Gwen's Worst Nightmare (One Of Them At Least)...

Chapter 8: St. Campbell's Day!

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, GWEN!" David said, inches away from the sleeping Gwen's face. The counselor took a throw pillow from her bed and weakly threw it at David. "I'm trying to sleep...." She said, barely audible. "Come on, Gwen. Don't you know what day it is?" David asked, being his usual optimistic self. "...Thursday." Gwen replied. "Not just ANY Thursday!" David paused. "It's St. Campbell's Day!!!!" Gwen, not giving two shits about the holiday, just wanted to go back to sleep. But before she could even wake up, she was practically forced out of bed and onto the campgrounds. 

"I know. David woke me up too." Max greeted. Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose as she struggled to stay awake. "Why the fuck did Cameron Campbell come up with this STUPID holiday?!" she muttered to herself. Gwen finally managed to open her otherwise tired eyes and examine her surroundings. Noticing that the sun was just slowly starting to rise. "David it's..." She checked her watch. "5:30 in the fucking morning!" Thanks to her choice wording, the other campers emerged from their tents, just as sleepy as she was. ...Well, except for Nikki. She's never sleepy. "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaappy St. Campbell's Day everyone!" The energetic camper said. "Happy St. Campbell's Day to you too, Nikki!" David greeted, exchanging a high five with Nikki. "So why did you wake us up so early anyway, David?" Max asked. "Because I wanna take you all on an early morning hike to start our day." David replied, receiving little to no positive fanfare from the campers. "Gwen?" Max looked at the counselor. "Black coffee?" Gwen replied. "You betcha." Max said. "Great, cuz I could use a cup myself." Gwen turned to David. "Max and I are gonna make some coffee real quick. How about you start the hike without us." She said. David informed her that he left an extra map in the cabin in case she got lost when in reality, they've all gone down the same path at least a million times by now. 

The tired troop of campers followed David single file down the hiking trail, the only one who seemed to be completely awake and actually passionate about the holiday was Nikki. "What are we gonna do for St. Campbell's Day, David?" Nikki asked. "I'm not sure I should tell you kids just yet." David chuckled. "I want it to be a surprise." Nikki's eyes beamed at the word "surprise," feeling hyped as to what David could have planned for everybody. "But I thought you HATED St. Campbell's Day, David!" Neil chimed in. "Well, that was only because I thought Mr. Campbell had fallen back on bad habits." David said, "But he's proven to be working on changing himself for the better." The campers continued marching. "So does that mean he'll be here today?" Nerris questioned. "Unfortunately, he couldn't make it. He's currently in the process of buying some new app that's on the market." David replied. He pushed some branches out of the way so he and the kids could go past them. Finally, they reached their destination. "Wow..." The group of campers stared in awe. "I know... Magnificent, right?" David said.

"Thanks for bringing up the coffee, Max. We both needed it." Gwen said, taking that first sip of fresh, hot coffee that she so needed after David woke her up. "Combining David and holiday is just ASKING for a boost of energy." Max replied, also sipping on his coffee. "Wonder what he's got planned considering that last time it was almost a complete disaster." Gwen shrugged. "Probably something lame like...." Max paused "...I need more coffee." He said. Gwen smirked and poured the kid another cup. "You think we should join them after this?" She asked. "I guess." Max said, unamused. "Plus last year's was actually pretty fun." He shrugged. Gwen raised an eyebrow "Max? Having fun?" She said "Never thought I'd see the day." The two finished their coffee and proceeded to catch up with David and the rest of the campers. When they arrived at the destination, Max and Gwen were just as shocked as the rest of the campers with what David had put together. 

"Goooooooooooooood morning, Max and Gwen!" David greeted. "David...How did you?" Gwen questioned before David cut her off. "QM helped me set up a lotta stuff here. In fact, he helped me get a lot of the supplies for our celebration today." David explained. "And I even arranged some activities to accommodate Max's... Current limitations." Max groaned at the sound of this. He didn't wanna participate in anything today, even if David wanted him to be included despite his broken arm. "Go hang out with your friends, Max." Gwen said, trying to shoo the boy away. She turned to David with a weak smile. "So... What now?" She asked. "Whatever you want, Gwen." David replied. Gwen looked around with a smirk. "Is there booze involved?" She whispered. Normally, David would be against it, but this time he winked at her and took her to a table where he pulled out a wine bottle he had hidden under a tablecloth. "Ooh David." Gwen said seductively. "I never expected you to be a rebel." David blushed "Quartermaster made me do it!" He confessed. "Yeah whatever. Ima pour us a couple glasses." Gwen said as she grabbed two plastic cups from the table. David got himself distracted when he saw Space Kid being tied to a tree branch. "God those kids are weird." Gwen whispered, holding her cup. She felt her phone buzz and took it out of her pocket.

"THIS IS AN AUTOMATED TEXT CONFIRMING AN APPOINTMENT FOR GWENDOLYN ON FRIDAY AT 4:00PM." Oh God, the appointment! She was hoping it wouldn't come to mind, or remind her. "Fuck that shit!" Gwen stuffed the phone in her pocket again and began drinking the wine. By the time David got back, she was ever so slightly drunk, but it very well could've been worse. "Oh my God, Gwen. How much did you drink?!" David exclaimed. "Just a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle bit, David." Gwen said, her voice lisping a couple times. David looked over and saw the wine bottle was almost empty. "Ohhhh yeah. And Nikki took some too. She thought it was grape juice." The two looked over at Nikki sipping the wine out of her cup in front of Neil and Max. "YUCK!" She said, spitting the drink out. "This grape juice tastes terrible!" Nikki threw her cup on the ground. "Maybe because it's NOT FUCKING GRAPE JUICE, NIKKI!!!" Max protested. "See, she didn't know the difference." Gwen elbowed David. "Maybe it was a bad idea to sneak wine..." David muttered to himself.

Everyone enjoyed the celebration, even if it meant having to repeatedly stop the kids from attaching Space Kid to a tree to use him as a pinata. Gwen managed to get back to her senses just as it was time for everyone to leave. She didn't suffer as awful of a hangover as last year. The worst she felt was a bit dizzy, but that was about it. "I'm gonna help QM clean up, do you need me to walk you back to the cabin?" David asked as the campers returned to their tents. "Nah, I'm good. Thanks, David!" Gwen replied before the two turned away from each other. "And by the way." Gwen said, causing David to stop in his tracks. "...Happy St. Campbell's Day." Gwen said, David gave a weak smile "You too, Gwen." He replied before finally walking back down the trail. "Caught in 4K." A voice said from behind. Gwen turned around and saw Max holding her phone, revealing that he had recorded the entire thing. "God dammit, Max!" Gwen said, snatching the phone from the 10 year old. "You didn't read any of my texts did you?" She panicked. "I know I'm an asshole, Gwen. But I'm not THAT big of an asshole." Max replied before he stood on his tiptoes to open the door to the cabin. That was a close one.

Friday: 2:30am.

David was washing his hands in the bathroom, still half awake, he never thought he'd tire himself out so quickly with a holiday like St. Campbell's Day. Once he turned the faucet, he heard a rustle of the bedsheets outside. He didn't think much of it as Max could have just turned onto his side while he was trying to sleep. David turned off the bathroom light and opened the door so he could go back to bed. What he found made his heart drop...