Thursday, March 7, 2013

7:00 AM, Camp

Rose POV

When I opened my eyes this morning, I knew at once it wasn't a dream.

I gingerly threw the blankets off and rolled off the soft mattress. Squeezing my eyes tightly shut, I yawned and stretched. My muscles contented for the time being, I walked into the bathroom, not bothered to shut the door. Staring into the mirror carefully while I brushed my teeth, I found there was colour on my cheeks.

These past three days have done wonders to my body, I decided. Not only that, but I have friends for the first time in my entire life.

I dressed quickly in a pale green top and blue denim jeans before walking to the mess hall. When I opened the door and peeked inside, chaos reigned. The chatter of raised voices deafened me in contrast to the peaceful silence of the morning, in which the only sounds were the birdsong and the breeze weaving through the leaves.

I smiled faintly and then made my way to the counter to grab my plate.

"Good morning," I said brightly to the kitchen helper.

"Morning," she replied cheerfully, passing me a plate of freshly scrambled eggs. I took it and sat down, well away from the two bickering boys.

Breakfast and a show, I thought, watching the spectacle while spooning the food into my mouth. I didn't notice another spectator next to me until he spoke.

"Quite a performance, isn't it?"

I almost fell out of my seat, but managed to catch myself in time. He stared at the spot where my head almost hit.

"Whew! That could have done some real damage..."

"Too much for my liking," I said worriedly.

"...To the floor."

His poor head somehow came into contact with my arm.

"What?" he protested.

"You need to get your priorities straight," I told him.

"Sorry," he apologised, but a half grin remained on his face. I stuck my tongue out at him before returning to my deliciously warm meal.

The fight had quieted down somewhat. Grumbles and groans replaced the previous cheers. Another guy now spoke sharply to the subdued teens. The guy stopped speaking for a moment, and then said one word. The boys shook their heads vigorously before leaping at each other's throats. Fortunately, the man intervened before they could resume, and, dragging them to the door by their scruffs, dumped them outside and proceeded to lock the doors and windows.

"My show just went out the door," I said almost regretfully.

"Don't worry, I'll be your entertainer," he said playfully.

I eyed him doubtfully. "I won't appreciate waste of food."

"No worries, it shouldn't offend you."

"Good."

"All right, let's start. Why do we call scrambled eggs scrambled eggs?" His face betrayed no emotion.

"Because we mix them together," I deadpanned. He shook his head, now grinning like a fool.

"No. It's because when the farmers come to collect the eggs, all the chickens fly around in a panic. So all their eggs get scattered!"

I raised my eyebrows at him, fighting to keep a grin off my face. It worked. "Too lame," I told him, trying to convince him with stoicism. It probably failed.

"Fine, here's another. What's the difference between a fly and a bird?"

"A fly doesn't have feathers and is tiny," I said, knowing full well that wouldn't be his answer.

"You have no sense of humour," said he, shaking his head ruefully.

"Well then, Mr Smarty Pants," I teased, "what is the difference between a fly and a bird?"

His face lit up and he promptly replied, "A bird can fly but a fly can't bird."

I sat dumbfounded for a moment before bursting out into laughter, scolding him between fits for giving me such a lame joke, to which he replied that lame jokes were fine as long as they'd get someone to laugh. He released many more jokes, some old, some unique, and some that really were too pathetic to laugh at. He cracked up at his own jokes, too, and his merriment was contagious. The big room began to ring with laughter as people finished their meals and left. We were soon alone, clutching our stomachs in unbearable pain.

"Well," I said, finally gathering enough will to stand up. "I think it's time for an activity we haven't done yet."

"Good idea," he agreed, doing the same. "Tennis?"

"Sure," he replied.

"We made our way down to the tennis courts, grabbing two tennis racquets and a bag of tennis balls from reception. The receptionist handed us the bag with a smile upon her face.

We walked in silence until we reached the tennis courts. Two girls were already down there, one blonde and the other a brunette, shouting happily to one another as they exchanged the ball with practised ease. I watched from the sidelines in awe.

Eventually, the ball rocketed past the brunette and into the fence. The girl grinned. "It seems you win yet again."

