Chapter Two – You Have to Name All Five
I breathe not air
I eat not soil
Down in the depths with the bubbles
I toil
You have to jiggle
You have to jive
You have to name all five
I was sure of that riddle. We had to name five fish. I was one hundred percent sure of it.
It was ten P.M. and I sat outside the girl's cabin on the steps with my threadbare robe wrapped around me as I looked at the stars. For some reason, the stars were prettier above Camp Triumph. In fact, everything was prettier at Camp Triumph. The land was beautiful. I looked to my right, glasses on, and saw the counselor's cabins. I knew that the camp owners lived in the main building but I had no idea that each counselor got their own cabin. They were about five meters away from each other and the color of each team.
I heard talking coming from the main building and looked to my left. The counselors were leaving the main building and chatting about the first challenge. I saw Santana smiling widely, dimples on full display, in the light the main building was giving off. She was stunning. Absolutely exquisite. I'd never seen anyone like her. And no one had ever given me the feelings she gave me.
"Oh, fuck. Babe, I left my phone in the dining room. Come back with me?" Puck said and Quinn nodded, locking her own phone and tucking it in the pocket of the hoodie she was wearing – I assumed it was Puck's. She and Puck moved back into the main building while Santana and Kurt continued toward the counselor's cabins. I shivered slightly as a cool breeze hit me and licked my lips as they got closer.
"Brittany?" Santana said, squinting in the dark to see me properly. I gave a small wave.
"Yeah." I said and she smiled, patting Kurt on the back as he kept on toward his cabin while she approached me. She walked up the first two steps to the girl's cabin and sat down next to me, "Why are you still awake, it's late. I figured you'd be out like a light after the challenge."
"I did too but it turns out the adrenaline from it hasn't quite settled yet." I told her with a smile and she chuckled.
"Yeah, that'll happen. You're famous here already." She said, "I came to this camp for ten years, from six to sixteen, and then I was immediately a counselor from seventeen. I've always been in the Yellow Jackets and we've never won any challenge, hence why we've never won the color war but, today you not only broke one record, you broke two."
"I didn't know I broke any." I said and she chuckled.
"Well, you broke the record for the Yellow Jackets, lifting the losing curse. And you broke the record for the fastest time any challenge has ever been completed in since this camp opened." She told me and I was surprised, "I know, it's crazy. You're like a rocket."
I laughed and shook my head, "Nah," I said with a shy smile as she rubbed my back when I shivered, "So, if you've been a counselor since you were seventeen then you're…?"
"Nineteen." Santana replied, "I turned nineteen yesterday."
"Happy birthday." I said with a smile and Santana grinned.
"Thank you." She said, "So, have you kinda, sorta figured out the riddle?"
"I think so." I told her with a nod, "I figure it's taking place at the lake and we have to name fish or something."
Santana smiled and looked ahead of her at the score board, "You're gonna end up in the record books at this place." She whispered, linking her fingers and resting her forearms on her knees, "I'm not supposed to tell anyone this so if you mention it to the rest of the team, I'll personally come after you and go all Lima Heights on your ass, okay?" I chuckled and nodded, "There are five fish, each is worth twenty points. You have to figure out what kind of fish it is from the picture and however many you get right, say you get all five, you'll get twenty points for each, making it a hundred. Have you got your paddlers?" She asked and I nodded.
"Yeah, the six year old. Uh, Daniel, Denise and Gabrielle." I told her and she smiled.
"Oliver hasn't ever been here before but the other three are good choices. They're strong." Santana said, licking her lips, "Seriously, if you tell anyone I told you the challenge, you'll see my ugly side. You don't wanna see that."
I laughed and gave her a nod, "I promise I won't. You have my word." She nodded and gave me a grin.
"Get to bed soon." She advised, "You're gonna be up early tomorrow."
I gave Santana a nod as she stood and jumped down the two steps to the grass, "Goodnight, Santana." I said softly and she smiled, tilting her head to the side with droopy eyes.
"Goodnight, Brittany." She said, "Sleep well."
"I will." I told her, "You sleep well too."
She let out a light chuckle and nodded, turning to her left and heading toward her cabin. I watched her go as she tucked her hands into the pockets of her baggy jeans and I smiled as she began to hum to herself while she walked. I chuckled lightly and stood, moving back into the girl's cabin and putting the latch on the door behind me, walking to my room and slipping off my robe, quietly climbing into bed so as not to wake Charlie.
Tomorrow was a big day.
The alarm went off in our cabin at exactly eight o'clock and all us girls slid out of bed and tiredly got dressed. We'd arranged to shower at night and let the younger girls go first since there was only one shower in the cabin. Thank god, however, that there was constantly hot water so none of us had to shower in cold water.
