Ahhh! I know I know...it's been FOREVER since I last updated.
Would it help if I pleaded for forgiveness? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
PLEASE PLEEEEEEEEEASE forgive me!
I want every one of my chapters to rise to their full potential
and this one proved to be extremely difficult to get out considering
the personal aspects of it involving a certain male character (3
guesses who I'm referring to). I sincerely hope it was worth the
wait!
Enjoy :)
"Camp Kiwachee"
Chapter 6: The End of Camp Kiwachee?
Author: Adrial
E-mail: Adrial_06@yahoo.com
Rating: PG-PG13
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Serena cupped her hands in the icy water
and threw it over her face without thinking. She
shivered at the shot of chills that raced down her
spine from the sudden freezing sensation and rubbed
her fingers around her eyes and forehead.
When her eyes opened again, she bit down the
tears that welled behind them and forced her lips to
stop trembling.
"Sere? Are you alright in there?" The concerned
voice filtered into her ears in muddled waves of sound,
but she didn't bother responding for a moment.
How could I have been so stupid? She mentally
berated herself and patted her face dry with an itchy
towel. Her hair dripped rivulets of water down her bare
shoulders and ended in a mass of wet tangles at her
waist, and she stared at it, seemingly unable to muster
the energy to comb them out.
When the door to the bathroom creaked open and
Raye's head popped through, she sniffed surreptitiously
and smiled a small, wavering smile. Raye's lips curved
slightly, and she entered, her white bathrobe slung over
her shoulder.
"I just wanted to see if--" She paused, seeming
to lose the words of comfort she'd had so clearly thought
out before.
Serena's eyes fought to release the rivers of
salty emotion that pushed behind her eyelids, but she
wiped her face with the towel once more and sighed.
"I'm fine, Raye, really," She failed to convince
even herself with her shaky tone.
Raye wasn't one to be fooled, and she reached over
to envelope her friend in her arms.
"No, you're not. Don't even try to lie to me," She
laughed a little and brought Serena out at arm's length.
Serena sniffed again, fighting in the losing
battle she waged with her emotions. Raye's amtheyst eyes
softened, something she was unaccustomed to doing unless
in the presence of those she truly cared about.
"Come on," She gestured to the door and ushered
Serena out of it and into the girls' cabin.
She grabbed her wide-toothed comb and plopped onto
her bunk, patting her lap.
Serena rolled her eyes, smiling at her friend's
sudden change in personality, but obliged and let her head
fall heavily onto her lap.
Raye lifted the mass of blonde from behind Serena's neck
and began to comb out the knots.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked softly after
a few minutes.
Serena's closed eyes opened slowly and she shook her
head slightly.
"Not now, Raye."
Raye cast her eyes down on Serena's head and
nodded slowly, her hands still moving the comb through
Serena's hair in fluid strokes.
She had only a slight clue of what had gone
down the afternoon before between her former crush and
the depressingly sad girl resting in her lap. But she knew
when a subject needn't be pushed and respected Serena's
feelings--however confusing they were.
------------------------------------------------------
"Are you sure she's alright, Raye? I mean," Mina
lowered her voice to a whisper, "She's so broken up about
it."
Raye sighed at the table and poured another glob of
glue into Alexis' paper bowl. The tiny girl giggled in delight
and submerged her spongebrush in the white goop, smothering
her popsicle stick with it.
"I dunno guys..." Raye wiped her hands off with a wet
papertowel and picked at the glue under her fingernails.
Amy frowned, looking at Lita. She shrugged, as sure of
what to do as any of them.
"We've got to do *something*, guys," Mina announced,
her heart aching for her friend.
"What could we possibly do, Mina?" Raye said, a little
more agitated than she meant, but Mina went on, unphazed by
her tone.
"Something, something, something..." She trailed off.
After a few seconds of deliberation, her cerulean eyes
sparkled and lit up like birthday candles. She dunked a popsicle
stick into the tub of glue and pursed her lips to hum the theme
to Mission Impossible.
As her humming escalated in volume, the three counselors
eyed eachother wearily and smacked more sticks onto their bird
houses.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"OUCH!" Jason yelped, masaging his rear end tenderly,
"How many times do I have to tell you guys that I-AM-*NOT*-THE
DONKEY!"
Timmy burst into giggles and high fived his mirror image
with a sticky palm. He peeled off the mask that was tied around
his head and exchanged it with Tommy for the original. Tommy laughed
secretively as he took the see-through mask from his brother.
Timmy handed Alex the blue cloth and watched as he twirled
around in circles.
Jason glared at the twins and wrestled with Tommy for the trick
mask.
"Give-it-to-me!" He strained, mentally shocked at the grip
the six year old had.
Tommy struggled for a while and then smirked.
Jason landed promptly on his already throbbing ass shortly
after.
Zach erupted into laughter, chuckling harder as he bent to help
his steaming friend off the floor.
Jason scoffed and rose on his own, "If Rosemary's babies
try to stick me with that pin ONE MORE TIME--"
"You'll be sitting on a pillow for a month," Matt laughed
as he finished painting a growling lion on Bobby's cheek.
"Yeah well, how 'bout I knock that ugly monkey off your face
for you?" Jason threatened, and Matt scoffed, bringing his hand to
the brown blob on his left cheek.
"It's a *kangaroo*."
Jason rolled his eyes and rubbed his butt, glaring daggers
inwardly.
Mustn't hurt children. Mustn't hurt children.
Darien smiled disdainfully from beside him. He even tried to
round up a chuckle or two, but failed miserably.
Matt looked at him and clapped his shoulder, "Don't worry
about it, Dare."
Darien shrugged it off, "I'm not."
"I'm sure it'll all smooth over, and she'll forget *all*
about it by the end of the week," Matt offered.
Darien appreciated his attempt to help, but couldn't
shake the foreboding feeling that had nestled itself in his stomach
and refused to leave ever since the afternoon before.
"Yo, Kyle, you mind helping out here or are you going to
sulk all day?" Zach threw a paint brush at Kyle's head and missed.
Kyle deepened the scowl that seemed to have been permanently
engraved on his face for the past two days and dug his fingernails
into his palms to keep from flipping him off.
He opted for a kid-friendly glare and slumped back into
the gray world of broken egos.
She threw apple juice in my face...
-----------------------------------------------------------
Serena lifted the hair off of her sweaty neck and pulled
it back into a loose ponytail as she walked.
The dusty door to Karen's office creaked open when she
shoved it lightly, and she slumped into it.
"Kare? Are you in here?" She called, hoping that the
carefree woman hadn't been too broken up.
"Kare?" She stepped over a group of boxes and eyed them
dismally.
"I'm back here, Serena."
Karen's voice startled her, and she jumped. When she
found Karen, bent over a pile of papers, Serena could barely
control the tears that stung her eyes.
"I-I just wanted to see if you were alright..."
Karen waved a hand in the air dismissively, rounding up
a bright smile for the guilt-ridden girl.
"Just tying up some loose ends, that's all," She patted
the ground beside her and shoved a stack of papers out of the way
for Serena to sit.
Serena drew her knees up to her chest and turned her eyes
towards the ceiling.
"This isn't fair, Karen. She shouldn't be doing this just
because of me," A spark lit in her sapphire eyes, and she dug her
nails into her knees.
Karen sighed dejectedly and shrugged, "What's done is done,
Sere. We'll find another way to--"
"No, Karen! This is my fault, and I'm not going to just sit
around and watch you give up everything you've been working for so
long to keep!" Her passionate rage filled the tiny office, and she
rose quickly.
"This is between me, Darien, and," She shuddered at the mere
thought of the girl, "Brianna Lawson."
Karen watched silently as Serena stormed out of the office.
A stack of pictures blew off of her desk as Serena whipped past them,
and they fluttered to the ground in a mixture of smiling faces.
Karen lifted a photo from the bunch and stared at the elated
faces of the kids she'd considered as her own. As she succombed to the
moment of bitter nostalgia, every name and painful story of each of
the orphans flitted into her mind.
With a shaky palm, she brushed the image of a grinning 7
year old boy; his ebony hair was dishevled across his tan forehead
and shone in the scorching summer sun, shading deep blue eyes from
the burning rays. His face blurred as her dismal tears splashed
soundlessly against it.
----------------------------------------------------------------
*THE DAY BEFORE*
----------------------------------------------------------------
"I'm telling you, it's THIS way."
"Who's got the map here? Me or you?"
