Top Bunk

DAY 2

El directs her campers to the tables in the farthest corner, as these are the only ones left. "Just line up there and get your food, okay? Be done in forty minutes; we have arts & crafts with Cabin F."

So Mini Grace (or Brittany, as she likes to be called) leads her posse to the line and the disgusted looks on their faces could rival Grace Upland's herself. Exhausted, El makes her way to the counselors' table between Isaac and Louise. She's sure of their names now. Mostly.

"Better eat up," Isaac pushes a tray of cold chicken and potato salad towards Grace.

"Thanks," she pokes her fork into the potatoes.

Isaac soon finishes his food and cleans up. He taps El's shoulder and gives her a smile that is anything but pleasant. "You better hurry up for arts & crafts or my boys and I will get a head start and beat your asses."

"You're the counselor of Cabin F?" she asks through a mouthful of chicken. "Yeah, good luck."

"You think you can beat us?" Isaac says defensively. (He's nervous, she can tell.)

"Please," El swallows. "I was the best at arts & crafts back when I was a camper. Not to mention the Ashes won two years in a row while I was here."

"Sorry?" Isaac cups his ear at El's direction. "I can't hear your bullshit over the sound of the Woods winning this year."

El rolls her eyes but can't keep a smile from her lips. "I think you need that head start to win, Isaac. Now shoo."

Isaac is smirking, too. "It'll take you a century to get to the Arts & Crafts Hut with that poison ivy in your crotch," he winks. "Cabin F!" he calls, and they're off.

El doesn't mind being late this time, so she takes her time with the cold bland fried chicken and potato salad.

The turquoise-haired girl beside El nudges her. "You better beat them, El."

She looks up mid-bite at Louise. Did she really talk to El? (Despite refusing to free her from the suffocation of streamers yesterday?) "Yeah. I will," her voice comes out stronger than she expected.

"Good. The Ashes better stick together or we might lose to the Woods again," Louise brings another forkful of chicken to her mouth but decides against ingesting it and puts it back on the tray.

"Again? The Ashes didn't win last year?"

"Goodness, no," Louise flips her hair for emphasis. "Or the year before that. Or the year before that. I think the Ashes haven't won in four years, actually."

"You're kidding."

Louise shakes her head.

"Okay," El finishes her food off, miraculously not vomiting. "Why are you so nice to me now? Just yesterday you wouldn't help me," she blurts out before she's able to stop herself.

"El, that was yesterday. Grace was in a bad mood. I wanted to be nice, but I've kinda gotten this reputation to keep up with, yeah? But now's the real deal. Ashes versus Woods. You're still slightly weird and that poison ivy thing is gross, but like I said, we're Ashes. We should stick together. Unless you want to lose again."

"Stick together, huh?" El scoffs. "How about Grace?"

"That's different," Louise sighs. "You're also kind of the one who doesn't want to play nice with her, either."

"Maybe if she -"

"I know. Grace is kind of a bitch. That's a given. Just give her a chance. She's a good person under all that pink."