Hey, guys~~! This is for mah awesome buddeh, Art and Soul, because her birthday was the twenty-third. Yeah, I know, I'm late, but I was at a camp for the week and had no internet. But, now I do, so I'm writing this for her.
Yeah...me at camp...this story...make the connection, peoples. All of these things happened to me. I am Maddie in this story. Not literally, but you get it. Anyway, at first, I was having a pretty cruddy time because I just felt like I was annoying everyone so I kept kinda pushing everyone away, and I was really lonely. Then I made some friends- the people Kat, Elizabeta, Ivan, Frannie, and Bella are supposed to be based off of- and then I had a lot of fun.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MI AMIGA~~~! *showers confetti on Art and Soul* Happy, happy birthday, may all your dreams come true! ...Uh...something something something...now...I'm singing this to you. :B I only know the beginning part, so...o3o
Okay,
Abby=Fem!America
Sophia= Fem!Turkey
Hera= Fem!Greece
Sakura= Fem!Japan
Frannie= Fem!France
Katusha (Kat)= Ukraine
Bella= Belgium
Matthias= Denmark
Emil= Iceland.
Those are the uncommon ones, just so ya know.
LIST OF THINGS I DO NOT OWN:
-Hetalia
-Good Morning (by Mandisa)
-Converse high-tops
Shutting up now.
Basic Training
It was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the wind ever-so-gently whistled through the trees.
Oblivious to this, Maddie Williams lay on her bed in the girls' dorm, trying to ignore the other girls as they applied make-up, straightened their hair, and made other beautification processes to themselves that Maddie didn't understand. Why bother? I mean, they were going to get sweaty again today, and all that was going to go to waste. They, in Maddie's eyes, were wasting valuable sleeping time.
"Alright, girls, time to get up!" the dorm mom called to the girls who didn't wake up early to make themselves look presentable for an hour before it was all ruined. The dorm mom then took out her phone and began to play a song.
"Good morning! Welcome to a brand new day!"
Maddie groaned and pulled the pillow over her head. "Nngh..."
A weight fell with a thump on her back. "Morning, Maddie!" her sister, Abby, said cheerfully.
Too cheerfully.
"Get offa me..." Maddie slurred, wiggling to show her point.
"You gotta get up! C'mon, Maddie, up an' at 'em!" Abby said, grasping Maddie's shoulders and shaking her.
"Fine!" Maddie exclaimed. "You win! I'm up!"
"Yay!" Abby said. She ruffled Maddie's already-disheveled hair and sped to continue getting ready for the day.
Maddie groaned. She sat up, fumbling for her glasses. When they were located, Maddie off-handedly brushed her golden hair out of her face. One annoying curly strand popped back into its permanent spot in the middle of her forehead. Maddie yawned and pulled her feet out of her sleeping bag. Her over-large shirt reached down to her thighs, completely hiding her yellow shorts.
Maddie groped under her bed for her suitcase, which she pulled out and extracted her clothes for the day: a black shirt with a polar bear on it, and jean shorts. She trudged to the bathroom, groggily dodging the other twenty or so girls that were in the road side of the girls' dorm. The dorms were split up with two sleeping areas on either side of a room full of couches. Maddie's side was called the Road Side because it was closest to the gravel road that circled around the Mess Hall. The other side was called the Far Side. As for the boys' dorms, it was Upstairs and Downstairs.
Maddie changed into her clothes. Still feeling like a zombie, Maddie, once she had brushed her hair and returned to her bed, took a sip from her water bottle, attempting to ease the small throat ache that always occurred in the mornings. She rubbed her eyes with her knuckles in the way you would expect a small child to do, and not a high schooler. Maddie wrapped a bandanna around her wrist; it was mandatory to have the bandanna of your team with you at all times, because some of the activities required a blind fold. Finally, she tugged on her socks and Converse high-tops.
With a sudden pang of remembrance, Maddie stood up and peeked at the bed on top of hers. "Hera, you need to get up," she said to the Greek, who was still sleeping. When that failed, Maddie shook Hera's shoulders, poked her nose, and flicked water on her face. Finally, Maddie said, "Fine. I'll just get Sophia over here, then."
