Five: I've Known Him Two Hours and He's Already Seen My Underwear

I notice that the air temperature has decreased significantly since the start of dinner, and the chilly wind nips at my exposed arms as I make my way back to the cabin.

            I’m not going to lie... I’m pissed off as hell. This is mostly down to Jake, who seems determined to ruin my life here even though I only arrived a few hours ago. That spaghetti thing was so uncalled for. Seriously, what have I ever done to him? The answer: nothing. So why does that make me deserving of humiliation in front of the entire camp?

            Although this makes up the largest proportion of my irritation, part of the reason for my negative mood is also... yup, you guessed it. Cindy DeLuna.

            See what I mean? Even her name is perfect. Everything about her annoys the crap out of me, even though she hasn’t said anything directly to me yet. It’s just the way she acts that makes me want to punch her in the face – clinging onto Blake and flirting with him so openly, as if she doesn’t care about sounding completely desperate.

            So altogether, this makes for a really pissed off Bailey.

            “Bailey... Bailey! Wait up!”

            My ears prick up at the sound of the distant voice behind me, and I spin round to identify its owner. I’m half-expecting it to be Cindy, just to aggravate me even further. However, my anger softens slightly when I see Savannah hastening towards me.

            “Savannah...” I say, in the kindest tone I can muster. “I just want to take a shower and not talk to anyone.”

            I continue walking, despite the fact that my best friend has not caught up with me yet. I can feel my hair marinating in the sticky mess of tomato sauce and all I want to do is jump in the shower and remove all evidence of this embarrassing incident.

            “Please wait up!” Savannah calls from behind me. I can tell that she is closer now and in a couple of seconds she is on my tail, able to grab my arm in an attempt to slow me down. “Bailey... seriously. Don’t get upset about what happened in there. Everyone knows it’s just Jake being stupid.”

            “I don’t want to talk about it.”

            We reach the cabin and I shove my key in the lock, forcing the door open. The cozy warmth of the cabin is welcome against my bare skin. I immediately head into my room, where my (repacked) case is lying on the bed, and grab my wash bag.

            As soon as I step under the hot water that comes flying out of the shower head, I feel my muscles relax. I could say the tension is melting away but I’d be lying – if I’m honest, I’m too pissed for a simple shower to clear my head. For some reason, the steamy cubicle seems like a safe haven shielding me from the rest of the world (and by that I mean, everyone at this camp), which is probably why I’m reluctant to get out. After washing myself, I finally force my body out from the stream of water and into the seemingly freezing bathroom.

            Compared to inside the shower, the tiled bathroom feels like it’s about the same temperature as Antarctica and within seconds I am shivering. I wrap a towel around my body quickly, eager to feel the warmth that will save me from the polar temperature of the air.

            I pull on a plain white tee and gray track pants retrieved from my case, and when I exit my room I am slightly startled to see Savannah sitting there. “You’re sat here waiting for me?”

            She stands up, stepping over to me. The sincere expression which adorns her features surprises me a little. “Bailey, promise me you won’t get too hung up on what happened.”

            Immediately, talk of it flares my anger up again. I don’t want to snap at Savannah, but I feel like my emotions are starting to spin out of control. When I do speak, the volume of my voice is higher than I would like it to be. “I got a bowl of spaghetti thrown at my head! By one of the kids in my cabin!”

            “Everyone knows what Jake’s like.”

            “That doesn’t change the fact he completely humiliated me in front of everyone.”

            Savannah bites her lip. I can almost see the concentration in her eyes as she struggles to think of a response. “I’m sure everyone will forget about it by tomorrow.”

            I sniff. “I doubt it. You heard everyone laughing.”

            Savannah touches my arm in what’s meant to be a soothing way. However, it does nothing to calm my near livid mood. “Bailey, it’s only the first day,” she says. “It’s just... different here. I know you’re feeling worse because of the cabin you’ve got, but it’ll get better. I promise.”

            I wriggle out of her grasp. “You don’t know that.”

            “Yes, I do.”

            “It’s alright for you, with your perfect little Harmony Cabin,” I retort, a little more spitefully than I had intended. I exhale deeply. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

            Savannah shakes her head, dismissing my comment. “Just don’t let Jake get to you, okay?”

            I cross my arms defensively over my chest. “I know, but it’s not that easy. How can I ‘not let him get to me’ when he’s stealing my underwear and throwing food at me in the cafeteria? And that’s only the first day! Who knows what he’ll do to me tomorrow?”

