Reckless Abandonment Over Summer

Chapter Thirteen: Roses are red, violets are blue

Chapter Thirteen: Roses are red, violets are blue

A loud knock woke us all up on a Saturday dawn. It's the day of welcome party for the campers. I was not interested to get out of bed but someone had dragged me out of it. Everyone was forced outside, instructed to go to the activity center. My eyes were half closed, half opened—or rather just closed and I was slept walking. Yuan was resting her head on my shoulder so I rested my head on her head. We were both still dosing off.

"Good morning, everyone!" someone greeted. The enthusiasm in the voice didn't even wake me up. I couldn't open my eyes properly. It's flattering open but in the end, I ended up letting it close. There's no use in fighting what my mind didn't want to.

But then an ice cold—with literal ice on the water—was poured on my head. It was Yuan who shrilled in cold first. I was utterly shock. No voice, just mouth agape.

"So, I can see everyone's completely awake." I could tell now that it was Mr. Donald who was speaking in the microphone. I roamed my eyes and saw that it wasn't just me and Yuan who got wet but mostly everyone too.

"This is not the fucking way to wake me up." Those were my first words on a Saturday morning. Wow. I should be in a good mood. There would be a party later so good mood was the best start for the day.

Declan appeared in front of me, arms crossed, grinning. "You look so good," he said.

I scowled in his direction. "Shut the fuck up!" I shouted at his face.

"Words, Ms. Flynn," Mr. Donald said.

This time, I threw death glares at him.

"Scary look won't scare me. Everyone, pay attention to me," he called. "As you all know..." I couldn't tell if these campers were really listening to him or they were just staring at him. "Yes, that's right. It's tonight."

"What did he say?" I asked Yuan.

"Something about the party? I'm not sure," she answered.

I couldn't find Donna and Ellie anywhere. Everyone should be here, right?

I found Gustav by the side of the stage, looking at the crowd in front of him. Was he looking for me?

Wow. Did your heart become so attached to him already? My mocking mind asked.

Shut your mouth, mind.

"Donna and Ellie were probably behind the stage," Yuan told me groggily. Even though the water was so cold, the fact that we were still sleepy, it still didn't wake us up completely.

"What were they doing behind the stage?"

But before my friend could answer, two girls in cheer leading uniform appeared on the stage. With pom poms dangling on their hands, they started singing a cheer song. Then somewhere in the crowd, one by one, girls came over to the stage with the same outfit as them. In five minutes, the stage was packed with cheerleaders already.

I shook my head. I didn't know what to think. Although, Yuan knew where those two would be, so would that mean this was part of the welcome party too?

"What are they doing?" I asked.

Yuan looked at me like I had grown another head. "Seriously? They're cheering," was all she answered. Plain and simple.

This was one thing I learned with the friendship I'd grown with them—friends show their real reaction when you ask a stupid question. There were a list I made the other night and I'd discovered more than one thing. Those things would come eventually as I continued my journey in this camp. I was glad that because of this, I made friends I couldn't make at school nor my neighborhood.