Love's Entrapment
By: Sokai
Disclaimer: I, Sokai, do not claim ownership to the workings of W.I.T.C.H. - I leave that honor up to Elisabetta Gnone. Nor do I own Das doppelte Lottchen ("The double Lottie"), or, as it was later renamed, Lottie and Lisa, written by Erich Kästner. However, I can and DO claim to own this story, its inspired ideas FROM each aforementioned creation, in addition to any featured original characters - Specifically, Alazne and Kalila.
Note:What? Sokai's back again, already? Yep! For whatever reason, my Muse is still willing to make sweet, sweet love to me, so I'm just gonna go with it for as long as I can (and before Evie gets 'jealous' of my writing . . . which she's actually doing right now as I write this LoL)!
I do know that W.I.T.C.H.-Fan Character/Next Generation fics tend to be a bit overlooked, and I sometimes do the same, myself, as I prefer to generally stick with the canon peeps, so I do get it if that's part of the reason why this story's currently being a bit overlooked. =)
However, be rest assured that all of the 'old gang' will show up down the line, making this more of an 'ensemble story' than an F.C. tale. If anything, it's more honestly a Will/Caleb tale, as my main focus . . . except I gotta take the long way 'round by using their twins to get to that point. LoL
Anyway! Please to be enjoying chapter three (and YES, I am working on updating a certain few other ficcies, no worries)!
This chapter was created/written in July 2016.
Chapter Three
". . . . And so, it's come to this," Alazne mumbled lightly underneath her breath as she stood, as nonchalantly as she could, in front of her chosen, bottom bunk, and stared hard at the sporty yet stylish, navy and crimson colored one piece swimsuit lying on top of her still unmade bed.
"Hey, Al! You coming? Hurry up and get dressed so we can all head back to the pool together!"
"Well, unless they don't choose to go within alphabetical order or whatever, I don't think she'll have to worry about being late to take the test with the rest of us, Meg."
"Yeah, I get it, thanks, Kris, but I was just saying -"
"- I-I'm coming, I'm coming, you guys! You can go on ahead, though, and I'll catch up in a few minutes, okay?" Alazne managed to snap out of her increasingly pensive thoughts long enough to continue her currently projected aura of overall serenity, as she forced a cheesy grin upon her face for good measure before hurriedly snatching up her bathing suit from off of the bed.
To be fair, she did have the strong feeling that swimming in general would most probably be heavily involved in one way another once she'd decided to go away to summer camp in the first place.
It was summertime, a summer camp, and right next to a very, very vast lake, after all.
Still.
Just because her mom had insisted she pack her swimsuit, a pair of goggles and swimming cap along with the rest of her luggage, it didn't mean that Alazne, in good conscience, ever planned to use any of it while she was here.
"Yet here I am, suddenly finding myself being forced to not only use all this crap, but to dive, literally, head first into my personal kryptonite . . . wonderful," she muttered with a pinch of the bridge of her nose with her free hand, while heading into what would be her shared bathroom for the next eight weeks.
One moment, Alazne was being assigned to her Navajo cabin, meeting and already making a bunch of new friends (which wasn't terribly surprising to her, if she could be honest, given her admittedly magnetic personality), including the two who had just left their ten person stuffed cabin, Kristen and Megan.
Everything was perfectly fine from then on: There was brief mingling with her fellow cabin mates, with a few of them evidently having seen her exit her Aunt Irma's limousine, and thus asked a million questions about 'who the mystery woman was,' as a few had put it; next, there was a brief few moments of further settling in before their camp director, Molly Senior, announced over the loud speakers that all campers were to report in front of the dining hall for the beginning of their orientation tour.
And then, on her way out the door and over there, Alazne practically had to beat off the more starstruck cabin mates with a proverbial stick the moment she innocently confessed to her surrogate aunt's identity and her own connection to her, something she hadn't planned on doing (as she had yet to do back home at school, for example, mostly because she honestly wished to instead earn her own, currently high popularity and attention by her own merit).
At least she had yet to put a sour taste within any of the girls' mouths as a result of her mounting attraction, however, which, to tell the truth, Alazne wasn't all too familiar with such a thing from happening on a daily basis, given that she generally did her best not to be terribly obnoxious with her natural charisma. . . .
The tour, itself, was smooth sailing, in spite of the admittedly large huddling of various campers who would randomly run up to her to learn more about her relationship with the famous model and actress, Irma Lair, all while both Mollies and other camp counselors would direct the girls' attention to the institution's various facilities.
