Sneaking out in the dead of the night
A/N: Thoughts, dreams, emphasized words, and flashbacks are in italics.
Author's words are in bold.
Important announcements are underlined
[Y/N POV]
(retching)
I flinch.
Crap, oh I hate vomit. I think I've got slight emetophobia.
No, I'm not going to think about all that food mixed up with bile and stomach acids and saliva and...
I really have to stop.
The other campers excitedly wave hi to the chatty pink-haired girl's camera, except for the girl in the body suit.
There are 6 of us here. Kenji, my cousin, is using his helicopter, so he's late. He's gonna keep us waiting again. I really need to talk to him about this.
A guy named Dave introduces himself as the head councillor. "That's right. Head honcho. Big shot."
"Hello Ben," he says as the meek-looking boy retches into the water.
I face away from him, and it takes all my restraint not to cover my nose too.
At that moment, a large truck zooms into the dock. A British woman named Roxie comes out of the vehicle. "Sorry I'm late," she apologizes. She introduces herself as the head councillor.
We all give Dave a look, and he nervously explains, "It's sort of a co-head councillor sort of situation."
"Is it?"
Dave quickly clears his throat. "Anyway...!"
The two head counselors explain to us what we will be experiencing in camp.
Everyone seems excited except for the vomiting boy. He just looks nervous about everything. Like, literally everything. Even the sea water, apparently.
I saw him recoil away from it when his jacket touched the water and made a small ripple.
The dark-skinned boy is especially thrilled about the dinosaurs.
"All right, let's get the 7 of you to camp!" exclaims Dave joyfully.
"There are only 6 of us." The meek boy awkwardly points out to Dave and Roxie. His voice is pinched and a bit odd.
"Wait, Wait, Wait." Dave halts, "Dino kid, Track Star, Internet girl, Barfy, Texas, Bookworm... where's the last one?"
Their names are Dino kid, Track Star, Internet Girl, and Texas?
Probably not, right? Dave is just messing with us.
And I think I'm Bookworm.
I can live with that nickname. As everyone else, they have irritated faces, except for 'Dino Kid' and 'Texas'.
Roxie scoffs as Kenji's helicopter whirrs down and lands, my cousin coming out looking fresh and smug.
"Greetings my dudes. Kenji is here, so let the party commence!" He throws his bag to Roxie and saunters over to us.
Roxie, irritated, throws it back knocking Kenji to the ground.
I suppress a smile as I extend a hand to help Kenji up. He rolls his eyes at the smirk I shoot him.
"Serves you right." I whisper to him.
"Shut up."
Dave and Roxie lead us to the truck. We all sit down. Beside me is 'Barfy' and Kenji.
With a loud sputter, the truck starts moving. The pink-haired girl begins recording all of us again. I don't do well on cameras so just stay quiet and smile, avoiding everyone's eyes.
I'm just socially awkward, you can't blame me.
She rotates her phone to the dark-skinned boy and asks him how he got here. He awkwardly replies, saying that he beat a video game to be here, and that his name is Darius Bowman.
He must be really good to win that to get here. I think to myself. I'm just imagining how hard and long it would take. Now I kind of feel guilty for Uncle Masrani just getting me an invitation like it's nothing when other kids would have to persevere.
"I'm sorry—" the Texan girl suddenly interrupts, both my thoughts and Darius talking. "But I can't believe you're really Brooklyn! I'm Sammy Gutierrez, total Brooklander. She shakes Brooklyn's hand eagerly and makes finger guns. "Pow, pow!"
"Er, what's a Brooklander?" asks Darius with a face full of confusion.
"Oh it's what my followers call themselves." Brooklyn casually explains.
"There's like 27 million of us!" exclaims Sammy
The athletic girl comments with a slightly sarcastic voice, "Yeah she's famous. That's why she's the only one who gets to keep her phone."
I still don't know who she is, so I'm subbing her as 'Track Star'. Thanks for the nickname, Dave.
"Hold on, rich and famous?" Kenji says, a dawning smirk on his face. He's definitely up to no good. "Oh meant to be." He grabs Brooklyn's phone and snaps a picture of them both. Kenji even puckers his lips and I flinch, putting my head in my hands in second-hand embarrassment.
