The End of Summer

Chapter 16- 'You know for a ginger, you're actually quite soulful.'

Time really slows down when you are trapped like a dog by a murdering psychopath.

I was sitting in the hall, on one of the tables by the food and away from the group. I needed to distance myself for a while because they were just all getting too much. The situation was too obvious when you were around everyone because as hard as you try, you can’t miss the fear in their faces.

Jaden was still in agony, Archie and Miss Vines were hovering over him, either trying to make him feel more comfortable or just trying to take his mind off of it. Frankie and Gavin were sitting on the floor, neither of them talking, just staring over at Jaden with a face that made it obvious they were getting worried. Time kept passing and we saw no way of getting out of here, and more importantly how to get Jaden out of here.

Mr Cook was pacing around, clearing thinking he had to come up with a plan and electing himself as camp leader. Alex was just standing there, not looking at anyone but I didn’t miss the fact he was starting to get fidgety. It was little things, like the fact he couldn’t stop rubbing the back of his neck, or running his fingers over his mouth. I didn’t even know how much medication he was on, but it was obvious that he was missing necessary dosages.

Getting out of here was getting more and more urgent by the minute.

I didn’t even know where Kevin was, but I noticed him walking towards the food which I was sitting by. He didn’t look directly at me, almost like I was an angry tiger who would attack if you looked it in the eyes. A faint smile appeared at my mouth at how cute he was, he genuinely thought other people were going to kill him or something.

Considering the last day or so, he did have a point.

He reached to one of the plates and picked up this piece of cake.

He froze halfway through putting the cake to his mouth as he noticed I was staring at him like I had no boundaries.

He gave me an awkward smile “Hi.”

I let out a chuckle, I don’t know what it was about this kid but he was actually adorable. He was like an alien who didn’t know how to interact with the human kind.

“Hi.” I replied, the smile not leaving my mouth. I nodded my head towards the piece of cake in his hand “I wouldn’t eat that if I were you. That wasn’t part of the food shopping we picked up in the canteen.”

He looked confused for a second as he looked at me, then back at the cake.

“It’s loaded.” I made clear for him when I realised he wasn’t figuring that out on his own. That was one of the cakes someone made for the party, that thing will have you flying so high you’ll think you’re an EasyJet flight.

He placed the cake back on the plate and I couldn’t help but bite my lip to stop another laugh at how startled he looked that he had almost eaten hash cake.

“Try those.” I advised him, handing his a pack of Oreos. It did briefly cross my mind that Archie would probably jab me in the eyes for giving his favourite biscuit away, but I ignored it because for one Kevin was too cute. Like a baby who you wanted to feed sweets to all day if it got them to like you, and two, Archie is not my problem. He is nothing but my annoying neighbour.

“Thanks.” Kevin replied, taking a few of the cookies in his hands. He turned to walk back to whatever spot of this hall he had chosen to sit this out, but for some reason he took one looked at me and hesitated “Are you okay?”

Now it was my turn to be startled.

“I’m good. Why do you ask?”

“Because you’ve isolated yourself from everyone else sitting there on your own.” He replied “That’s normally my job.”