Alazne was already making a mental list and note of doing her best to try out every last activity while she was there, especially the sports related ones, as she was quite the avid fan of such pastimes, when Molly Junior had to go and burst her bubble of contentment when she made an announcement regarding one particular recreation the tomboy generally did her best to avoid. . . .
"Annd here we have our very spacious, fun filled and heated swimming pools, where you'll be able to enjoy both instructional, as well as recreational swims every day! And, as you can see over yonder, it is also outfitted with a really fun water slide, in addition to lane lines for those who choose to partake within our swim meets and lap club," the rather energetic young woman had stated, clearly having delivered this speech many times over within the past. "And it isn't just limited to daytime, either! Nope! During some of our evening activities, we might throw a pool party or two, so having this baby fully lit and complete with a sound system is very handy, huh? What's also very handy is obviously having our extremely well qualified, certified lifeguards for anyone nervous about taking a dip at night – Or in the first place - and also our swim instructors to ensure that all of our campers are always kept safe while still having fun! Now, then! On that note . . . the 'bad news,' so to speak. Before we can let you do any of that, we will have to ask you all to take the required swim assessment test, which we will begin once we've reached the end of our tour in a few minutes. . . ."
Alazne honestly could not recall the remainder of Molly Junior's long winded speech, as her mind had shut down after that.
She didn't like to air it out too often, nor make that big a deal out of it, primarily for wishing to maintain her 'cool, calm, and can do anything' fearless attitude the majority of her friends back home in Florida knew her to always have, but generally speaking, swimming and Alazne just didn't mix . . . which was always dreadfully ironic to her, considering not only did she have a swimming pool at her house, but her mother used to basically be an Olympic swimmer when she was younger, and still very much enjoyed swimming every chance she'd get to this day.
It was downright laughable that Alazne could tackle any other sport or physical activity under the sun and usually naturally excel at it, yet when it would come to swimming, for whatever reason, Alazne was, in all honesty, pitiful . . . and also a bit nervous about it.
She wasn't actually afraid, like that phobia she'd randomly heard about once, no . . . but if she had a choice between dry land or diving off of a high board, then she'd always choose the former.
Except now I apparently don't get a flippin' choice within the matter! I'm not even going to use the stupid pool while I'm here, so why force me to take this test just to 'gauge our swimming skill and comfort level?' Alazne ruminated with a deep, uncharacteristic frown as she entered a random bathroom stall and began to, quite slowly, undress. If I end up drowning, I am so coming back to haunt each, and every last one of them. . . .
"All right, good job, you guys! Go and get changed, okay? . . . . All right, let's have the next group line up! Holmes, Erin! Jacobs, Karen! Kovar, Kristen! Landon, Megan! Lee, Kalila! Meyer, Stacy!"
"Ohh, dude, here we go! Good luck trying to beat me, Kristen! Kinda like how you managed to last year – Oh, wait! You didn't!"
"Look, we know – Well, I do, since I know you from school – that you're all awesome at your softball and swimming and what not, but you know that I've always been the better swimmer between us, Meg, so relax," Alazne vaguely managed to pay attention to the two obviously close friends playfully bicker with one another, before quickly waving to her within goodbye and giddily raced to their starting positions poolside.
Even though there were thankfully far less people still waiting to take their assessment test than about half an hour ago, having been 'shooed' away by various counselors in order to sign up for their three activity rotations for the next three days, before then having to choose another three, she was too busy focusing on the fact that not only was she still stuck there, but she'd have to take her test in front of everyone.
Well, not so much 'everyone' as hopefully a much, much smaller crowd by the time her name was called, given that her last name began with a v, but still.
Maybe I can somehow fake an injury or illness, and then take it some other time . . . or not at all. . . . Ugh, and I call myself a tomboy, Alazne thought morosely with a sigh before biting down onto her bottom lip as she and her fellow, still awaiting and swimsuit clad campers prepared themselves to watch the commencing of yet another evaluation.
She honestly hadn't been really tuning into the overall process up to now, for obvious reasons, but for the sake of her newest set of friends (who were currently waving like mad at her to watch, anyhow), she willed herself to do so.
Plus . . . for whatever reason, the longer Alazne did so, the more eerily . . . calm, and almost, happy she swiftly began to feel, to the point of honestly wishing to dive right into the pool alongside them.
What the . . . heck am I thinking? O-Or feeling, more like . . . but I'm actually starting to feel a lot better about this stupid test all of a sudden, she mused as her entire body immediately began to relax, particularly the moment her goggle covered eyes randomly settled upon the girl standing to the right of Megan.
In all fairness, Alazne was fairly certain that everyone else was staring her down right along with her, given the girl's extremely bright, tie dye bathing suit, matching swim cap, and even her goggles. And by comparison to the majority of the other campers' various outfits, be it super stylish or a bit on the 'bland' side, this one in particular definitely had no trouble catching her eye the most.
