3.
1731 Words
"I still can't believe they are here." Andrea said, folding her things into her suitcase.
It was evening and after dinner we were going to meet our chaperone partners and move to our respective dorms.
"Neither can I. But there is no need to be alarmed. The camp is quite big, we will most likely not see them except during general chaperone meetings." I said, trying to lighten the air.
"I hope so, because Lord knows if anyone of them tries testing my patience, I will not hesitate to break a bone or two." Andrea said, causing me to chuckle.
"I'm not joking." She added, throwing a pillow at me.
"Just don't do anything that will get us both in trouble," I warned. I knew Andrea well enough to know that if she was causing havoc she would want me to tag along.
"Whatever." Andrea replied with an eye roll just as the bell rang, it was time for dinner.
"It's food time." One of the girls in the cabin with us screamed excitedly, earning weird looks from others.
*
*
*
"Hello Ms. Sheyfer." I said with a warm smile.
"Oh sweetie, it's nice seeing you again this year. How have you been?" She said with her calm motherly voice.
She was one of the kitchen staff for the summer camp and one of the nicest women I have ever met.
"I've been doing fine. I hope you have too." I replied. A few people behind me in the queue began grumbling.
"Some people don't seem fond of our little chat, I'll stop by later." I said with an apologetic smile while moving forward and filling my plate with food that seemed yummy.
"I'll never understand how you got that woman to like you." Andrea said to me as I took a seat opposite her.
"Maybe if you stop starting food fights and helping the children under your watch sneak food away she will like you." I stated honestly.
"No thanks, I'll pass." Andrea said, scrunching her nose before she started digging into her food.
I just looked at her and chuckled. I sometimes find it hard to understand how we became friends.
Rosalie and a few other people joined our table and soon light chatter flowed, we were majorly discussing who we hoped to partner with.
"Seriously?!" Andrea said with disgust.
We all looked at her in confusion but it was not even a second before I found out why.
"Oh my goodness, you are so funny." Sylvia said, rubbing one of the basketballers' chests.
She was so loud. Did she not realise this was a public space?
"Bitch." Andrea muttered under her breath.
"Do you know them?" Rosalie asked, probably surprised by Andrea's annoyance.
"Yep, we go to the same school. She and Andrea have history. Lots of it." I said subtly, pointing at Sylvia. Andrea could not stand Sylvia's antics and, more often than not, it led to fights.
"Uhmm..I think they are coming this way." One of the girls on our table said.
"Don't look." Andrea tried warning me but it was too late, I had already turned around.
"Oh look who we have here?" Sylvia said in a very high-pitched voice. It took a lot of restraint not to cover my ears. I felt bad for those who had to listen to her all day.
Andrea remained silent but from how hard she was holding onto her cutlery, it was obvious she was trying her best not to blow up.
"I'm talking to you." Sylvia said, poking me.
"Oh hey Sophie." I intentionally said the wrong name.
She felt way too important already. I was not about to feed her ego by letting her know that I knew her name.
"It's Sylvia." She said, already pissed.
I looked at Andrea and, of course, she was spotting a satisfied smirk.
"I can't believe they allowed losers like you to be part of this camp." She said, looking between me and Andrea with disgust.
"Well, I can't believe dummies were allowed to be part of the summer camp this year. I can see the vacuum up there." Andrea said, pointing towards Sylvia's head.
By now there was a fair number of people watching us and the snickers due to what Andrea said were many.
"Oh no you did not." Sylvia said, turning red with anger.
"Ketchup?" I asked Sylvia with an innocent look.
"What?" Sylvia looked at me confused.
"I just thought it'd blend perfectly with your face," I said calmly.
"You bitch." Sylvia screamed, storming angrily towards me.
She grabbed the ketchup bottle from my hand, but unfortunately for her, she applied way too much pressure and, since the mouth of the ketchup was facing her, the ketchup spilled all over her face and her top.
There was perfect silence for a few seconds, followed by exclamations of surprise and then, the entire cafeteria was filled with laughter.
I just sat there in shock, this was not meant to be how it went.
"I'm so sorry about that." I said sincerely.
"Let me help you." I added, getting some paper towels and walking to her.
"Don't touch me. You bitch." She said, slapping my hand away.
