“Jace? You okay there big guy?” came Brittany’s voice from around the corner.
She peered around and saw me curled up against the wall. She did that half smile of hers and sat down next to me. “You know, I remember a field trip like this once. Chelsea had gotten sick, and Mr. Florence sat you next to that bitch, Sally Greenweld. You remember that?”
I nodded, pulling in closer on myself.
“I remember you running and finding the first corner you could that would hide you from everyone. Then Mr. Florence sent me to try and find you, remember that? And the only reason I found you was because of the mirrors around the imitation gas lamps?”
I nodded again. Still not certain I could even speak without sounding like I was close to crying.
“Do you remember what happened next?” she asked, trying to coax something other than a nod out of me.
“Yeah,” I whispered, “You went over and yanked Sally’s hair so hard that some of it came out. You got suspended for like a week.”
Brittany put her arm around my shoulders and pulled me in for a hug, “Because that’s what friends do. I know I’m not Chelsea, but you can still talk to me if you think you’re being bullied.”
“I’ll be fine. It’s just another few hours and we’ll reach camp. They’ll set us up in different cabins or whatever, and I’ll survive. At lease with guys the harm is mostly physical trauma leading to repressed emotional damage.” I said, forcing a laugh.
“Uh… you do know that councillors have to sleep in the dorms with the campers right?” Brittany inquired.
“OK, and?” I prompted.
“There’s an issue with the number of councillors… like there’s one too few females and one too many guys. Coach just told me. That means one of the guys is stuck filling in as a female councillor.” She left the rest unsaid.
It would follow that the biggest humiliation would be to have the least masculine male sleep with the girls. I was the only non-Jock, ergo the least masculine, which would mean I’m the idiot stuck in the hen house. I looked at Brittany, tried to form words, but just couldn’t.
“Look, I’ll talk to the others. Maybe we can work something where it’s not… as bad. I’ll be your co-councillor. See, better already. And we’ll let the girls volunteer instead of taking assignments. Then there’s no way anyone can try to make you out as a creeper, right?” She was flustered, but still trying to be a friend… still just looking out for me like Chelsea asked.
The coach shouted off in the distance, telling everyone to get on the bus. So we stood up, brushed ourselves off, and made our way to join the others. Brittany peeled off as we got close, taking her place with the others. I couldn’t help but notice she seemed to glare at the students behind her, almost as if she was trying to find someone that she hated.
I managed to get on, get back in my seat, and took a breath. Almost as if on a cue, Kim plopped down in the seat next to me.
“I knew if I got on quick enough I’d score the seat next to you. It’s almost like fate.” She joked.
I kept my mouth shut and turned toward the window. I can’t be embarrassed any more if I don’t talk.
“You know, playing hard to get just makes the hunt more fun for the huntress.” She whispered.
I ignored it. She couldn’t fool me, I knew she was messing with me. There’s no way I’m letting her get to me again.
“Can I ask what kind of girl you’re interested in?” She tried again to get me to talk. “I mean, besides this Chelsea, there’s got to be a type you’re interested in. Come on, what’s the harm?”
I wouldn’t give it to her.
“Fine, no talking about girls. But I will get you to talk again before the end of the day.” Kim promised.
She would go on to try to get me to tell her about myself, share little things about herself, she did whatever she could to try and get me to talk. I didn’t give her an inch. I wasn’t going to let this girl trick me into another meltdown. It was a small victory, but I didn’t talk the entire rest of the ride.
The real issue came when we got to camp. Everyone got off the bus, the coach called everyone together and split us into “campers” and “councillors” groups, and then came the order I was dreading.
“Councillors will pair off. Two to a cabin. Girls will be with girls, boys with boys. You must fill your gender’s cabins before any of you little deviants even think about going “co-ed” for those “extra-curricular activities.””
I saw the jocks had already paired off nicely into three groups, and the girls were all pairing off into their five groups, and then I was alone. So I went over to Coach Bronson.
“Um Coach… I’m… kinda stuck without –“ I started.
“Don’t care. You and Evans will handle a cabin together. Congrats, you get to hang with the girls.” He said, ripping off a sheet of paper from his clipboard and handing it to me. “Get yourselves settled, that’s your cabin.”
I wandered back over to Brittany and handed her the sheet of paper for her to read.
“Campers! Each cabin can house ten of you plus your councillors. Divide yourselves into groups for your cabins. Again, I better not see any of you pretending to be confused about what happens if I catch you mixing without good reason.” Coach called out, prompting the other students to group up and find their crews.
“Councillors, head to your cabins. Your troops will join you when you get there. Dinner is in an hour, mess hall is at the top of the hill. Don’t be late.” Coach called and walked away.
Brittany tapped my arm, “We’re Silver Sparrow cabin, it’s by the lake. Let’s go, then the campers will see we’re the co-ed, and we’ll get volunteers and-“
“Hey! Wait up!” came a shout from behind us.
We paused, looked at each other, and started to turn around when I was tackled to the ground.
“So, what’s our cabin called? Where are we living for the next few weeks? You have to answer my question now, you’re my leader.”
As I shook myself out of my daze, I finally saw it was Kim who had knocked me to the ground and was currently straddling me. I blinked a few times, trying to get my wits back, but it is really hard to do that when you have a very attractive woman pinning you to the ground under her… like really hard.
“Will you get off of him? He’s not some dog you can demand things of.” Brittany started to move in on Kim.
Kim made a pouting face at Brittany, but got off of me. Brittany moved in to help me stand back up, and Kim grabbed my bag, which had flown a few feet away in the excitement.
“Aw, look at that, Jacey-wacy is still getting help from girls. Can’t even stand up on his own. At least this time he went down almost looking like a man.”
Comments (0)
See all