"Well-"
"Exactly my point. And since *I've* got the map, *I'll* be
the one navigating."
Serena screwed up her face in annoyance and threw her hands
in the air with an exasperated huff, "Fine then, Davy Crocket, lead
the way."
Darien rolled his eyes at her sarcasm and brushed past her.
Inside he knew they were lost. He'd known an hour before when they'd
past the pond for the fifth consecutive time.
But would he let Serena know that? NO WAY. He was supposed
to be the wiser one, the *mature* one.
The sun was already dipping into the horizon and casting an
eerie peach glow over the deserted forest. He watched it with
determined eyes.
The sun rises in the east and camp's west...so...
"I've got it!" He announced triumphantly and whipped around
to find Serena laying out her sleeping bag and latern on an even patch
of ground.
Frowning, he crossed his arms, "And just what are you doing?"
Serena rolled her eyes, "What's it look like, Sherlock? I'm
setting up camp. We must be miles from camp by now and I don't know
about you, but I'm not about to go stumbling through the woods in
the middle of the night."
Darien grinned deviously, "What? Scared of werewolves or
something?"
Serena gasped, "Werewolves? Are there really werewolves out
here?" Her eyes grew large and panicked and she looked worriedly at
the sky.
"Full moon..."
Darien eyed the rising silver circle in the sky and inwardly
flinched. There had been a full moon that night...he still remembered watching it for hours before they found him.
"Darien?"
Serena's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he
shook his head to clear it. She gave him a peculiar glance.
"What? You scared of werewolves, too?" She seemed relieved
not to be the only one terrified of the vicious demons of the forest.
Darien chuckled loudly, "Werewolves? Serena," He placed a
hand on her shoulder, "There's no such thing."
Serena shrugged away his hand and stuck her nose up in the
air, "Well if you want to believe that then fine. You can sleep
*outside* the tent."
In five minutes she assembled the relatively simple
camping tent and crawled into it, flashlight in hand, and Darien
watched with a humored light in his eye as she pulled a Snicker's
bar out of her pocket and hungrily unwrapped it.
"Always prepared for the worst, huh?" He teased as she
gobbled half of the candy bar up, "And what am I supposed to eat?"
Serena shrugged, "I missed the part where that was my
problem." With a final grin, she zipped the tent shut and retreated
to the farthest corner of it with her Snickers and blanket under
her arm.
Darien stood there for a moment, steaming with annoyance at
the immaturity of the girl and how he'd almost found it endearing
that she still retained a child-like fear of story book villains.
It was her fault they were lost anyway. They were supposed to
be on a scavenger hunt with all of the camp when half way through
their search for a tree frog, Serena had decided it would be fun to
chase a baby deer half way to the middle of nowhere. She had then
resorted to screaming for a good twenty minutes before Darien had
located her near a pond and in the processs *mis*located the
direction of the camp.
They weren't even on the same team. She, Mina and Matt were
teamed up, and he, Brianna, and Amy were as well. He'd left Brianna
with a hesistant Amy and their three protégés (Kayla and the Chai
monsters) before running off to find out who was screaming bloody
murder and why.
And that was the last they'd both seen of their friends.
Now they were stuck, in the dark, with no clue where they were
other than that it was thickly congested with trees and brush,
making it nearly impossible for them to make their way through.
Chocking it up to a bout of bad luck, he decided to go
along with it for now and wait until morning to begin their journey
back. He retrieved a sleeping bag from his napsack (part of the hunt
was to spend the night in the woods using the tools provided) and
laid down to sleep.
The cries of night predators permeated the silence and
calmed his agitated nerves. At least he'd get a decent night's sleep.
"Darien..."
Or not.
He rolled over to face the tent and stared at Serena's
silhouette surrounded by the glow of the flashlight.
"Yeah, Meatball Head?"
Her shadow shifted at the much abhorred nickname, but she
ignored it.
"Do you think we'll ever get back?" She said in a tiny voice.
Serena hated being scared. Honestly, she did. But there was
something about the dark forest looming around her that sent her
crazy with anxiety. What she hated more, though, was admitting to
her rival that she was even weaker than he'd previously conceived.
Darien bit back the mocking rebuttal itching on his tongue
at the sound of genuine fear tinging her voice.
"Don't worry, Serena. We'll be back before you know it, and you
can be assured that Raye will be jumping down both of our throats."
Serena giggled quietly from inside the tent and drew her knees
up to her chest.
"Aren't her and Jason cute together?"
Darien could picture the vibrant grin on her face even though
he couldn't see her, and he smiled, too.
"Yeah, Meatball Head, I guess so."
She gushed, "And even *Ami's* acting all love-sick now!
Can you believe that I caught her and Zach making out behind the
mess hall this morning?" A stream of giggles flowed from her mouth,
"She nearly died!"
After her laughter died down, she twirled her hair in
between her fingers and thought of Lita and Matt's odd display
of affection for each other.
"It's great seeing them all so happy. I mean, once Kyle
forgets about the whole apple juice incident and everytyhing, it'll
all be perfect." She laid back again, smiling at the thought.
Darien found himself shaking his head, amazed at how
Serena seemed to see everything through rose colored glasses.
Everything but him, that was.
He felt a pang of regret at having wedged himself into the
tiny space Serena reserved for those she couldn't stand.
"You never know," Serena's voice sliced through his thoughts
again, "you could be next."
He furrowed his brow. Next for what? Love? Whatever. Not
Darien Chiba.
"Relationships aren't my thing, Meatball Head." He flipped
over in his sleeping bag, hoping that would end their conversation
before it had a chance to go where he knew it inevitably would.
Serena found her heart soaring at his answer. She'd half
expected him to be wrapped around Brianna's finger by now. But
then again, she never had fully understood the man.
"I can tell." She uttered, realizing that his response
also meant she didn't stand a chance. But she wasn't supposed
to care. That wasn't the plan.
She stared at what would be his form sprawled out in
front of her tent and quietly sighed. Somehow when it came to
Darien, nothing ever went according to plan.
Sighing, she clicked off the flashlight and pulled her
blanket up to her chin.
"'Night, Darien."
"'Night, Meatball Head."
*Next Morning*
"Rise and Shine!"
Serena's eyes cracked open slowly, her vision blurred
and foggy from sleep. When she'd rubbed them free of the traces
of la-la land, she came eye-to-eye with the most disgusting pair
of yellow eyes she'd ever seen.
"AAHH!"
Bounding out of tent, she shook with anger and balled her
hands into fists.
"What is THAT?!" She screeched. Darien laughed loudly and
shrugged, looking at the large fish proudly.
"Breakfast."
Serena eyed the fish wearily, her stomach growling.
"You...you caught that?"
Darien knelt on the ground beside a slowly but surely
growing fire and skewered the fish with a sharpened branch.
"Yeah. While you were snoring, I took the inititive to
get us some *real* food." He answered, referring to her stash
of twizzlers and M&M's.
Stretching her arms high above her head, Serena plopped
down beside him, warming her chilled fingers near the flames.
"This is kinda cool, actually. Where'd you learn how to
do this?"
He paused his movements. "I told you. I went to this camp
for ten years. You tend to pick up a few things over time."
Serena furrowed her brow at his dismissive tone and chose
to let it go. But not before muttering "Grouch" underneath her
breath.
They watched the plump fish cook in a silence that was broken
only when Darien moved to rotate the skewer.
Serena looked at him through the corner of her eye. His
mussed hair lay in dishevled pieces across his forehead and the
legs of his pants were damp from his fishing excursion, but he
was just as alluring and intimidating as before.
"So..." Serena played idly with the hem of her shirt, "How
long do you think it'll take to get back to camp?"
Darien broke away from his muddled thoughts when Serena had
spoken and asked her to repeat the question.
She did so, eyeing him curiously, and he ran his hands
through his hair out of habit. A habit Serena found obnoxiously
adorable.
"When I was out looking for food, I found a closed off
trail. My guess is that it leads to the old farm house that the
owners of the camp used to live in before they passed away a few
years ago. I remember a road that leads straight to camp from
there, so we should be able to make it back by noon if we hurry."
Serena hadn't heard a word he'd said, for she'd been too
busy watching the fire light dance in his turbulent eyes, the
lines of his face, and the shadow of the scar she had defintely
*not* forgotten that lingered above his left eyebrow.
When the blurred sound of his voice trailed off, she
snapped back out of her musings and nodded dumbly, hoping she
seemed like she'd been paying attention.
