"So, what do you guys want to do with your free time today? And why is Griff still asleep?" Noah questioned.
"Okay, I got this." Finn got up as I walked in. "Get this. We train a bunch of snakes to go to every cabin selling products and we call them door-to-door scalesmen."
"Okie-doke," Noah said, ignoring the dumb idea. "Hey, how about a card game? Like Hearts?"
"I've never heard of that one," Gwen pointed out.
"It's super fun. The goal is to collect as many hearts as you can," Noah said.
"Doesn't Griff already do that with his looks?" Finn questioned, pointing to the sleeping boy.
Noah looked at me for help. "He's not wrong." I sat on Griff's bed and held his hand.
"My family used to play a version of Hearts. It was called Livers," Gwen said, slightly disturbing us.
"Okay. No more suggestions." Noah tossed the cards aside. "Hey, I know! Let's play Stay off the Lava."
"What's that?" Gwen asked.
"You've never played Stay Off the Lava? You pretend the floor is lava, then someone yells out 'stay off the lava', and then you have to stay off the lava."
"It's complicated, but you'll get it," Finn said, making me roll my eyes.
"The only rule is, you can't touch the ground, and you play until there's one person left. The winner is crowned Lord or Lady of Lava," Noah finished.
All right, so when do we start?" Gwen asked.
"Right now. Stay off the lava!" Noah shouted.
I simply lifted my legs off of the floor and crossed them on the bed.
"Okay. Now prepare to lose, because I'm undefeated at this game," Noah said.
"That's just because you have the longest legs," Finn pointed out.
"Hey! My mama gave me these gams," Noah snapped.
"And only grandmas say gams anymore," Griff said sleepily.
"Finally. You fell asleep before me last night," Noah said in disbelief. "And don't be bitter just because you've never won."
"You've never won?" Gwen questioned.
"I tend to fall off a lot. But if I lose, I have a backup plan on how to spend my free time. Hint, it involves snakes and a multi-level marketing pitch," Finn explained.
~~~
"I had the worst sleep of my life," Griff groaned after a while. "And not including the time we were out of our cells for forty-eight hours and I fell asleep near a hole."
"Is something bothering you?" I asked, playing with his hair.
"Nothing that I can think of," Griff lied.
I had the same fear deep down, too. "Are you afraid of starting high school and completely losing track of time or each other?"
Griff nodded, his face hidden because he was turned. "I have the same fear. But, you know what? We'll be okay. We still have four more years before we are forced to leave this place."
"You're right. We could also ask Lou for actual jobs here, like the chef or groundskeeper. And you still partly-own this camp." Griff smiled. "Come lay down. I'm still tired."
"You forgot you're still a CIT. And I'm a counselor. We have responsibilities," I reasoned. "Get dressed or I'm keeping your bracelet."
"You can't keep it. That's not the rules," Griff protested.
"Watch me." I closed the cabin door behind me. Tossing the bracelet up in the air and catching it, I smirked. He wouldn't be in there for long.
~~~
"Sweetie, give me my bracelet back!" Griff called into the cabin, walking up to the ladder.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I teased.
Griff picked me up from behind. How was he that strong? He turned me around, making me face him. I had our bracelets around my wrist. He smirked, slowly pulling it off of my wrist.
"I won," Griff whispered.
He slowly wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me to his chest as we swayed.
Griff made me so happy. No wonder I never wanted him to let go.
YOU ARE READING
Military Freak
Fanfiction"That's juvie freak to you." A Griff Jones x Reader story. Two kids, both juvenile delinquents. When they were separated, they were put on different paths. What happens when they reunite?
