"Ethan, look." Char tapped him on the shoulder.
Ethan raised his head and put down the stick he'd been whittling. The alien knife was laid gently on the ground.
"Finally," he said.
The leaders were back. They marched proudly, determinedly through the camp, but nevertheless looked exhausted. Even RJ's signature smirk was wiped from his face.
Echoes of "what happened?" and "tell us what's going on!" came from the lips of the other campers.
"We will tell you in a short while," Banner said wearily.
"Why can't you tell us now?" Kenna asked from the other end of the circle. She cocked out her hip and gave Banner an imposing glare.
Ethan couldn't help but feel guilty for leaving Kenna yesterday to hang out with Char. Kenna's eyes locked with his, and she quickly looked away.
"We have been up all night and all today," Banner replied. "Even we need sleep."
Kenna added crossed arms to her cocked hip. "I think we have a right to know. Or if not them, then me."
Banner seemed to ponder this before walking up to Kenna and whispering in her ear. Her face turned red and she hissed something under her breath. Banner hastily whispered something else. After a short while, he pulled away.
"Is that better?" he asked. Kenna nodded.
Everyone was silent as the leaders disappeared behind the blanket hung in between the trees, then they converged on Kenna.
"What did he say?"
"What's going on?"
"Kenna!"
Kenna ignored them and began walking back towards her tent. The campers followed, yelling and protesting all the way.
"Should we follow?" Chartreuse asked.
Ethan shrugged. "I suppose."
The two got up and jogged after the group, which was huddled around Kenna's tent.
"Don't make us come in there!" someone shouted.
"Shut up and back up," Ethan ordered.
He didn't need to say it twice. The campers stepped back and shuffled their feet.
"Oh, Brook!" Char grabbed the girl by the arm and steered her away from the huddle.
"Can you do us a favor?" Char asked.
"Depends," Brook replied.
"See if you can get Kenna to tell us what Banner said."
Brook gave Chartreuse a hard stare. "If she wants to tell, she'll tell."
"But —"
"Brook, if neither Kenna nor the leaders tell us what's going on soon, those campers are going to drag them all out by their hair and demand to be told," Ethan warned.
Brook thought this over. "Give me a few minutes alone with her."
"Done." Ethan turned to the group. "Every back away from the tent or I'll turn your brains into ground beef!"
The campers hurried away. Without a word, Brook unzipped the tent and crawled in. Ethan strained to hear what was going on, but the two girls were speaking too quietly. In a minute, Brook emerged.
"Well?" Ethan asked.
"She's getting dressed. Wants everyone to meet by the campfire."
Ethan and Char made their way to the center of camp and called everyone over. As Char explained what was happening, Ethan kept a look out for the women.
"Here they come," he whispered to Char.
Kenna marched slightly behind Brook, veered off, and positioned herself on the other side of the campfire, though a good five feet away from it. The cheerleader wrung her hands, and glanced around the expectant group.
"You all remember the plant from last night? How it was in your head?" she began. "It's called the Muyl and supposedly it brought Banner, RJ, and Rina into the forest to make a deal with them." She shuddered. "If we help it destroy all the Lii on the planet, it will show us the way home." Another pause. "Banner explained to me just how this is a fair trade: we both want the Lii gone. The Muyl has experience, we have new human ideas, and together we may bring them down. As a bonus, we get a spaceship — the planet's only spaceship — as a ride back to Earth. In return, the Muyl gets knowledge of humanity."
After a moment, a man named Gregory said, "But that thing tried to kill you."
"Yeah, it did."
"And you're okay with this?"
Kenna shrugged. "I don't know. I mean...if the leaders spent almost a whole day talking about it and then chose to accept the alliance, the Muyl must be our best option."
"I think it's a bad idea," said a woman. "It might try to kill us."
The debate continued on for a few minutes, but in the end, it was decided that the Muyl was their best option. Kenna made a hasty retreat to her tent as the group lost interest in her. After a small hesitation, Ethan followed.
"Kenna?"
The girl took her hand off the zipper of her tent and spun around. "What do you want?"
Ethan raised his hands. "Oi, no need to get snarky."
"Well I'm tired and don't want to talk to you."
Ethan furrowed his eyebrows. "Did I do something, princess? Or are you just feeling like being rude?"
"Go talk to Char. Leave me alone." She wretched the tent's zipper open and began to crawl through.
Ethan frowned. "Are you...."
Kenna froze. "No."
"Jealous?"
"No!" She took a deep breath and swung her head out of the tent. "I just have a lot of important things on my mind right now, and you're not one of them so stop trying to be important. Because you're not."
Ethan scowled. "A person who was smart would not use 'important' that frequently."
"Shut up!"
"And as far as that bit about me goes, I don't think you're important to me, either. You're narcissistic enough for all of us."
"You don't know anything about me!" Kenna yelled. "You don't know what I've been through!"
"It's bloody clear from here!" Ethan shouted back. "You're a little untouchable princess who's never had to do a day's work in her life."
"Well you're wrong!" she screamed in a high pitched voice.
The noise startled Ethan, and he did not reply. Kenna's chest heaved and her fists clenched and unclenched.
"Leave me alone," she muttered. Kenna turned around, crawled into her tent and did not utter another word.
"Kenna?"
No answer.
Ethan opened his mouth to say something, closed it, and walked away.