'Barfy' shoots me a curious look.
Then he pukes more out of the edge of the truck. I don't want to be rude, so I don't move further, but I do shift in my seat uncomfortably.
I really want to help him (Not just so that I won't feel squeamish, haha, where did you get that idea?), but I don't know how.
Suddenly the tires screech and we stop. Dave and Roxie get out of the car and look for the animal that went past the front of our car.
Everyone watches them, except for 'Barfy'. He stays inside, firmly sitting and shutting his eyes close tight.
Scanning the greenery with squinted eyes, I hear the leaves rustle
"Uhh guys..? Guys? Guys!" Darius worries.
"AAH!" We all yelp
A Compy jumps out and leaps onto Darius. Everyone yells. 'Barfy' leaps out of the car in surprise and fright.
Dave and Roxie abruptly capture the Compy with a cat carrier and a towel.
Everyone sits back down in relief, Darius with a smile on his face. I suspect that he's happy to be able to see a dinosaur already.
His nickname really fits; Dino Kid
But I prefer Dino-nerd.
•·•
Finally we arrive at camp. It stands on the top of a large willow tree with a lot of vines hanging from the peak.
"Whoa." I breathe quietly in awe.
Dave and Roxie bring our luggages to the stairs.
"Listen up!" Dave exclaims,
"Announcement time from your co-head councillors."
"Pfft, still not a thing" scoffs Roxie.
"Okay everyone, there's some ground rules to cover. Curfew's at 8pm and Lights out is at 9pm sharp."
Everyone seems unhappy with this except for 'Barfy' who pumps his fist.
Everybody except for me, 'Barfy', and Darius run up to the bunks and claim their spots.
The meek boy gives me a quick glance and walks up to the bunks, but not in a run. He throws the hood of his mint-green jacket over his head and slumps slightly with his hands in the pockets.
Darius and I exchange small and excited smiles and we walk in a quite fast manner up the staircase and into the camp.
I notice that the bed on the corner is untouched. Probably because it's not like you can whisper or gossip to anyone from that far.
Sounds perfect for me.
I drag my heavy luggage to it and start to lay out my belongings.
Beside our bunk beds, there is a paper stick to the wall. It's a list that tells all our names and I quickly skim it and memorize the lot.
My mind logs them all as quickly as I can:
Brooklyn: 'Internet Girl
Darius: 'Dino Kid'
Ben: 'Barfy'
Sammy: 'Texas'
Yasmina: 'Track Star'
Then out of the corner of my eye, I see the rest of the campers bunch up by the railings. Tilting my head in slight curiosity, I quietly approach them and glance at the view below.
Several dozens of herbivorous dinos stomp by peacefully, the brachiosauruses being the tallest ones of them all.
The corners of my mouth turn up and form a smile.
Darius starts to name all the dinosaurs and Brooklyn gives him an impressed look.
Can I ship them? No I need to investigate more. Besides, my cousin is shooting Darius a jealous look. I can understand the glint in his eyes.
Personally, I've never experienced jealousy. Only through novels.
"Check out the... Brontosaurus," says Kenji, trying to awe her too.
Oh, Kenji. If you want to rizz up Brooklyn, at least tell her about an actual real dinosaur.
"They don't have those here, common mistake." says Darius, quickly correcting him. Kenji shoots him a dirty look.
"Enough banter, it's zip line time!" Dave exclaims excitedly.
He straps a belt on Ben. "Me? Maybe Yasmina should go first or maybe Darius," stammers Ben. "Uh or anyone really- ahhh!" Ben shouts as Dave pushes him. He zooms all the way to the other side.
The rest of us joyfully follow him.
•·•
I wake up with a small gasp.
Someone from another bunk whimpers and I groan softly and shift in my space.
My eyes lock with another person's blue-green ones.
Ben's. Not that I spend even a single second studying his eyes, the little specks of light in them, the soft iris, the...
I sit up in my bunk and stretch. He sits up too and looks at me. I hop down from my bed and slowly walk to him.
"You okay?" I softly whisper, just a bit worried.
Hey, I know I'm shy, but he's shy too, so why not? Worst he could do is ignore me, and I don't really mind.