Maybe the girl had Alazne's attention because tie dye-anything generally wasn't her thing, finding the explosion of color a little too obnoxious and chaotic for her personal, more earthly and mellow tones to compliment what Aunt Irma dubbed her 'Tomboy Chic' style.
Even still . . . there was honestly something . . . something about her . . . almost like an odd sort of . . . Déjà vu accompanying the overall situation.
At this, Alazne abruptly shook her head as she tried to push away the newfound sensations, doing her best to watch the start of Megan and Kristen's swim test and further ignore the unknown girl.
"This is what being forced to get into the pool does to me, apparently: I'm starting to think I've done all this before, or know that girl somehow or whatever . . . I'm losing it," the strawberry blonde whispered to herself with a light frown, before beginning to cheer for both Kristen and Megan, both immediately beginning to take the lead of the six girls currently swimming across the length of the large pool.
Huh . . . I guess they both really are good at swimming, after all . . . which of course I just had to make friends with swimming champs, Alazne thought with a roll of her eyes and soft smirk as she continued to cheer for the duo, beginning to wonder who was going to make it back to the start first when the mysterious, tie dyed, fellow camper abruptly began to overtake the both of them effortlessly.
"Wow, check her out!"
"I know! She's really good!"
"She definitely has no trouble swimming, huh?" were the various comments Alazne began to hear surrounding her, as more and more campers began to shift their focus also onto the girl in question.
. . . . Rub it in, why don't you, the strawberry blonde thought with brief rancor as her natural competitiveness began to flare up, although even she could not help but be in awe of how obviously skilled this unknown female truly was.
In no time at all did she reach the one end of the pool far ahead of the other five girls currently within the pool with her, before quickly making her way back to the starting point by performing a flip turn and switching from the default crawl, to the backstroke techniques required of all campers taking the test.
"Keep it coming, keep it coming! Yeah! Annnd, rest by floating! . . . . Great job, ladies!" Molly Junior instructed to her returning pupils, giving a small cheer and applause as she and her fellow surrounding faculty watched with intermingling pride and continued vigilance as the six girls then flipped over in the water and onto their backs to begin their float. ". . . . All right, good! Good job! You can come on out now! Congratulations, all of you – And that was some extra impressive swimming there . . . Kalila, right? You were like a fish in there! Okay, get dried up, catch a breath, and head back to your cabins to shower and change into your uniforms!"
Even though she only just met both girls, Alazne already knew that Megan, especially, would most probably be feeling the competitive sting of failure in that moment, despite having at least still passed her swimming assessment . . . in addition to the fact that it wasn't honestly meant to be an actual race.
The look upon the tall blonde's face as she let out a rough, moist exhale and wrenched off her goggles most certainly gave her away, and quite honestly mirrored Alazne's own personal reactions throughout her sports career. It didn't happen all too often, truth be told, given her innate, athletic prowess, but it still didn't seem to exempt her from the fact that she was never really a fan of losing anything, either, even though she did at least do her best to be a good sport . . . especially if her mother had any say within the matter (which, she usually did).
Even though Alazne did feel bad for her new friend's obvious, personal lost and hit to her pride, she couldn't help but also feel sorry for the so called 'winner,' as the girl clearly was not cut from the same cloth as Alazne and her two fellow tomboys, the way she meekly wrapped a towel around her body and appeared to utter a few hasty words toward the pair, before making a swift exit from the pool area.
"Hey, great job you guys," Alazne congratulated with a small, but growing smile as she moved from her previous spot and met her two, dripping wet companions near the swimming area's exit before they departed, as well. "You were right, Meg: You are pretty good – Sorry, Kris, not that you didn't do well, either."
At this, Megan thankfully began to chuckle in good humor, although she did let out a sharp scoff as she began to quickly dry herself off with her own towel.
"Meh, sure. I guess you weren't watching the same test, then, Al, because I just got blown . . . well, out of the water by 'Tie Dye Girl' over there . . . whom I can't even hate on – Not that I would, though – because she didn't even rub it in my face! Just said a quick 'Good job, you guys' and smiled, before running off," the blue eyed girl remarked with a smirk, her apparent, default lax nature already returning.
Alazne returned the gesture as she slowly nodded within gradual understanding, turning her head to the right a moment to gaze up the hill within the distance, where the girl in question was already nearly nothing more than a speck.
And, once she had gone, Alazne also curiously realized, so too had the foreign, yet somehow familiar feelings which had effortlessly overwhelmed her throughout the full duration of the previous test. . . .
