I settle back at our table. The waiters and waitresses already bring over the salad.
The lights dim down trying to get our attention that the speeches will begin shortly. Seeing an empty seat next to KJ, I begin to wonder where Cole is. I stop wondering, however, when I see him walk Lili over to her table before joining us.
I see KJ smirk at Cole as he sits down and Cole blushes a bit before sipping some water out of his glass.
"Welcome families to our 30th annual dinner formal!" An older women greets the room while smiling brightly into the microphone. "It is with great honor that we join together to thank and celebrate the great service of the Reinhardt family." She stops speaking to allow for a large round of applause.
She then continues, "The Reinhardt family has been at the forefront of all that goes on at Rockwood Campgrounds. Their hospitality and precision to detail plays a major role into why we continuing to keep coming back. While some come to the camp solely during the summer, others come all year round. Nevertheless, Rockwood would not be the same camp we all know and love if it weren't for this amazing family. So I ask that we all toast to this amazing family while the Reinhardts stand and accept this great honor".
We all clap and watch the family rise at their table. I even see Simon manage to smile. This probably means so much to the Reinhardts, whose last name I have just learned, to feel appreciated by their long time patrons.
After a few more speeches, a montage of the camp through the years, and more clapping, dinner had been served. While eating and chatting away, I notice the DJ starting to make their way in and set their equipment up on the same stage where the speeches were made.
"Did you straighten your hair Jess?" asks Ariel.
"Yeah. So what I did was straighten it first and then curl the ends" Jess explains.
"It looks really good" I chime in.
"Thanks! One day I have to do your hair [y/n], I promise!" Jess grins.
I smile back and before I can respond KJ cuts in. All six of us kids talk a lot when we are all together.
"Just don't do my hair" he teases.
"Haha! Oh my gosh, remember Ariel when we used to do KJ's hair?" Jess laughs.
"How can I forget? He looked so cute, especially when we were quick enough to get some makeup on him too." Ariel giggles.
"Dude, I'm so sorry" Cole playfully condoles his friend.
"No worries man... it's made me who I am today!" we all laugh at KJ's comment.
"And anyway, I'm sure [y/n] and Riley have done crazy things to you too when you were younger" KJ adds taking a bite of his BBQ ribs.
Everyone looks at Riley and I.
"I mean yeah, but I guess it's different since I'm older" Cole responds while he raises his eyes at Riley and myself at the word 'older'.
"Which is why [y/n] and I are the way we are, always defending ourselves against you" Riley laughs while pointing her finger at Cole.
"Haha! I'm sure [y/n] has done the worst things to you two!" Ariel teases.
I roll my eyes at her and reply "Sure", drawing out the word.
"[y/n]? Come on Ariel, [y/n] is like the nicest person in the world, she wouldn't hurt a fly" Jess replies.
I mean, I am pretty nice, not to toot my own horn or anything. If I'm with my family on a moody day that's one thing, but with other people I really am consistent.
________________________________________
"Alright party people, make your way onto the dance floor because we are going to all have a real good time!" The DJ announces into the microphone.
At first just some crazy wild kids from a nearby table jump onto the dance floor, then some older grandparents walk on over, and finally it begins filling up when almost everyone comes down.
"Let's go!" Jess screams whiling grabbing my hand and pulling me up.
Riley and Ariel are on their way too. We join hands and form a circle on a corner of the dance floor. Riley begins jumping up and down making our arms move along with her.
The DJ is playing the song "Shut Up and Dance" by Walk The Moon, and is walking over from person to person holding a microphone up to his or her face to sing the lyrics. They manage to make their way over to our mini circle and hold the mic up to my mouth.
Hesitant at first, I sing into the microphone and then let myself loose. When the DJ leaves, Riley, Jess, and Ariel clap for me. I playfully bow.
Cole and KJ walk over to our circle and Riley grabs both their hands pulling them in.
"I think your circle has now become an oval" Cole comments while dancing to the beat.
"Haha! It does!" Ariel laughs.
"Do you think the DJ will return and makes us sing?" KJ asks raising an eyebrow.