He had been looking at her glazed over eyes for a few
seconds before she'd seemed to come out a trance and nod in
comprehension. He moved to speak, but no words came and he
simply stared at her, and she at him.
He took in her tousled hair and the smudge of dirt on
her cheek, forcing his hand to stay put rather than using the
excuse to touch her skin.
Serena had no clue what was going on. Her heart raced
and then slowed and the sped back up again; she almost thought
she'd have a stroke. The gap in between her and her arch enemy
had shrunk from what seemed like lightyears away to mere inches.
Suddenly realizing the akward position she'd put herself
in, she used all of her will power to break eye contact with Darien.
When she turned away it felt like an electric current that had
been buzzing in her chest had been abruptly cut off, leaving her
empty and dull again.
"U-um...isn't it time to turn the fish again?" She looked
at the browning fish and licked her lips, although it wasn't out
of hunger.
Darien had lost himself in her eyes and fought to find his
sanity again. What had she said? Fish?
He quickly turned towards the fire and grabbed the stick to
turn it over again. It was only slightly charred...but he'd have
bet Serena wouldn't even notice.
Reaching over to his bag, he took out a clean rag and tore
it in half. Handing Serena a piece, he took the fish and sliced it
down the middle, removed the bones and handed her a few pieces of
smoking meat.
She accepted it eagerly, careful to blow on it so she
wouldn't get burned.
Darien leaned backwards, using his knapsack as a headrest,
and ate his fish in silence, barely noticing the shots of pain as
the hot meat seared his tongue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Back at Camp*
"When I get my hands on that scatter-brained meatball
head, I'm going to--"
"Raye! Chill out! Shouldn't we be *worrying* about Serena,
not plotting her death?" Mina stated, forcing the firey brunette to
calm down.
Raye huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. It was then
that Amy came bounding through the brush, looking relieved as ever
to have found camp at last with Timmy, Tommy, and Kayla in tow.
Panting, she ran up to them, "You guys, have you seen
Brianna?"
Mina, Raye, Lita, Matt, Jason, and Zach exchanged confused
glances and shrugged.
"No. Isn't she with you and Darien?" Lita questioned,
feeling the beginnings of a headache creeping up behind her
eyes.
Amy furrowed her brow, "Well she *was* with me. Darien
had gone off to find out what this God-awful screech was and
never came back, and Brianna and I set up camp, or rather *I*
set up camp," She glared inwardly at the memory of her breaking
her back with all of their bags AND trying to keep Timmy and
Tommy from killing eachother while Brianna idly filed her
nails, "And when I woke up this morning, she was gone."
She breathed heavily once she was done and let the
backback fall from her shoulders.
Raye threw her hands up in the air, "Oh great. Now we've
got Meatball Head, Darien, AND that red-headed bi--mmph."
"What Raye *means* to say CHILDREN," Mina smiled sweetly
at the odd glances their campers were giving them, "is that we
better go get Karen and let her know that we're finished before
she starts to worry."
Raye's protests were being muffled by her palm, and she
glared daggers at the blonde keeping her from venting her anger
with verbal assualt.
Jason removed Mina's hand from Raye's mouth and took her
elbow, leading her away from the young, impressionable ears and
towards Karen's office. The counselors follwed, each envisioning
all kinds of horrible things that could have happened to the
missing trio.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"How much further, Darien?" Serena held a hand over
her eyes to block the intense rays of the sun and wiped a film
of sweat from her brow.
From in front of her, Darien shifted his bag on his
shoulder and gave her a backwards glance, "It's not too much
further."
She scoffed. He'd said that an hour ago, but choosing
to follow along quietly rather than create an argument, she
trudged on silently.
They'd been walking for nearly 3 hours, and the scenery
hadn't started to change much until Darien had found the trail
he hoped would lead them to their salvation. It was bordered
mostly by the regular trees and bushes, but at least provided
a partly shaded area where the sun wasn't as relentless
against their skin.
Darien took a gulp from his now warm water bottle and
handed it to Serena who politely refused. Shrugging, he walked
on, listening to the sounds of nature surrounding them...
And when that got boring, he begrudgingly allowed himself
to think about the confusing presence struggling to keep up with
his long strides from behind him.
He was so involved in his own musings that he failed to
see the protruding root peeking out from beneath the earth and
stumbled quite ungracefully onto his face. The world became a
little foggy after that.
"How many fingers?"
"Ungh..." A little groggy, Darien opened his eyes slowly
and squinted up at the blurry, wriggling objects in front of him.
"Seven..." He mumbled, not even bothering to count and
lifted his body from the ground.
Serena shrugged at her three fingers. "Close enough I guess."
Wrapping an arm around his, she helped him stand, and
tried to support his weight, ultimately failing as he shakily
wobbled around.
"Uh...Darien? Maybe you oughta-ack!"
He collapsed on top of her, knocking her painfully into
the hard packed ground. Serena gasped underneath his weight and
wiggled with all her might to free herself.
"D-Darien...you're squishing me!"
Darien tried to lift his head again, but his mind was
still fuzzy and in the swirl of black clouding his vision, he
pinpointed two blue ovals and focused on them to clear the blur.
Serena stopped struggling. Darien's gaze was so intense
that she felt as if she was barring her soul without even thinking
about it.
When she was sure he was going to pass out again, she
shoved his chest with all her might, and he rolled off of her
and to the right.
Serena stood, dusting off her clothing, and rolled her
eyes at her comrade.
"And you have the gall to make fun of ME for falling
all the time? You trip over one little root and you have the
coordination of a two year old." She laughed for her cleverness
and decided to let him rise on his own. No sense in having the
same scene repeat itself. Not that the idea didn't entice her
a little...
Darien tried to stand again, this time succeeding, and
rubbed his forhead gingerly.
"Ow."
Serena 'tsked' and reached into her bookbag for the
first aid kit.
"You're bleeding," She informed him, and he brought his
crimson stained fingers in front of his eyes.
"I'm bleeding."
Rolling her eyes again, Serena took out a bandage and
a tube of neosporin. "Hold still, OK?"
He did as he was told, groggy still, and allowed her to
blow on the cut above his eye gently and then cover it with the
bandaid.
Her gentle touches slowly brought him back to full thinking
capacity, and he allowed himself to enjoy the motherly care for a
moment longer.
When she'd finished, Serena put away the kit and smiled
brightly at his glazed over eyes.
"Can you walk, or are you going to stare at me forever?"
She joked, brushing past him and trotting away.
He shook his head, even though it hurt, and followed
behind her.
"Hey, Meatball Head!" He called after her, and she
turned around.
"Yeah?"
He smiled, "Thanks."
She grinned widely, happy to have been able to help
him up after HE fell for a change.
"I figured I owed you one."
He picked up his pace, and she turned around again to see
the peak of a roof poking out from behind the trees. A steel gate
was merely a speck in the distance, but there sure enough.
"Hey! We found it!" Serena exclaimed, jumping up and down
in her excitement. "Come on, slow poke!" Grabbing his hand, she ran
down the trail with newfound energy.
Darien jogged beside her, ignoring the pain in his head,
as it was muted by the small hand firmly clasped in his own.
The gate was locked, but Darien helped Serena climb over
it, and then hoisted himself and their bags over.
The barn was closest to them, and Darien suggested they
take a rest before making the 2 mile hike to camp. Serena readily
obliged, eager to put down the heavy bookbag and rest her shoulders.
The land was beautiful, Serena noticed, and was covered
with acres of the greenest grass she'd ever seen. The sky was
in its purest shade of light blue, hardly a cloud in sight,
and she twirled in circles to take it in.
"It's so beautiful here..." She uttered to herself, startled
when Darien replied.
"I know."
He did it again. Saying one thing as if he was about to
say another, but choosing rather to stop and leave her hanging
on the edge of her curiosity.
She followed him behind the ancient barn doors and the
smell of hay filled her nostrils.
"Their grandson and his kids come up here every spring
and keep the place going," Darien explained, gesturing to a stack
of hay for her to sit on.
She hopped onto it and swung her feet back and forth.
"How often did you sneak up here?" She asked with a smirk.
He ceased his busied movements of arranging their things on
the ground and smiled.
"About every minute I could since I was seven and
started coming to camp."
She sighed and fell back onto her hay stack. "I could
lay here forever."
He watched her with an amused eye as she took pleasure
in something he'd kept a secret for a long time. He could
have opened up his entire life to her at that moment without
pause for thought, and that scared him senseless.