            “Try and ignore him,” Savannah advises me. Yeah right. Like ignoring Jake is actually possible. If I don’t give him a reaction, he won’t give up – he’ll just try something worse. What if this time my underwear ends up at the top of the camp flagpole?

            Well, now I just made myself paranoid. Maybe I should keep my case locked from now on.

            Seriously, what kind of summer camp is this where I have to lock up my undergarments in fear of them being stolen and publicized by an eight year old boy?

            “Just give this thing a couple more days, okay? Then if Jake’s still acting up you can report him or something. Hey, maybe he’ll even get transferred to Cindy’s cabin,” she adds, with a playful smirk.

            I try to mask the exhalation of breath that escapes my lips, mostly from relief. “Good to know I’m not the only one who thinks she’s an annoying bitch, then.”

            Savannah laughs loudly at my blunt statement. “Nope. I found her annoying too. Did you see the way she kept looking at Blake?” She pauses when she realizes we have not discussed the Greek God lookalike yet. “Oh my God, Bailey, you never told me about him!”

            Her enthusiasm is infectious and I find myself smiling too. “I only met him a couple of hours ago. He was watching over the boys when I arrived,” I inform her. “Oh, and er... he kinda saw my underwear.”

            Savannah’s naturally arched eyebrows shoot up even more at this statement. “What?”

            “Not like that!” I insist, already feeling my cheeks warm at the possible implication. “I didn’t strip off for him or anything! Jake kinda emptied my case.”

            “Oh!” Savannah grins, a laugh escaping her lips. “Kind of a weird mental image there...”

            “Cindy, on the other hand...” I add.

            “Oh God.” Her bright smile immediately makes me feel so much better. At least I know if Cindy pisses me off too much, I’ll have someone to let off steam with. And from what I’ve already seen of her, I think I’ll need to be doing that quite often.

            “Been working out, huh?” I say, purposely making my voice sound sickly sweet in perfect imitation of a certain someone’s. Savannah creases up immediately, clutching at her stomach as she laughs. I follow suit, and we both laugh until our sides ache painfully. And when we finally sober up, one catch of each other’s eye is enough to set us both off again.

            “You know...” Savannah says, in between broken guffaws. “We should really be getting back to the dining hall before Jenny kills us.”

            The thought immediately brings my good mood to a harsh halt. Despite being cheered up almost completely by Savannah, the thought of returning to Jake and his crew and having to spend the night in the same cabin as them makes me grimace. Who knows what kind of prank they’ll pull on me next?

            I never thought I’d say it, but I’m actually kind of scared of them. Even if they are no older than eight.

            Wow, Bailey, you have hit new heights of cool.

            “You ready to go back?” Savannah asks tentatively. Her hand gestures vaguely towards the door.

            I know that I’m going to have to at some point, so I might as well get it over with. Even if I don’t go down there, the boys will inevitably return to this cabin, so it’s not exactly an escape route. Sighing deeply, I make a grab for my Ugg boots and slip my feet into them. “Yeah, okay.”

            Savannah smiles at me, but as she turns to leave I touch her arm gently, causing her to look back questioningly.

            “Thanks,” I say simply, not really knowing what other words to use. I’ve never been good at apologies, and no matter how hard I try they always seem to turn out awkward (pretty much like my personality, then...) “For... you know, calming me down. Or cheering me up. Whatever you did. I appreciate it.”

            “Bailey, it’s fine. We’re best friends. I’m meant to cheer you up, right? Plus... if you’d have still been in that mood when the kids came back, I think we may have had a murder on our hands...”

            I laugh. “Probably. But you know, thanks. You’re a good friend.”

            “I know, right?” she says jokingly. “Now, come on. We don’t want Jenny to be pissed with us, do we?”

            I roll my eyes, but I know she’s right. “I suppose so. Let’s go and herd up the beasts, then.”

            We exit the cabin and I lock up, just to make sure no serial killers are able to get inside during the time I’m away. Although, I’m not sure I’d be too bothered if they happened to kidnap Jake...

            As we walk across the porch and start off down the path in comfortable quiet, Savannah turns to me. I can tell she’s trying to hold back a grin that is longing to make its way onto her face.

            “What?” I ask her, curious to see what’s so funny.

            “Oh, nothing,” she says dismissively. “I was just wondering if you wanted to take a pair of panties along with you, you know, to show Blake...”