𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍 - camp cretaceous

Hap

That sounds clean and hygienic, and I love it! We all stood up with grins, and Sammy hurriedly finished her cup of tea before taking Tiff's hand.

"I love you! It's fine if you don't say it back," she said, leaving Tiff with a satisfied smirk. She then went back, squeezing Tiff's arm. "I love you!"

I ran over to the bathroom yurt and looked inside. It was fancy and reminded me of one of the hotels Kenji and I had stayed at in London. I beckoned for the others to come over, and they ran to the yurt, gasping as they saw the inside. We all entered, walking around cautiously while admiring the soap and neatness. Darius, noticing Brooklynn wasn't with us, called for her.

"Brooklynn! Come on!"

She soon entered the yurt with a nervous expression and a slight frown. Did something happen? Sammy looked at the sink, and her eyes sparkled.

"Pre-pasted toothbrushes?" she exclaimed, picking one up and showing it to us. "What are we, royalty?" She put it back and then spotted something else with a loud gasp. "Four kinds of hand cream? Eee! Little soap peacocks!"

Kenji, who sat on the closed toilet while finishing his breakfast, sighed. "Please, this is so basic. If you guys had seen my penthouse-" Brooklynn shushed him.

"I can't prove it yet, but I think..." she peered out of the yurt mysteriously and then walked back to us.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I can't tell you here! We have to be in private," she said.

What's more private than this?" Yaz asked.

Brooklynn pointed to where Kenji was sitting: a toilet stall. We sighed and walked into the small space. Brooklynn shoved Kenji off the toilet seat and sat on the other side of Darius.

"Well, what's wrong?" Sammy asked worriedly.

"Something is going on with Hap," Brooklyn replied. "He dodged all my questions and was weird about the key card I found in Wu's lab!" Yasmina took away Kenji's plate of food and placed it on the tiny table that was in the corner.

Brooklynn continued. "Mitch and Tiff are clueless. She's too golly goodness to notice anything, and all he thinks about is dinosaurs!" Darius looked at her.

"What's wrong with that?" he asked.

"No, I- ugh, I'm just saying Hap's suspicious. He's gruff and unsmiling and-"

"-What's wrong with that?" Yaz asked, disgruntled.

"I don't mean... look, could Hap be involved with Mantah Corp? Am I crazy?" Kenji and Darius shared a look, then shrugged their shoulders, and I shook my head.

"I mean, the Manta Corp folks who sent me were like corporate spies," Sammy quietly confessed. "Not action-man, secret-identity, pew-pew spies." Brooklynn looked away with a frustrated expression.

"Look, I know you've got conspiracy on the brain, Brooklynn, but forget Hap. In two days, we're going home. Focus on that!" Darius said positively, smiling.

"Don't worry, Brooklynn. Just in case, we'll keep our eyes open, promise," I said reassuringly.

~

Well, we kinda kept our promise. Hap left to do something in the jungle, but I'm not sure why. While he was gone, we hung out with Mitch and Tiff at their camp. Brooklyn and I sat at one end of the table. She was still scowling, clearly suspicious of Hap.

I sketched out a cartoonish picture of all of us, including Ben and Bumpy - Every time I remembered that night, I felt a shiver going down my spine. To get rid of the feeling, I hummed Record Player.