"So how's your eye?" She'd sat up again. He hadn't even
noticed her move.
He remembered his injury and gingerly fingered it,
"It's not that bad. I had a good nurse."
She blushed slightly, although unsure as to why, and
scooted over for him to sit. Looking at his bandage again, she
furrowed her brow and rolled over a thought in her mind until
she could bear it no longer.
"Looks like you opened up that scar again..."
The flinch in his face was barely noticeable to someone
who wasn't looking for it, but she was, and so she saw it.
"...Guess so, huh?" He finally said.
She played with a lock of hair from one of her her ponytails.
"Where did you get that scar, anyway, Darien?" She asked
in a tiny voice, almost afraid to but feeling as if she had to
know.
He didn't speak for a long, tense moment, and she patiently
waited for a response.
And when he did she wasn't sure if she had anticipated what
he would tell her.
His parents were dead...she knew that. Why else would he be
in an orphanage? But killed in a fatal car crash?
She gulped down the lump in her throat.
No memories. He couldn't even remember their faces. He'd
stayed in the ditch for hours until a passing car happened to see
the headlights glaring from the revine.
She felt almost guilty for her own family-centered life, but
he told her not to with an insistent gaze. Her heart and every part
of her ached for him, for his loss, his pain. No wonder he was
so cold...so distant.
But Karen had become his surrogate mother when no
foster parents wanted the stand-offish, shy little boy in the darkest
corner of the playground.
And he'd grown up there until he was 18 and could fend
for himself.
She urged her lip to stop trembling, but it refused. She
cast her gaze, not away from his, but directly into it. He found
this action unnerving and comforting at the same time.
It was then that she finished what she'd started that
night on the bus, and he grabbed her hand as she removed her
lips from the only memoir he had of his past.
From then, what happened was all a blur in Serena's mind.
He thanked her for listening, and she did nothing but nod and brush
a lonely tear from his eye.
She didn't want him to ever feel alone again. She wanted
to be there, pain and all. She could stand the cold. He didn't
think she could, but she knew better.
And he knew that things would never be the same between
them again. They *couldn't* be the same. He'd given her a piece
of him that had been securely kept tucked away in the deepest
corner of his soul, and a thing such as that wasn't done
lightly in his mind.
She cradled his hand in her own, and he felt as if
the weight of his past had been lifted from his shoulders and
swept away with the breeze that tousled the bangs on her forehead.
And then he was done. She let go of his hand, and the
gentle caresses and tears were pushed away. Her emotions
overtook her, bubbling inside her mind like a turbulent ocean
of nonsense. She looked at him and knew he felt the same.
"Don't look so serious, Meatball Head," He said, not as
self-assured as he usually was.
She smiled disdainfully, wanting to be happy for him.
"Stop calling me Meatball Head, and I'll think about it."
He chuckled deeply, and the tension was broken. She
grinned again, this time more easily, and hopped down from the
hay stack.
Darien eased off as well, and stood in front of her.
It was so easy to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her
closer. It was even easier to tilt her chin up to his. Now to
do what'd he'd been longing to for his heart only knew how
long. That was the easiest.
She accepted his lips like rain after a drought and
needed to feel the heat from his kiss as if she was frozen inside.
And that was how she found them. Locked together like
pieces of a puzzle. One in which she wished for nothing more
than to destroy, and she had, stumbling from the loft after
waking from an exhausted sleep only to watch the man she'd
claimed being stolen from her by some worthless, teenage
nothing.
In a rage that blurred her vision in crimson ripples,
Brianna bounded from her kneeling position on the ledge of the
wooden floor of the loft and hastily scampered down the stairs.
"I'll teach that little wench to steal from--AHH!!"
Serena wanted to pout and stamp her feet when the warmth
of Darien's lips faded from her own, but the thunk from behind
her drew her attention away from that fact.
In a heap of red hair and flailing limbs, Brianna
struggled to stand up straight on the ankle she had undoubtedly
twisted. When all attempts failed, she resorted to laying on her
back and wailing at a pitch that shook the banisters above their
heads and drew Serena's hands over her ears.
Darien hesistated to approach her at first and looked at
Serena as if Brianna was a dead bug he REALLY didn't want to touch. Recognizing the suggestive light in his eyes, Serena feriously
shook her head NO.
Inaudibly, Darien groaned.
If I wasn't such a damn nice guy...
---------------------------------------------------------------
Karen sipped her coffee leisurely without a care in the
world.
"I'm telling you," She said, "Darien attended this camp for
ten years. He knows what he's doing, and they are going to be *fine*."
Mina scoffed, "But what if there are WEREWOLVES out there?
They could be eaten alive and we'd never know it!" It was uncanny
and sometimes downright eerie how much she and Serena were alike.
Karen dismissed the notion with a wave of her hand and
took another tentative sip of her drink, checking for the umpteenth
time out the window for a familiar blonde to appear.
Mina stopped her incessant rattling when Karen slammed her
cup of coffee down to gape at something outside.
"Karen? What's--SERENA!" With that, the highstrung blonde
zoomed out of Karen's office to head off the approaching trio, Karen
hot on her trail.
When Serena saw her bestfriend racing towards her, she
dropped the pole she was carrying and ignored the piercing howl
of disapproval that followed.
"Mina!"
They collided in a huge hug and laughed at nothing in
particular other than the fact that one was safe.
"Hey, you two. You wanna give me a hand here?" Darien,
annoyed that his companion had dropped her end of the makeshift
stretcher, gestured towards the flailing girl on the ground.
Realizing her mistake, Serena begrudingly left Mina to help.
It had been a long, long journey back to the camp having to lug
around Brianna AND try to ignore the fact that she had actually
been making out with the man she had vowed to never harbor any
civil feelings toward only an hour before.
At one point, she had been close to hurtling either
herself or the constantly howling girl off the ledge of a cliff
but ultimately no such cliff appeared and she was forced to endure
Brianna's insults and squeals the entire way.
Karen walked up then with a huge grin plastered on her
face and glowed with pride.
"Glad to see my teaching paid off, eh Dare?" She gave
him a pat on the back and cringed at Brianna's bandaged ankle,
"What happened?"
Brianna, puffing and sniffling, stumbled to her feet and
pointed a shaky finger at Serena's nose.
"I'll tell you what HAPPENED! What HAPPENED was that I
caught *this* fashion impaired, moronic, sorry excuse for a--"
"Get to the point, Brianna," Karen intervened, frowning
at the girl's berating words.
Brianna glared at the woman and turned heated eyes back to
Serena's equally pissed off face.
"I had him first! He was mine!" She screeched, making the
sad mistake of stomping her injured foot and then howling and hopping
about until Karen had to grab her shoulders to make her stop.
Mina exchanged clueless glances between Serena and Darien.
"Am I the only one COMPLETELY lost here?"
Brianna threw herself from Karen's hold and continued
her tirade.
"And look what happened! I've been deliberately injured!
You can rest assured that when my father finds out about this,
that will be the END of Camp Kiwoochee!" With a huff and flip of
her matted and twig-filled hair, she turned on her heel and limped
pitifully towards her cabin, leaving the rest to stare dumbfoudedly
at her retreating back.
Serena's mouth hung open in utter shock. "Sh-she can't
really do that...can she Karen?" Thoughts of the many children
that had spent an entire month before the trip talking about nothing
but Camp Kiwachee and everything they would do once they got there
filled her mind and pricked at her eyes in the form of tears.
Karen sighed, scratching the back of her head, and
silently nodded.
"Her father practically owns this place. If he cuts off
sponsorship..." She trailed off, looking wearily into Darien's
widened eyes.
When Darien saw the beginnings of defeat nestling into
Karen's usually optimistic brown eyes, he knew that all was lost.
What would happen when the place that had been his escape for so
many of his troubled years of adolescent and then teenage years
ceased to exist?
---------------------END OF CHAPTER 6--------------------------
Is it me, or was this chapter a LOT more serious than the rest?
I promise more laughs next time! I thought I'd change up the way
Darien explained his parents and everything. Hence the 'no dialogue'
type bit there. Like/Dislike? I really wanna know!
And PLEASE don't hunt me down for leaving Mina/Kunz outta
this one AGAIN. I changed the plot last minute and they just couldn't
be squeezed in. Next one, I PROMISE.
Hmm...That's 2 promises I've made 4 next chapter. I won't let
you guys down!
--Adrial
EMAIL or CRITIQUE FOR COMMENTS/FLAMES!