As soon as we were all dressed in our Yellow Jackets shirts and a pair of shorts and shoes, we made our way to the front of the cabins where Santana was waiting for us with a smile on her face and a new appearance. Her long, wavy hair was tied into a messy bun atop her head and she was wearing a pair of black jean shorts with flip flops and her camp shirt was tied into a knot under her breasts, showing off her toned stomach. All four teams tiredly made their way out of their cabins and towards their counselors. Santana silently counted all of us and smiled when she saw we were all there, giving us a thumbs-up.
I noticed that Puck had the megaphone today and he had a blue scarf tied around his head. Santana had yellow tied around her wrist, Quinn had green tied around her neck and Kurt had red tied around his belt buckle.
"Camp Triumph," Puck bellowed, waking us all up in fright at how loud it was, "Before your second challenge we're going to head to the dining room for breakfast. But first your counselors want to have a word with their teams. After that they'll lead you to the dining area."
He turned the megaphone off and gathered the Deep Blues around him. All the teams gathered around their counselors and I focused on Santana, "Alright, you guys. We're in the lead by five points and I'd like for us to stay in the lead but I'd also like for you all to do your best today, okay? So if we don't win this challenge, don't beat yourselves up about it, alright?" We all nodded and she smiled, giving us all a wink and ruffling Oliver's hair – he was the only six year old in the team, "After breakfast you'll have a ten minute break to talk about this challenge but I want you all to stay close to the hall. We can't afford to lose any points." We all nodded again and threw in a few okay's as well before she smiled out a sigh and began leading us to the dining room.
The dining room was beautiful and each team had their own colored table. Charlie, Blaine and I sat with each other over breakfast and talked about our family lives and where we lived and all that getting-to-know-you crap. An hour went by so fast and soon we were on our ten minute break, talking about the challenge and staying near the hall. It was too bad we couldn't see the lake from where we were but we'd figure it out as we went.
And soon the siren went off and we raced into the hall to our mark. Santana smiled in pride as she counted us and gave us yet another thumbs-up while Puck held the megaphone over his head, letting the siren go off for another two seconds. Some more campers came racing into the hall in a panic and I chuckled to myself – our whole team was already there.
"You're five minutes are up. Is everybody here?" Puck said through the megaphone and Quinn gave him a thumbs-up as well as Santana and Kurt. Everybody was here and no one lost any points, "Alright, you're all going to follow your counselor to the lake where we will announce the next challenge."
Quick and simple. Santana made a come-hither motion with her hand and we followed her to the lake. There was a colored flag for each team which I assumed was our mark when Santana instructed us to stand behind the yellow one. We stood and waited for the Deep Blues and the Epic Greens to arrive. Rachel was talking to Finn and Blaine and I chuckled at how smitten she looked while the Deep Blues stood behind their flag. I noticed that this wasn't the dock I'd seen coming in to the camp yesterday and that the dock I'd seen was further to our right with all the canoes and paddle boats and paddles.
As soon as every team was standing by the lake, Puck spoke through the megaphone as all the counselors stood on the dock, "Team paddlers, please step away from your team and follow Kurt to the first dock where he will explain the challenge." He said, "Four paddlers per team."
Our paddlers stepped away, Oliver holding Daniel's hand, and waited for Kurt. I watched as Mike stepped away from the Epic Greens with Spencer and I gulped nervously. They were both very strong guys, "Mike and Spencer are paddlers for the Epic Greens." I mumbled to Blaine who turned his head to look at them and widened his eyes.
"Shit, they look strong." He whispered and I nodded.
"I have faith in our team, though." I assured him and he exhaled a nervous breath.
"Yeah, me too."
Quinn came to stand with us holding her clipboard while Puck went to stand with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Santana went to stand with the Epic Greens and threw me a wink. I smiled and turned my head away to hide my blush just as Kurt blew a whistle. We all turned our heads to the right to look at the second dock and saw our paddlers take off toward buoys. I noticed there were five total in the lake – one for each fish. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were in the lead and we were the only team that let a little one paddle. But I didn't care. I had faith in Oliver and, watching the yellow canoe, realized he was stronger than I thought. Sitting right at the front, Oliver paddled his little ass off wearing a tiny yellow life jacket as our canoe was right on the red canoe's ass.
They stopped at each buoy and picked something up off of it before paddling to the next one. We all watched in anticipation as the Red Hot Chili Peppers fell behind and the Epic Greens caught up to the Yellow Jackets. We were head in head with the Epic Greens and they came first, leaping out of their canoe and racing to their team. Daniel got out of our canoe first and helped the girls and Oliver – who was holding five laminated cards – out before they raced up to us. Oliver handed me the cards and I gave him a smile, taking them and looking at them.