But what does that even mean? Does it mean anything? . . . . Ugh. I definitely can't tell these two about it, or else I'll quickly be out two new friends since they'll probably think I'm insane, she reflected within silence, pursing her lips together tightly a few more moments, before then forcing herself to tear her eyes away from where the already vanished girl had been.
". . . . Y-Yeah, yeah, I did see, but I'm glad you're not too bummed about it – Although I can definitely relate sometimes," she revealed as casually as she could, replaying the entire event within her head a moment while doing her best to ignore the way it'd made her feel. And before Alazne could stop herself, she couldn't help but add, "But . . . she was pretty freaking awesome, though, wasn't she? I mean, I've seen some pretty wicked swimming in my day – My mom's, especially, for one – but I honestly think if the two of them ever met, she'd actually give my mom a run for her money, seriously. . . ."
"Well, geez, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you had some sort of girl crush on her or something, Al!" teased Kristen, who reminded Alazne a great deal of her Aunt Irma, as Alazne had already observed that the fellow brunette was most certainly the bigger jester between Megan, and even herself.
Still, Alazne managed to take no offense to the innocent barb, as both she and Megan playfully shoved the shortest girl, before Megan was the first to speak.
"Don't mind my friend, here, Al: She's just trying to distract us from the fact that, even though 'Tie Dye Girl' beat me, I still beat Kristen – Again. So, all in all, I'd say it was a job well done," she giggled as Kristen gently stamped upon the blonde's bare foot before beginning to leave the pool area. "Anyway! Wish we could stick around to watch you in action, since you said you're pretty big on athletics like I am, but you heard Molly-J! We get a little bit of time in between our assessment, showering and changing into our uniforms before having to head out to the dining hall to sign up for our first three activity periods, so me and Kris will try to wait for you back at the cabin before then! Good luck!"
Immediately did Alazne's temporarily forgotten anxiety return in that moment as she watched her fellow campers begin their own retreat, feeling partially relieved, yet regretful that they could not stay to support her, after all.
On the other hand, there still were at least fifteen to twenty or so girls left waiting to take their own test, with probably half of them having no problem to fill the temporary void, if only to simply continue to ask yet another round of questions about her famous Aunt Irma . . . but as much as Alazne would have normally appreciated the surrounding attention (even if it'd only be about someone else for most of it), she currently wished more than anything that she could shoo them all away. . . .
Well, at least that's six more people down . . . still. I can't even have my soon-to-be humiliation occur in private . . . geez, Alazne thought with long, drawn out sigh before forcing herself to move back to her previous spot, where several random girls were quickly swarming her once more, clearly eager to have another go of 'Twenty Questions' with her, as predicted.
"Wait wait, wait. I thought you said you were good at sports and junk? Maria was telling us that you looked like a chicken with its head cut off once you reached half way. So what happened?" Kristen asked within earnest, although she couldn't help but lightly smile at the visualization as she, a sympathetic looking Megan, and very, very perturbed Alazne all headed to their unanimously first chosen activity, tennis, a little later that early afternoon.
All three were now dressed within the camp's uniform of a soft blue t-shirt and navy colored shorts, with hair tied back into ponytails, and tennis rackets and yellow tennis balls in hand.
She didn't know about the other two, but Alazne couldn't wait to get to the tennis court to let out a great deal of frustration, and really hoped that this 'Maria' would also be there, so that she could kill two birds with one stone by using her as her target, while successfully redeeming her self proclamations of athletic endowment.
". . . . Which one was Maria, again?" Alazne asked with a grumble, continuing to look straight ahead of the slightly winding path before them, doing her best to block out Kristen's soft chortling next to her to her left.
"Uhh, the brunette? Long hair, kinda tall, super dark brown eyes and a really thick Bronx accent. Remember now? Her last name's 'Selca,' so she was there, taking the test at the same time as you," Megan replied within explanation, before sneakily reaching behind Alazne in order to smack a still giggling Kristen across the buttocks with her tennis racket. "We kinda know her from school, and she's also come here before like me. She's pretty cool, though, so I wouldn't worry about her too much, Al. She can just tend to be . . . kinda on the loud side, is all."
". . . . Chyeah. Apparently," the continually brooding, strawberry blonde muttered, roughly kicking away a stray pebble in front of her as they continued on the journey. "Look. Yes, whatever she told you guys while I was in the shower was . . . true, all right? Well, not the looking like a freaking chicken part, or however else she might have painted it. And I am good at sports, thanks, Kris . . . just, clearly, not swimming. Don't ask me why because I don't know, I'm just not. I wasn't even planning on dipping a toe inside any sort of body of water while I was here, either, until they had to go and lampoon us with that stupid assessment . . . which I technically failed, yes, before you guys even ask. Said I was a 'non-swimmer,' or whatever the official label is, and that I have to have a life jacket on at all times if I do decide to swim later on . . . pfft."