At the mention of her Turkish enemy, Hera bolted up. "I'm...up..." she said slowly.
Maddie smiled. "Good. Get dressed."
Ten minutes later, the girls filed out of the dorms and to the basketball court, where they lined up with their teams. It was rather ironic: Maddie's favorite color was red, and Abby's navy blue, but Maddie was with the Navy team, and Abby was with the Red.
One by one, the rest of the Navy team accumulated into a blob of people. There was Ivan, Antonio, Gilbert, Sophia, Elizabeta, Sakura, Frannie, Katusha, Bella, Matthias, and Emil.
What the teams were doing now was called "Morning Weirdness," and it was just that. The manager of the camp gave the announcement on what to do, and this morning, it was to make a camel with the people in the team.
Maddie looked awkwardly at her group. The other teams were already huddling and working together, and the Navy team just stood there, waiting for someone to tell them how to do it. Finally, Antonio said awkwardly, "What if we stacked the people like cheerleaders do?"
Maddie thought about it said, "Yeah, that might work..."
So, Elizabeta, Gilbert, and Kat knelt down on the concrete. The remaining people looked back at Antonio for more directions. "We need people to be the hump, si? Small people...Uh, Sakura, Maddie, will you...?"
Maddie and Sakura nodded and clambered on to the backs of the people on the ground. Maddie had one leg on Kat and the other on Gilbert, who was saying, "Kesese, you guys are so light! It's nothing the Awesome Me can't handle!"
They ended up with the human pyramid as the body and Bella cheerfully squatted by Elizabeta and pretended to be a camel head.
Finally, the campers were allowed to go inside the Mess Hall for breakfast. Maddie bit into a chocolate chip muffin, wishing she had some pancakes and maple syrup. Do chocolate and maple go together...? she thought randomly. She cast the thought away with a slight shrug and another bite of the muffin.
Maddie hardly noticed this, but the seats beside her and in front of her were empty. The thought crossed her mind once or twice, but she paid no attention, seeing as she was too hungry and tired to care.
"Hey, Maddie," a voice said. Maddie looked up into the emerald eyes of Elizabeta. Standing next to her was Bella. "Do you mind if we sit with you? You look lonely," Elizabeta said cheerfully. Maddie nodded and gave a weak smile. She brushed crumbs off her face and readied herself for any conversation that may come from the girls.
But as soon as they sat down, Bella started talking about the cute boy on the orange team. Elizabeta responded eagerly. Maddie listened, looking for an opening in the girls' words so that she might be able to speak. None came.
As breakfast continued, Bella and Elizabeta chatted away. Maddie felt rather annoyed. They ask if they can sit with me because I look lonely, and then they completely blow me off? she thought in irritation.
Finally, they were dismissed to go back to the dorms to ready themselves for the obstacle course. Maddie walked alone down the gravel road, fiddling idly with the navy blue bandanna around her wrist.
Maddie grabbed her water bottle, filled it at the water fountain, and then walked out of the dorm to meet the rest of the Navy team.
The heat of the day made Maddie want to drink all the water in her bottle, but she showed self-control. While she was waiting, the stupidity of wearing a black shirt on a day like today hit her, and she pulled her golden hair into a messy ponytail to keep it off her neck.
Finally, the entire Navy team was there, and they set off on the dirt path to the obstacle course. On the earlier days of this week, they had forty-five minutes for each obstacle. Now, they were doing a challenge: they had fifteen minutes for each.
"Man, does that mean we have to do the Wall again?" Sophia said grumpily as she straightened the white mask over her face.
"Guess so..." Emil said.
"What about the Spiderweb! That one took us forever!" Frannie said.
"Do we have to do archery...?"
"How does one time the Trust Fall?"
"The schedule says we're doing the Tightrope first, so, let's go," Sakura suggested. The group trudged through the heat, scattering a small army of grasshoppers that hid in the tall grass on the right side of the road. The Tightrope was just that: a wire that was secured around two trees. The catch was that you had to trust your team mates to hold you as you walked it blindfolded.
"Maddie, you go first!" Antonio said loudly. "You have good balance, si?"
