"Go to hell, Moore!"
An uppercut sends Frank stumbling backwards into one of the tents, much to Gary's great ire.
"Can't you two behave!? This is a camping trip, for Pete's sake!" After wiping the sweat from his forehead, Gary grabs Frank by his bandana and drags him into an upright sitting position.
"She started it, Gary! You saw her!"
"I highly doubt it. Besides, you're supposed to be helping me pitch these, so stop goofing around and get back to work." Not many people can sound intimidating with a nasally voice, especially those who look like Gary. For reasons beyond readily accessible knowledge, he's more than capable of sewing fear into the hearts of the Midnight Society when they act out of line.
Kristen sticks her tongue out at the frustrated punk, further emboldened by her de facto boyfriend laughing right behind her while embracing her like a koala.
Frank tugs at Gary's polo, pointing at the blonde. "Gary, look, look! She just-"
"Shut up, Frank! Let me go and pitch that tent you screwed up."
A mocking duet adds insult to injury: "Ooooh."
"You're really gonna have him pitch that tent all by himself?" Kiki asks, a knowing look on her face.
"Well, he already tried it with Kristen. Look where that landed him, right into another guy's lap!" Eric laughs, grabbing a fistful of popcorn.
"Buzz off, creeps!" It's a rare occurrence to have Gary, Frank and Kristen snap in unison, but it's music to their ears when that opportunity comes.
Eric and Kiki look at each other, grinning like the jerks they are. They hope that no one notices their expressions giving way to gentle smiles.
"So who do you think started it?" Eric's mouth is still full of popcorn, but he knows that Kiki doesn't care. She's usually guilty of doing so as well.
Kiki shakes her head. "I wanna ask you something first."
The redhead raises an eyebrow. "Don't ignore me."
"Relax, weevil. I'll get back to you in a sec. Look, how come you never eat marshmallows when we're out here like this?"
"Simple. I hate it when marshmallows get stuck in my teeth." He sees the incredulous look on her face; he has to keep making his case. "I don't mind kernels so much. I have a talent for picking them out, you know."
His boasting prompts the tomboy to roll her eyes. "You have a talent for everything, even though you don't."
"But marshmallows," he spits out, too late to cut her off, "are all gooey and are harder to pick out. They get all soft and liquid-y."
"What a load of crap!" Kiki flicks a piece of popcorn against Eric's forehead. "You're just traumatized because you used to wear braces. Marshmallows got stuck in them once and now you're scarred for life."
Eric blushes. "A-alright, so I was. Sue me. I mean, I felt like an idiot when I first saw you! That's why I never ate them again." His face reddens some more when he sees that Kiki's reacting the same way as him. "I was just trying to impress you when I made my stone skip further than yours down at the lake. Then my stupid self had to grin."
The two remain quiet for a bit, but soon become uncomfortable. They know they're attracting attention, but it's not like they can just leave, neither. That would make things look even weirder.
"You really did look stupid that day. Your gummy steel wool grin, your messy carrot top, your bright blue bug eyes, those lame clothes... I'd never seen anyone like you before, not even in books or on TV. I couldn't forget about you."
The boy twiddles his thumbs. "You say 'stupid', but... You totally dug me that day, right? I only started liking you after we talked later on. You know, like... 'like' liking you."
"As if, I 'dug'- Wh-what? Why?" Kiki adjusts her baseball cap so that the brim points forward and obscures her face. "I'm not all that unique or anything. Do you just get that lovestruck when you beat someone at stone skipping?"
The silence returns. They want it to end and they absolutely know they're being stared at.
"Anyway," drones Eric in his usual high tone, "who started all this? Them, not us. Y-you know, the question I asked you earlier! Come on-"
"Okay, okay! Let me at least think!" Kiki swipes some of Eric's popcorn and eats it, wincing because the kernels got stuck in her teeth almost immediately. "Eugh, this tastes so bad."
"But you're still eating it." Eric pretends to think. "Are you trying to impress me? Your spite only makes me lo... I really like seeing you get mad." He spins his whole body in the direction of the others, sneering at them in case they plan to give him a taste of his own medicine. "What the heck are you staring at?"
"Let go of my hand, stupid!"
He's conflicted between letting go of Kiki's soft, strong hand and letting her hit him in front of everyone. Either option's going to hurt his pride, but a voice in his head he's never heard before is telling him to let go. He does, accepting to be shoved to the ground.
Even with the rest of the Society teasing him right back, Eric realizes that the voice was there to make him remember that Kiki is just as prideful as him. The last thing he wants to do is ruin this interesting relationship they have by making his embarrassment hers as well.
"Stupid, rotten conscience," he mutters to himself, his cheeks hot. "I hope you're happy, Kiki. Seriously."