"Angelfish." I said, handing Quinn the card and she scribbled something down on her clipboard. I couldn't figure out the next one so I passed it on, "Uh… catfish." I handed Quinn the card. The next two I didn't know so I passed them on to my teammates as well before whispering the last one just like I did the other two, "Zander."
"This one's a Siamese fighting fish." Oliver said, giving the card he was holding to Quinn. I gave him a high-five and he smiled widely. We all stared at the last card, puzzled, before I spoke. I knew what it was. I'd seen that fish at the aquarium with my mom and was amazed by it.
"It's a neon tetra." I said confidently as Charlie handed Quinn the card. She scribbled something down on her clipboard and gave us a thumbs-up.
"Well done, Yellow Jackets." She mumbled before moving to the dock and clipping our cards to her clipboard. We watched as the only team left to figure out their cards were the Red Hot Chili Peppers. A few minutes later, Puck moved back to the dock and they tallied the scores.
"Okay, back to the cabins. Get cleaned up for lunch and meet us outside your cabins in twenty minutes." Puck said through the megaphone and we all nodded. We moved back the way we came and headed toward the cabins. I went inside and moved to mine and Charlie's room, untying my hair and retying it in a messy ponytail. Charlie walked in behind me and flopped down onto her bed.
"I had no idea what any of those fish were called." She muttered, closing her eyes and resting her arms behind her head. I smiled and she sighed, "You and Oliver kicked ass."
I chuckled, "I like the aquarium." I told her, sitting on my bed and checking my texts. Only a few from my mom and my best friend Lucas. I replied and lay back, stretching and sighing when my back clicked.
Denise and Gabrielle took a shower to clean the lake off of them before we all headed outside and sat on the grass, waiting for Santana. All the counselors stood in front of the cabins holding numbers for the scoreboard but we couldn't see what they were. Santana gave us an unreadable smile before Kurt moved to the scoreboard and hung a 2 in front of the Red Hot Chili Peppers 5.
Quinn, Puck and Santana hung up their team's scores at the same time and we all cheered. The Epic Greens got 80, the Deep Blues got 80 and the Yellow Jackets got 100 points. We got every fish correct. Now our score was 110. Santana clapped for us and we cheered happily as she chuckled. She gave us each a high five and lifted Oliver into the air, throwing him up and catching him as he giggled euphorically.
"Congratulations to the Yellow Jackets." Puck said through the megaphone and all the teams clapped for us. I smiled in happiness and Santana gave me a grin, mouthing you are amazing. I blushed and looked into my lap, "You all have half an hour to do what you want, don't wander off, and when you hear the siren make your way to the dining room instead of the hall."
Everybody stood as Puck and Quinn moved back to the counselors' cabins with Kurt following. Santana hung back and held out her hand to me to help me stand. Charlie and Blaine were laughing and talking a few meters behind me and I smiled over my shoulder at them before focusing on Santana.
"You're incredible, Miss Pierce." Santana said as she pulled me up. I chuckled and shook my head, "Don't you shake your head at me. You got four of the fish all by yourself. And now we're twenty points ahead of the team that always wins."
"It was a team effort." I said and Santana smiled, "I wouldn't have known what the fish were if our paddlers hadn't gotten the cards, so… team effort."
Santana tilted her head to the side again just like she'd done the previous night and grinned softly at me, "Well, you're still incredible." She said and I smiled bashfully.
"Thank you." I said, "As are you."
Santana laughed and swallowed, "You wanna walk with me? I need to pick something up from my cabin." She said and my eyes widened for a split second at her offer before I nodded and began to walk with her to her sunny yellow cabin, "So you live in Ohio?" She asked and I nodded.
"Yeah, Lima." I told her and she smiled.
"I live there too." She said.
"Wow. It's so small, I figured I would've seen you around but I haven't." I told her and she nodded with a sigh.
"Yeah, I spend most of my time at home studying." She said and I blinked as she continued, "Not anymore, though, I'm not going to college."
"How come?"
"I don't want to, honestly. I wanna sing." Santana said and I wasn't at all surprised at the admittance. She looked like she could sing.
"I think that's awesome." I told her and she smiled at me, "I wanna be a director. I love making movies. I have about a hundred that I made on my laptop at home."
She chuckled, "I like that." She said, "I think that's really amazing. If you have a dream you chase it, right?"
"Absolutely right." I agreed, "So, how many more challenges are there?"
"Uh… thirteen." Santana replied.
"Only thirteen?" I asked and Santana nodded.
"We have them all spread out across the rest of the summer." She told me, "But we have a lot planned for you guys. It's gonna be fun."