Maddie shrugged at the question, but tied the bandanna around her eyes nonetheless. She felt a breeze on her face, which indicated someone was waving their hand in front of her eyes. Someone grabbed her shoulders and guided her on to a small mound of dirt that helped the campers on the rope.
"Step up," Ivan's voice ordered. Maddie did as she was told, keeping her small hand encased in Ivan's large one. She learned at the beginning of the week not to fear contact with her team mates; the obstacles required complete trust and faith that your team wouldn't let you get hurt.
Maddie put one foot blindly in front of the other, quickly maneuvering across the thin wire. To minimize time, two people were walking across at once.
"Okay, step down," Ivan said. Maddie hopped off the rope, and Ivan disappeared before Maddie could take off her blindfold, helping the others get across.
"One minute, thirty seconds!" the camp helper with a stopwatch said when Antonio yelled, "Done!" as he helped Kat down.
The next obstacles the Navy team faced were the Cargo Net: a black net tossed over a wooden frame (This one was not very pleasant, considering the fact that Maddie could fit in between the holes), the Spider Web: a red rope crossed multiple times between two trees; the campers had to fit through without touching the rope with their bodies, lest a small bell ring, and everyone had to start over, and the arrows broke for Archery, so that was just a break station to go get water.
The Navy team gathered in a clearing, where a large piece of wood in the shape of an A lied on the ground, different colored ropes tangling around it. "Just like last time, right, guys?" Gilbert said. "Ivan, get in the middle, everyone else, grab a rope."
The team stood the A-frame up, and Ivan god in the middle. He would be walking in it, and the others would be helping it move. Six people on the right or left would help it move forward, and four people on the front or back would keep it upright. Maddie grabbed the rope in front; the first time she did this, she was in front, keeping it upright.
"We have to beat sixteen seconds," Antonio said. "That's what Lovino said."
"Pssh, that'll be easy. I mean, you all've got the Awesome Me helping you. I bet we can do it under ten seconds," GIlbert said cockily.
"I say we should go for under five," Emil said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Hey, Maggie, go help Frannie and Kat," Gilbert said, taking the white rope from Maddie's hands.
Maddie frowned. "Why? You don't think I can do it? And my name's Maddie, not Maggie."
"Just gimme the rope," the albino said snidely.
Maddie shrugged and let go. On the outside, she probably looked indifferent. But she was seething on the inside. Just because I'm smaller than everyone else doesn't mean I can't do it, she thought to herself as she took hold of the blue rope on the right side of the A.
The Navy team ended up walking along the designated course in four seconds, completely destroying the other record. Emil was surprised. "I was only kidding," he said, sniffing disdainfully.
Maddie smiled. And that was supposed to be hard? she thought, all bad feelings removed.
After they switched obstacles with a different team, they went to where a small obstacle course was. They had to crawl up a slanted tube and jump into another one, get yourself out of it, get on your hands and knees and crawl through another tube, jump over a traffic cone, and hurdle a tube that was laying on its side. Maddie did this with ease. However, as she jumped over the last tube, she noticed Bella on the ground, clutching at her ankle, her face twisted into a grimace of pain.
"Are you okay?" she asked softly, kneeling next to her.
"Yeah, just twisted it the wrong way, no biggie..." Bella said, making a brave attempt at a smile. She tried to stand up, but as soon as she put weight on her ankle, she yelped in pain and fell down again. In the end, Ivan and Matthias carried her to the nurse chair-style.
When they returned, the Navy team went to the Alligator Pit. It was four tree stumps and two logs, and everyone had to get across without touching the ground. Bella agreed to do it, despite the bandage wrapped around her ankle. "You guys gotta help me, though," Bella said with a warm smile.
It was easy; they did it in about ten minutes, which left five minutes for waiting idly for the next whistle, where they would be facing the Wall, an eleven-foot wall that everyone from your team had to do. The first time Maddie did the Wall, she got scraped slightly on the inside of her arms because she did it too quickly.
