The rain poured outside the Woodchuck cabin. Emma and Zuri had gone to a slasher-movie marathon with some other campers inside the mess hall. Tiffany had refused to go with them stating she never wanted to see another scary movie again after Timmy's scary prank last year. Lou had volunteered to stay behind with Tiffany, which seemed normal to the camper. What had seemed strange was that Lou also invited Hazel over too.
For the past three hours, the three girls sat at a round table in the center of the cabin. Tiffany was dressed in black leggings and her Violina costume. Hazel wore her invisible cloak and sparkly blue hair ties around her pigtails. The table was covered in game pieces and cards along with some snacks and drinks.
"How many times do we have to tell you, Lou! You can't do those moves!" Tiffany threw her hands in the air as much as her Violina costume would allow and let out a frustrated sigh.
"Yeah, Lou-ser!" Hazel half-shouted as she crossed her arms and leaned backward in her chair so that it balanced on its hind legs. "Follow the guidebook!"
"The guidebook is nine hundred pages!" Lou shouted back. She slapped her hands on the table and scooted her chair back. She squeezed her eyes shut. "This is hopeless."
"It sure is," Hazel muttered as she grabbed a handful of chips from the bowl. Some of the potato crumbs littered the table and the front of her cloak.
Tiffany rearranged the game pieces on the board as she asked, "Why do you even want to learn how to play? You're not going to be very good at it." She looked up at Lou and saw the counselor frowning at her. She amended, "At least not for a while. But lucky for you, I'm a great teacher."
"Hmm," Hazel grunted as she grabbed her can of soda. She gulped some down and then burped.
"Eww." Tiffany grimaced. "Like I said, Lou. I'm a great teacher."
"Thanks, Tiff," Lou sighed as she folded her hands in her lap. She was wearing a headband that made it look like she had cat ears and she had used mascara to draw whiskers on her face for her character.
"We've been practicing for hours," Hazel said, dramatically throwing her head back. "That's only fun if you've got real players." She lifted her head and narrowed her eyes at Lou. "Not amateur hour over here."
"Maybe this was a bad idea." Lou crossed her arms and balanced them on the edge of the table. She lowered her chin to her arms and stared hopelessly at the game pieces.
Tiffany organized some cards and said calmly, "Hazel, if you're not going to be supportive, then you have to leave. Only positive reinforcement in my classroom."
"You spritzed her with this spray bottle earlier," Hazel argued as she lifted a green bottle and sprayed water into the air.
Lou automatically flinched. She murmured, "Yeah, that was pretty negative."
"Well now there will only be positive reinforcement in my classroom," Tiffany said with a pointed look at Hazel.
"Whatever. I'm out," Hazel said in a bored tone. She leaned forward so that her chair landed on all fours. She grabbed the chip bowl and then lifted herself from her seat to leave. "This is pointless."
"No!" Lou shouted with wide eyes as she grabbed Hazel's arm and tugged her back down. "I need both of you. You guys are really good at this game, and if I want to be good, then I need all the help I can get!"
Hazel snatched her arm from Lou's grasp and stared at her. Tiffany looked from Lou to Hazel and then back again. Lou's face flushed with embarrassment. She lowered her gaze and removed her cat ears.
"Wow, Lou. You're really passionate about Mega Mutants," Tiffany said with a bit of surprise in her voice. She tilted her head and studied her friend's nervous expression.
Lou fiddled with the cat ears and twitched her mascara whiskers. She gave a not-at-all-casual shrug and stammered, "I've heard it's a hoot of a time."
Tiffany and Hazel gave Lou disbelieving looks.
"Well I have!" Lou cleared her throat and scooted closer to the table. "Now, what are the dice for again?"
Lou hoped the other girls would move on with the game lesson. She didn't want to talk about the reason why she wanted to learn the complicated game or why she waited until the Ross sisters were out of the room to explore her new interest.
Tiffany opened her mouth to speak, but Hazel shushed her by holding up her hand. The pigtailed counselor crouched and leaned forward across the table towards Lou. Her piercing eyes were laser focused on the Woodchuck counselor.
"I know what this is," Hazel said in an accusatory tone. She sniffed the air and then gave Lou an evil grin. "I can smell your desperation."
Lou felt frozen with fear. She held her breath as if that could keep Hazel from smelling whatever emotions that she didn't want smelled.
"Why do you have to be so creepy all the time?" Tiffany said, giving Hazel a side-eyed look.
Hazel ignored the camper. She raised her eyebrow so that it nearly reached her hairline. She deepened her voice to be extra dramatic and declared, "Lou's in love with the geek."
"The geek?" Tiffany asked, looking to Hazel for confirmation.
"The one we all know and Lou loves... Ronnie," Hazel grinned teasingly in Lou's direction. She turned to wiggle her brows at Tiffany, but the Woodchuck gave her a blank look. Hazel sighed and rolled her eyes. "It's Ravi Ross, Tiffany. You're dweeby little buddy. Lou's got the hots for him."
Lou wanted to melt down and seep through the cracks in the cabin floor. Anything not to be on the other side of Hazel's condemning gaze. The Woodchuck counsel gulped. She chanced a look in Tiffany's direction, but that was the final blow. She could tell by the look on her camper's face that any hope she had of denying the truth was gone. Lou's panicked look and guilty eyes had given away her crush.
Tiffany awkwardly drummed her fingers on the table. "So… You don't actually care about Mega Mutants. You're just learning how to play to impress Ravi?"
"Yeah," Lou mumbled.
She waited for the taunting. She knew Hazel lived to get on her nerves and make fun of her. Tiffany might laugh at her too, even though Ravi was her friend. For a second Lou feared that one or both of them might tell Ravi the truth. That she was pathetically trying to cram as many hours as possible into one afternoon to try and learn a game just to impress a guy that asked out every girl but her.
"Alright, time for more game play rules. We've only got a few hours left of the movie marathon before Zuri and Emma show back up," Tiffany said. She nodded at the headband on the table and added, "Better put your ears back on, Lou. It helps get you in character."
"Yeah, pay attention, Lou-ser," Hazel said. She grabbed a stack of cards and spread them out on the table. "These are the skills you are allowed to choose from. If I were you, I would only pick three of these seven."
"Oh, you will definitely want this one," Tiffany said pointing at one of the cards.
Lou put on her cat ears and smiled, grateful that her friend and frenemy were helping her instead of teasing her about her crush. She paid attention and nodded along to the instruction, hopeful that one day she might be able to play at least one game with the person she wanted to impress.