Chapter eleven
"Everything alright?" Anika jumped as she tiptoed into the cabin.
"What the hell, Mel?" Anika swore softly.
"You're a poet and you don't even know it." Keira said, her arm still flung over her eyes.
"How long have you two been awake?"
"A few minutes." Mel answered and tilted her head to the side in question.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Anika read the worry in the red head's eyes.
"Where'd you disappear off to?" Keira asked, sitting up in bed now.
"The dock. The water was like glass." Anika gave a small smile.
"Yeah? That must've been neat. Did you live near water?" Keira let out a long yawn.
"If sleeping next to a puddle counts...." Anika muttered under her breath. "No, but my friend had a pool we all used." Anika forced a smile.
"Sounds fun. I lived near the ocean but the water was always too cold to go in." Keira shivered at the memory.
"Did you eat breakfast yet?" Mel asked with her back facing Anika as she searched her dresser for a fresh tank top and pair of long shorts.
"Not yet."
"Good. Grab a pair of clothes and I'll show you where the showers are. Then we can go grab something." Mel decided.
"How was the rest of the bon fire last night?" Mel asked on the walk to the girl's hygiene station.
"Nothing exciting happened. After you guys left, so did Ryleigh. It carried on like any normal fire. People talked, mostly about you." Keira frowned as she met Anika's grey eyes.
"I figured that." Anika mumbled. "I kinda lost it last night." she rubbed the back of her neck.
"He was getting on my nerves and I'm not really the violent one, but I wanted to throw him in the fire. He disappointed a lot of girls by stooping that low to bring out your... er, story."
"Just so you know, I've never touched any kind of drug before." Anika admitted, hoping that Ryleigh wasn't spreading rumors about her.
"I'd never throw my life away like my... mother did."
"You didn't seem the type to." Keira offered a sad smile.
"Oh, and don't let anything Victoria says bother you. Knowing her, she's probably going to make some snide comments about your mom at breakfast. Unfortunately, we share the north wing with her." Keira scowled.
"So I've heard." Anika breathed as they reached the showers.
Once they finished at the bathroom, the three girls walked out with slightly damp hair. They wore their bathing suits under their tank tops and shorts knowing that they were going to pay a visit to the lake. It was only eight thirty in the morning but already Anika felt slightly clammy in the early morning heat.
"Hey girls." Skinner called out a few yards back on the path they were taking to the cafeteria. They stopped and waited for the white blond haired boy as he jogged up to them. His worried cherry brown eyes connected with Anika's.
"Please tell me they serve good food for breakfast." Anika quickly avoided the subject that nearly spilled from Skinner's lips.
"Pretty good for delinquent camp." Keira nodded. "I'd go for the cinnamon buns before they go, though."
Skinner opened the door and followed the girls into the dinner hall where most kids were already sitting around.
"It gets crowded real quick. Unlike lunch, there's only one shift for breakfast." Mel explained, glaring at a particular group of kids openly staring at them, mostly Anika.
"So lets go get our food before it's too late." Keira grabbed Anika's wrist and ran towards the serving area.
"Grab me something good." Mel called to the others over her shoulder as she wondered off to the corner where they sat last night for supper.
Anika passed through the line with an extra plate for Mel and headed to the corner with Keira and Skinner close in tow. A flash of pink caught Anika's eye over at the end of the line as she sat down without anyone around her. A wide smile crossed her lips as she thought back to early this morning at the dock.
"Hey Skinner?" Anika flicked her grey eyes to the boy. He looked up with a raised brow in question.
"What's up?"
"Seeing as you're a guy, I just thought you might know more girls around here." Anika mentally grinned to herself.
"Of course." he smirked, earning himself an arm slap from Keira.
"Get off your high horse." the golden blond girl grumbled, hiding her smile.
"Don't be jealous." Skinner shot back, wiggling his brow in suggestion. Keira just rolled her eyes while Anika chuckled.
"I was just wondering what Victoria looks like. Is it the girl with pink hair over there?" Anika asked, jerking her head over to Ivy's table.
"Who? Her?" Skinner saw who Anika was talking about. She gave a nod and watched as Skinner gave a small smile.
"No, that's Ivy. She one of Victoria's cabin mates though. Why did you pick her out though?"
Anika gave a half shrug. "I just want to know who to stay away from."
"Well, Ivy's okay. I've never really talked to her before." the edges of Skinner's lops turned down in a frown.
"That's because she doesn't really talk to anyone." Keira pointed out.
