Wildfire

Russ watches on anxiously as the other counselors play drinking games by the lake. Aurora gets drunk on tequila, and Russ notices that her laughter is forced. As Russ walks Aurora back to her cabin, she reveals more about her issues with her father. She sent a gift to her father, but when she called his assistant, Brenda, he hadn’t bothered to open it because he went to Disneyland with Norah and Isobel instead. Aurora recounts her childhood and how her father hated Disneyland and would refuse to go with her and her sister, Elsa. Aurora attempts to get Russ to break camp rules by skinny dipping or coming inside her cabin, but he doesn’t waver in his resolve. However, Aurora convinces him to stay until she falls asleep after admitting that “it’s easier to wake up and [he’s] not here than it is to watch [him] leave [her]” (113).

The next morning, Russ brings breakfast to a hungover Aurora. She confronts him for his hot-and-cold behavior since arriving at camp. When she mentions that she took his bathroom stint after their hookup as a hint to leave, he admits that he was working up the courage to ask her on a date, clearing up their misunderstanding. He apologizes for hurting her feelings but makes it clear that he will not “be around when [she’s] being reckless” because he doesn’t want to be fired (116). Aurora accepts the declaration as motivation for the self-improvement she’d promised herself at the beginning of summer.

Russ wakes to a message from his mother, which contains a picture of her and his dad celebrating after a big gambling win. The stress and frustration it elicits prompt Russ to go on an early morning run instead of falling back asleep. While all the counselors prep the camp for the campers’ arrival, Xander interrogates Russ about Aurora because he suspects that they’re romantically involved. Russ insists that they’re only friends, but a disbelieving Xander teasingly promises to keep them secret.

Aurora brings Russ a coffee and offers to help him paint the storage shed he’s prepping. She ends up perched on his shoulders as they finish painting the highest portions of the shed. Afterward, they chase each other with the nearby hose, dissolving into laughter until they’re interrupted by Emilia, who requests Aurora’s help in picking up an egg order from a nearby farm because she knows how to drive Jenna’s stick-shift truck. Later on, the counselors regroup for basic water safety training. When counselors begin pushing each other in, Russ grabs Aurora and jumps. They end up in an intimate position with her legs wrapped around his waist.

A few days after the campers arrive, the Brown Bears counselor group has a solid routine. During an hour-long camper break after lunch, Aurora discusses the end-of-summer talent show that both campers and counselors are required to participate in. Though Russ is not thrilled about it, he promises to attend all of Aurora’s rehearsals.

A week in, Russ helps Aurora with the soccer elective she’s offering the kids. As they work together, Aurora brainstorms about how to get him to open up further, as he’s still closed off about his personal life. She also begins to wonder if he’s flirting with her throughout the day. Aurora falls asleep near the campfire in the evening and is awoken by Russ, who offers to walk her back to her cabin. When he refuses to carry her back, she jokes that he’ll no longer be her favorite person at camp. He looks wounded, but he distracts her when she inquires why. Back at the cabin, Aurora asks why Russ isn’t leaving right away, and he admits that he’s “watching [her] go in so [she] do[esn’t] have to watch [him] leave” (138). She takes the admission as proof that he’s been flirting with her all day.

Father’s Day arrives, which bothers both Russ and Aurora since they don’t have good relationships with their dads. To cheer up the homesick campers, the counselors plan a camp-wide game of paint dodgeball after cabin inspections. The Brown Bears are in the lead because of Russ’s habitual cleaning—a product of his attempts at avoiding his father’s angry rampages after a bad gambling loss. Aurora and Russ are very flirtatious during paint dodgeball, which causes both the campers and counselors to become suspicious.

Afterward, Russ and Aurora speak about their day. Aurora admits that she loves how the kids want to be around her because her father doesn’t. While her mother gives her attention, it’s suffocating rather than satisfying. When Russ tells Aurora that she deserves people in her life who make her feel good, she admits that he’s one of those people. Russ admits to feeling the same way.