A minute passed, and Maddie got bored. She looked wistfully at the other members of the Navy team, wishing someone would invite her over; no one did. The logs on the stumps were still there, so Maddie decided to walk them herself. During the challenge, there was one person on each stump to help her get across the wobbly log. But now, Maddie decided to really try her balancing skills.
The first time, she did it slowly, and it hardly wobbled. The second time, Maddie did it faster on the same one, and it still didn't move that badly. Then she decided to go on the other log. She did it the same speed as the second try.
Maddie felt reckless. She didn't care how fast she was going, and that was her mistake. About half-way across it, the log flipped over, sending both itself and Maddie tumbling toward the ground.
Now, it's not like it was a very long fall. It was maybe two feet off the ground. But that didn't stop it from hurting as the log scraped Maddie's shin on the way down, or as Maddie fell directly on her tailbone, or how she cut her elbow when she broke her fall.
As the pain of the fall set in, a loud cry pierced Maddie's ears. "Maddie!" Kat and Frannie shrieked at the same time as the rushed next to her. "Are you okay!"
Maddie laughed and winced at the same time. "I'm okay!" she said as loud as her shaking voice would allow. "I'm gonna cry, but I'm okay!" Maddie did indeed feel tears welling in the corner of her eyes, but she ignored them as Kat and Frannie helped her up.
Maddie laughed again. "Look at my leg!" she exclaimed through a giggle. Her entire left leg was twitching and trembling so violently, it almost looked like she was doing it on purpose, even though it was completely involuntary.
Maddie had no idea why she was laughing, but she couldn't help it. Maybe it was the same reason why she laughed at all the horror movies Abby made her watch...? Perhaps it was because she always laughed when she was surprised?
"Aww, Maddie!" Kat wailed.
"What?" Maddie giggled. "I'm okay! My butt hurts, but I'm okay!"
Frannie started laughing, too. "Hey, Toni, 'member when you broke your tailbone and had to sit on a toilet seat all day?" she asked.
"Si, and that was not fun!" Antonio said.
"You're sure you're okay?" Elizabeta asked worriedly.
Maddie nodded. "Yeah, just a bit startled."
Kat suddenly let out a shriek. "You're bleeding!" she yelled in horror as she pointed to Maddie's elbow.
"Not that bad..." Maddie dismissed as she carelessly wiped blood from the cut.
Kat suddenly wrapped Maddie in a big hug. Maddie yelped quietly in surprise. She was also grateful she was taller than Kat; although Kat was only sixteen, she was one of the bustiest women Maddie had ever seen. It would have been very awkward if Maddie was shorter and had her face in Kat's chest.
"I'm okay, Kat!" Maddie said again, hugging back nonetheless.
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
"Positive?"
"Yes."
"Really?"
"Kat!" Maddie laughed. "It's only a scrape, I think I'll live."
"You think!" Kat repeated in terror.
"No- Kat- I meant I know. I know I'll live. A couple drops of blood won't kill me, I promise," Maddie said. She smiled out of pure joy. A few minutes ago, she couldn't believe they cared about her. I mean, yes, they had to trust her in order to try to win, but that didn't mean they had to care about her.
The whistle blew. "We're going to the Wall next," Sakura reported after checking the schedule.
The Navy team filed to the Wall. There it stood, towering over even Ivan, the tallest in the group. Ivan was only half as tall as it. The cracks in between the wood were too small to put your fingers through. They would have to get over it with pure manpower.
"Alright, team, let's make a plan," Gilbert said. "Ivan, you go up first and help the Awesome Me up. Then we'll help Toni up, and you go down and help everyone else up. Got it?"
"You keep using the word 'Awesome' to describe yourself," Ivan said. "I'm not sure it is the right word to be using."
"Why, you little-" Gilbert stopped as he remembered he had to look up to see Ivan. Then he glowered at the Wall.
"Well, what're you waiting for?" he said crankily. Ivan backed up, took a running start, and jumped. His fingers touched the rim, and he pulled himself up, not taking help from anyone. Gilber stood on Antonio's shoulders, and he got up, too. He didn't look happy about having to grasp Ivan's hand in order to get up.
They pulled Antonio up while everyone else helped push him up. The rest of the team on the ground went around the other side and helped lower Ivan to the ground.