Rubbing her backside, Kristen suddenly rushed ahead of her two companions in order to walk backward before them, smiling genuinely this time as she began to wave an imaginary flag of surrender within her free hand.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, sheesh! You know – Or, you very soon will know - that I poke fun at my friends to the point of excess, Al, so be ready for it! But anyway, that does suck they inadvertently put you on blast l like that, essentially wasting your time really, too, since you were never gonna use the swimming pool like you said, y'know?" the gray eyed preteen apologized with another smile, before continuing. "And if it makes you feel any better, I'm super sucky at basketball, so even though that's the case I was still willing to sign up for it as my next activity period with you guys! So have fun rubbing it in my face later . . . and also laughing at Meg's craptacular dancing once we have our bonfire tonight!"
"Ohh, you are just asking for it, Kristen!" Megan cried within embarrassment, her sun-tanned face growing incredibly red as she gazed sheepishly at the girls' newest friend, before charging ahead to chase after the already retreating troublemaker.
Feeling increasingly better with each passing second, especially now that it was made obvious that neither girl seemed to care one iota that Alazne wasn't all that great at swimming, after all, she let out a relieved exhale before calling out to both girls.
"H-Hey, wait up, you guys! I call dibs on beating the snot out of Kris first!" she chuckled as she began to run after the truly dynamic duo, before adding, "But if that Maria girl happens to be at the tennis court, as well, then I think I might . . . play with her, beforehand. . . ."
"H-Hey, wait up, you guys! I call dibs on beating the snot out of Kris first! But if that Maria girl happens to be at the tennis court, as well, then I think I might . . . play with her, beforehand. . . ."
"W-Whoa, someone's in a rush to get to the tennis court . . . geez," Beth remarked within brief observation, barely dodging the tall, fellow camper, who honestly passed by within a blur while nearly plowing her over within the process. She then slowly raised a dark eyebrow as a slightly confused expression formed upon her face. "Hey, wait . . . you know, that girl actually kinda looked like you, Kalila . . . well, except with longer hair, I think. You wouldn't happen to have a twin floating around here you didn't bother telling us about, would you?"
At this, Kalila, who had been busy carefully retying the laces of her left, paint splattered sneaker, began to chuckle as she momentarily raised her previously bent head to look up at the stout brunette standing next to her.
"Umm, no, don't think so, Beth. I mean, not unless my dad's been keeping some seriously deep rooted secrets from me this entire time, which would totally contradict his 'No-Lie' policy that we have at our house . . . and why, thanks to that, I'm practically incapable of telling anything other than the truth at all times," she replied with a shake of her strawberry blonde colored head, returning her attention back to her shoelaces.
Beth's brows lightly furrowed a moment as she continued to watch the random girl in question practically race down the gravelly path in the distance behind them, before giving a shrug and returning her full attention back onto her two friends at her side.
"Huh. If you say so. But I swear I thought I was seeing double for a second . . . and hearing double, too, since she also kinda sounded like you, too," she continued to insist, before waving a hand within dismissal over the entire matter, clearly already over it. "Eh. So, anyway, who's super excited for Tubing next hour at our second activity? I tried it once two summers ago when my family and I went to Myrtle Beach, and it was sooo much fun, you guys!"
"Well, hey. If Kalila's as good at that as she apparently was at swimming earlier today like you told me, Beth, then we'd better prepare ourselves for some more showing off – Right, Picasso? Oh, wait, can't really call you that anymore, can I, since you're now stuck wearing these boring uniforms like the rest of us – At least until each 'Casual Friday' here, anyway," a previously quiet Lindsay teased with a light nudge at Kalila's side, just as she finally stood back up from off of the ground. "What's it that they say about artists or something when they can't be creative and stuff? That their soul dies or whatever? Bet that's how you must be feeling right now, huh?"
If Kalila hadn't been spending the last few hours since her arrival at camp with both girls, thus gradually getting to know each of them and their individual temperaments bit by bit, she would most probably take a bit of offense, before promptly going on the defense, despite her natural desire to avoid direct confrontation.
However, whenever it came to her love of art and other, more offbeat talents, she was never one to back down from setting the record straight . . . especially considering it was something she'd frequently have to do a lot of back home and at school, after all.
Instead, Kalila merely smiled warmly and sighed, dusting her hands off before reaching up to blinding readjust the two, tiny pigtail buns on either side of her strawberry blonde colored head.
