Carlo

It's been two days since the scavenger hunt and since they had gotten the teams, everyone has been practicing for whatever they signed up for. My date with Birdie was just around the corner and I was desperately asking Escalante for tips. I know, I said I wasn't going to depend on him but he was smooth and I need smooth right now to get Birdie.

"It's like Petunia. Take her after the practice to your room and I'm sure you've got it from there. Don't sweat over it, she won't be any different." He ruffled my hair like I was his child then sudden froze, jerking his hand away from my hair.

I wanted to question why he was acting like that but I saw his face slowly turn red and he was gripping on the table like his life depended on it. My eyes trailing slowly down, I found the reason why he acting like that and I took a mental note to wash my eyes after lunch was over.

I still couldn't bring myself to believe I saw Preston jerking him through his shorts, right in front of everyone. Alex was even on the table which should have made Preston keep his hands to himself but nope, he had to be touching my best friend right beside me.

A soft moan escaped Es and he had to cover it up by clearing his throat and fondling with his phone. He managed to lift his phone but it fell from his hands, drawing everyone's attention on the table. He gave them all a breathy laugh then suddenly sucked in a breath and said, whipping his head to Preston, "Why did you stop?"

      Preston laughed then cupped his face in his hands and said, "If I didn't, it would be hard for you to leave the cafeteria."

Everyone ignored them again except Alex who stared angrily at Preston and as if Preston didn't care whether he was looking or not, he kissed Es right in front of him.

I watched Alex face turn into one of extreme disgust and he slammed his hand on the table, interrupting their make out session. Preston looked up and glared at him but Alex responded with his own deadly glare saying, "What the fuck are you doing with him?"

"Cant someone have a boyfriend in peace? You have one."

"I thought you were straight."

"I was until someone made him my roommate." He pointed at Es who hadn't stop glaring at Alex, "Trust me. It's hard to keep my hands off him." He smirked at him then pulled Es into a kiss again making Alex go really mad.

"You know what Escalante? Fine. Have him. Do with him whatever you want. I am done." I was so sure Alex would have just sulked back in his seat but Es had to go all the way to flick him the finger while still kissing Preston, earning a dramatic exit from him.

It looked like this whole thing had been going on for quite a while because Val, Jacob and Dave just gave a weary sigh and continued what they were doing.

      I, on the other hand, became more curious and followed him with quick stride because god, his legs were long. "Why are you so mad at him?" I asked, after falling right behind him.

"Isnt it obvious? I don't like Preston." He scoffed, not even slowing down his pace.

"But Es happen to like him. Is there something I should know about Preston?" Maybe I wasn't just curious for Alex sake but for mine too because if Preston turns out to be fucked up, I can have my Es back.

Alex came to a halt then turned to me and I perked up when he open his mouth to speak. "I know Es and I aren't friends like you are to him but can't he at least listen to me when I say Preston was bad news?"

I wasn't expecting that response at all so it made me frown. Es hadn't been a good friend to me who just happened to be his best friend but Alex was expecting some kind of special treatment from him? I was so done right now.

Rolling my eyes, I pushed my weight on my left leg and folded my arms across my chest, "Do me a favor and answer me. What did Preston do to you?"

"You mean what Preston haven't done to me." He spat then shook his head, raising his hand in surrender. "I'm done. If you want to get that chick you were telling Es about, try to be yourself. Being anything like him would just keep you in a spot that would have you regretting for a while." He said then tuned and left, leaving me completely speechless.

From the way this was going, I wasn't going to get anything out of Alex so I retraced my step back to the cafeteria all the while thinking of how I was going to bring it up to Birdie.

It was already 6:00pm and after our count with Val to take note of how many people we had slept with, Jacob showed me to the fencing hall and left immediately after because Dave made something for him.

Birdie was the only visible person I could see which surprised me because I was supposed to watch her practice and if I knew the game well, it was a two man thing. She pulled the mask from her face and lightened up when she saw me, "Hey, you made it."

"I did?" I looked around to see if anyone one was in the hall but I knew my eyes weren't deceiving me when I saw no one. "I thought I came to watch you practice. Who are you practicing with?"

"You, dummy. Pick a sword. I'll go easy on you." She giggled and pointed her sword where the other swords were.

"Serious? I have never played fence before."

"Don't worry. I'll teach you." She batted her lashes at me I didn't find it in myself to say no: Maybe it was my inner pussy character.