"Probably, he's the DJ. Why? You're a good singer KJ" Jess smiles.
"Thanks, but I'm not always into when they do that... what if I don't know the words?" he asks seriously.
"Just stare them down like this" Cole stares into a pretend microphone cupped by his fist, "they'll get the hint" he grins.
"Haha, alright man" KJ smiles and bursts into a dance move.
We all dance together in our little corner of the dance floor. The DJ walks around handing out glow sticks and light-up necklaces.
"Alright we're going to play a little game of coke and pepsi! Grab a parter, coke on the left and pepsi on the right!" the DJ announces.
"Cole, let's be partners!" Riley smiles and grabs his hand.
He looks up at KJ, "Sorry man, I have no choice... next round".
"Ha! No worries" KJ responds looking at Jess and Ariel who begin to walk back to the table.
"We could be partners KJ" I more of ask rather than say to him.
"Sure, let's do it!" KJ smiles and proceeds to walk to the coke side next to Cole.
Riley and I are standing next to one another and giggling.
"Okay, let's go over the rules of this game! When I shout coke, all you coke people run over and sit on your pepsi partner's knee! When I shout pepsi, all the lovely pepsi folks run on down to sit on your coke partner's knee! The last partner to run on over is out! Got it? Gooood!" the DJ yells into the mic.
"Now, when I say freeze, no matter where you are you must freeze in place. Do not move even the slightest or you are out of the game!...... Another rule, Dr.Peper means all partners run to the middle of the dance floor and interlock arms from behind. But that's not all! No, no, no!"he grins shaking his head. "You will then need to sit down back to back while keeping your arms interlocked..... So, who's ready to play?"
We all cheer.
"I said who's ready to play??!!" The DJ shouts while running around high-fiving all contestants.
The music starts in again and the DJ shouts 'Coke!'
All the 'coke' people run over to sit on the 'pepsi' people's laps. I see from the corner of my eye Cole crashing into Riley but managing to make it work. KJ is running over too, laughing hysterically while plopping down on my lap. You would think KJ would try to not put all of his weight on me since I'm smaller, but with all the adrenaline pumping and the need to beat his BFF, he is really showing no mercy.
The DJ walks over to two wild boys at the end who I'm guessing were the last to make it in time. "Do you know what just happened here?" The DJ asks making his voice deep and inching closer to the laughing teens.
"Ummm.... we're out?" They chuckle.
"Correcto! See ya both on the flip side!" The DJ screams patting them both of the back.
"Ok, let's get back to it!" Pepsi, baby!" the DJ shouts.
I run as fast as I can to KJ and immediately sit on his knee when I make it to the other side. I notice Riley sits on Cole's lap too, seconds after me.
The DJ begins walking over to our section. I really hope he doesn't get Riley and Cole out.
"Well well well, what do we have over here?" the DJ devilishly asks and turns to two older girls probably in their twenties. They begin laughing and turn red.
"I knew we were too old for this game!" one of the girls with red hair laughs.
"And you know what? That's not true, but you definitely both need some practice because you two are out!" the DJ yells into their face.
Poor girls. They probably just wanted to have a good time. "Freeze!" the DJ quickly screams with no warning. I'm now trying to balance myself on KJ's lap without moving. I feel KJ grip my waist making sure I do as little work as possible.
The DJ does his traditional comedic routine of walking close to partners and trying to distract them or make them laugh. About four pairs failed his attempts and are now on the side lines.
The DJ makes his way back over and from the corner of my eye, I can see him move super close to Cole's face.
"Do you know this girl on your lap?"
Silence.
"I sure hope so, because you two look awfully comfortable. You know what, this little lady is sitting in front of you, so if you don't mind I'm just going to lean on you from behind."
Viewers at their tables and kids who are out of the game are laughing. I hear nothing from the people still in the game, we're doing well.
"Ahhh, this is the life!" the DJ shouts into the microphone while putting some sunglasses on. Seeing he's not going to break Cole and Riley, he moves on to people on the other end of us.
I'm glad the DJ prodded Cole instead of Riley. Riley might have giggled. But then again, she did stay quiet and still during that endurance test.
