What We Share: Chapter 4
The girls' bathroom building was called "The Big Dipper." Fantastic. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made out of wood, and the stalls were painted a yellow color that reminded Erza of vomit. The lighting consisted of one bulb hanging from the ceiling. Assortments of bugs crawled in every corner of the room. The worst, however, was the sinks. All of the metal was badly rusted, and soap residue was built up from who knew how many years. At least, Erza hoped it was soap. When she rushed to the first out of three stalls, the next thing she noticed was that the doors didn't have locks. Even better. She didn't have time to worry about it, though. Her intestines made sure of that.
Before long, more female students began entering the bathroom. They were probably done settling into their cabins already.
"So what are you doing first for free time?"
"I think I'm just going to explore a bit and then go swimming down at the lake. What about you?"
Erza awkwardly listened to the other girls' conversations while she sat on the toilet. Her bags were still back in the lodge, and she could only hope they remained undisturbed.
"Hey, Erza! Are you in there?" Lucy's voice called out.
"Yeah!"
"I brought your stuff to the cabin since you left it back at the lodge."
"Oh, thanks! You didn't have to do that!"
"It's no problem. Hurry up, though! Everyone's going down to the lake!"
"Sure thing!" Erza wasn't sure she'd ever had a conversation while dealing with diarrhea before. That was gross.
000
When Erza finally finished dealing with her bowel issues, she headed up the bush-lined path to the Fairy Hills cabins. The chilly air made her damp hands tingle. The Big Dipper's sinks only had two temperatures: cold and colder.
Fairy Hills, fitting to its name, was on a hill. It overlooked the Big Dipper and the other two female cabins. A little further off to the side and down the hill stood the lodge. If she looked out far enough, Erza could barely see the lake beyond all the trees.
"Hey Erza-san!" Juvia emerged from the cabin with a smile, wearing her bikini with a towel in hand. "Head on in! The cabin's actually nicer than Juvia imagined. Juvia's going to the lake, is Erza-san coming?"
"Yeah, I'll be there soon."
"Okay! Bye!" Juvia ran down the hill and back to the lodge where she could access the path to the lake.
Meanwhile, Erza opened the glass door to the cabin. She found it odd that the door would be see-through, but decided not question it. The cabin was divided into three sections: a large open space in the middle, and two rooms with bunks on either side. The structure was all wood, excluding the smooth cement floor. A broom and dustpan were placed in the corner of the open space. Erza imagined Mr. Clive expected the girls to use them when the time came to return home.
After inspecting the bunks, Erza found her belongings on one of the bottom bunks in the left room. She saw Mira, Levy, Juvia, and Lucy's bags occupying the other bunks on the left side. All of the other girls in the Fairy Hills cabin were sleeping in the room on the right side.
Erza made short work of laying out her sleeping bag on her bunk and organizing her things. She wasn't sure if swimming was a good idea after her previous predicament, but decided to do it anyway. There was no way she was going to pass up this opportunity.
Bikini on and towel in hand, Erza left the cabin and began the trudge down to the lake. The hike took longer than she thought it would. It only took about thirty seconds to walk from the cabin to the lodge, but the path leading to the lake was a good five minutes. About half way down, Erza passed a small grassy area where Principal Makarov and a few students were playing a ball game. She figured it must be the little field. The trek paid off, however, when she arrived at the lake and saw the majority of the seniors romping around. The hired life guard stood on the dock, making sure everyone was safe. Students were swimming, jumping in, and lounging on the logs on the shore. The beach consisted of rock, which made going barefoot rather painful, as Erza quickly discovered when she's took off her shoes. The water couldn't be a brighter blue, and it looked so clean it practically sparkled.
Mr. Clive stood on the rocks, filming students with his phone. "Ha! You look ridiculous! Water too cold for you wimps to handle?"
"Why don't you jump in and see for yourself just how damn cold it is?" Gajeel shot back as he climbed out of the lake, shivering.
"I think I'll pass," Mr. Clive chuckled as he got Gajeel on camera.
"Hey, why do you get to have your phone?"
"Teachers get special privileges, kid."
Nearby, Lucy and Levy sat on the dock in their bikinis, dipping their feet in the water. Erza jogged over, wincing at the pain of the rocks on her feet. She sighed in relief when her feet hit the smooth wood.
"You guys aren't going to swim?" Erza asked, taking a seat next to Lucy.