Shrugging, I walked over to where the swords were, picked up one then joined her on the mat. She was wearing her fencing uniform and even if the swords weren't sharp, I still didn't like the fact that something that pointy was going to touch me.

"Can I get a pair?" I pointed at her uniform.

     An amused look flashed in her eyes and it made me correct myself before she could see the meidoso in me. "You know, never mind. Just try not to touch me with it."

     She giggled as she lifted her sword making me copy her out of fear. Birdie clinked our swords together and smiled. "Pick up a costume. We are practicing in front of a mirror."

So today, I learnt something new. Birdie taught me that practicing in front of a mirror is just as good as with a partner. We practiced footwork and hand movement. It wasn't hard keeping up with her because she was slow with her movement at the beginning but when  she sped up, I got tired and just watched her.

"You are pretty good at this." I cooed, enjoying the view of her movement. She was fast on her feet and fluid with her strikes.

"I've been doing this since I was little. I should at least be good."

     Now that I knew she was distracted, I began to ask her the questions I had piling up about Preston, "So, how long have you known your brother was gay?"

     She glanced at me but quickly looked back at her invisible opponent. "Preston isn't gay."

"But he's Es's boyfriend."

"He has been having boyfriends for years here. I would say he's bisexual or so."

     Well that cleared a lot of things up. Fiddling with the mask in my hand, I asked, "What about Alex?"

"Alex?" She repeated, dropping her hands to her side then turned to me, "Male Alex or female?"

"Male. Hairy dude but hot?"

"I don't know. I think he dated an Alex here once." Then she blinked and her eyes widened as if recalling what happened, "Oh that Alex. The Alex my brother dated wasn't hairy though but he dated him. It was the second year of this camp." She nodded then went back to her position, "You see, the second year had more straight guys than gays so a bunch of straight dude made it their thing to go out with gays. My brother dated Alex for two camps years but I don't know why they broke it off."

"So you are trying to say a bunch of straight guys are living as gays?" I was baffled by this. I knew Alex and Preston had something but it was what broke it off that carried the whole thing. I really wanted to know and maybe then with proof, I can make Es leave him.

Birdie sighed and dropped her sword. Taking the glove off, she came to squat in front of me and said, "At first, yes but something happened and they stopped. Block 10-19 was called the gay block because that was where they always picked. It attracted a lot of real gays and then bam, a block filled with real gays." She removed her mask then ran a hand through her hair, ruffling it.

     I stayed quiet as I watched Birdie look around suspiciously then said, "Don't tell anyone I told you but I think they did something creepy because majority of the people that did the dating thing, left after the second year. My brother and a few others are the only ones remaining."

"Did your brother tell you what happened?"

"Hell no. I wasn't even supposed to know this much but I have a lot of gay friends who have been here for a while and they told me."

"Do I need to worry about my best friend? I don't want anything happening to him."

     She smiled sympathetically at me but that wasn't helping me in anyway because I wanted to at least know that Preston wasn't a murderer. But Alex was still alive so that proved that but still.... I want to know if my best friend is going to be fine after this relationship was over.

Standing up, I asked Birdie to excuse me while I took a leak. She shrugged and continued with her practice, telling me the direction of the restroom.

When I was done, I tried to make sense of the things I have just heard from her but all I know is that Preston was really bad news and I had to keep my distance all the while trying to tell Es the same thing. I knew he wouldn't listen to me especially now that they were so close.

A noise came from a double door beside me and I found myself looking through it, only to see the troubles of my thoughts standing together and looking at each other in a way that angered me to no end. Another thing I realized was that they were both naked and my eyes burned from just seeing Preston.

I didn't look away for a long while but by the time I looked back, Escalante had pressed Preston against a wall and they were having a full blown make out. This was the first I realized the feeling I was having was jealousy. For the fact that he would rather date a psycho than me hurts and he even dropped out of the cabin competition because of said psycho.

Irritation surged through me the moment I actually thought I would prefer to be in Preston's position. It made me hate myself and it made me hate the next thing I did.

Walking back to the fencing room, I interrupted Birdie's movement and pulled off her mask before kissing her. I felt her tense up but by the time I cupped her face and pulled her closer to me, she melted into the kiss and I smiled.

Because around that time, those two had already left the pool and I knew they had to pass the fencing hall to get out of the Activity building.

Somehow, they were going to find me and Birdie in a full make out session and I knew it was going to hurt Es because it just had to.