Chapter 8
"I hope you drown you stupid cat!" Debbie yelled as Boris headed over to the pool.
I was sure that Boris made a face at her but I wasn't looking at them so I didn't know. I spread my towel out and laid down on it. If I couldn't swim than I would tan instead.
"Mind if I join you?" a voice said.
I sat up at looked at the owner of the voice, it was Julius. "Sure," I said.
He sat down next to me and looked at the group of people that was growing around Debbie. I looked over there too and said, "It's a pointless argument isn't it?"
He looked at me and said, "I suppose so. Half of the arguments Debbie makes are pointless. She is one of those people who like to argue for the sake of arguing."
"That explains a lot," I said remembering all of the arguments she made in the past and how random they were.
"I had four classes with her last year. It was terrible, we were never on topic and she argued with anybody who challenged her," Julius said.
"You don't seem to like her very much," I said.
"She's really loud. It's distracting," he said simply.
He was right about that. Even though she was in the center of that group of people I could still hear her voice above all of the others.
"I wonder when the counselors will come to break the fight up," I said absently.
Right after I had said that the Jokers both walked over to the group of people. A few minutes later the crowd broke apart to let Black drag Debbie away by the hair.
"ALICE, JULIUS! COME OVER HERE! WHITE IS GOING TO TELL US A STORY!" Ellie called cheerily.
I looked at Julius; he sighed and got up to join them. I followed. The others had formed a circle, which Julius and I joined.
"Alright," White said after everyone had quieted down. "I'm going to tell you the story of the man who lives across the lake. His name is Farmer McMillan. Now Farmer McMillan is a normal man, or he was until the accident happened."
"What accident?" Ellie said sounding like she didn't believe a single word he had just said.
"The boating accident, it happened in this very lake," White continued.
"Bull. This lake isn't cool enough for a boating accident to happen in it," Debbie said sitting down in the circle. Black joined the circle too. Now that I noticed, Elliot was gone and Boris, Dee and Dum were soaking wet.
"Shut up b****," Black said.
"As I was saying, the farmer was on the boat and then it hit a rock and sank. Some campers were watching and told their counselors what happened. They never saw him resurface. Word of farmer McMillan's death spread though out the whole camp. By nightfall, everyone knew of his untimely demise.
"That was the night a pair of lovers in the eldest age group decided to break the curfew. They went to kissing rock for a romantic evening away from the jeers of their bunkmates. The two heard a moan coming from the water. They were frightened and they stopped moving and stared at the water. Suddenly, farmer McMillan came out of the water and attacked the boy. The girl was able to get away, but not before seeing farmer McMillan tear her boyfriend into pieces." White said in a creepy voice.
It was a disturbing story but I was surprised to see that everybody else looked bored. Elliot came over and tapped Julius on the shoulder. Julius got up and left the circle and Elliot took his seat.
"What did I miss?" Elliot asked me quietly.
"The farmer died, came back to life and killed a boy," I said.
"Figures," he said sounding bored.
Boris had noticed this little exchange and said, "The story is never told the same way twice. It's really boring because it obviously not true."
"There is a farmer across the lake actually. He's a younger guy. And his name is not McMillan which makes the story fake," Ellie said.
"How do you know that?" Debbie asked.
"I met him. Remember last year during that thunderstorm while we were all boating on the lake?" Ellie replied.
"Oh yeah, you were across the lake and your counselor last year was so angry at you," Boris said.
"Are you all finished with this little exchange?" White asked trying to be patient.
"The girl tells the camp they see the farmer zombie and he runs away and everyone lives happily ever after the end." Debbie said in one breath. "Now who's looking forward to having nature later?"
"ME! I think we have cute bunny rabbits this year!" Anita said excitedly.
"There are bunny rabbits this year- chu?" Pierce asked.
"Yes! And I think I saw a mouse too when I looked through the window of the nature cabin." Anita said.
"They should really call it cooking class if there are going to be mice this year," Boris said looking bored.
Pierce flinched. "Scary cat- chu!" he said diving for cover behind Debbie.
"Boris I hate you," Debbie said getting up and moving away from Pierce.