"No way!" Levy cried, "feel for yourself just how cold it is!"
Erza did as she was asked, swinging her feet over the edge of the dock. The water was cold alright, even colder than the faucet water in the Big Dipper. However, Erza had no intention of admitting it. "It's not that cold."
Lucy looked at her incredulously. "Seriously? Why don't you jump in then?"
That was the last thing she wanted to do after she noticed her toes going numb in the water, but the mighty Erza Scarlet never backed down from a dare. "Okay." She set her towel down and waltzed confidently to the end of the dock, Lucy and Levy in tow. She felt triumphant, standing before the lake in her bikini, eying it as if it was a mighty foe she must conquer. "Here goes."
"I'll count to three," Levy offered, "one, two, THREE!"
On three, Erza launched herself into the water. She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut just before impact. She barely had time to think, "maybe this isn't such a good idea," before her body registered the temperature. It seemed as if every cell in her body froze. She hardly even registered her feet scraping the rocky bottom since all she could think about was getting warm.
Erza gasped for air as soon as her head broke the surface. Her teeth rapidly began to chatter, and she could feel her whole body going numb.
"Nice job, Erza!" Lucy shouted from the dock.
"T-t-thanks," Erza managed to say. With that, she stepped back on to shore and back to the dock with her awaiting towel as fast as possible. While she sat on the dock trying to warm up, she questioned the sanity of her fellow classmates who were freely swimming.
"Hey Luce!" Natsu yelled, "come join us! You too, Levy!" Natsu, Gray, Juvia, and Gajeel were all swimming. Erza wondered how they were alive.
While Lucy and Levy vehemently protested, Erza figured she would exact her revenge. Nothing like payback. She crept up behind the two and pushed them off the safety of the dock and right into the ice cold water.
Both the blond and the bluenette shrieked as soon as they came up for air. "Erza!" they accusingly screeched simultaneously.
The scarlet devil laughed maliciously. "Feel the pain now?"
Their suffering was prolonged when Natsu forced them to stay in the water. Erza continued to watch with glee when she felt someone approach her from behind.
"Must be cold. I haven't gotten in yet."
Erza turned around to see Jellal wearing nothing but his swim trunks. She blushed and quickly looked away, despite her desire to ogle his toned body. "Yeah, it's freezing. I don't know how they can stand it."
Jellal folded his arms, and Erza could feel her mouth watering as she watched his muscles ripple with the movement. "I suppose I'd be a coward if I didn't jump in. Why not, right?"
Erza had no clue why he would willingly jump in, even if his pride was on the line. "Go ahead. I'll speak at your funeral."
Jellal laughed. "I'll go in if you go with me."
Was he serious! Erza had no intentions of subjecting herself to icy torture again, but how could she refuse Jellal? "Alright."
She grabbed his hand. "On three," he said. Erza felt a strange case of déjà vu. "One, two, THREE!"
They leaped into the air, hands still intertwined. For some strange reason, the water didn't feel as cold as it did before to Erza.
Jellal shook water out his hair. "Man, that's cold!"
"Can't handle it, Fernandez?" Gray taunted.
"As if."
And just like that, a war started. A splash war. At first it involved just the eight friends, but before long, everyone present at the lake joined in. Of course, Mr. Clive caught it all on camera. That would come back to bite them.
000
The war ended with the teens shivering and numb, struggling to regain warmth, in the lodge. Ms. Porlyusica was shaking her head, mumbling about stupid children and how they could have caught hypothermia. Being the nurse, she took the courtesy of lighting a fire in the lodge's fireplace for the kids to huddle around. Most of them were so cold their lips matched Jellal's hair.
Mr. Clive stood over them, chuckling. "I remember being your age. Ah, the good old days." He stared off into space, reminiscing. "Well, dinner'll be ready in a couple hours. I suggest you don't waste your precious free time."
The students knew this all too well. As soon as their muscles started functioning, the students made their way back to the cabins. When Erza, Lucy, Levy, and Juvia entered, Mira laughed at their shivering states. "Serves you all right for getting in that freezing lake!" Oh the girls had definitely learned their lesson. No more swimming after that.
"So, what do you guys want to do now?" Lucy asked as she peeled off her bathing suit.
"Juvia's going to see what Gray-sama is doing!"
Everyone within earshot sweat-dropped. Of course. They would expect nothing less from Juvia.
