LOVE AND GAMES

4.

"Say a word of prayer for me." I said dramatically as I gave Andrea and Rosalie a hug. We were on our way to our assigned dorms.

"I should be the one asking for your prayers, I am stuck with Sylvia. I can already feel the headache from listening to her?" Andrea said, placing a palm on her forehead dramatically.

"What about the guy I'm partnered with?" Rosalie asked.

"Girl, you had better sleep with a knife. Jerome has some serious anger issues." Andrea joked.

"Well, this is my stop. Wish me luck," Rosalie said before walking towards her assigned dorm.

"He better not lay a hand on her if not-" Andrea said, watching Rosalie walk into her dorm.

We walked in silence for a few more minutes before we got to Andrea's allocated dorm.

"Say a word of prayer for that girl because Lord knows if she pisses me off I won't hold back." Andrea said, giving me one final tight hug before walking to her dorm.

"Let me know if you need anything." She added before waving goodbye.

"I guess it's just me now," I said to myself.

I got to my dorm block and and before I could even knock or use my key to open the door, it swung open.

"Hello partner." Drey said with a smirk.

"Hey." I said, walking past him.

"Why is this place so loud?" I asked, looking at the children playing around and shouting.

"Because they are children and that is exactly what children do." Drey said with a carefree shrug.

I just looked at him in disbelief and walked past angrily.

Someone had obviously not taken time out to read the rules posted on the door. If we get penalized for noise making, I was not going to be smiling with him.

"Uhhm..chaperone rooms are the other way." Drey said mockingly.

"I knew that," I said angrily before changing my direction and walking to the chaperone rooms. It had not even been up to an hour and he was already being an ass.

*

*

*

"Finally," I sighed, looking proudly at how organized my room was. I had spent about an hour getting the whole place arranged and, judging from how neat it looked, it was worth it.

As if on cue, the bell for lights went out.

"No." A child shrieked from the common room. This was followed by a series of giggles.

What on earth was going on there?

"Is everything okay ?" I asked, walking into the common room.

The sight before me was not exactly what I expected. I stared in horror as I watched Drey spinning four children on his shoulders and arms. The other kids began screaming and cheering excitedly.

"Stop!" I said authoritatively, causing everyone to go quiet and turn to me.

"The bell for lights out just went, it's bed time kids." I said, glaring at Drey. He should have started getting them ready for bed about fifteen minutes ago.

"But we don't feel sleepy yet."

"Can we just play for a few more minutes?"

"I can't sleep without my mum."

These and many more excuses began rushing out of the children's mouths. This was going to be quite tough. I had always been lucky to be in charge of children ages 8-12 but this year I was really short of luck as I was assigned ages 7-9 alongside a partner who was definitely only going to piss me off and stress me out.

"Okay. Okay. This is what we are going to do. Drey tucks the boys in, while I take care of the girls. If there is anyone who seems to be having a hard time going to bed, let me know." I said before steering the girls in the direction of their room.

"Can we get a bedtime story?" One of the girls asked as I tucked her in bed.

"Of course, sweetie," I said with a warm smile.

"A long time ago, there lived a princess in a far away land. On this faithful day, she went for a walk in the garden, but got distracted by a beautiful butterfly and strayed away. Before she knew it, she had gone too far and could not find her way home. Back in the kingdom, her parents were so worried, they sent out their best men to search for her. Unfortunately, after a few days of searching, they did not find her." I said, trying my best to sound sad, so the children could feel the desired emotion.

"Awww...how did the princess survive all alone in the wild?" A girl asked. Which reminded me that we had to organize a name introduction tomorrow.

"The princess found an old house with lots of food and water. The house was empty, so the princess assumed it was an abandoned house." I said, looking between the girls.

"I think that's cool, an empty house with lots of food." One of the girls said.

"I'm not done yet," I said with an evil smile.

"Unfortunately, it was not actually an abandoned house. The house belonged to a witch and she used the food to trick passersby."

There were a series of 'ouus' and 'ahhs' from the kids.

"One afternoon the witch came into the house and she was delighted to find yet another victim." This made the girls gasp.

"The princess was taking a nap so she did not notice anyone walking in," I said.

The girls had scared looks on their faces and it took a lot for me not to laugh, they would eventually get their happy ending. They did not have to worry.

"The witch got a rope and duct tape and began moving close to the unsuspecting princess. Then suddenly.."

The lights went off, interrupting me. This was weird, because through the window I could see all the other lights outside on.

"Argh!"

"Argh!"

Roars, followed by the girls' room door swinging open and heavy stomps. That was all it took for the girls to begin screaming in fear.

I stood up angrily and walked to the light switch. I was not surprised when I met Drey standing by the switch with an amused look.

"What the hell is your problem?!" I said angrily as I switched the lights back on. I'm not even sure he heard me because the girls were still screaming.

"It's okay girls, it's just them." I said calmly to the girls.

"And you," I said, facing the boys who agreed to do this dumb prank with Drey. It was not their fault so I tried my best not to raise my voice.

"Why would you do that? Don't you know it's bed time?" I asked, giving them a reprimanding look.

"We're sorry." A few of them said, while the others simply spotted guilty looks.

"It's alright." I said, pulling them into a hug.

"Now will you go to bed like the adorable boys that you are?" I asked, ruffling their hair.

They all nodded and ran towards the boys' room.

"Goodnight girls." I said before leaving the room once all the girls were calm and back in their beds.

Drey was at the door talking to someone and as I got close enough I realized it was Mr. Everett.

Oh God.

"Yes sir, we are really sorry. The kids were just giving us a tough time, so we had to do something a little exciting to get them to agree to go to bed." Drey said with a polite smile.

"This will be your last warning. If I ever get a noise report for your dorm, you and your partner will both be in trouble." Mr. Everett said.

"But I didn't even do anything, he was the one who encouraged the boys to scream." I said, making my presence known.

"Well, Tayla, you are partners, which means you are responsible for each other. A slip by one partner affects both. Goodnight." He said, dismissing whatever I was about to say and walking away.

"You're an asshole." I said, glaring at Drey.

"And you need to stop being so bossy," Drey scoffed, and walked towards the chaperone room.

I wanted to slap him so badly, he better not mess this year's camp up for me.