Boris smiled a Cheshire cat grin at her. "It's not my fault he's a stupid mouse," he said.
White had obviously lost control of the group. He looked a little annoyed. Black on the other hand looked very annoyed at the loss of control.
"Let's play Duck Duck Goose!" Ellie said.
She and Anita made everybody get into an organized circle. The Jokers tried to leave the circle but Ellie forced them into the circle saying "We'll never listen to you EVER, if you skip out on this."
I didn't want to play Duck Duck Goose. Fortunately, Julius had reappeared and Peter was gone which meant my turn to swim was coming up soon.
Ellie went first; she tagged Anita, who tagged Debbie who then tagged Veronica. Somewhere during this Peter had returned and Pierce had vanished. Veronica tagged Black Joker who managed to tag her and send her into the middle of the circle. Black tagged Peter randomly; it was obvious he didn't care about the game and was playing it so that Ellie wouldn't bother him. I was not surprised when Peter tagged me. I had to get up and chase him. It was terrible. Peter was like that one kid who won't sit down after his turn is over. I couldn't catch him. I gave up and stopped. Peter ran towards me and I tripped him.
He stood up laughing as he was sent to the middle of the circle. He smiled at me and I started to walk around the circle. "Duck… Duck…Duck…Duck," I said tapping people on the head. I didn't even know whose head I was tapping as I made my way around the circle. "Duck… Duck… Duck… Goose," I randomly tapped someone on the head and ran around the circle. I wasn't surprised when they caught me. I turned and was shocked to see Blood standing behind me with a smug smile on his face.
I turned away from his smug expression and started to walk to the center of the circle when Pierce came in front of me saying "It's your turn Alice- chu."
I headed to the pool. The lifeguard who had been yelling out everyone's name approached me and said "You need to do twelve laps: Four laps front stroke, four laps breast stroke and four laps back stroke within five minutes."
I walked over to the edge of the pool and then I heard the lifeguard say "GO," and I jumped into the pool. I started to swim to the other side of the pool when I began to think about Blood's smug smile. I hated it. They had the same face, what if he was making that face at my name too? My anger at him boosted my stamina and I was able to finish five of the twelve laps without getting tired. My anger faded and the fatigue set in. It was insane to make us swim twelve laps, Debbie was right. When I heard the whistle blow I had done eight laps.
I got out of the pool and told to get Anita. I walked over to the circle to see Anita sitting in the middle of them. "It's your turn Anita," I said to her.
"Awesome," She replied standing up. Debbie caught Anita on her way out the circle and whispered something in her ear. I didn't know what it was because Ellie was telling me that I had to go in the middle because Blood caught me before I went in the pool.
I sat in the middle of the circle. Elliot tossed my towel to me without me even having to ask and I watched as Boris walked around the circle. The game dissolved after that. Boris picked Pierce and ran around the circle without even being chased. Pierce stood there and stared at him. Boris then pulled a plastic fork and knife out of a pocket in his swimming trunks and walked towards Pierce. Pierce turned and ran away screaming while Boris chased him.
One of the lifeguards started chasing them saying, "NO RUNNING NEAR THE POOL." Boris ignored her and continued his pursuit.
I walked over to Julius and Ace who were watching the spectacle from the sidelines. "Do games always end like this?" I asked.
"Only Duck Duck Goose," Ace replied with his usual grin.
"Why did we even play that game?" Julius said sounding annoyed at the waste of time this had been.
"Because I said so," Ellie said joining us.
"Of course," Julius replied shaking his head.
"You're a killjoy Julius," Ellie said. Before she could continue, Anita walked up soaking wet and whispered something into Ellie's ear.
Ellie smiled and said "This is going to be awesome," and walked to the waiting lifeguard.
Anita smiled at us and then walked over to where Debbie was watching Pierce and Boris. "They're planning something," Julius stated.
"What gives you that idea Julius?" Blood said as he and Elliot joined our little group.
"That," he said as Debbie's face spread into a grin that could not have come from watching the cat and mouse chase.
"That doesn't mean anything. Anita probably told her a joke or something," Elliot said annoyed.
"I had four classes with her last year. I think I know what her face looks like when she sees that her plot is going as planned," Julius replied annoyed.