"So is Ivy one of Victoria's friends?" Anika asked playing dumb. Not that they knew.
"I don't think so." Mel joined into the conversation. "She keeps to herself. No one really knows what she's here for. She doesn't seem like she has any real issues or anything."
Actually now that Anika pretended to 'study' the magenta haired girl, she did notice that Ivy kept her head down and didn't look up at anyone passing by.
"Has anyone tried to talk to her?" Anika asked, playing with her fork.
"Not really. We don't have any activities with her." Keira said, still looking at Ivy.
"I think I have art with her." Skinner mentioned.
"Is she any good?" Mel asked, half into the conversation at hand.
"Don't know. She keeps her work to herself." Skinner frowned again.
Anika caught Keira's curious green eyes. "Why are you asking so many questions about her?"
"Just curious. I'm trying to see if everyone hates each other here. Like if there are group wars or something." Anika quickly recovered.
"Nope. Just them and Victoria's group hate each other... but that doesn't count because everyone hates Vicky." Skinner said, finishing off his plate. Ivy stood up from her table and turned around to leave. By chance, her baby blue eyes linked with Anika's grey eyes and the girl gave her a small smile before exiting the hall.
Anika felt all three of her friends' eyes on her but she shrugged casually, letting a smirk fall on her lips. "She seems nice."
"So... where is everybody?" Anika mumbled, well aware of Larry's glare burning a hole through her head. Breakfast ended and now Anika, Mel and Keira were standing on the sidelines of one of the many fields behind the north cabins. Skinner had to leave the group seeing as he had fishing instead of soccer like the girls.
"They'll be here soon. Lare-bear will chew you apart if you're late for any of his activities." Keira leaned over to Anika.
"Oh." Anika turned her head to Larry again. His eyes smoldered even more, if that was possible. With an evil mental laugh, Anika forced a bright smile on her face and waved her hands over her head.
"Sargent! How've you been buddy?" Anika walked over to the bench the ex-military man was standing next to with his thick arms crossed. The man gave a grunt of annoyance before choosing to ignore Anika.
"Larry!" Anika's attention snapped to the hoard of kids emerging from the trees onto the field.
"What's up man?"
"Ready to get some soccer on?"
"I can't wait to take someone out."
Uh... what? Anika felt her eyes go wide as she eyed the bulky bunch of men. Because that's what they were. Not one of them had an ounce of fat on their well sculpted shirtless bodies. These guys were what Keira probably called the meat heads.
"Alright. Let's start." Larry grunted out.
"Word of advice; stay away from the beef. All that muscle can't exactly stop on a dime." Mel advised.
"They're not the gentlest of players either." Keira added.
"Get into teams!" Larry barked out the order. Immediately, four teams were formed and separated onto the two fields designated for soccer for the first half of the day.
A soccer ball was placed at center field as each team settled into their positions. During the scramble to form teams, Mel dragged Keira and Anika over to the group with the most guys in it. Anika had raised a brow at it and Mel briefly explained her actions as she glared at some other girls on the opposing team.
"This way we don't have to worry about most of them attacking us."
"Attacking?" Anika scrunched her brow in confusion.
"You'll see." the red head muttered. Sure enough, when Larry blew the whistle, all hell broke lose. This isn't soccer. Anika thought as she watched the guys on her team charge at the other team on their field. She let out her own wince as she watched one of them tackle a skinnier kid. He didn't even have the ball!
"Oh my god." Anika wearily eyed the dude as he peeled himself off the little guy.
"Mel, I don't think he's moving." Anika said to the red head standing beside her who looked alarmingly unfazed by all that was happening. The soccer ball was still placed at the center of the field... untouched. Anika searched for Larry with her eyes and found him by the bench again staring out over the... game.
"Don't worry. They always bounce back. Well, not Fred. He actually had a sprained neck." Mel thought to herself.
As the two were staring at the next victim that was to be pummeled into the ground, they didn't notice the head of dirty blonde hair sprinting towards them until it was too late. A startled yelp erupted from Anika's throat but soon turned hoarse as the wind was knocked out of her with the force the person carried. The arms that wrapped around her suddenly lifted her up before slamming her into the ground. She heard Mel swear from somewhere to the side of her as she screamed some other obscenities at her attacker. The pain that radiated through her chest had Anika's eyes squeezed shut and a groan rumbled past her lips.
"How'd that feel? Bet you need to go take your drugs now." Anika's eyes popped open to wish death upon her attacker. The Blue eyed demon smirked right back at her.