Project: Socialize (Chapters 198-Continued) [Hiatus]

210. Setting up Camp

Setting up the tents proved to be somewhat less frustrating than taking them out of the trunk of the vehicle. The process of taking out the three tents was way more stressful than simply following the instructions manual and assembling the tents. It was awfully difficult to try and take out something when the second that you move it in the wrong direction, it would cause a bunch of miscellaneous stuff to fall and topple. It's like playing a game of jenga, but when it's almost toppling.

Us four boys tackled the task of assembling our big tents while the girls went on to assemble their own smaller tents. The model of the big tent the club had bought was rather spacious, even with a small little patio area that is shaded by the fabric material of the tent. The smaller tents for the girls were more standard, and they were less of a hassle to assemble than ours. However, since we have four people tackling this one task of assembling this one large tent, we were able to finish the assembly process only a few minutes after the girls had finished with theirs.

"Ugh!" Noah groaned as he sat down on the grass, leaned back, and used his arms to prop himself up. "That took way too long."

"If you would just listen to me when I said the rods didn't go there," Zaksus complained.

"How the hell would I know?" Noah snapped back in a sluggish manner.

"Relax," Irina said, trying to keep the peace. "Here, have some water."

She handed the two boys two paper cups that has been filled up with water from the many gallons that we had bought for the trip.

"Thanks," Noah and Zaksus both said when they accepted the cups of water.

"Make sure you don't throw the trash on the ground," Muria warned them.

"I know, I know," Noah muttered after gulping down the cup of water.

"Here you go," Irina said as she approached me with a cup of water in her hands.

I looked over at her, and then I glanced over at Loyd and saw that he already has a cup in his hands. This meant that I was handed the water last. It kinda pained me a bit, knowing that despite the efforts I put out, my contributions were valued less than the others. But, I didn't say it out loud but kept it contained as I did not want to sour the mood.

I know that Irina probably did not have that intent, but subconsciously, it should work that way. You would think to hand out refreshments to those that you deem worked the hardest and made the greatest contributions. I would say that my contributions are at least on par with the others. At least I wasn't fighting over where to insert the metal rods like Noah and Zaksus.

With my mood somewhat soured, I neglected to say thank you to Irina and merely accepted the cup of water. I turned away and downed the cup of cold water that seemed to absorb the heat from my body, giving me back some of the comfortable temperature that my body yearned for. I glanced to my right and saw that Irina was still standing there, staring at me with a smile on her face.

"What is it?" I asked her. My voice was somewhat lacking in its normal ambivalent tone due to the frustrations of labor and the rise in my body temperature. It made it so that my voice had a hint of anger mixed within it.

"Nothing," Irina shook her head. "Just thought that you might want me to throw away your cup for you."

"I can do that myself," I turned and started walking towards the trashcan by the pavilion. I didn't even wait to finish the sentence.

"Right..." Irina lowered her head somewhat in a disappointed manner. On her face was a thin veil of gloom, but I'm pretty sure that'll disappear soon enough. No gloom truly lasts, so that's that.