stands up. 

"Shut up, Taylor," They mutter, grabbing the blanket out from under her. They open their mouth to say more, but stop as Frankie gives them a withering glare. 

"I'm going to go find Dylan," They say-- if only to stop themselves from saying more. A heavy feeling passed through the air, and I suddenly got the feeling that I was the only one who didn't know what the fuck was going on. And it hurt.

Taylor dusts herself off as if she never wanted to sit on the blanket, anyways. Always maintaining her composure.

"Oh-- and, uh, Frankie. I didn't want to say anything, but I thought you should know that.. I heard Rowan and Malik flirting  the other night," She looks at me when she says flirting, putting a strange emphasis on the word, instantly indicating to me that she knew. She had overheard our entire fight before she'd come to comfort me outside the infirmary. She knew about Malik. She knew about Kalea. She knew what I had done. My jaw drops, and she flips her dark curls over a shoulder, wandering off towards the cabins. 

I look at Frankie, my brow furrowed, and she glances back-- biting her lip. All at once, we crack the fuck up-- delirious, fed up, and confused. 

"What the fuck was that?" She laughs, doubling over. I fall to my knees, so beyond frustrated that all I could do was cackle. 

"I don't know, but it was awful," I snort, collapsing into her arms and giggling endlessly. 

"I-- I'm done. That girl is insane," She mumbles, trying to calm herself, but ultimately cracking herself up again, losing her ability to breathe regularly.

I can't exactly justify our reaction-- but something was just so uncannily hilarious. When everything starts falling the fuck apart, what can you really do but laugh?

"I'm so sorry I ever asked you to apologize to her," I chuckle, squeezing my eyes shut-- tears nearly leaking out. Frankie just about dies laughing, fully letting the tears trail down her face. We were so far gone that there was no point in holding back. 

"She-" She interrupts herself, snorting. "She planted coke on me this morning," She finally says. I stare at her like she's crazy, not sure if I should laugh or cry. I guess that explains her freak out today.

"She what?" I say, pausing. Don't laugh. Don't laugh. Don't laugh. Frankie gives me a look and I sputter all over her, nearly wheezing. I roll back on the grass, covering my face with my hands. "She WHAT?!" I yell again, completely in shock. Frankie falls down beside me, still smiling. The sky above us, with its thousands of twinkling stars, shook with every belly laugh we shared.

"I'm not kidding, and it's not funny, and I can't stop laughing," She giggles, giving herself hiccups from the lack of oxygen. I roll over to face her, still trying to contain my laughter. 

"She's fucking crazy," I mutter, drawing a hand up to play with Frankie's hair. She takes a deep breath, finally regaining her composure. 

"I should have just told you. I'm sorry," She whispers, reality raining back down upon us. I exhale slowly. 

"I mean... why? Why would she do that?" I ask, still completely confused. She purses her lips together. 

"I think it's become a game to her-- like, how much she can screw with my life. How far can she take it. I mean--" She snorts. "She took it pretty fucking far," She captures her bottom lip between her teeth, but I'm no longer smiling. 

"I thought you guys were cool?" I ask, still not understanding. 

"Oh god no. When I apologized to her she, uh, she started blackmailing me. Said some bullshit about how she would keep pushing me until I lost it again to get me kicked out of the home-- and camp-- and how if I let anybody know she'd-- uh," She pauses, lost in her own thought.

"You don't have to--" I interrupt.

"--No. I mean, I want to tell you. But I can't," Her voice breaks, and I'm suddenly staring into pools, laden with a sadness I couldn't recognize. 

"It's okay," I say softly. I know what its like to have a secret you can't even bear to think about. Maybe some things really are better left unsaid. 

"I, uh, don't know if I need to clarify this, but Malik and I were not flirting," I mutter, biting my lip. Frankie, as if coming back down from outer space, shakes her head and laughs. 

"I know, baby. I really have no reason to believe a word she says," She fights off another giggle fit. "Um, I really, really never gave anybody crabs," She finally continues, clearing the air. I smirk. 

"Oh no-- I believe that one," I cock an eyebrow at her and she throws herself at me, tickling my armpits until I'm howling. 

"Okay! Okay! I believe you," I manage to let out between laughs, realizing she had me pinned below her. I blush, and she stares at me intently. I swallow.

"Did.. you and Cal..?" I trail off, not ready to meet her eyes. She lets out a heavy sigh. 

"Yes. But it wasn't serious. And I really didn't get around much. I promise. She just doesn't want you to trust me," Frankie mutters, blowing a piece of hair out of her face. "Do you trust me?" She continues, still watching me. 

"I trust you." I reply, trying to will the image of her and Cal out of my mind. 

"Good," She murmurs, lowering herself onto me. Oh. 

"Well, uh, now that we cleared everything up-- we really need to tell somebody about the coke thing," I mutter as she starts gently kissing my neck. 

"I took care of it," She murmurs, running her hands down the length of my arms. I shiver. 

"Not sure what that means, but Frankie, that was really serious. And if Taylor's doing cocaine she really can't be here--"

Frankie sits up, staring at me with a frustrated expression. 

"I'm not going to do that to her," She mutters, sighing. I feel her weight pressing into my lower abdomen, causing a blush to rise to my face. 

"She needs help, Frank," I whisper. She pauses for a minute, considering. She's silent for a long time, and I almost think that I've upset her.

"You're right," She finally says, settling down next to me and burying her face in my chest. I hold her tightly, pretending I don't notice as she starts to cry.

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