LOVE AND GAMES

2.

"Can I get everyone's attention please?" Mrs. Spence said. She was the main moderator in charge of this summer camp.

She was one of those nice adults who was often taken for granted and, judging from how noisy the whole place currently was, it was obvious most people did not hear her or decided to ignore her.

"Attention please." She tried again. This time a few more people turned to her, but the noise had not gone done one bit.

FWEET!!

FWEET!!

FWEET!!

The sound of a whistle resonated all over the place, causing everywhere to be silent.

"Will you listen now or do I have to send some of you back home?" Mr Everett asked sternly, spotting the legendary scowl on his face.

He was Mrs Spence's assistant and also the most feared moderator at the summer camp. Everyone had a story to tell of their encounter with Mr Everett, even the goody-two shoes like myself.

"Thank you Mr. Everett. Now that I have everyone's attention, I'd like to start by appreciating all of you for volunteering to chaperone and also welcome those who are doing this for the first time." Mrs Spence started and, from the look of things, we were going to be here for a long time.

That was Mrs Spence's only flaw. She talked a lot. And when I say a lot, I mean a whole freaking lot.

*

*

*

It had been over an hour and Mrs Spence was still talking, so many people were either sitting and sleeping or drifting off to sleep. I had zoned out many times.

"Finally," Mrs Spence said, then took a dramatic pause.

"Thank God," Andrea said next to me. She had been complaining about how long Mrs. Spence was taking.

"I'd love to inform you that this year, things will be done a little differently," Mrs Spence said with a broad smile.

"For one, due to an increase in the number of both campers and chaperone volunteers, instead of working in groups of three, you will be working in pairs. Also-"

"Excuse me ma'am." Someone said, interrupting Mrs Spence.

"Yes." She answered, still wearing a broad smile.

"Are we allowed to choose our partners?" The guy asked. He wore really weird looking glasses, he didn't look familiar, probably one of the new volunteers.

"Unfortunately, no. Like I said, this year we will be doing things differently. In the past, you were able to choose those you worked with, but this year, we have already paired you in advance. The reason for this will be explained later," Mrs Spence stated.

Andrea nudged me and gave me a look of horror. I couldn't imagine myself not working with her. This is our final year, it is supposed to be so much fun.

"You said there was an increase in chaperone volunteers but looking around, there's no significant change in our numbers from last year." A girl stated.

I turned back and looked at her. It was Rosalie. Andrea and I partnered with her during our freshman year.

"I was getting to that." Mrs Spence said.

"A couple of athletes from about four high schools around town will be joining us. Community service is a requirement for their college applications. That is where the addition is from." She explained.

"Is anyone from any of the sports teams here?" She asked, looking around.

A few guys and girls raised their hands, getting everyone's attention. They did not look familiar, causing me to sigh in relief. I did not need my school jocks here, especially not after yesterday.

"I guess some of them are running late, but before the end of today, they will all be here." Mrs. Spence said.

"Once again, you are welcome. I hope you do have a nice time and are able to cooperate with our rules and make new friends." Mrs Spence said to the sports people with a warm smile.

"Now, I'll be handing over to Mr Everett. He will give you all the necessary information, including the rules you have to follow. Please pay attention." She added before coming down from the makeshift podium.

"Good day everyone." Mr Everett said.

"Good day Mr Everett." Everyone chorused.

"I know we started off on the wrong foot earlier, but I can assure you that if you can remain on your best behaviour during your stay here, we will be best of friends." he said.

"As if," Andrea scoffed, causing the people around us to snicker.

"Does anyone have something to say?" Mr Everett asked, looking in our direction.

Immediately, the snickering stopped and we all bowed our heads, avoiding his gaze.

"Good," he said before turning back to face the entire crowd.

"Now to the rules-"

*

*

*

"That will be all for now. If there is any change or update, it will be communicated to you." Mr. Everett said.

"What about our partners and the children we will be chaperoning?" Someone from the crowd asked.

"Your partners will be assigned to you this evening along with the children you will be chaperoning. Before then, occupy the rooms you slept in last night. Any more questions?" Mr Everett asked, looking around.

The whole place was quiet, signaling that there was none.

"In that case, you are dis..."

Mr Everett was interrupted by the shrieking sound of car wheels.

"Can someone at least help me with my bag?" A very chirpy voice said.

"You came with way too many bags." Someone said, sounding annoyed.

"The internet here is crap." Another person said.

Everyone's attention was now turned to them.

"Sure take your time and be extremely loud." Mr Everett said sarcastically, obviously not pleased by their interruption.

"We're so sorry sir. It was hard locating this place." The girl with the chirpy voice said, not even sounding remotely apologetic.

"Just hurry up and ensure you ask one of your fellow chaperones to update you on everything that has already been discussed." Mr Everett said, not even trying to hide his irritation. He was known to hate tardiness and, from the look of things, these ones had definitely earned themselves the number one spot on his bad side.

"The rest of you are dismissed." He added before walking away.

"Hell no." Andrea said loudly, gaining curious looks from the people standing close to us.

"What's wrong?" I whispered when I was sure people were no longer looking.

Andrea simply nodded in the direction where the latecomers were standing.

"s**t!” I said out of shock.

"Yeah, that's the right word," Andrea said.

I knew the girl with the chirpy voice sounded familiar but she was too far away for me to see her without my glasses.

Right there at the registration stand stood the jocks from the filling station yesterday.

The guy who I had bumped into lifted his head as if feeling that someone was staring at him.

As soon as our eyes met, the smirk on his face vanished.

"Well, I'm not thrilled to see you again either." I thought to myself.

"This is about to be a very long summer camp." Andrea said, pulling me away from there before things got out of hand.

If only I knew how right she was.