For a while, everything went smoothly. They got Sophia, Sakura, Frannie, Bella, Kat, Matthias, and Emil over the Wall.
Then, when Elizabeta's turn came, they couldn't quite get her up. Elizabeta was a strong girl, but heights were just not her thing. She was already freaking out about having to do the Wall a second time, but when she was suspended in midair, she started panicking.
"Elizabeta!" Ivan said firmly as he tried to hold her feet. "Stop kicking!"
"I-can't-!" she yelled, struggling.
"If you're gonna kick, we'll drop you!" Gilbert said, his hands grasping her wrist tightly.
"Thanks for making me feel better!" she shrieked sarcastically.
"Eliza- hey, stop. You're okay, it's gonna be okay," Maddie said in a firm but soothing voice as she held on to Elizabeta's ankle. Ivan was sweaty, and he looked very tired, but his stubborn will wouldn't let him just stop, so Maddie was trying to help.
Elizabeta hung still, trembling and hiding her face in her arm.
"Alright, lift your leg- your other leg...higher than that...!" Antonio said, one hand holding Elizabeta's and the other reaching for her knee. Maddie saw what he was trying to do: he was going to pull her leg up so she could lay on the ledge, making it easier to get up.
Soon, Elizabeta was reduced to struggling again. "Let her down!" Maddie said over the confusion. Ivan heard, and repeated it louder. They lowered Elizabeta to the ground.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, Elizabeta walked away a few feet, her face in her hands, shaking like a leaf. Maddie walked closer to her. "Are you okay?" she asked. Elizabeta nodded, but still looked terrified. Taking a leap of faith, Maddie wrapped her arms around Elizabeta's shoulders. She was both surprised and pleased when Elizabeta hugged Maddie back instead of pushing her away, like she thought she would.
"Well, if she can't do it, someone else can do it twice, but we'll have to dock a point," the camp helper said.
"I'll do it," Maddie instantly volunteered.
"B-but you're hurt!" Elizabeta weakly protested.
"So's Bella. She's hurt worse, actually. I'm light, it'll be easy," Maddie said reassuringly.
Everyone else shrugged. Ivan crouched down, and Maddie crawled on his back, her feet on his shoulders. He stood up, and pushed her feet up while Gilbert and Antonio took her wrists and pulled her up.
"Wow, mi amiga, you really are light!" Antonio said cheerfully. Maddie gave a small smile as a response.
When Maddie was back on the ground, she ran back to the other side, and they did it again. Then, Antonio and Gilbert got down, and the team cheered.
The whistle blew. It was time to go back to the Mess Hall to hear the winners.
Time skip a day.
"Man, Kat, I still can't believe we won!" Maddie exclaimed as the two walked back to the dorms to pack their belongings.
"Me too!" Kat said. "I thought we were going to lose!"
Maddie smiled at the older girl. "And you can't come back next year?"
Kat shook her head. "I'm sorry..." she said. "I'm graduating, and...well, you know..."
Maddie hugged her friend, not wanting the elder to burst into tears. "And I'm only a freshman!"
"You'd better keep in touch!" Kat said, mocking an angry face. The two laughed.
"Aw, I'm gonna miss you, Kat," Maddie said.
Kat smiled. "My ride's here," she said sadly.
"Email me!" Maddie reminded, handing her a piece of paper with her Email address on it.
"I will!" Kat said. A final hug and Kat got in the car.
The breeze floated through the trees. The birds sang. The sun shined down on a teenaged girl, whose smile rivaled its brightness.
TADA.
Cheezy ending is cheezy, I know. :B
Yesh, all this happened to me…I got hurt on the Alligator Pit and helped a girl who was scared of heights, made a friend who was older than me, got pushed out of the way a little because I was smaller, and all that. :B
Anyways, again...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, YOU LIVE IN...TUVALU! (first country I thought of that rhymed with "you") YOU LOOK LIKE A CHURRO, AND ESPANA LOVES YOU~! X3 Love you, mia sorella, mein schweister, ma soer (that was supposed to be French, but I dunno. =^=), watashino ane, my sister, etc., so on and so forth. :3