Clyde POV
Friday night at camp was movie night. They rearranged the tables and set up a big screen at the end of the mess hall, where the projector would show the movie. They also had popcorn, drinks and snacks at the counter. I grabbed a couple bags of popcorn and took a seat next to Lincoln, who was sitting next to Renee.
"Hey, buddy. I got you some popcorn," I greeted him.
"Oh thanks, Clyde," he said. "Looks like I've got two bags now for the price of one."
I looked past him and realized he was already sharing a bag with Renee. He put the bag that I'd given him between his legs for later.
Ever since Lincoln started dating Renee, we'd kind of being hanging out with each other less and less. I guess that's just what happens when your best friend gets a girlfriend. I was happy for him. I really was. It was just hard not to feel a little left out knowing that I now had to compete with such an awesome and beautiful girl.
Then the movie started. It was one of mine and Lincoln's favorite horror movies from a few years ago. 'Ghost Orchestra 2: Bach from the Dead.'
"Hey guys." I turned my head just as Ronnie Anne took a seat on my other side.
"Hey Ronnie Anne," I said back. I waited for Lincoln and Renee to respond, but it seemed he was a little too busy doing the old stretch-yawn-and-reach thing, putting his arm around Renee's shoulder.
"Let me know if it gets too scary for you, babe," he teased her.
"Haha! Please. I've seen scarier faces at the bus station," she laughed back. Watching the two of them snuggle together, barely paying Ronnie Anne and I any mind, that stung a little.
"Get used to it, Clyde," Ronnie Anne said. "Welcome to Third Wheel Town. Population: us."
The next morning, I thought about what had happened last night. Dr. Lopez would probably tell me that I was being too possessive, projecting my insecurities onto my friend and that I should try to live my own life. So I decided that if Lincoln could find a girlfriend, then so could I. Maybe I could ask out Haiku. I did have fun with her on the canoe trip last week and from what she told me, it seemed like she had gotten over her crush on that vampire guy, Baron Thaddeus.
I spotted Haiku sitting under a tree reading a book and decided that now was as good a time as any to make my move. I just needed a moment to mentally prepare myself. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath in, then let it out slowly. Now I was ready, so I started making my way over to the cool, hot goth girl under the tree. "Haiku!" I shouted.
She looked up from her book as I strutted up to her. I tried to play it as cool as possible, showing her my most confident smile. "Hey girl. How's it going?"
"Clyde? What's up with your face?" she asked. "Do you have to use the bathroom?"
Okay, strike the phony confidence thing. "Uh, no actually, I just came over to… I mean, I was wondering if you wanted to, maybe… sit with me at lunch today?"
Her face was so stiff and blank, it was hard to tell exactly what she was thinking. "Are you trying to ask me for a date?"
"Well I… yeah, I am."
"Alright, then. You're on."
"Really?"
"Yeah. But for future reference, you don't need to be so nervous. A girl's not gonna bite you if you try to ask her out. Unless of course she's a vampire."
I had a nice laugh at that. Haiku had a nice sense of humor for somebody who rarely laughed. "Good to know. So I'll see you around one-o'-clock in the mess hall?"
"Sure. I'll be there."
"Great! See you then. Bye!"
BAM!
All of a sudden, as I was heading off, something came out of nowhere and knocked me over. It was Penelope.
"Clyde!" she gasped. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I should've been looking where I was going." She gave me her hand and helped me up to my feet.
"It's okay, Penelope. I wasn't really paying attention either."
"I'm just excited. I did some research on this forest and according to what I've found, there are a lot of cool things to find around here. So I made up a scavenger hunt for myself. I'm gonna go exploring and see if I can find all this stuff."
"Really? That sounds like fun."
"Say, do you wanna join me? I'd love to have someone to keep me company and help me search. Plus, it'll be easier to find everything with two people looking."
"Oh! Well, uh…" I wasn't sure what to do. Penelope's scavenger hunt sounded like a lot of fun, but what if it made me miss my date with Haiku? After giving it some thought, I decided that I could always just head back before one-o'-clock. I'm sure Penelope would understand. "You know what? I'd love to go scavenger hunting with you."
"Great. Then follow me! We've got a lot of woods to cover."
Penelope and I set off into the woods. I didn't know what we were going to find out there, but I was excited to find out.