Adrial_06@yahoo.com
Would it help if I pleaded for forgiveness? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
PLEASE PLEEEEEEEEEASE forgive me!
I want every one of my chapters to rise to their full potential
and this one proved to be extremely difficult to get out considering
the personal aspects of it involving a certain male character (3
guesses who I'm referring to). I sincerely hope it was worth the
wait!
Enjoy :)
"Camp Kiwachee"
Chapter 6: The End of Camp Kiwachee?
Author: Adrial
E-mail: Adrial_06@yahoo.com
Rating: PG-PG13
-------------------------------------------------------------
Serena cupped her hands in the icy water
and threw it over her face without thinking. She
shivered at the shot of chills that raced down her
spine from the sudden freezing sensation and rubbed
her fingers around her eyes and forehead.
When her eyes opened again, she bit down the
tears that welled behind them and forced her lips to
stop trembling.
"Sere? Are you alright in there?" The concerned
voice filtered into her ears in muddled waves of sound,
but she didn't bother responding for a moment.
How could I have been so stupid? She mentally
berated herself and patted her face dry with an itchy
towel. Her hair dripped rivulets of water down her bare
shoulders and ended in a mass of wet tangles at her
waist, and she stared at it, seemingly unable to muster
the energy to comb them out.
When the door to the bathroom creaked open and
Raye's head popped through, she sniffed surreptitiously
and smiled a small, wavering smile. Raye's lips curved
slightly, and she entered, her white bathrobe slung over
her shoulder.
"I just wanted to see if--" She paused, seeming
to lose the words of comfort she'd had so clearly thought
out before.
Serena's eyes fought to release the rivers of
salty emotion that pushed behind her eyelids, but she
wiped her face with the towel once more and sighed.
"I'm fine, Raye, really," She failed to convince
even herself with her shaky tone.
Raye wasn't one to be fooled, and she reached over
to envelope her friend in her arms.
"No, you're not. Don't even try to lie to me," She
laughed a little and brought Serena out at arm's length.
Serena sniffed again, fighting in the losing
battle she waged with her emotions. Raye's amtheyst eyes
softened, something she was unaccustomed to doing unless
in the presence of those she truly cared about.
"Come on," She gestured to the door and ushered
Serena out of it and into the girls' cabin.
She grabbed her wide-toothed comb and plopped onto
her bunk, patting her lap.
Serena rolled her eyes, smiling at her friend's
sudden change in personality, but obliged and let her head
fall heavily onto her lap.
Raye lifted the mass of blonde from behind Serena's neck
and began to comb out the knots.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked softly after
a few minutes.
Serena's closed eyes opened slowly and she shook her
head slightly.
"Not now, Raye."
Raye cast her eyes down on Serena's head and
nodded slowly, her hands still moving the comb through
Serena's hair in fluid strokes.
She had only a slight clue of what had gone
down the afternoon before between her former crush and
the depressingly sad girl resting in her lap. But she knew
when a subject needn't be pushed and respected Serena's
feelings--however confusing they were.
------------------------------------------------------
"Are you sure she's alright, Raye? I mean," Mina
lowered her voice to a whisper, "She's so broken up about
it."
Raye sighed at the table and poured another glob of
glue into Alexis' paper bowl. The tiny girl giggled in delight
and submerged her spongebrush in the white goop, smothering
her popsicle stick with it.
"I dunno guys..." Raye wiped her hands off with a wet
papertowel and picked at the glue under her fingernails.
Amy frowned, looking at Lita. She shrugged, as sure of
what to do as any of them.
"We've got to do *something*, guys," Mina announced,
her heart aching for her friend.
"What could we possibly do, Mina?" Raye said, a little
more agitated than she meant, but Mina went on, unphazed by
her tone.
"Something, something, something..." She trailed off.
After a few seconds of deliberation, her cerulean eyes
sparkled and lit up like birthday candles. She dunked a popsicle
stick into the tub of glue and pursed her lips to hum the theme
to Mission Impossible.
As her humming escalated in volume, the three counselors
eyed eachother wearily and smacked more sticks onto their bird
houses.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"OUCH!" Jason yelped, masaging his rear end tenderly,
"How many times do I have to tell you guys that I-AM-*NOT*-THE
DONKEY!"
Timmy burst into giggles and high fived his mirror image
with a sticky palm. He peeled off the mask that was tied around
his head and exchanged it with Tommy for the original. Tommy laughed
secretively as he took the see-through mask from his brother.
Timmy handed Alex the blue cloth and watched as he twirled
around in circles.
Jason glared at the twins and wrestled with Tommy for the trick
mask.
"Give-it-to-me!" He strained, mentally shocked at the grip
the six year old had.
Tommy struggled for a while and then smirked.
Jason landed promptly on his already throbbing ass shortly
after.
Zach erupted into laughter, chuckling harder as he bent to help
his steaming friend off the floor.
Jason scoffed and rose on his own, "If Rosemary's babies
try to stick me with that pin ONE MORE TIME--"
"You'll be sitting on a pillow for a month," Matt laughed
as he finished painting a growling lion on Bobby's cheek.
"Yeah well, how 'bout I knock that ugly monkey off your face
for you?" Jason threatened, and Matt scoffed, bringing his hand to
the brown blob on his left cheek.
"It's a *kangaroo*."
Jason rolled his eyes and rubbed his butt, glaring daggers
inwardly.
Mustn't hurt children. Mustn't hurt children.
Darien smiled disdainfully from beside him. He even tried to
round up a chuckle or two, but failed miserably.
Matt looked at him and clapped his shoulder, "Don't worry
about it, Dare."
Darien shrugged it off, "I'm not."
"I'm sure it'll all smooth over, and she'll forget *all*
about it by the end of the week," Matt offered.
Darien appreciated his attempt to help, but couldn't
shake the foreboding feeling that had nestled itself in his stomach
and refused to leave ever since the afternoon before.
"Yo, Kyle, you mind helping out here or are you going to
sulk all day?" Zach threw a paint brush at Kyle's head and missed.
Kyle deepened the scowl that seemed to have been permanently
engraved on his face for the past two days and dug his fingernails
into his palms to keep from flipping him off.
He opted for a kid-friendly glare and slumped back into
the gray world of broken egos.
She threw apple juice in my face...
-----------------------------------------------------------
Serena lifted the hair off of her sweaty neck and pulled
it back into a loose ponytail as she walked.
The dusty door to Karen's office creaked open when she
shoved it lightly, and she slumped into it.
"Kare? Are you in here?" She called, hoping that the
carefree woman hadn't been too broken up.
"Kare?" She stepped over a group of boxes and eyed them
dismally.
"I'm back here, Serena."
Karen's voice startled her, and she jumped. When she
found Karen, bent over a pile of papers, Serena could barely
control the tears that stung her eyes.
"I-I just wanted to see if you were alright..."
Karen waved a hand in the air dismissively, rounding up
a bright smile for the guilt-ridden girl.
"Just tying up some loose ends, that's all," She patted
the ground beside her and shoved a stack of papers out of the way
for Serena to sit.
Serena drew her knees up to her chest and turned her eyes
towards the ceiling.
"This isn't fair, Karen. She shouldn't be doing this just
because of me," A spark lit in her sapphire eyes, and she dug her
nails into her knees.
Karen sighed dejectedly and shrugged, "What's done is done,
Sere. We'll find another way to--"
"No, Karen! This is my fault, and I'm not going to just sit
around and watch you give up everything you've been working for so
long to keep!" Her passionate rage filled the tiny office, and she
rose quickly.
"This is between me, Darien, and," She shuddered at the mere
thought of the girl, "Brianna Lawson."
Karen watched silently as Serena stormed out of the office.
A stack of pictures blew off of her desk as Serena whipped past them,
and they fluttered to the ground in a mixture of smiling faces.
Karen lifted a photo from the bunch and stared at the elated
faces of the kids she'd considered as her own. As she succombed to the
moment of bitter nostalgia, every name and painful story of each of
the orphans flitted into her mind.
With a shaky palm, she brushed the image of a grinning 7
year old boy; his ebony hair was dishevled across his tan forehead
and shone in the scorching summer sun, shading deep blue eyes from
the burning rays. His face blurred as her dismal tears splashed
soundlessly against it.
----------------------------------------------------------------
*THE DAY BEFORE*
----------------------------------------------------------------
"I'm telling you, it's THIS way."
"Who's got the map here? Me or you?"
