The next hour went by in a blur. I detangled myself from Griffin's embrace when June returned with Miss Winters and a first aid kit. After disinfecting my cut and bandaging it up, Miss Winters insisted that I caught a ride back to the shore in her kayak rather than my own. I tried to protest but quickly got shot down by everyone who pointed out that I still looked rather pale.
"You've got yourself a good one," Miss Winters said, helping me out of the kayak at the other end.
"What?"
"Griffin seems nice."
"Oh, no," I said quickly, suddenly realising what she meant. "We're not together."
"My mistake," Miss Winters replied.
My eyes flitted to where Brittney was greeting Griffin a little way down the beach. This was why I'd been avoiding him. As if he felt my gaze, he turned his head towards me, his eyes meeting my own. I quickly looked back to Miss Winters before it looked like I was staring and said, "He's with another person."
She shrugged in a very unteacherly manner. "A shame, you two looked cute. Don't worry, someone else will be out there for you."
I was grateful that June chose that moment to ask, "Rory, how's your leg feeling?"
I turned around to see her and Noah pulling their kayaks towards us, their feet crunching in the sand. I grimaced. "Sore."
Noah laughed. "I'd expect nothing less from a cut that big."
"But not big enough to stop you from playing capture-the-flag tomorrow?"
"Of course not." I smiled at June's worried expression. "Nothing can stop me from playing."
"If you want to play I expect you to go back to school now and rest until tonight," Miss Winters said.
I saluted then instantly regretted the sudden movement. "Yes ma'am."
"I can help you back." Griffin offered, walking over. I was surprised to see that Brittney wasn't clinging to his arm but was instead still down the beach, now talking to Oscar.
"I'm fine, thanks," I replied curtly.
The trip back across the lake had given me time to clear my thoughts and process what had happened. I'd come to the conclusion that I should never get injured in front of people that turn my insides into twists because it turns out I have no control over my words when I'm injured and cold.
"You're definitely not fine," Miss Winters butted in. "I want someone to stay with her."
"Noah and I will look after her," June replied and I inwardly thanked her.
Griffin looked like he was about to protest then Oscar began calling him over. He smiled at me. "See you soon princess."
I may have imagined it but I thought I saw Miss Winters raise her eyebrows slightly.
Griffin began walking back down the beach and I turned to Miss Winters. "Thank you again."
"Let me know if it starts to look infected," she replied.
"Will do," I replied then June, Noah and I began heading back to school, me limping slightly.
~~~
A gust of wind blew the trees and I shivered. "Did you guys remember everything?" I asked, as Ruben and Noah approached the log June and I were sitting on.
The sun was nearing the horizon and our school was gathering in a clearing in the middle of the forest, out of sight from the other schools. Long shadows were cast onto the ground by the tall trees surrounding us and I smiled. The air held a feeling of anticipation.
Noah grinned and dumped his bag down on the ground, a playful twinkle in his eye. "If by everything you mean only a sleeping bag and pillow, then yes, we did."
"A man of many items, I approve," a familiar voice said from behind me.
I turned to see Jack walking over. "Jack!" I leaned in for a hug.
"I heard about your injury Ror, the latest on the rumour mill is that you almost drowned."
Noah laughed. "Almost drowned in 10 cms of water."
"It was a stream that I fell into," I explained.
"I'm not surprised." Jack laughed and gave me a high five. "Glad to see you're keeping up the family tradition of coming home from champs with battle wounds."
Last year when we'd picked Jack up from the bus he'd been sporting a vicious black eye and a cut lip. I had never discovered the true story behind them.
"Are you ready for tomorrow?" I asked.
"Of course. Our game plan is solid. We will win this."
"No doubt about it." June added.
Yesterday evening we'd had a school meeting and went over all of the strategies that we'd use tomorrow. The rules of capture-the-flag were pretty simple. The forest edge was the boundary and in it each school had a quadrant marked by coloured ribbons attached to the trees. To win the game, a school must hold all the flags in their quadrant, however if that hasn't occurred by 3pm tomorrow then the school with the most flags in their possession will win. The game will begin at dawn tomorrow however tonight however we'd be having the bonfire and then camping.
"Everyone head to Mr Wilson and collect your tents and..." Mrs Johnson was drowned out by people talking and moving.
Jack ruffled my hair and began walking away into the group of other students. "Take care of your leg Ror!"
"See you later," I called back. My leg thankfully hadn't been too painful aside from the moment when Ruben had thrown a pillow at me but that was a whole other story.
June stood up. "I'll go get a tent for us."
I grinned. "Thanks."
A minute later June walked back over, hands empty and with a frown on her face.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Bad news, we have assigned tent buddies."
"What!" I exclaimed. "You have to be joking."
June shook her head. "Apparently something happened last year so this time around they've picked who everyone is with."
"Argh!" I groaned.
June huffed. "This sucks."
"Who are you with?" I asked.
"Someone named Jess."
I smiled. "Ah, she's one of Jack's friends, super nice, though quite quiet. Do you know who I'm with?"
"You're with me."
I turned around to see Olivia, another girl from my brothers year, walking up to me, a tent slung over her shoulder. I smiled. "Hi."
She brushed away a long strand of dark red hair out of her face. "Let's go set up our tent."
June gave me a small thumbs up as I began to hobble after Olivia. "Goodluck," she mouthed.
"I'm going to need it," I mouthed back. "See you at the bonfire!"
Olivia found a spot near the forest edge and promptly began unpacking the tent. We put it up in almost silence and I was relieved when we'd finished. I dumped my bags inside then gave her a smile. "See you back here tonight?"
She shrugged. "Sure."
I took a deep breath and turned back towards the sea of tents to find the others. I only had to spend eight or so hours in the tent with her, I reminded myself, and most of it would be spent asleep. I was still disappointed though with the sleeping arrangement, June and I had smuggled in chocolate and other snacks that we had planned to consume throughout the night while telling ghost stories with the boys in our tent. That obviously wouldn't be happening now.
I began weaving my way between tents, grateful that I'd remembered to grab my coat. The sun had set while we'd been setting up the tent and the air temperature had dropped a few degrees.
"Rory!" I almost jumped out of my skin as Ruben crawled out of a tent in my path. He laughed at my reaction. "Are you heading to the campfire now?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I was just coming to find you."
He stood up. "I'm glad. I got stuck with a complete rando from our school and was about to go mad from the awkwardness. Why they chose to put us in these tent groups I don't know."
"Same," I agreed. "Thankfully it's not too awkward for me, Olivia just doesn't really speak."
"Jealous." Ruben looped his arm through mine. "Let's go find the other two and warm up by the bonfire. I'm freezing."
A/N:
Who here is a fan of camping? Or is glamping more your style ;)
I love camping!
Vote and comment if you enjoyed :)
SouthernAlps over and out...