I grinned as we reached her cabin and she pulled open the door, standing aside and letting me walk in first, "Wow. This camp is really fancy." I said as I walked in, taking in my surroundings. Santana chuckled and shut the door with a nod.
"Yeah." She said, "My grandpa built these cabins."
"Your grandpa?" I asked with a frown as I ran my hand over the back of the couch.
"Yeah, my grandparents own this camp."
I was surprised. I never would've guessed, "I had no idea." I told her and she smiled as she moved to the open bedroom. I hovered in the doorway as she spoke.
"Yeah." She said, pulling open her nightstand drawer and rubbing her nose, "My abuelo built it with his best friend and my dad when my dad was around your age – you're sixteen, right?"
"Yeah. I'm turning seventeen in October." I told her and she nodded.
"So I got the job here when I turned seventeen. But I had to work for it. My abuelo's not a bias guy." She said, "And when I attended the camp I had to pay just like everyone else. My grandparents aren't fans of favoritism."
"That's good." I said as she rummaged through the drawer before closing it and picking up her pillow. She stuck her hand into the pillowcase and furrowed her brows, "So, have you always counseled the Yellow Jackets?"
"Uh, yeah. But last year I was sick most of the summer so one of my friends, Mercedes, took over for me." She said, yanking something out of the pillow case with a smile. It was a torch and a folded up piece of paper. She gave me a cheeky smile and unfolded the piece of paper, "Thank god." She breathed.
"What?" I asked awkwardly and she smiled even wider.
"We're getting the team together in the meeting cabin after lunch, okay? I have an idea." She told me and I nodded as she tucked the paper in her pocket and did the same with the small torch, "Alright, let's head back, Britt."
I nodded dumbly and she chuckled, throwing her arm around my shoulder as we headed toward the front door of her cabin, "How come you're so excited?" I asked with a chuckle as she pulled me into a one armed hug.
"Because this is the greatest thing ever." She said and I frowned at her as we left the cabin, her arm still thrown over my shoulder giving me all kinds of tingles, "You'll see."
"Okay, Yellow Jackets," Santana started as she shut the doors to the meeting cabin and turned toward the sixteen of us. She pulled the torch and paper from her pocket and smiled mischievously, "The day after tomorrow, all of the teams are going on a hike and we're staying the night on the mountain. In my hand, I hold a shortcut to the caves."
"Isn't that cheating?" Oliver asked curiously and Santana smiled with a shake of her head.
"It's not a challenge, buddy." She told him and he breathed out a sigh of relief, "In the caves are our team names – there are four. Every summer the counselors take their teams on a certain trail up the mountain and there are five trails. The Yellow Jackets trail is the longest because someone somewhere along the line wanted our team to lose the third challenge. But not this year. Because this is a map of a trail that is just as long as the other team's trails and we're going to use it."
"How come the third challenge is hiking?" Oliver asked and Santana smiled.
"Well, we take you up the team's trail before the actual challenge so you know your way up for the third challenge. I can't tell you what the third challenge is however I can tell you that we'll be staying the night in the Yellow Jackets cave tomorrow so I hope you brought your sleeping bags." Santana said and I smiled with a shake of my head at how excited she was. She clapped her hands and giggled like a schoolgirl, "Tomorrow morning, I want you all to meet me in here after the alarm goes off in your cabins, alright? We're gonna get ourselves ready for the afternoon when we'll walk the trail."
We all agreed and she gave each of us a high five, throwing me a wink and giving me a soft smile before she pinned the piece of paper to the corkboard in our meeting cabin and balanced her torch next to the flag button on the center table.
"Okay, free to do whatever you'd like. Go have fun but, remember, don't wander off." She said, opening the doors and smiling as we all left. I hung back and tucked my hands into my short pockets with a smile and she licked her lips, "The third challenge is crazy and the Yellow Jackets trail is ten minutes longer than the other teams. But when I was wandering around the camp, I found an abandoned trail with a broken Yellow Jackets sign at the start. So I looked at the map the counselors are given and there it was, exactly the same length as the other teams' trails. Somebody has hated this team from the beginning."
I breathed out a smile, "Well, I think you may have saved the third challenge for us." I said, "Whatever it is."
"Trust me, you'll love it." She assured me, "You little Duracell bunny."
I just wanted to kiss her. She had such pretty lips and such a perfect smile. All I wanted to do was sneak into her cabin in the middle of the night and kiss her senseless... and maybe other things.
Which I eventually did but we'll get to that.
A/N: Thank you for all the alerts and feedback for the last chapter, you guys. I'm glad you're as interested in the storyline as I am. Keep those reviews coming.