Her blonde friend wiped some sweat off her forehead and shook her head. "Nah, Emmy, it was luck."

"Luck? Are you serious? Ari, you won all the sets!"

"Well, it just shows I'm not wanting in it." Said girl flicked her tightly bound ponytail, straight, luxurious golden-blonde tresses glistening in the strong sunlight.

The brunette threw her hands up in exasperation. Her bright hazel eyes met ours as she turned away in frustration.

"Oh, hey!" she called. "You saw that, right? Aria's technique is way too good! It's not a fluke! Tell her."

I kept my silence. Corinn, on the other hand, was anything but reclusive.

"Yeah, you were amazing!" He ranted on as the one named Aria blushed furiously.

"I guess, if you say so..."

Her friend nudged her happily and winked. "What's that I hear in your voice? Excitement? Enjoyment? Embarrassme-"

"Shut it, Emmalyn Marjorie Valentina!"

"Oi! Aria, you know full well the agony that causes me! And all I'm doing is stating the truth..."

"Margarine!"

"Who're you calling...!"

Corinn and I stood there awkwardly as the two friends bantered, apparently forgetting our presence entirely. After a few minutes, I decided the bickering had gone on long enough. I coughed loudly.

The girls stopped abruptly, swivelling their heads guiltily in our direction. Silence reigned.

A fly smashed into me.

I screamed.

The others, however, decided at that moment to torture me, laughing insanely and jumping about like the grasshoppers/crickets/fleas they were.

"I'm going to kill you!" I seethed, giving them my best death stare. They continued dying from laughter, Aria especially so. Her face reddened so much it was almost glowing.

"Honestly, I barely even know any of you, and you're already subjecting me to the worst form of punishment anyone would be forced to undergo!"

If it was possible, Aria's face flushed even more.

After the longest time, the three partners-in-crime managed to gather their sanity enough to retain some degree of semblance. Unfortunately for them, they did collapse periodically from the sheer exhaustion and the incredibly impractical sugar spike, which is always accompanied by the extreme sport called the sugar hangover.

I watched with impunity.

Corinn was the first to overcome his fit. "So, I realise we haven't done any introductions yet, so...I guess I'll do the honours." One hand casually tucked in his pocket, the other half raised, he nonchalantly introduced himself. "I'm Corinn."

"Aria," said the blonde, her pale blue eyes sparkling. "A pleasure."

"Just call me Em – or Emma, if you insist on a longer name for some crazy reason," the girl said, shooting fierce glares at her 'friend'. I took this opportunity to study her.

Emma's rich, chestnut brown hair fell to her shoulders. Her bangs had been swept back by the polka-dotted blue and white bandana circling her olive skinned forehead, leaving her brown and gold-specked eyes free of any stray hairs.

"So...what's your name?"

I jumped.

"Err...well, that's...it's..."

My mind ran away.

Oh, just perfect.

Luckily for me, Corinn stepped in, allowing me to retain my composure. "That's Mikaela. Sorry, she's just a really shy person. She'll be fine once she gets to know you girls."

"Nice to meet you!" Emma said, sticking her hand out. I hesitantly took it, but instantly regretted doing so. She shook the life out of my poor hand.

I clutched my wrist piteously. I could almost see the swarthy bloodless skin swelling blue and purple, leaving behind tiny pinpricks of red cell.

Aria looked at my hand with a mixture of mirth and pity as I lifted the lifeless hand and examined it minutely. I grimaced unhappily and wallowed in self-pity for some time.

Regrettably, during that time, the conversation had proceeded without my input.

"Oh hey, so do you mind if we join you?" Corinn asked.

Emma's expression brightened immediately as she turned back to us. "Wow, that's great! We can totally do doubles now!"

Okay... Wait, what? I should probably say something right about now...

I cleared my throat. "Wow, guys, that sounds great and all, but there's just one ti-ny problem..." I trailed off uneasily.

"Huh? What is it?" Ari asked, her curiosity piqued.

"I...don't know how to play tennis."

"That's fine!" Emma exclaimed immediately. "Ari's amazing at tennis. She does it professionally. Someday she'll be famous. That means Ari won't have any trouble teaching you to play." She grinned.