"No you don't." Andrea and Rosalie stood up, walking towards me.
"It's fine." I said to them with a warning smile, it was too early to start getting in trouble.
"No it's not. It was not even your fault and she is here being a jerk to you," Rosalie said. She sounded really pissed, which was a rare sight.
"Touch her one more time." Andrea said to Sylvia, a silent threat in her tone.
Sylvia raised her hand to shove me but her hand was left hanging mid air.
"What is going on here?" Mr Everett’s voice boomed in the dining hall, causing everywhere to become extremely quiet. "You have five more minutes to finish your meals, it is time for partner allocations." He said, glaring our way.
"You," He said, pointing at us.
"Meet me outside now." He added before walking away.
We did not have to be told twice. Everyone of us scurried towards the entrance.
"This is all your fault." One of the other cheerleaders from my school said, glaring at me. She was the girl with the chirpy voice who interrupted Mr Everett earlier today.
"It was totally worth it." Andrea said lowly, making Rosalie and I giggle.
*
*
*
"I can not believe he really made us run those laps." Andrea said breathlessly as we made our way back to where the others were gathered for the partner allocation.
"I have done all the exercise meant for the rest of the year in one day." Rosalie said, she looked like she was about to faint.
"Stop being dramatic guys, come on, let's join the others so we don't miss out on important information." I said, looking back at them.
Sylvia and the rest of the athletes from my school were still way behind. Seems they were trying to piss an already pissed Mr Everett.
"How are you not even tired?" One of the girls serving the punishment with us asked.
"I go for morning runs on weekends," I said with a proud smile. My morning runs were paying off for the first time.
"When you get to your dorm blocks, the rules will be pasted on the doors. This means you have no excuse for breaking the rules or letting anyone under your watch break the rules. Is that clear?" Mr Everett asked.
He was replied with nods and choruses of 'yes'.
"Look who finally decided to join us," Mr Everett said, looking our way.
"You are late and those of you behind, you have ten seconds to run down here." He said, referring to Sylvia and the other cheerleaders.
"You are all free to go, except the latecomers," Mr Everett said dismissively.
"Have a great night and, once again, welcome to the best summer camp ever." He said with a smile, which was very shocking.
Mr Everett hardly smiled.
"Sir, what about our partner allocations?" Rosalie asked, watching everyone else leave.
"Thanks to the little stunt you pulled at the dining hall this evening, we made slight changes to your partner allocations." Mr Everett said.
"A little birdie told me some of you are from the same school and apparently can't stand each other, so we will be making you work together." He added with a wicked smile.
There was a lot of grumbling and murmuring and, honestly, I was also not thrilled by the idea of working with any of them.
"Rosalie Ivero, you will be working with Jerome Peterson," Mr Everett said.
"But I don't go to the same school as them," Rosalie protested.
"As long as you had any form of involvement in the dining hall saga, the change applies to you." Mr Everett replied, not even looking up from the paper he was holding.
"Vanessa Capri and Jane Havert."
"Chloe Avera and Steven Plephard."
Mr Everett went on to list a few more names, causing me to feel restless and anxious. I was happy not to have been paired with Jerome because he was obviously still pissed about the gas station incident, but there was still Sylvia and I was not sure I could deal with her antics.
"Andrea Harvey and Sylvia Everton," Mr Everett said.
"Come on."
"Hell no."
Andrea and Sylvia said simultaneously, followed by a series of grumbling.
"Did anyone say they wanted to run more laps?" Mr Everett asked, glaring at Sylvia and Andrea. They immediately went mute. "Good. Have a great night and stay out of trouble. Next time the punishment will be more than running laps." He added, already walking away.
"Excuse me sir." I said, gaining his attention.
"You did not mention my name," I explained.
"Oh really? That is strange, I could have sworn I saw your name." He said, going through the paper again.
"Yeah, Tayla Barton and Drey Flynn." He said with a polite smile before walking away.
Wait a damn minute..did he say Drey Flynn?
"Hey partner." Drey said with a wink before walking away. The same stupid wink he threw my way at the gas station.
I turned to Andrea and she mouthed the exact words that came to my mind.
"Fvck."
Yep, I was definitely screwed.
- Writer