"What about you, Levy?" Lucy questioned.
Levy shrugged. "Normally I'd be reading, but Mr. Clive banned that, so I think I'm going to explore the camp a bit more. So far we've seen the big field, the lodge, the Big Dipper, the cabins, the little field, and the lake. I think there's more to see on the the girls' side of camp. I want to see what's behind all the cabins."
"Sounds interesting," Erza commented. "I think I'll go with you."
"Count me in!" Lucy said with excitement.
When the three adventures finished changing into more comfortable clothes and Juvia left to seek Gray, they exited the cabin's back door, located at the back of the open space in the center. Just like the rest of camp, the area behind the cabins consisted of bushes and tall trees.
"I wonder what's back here," Lucy mused. "I did some research on the camp before we came here, and they have a ton of raccoons and the occasional bear. I seriously hope we don't run into either."
Erza confidently shook her head. "I doubt it. The raccoons probably only come out at night after hours, and the odds of seeing a bear are slim to none."
"I hope you're right," Levy whispered while hugging herself.
A small path lead out from the back of the cabin to the unknown area beyond. The trio followed it for a few paces, but soon it became too concealed by fallen leaves to identify where it was. Every step taken resulted in a loud crunch that would attract anything brave enough to approach. Naturally this thought weighed on the minds of the paranoid girls.
"How far do you think we can go? Didn't Mr. Clive say something about the borders of the camp earlier?" Lucy wondered.
By now, the cabin was too far behind them to see, as it was concealed by the trees. In fact, every direction they looked was just trees.
"I think so," Erza replied, "there's probably a sign or something that indicates the edge of camp."
Lucky for the girls, they didn't have to wait long to find out. Another minute of walking led them to a large blue gate. There was no sign, but the meaning was clear enough. Going any further would lead to trouble with Mr. Clive and Principal Makarov.
"Finally!" Lucy cried. "Let's hurry back. Being in these woods is creeping me out." Seeing no other option, the girls did as Lucy suggested. Erza wouldn't have minded exploring a bit more, but time was ticking and she wanted to make sure she did everything camp had to offer before time was up.
Levy couldn't be happier when they reached the back door of the cabin. Like Lucy, she hated being in the treacherous woods. When the girls made their way to the bunks, they noticed Juvia sitting on her bed with a sorrowful expression and puffy eyes.
"Juvia, what's the matter?" Levy sat down next to her and placed an arm around her shoulders.
Juvia sniffled and wiped her nose. "Gray-sama didn't want to hang out with Juvia," she sobbed, "he's so mean!"
"It's alright, Juvia. We'd love to hang out with you! Why don't you join me down in the lodge for a card game?" Erza offered.
"Yeah that's a good idea. Levy and I are going down to lodge as well," Lucy said.
"Okay. Juvia can do that."
Erza took Juvia's hand after grabbing the cards she had packed from her bag, and the four girls left the cabin. The lodge wasn't far, all they had to do was walk down the hill and continue on the short path. Erza turned around and began to walk backwards.
"Isn't this fun? Going to camp with everyone!" Erza said in an effort to lift Juvia's spirits. She was in front of the girls, facing them. Before anyone responded, Juvia came to an abrupt halt, causing the other three to stop and wonder why. Her eyes were fixed on the ground behind Erza. She opened her mouth in an attempt to speak, but no words came out. Instead, she resorted to pointing to let the other girls know what she was staring so intently at.
Erza whirled around to look, and barely caught a glimpse of a snake slithering off the path and into the bushes, only about an inch from her foot. She shrieked and took off running down the path in the direction if the lodge. No way was she sticking around to find out what the snake was going to so next!
Erza didn't stop for air until she was inside the main part of the lodge, where the dining room was. She leaned against one of the tables and caught her breath while Levy, Lucy, and Juvia burst into the hall behind her.
"Relax, Erza!" Levy cried, struggling for air as well. "I did research on this place, remember? I forgot to mention it before: the camp has snakes, but they're just gardener snakes. Totally harmless. In fact, they're more afraid of you than you are of them."
A blush crept up on Erza's cheeks. Right. Totally harmless. That didn't mean she wasn't scared, though. But the mighty Erza certainly wasn't telling her friends that. Camp was interesting enough without the snakes, but it looked like they were one more thing the students were going to have to deal with.