"Well-"
"Exactly my point. And since *I've* got the map, *I'll* be
the one navigating."
Serena screwed up her face in annoyance and threw her hands
in the air with an exasperated huff, "Fine then, Davy Crocket, lead
the way."
Darien rolled his eyes at her sarcasm and brushed past her.
Inside he knew they were lost. He'd known an hour before when they'd
past the pond for the fifth consecutive time.
But would he let Serena know that? NO WAY. He was supposed
to be the wiser one, the *mature* one.
The sun was already dipping into the horizon and casting an
eerie peach glow over the deserted forest. He watched it with
determined eyes.
The sun rises in the east and camp's west...so...
"I've got it!" He announced triumphantly and whipped around
to find Serena laying out her sleeping bag and latern on an even patch
of ground.
Frowning, he crossed his arms, "And just what are you doing?"
Serena rolled her eyes, "What's it look like, Sherlock? I'm
setting up camp. We must be miles from camp by now and I don't know
about you, but I'm not about to go stumbling through the woods in
the middle of the night."
Darien grinned deviously, "What? Scared of werewolves or
something?"
Serena gasped, "Werewolves? Are there really werewolves out
here?" Her eyes grew large and panicked and she looked worriedly at
the sky.
"Full moon..."
Darien eyed the rising silver circle in the sky and inwardly
flinched. There had been a full moon that night...he still remembered watching it for hours before they found him.
"Darien?"
Serena's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he
shook his head to clear it. She gave him a peculiar glance.
"What? You scared of werewolves, too?" She seemed relieved
not to be the only one terrified of the vicious demons of the forest.
Darien chuckled loudly, "Werewolves? Serena," He placed a
hand on her shoulder, "There's no such thing."
Serena shrugged away his hand and stuck her nose up in the
air, "Well if you want to believe that then fine. You can sleep
*outside* the tent."
In five minutes she assembled the relatively simple
camping tent and crawled into it, flashlight in hand, and Darien
watched with a humored light in his eye as she pulled a Snicker's
bar out of her pocket and hungrily unwrapped it.
"Always prepared for the worst, huh?" He teased as she
gobbled half of the candy bar up, "And what am I supposed to eat?"
Serena shrugged, "I missed the part where that was my
problem." With a final grin, she zipped the tent shut and retreated
to the farthest corner of it with her Snickers and blanket under
her arm.
Darien stood there for a moment, steaming with annoyance at
the immaturity of the girl and how he'd almost found it endearing
that she still retained a child-like fear of story book villains.
It was her fault they were lost anyway. They were supposed to
be on a scavenger hunt with all of the camp when half way through
their search for a tree frog, Serena had decided it would be fun to
chase a baby deer half way to the middle of nowhere. She had then
resorted to screaming for a good twenty minutes before Darien had
located her near a pond and in the processs *mis*located the
direction of the camp.
They weren't even on the same team. She, Mina and Matt were
teamed up, and he, Brianna, and Amy were as well. He'd left Brianna
with a hesistant Amy and their three protégés (Kayla and the Chai
monsters) before running off to find out who was screaming bloody
murder and why.
And that was the last they'd both seen of their friends.
Now they were stuck, in the dark, with no clue where they were
other than that it was thickly congested with trees and brush,
making it nearly impossible for them to make their way through.
Chocking it up to a bout of bad luck, he decided to go
along with it for now and wait until morning to begin their journey
back. He retrieved a sleeping bag from his napsack (part of the hunt
was to spend the night in the woods using the tools provided) and
laid down to sleep.
The cries of night predators permeated the silence and
calmed his agitated nerves. At least he'd get a decent night's sleep.
"Darien..."
Or not.
He rolled over to face the tent and stared at Serena's
silhouette surrounded by the glow of the flashlight.
"Yeah, Meatball Head?"
Her shadow shifted at the much abhorred nickname, but she
ignored it.
"Do you think we'll ever get back?" She said in a tiny voice.
Serena hated being scared. Honestly, she did. But there was
something about the dark forest looming around her that sent her
crazy with anxiety. What she hated more, though, was admitting to
her rival that she was even weaker than he'd previously conceived.
Darien bit back the mocking rebuttal itching on his tongue
at the sound of genuine fear tinging her voice.
"Don't worry, Serena. We'll be back before you know it, and you
can be assured that Raye will be jumping down both of our throats."
Serena giggled quietly from inside the tent and drew her knees
up to her chest.
"Aren't her and Jason cute together?"
Darien could picture the vibrant grin on her face even though
he couldn't see her, and he smiled, too.
"Yeah, Meatball Head, I guess so."
She gushed, "And even *Ami's* acting all love-sick now!
Can you believe that I caught her and Zach making out behind the
mess hall this morning?" A stream of giggles flowed from her mouth,
"She nearly died!"
After her laughter died down, she twirled her hair in
between her fingers and thought of Lita and Matt's odd display
of affection for each other.
"It's great seeing them all so happy. I mean, once Kyle
forgets about the whole apple juice incident and everytyhing, it'll
all be perfect." She laid back again, smiling at the thought.
Darien found himself shaking his head, amazed at how
Serena seemed to see everything through rose colored glasses.
Everything but him, that was.
He felt a pang of regret at having wedged himself into the
tiny space Serena reserved for those she couldn't stand.
"You never know," Serena's voice sliced through his thoughts
again, "you could be next."
He furrowed his brow. Next for what? Love? Whatever. Not
Darien Chiba.
"Relationships aren't my thing, Meatball Head." He flipped
over in his sleeping bag, hoping that would end their conversation
before it had a chance to go where he knew it inevitably would.
Serena found her heart soaring at his answer. She'd half
expected him to be wrapped around Brianna's finger by now. But
then again, she never had fully understood the man.
"I can tell." She uttered, realizing that his response
also meant she didn't stand a chance. But she wasn't supposed
to care. That wasn't the plan.
She stared at what would be his form sprawled out in
front of her tent and quietly sighed. Somehow when it came to
Darien, nothing ever went according to plan.
Sighing, she clicked off the flashlight and pulled her
blanket up to her chin.
"'Night, Darien."
"'Night, Meatball Head."
*Next Morning*
"Rise and Shine!"
Serena's eyes cracked open slowly, her vision blurred
and foggy from sleep. When she'd rubbed them free of the traces
of la-la land, she came eye-to-eye with the most disgusting pair
of yellow eyes she'd ever seen.
"AAHH!"
Bounding out of tent, she shook with anger and balled her
hands into fists.
"What is THAT?!" She screeched. Darien laughed loudly and
shrugged, looking at the large fish proudly.
"Breakfast."
Serena eyed the fish wearily, her stomach growling.
"You...you caught that?"
Darien knelt on the ground beside a slowly but surely
growing fire and skewered the fish with a sharpened branch.
"Yeah. While you were snoring, I took the inititive to
get us some *real* food." He answered, referring to her stash
of twizzlers and M&M's.
Stretching her arms high above her head, Serena plopped
down beside him, warming her chilled fingers near the flames.
"This is kinda cool, actually. Where'd you learn how to
do this?"
He paused his movements. "I told you. I went to this camp
for ten years. You tend to pick up a few things over time."
Serena furrowed her brow at his dismissive tone and chose
to let it go. But not before muttering "Grouch" underneath her
breath.
They watched the plump fish cook in a silence that was broken
only when Darien moved to rotate the skewer.
Serena looked at him through the corner of her eye. His
mussed hair lay in dishevled pieces across his forehead and the
legs of his pants were damp from his fishing excursion, but he
was just as alluring and intimidating as before.
"So..." Serena played idly with the hem of her shirt, "How
long do you think it'll take to get back to camp?"
Darien broke away from his muddled thoughts when Serena had
spoken and asked her to repeat the question.
She did so, eyeing him curiously, and he ran his hands
through his hair out of habit. A habit Serena found obnoxiously
adorable.
"When I was out looking for food, I found a closed off
trail. My guess is that it leads to the old farm house that the
owners of the camp used to live in before they passed away a few
years ago. I remember a road that leads straight to camp from
there, so we should be able to make it back by noon if we hurry."
Serena hadn't heard a word he'd said, for she'd been too
busy watching the fire light dance in his turbulent eyes, the
lines of his face, and the shadow of the scar she had defintely
*not* forgotten that lingered above his left eyebrow.
When the blurred sound of his voice trailed off, she
snapped back out of her musings and nodded dumbly, hoping she
seemed like she'd been paying attention.
