Kenna filled her water bottle up in the little stream. She angrily glared at the green sun that never seemed to stop roasting the planet. A little way off, the camp was set up, and the remnants of a fire burned pathetically in the center. Six days of being in the sweltering heat, and the leaders had remained quiet about what their next move would be. Kenna assumed that they were trying to think up a plan — since they most likely didn't have one — and didn't want anyone to lose faith in them.
Kenna walked further down the river to a heavily shrubbed (was that a word?) area. She undressed and folded her clothes in a neat pile next to her water bottle.
"Ahh...." The cool water felt so good, even if it was lukewarm.
"Holy —! Yeah, I'm coming back later."
Kenna turned around in the water and sunk down to her neck. "Ethan! Knock next time!"
"This is a forest!" he growled, back turned. "There's no place to knock."
Kenna thought for a moment. "Oh, yeah."
"The leaders want us back at camp in ten minutes. They have something to tell us."
"One sec." Kenna waded out of the water and slipped into her clothes.
"Is it safe yet?"
"What do you mea — oh. Yes."
The man turned around. "Come on, princess."
"I wish you'd stop calling me that. I have a lot on my plate as it is. I'm getting sunburned, I'm dressed like a slob, the food we eat is horrible, and half of my face is still hideous. You told me that scars fade!" Kenna wrung out her hair with more force than was necessary. She threw the loose pieces on the ground.
"Over time, for god sake. And you look fine to me." Kenna could tell Ethan was trying very hard not to get mad. The two had a reputation for being short-fused smack-talkers when it came to each other.
"You're you, Ethan. I can't actually trust that you even know what 'fine' is."
Ethan snorted. "Well your version of fine is shaving down your finger nails and gluing plastic over them."
"Fake nails are pretty!" she insisted. "Look at this crap!" She held up a hand, showing off her flimsy, broken, and yellow fingernails.
"They would have looked just fine if you left them alone."
"You know nothing about fine. You don't have a reputation to uphold!"
By this time, the two were on the edge of the camp. Kenna was vaguely aware that the people around them were watching with wary eyes, but she didn't care.
"Oi! What's that mean?"
"It means that everyone already knows you're a rude and friendless jerk face!"
Ethan's face turned red and his accent increased with his anger. "Oh? And how many friends do you have?"
"Well," Kenna sputtered, "maybe I just haven't found the right person yet!"
"You only have so long left before people start truly despising you."
"Like you?" Kenna exclaimed.
"Excuse me if I can hardly tolerate a self-centered princess like you," he growled. "I mean, what idiot spends money to change their eye color?
Kenna stopped in her tracks and turned towards Ethan.
"How do you know I changed my eye color?" She clenched her fists, her thin fingernails bending instead of digging into her palms.