"Well, at least I can still more or less comb my hair however I want . . . although I'm gonna have to try to not go overboard with my usual creativity. . . ." she trailed off as she was evidently lost within thought, momentarily thinking up the different ways she could style her short locks without overdoing it, as she was usually prone. She then lightly shook her head and smiled again as she pressed on, her lightly tawny complexion beginning to redden. "And, I uh . . . I really wasn't trying to show off or anything during our assessment test, you guys, honest. I know you said you're on a swim team back home, Beth, and really enjoy that, so I don't want you to think I was trying to compete with you. . . . I just . . . really like swimming, too, and am naturally gifted at it. . . ."
Beth playfully scoffed at this, rolling her similarly colored eyes as Kalila's as the trio then resumed their trek to their first activity of the day.
"And you're sure you're not trying to rub it in that I got creamed by you?"
"W-What? N-No, of course not! I-I just . . . ugh! There goes my 'fatal flaw' of being a bit too blunt with my unavoidable honesty . . . which does tend to get me into a lot of trouble back home with my other friends and family," Kalila effortlessly confessed with a shamefaced grin, momentarily worried she might have permanently offended her newest acquaintance, before relaxing once she'd caught sight of both Beth and Lindsay smirking back at her.
"I wouldn't sweat it, K – I'm calling you 'K' from now on, by the way, at least until every Friday when you most likely turn back into Picasso. You'll be the perfect balance for me, seeing as I tend to lie through my teeth a bit too much – I mean, ya gotta sometimes, with my crazy house filled with two older brothers who're usually just waiting for any excuse to clobber you if they ever find out you'd been messing with their baseball card collection," the dirty blonde tomboy reassured with a broader smile, absentmindedly beginning to pick at a small scab which had formed across her left elbow.
Beth nodded, herself, stretching out her slightly chubby arms out in front of her, before then stuffing her hands into the pockets of her dark blue colored shorts.
"In all honesty, myself, sure, I was a bit peeved at first to have technically lost, – I mean, seeing as I guess that wasn't really a race, or anything. But I was at least a lot better than this one girl who was taking the test the same time as me . . . should've seen her. . . . Anyway, it might be nice to have someone around who's so good at swimming: You can help me get even better, and ready to kick some major butt by the time these eight weeks are up, by competing against me during our free time every day!"
At this Kalila stopped short before shyly shaking her head and slightly tucked it down.
"O-Oh, um, well, see . . . the thing is, I'm not too big on competition, Beth . . . on sports in general, actually. I mean, I really enjoy bike riding, and am really good at swimming like I said, but . . . when I swim, the reason I do and so much back home is because . . . well. . . ." she trailed off, unsure of how to continue, or really if she should.
Truth be told, not even her own father, someone she was rather close to, nor the rest of her small, extended family really knew the precise reason why Kalila enjoyed her swimming pastime, almost to the point of obsession.
Granted, thankfully no one had ever really ventured to properly ask about it, either, most likely figuring that it was merely another thing the young preteen excelled at and honestly just like to do, much like her art.
But, should she bother explaining herself, now? Would her friends even understand if she did?
It wasn't honestly like Kalila was actively trying to conceal the true nature behind her swimming, not that she could, anyhow, given her profound inability to lie, after all. And it wasn't as though she were fully adverse toward ever letting anyone know, either . . . it just was, again, simply a bit difficult to put into words.
Well . . . first time for everything, the tall girl mused, licking her lips slowly before continuing on with her original train of thought.
". . . . O-Okay, it's like this. Whenever I swim . . . I just kinda sort of feel really close, or . . . connected. Like . . . not in a 'connected to the Earth,' crazy hippie sort of thing or way, no . . . but, more like, to some sort of . . . unknown force," Kalila explained slowly, honestly beginning to confuse even herself as she was sure she was succeeding within doing to her companions.
Sure enough, Lindsay was the first to speak, her tanned face beginning to scrunch up deeply.
"'Unknown force?' What, like aliens or something? . . . . What? Me and my cousin sometimes watch some of those UFO sighting shows," she ventured what appeared to be an honest guess, apparently far more open minded to the unexplained than Kalila had originally pegged otherwise.
Beth, meanwhile, seemed to be finding the current topic of discussion a bit too over her head, as she then simply removed both hands from out of her pockets and raised them into the air.
"Wooo, it's all too much for me, you guys, sorry I said anything, Kalila! But I mean, if you just meant it like, 'Oh, when I swim, I feel super relaxed and at one while in the water' or whatever, then I totally get you on that, since I always feel the same way," the brunette stated with a small nod and smile, suddenly beginning to power walk. "Now, let's hurry to this pottery class you convinced us to try out, already, Kalila, so we can finnnally get to my tubing activity afterward!"
