KNOCK, KNOCK

"Jen can you please get the door? I'm curling my hair."

KNOCK, KNOCK

"Jen! Jen! Why aren't you answering me?"

Oh, I'm talking to myself.

Couldn't find my roommate anywhere in this room. She must have slipped away without telling me. Ugh!!! Second strike, Jen! Just one more ... and you're out!

KNOCK, KNOCK

Damn it! I'll have to answer the door myself.

"Hold your horses!"

I turned off the curling iron and placed it down on the bed, before I went to the door's peep hole.

"Who is it?"

"Me," a handsome voice answered.

A smile quickly formed on my face. I have a suspicion who it might be, but if he wanted to joke around, I'll play along.

"Me, who?"

"It's me Mae."

"It's me Mae what?"

"Just open the door."

"Hmm... you forgot the magic word. (It's my turn for payback) Then again, I don't know anyone named Mae. You must have the wrong room."

"Oh, come on Mae. It's Owen. You know my voice. Stop playing with me."

"No te entiendo."

"I just love it when you speak Spanish, Sweetie."

Sigh! Owen just won't leave me alone!

"What do you want Owen?"

"Well, now that you ask ... I brought some quickie breakfast for you before we board the bus. But it seems that you don't want it. So I'll just ...."

My stomach was gurgling. Ugh! Why not? Kept telling myself I need to eat before I do my outdoor exercises.

"No wait, Owen!"

"Very well! I knew you'd come to your senses."

I unlatched the lock to let him in.

But without my permission, Mr. Playboy himself went straight in holding a plastic bag.

I looked at him suspiciously. He must be up to something. Shrugging my shoulders, I scowled at him.

"Well, Mr. Thomas just come right in, why don't 'cha? Make yourself comfortable and kick off your shoes," I replied satirically.

He sat on my bed and smirked.

"Miss Brennan, I'm sorry earlier for startling you. I brought some ..."

"Startling me? Startling me? Oh, Owen, you and Robin have been playing games with me ever since we got here! Thanks to you I'm now dubbed as 'flat as a pancake'! You think that's funny?"

He put his index finger in front of his mouth.

"Shh ... tone your voice down Marlene."

Why should I?

He held his hands high in the air, but I think he really didn't care!

"Mae, before you speak ... please hear me out. I bought you some food from the gift shop so you have something to eat. We will board the bus in thirty  minutes, so I'll leave you now since you don't want me here. No need to thank me. As promised, I'll always be here for you."

He then stood up from my bed, put his hands in his jean's pockets, left with a pout on his face and shut the door.

I feel so sorry for the poor guy, I was too harsh on him. Yet, that was really sweet of him to think of me!

But then again was he doing this all for an act?

I sat on my bed and opened the contents of what was in the plastic bag. I found a carton of milk, some carrots and celery sticks (it's nice of him to think about my health) and a box of mini pancakes included with a mini bottle of maple syrup (I assume this was to make up for what he did to me earlier).

There was also a note inside that read:

My dearest Marlene,

I'm sorry for spoiling your breakfast; I'm not a perfect gentleman. (He never was!) I knew you must be hungry and the plate of food you left turned cold; so I bought some goodies for you at the gift shop to eat instead. Forgive me or Forgive me not, I'll always be here for you!

Your Handsome Knight in Shining Armor,

Owen

P.S. If you smell this paper closely, you'll smell the scent of my ravishing cologne ... I know you'll like it! *winks*

Had to chuckle at the last part. He just knew how to amuse me, as I quickly ate the food.

Finished my food in quite a jiffy, and tried to chew it down carefully. The milk the ole' chap bought me wasn't sufficient enough to digest all the mini pancakes I ate; so I'm glad I saved some extra water bottles for emergency.

I didn't want Jen to see the letter Owen gave me, so I put it in my suitcase, and threw the rest of the garbage in the trash bin. Figured I would keep the letter for sentimental reasons.

I went downstairs to meet the rest of the gang, who were already lining up for the bus. Luckily, Coach waited for me, so I thanked him for that.

On the bus, I saw my roommate sitting by the nearby window and decided to sit next to her for a change.

"Hi Jen! Mind if I sit next to you?"

"Oh, hi Marlene. You can sit here if you want."

Her confused face baffled me, so I asked her what was wrong.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Thank you."

She didn't look okay to me ... as if twiddling her fingers was alright. And I thought I was the one who was a wreck.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am!" Jen loudly answered.

Gee! She didn't have to shout like that to me. This girl definitely has a problem. But she sure doesn't want to tell me about it.

"I'm sorry. Calm down now Jen. This is not like you."

Tried to think of something else to say.