He had been looking at her glazed over eyes for a few
seconds before she'd seemed to come out a trance and nod in
comprehension. He moved to speak, but no words came and he
simply stared at her, and she at him.
He took in her tousled hair and the smudge of dirt on
her cheek, forcing his hand to stay put rather than using the
excuse to touch her skin.
Serena had no clue what was going on. Her heart raced
and then slowed and the sped back up again; she almost thought
she'd have a stroke. The gap in between her and her arch enemy
had shrunk from what seemed like lightyears away to mere inches.
Suddenly realizing the akward position she'd put herself
in, she used all of her will power to break eye contact with Darien.
When she turned away it felt like an electric current that had
been buzzing in her chest had been abruptly cut off, leaving her
empty and dull again.
"U-um...isn't it time to turn the fish again?" She looked
at the browning fish and licked her lips, although it wasn't out
of hunger.
Darien had lost himself in her eyes and fought to find his
sanity again. What had she said? Fish?
He quickly turned towards the fire and grabbed the stick to
turn it over again. It was only slightly charred...but he'd have
bet Serena wouldn't even notice.
Reaching over to his bag, he took out a clean rag and tore
it in half. Handing Serena a piece, he took the fish and sliced it
down the middle, removed the bones and handed her a few pieces of
smoking meat.
She accepted it eagerly, careful to blow on it so she
wouldn't get burned.
Darien leaned backwards, using his knapsack as a headrest,
and ate his fish in silence, barely noticing the shots of pain as
the hot meat seared his tongue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Back at Camp*
"When I get my hands on that scatter-brained meatball
head, I'm going to--"
"Raye! Chill out! Shouldn't we be *worrying* about Serena,
not plotting her death?" Mina stated, forcing the firey brunette to
calm down.
Raye huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. It was then
that Amy came bounding through the brush, looking relieved as ever
to have found camp at last with Timmy, Tommy, and Kayla in tow.
Panting, she ran up to them, "You guys, have you seen
Brianna?"
Mina, Raye, Lita, Matt, Jason, and Zach exchanged confused
glances and shrugged.
"No. Isn't she with you and Darien?" Lita questioned,
feeling the beginnings of a headache creeping up behind her
eyes.
Amy furrowed her brow, "Well she *was* with me. Darien
had gone off to find out what this God-awful screech was and
never came back, and Brianna and I set up camp, or rather *I*
set up camp," She glared inwardly at the memory of her breaking
her back with all of their bags AND trying to keep Timmy and
Tommy from killing eachother while Brianna idly filed her
nails, "And when I woke up this morning, she was gone."
She breathed heavily once she was done and let the
backback fall from her shoulders.
Raye threw her hands up in the air, "Oh great. Now we've
got Meatball Head, Darien, AND that red-headed bi--mmph."
"What Raye *means* to say CHILDREN," Mina smiled sweetly
at the odd glances their campers were giving them, "is that we
better go get Karen and let her know that we're finished before
she starts to worry."
Raye's protests were being muffled by her palm, and she
glared daggers at the blonde keeping her from venting her anger
with verbal assualt.
Jason removed Mina's hand from Raye's mouth and took her
elbow, leading her away from the young, impressionable ears and
towards Karen's office. The counselors follwed, each envisioning
all kinds of horrible things that could have happened to the
missing trio.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"How much further, Darien?" Serena held a hand over
her eyes to block the intense rays of the sun and wiped a film
of sweat from her brow.
From in front of her, Darien shifted his bag on his
shoulder and gave her a backwards glance, "It's not too much
further."
She scoffed. He'd said that an hour ago, but choosing
to follow along quietly rather than create an argument, she
trudged on silently.
They'd been walking for nearly 3 hours, and the scenery
hadn't started to change much until Darien had found the trail
he hoped would lead them to their salvation. It was bordered
mostly by the regular trees and bushes, but at least provided
a partly shaded area where the sun wasn't as relentless
against their skin.
Darien took a gulp from his now warm water bottle and
handed it to Serena who politely refused. Shrugging, he walked
on, listening to the sounds of nature surrounding them...
And when that got boring, he begrudgingly allowed himself
to think about the confusing presence struggling to keep up with
his long strides from behind him.
He was so involved in his own musings that he failed to
see the protruding root peeking out from beneath the earth and
stumbled quite ungracefully onto his face. The world became a
little foggy after that.
"How many fingers?"
"Ungh..." A little groggy, Darien opened his eyes slowly
and squinted up at the blurry, wriggling objects in front of him.
"Seven..." He mumbled, not even bothering to count and
lifted his body from the ground.
Serena shrugged at her three fingers. "Close enough I guess."
Wrapping an arm around his, she helped him stand, and
tried to support his weight, ultimately failing as he shakily
wobbled around.
"Uh...Darien? Maybe you oughta-ack!"
He collapsed on top of her, knocking her painfully into
the hard packed ground. Serena gasped underneath his weight and
wiggled with all her might to free herself.
"D-Darien...you're squishing me!"
Darien tried to lift his head again, but his mind was
still fuzzy and in the swirl of black clouding his vision, he
pinpointed two blue ovals and focused on them to clear the blur.
Serena stopped struggling. Darien's gaze was so intense
that she felt as if she was barring her soul without even thinking
about it.
When she was sure he was going to pass out again, she
shoved his chest with all her might, and he rolled off of her
and to the right.
Serena stood, dusting off her clothing, and rolled her
eyes at her comrade.
"And you have the gall to make fun of ME for falling
all the time? You trip over one little root and you have the
coordination of a two year old." She laughed for her cleverness
and decided to let him rise on his own. No sense in having the
same scene repeat itself. Not that the idea didn't entice her
a little...
Darien tried to stand again, this time succeeding, and
rubbed his forhead gingerly.
"Ow."
Serena 'tsked' and reached into her bookbag for the
first aid kit.
"You're bleeding," She informed him, and he brought his
crimson stained fingers in front of his eyes.
"I'm bleeding."
Rolling her eyes again, Serena took out a bandage and
a tube of neosporin. "Hold still, OK?"
He did as he was told, groggy still, and allowed her to
blow on the cut above his eye gently and then cover it with the
bandaid.
Her gentle touches slowly brought him back to full thinking
capacity, and he allowed himself to enjoy the motherly care for a
moment longer.
When she'd finished, Serena put away the kit and smiled
brightly at his glazed over eyes.
"Can you walk, or are you going to stare at me forever?"
She joked, brushing past him and trotting away.
He shook his head, even though it hurt, and followed
behind her.
"Hey, Meatball Head!" He called after her, and she
turned around.
"Yeah?"
He smiled, "Thanks."
She grinned widely, happy to have been able to help
him up after HE fell for a change.
"I figured I owed you one."
He picked up his pace, and she turned around again to see
the peak of a roof poking out from behind the trees. A steel gate
was merely a speck in the distance, but there sure enough.
"Hey! We found it!" Serena exclaimed, jumping up and down
in her excitement. "Come on, slow poke!" Grabbing his hand, she ran
down the trail with newfound energy.
Darien jogged beside her, ignoring the pain in his head,
as it was muted by the small hand firmly clasped in his own.
The gate was locked, but Darien helped Serena climb over
it, and then hoisted himself and their bags over.
The barn was closest to them, and Darien suggested they
take a rest before making the 2 mile hike to camp. Serena readily
obliged, eager to put down the heavy bookbag and rest her shoulders.
The land was beautiful, Serena noticed, and was covered
with acres of the greenest grass she'd ever seen. The sky was
in its purest shade of light blue, hardly a cloud in sight,
and she twirled in circles to take it in.
"It's so beautiful here..." She uttered to herself, startled
when Darien replied.
"I know."
He did it again. Saying one thing as if he was about to
say another, but choosing rather to stop and leave her hanging
on the edge of her curiosity.
She followed him behind the ancient barn doors and the
smell of hay filled her nostrils.
"Their grandson and his kids come up here every spring
and keep the place going," Darien explained, gesturing to a stack
of hay for her to sit on.
She hopped onto it and swung her feet back and forth.
"How often did you sneak up here?" She asked with a smirk.
He ceased his busied movements of arranging their things on
the ground and smiled.
"About every minute I could since I was seven and
started coming to camp."
She sighed and fell back onto her hay stack. "I could
lay here forever."
He watched her with an amused eye as she took pleasure
in something he'd kept a secret for a long time. He could
have opened up his entire life to her at that moment without
pause for thought, and that scared him senseless.