The room is too dim to see his face, but I think his eyes widen in surprise. But he gives me a small nod in return, and I smile at him.
My head lifts up and I notice that Darius' and Kenji's bunks are empty. Ben lays back down and appears to fall asleep. I'm not sure; it's still too dark.
I sneak out of the room, but not before Brooklyn notices me.
She tiptoes over, and I nod at the empty bunks. Brooklyn gives a thumbs up in understanding and takes her phone from the nightstand.
Oh, not the phone.
We close the door behind us, and our eyes adjust to the living room brightness. Someone had turned on the lights.
"Look, bro..." A voice echoes from the kitchen. Kenji's.
I sigh. Oh, Kenji, what is your oversized head thinking now?
"Sometimes, my cousin can really irritate me." I mumble to myself.
We both sneak into the kitchen and press out ears against the door.
"I don't want to intimidate you just because my father owns a few condos on the island and I'm rich."
"Uh, I'm not intimidated by you." Darius' voice says.
"Oh, good. I just want us to be friends and friends tell each other stuff. For instance, what they're doing out of bed after curfew. What do you think?"
"I think you best get your arm off me... friend." Darius carefully removes the arm Kenji had slung across his shoulders.
Nice one, Dino-nerd.
"Oh, why don't you make me, friend?" Kenji says, politely and menacingly.
"So that's what toxic masculinity looks like." Brooklyn smirks from the doorway threshold and snaps a picture of them. I hold in my laughter.
"Uh, sorry we woke you both. I—" Darius stutters.
"He was sneaking out but I set him straight." Kenji snickers.
I raise my eyebrows. "Really, Kenj? I've known you for four years. I'm pretty sure that it's more likely Darius set you straight. Your heavy amount of hair gel probably made you tip over."
Kenji glares at me, and Brooklyn gives me an impressed look.
Oh, geez why did I say that? What the heck, me.
At least it was satisfying to see an annoyed Kenji, y'know what I'm saying?
"Look, I try to look out for the younger kids. It's who I am." He says modestly.
"You guys don't understand." Darius says passionately. "I've been waiting my whole life to get here, and I'm gonna make the most out of it. Those lights must be coming from the Compy enclosure. I gotta check it out!"
Brooklyn crosses her arms. "Sneaking out to see dinosaurs in the dead of the night, danger of being caught, great mood lighting..." The vlogger smiles deviously. "I guess that means...
we're going rogue. Ka-pow!"
I shake my head and back away. "No way. I'm going back to bed. You guys shouldn't go."
They just look at me as I close the door to the bunks.
When I turn around, my body collides with another person's and we both fall to our bottoms with a thud.
"Ow." I mumble and hold my head.
"Oh my! I'm so sorry! I— I just wanted to— to make sure that—!" The person stutters.
I take a good look at the blue-green eyes staring back at me, and soften. "Ben. What are you doing awake, now?"
"What are you doing awake?" He asks me a bit crossly.
I stand up and realize that I am towering over him. He shrinks back. I smile and offer my hand. He takes it and I pull him up.
I must've pulled too hard, because I stagger and hit the wall, and his chest hits mine. His nose comes up right in front of mine, and I feel his breath on my face.
"Umm..." I mumble, our eyes locking with each other's. "Boundaries?"
His eyes widen at how close we are and he stumbles backwards. "I'm sorry— I— I just wanted to— I must've— uh..."
I chuckle awkwardly. "It's okay. Just, uh, keep your voice down, because Sammy and Yasmina are still asleep."
How am I not collapsing from the weirdness that'd just occured?
He nods. "Wait- where are Darius, Brooklyn, and Kenji?"
"Shoot." I mutter and realize that they haven't gone back.
Without thinking, I grab Ben's hand and pull him out of the room. I dash to Dave's and Roxie's bunk beds on another room, and both of us burst into it.
The room still has lights on. Roxie's head snaps up from her position on the top bunk. Dave halts midway of rapping on his cassette. "What are you two doing here?"
Ben looks at me for an explanation, and his eyes flit down briefly to my hand, where it rests on his.
I let go of it with a small flinch of embarrassment and turn back to Dave and Roxie. "Darius, Kenji, and Brooklyn have gone rogue."
