Havoc - Piper McLean

1: I don't know you

"Um, I don't–"

Camilla hummed along to the song filtering in her ear through the one working earbud.

"Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find, That what you're looking for has been here the whole time–"

In the front of the bus, Coach Hedge shouted, "All right, cupcakes, listen up!"

Like clockwork, everyone groaned, even the latino boy next to Camilla stopped fidgeting with the pipe-cleaners and whatnot in his hands.

Coach Hedge was, to say the least, every kid's nightmare at the Wilderness school. His baseball cap was pulled low over his hair, so you could just see his beady eyes. He had a wispy goatee and a sour face— like he'd eaten something moldy. His buff arms and chest pushed against a bright orange polo shirt that blinded Camilla every time she looked at the man. His nylon workout pants and Nikes were spotless white. A whistle hung from his neck, and a megaphone was clipped to his belt. 

(He would've looked pretty scary if he hadn't been five feet zero)

When he stood up in the aisle, one of the students called, "Stand up, Coach Hedge!" causing a ripple of giggles across the bus.

"I heard that!" The coach scanned the bus for the offender. Then his eyes fixed on a spot behind Leo, and his scowl deepened.

Instinctively, Camilla twisted to see what he was looking at, but she only found herself face to face with Jason who looked like a spooked baby deer. His bright blue eyes were wide in alarm, shifting from spot to spot like he was looking for clues. He seemed apprehensive, but also confused, which Camila for the life of her, couldn't understand.

"What'd you do, Jason?" She grinned at the boy. "Last time Coach looked at me like that was because I snuck a cockroach into his lunch"

Jason didn't respond, though his eyes narrowed and he tilted his head like he was trying to figure out if he knew Camilla. What the hell was that guy's deal?

"That was you?" Piper hissed. "Dylan told everyone it was him"

Camilla spared her a glance. That day, she wore faded jeans, hiking boots, and a fleece snowboarding jacket. Camilla knew she had to come from money, and she knew about a few of the rumors about Piper's dad, but she'd never paid much attention to them. If she was going to resent the girl, she'd resent Piper for the person she was, not because of who her dad was.

Try as she might, there was no denying that Piper was seriously pretty. Her brown hair was cut choppy and uneven— like she had slashed it herself with a knife. Thin braided strands of hair framed her face down the sides. She wore no makeup like she was trying not to draw attention to herself, but it didn't work. Her eyes seemed to change color like a kaleidoscope— brown, blue, and green.

"Seriously? Come on! Coach made me do a hundred push ups. My arms felt like they fell off by the end of it. I can't believe Dylan took all the credit" She made a show of pressing a hand to her chest like she was offended. She turned to see if Jason had heard her. But he still looked confused.

Then Camilla's eyes drifted to the space between Jason and Piper, or rather the lack thereof.

Their hands were too close, like they had been holding the other's. Camilla scowled and sat back in her seat.

Coach Hedge cleared his throat. "We'll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partner. Don't lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes cause any trouble on this trip, I will personally send you back to campus the hard way."

He picked up a baseball bat and made like he was hitting a homer.

"Can he talk to us that way?"

Leo and Camilla tried to look back at the same time so they bumped their heads into each other. Camilla just glared at the boy, but Leo grinned back.