LOVE AND GAMES

Part A: 1. Leaving for Summer Camp.

"Did you take your insecticide spray?" My mother asked.

"Yes mum." I replied, placing my suitcase in an upright position.

"What about sunscreen? I don't want you coming back with sunburns or an uneven tan." My mother said.

"Mum, are you being serious? This is the third time we are going over the list of all the things I need to go with." I said, rolling my eyes.

"I have everything I will need throughout my stay there."

"Don't give me that look. I'm just doing my job as your mother." My mother replied, throwing her hands up in surrender.

"This is not my first summer camp, mum, and I'm no longer a baby. I am going to be eighteen soon." I stated boldly.

"I don't care, you are still my baby." My mother said, pinching my cheek.

"Mum!" I grumbled, swatting her hand away.

"If you are doing all of this now, I wonder how bad it will be when she eventually leaves for college next year." My father said, mocking my mother.

"Oh please, Andre. You are in no position to talk.. Remind me who cried when she said her first word." My mum retorted.

"Whatever." My father muttered.

"Be good at summer camp and try having fun. This is your last summer camp in high school." He added, patting my shoulder.

"You and Andrea need to try interacting with the other kids. Have a few wild experiences, you know", my father added with a small smile.

"Just don't get yourself pregnant. I am not ready to be a grandmother." My mother shouted from the kitchen.

"Mum!”

"Elise!”

My dad and I shouted at the same time.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly.

"Okay both of you. I'm going. I don't want to be late. Andrea just sent me a message saying she is ready." I said, pulling my things towards the door.

"Be safe, okay." My mother said, pulling me in for a tight hug.

"Have fun." My father said, fist bumping me.

"I love you both. Bye." I said, getting into my car.

I turned on the radio and Back To The Streets by Saweetie came on. I began singing loudly and bobbing my head to the beat. I was so pumped about this year's summer camp. Aside from the fact that it was my last, I just had a good feeling about it.

*

*

*

"Hello Mrs Harvey." I said to Andrea’s mother as I got out of my car.

"Hey Tayla, how are you doing honey?" Mrs Harvey asked, pulling me in for a hug.

"I'm doing great. What about you?" I replied politely.

"I'm doing fine too, except for your best friend who keeps trying to burn down the house with her cooking." Mrs Harvey replied with a hearty chuckle.

"Mum." Andrea whined from the staircase.

"I heard that. Not cool." She added, frowning at her mother.

"I'm just saying the truth." Mrs Harvey said with an innocent smile.

"Ughh." Andrea groaned, rolling her eyes.

"Hey girl. What took you so long, for a split second, I thought you were ditching me." Andrea said, dragging her suitcase down the stairs.

"You know how my mother is," I replied with a shrug.

"Well, now that you are here, we should get going." Andrea said, dragging her suitcase to the door.

"Be safe girls and have a nice time. A few minutes away from the kids you have to chaperone, would not hurt them,” Mrs Harvey said to us.

"Yes mum. Bye. Love you. Tell dad I said hi." Andrea said excitedly and rushed out the door.

"Bye Mrs Harvey." I yelled, shutting the door behind me.

"It's showtime bitches!" Andrea screamed as soon as I started the car.

I guess I am not the only one excited about this year's summer camp.

*

*

*

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes,

Saying Ayo gotta let go.

I wanna celebrate and live my life,

Saying Ayo baby let’s go.

‘Cause we gon’ rock this club

Andrea and I had been singing along to the songs being played on the radio station. Coincidentally, it was a throwback spéciale which made it even more fun.

I'm pretty sure we sang off tune a couple of times, but who cares, right?

"Can we stop at this gas station? I need to empty my bowels," Andrea said, taking her first break from our singing marathon.

"Sure, maybe I could even get a few supplies and candy for the children I'll be chaperoning." I replied as I drove in and carefully parked at a corner in the station.

"When you're done in the toilet, just look for me in the store." I added, checking if all the car doors were locked.

I walked into the store and was greeted by loud noises of laughter booming from one end of the store. Being a naturally shy person, I simply kept my head down and avoided glancing at the area where the noise was coming from.

Turns out that was a bad idea, because just as I kept walking with my head bowed, I bumped into someone.

"What the f**k?! Can't you see where you're going?" The person said angrily.

"I'm sorry." I muttered, still not looking up. I was a little embarrassed.

If I had looked up, I would not have bumped into him, so I had to take the blame for this one.

"Get the f**k out of my way." He said, shoving me out of the way.

That was extremely rude.

"Hey! What's your problem?!" I heard Andrea shout and that made me look up.

She looked mad. She definitely saw me getting shoved.

"Hey, I'm talking to you." She said, walking further into the store.

I turned to look in the direction she was heading and that's when I realized that I knew the people who were laughing earlier.

They were boys in our school's basketball team and a few other 'populars'.

"Me?" One of them asked, confused, and from his voice I knew he was the one who shoved me.

"Yes douche bag. What the hell did you just do to my friend?" Andrea said in her 'don't mess with me' tone.

What the hell was this girl doing?

Was she trying to get us killed?

We were outnumbered and these were the 'populars' at our school.

From the way some of the girls among them were looking at Andrea, this was definitely not going to end well for us.

"Andrea, it's fine. Let's just go. We're going to be late." I said, tugging at Andrea's arm.

"No. He should apologize to you." She said, not even budging.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" One of the guys at the table asked, standing up angrily. Pretty sure we were meant to feel intimidated, but from the look of things, Andrea was only getting more pissed.

"I could ask you the same question." Andrea retorted, the challenge in her tone was clear.

"Andrea," I begged. While I admired her for standing up for me, we really did not have the time for this right now.

She turned to glare at me then flipped the guy standing who I identified as Jerom the middle finger before storming off angrily. I started walking hurriedly behind her when one of them decided to speak.

"Exactly, run away little bitches."

I had no idea who among them said it, but that was the last straw. They were being unnecessarily rude, all I did was bump into one of them by mistake.

"Listen to me," I said, walking back to them determinedly.

"You can say whatever you want about me, but don't you dare disrespect my friend. All I did was mistakenly bump into one of you. Y'all need to grow up and stop acting like quarter-brained humans, it's embarrassing." I said, my voice laced with the irritation I felt. At that point, I didn't even care about their status back at school.

"Girl, you had better walk away from here before I-"

"Save it." I said, cutting off the girl who stood up to talk back to me.

The look of shock on her face was very satisfying.

"Let's go, we're going be late." Andrea said, pulling me away from them.

When did she get back in?

“That was so cool." Andrea said, giving me a high-five as soon as we got to my car.

"I agree, but we're definitely going to have a lot of trouble when school resumes." I said, remembering how pissed off most of them looked.

"Why is he still staring at you?" Andrea asked, looking into the store.

"Huh?!" I said confused.

She turned my face in the direction she was looking. It was Drey, one of the most popular boys in Swelton High School.

As soon as our eyes met, he winked at me then looked away. Weird.

"I don't like him," Andrea stated.

"Neither do I. Come on, let's go." I said, opening the passenger seat for her.

If only we knew that this little encounter was the beginning of the roller coaster.