Elliot looked angry. It looked like he and Julius didn't get along very well. Blood didn't look to happy to be near Julius either. Ace had that moronic smile on his face so I had no idea what was going through his head.
"You have a creepy smile Ace," I said voicing my current thoughts about his smile. I put my hand over my mouth. I hadn't meant to say that.
Blood, Elliot and Julius were looking at me and Ace. Ace was smiling still but I noticed that for a second his expression turned to a serious one before he smiled again. "Ha ha, Alice is mean!" Ace said.
Elliot smacked himself in the forehead and said, "You're an idiot Ace."
"Elliot that's mean, what did Ace do to you?" Ellie said joining us again. "I don't even know why I came over here. I'm going to go and see how long it takes Veronica to win over the lifeguards this year."
She walked away then and then Julius said, "Debbie hasn't gone in the pool yet."
I looked over where I had last seen Debbie and saw that she hadn't moved from that spot. The lifeguard had stopped Boris and Pierce and was talking to Debbie. Debbie wasn't angry though. In fact she looked embarrassed about something. I immediately knew what she was telling the lifeguard based upon her expression. Veronica got out of the pool and the lifeguard Debbie was talking to was dragging her to the pool.
"What a jerk," I said referring to the lifeguard.
"Debbie is annoying isn't she? I wonder what she was faking this time," Blood said.
I didn't respond. Instead I walked over to the pool to see what would happen. Debbie had been forced to get into the pool and the lifeguard said, "GO." Debbie started to swim slowly to the other side of the pool. The lifeguard yelled at her to go faster. Ellie, Anita and Veronica were all watching her slow progress too. In the middle of the third lap Debbie stopped in the middle of the pool for a second and then she started to scream for help and splash around.
"Help!" she yelled trying to keep herself afloat. The boys all came to see what was going on. One of the lifeguards had thrown in one of their orange lifesavers and they were yelling at Debbie to grab it. She did but she kept struggling. When they pulled her over to the wall she grabbed on the rope of the lifesaver and the lifeguard holding on to it was thrown into the pool. Debbie managed to find the ladder and she was out of the pool.
Debbie walked over to the other girls and collapsed. Ellie and Anita caught her. "We're just going to take her back to the bunk," Ellie said.
"Come on Alice! We need your help!" Anita added.
I ran over to join them and we left the pool area. Ellie and Anita were supporting Debbie. Veronica was carrying everyone's towels. We got to the bunk and then when I closed the door behind me Debbie burst into laughter.
"We did it! We got away with pulling that stupid head lifeguard into the pool! I am a GENIUS!" Debbie yelling
"Keep it down genius or else everyone will know you were faking. I suggest that you change into normal clothes and lay down in bed," Veronica said.
"What?" I asked.
Debbie walked over to me and looked me in the eye. "We should do it tonight," she said turning to look at the other girls behind her. "She is the only other girl in the bunk, it's not like there are other people we are keeping in the dark."
"I agree, I think Alice can be trusted," Anita said.
"Trusted with what?" I asked.
"That's a secret until later," Ellie said with a grin.
"It's perfect too, Vivaldi has her day off tomorrow," Veronica said.
"It's decided," Debbie said.
I had no idea what they were talking about but Vivaldi walked in after Debbie had said that which effectively ended the conversation.
"Wake up Alice," someone said to me. I opened my eyes and looked around. Vivaldi was gone. Ellie was standing next to my bed fully clothed.
"Sleep well?" she asked with a grin. "You need to wake up now, we have things to do and not a lot of time to do them before one of the Jokers show up to bring us to breakfast."
I got dressed as quickly as I could. Ellie took me out the back door of the cabin and led me to the part of camp with the art, music and drama cabins. She walked past all of these buildings and went into the woods. The sky was a shade of gray that only came before sunrise. I didn't follow Ellie and lost sight of her quickly due to the little light that was coming from the east.
Ellie must have realized that I wasn't following her because she came back and said "You're going to get in trouble for being outside if you don't follow me."
I followed her reluctantly. She led me to a boulder by the lakeside. "This is kissing rock," Ellie said gesturing to the boulder.