I clap my mouth close with my hand.
Seriously Y/N? Gone rogue? How stupid is that? Brooklyn must be affecting your brain, bullcrap.
"I— I mean, they've gone to the Compy enclosure, the one with the lights still on." I correct.
Roxie and Dave exchange panicked expressions and they immediately jump up from their beds.
"Come with me, Y/N. Ben, you stay behind." Roxie commands in her british voice.
Ben nods shakily and the two adults brush by him and out the door.
I give him a short glance, and he looks at me with some fear.
I don't know what I am thinking, but I give him a quick hug. "I'll be fine. Just... wait for me, okay?"
He gives me a squeak of surprise and Ieave him there, looking stunned with cheeks red like cherries.
My mind is confused by the shade the cheeks turned into, but I shrug it off. Perhaps it's like the books I read, when someone gets flustered.
Yeah... I shouldn't be hugging strangers.
Dave and Roxie lead me to the enclosure. It looks so familiar.
Then it hits me.
"This is the raptor paddock!" I yelp.
Of course I would know. Occasionally, I would train the raptors, even though I only know a few commands.
Very. Few.
Shoot.
Dave and Roxie run up the bridges criss-crossing the tops of the cage, and I press a button, turning the lights on. Startled, the raptors' heads snap up.
I jump down and my hand reaches out automatically, my heart pounding in my ears. "Blue, Charlie, Delta, Echo!" I yell at them.
They seem to recognize me, after some time and I smile in relief.
"Come and get it!" Dave hollers from the top and he throws raw steaks from above.
The raptors all leap to the meat, except for Blue. She gives me a friendly click, and I hand her another steak that I'd picked up.
The door behind Darius and Kenji open and Roxie pulls them out of the enclosure. I run out after them. The door closes behind with a bang, and trucks zoom up to us.
Men jump out of the truck. "Secure the paddock!"
Darius and Kenji pant and I glare at my cousin. "Kenji." Roxie and I both growl at the same time. Dave and Brooklyn come running up to us.
"Dave, Roxie, Y/N, thank you." Darius breathes.
Dave nods. "Oh that's standard procedure. I do those kinds of things all the time. Now excuse me while I—" he vomits all over the floor and I back away in disgust.
Not again.
"Are you hurt? Is everyone all right?" Roxie asks, checking all over Dave's body in concern.
Kenji starts walking to the camp's direction, but Roxie stops him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where do you think you're going? You and Darius are in big trouble!"
How about Brooklyn? Ah well, never mind. I don't want to cause any more fuss.
Or maybe I'm just too shy... I sigh inaudibly. I hate being too shy. And tattling, but you get the point.
I'm sure they didn't mean it. And with that scare, it's not like they're gonna be repeating that mistake any time soon, right?
"But he— he was—!" Darius stammers.
"We'll decide what to do with you later." Roxie says furiously. "If you even get to remain here after a stunt like this."
They walk away.
Darius slumps and I put a hand on his shoulder in sympathy. "It's gonna be okay, Darius. Just... maybe don't go rogue next time?"
Oh, not the word 'rogue' again.
Darius nods sadly.
•·•
We burst into the room, and someone's body hits me immediately.
(I can't say that out of context)
My eyebrows raise in surprise, as Ben wraps his arms around me. "Are you okay? I couldn't stop worrying about you, because I didn't want you hurt, even if I barely know you, you're my friend and..."
I push Ben away carefully and he realizes what he just did. "Uh, um— I..."
Dave wiggles his eyebrows up and down suggestively from across the room, and I shake my head at him. Whatever he's implying, it can't be good.
Roxie turn to the two of us. "You two, go back to your beds and go to sleep. I'll deal with Darius and Kenji. Brooklyn will tell me everything. Oh and, thank you back there, Y/N. Your training with Owen really helped out."
I smile reluctantly and Ben and I walk back to the bunks.
Before I lie back down, Ben turns to me and apologizes. "I'm sorry for... well..."
I just smile. "No need to apologize. It's nothing wrong. Just a little strange.
Our eyes meet, and we silently agree to not ever mention this again.
3200 words
Hello! This is pretty much the first chapter, and I hope you enjoyed.