Feeling utterly relieved that neither girl apparently thought any less of her, or that she'd suddenly grown another head, Kalila was all too happy to allow the previous, admittedly private subject drop as both she and Lindsay followed suit with dual grins.
"Yeah, yeah, we're coming! And don't' forget that you two get to come with me and go zip lining after that!" the friendly tomboy declared in between the trio's sudden fits of giggles, as they continued on toward the direction of their first destination of their soon-to-be long, first afternoon at Camp Ashokan For Girls.
"Ughh, I am starving! Thank God for lunchtime – Finally!"
"Not that I wasn't thoroughly enjoying kicking both your guys' butts at basketball, I do have to agree that these last three hours did seem to drag on for ages, didn't it?"
"Yeah, yeah, we get it, Al – You really are pretty awesome at sports, fine, so drop it, already! Now, let's quit the yammering and get a place in line, before we end up waiting straight until dinnertime just to have our lunch! I gotta have some tilk!"
". . . . 'Tilk?'" Alazne stopped short upon entering the already bustling dining hall later on that afternoon, upon completion of every camper's third activity period, for the life of her unable to figure out whatever it was her curious friend was referring to.
Megan, however, appeared to understand perfectly well within contrast, as she promptly seized hold of Alazne's slim wrist and led her to the beverage area. She then gingerly reached over a random camper's shoulder in order to grab a small carton of milk, before handing it to an eagerly awaiting Kristen.
"Tilk, yes. It's just milk mixed with iced tea, hence the 'T' in front of the word. It's just a random concoction Kris enjoys drinking from time to time back home . . . along with many other random 'mix and matches.' Do I need to mention once again that my friend here can be a bit on the weird side? Prepare to be amazed with the things she's most probably about to 'create' today, Al, like her tendency to dip chocolate chip cookies inside some nacho cheese," Megan explained lightheartedly with a small shudder, leaving Kristen at the short, but growing beverage line in order to join the fruit bar queue across the way.
Shaking her head, Alazne gave a small chuckle at this newfound information, before turning within the opposite direction to take her place at the actual, hot lunch line.
"Oh, hey, Alazne! So I was just telling my friend, Laurie, here, that you seriously know Irma Lair and are like, her adopted, secret daughter or something, but she doesn't believe me! Could you tell us the whole rundown again? And don't leave out any details!" Kalila could vaguely hear some random, mutual camper say from the other side of the lunch buffet station before her, as she, Lindsay, and Beth each carried their partially filled trays along with them.
She wasn't honestly certain as to why, but suddenly Kalila felt a strong urge to listen to the otherwise unimportant conversation, or at least see the faces of the individuals having it; however, with all of the variously stacked plates, trays and other dining items currently within her way from where she stood, the only thing she could do was listen.
"Oh, gee –! Again, Tracy? I mean, there is more to me than just 'that girl who's non-blood – Or legally – related to the upcoming superstar and model, Irma Lair,' you know. And it's 'Al,' remember, not Alazne," Kalila overheard, none of what the new voice was saying even remotely registering, as she did not know who this 'Irma Lair' was and, in all honesty, did not find that that mattered.
It wasn't what the other, unseen girl was saying, anyhow, but how she was saying it . . . or rather, her voice in general.
. . . . W-What the? Why does she sound . . . . like me? the creative girl thought with mounting confusion, her mind immediately going back to earlier within the day, to the throwaway conversation she'd shared with Beth about possibly having an unknown twin.
As though having read her thoughts, the girl in question suddenly veered her attention away from the conversation she was previously sharing with Lindsay as she then asked, "Hmm? Did you say something, Kalila?"
Jumping within surprise, Kalila quickly shook her head and turned around slightly to face the shorter girl behind her.
"N-No, Beth . . . I didn't," she replied, unintentionally putting slight emphasis upon the pronoun as her mind became more and more unfocused, while her entire body curiously began to feel rather anxious . . . almost as though something were about to happen.
"Are you sure you didn't? Because now I'm hearing your voice . . . it's like surround sound, or something," Lindsay joked with a scratch of her head, before reaching across the lunch buffet with a pair of serving tongs in hand in order to grab a random Grilled Cheese sandwich from off of the breaded, gooey pile before her.
Kalila didn't bother answering, as she honestly began to feel as though within a daze, her feet mindlessly carrying her further down the line while her ears practically burned as they strained to listen further to the conversation on the other side of the buffet station being carried on by someone who, quite frankly, sounded impossibly too much like her.