"Umm, Em, I don't think I'll get that far," Ari said uncertainly. Her face had turned beetroot.

"Don't be ridiculous, Ari!" Emma slapped Ari's back. The girl coughed and bent over.

I watched the exchange with confused eyes. Corinn, on the other hand, laughed boisterously.

"Sounds like you two are really close," he said merrily.

I simply shrugged. Was this just some weird thing that best friends always did? Seemed insane to me.

***

Corinn POV

"Ari's an amazing teacher, so you'll pick up the basics real quick," Emma assured. I could have sworn Mikaela grimaced at her bad use of grammar.

Emma was on a roll, spewing out compliments about Ari left, right, and centre. "She's all spread out thinly!"

That stopped everyone. Once again, Ari blushed profusely.

Surprisingly, Mikaela was the one who broke the silence. "...Like butter?"

"...I meant an ace of all trades!"

Okay, then.

---

It turned out that Aria did excel in multipotency after all, and Mikaela caught on fairly quickly. Her accuracy was hilariously low, but the balls she did hit were almost on fire, ending in instant knock-outs. Emma would wolf-whistle every time it occurred.

"It was only luck," Mikaela would protest, reminding me of a certain blonde who kept insisting that earlier.

"C'mon, Mika, give yourself some credit," I would say every time.

"But..." Her uncertain voice was drowned out by the surrounding cheers.

Soon the sun reached its peak and we all agreed to retreat inside, the sun forcing rivulets of sweat down our backs. As soon as we had done so, Mika collapsed onto a couch, completely exhausted.

"What to do now?" I wondered.

"Let's go cool off at the lagoon!" Emma said excitedly.

Mikaela was not in favour. "Sorry, Em, but my battery needs recharging."

"Eh? But you can just go stick it into the power point and we can go!"

Aria laughed at the girl's lack of understanding. Emma's confused gaze turned to Aria and her best friend just laughed all the harder.

I cleaned it up for her. "Sorry, Em. Mika just needs some time-out."

"Oh."

Mikaela insisted we go on without her, but we all refused, instead deciding to meet up ten minutes before dusk.

"See you then, I guess. Have fun finding something fun to do for five hours," I said as we parted ways.

"Bis später!" (1)

---

I was sprawled across my villa's sofa, insanely bored.

I fiddled with my phone for a while, but Mr Flap had apparently decided he wasn't going to put up with my antics. His form of rebellion?

Dying repeatedly.

And I hadn't even gotten to the first pipe yet!

"There's a bug on this...aaaaarghh, I died again... What the...? I didn't even touch the pipe! What kind of...game...slow...lagging...what? Tch, I didn't even...oh, come on!"

The rambling continued against my will, much to my horror.

Good thing I was alone.

I was annoyed to high heaven, so I gave up, turning my attention to my music. For a few hours I was happy, contentedly flipping through pages and pages of riddles and memes and jokes...until I ran out of them.

"Ugh!" My eyes flicked to the clock as I slumped onto my bed. Three more hours until the nightmare ended.

Screw this.

I jumped up and stalked over to the kitchenette. Why not?

Grabbing whatever I reckoned tasted good together, I mashed it together into a stir-fry.

Bet the girls will love this cookin' guy, I thought, grinning happily.

(1) German: See you later!

A/N: I might add that one of the comments ("lame jokes were fine as long as they'd get someone to laugh") I got from a friend. Thanks for the inspiration :D.

Teehee.......... I am sorry. I don't plan on abandoning this story..but I get distracted easily!

WHOA I just realised halfway through the chapter, that I never said straight out Corinn was her companion for ages. Haha! Well, you can figure it out. You're all smart cookies ;)

So..........anyway. I actually didn't plan on posting any chapters until I had written quite a few. So the first chapter was a teaser chapter. Sorry about that. And...I got pestered to update. This has been here for ages. ._. I haven't written anything on this story for a while. I've taken to writing short stories and poems – it seems I'm not very successful when it comes to many long-term commitments! Sorry again! We'll see if I have the drive to keep writing.

Bye!

l4