AN: Okay, this chapter covers the rest of Monday-day, and next chapter will probably be my version of Monday night/Tuesday morning. Yay! Still don't own my bed, but we're making plans on that. ^_~ And yes, the part in the beginning is taken almost verbatim from one of my days at camp.
Shouts!
Cassie: Of course nothing happened, what kind of girl do you take me for? And yes, I had to throw one balloon, hard, at the wall at the pool before it broke. Jem didn't believe me. And yes, I got thrown in the pool. It actually happens not as often as I would've thought, given my size and throwability. See you the 11th!
Luna: I don't know why it reminds you of me and Pete at all. ^_~ You're not really in this chapter, but I'm working on. Like I said, I really only see you guys a few times a day, so it's hard to write that. I'll work on yours soon enough. ^_^
Gryff: First off, there were campers! I couldn't have him do that in front of the campers. It's just not right. And sides, I got to glomp him. That's worth everything right there. ^_^ And you'd better keep writing that damned thing of yours. Otherwise I'll be pissed.
Maddie: Okay hon, first things first. Don't get in trouble at school because of me. And second, one review per chapter! Or at least, make them different reviews. ^_^ Yes, you children needed taught about PFDs. They're a pain in my butt too. Oh yes, and you're quite evil in this chapter. I think you have it in for all of us counselors (at least the way we're writing you).
"Slide?" The question, asked in a childishly innocent voice, broke through Artemis' thoughts on what to write next. She looked up to see Pixie, dripping wet and crouching next to her as she (Artemis) was laying out on the deck.
"Pixie, I'm writing right now." Artemis turned back to her little notebook.
"Slide?" Artemis shook her head. The voice turned slightly mournful. "Slide?" Artemis sighed. She always fell for these kinds of things. Stupid guilt complex. As Pixie began to go back to the pool, Arty stood, took off her sunglasses, and checked to make sure she didn't have anything that water could damage on.
"Slide?" she called to Pixie. The older girl turned around.
"Slide?" she asked. Artemis nodded.
"Slide."
Pixie whooped. "Slide!" The two raced (while still walking-there were campers in the water) around to the water slide and took their places in the line. While Pixie was in the water, it was not her unit's swim time. That had been earlier in the afternoon. Now, Christy's girls were enjoying the refreshing water on the blazing afternoon. As the pair reached the top of the stairs, Artemis grinned and sighed loudly.
"I don't know how these campers can go that slow on the slide," she said, almost winking at Pixie. The older girl picked up the hint.
"I thought they went pretty fast, Artemis." Arty shook her head.
"They're slow, Pix. They just don't know how to do it." Their conversation had caught the attention of several nearby campers, and the girls at the front of the line waved Artemis and Pixie to the front.
"We want to see how you do it, Artemis," one said.
"Yeah, show us!" The adorable little girls all responded enthusiastically to this, and Artemis shrugged.
"Okay," she said as she gripped the swing bar and placed her feet strategically on the back portion of the basin. Looking to see that all was clear in the water below, she swung almost violently from the bar and landed with a thump on the slide. She quickly propped herself up on her right forearm and hip, providing minimal contact with the slide and speeding her down it. This also curved her back along the single turn on the small slide. She landed with a splash at the bottom to cheers from above.
Standing in the splash zone, she called out, "That's how you go down the slide!"
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Snitch, sitting guard in the shallow end chair, tried not to keep an obvious eye on Artemis. Ever since that morning, he'd had a lot to think about. For some reason, it seemed like she was picking on him, but it was a teasing kind of thing. Almost like she was deliberately trying to get him to notice her. He hated to admit it, but it was working, if that was her plan. He kept a scowl from his face and continued scanning the water. It wouldn't do to scare the campers.
Something else nagged at him. When he'd picked her up earlier, just before lunch, to throw her in the pool, he hadn't really wanted to let go. Something about her just felt…right. Sighing, he checked the clock for the fifth time in as many minutes and decided it was time for Last Call.
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"So, do anyone else gots anytin ta say?"
Snitch felt the need to say something about the way he'd felt earlier but Specs beat him to speaking.
"Have any a you'se hoid anyt'in 'bout Luthien?" Specs was never really one to speak out unless necessary, so the other boys gave his question a good deal of thought.
"Not really," Crutchy said after a brief silence. "I know she's quiet, and she likes ta read." He looked at Specs apologetically. "Dat's all I knows." The other guys nodded in agreement. Luthien was one of the mysteries of camp, and it seemed Specs was a bit determined to discover her secrets.
Snitch sighed as the group broke up after that. It seemed he wouldn't get to talk to the guys about it until later.
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The grace: Stuffed Crust Pizza Grace.
The problem: camp no longer had any stuffed crust pizza. It was homemade now.
The solution: change one word in the grace
Artemis held up her hand, signaling for quiet. It didn't work. Sighing, she grabbed her whistle from where it was tied to her belt loops. The small, red Foxx40 whistle seemed innocuous but in actually produced enough sound to be heard at a wave pool. She put it to her lips and blew. Hard. The resulting noise created instant silence. Clamly, she place the whistle around her neck and spoke loudly to the snaked line of campers. "Okay girls, we're going to teach you grace tonight, which is the Homemade Pizza Grace. We're going to sing it, and then sing it line by line, and then everyone'll sing it together, the same way we teach almost every song here." Artemis glanced to the sides to make sure there were others waiting to sing the grace.