Russ’s brother, Ethan, calls Russ during a morning run. Ethan hurls insults at Russ, calling him a childish, selfish, unsupportive “piece of shit” who prefers “pretending [he’s] not part of [their] family” before revealing that their father has been hit by a drunk driver and is in the hospital (147). Ethan claims to be with their parents and threatens to drive down and pull Russ from Honey Acres himself if he doesn’t visit their father. Without saying goodbye to anyone, Russ gets two days’ leave from Jenna, who promises not to divulge any of his private business to the other counselors, and drives home.

When Russ arrives at the hospital, he realizes that Ethan lied about his location. Russ’s mother reveals that Ethan is on tour in the Midwest. Russ’s sour attitude causes his mother to accuse him of not putting his family first. For the first time in his life, he tells her the truth about his feelings. He accuses her of never prioritizing him and enabling his father’s addiction by making excuses for him; he also admits that his father constantly requests money from him and verbally abuses him when drunk. When Russ goes to leave, his mother convinces him to tell his father how he feels so that he’ll be motivated to change. Russ tells his father that “[he]’s broken [their] family” and that he hates him for the way he invades and ruins everything in Russ’s life (155). His father is surprisingly receptive to his criticism and apologizes.

Russ returns to his Maple Hills home for the night, and Henry notifies their friends Kris, Mattie, and Bobby, who bring pizza for dinner. When his friends hear about Aurora being a fellow counselor, they encourage Russ to break camp rules and become romantically involved with her. The next day, Russ returns to camp and intercepts Aurora, who is heading off on a solo hike. She expresses hurt feelings about him leaving camp without a goodbye and missing a practice session for the talent show. Russ apologizes but doesn’t offer any information about why.

Russ joins Aurora’s hike to a private water source at the top of the trail. When Aurora pries into his unexplained absence, Russ reveals that his father was hit by a drunk driver. He also admits that he’s not close with his family because his cruel father “doesn’t make [him] feel good about himself” and his mother enables his father’s behavior by making excuses (172). Russ and Aurora bond over not being particularly close to their siblings when Russ explains Ethan’s deception. Aurora shares that while her father isn’t cruel, he acts like “his life would be easier if [Aurora] wasn’t around” (175). She admits that she acts out to get her father’s attention, but it’s short-lived.

A young girl named Jasmine vomits after eating too much candy, and Aurora takes charge of cleaning up. When Russ arrives to help with changing and washing the bed sheets, Jasmine becomes suspicious of Aurora’s behavior around him and admits that a camper named Leon has spread a rumor that Aurora and Russ are dating. Aurora insists that they’re only friends.

After a shower, Aurora rejoins the camp’s Pride festivities and is recruited by Clay to help retrieve marshmallows from the main building. Aurora ignores his flirtations and declines his invitation to join him and his friends in Cabo after camp ends. When he attempts to kiss her in the pantry, she swerves and insists that they be only friends. Russ visits Aurora’s cabin at the end of the night and invites Aurora on a hike to “their spot” tomorrow. Like always, Russ “waits until [Aurora is] back in [her] cabin, so she do[esn’t] have to watch him leave” (188).

Russ calls JJ to speak about his excitement over Aurora, which is very uncharacteristic of him. JJ encourages Russ to remain confident and seize the opportunity to have fun and be happy. Russ and Aurora hike to their spot at the swimming hole, where they strip down to their swimsuits. When Russ begins neatly folding their clothes, Aurora asks about his habit of tidying up. Instead of avoiding the question as he usually would, Russ reveals that he’d do so at home to mitigate his father’s bad moods. Russ asks Aurora about her goal to better herself this summer. Aurora shares that she struggles with insecurities and doesn’t know who she is. While she’s starting to discover herself at camp, she worries that her progress will be lost when she returns to Maple Hills. Russ promises not to let her forget herself after camp ends. Russ and Aurora fall asleep, and when Russ wakes, Aurora is gone. He blames himself for opening up too much and scaring her off but is soon relieved to discover that she’s only gone for a swim and hasn’t left him.