Anita, Debbie and Veronica appeared from the woods. Ellie walked over to them and Debbie stepped forward. "In order for us to trust you, you have to tell us your deepest darkest secret. And then you have to write the name of the boy you want to kiss the most on the rock with a permanent marker."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because you are the only other girl in the bunk and we would feel terrible if we had to leave you out. We're going to tell you our secrets too. You have to write the name on kissing rock because of a camp legend that says if you write a boy's name on the rock and bring them here they will kiss you before the summer is over." Debbie explained.
"If it was only secret telling we would have done that in the bunk," Anita added.
"So tell us your secret Alice," Debbie said.
I took a deep breath and said, "My ex-boyfriend left me for my sister."
"That's terrible," Veronica said sympathetically.
"It's awkward because he and Blood look exactly the same," I said.
"No way," Anita said.
"Yes, I don't even think they are related. Blood is just so much meaner than my ex ever was," I said.
"Wow that's awkward," Debbie said.
"I'll go now," Veronica said. "I have a crush on Black Joker."
I was surprised, "Really? It doesn't seem like it." I said.
"Well that is kind of what I am hoping to get across to everyone but I have had a crush on him for a few years now," Veronica said.
"Then act on it!" Debbie said annoyed. "My secret is that I don't actually like coffee. I pretend I do in order to get away with being a b**** to people who I don't like and use coffee withdrawal as an excuse. I actually drink hot chocolate instead of coffee."
"That's an odd reason to drink coffee." I said.
"It's never really coffee, the only people who actually get me my 'coffee' are these three." she said gesturing to the others. "They always make sure to get me hot chocolate or something like that."
"My secret is that I love to watch horror movies," Anita said, "Even the really gory ones."
"That's creepy," I said.
"I know, that's why it is a secret. Otherwise people would think I am insane… or they would think I am a sadist." Anita replied looking embarrassed.
"Your turn Ellie," Debbie said.
"Fine, my secret is that…" she trailed off mumbling.
"Your secret is…?" Debbie said waiting for a response.
"I'm afraid of the dark," Ellie said.
"Most people are afraid of the dark Ellie," I replied.
"But that's an unconscious fear. If everything suddenly goes dark and I can't see I start crying," she said.
"It's happened more than once," Debbie said. "Anyway here, take this marker and write the name of the boy you want to kiss at camp on kissing rock." She handed me the marker and pushed me in the direction of the boulder.
As I walked up to it I could see names scratched out on the boulder's face. All of them were the names of boys. I saw that in permanent marker three names had been written. Black Joker… Boris… Pierce. I guessed that this was where the other girls had written the boy's names. I didn't want any romance this summer. I didn't know the boys here well enough anyway. So I picked the first name off of the top of my head and wrote it down.
I walked over to the other girls and gave the marker back to Debbie. "Alright Ellie, your turn," she said handing the marker to Ellie.
She went over to the boulder and wrote down the boy's name. She then joined the four of us and we all headed back to the cabin together. We ended up walking by the nature cabin. In the light of the rising sun, we could see that the back door had been left open.
"Let's go check it out guys," Anita said.
"It's probably nothing," Debbie said.
"What if a fox got in there Debbie? It wouldn't be the first time something like this happened," Anita said worriedly.
"Alright, alright, we'll go save the bunny," Debbie said.
Anita smiled and led the way to the back of the nature cabin. We walked single file through the door and looked around. I couldn't see anything because I was in the back and it was dark in here. There was the sound of someone's footsteps across the room. Suddenly, a light turned on. Anita jumped backward in surprise and knocked Veronica over.
"What are you girls doing in here?" a voice asked.
"S*** go back go back!" Debbie said.
I turned and started to leave but I walked head-on into someone who was coming in.
"We're so dead," Ellie said quietly.
I hope you enjoyed this... I made it extra long because you are all awesome for taking time to read this (and for not killing me for taking so long to write this chapter. :D)
If you want to see something you're not seeing (like Gray or Nightmare) tell me and I will go something about it... (Gray and Nightmare will appear next chapter by the way)
Thanks to people who reviewed. (I have an idea of who she will end up with thanks for giving me your opinion, it helped)
Thanks for reading. Bye now! :)