"Homemade pizza is the bomb
I could eat it all day long.
Pepperoni or just cheese
Thank you God for feeding me."
A quick round of teaching that grace, and then staff entered the dining to stake their claims on hoppers and dining partners. Artemis found herself heading a table hoppered by Maddie (who was an interesting story in her own right) and footed by Snitch. She resigned herself to being ready for an interesting meal.
At some point during the meal, Maddie cast her a sly glance. "Artemis," she began, "do you have a boyfriend right not?" Artemis felt at the same time a sadness and intense incredulation.
"Maddie!" she cried, her eyes widening. "No, I don't have a boyfriend. I haven't had one since March." The last part got her thinking about things she'd tried so hard to forget.
Maddie looked disappointed. Artemis quirked an eyebrow at her, and the younger girl answered. "I bet Cassie that you and Snitch were going out." Both Head and Foot of the table cried out in indignation, eyes wide with shock. Maddie giggled madly as half the dining hall turned to stare at them. Artemis buried her head in her hands and in a small voice assigned post-meal jobs. As soon as the table was cleaned, Artemis bolted for her tent.
That conversation had brought up things she wasn't too sure about. Snitch had been giving her odd looks all the rest of the meal, too, as if he were thinking about what Maddie said too. She reclined on her Golden Bed and spent some time thinking.
After the fiasco that had happened in March, she knew she didn't want to risk her heart like that again. At least, not yet. But there was something about Snitch that made her want to do just that. He wasn't really cute, not in the modern sense. He had a kind of charm, and it was the kind that screamed "I'm your type" to her. And he did look good in a suit… She grinned at the mental image that produced. Okay, so she was attracted to him, and wouldn't mind spending more time around him, but that didn't mean she wanted a boyfriend!
The sounds of Laurel Oaks returning to the unit broke her concentration, and she walked to the front of her tent to see what was going on. Swifty, apparently having time off, had decided to escort Rain back to her unit, much to the delight of the hopelessly romantic campers. Getting into the spirit of things, Artemis catcalled from her tent. She laughed when Rain blushed a bit and Swifty winked rougishly at her. She called "Behave yourselves, you two!" across the unit and ducked back into her tent. Life was good when she got to tease her unit staff.
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Snitch is a really good dancer. The thought, while innocuous in and of itself, caused Artemis to check herself. She sat in the back row of the Amp, watching the Newsies perform "The World Will Know." What she hadn't realized until then was that she wasn't watching anyone on stage except for Snitch. She bowed her head in thought, and didn't notice when the subject of said thoughts sat down next to her.
"Artemis?" His voice broke through to her and while she didn't exactly raise her head to look at him, he held her undivided attention. Trying not to show this, however, she grunted noncommittally.
"You'se okay?" He notices me was her first thought.
"Yeah," she replied. "Just tired. It's been a long day." Out of the corner of her eye she saw him nod agreement. Testing a small theory forming in the back of her head, she leaned her shoulder and head against him, gauging his reaction. He merely sat still, as if unsure about what to do. Arty sighed internally. It had been too much to hope that he'd do something either way about it.
She stood and stretched, cracking her back in the process. Turning and smiling at Snitch, she offered him a hand. "I'm heading over to the Haven to see what's up, wanna come?"
"Shoah," he said, taking her hand and walking with her to the staff house.
The movie playing at that moment was Legally Blonde and Artemis nearly sighed. She really had no desire to see the movie but at the same time not enough energy to hike up to Mary. After a quick decision, she made a trip to the bathrooms and then went to her tent, joining Storm and Luna in their quest for lots of sleep.
Meanwhile, back in the Haven, Hermione began interrogating Snitch. "What was that?" Snitch just looked confused.
"What was what?" he asked. Sometimes these girls made very little sense to him.
Hermione gestured toward Snitch, the door, and Laurel Oaks. "That. The whole you and Artemis thing. What's going on there?" Despite himself, Snitch blushed.
"Nuttin'. We'se just talk a lot." Hermione snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Uh-huh, and Guido's just a raccoon." The staff sitting nearby, namely Pixie, Scout, Willow, and Vash, all laughed, minus Vash who felt he was above such things.** Snitch, Bumlets, and Specs looked at them in confusion.
"Who's Guido?" Bumlets asked. Willow, as most senior staff member, giggled as she answered.
"Guido's the camp 'coon. He likes to get into garbage cans and Pack Out rooms as well as digging through book bags and plastic containers of food. He has a thing for eating feminine products, but I'm sure you don't want to hear about that."
Snitch thought about her answer, and then blushed even harder as he realized what Hermione had actually said. Mortified, he left quickly to the laughing of almost everyone else there.***
End chapter 3**In reality, he was too busy watching the movie and fantasizing to respond.
***This group did not include Vash, for the reason stated above.
Now what I need you all to do is be really, really nice and tell me what you think!