"So how's your eye?" She'd sat up again. He hadn't even
noticed her move.
He remembered his injury and gingerly fingered it,
"It's not that bad. I had a good nurse."
She blushed slightly, although unsure as to why, and
scooted over for him to sit. Looking at his bandage again, she
furrowed her brow and rolled over a thought in her mind until
she could bear it no longer.
"Looks like you opened up that scar again..."
The flinch in his face was barely noticeable to someone
who wasn't looking for it, but she was, and so she saw it.
"...Guess so, huh?" He finally said.
She played with a lock of hair from one of her her ponytails.
"Where did you get that scar, anyway, Darien?" She asked
in a tiny voice, almost afraid to but feeling as if she had to
know.
He didn't speak for a long, tense moment, and she patiently
waited for a response.
And when he did she wasn't sure if she had anticipated what
he would tell her.
His parents were dead...she knew that. Why else would he be
in an orphanage? But killed in a fatal car crash?
She gulped down the lump in her throat.
No memories. He couldn't even remember their faces. He'd
stayed in the ditch for hours until a passing car happened to see
the headlights glaring from the revine.
She felt almost guilty for her own family-centered life, but
he told her not to with an insistent gaze. Her heart and every part
of her ached for him, for his loss, his pain. No wonder he was
so cold...so distant.
But Karen had become his surrogate mother when no
foster parents wanted the stand-offish, shy little boy in the darkest
corner of the playground.
And he'd grown up there until he was 18 and could fend
for himself.
She urged her lip to stop trembling, but it refused. She
cast her gaze, not away from his, but directly into it. He found
this action unnerving and comforting at the same time.
It was then that she finished what she'd started that
night on the bus, and he grabbed her hand as she removed her
lips from the only memoir he had of his past.
From then, what happened was all a blur in Serena's mind.
He thanked her for listening, and she did nothing but nod and brush
a lonely tear from his eye.
She didn't want him to ever feel alone again. She wanted
to be there, pain and all. She could stand the cold. He didn't
think she could, but she knew better.
And he knew that things would never be the same between
them again. They *couldn't* be the same. He'd given her a piece
of him that had been securely kept tucked away in the deepest
corner of his soul, and a thing such as that wasn't done
lightly in his mind.
She cradled his hand in her own, and he felt as if
the weight of his past had been lifted from his shoulders and
swept away with the breeze that tousled the bangs on her forehead.
And then he was done. She let go of his hand, and the
gentle caresses and tears were pushed away. Her emotions
overtook her, bubbling inside her mind like a turbulent ocean
of nonsense. She looked at him and knew he felt the same.
"Don't look so serious, Meatball Head," He said, not as
self-assured as he usually was.
She smiled disdainfully, wanting to be happy for him.
"Stop calling me Meatball Head, and I'll think about it."
He chuckled deeply, and the tension was broken. She
grinned again, this time more easily, and hopped down from the
hay stack.
Darien eased off as well, and stood in front of her.
It was so easy to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her
closer. It was even easier to tilt her chin up to his. Now to
do what'd he'd been longing to for his heart only knew how
long. That was the easiest.
She accepted his lips like rain after a drought and
needed to feel the heat from his kiss as if she was frozen inside.
And that was how she found them. Locked together like
pieces of a puzzle. One in which she wished for nothing more
than to destroy, and she had, stumbling from the loft after
waking from an exhausted sleep only to watch the man she'd
claimed being stolen from her by some worthless, teenage
nothing.
In a rage that blurred her vision in crimson ripples,
Brianna bounded from her kneeling position on the ledge of the
wooden floor of the loft and hastily scampered down the stairs.
"I'll teach that little wench to steal from--AHH!!"
Serena wanted to pout and stamp her feet when the warmth
of Darien's lips faded from her own, but the thunk from behind
her drew her attention away from that fact.
In a heap of red hair and flailing limbs, Brianna
struggled to stand up straight on the ankle she had undoubtedly
twisted. When all attempts failed, she resorted to laying on her
back and wailing at a pitch that shook the banisters above their
heads and drew Serena's hands over her ears.
Darien hesistated to approach her at first and looked at
Serena as if Brianna was a dead bug he REALLY didn't want to touch. Recognizing the suggestive light in his eyes, Serena feriously
shook her head NO.
Inaudibly, Darien groaned.
If I wasn't such a damn nice guy...
---------------------------------------------------------------
Karen sipped her coffee leisurely without a care in the
world.
"I'm telling you," She said, "Darien attended this camp for
ten years. He knows what he's doing, and they are going to be *fine*."
Mina scoffed, "But what if there are WEREWOLVES out there?
They could be eaten alive and we'd never know it!" It was uncanny
and sometimes downright eerie how much she and Serena were alike.
Karen dismissed the notion with a wave of her hand and
took another tentative sip of her drink, checking for the umpteenth
time out the window for a familiar blonde to appear.
Mina stopped her incessant rattling when Karen slammed her
cup of coffee down to gape at something outside.
"Karen? What's--SERENA!" With that, the highstrung blonde
zoomed out of Karen's office to head off the approaching trio, Karen
hot on her trail.
When Serena saw her bestfriend racing towards her, she
dropped the pole she was carrying and ignored the piercing howl
of disapproval that followed.
"Mina!"
They collided in a huge hug and laughed at nothing in
particular other than the fact that one was safe.
"Hey, you two. You wanna give me a hand here?" Darien,
annoyed that his companion had dropped her end of the makeshift
stretcher, gestured towards the flailing girl on the ground.
Realizing her mistake, Serena begrudingly left Mina to help.
It had been a long, long journey back to the camp having to lug
around Brianna AND try to ignore the fact that she had actually
been making out with the man she had vowed to never harbor any
civil feelings toward only an hour before.
At one point, she had been close to hurtling either
herself or the constantly howling girl off the ledge of a cliff
but ultimately no such cliff appeared and she was forced to endure
Brianna's insults and squeals the entire way.
Karen walked up then with a huge grin plastered on her
face and glowed with pride.
"Glad to see my teaching paid off, eh Dare?" She gave
him a pat on the back and cringed at Brianna's bandaged ankle,
"What happened?"
Brianna, puffing and sniffling, stumbled to her feet and
pointed a shaky finger at Serena's nose.
"I'll tell you what HAPPENED! What HAPPENED was that I
caught *this* fashion impaired, moronic, sorry excuse for a--"
"Get to the point, Brianna," Karen intervened, frowning
at the girl's berating words.
Brianna glared at the woman and turned heated eyes back to
Serena's equally pissed off face.
"I had him first! He was mine!" She screeched, making the
sad mistake of stomping her injured foot and then howling and hopping
about until Karen had to grab her shoulders to make her stop.
Mina exchanged clueless glances between Serena and Darien.
"Am I the only one COMPLETELY lost here?"
Brianna threw herself from Karen's hold and continued
her tirade.
"And look what happened! I've been deliberately injured!
You can rest assured that when my father finds out about this,
that will be the END of Camp Kiwoochee!" With a huff and flip of
her matted and twig-filled hair, she turned on her heel and limped
pitifully towards her cabin, leaving the rest to stare dumbfoudedly
at her retreating back.
Serena's mouth hung open in utter shock. "Sh-she can't
really do that...can she Karen?" Thoughts of the many children
that had spent an entire month before the trip talking about nothing
but Camp Kiwachee and everything they would do once they got there
filled her mind and pricked at her eyes in the form of tears.
Karen sighed, scratching the back of her head, and
silently nodded.
"Her father practically owns this place. If he cuts off
sponsorship..." She trailed off, looking wearily into Darien's
widened eyes.
When Darien saw the beginnings of defeat nestling into
Karen's usually optimistic brown eyes, he knew that all was lost.
What would happen when the place that had been his escape for so
many of his troubled years of adolescent and then teenage years
ceased to exist?
---------------------END OF CHAPTER 6--------------------------
Is it me, or was this chapter a LOT more serious than the rest?
I promise more laughs next time! I thought I'd change up the way
Darien explained his parents and everything. Hence the 'no dialogue'
type bit there. Like/Dislike? I really wanna know!
And PLEASE don't hunt me down for leaving Mina/Kunz outta
this one AGAIN. I changed the plot last minute and they just couldn't
be squeezed in. Next one, I PROMISE.
Hmm...That's 2 promises I've made 4 next chapter. I won't let
you guys down!
--Adrial
EMAIL or CRITIQUE FOR COMMENTS/FLAMES!
Adrial_06@yahoo.com