But . . . how? she wondered within desperation, doing her absolute best to block out Beth's honestly innocent 'long lost twin' notion, which she knew within her heart to obviously be incorrect, as Kalila was an only child.
However, the longer she had to wait before she could finally get past the pillar of dishes which were still before her, the less crazy the notion was becoming. . . .
Or maybe it's just a really stupid coincidence, Kalila somehow managed to silently rationalize for a brief, shining moment, although her emotions continued to otherwise betray her, almost egging her on as though they knew something she did not. Just one more row of kitchen debris and we'll finally get to see who's been doing a pretty good imitation of me. . . .
". . . . And that's it, that's the end of it, I promise you. My Aunt Irma isn't really my aunt, but I do know her – Since I was, like a toddler, I think. She's the famous one, not me, although I guess if you knew me back home then you, and a lot of my friends there might disagree, heh heh . . . and, uh . . . what else. Oh, right! If I get one more request to leak her email, or phone number, I'm gonna scream!" Alazne finished her slightly long winded tale, for what felt like the umpteenth time that day, with a small giggle, although she was admittedly growing rather impatient with some of the random campers, and their continued obsession with her surrogate aunt.
Maybe next year if I decide to come back I'll just let Aunt Irma come in my place, just to make it easier on everyone . . . even if she was right: It's definitely the conversation starter, the tomboy mused with a roll of her eyes and faint smirk, before sliding her still empty tray further down the lunch line and past the mountain of plates which had been previously obstructing her view.
"Yeah, okay, okay, we won't anymore, Al! But could you at least tell us what it was like to ride inside her limousine? I've never been in one before – It must have been pretty awesome!" Alazne listened to the girl she had only just met that previous hour, Tracy, eagerly ask, feeling a bit relieved that it was at least a question not entirely focused upon her aunt.
Grabbing onto a random, unattended pair of tongs, Alazne briefly turned her attention back to the giddy redhead, before beginning to outfit her bare plate with some steak and baked ziti.
"Well, on a scale of one to ten, Tracy, it's definitely up -" she jovially began as she blindly reached for a piece of meat before turning her head back toward the steaming buffet in order to properly see what she was doing . . . and honestly lost both her appetite, as well as her voice.
For there, straight across from her on the other side of the buffet station and staring right back at her was . . . herself.
- End of Chapter Three
(A.N. Yayyyy, done! They finally met . . . kinda. LoL You know what I mean. Anyway! It's been really fun to write in all of my old childhood friends into this story, minus the randomly named/made up Tracy. I kinda feel like I'm back in school, as well as back at camp, myself. =) And I hope I didn't terribly gross out anyone during the 'Tilk' and 'Nacho Chocolate Chip Cookies' bit – That was just something Kris and I really did like to do at lunchtime back in high school . . . which would always gross out our fellow friends, except the more 'brave' ones who'd eventually give our various concoctions a shot, and realize it was no biggie. LoL Next time you Lovelies have some nacho cheese dip and cookies on hand, totally give it a try! It's a nice, zesty/salty/sweet mix, which is pleasing to the tongue, and . . . yeah. LoL
What else, what else . . . oh right. Not sure how summer camps work nowadays, but when I went I also had the 'pleasure' of looking forward of taking my swim assessment test which, like Al, I sucked at. =p I lovvvvvvvvvves me some swimming and swimming pools in general, except . . . I can't really swim much. LoL Neither can my sister, who also loves 'swimming,' so she just kinda awkwardly grabs the edge of the pool most of the time, while I usually threaten to pull her underwater because I'm clinging onto HER, instead. I'm bad. LoL
Uhhh . . . oh! Before anyone might wonder, lemme just say ahead of time that nope, Kalila's 'odd' connection to the water which she can't explain is because she's the next Water Guardian or something, we'll just squash that theory outright. =p
And also, I WAS going to do something via the remake of T.P.T. in terms of how the twins would first meet, but considering Kalila isn't big on general sports/competition, it'd be a bit out of character for her to curiously be able to beat the snot out of Alazne, whom, as we all saw, 'loves' to make it known that she's a bad ass at athletics. LoL
So, instead, I chose the original movie's route, with the girls just innocently meeting during lunchtime within the dining hall, the way Sharon and Susan had. =)
Whether or not they'll instantly 'hate' each other like both movie versions, well . . . we'll see. ;p
Hmm . . . meTHINKS that's all I wanted to cover in this post-A.N. . . . I REALLY hate when I remember while writing/editing, and then come time to write out this A.N. and BOOM! Forgot. LoL
Whatever! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, as we get ready for the next update! =) )