"Anyway, where did you go earlier? I tried to find you, but I didn't know that you were already gone."

She replied back to me by saying, "Sorry, I was already in the lobby. I thought I told you that, but guess it never happened. I'm just entrapped deep within my thoughts."

"For the rope course?"

Jen nodded yes, but I don't think she was being truthful.

***************

The ropes course coordinator announced, "Ladies and Gentleman, for today's activities we will continue our exercises that we did yesterday.
The only difference is that Teams A and B will do Team C and D's drills. And Teams C and D, you will do the exercises Teams A and B did. So let us not waste time!"

He clapped his hands and kept hollering the words, "Come on people, and let us get a move on!"

What's his rush? I figured he was on a time limit, but never found that out.

My team had to face the challenge of "Nitro Crossing", a rope swing activity where each team member has to cross a "bottomless chasm"; in other words we could not touch the ground or we were considered 'out' and had to wait after the game was all over to try again.

There were two big square-like platforms already set out for us.

Platform A was where all of us group members had to stand and catch the swinging rope. There were also mini flags attached to a pole on this platform for us to grab. Platform B was positioned away from us, and our duty was to swing our way over there with a flag in our hands. The challenge was that each member had to get across without knocking off the "trip wires" (strings attached to the trees as barriers) or "fall into the chasm" (the ground).

Seemed exciting ... but the only thing was ... I had a hard time hanging on to a rope since I would lose my grip easily. We couldn't wear gloves, because they didn't provide us any. So, I just had to pray that all goes well.

I didn't want to be the first one in line, so I waited for the others to fall in line before me. Just needed to see how my classmates would perform.

Robin went first; I knew he wouldn't have a problem. If he knew how to hold on to a baseball bat with his firm hands well enough to make a hit; getting a steady grip on the rope, along with holding a flag shouldn't be so hard for him. And I was right with my assumption, because he made it by swaying his body to Platform B without touching the 'trap wires' in no time flat. Impressive!

Tammie was next. I had doubts that she would make it, but astonishingly she climbed up easily to the top of the rope with the flag in her hands. But I wouldn't have done that if I was in 'her shoes'. The "trip wires" were nearby just waiting to be touched. But since she was thin, she was able to move her body in wavy lines that caused the rope to avoid the strings. And just like Robin, she swayed her body over to Platform B like the course was as easy as 1, 2, 3!

Vincent was the third to take the plunge. He grabbed a flag and grasped the rope at an angle. But as he was holding on to it, he misjudged where his body was positioned and accidentally touched one of the "trip wires." So, he was considered 'out' and had to start again after me. Just my luck, I didn't want to speak to him.

"Damn it!"

I think someone overheard Vincent's outburst, because one of the coordinator's assistants observed us.

"Team A, a group should cheer on for its own team members; where's your spirit?"

All of us turned to answer him with a salute. "We'll do our best sir!"

"Now go for it!" was his reply.

I thought it was kind of cheesy for the assistant to make that remark, but now I realize that maybe he just wanted to push us to work harder... hmm.... Sounds like what a drill sergeant might do.

Rebbecca's turn came up and was worried for her. She knew how to hold on to a rope, but her weight was a problem. So with a flag in her chubby hands, she flung herself with the cord while avoiding the 'trip wires'. Her secret was that she stayed on the bottom half of the rope and veered in different directions once the strings came her way. I guess she studied how the previous members got to and fro. However, getting on to Platform B was her biggest challenge. Her body was not able to easily move on to the board. Robin and Tammie kept shouting "Reba, you can do it, just sway your hips and let go!" By the 2nd try, Reba made it, by jumping onto the platform. I bet she was proud of herself!

And then it was my turn.

GULP!

Ropes never liked me. I had a hard time pulling myself up all the time.

"Come on Mae, you can do it!" Robin shouted.

The girls added, "Come on Marlene, just try it ... it's quite an experience!"

That's easy for them to say that. They are not me!

Just then the unpredictable Vincent patted me.

"Go ahead Mae! Try it! I guarantee it you won't fall."

"How do you know?"

He pointed to the "trip wires".

"You see those strings, try to study how you can avoid them. I made the mistake by assuming where one of them was hiding."

"So you think I can do it?"

I think he was getting agitated with me.

"Yes, you can."

He placed the fourth flag in my hand.

"Look Marlene, stop worrying. Get a good grip on the rope and try to sway your body where the rest of the gang is okay?"

And as I held onto the rope, he pushed me... really hard! It caused me to yell and walk firmly on the contraption, crying my eyes out.

Was that really necessary? I guess so, if Vincent was still impatient with me. I assume he didn't like me after the fact I ignored him at school.