"Okay, you people have proven to have some mad skills. So we're going to Dr.Pepper it now!" the DJ spins in a circle.
I quickly get off KJ's lap and we run to the middle of the dance floor. He practically pulls me along and we manage to interlock our arms from behind and sit down. Riley and Cole are right beside us so I know we're all safe for this round. I hear a boy playing at the other end yell, "This game is ridiculous!" I look over and see that it is Simon. His partner is Lili. I hope if Cole sees this he knows that the two of them are just cousins.
The DJ walks over to Simon and Lili. "You have something to say little man? Do you want to quit now?"
"No! I plan to win the whole thing. But, these game rules are a little grueling on the body." Simon a bit embarrassed grins.
Showing no mercy the DJ grins back and yells "Pepsi! Here we go!"
I run as fast as I can and sit on KJ's lap.
"Coke!"
I quickly run back to my side and have KJ sit on my lap.
"Freeze!"
After getting out two players, the DJ walks over to KJ and I.
"You sir are much too large to be sitting on this poor girl." the DJ says to KJ mocking his Australian accent.
I could feel KJ struggling a bit to stay steady on my lap so I try to balance him a bit by extending my leg when the DJ smiled to the crowd watching. I guess the DJ saw this movement because KJ still wiggled a bit.
The DJ want really close to KJ's and my face and said "Good luck, we've got all day!"
We really couldn't maintain KJ's weight on my legs, and we both just gave in falling to the ground.
"Aww, you two had a good run, truly!" the DJ announced while clapping for us as we got up and walked over to the side lines to continue watching the game.
Am I seeing this correctly? The last two partners are Cole and Riley, and Simon and Lili!
"Alright we are down to the final two contestants. I gotta say these four kids have been playing an awfully good game... in suits and dresses! Before we give them a round of applause, I need to know their names!" he speaks more calmly into the microphone.
Walking over to Simon and Lili, the DJ says, "Ok kids, tell me your name and an interesting fact about yourself. Go!"
"Hi, I'm Simon. Back home I play on my school's football team."
"Ooh! Impressive young Simon. Do you think football has trained you well for Coke and Pepsi?" the DJ asks.
"Ha! Yeah, totally!" Simon smirks while answering sarcastically.
"Ok, and who are you?"
"Hello, I'm Lili. I'm a pretty big fan of Anime comics" she smiles. Cole rarely tells anyone about his fascination in anime and comics besides really close friends, so I know he must feel so happy inside.
"Very nice, very nice! And now.... we meet your opponents" He smiles walking over to Riley and Cole.
"Who are you? I believe you may be the smallest one out here in this dangerous game" The DJ exclaims while putting the microphone in front of Riley's face.
"Hi, I'm Riley. I have written a bunch of manuscripts and put on plays" she smiles brightly while speaking into the microphone.
"Aww, that is adorable little one! Now onto the pretty boy" He responds while handing Cole the microphone.
"I'm Cole. And I never thought I would get this far in a game of Coke and Pepsi" he responds.
"And do you think you can win it all?" the DJ grins.
Smiling at Riley he responds, "Definitely". With that Riley looks thrilled.
"That's the spirit! So... same rules just more pressure. We are down to Simon and Lili..... and Cole and Riley. Did I get the names right?" the DJ asks.
The crowd cheers while the four players nod. "Ok, dim the lights! Here we go!"
"Coke!"
Everyone is safe.
"Pepsi!"
Everyone is safe again.
"Dr.Pepepr!"
Both teams run to the middle, interlock arms and manage to sit down in that position.
Assessing all players, the DJ circles around while continuing to mock their efforts.
"Pepsi! Changed my mind... freeze!" the DJ laughs.
Riley is close to Cole, whereas Lili is a bit further from Simon. I'm hoping, the DJ goes back to 'pepsi' so Riley can make it over to Cole in no time.
"Hmmm, let's.... coke!"
All four run over to the other side.
I see it. Everyone in the room sees it, and I'm glad the DJ addresses it. "Yo little Simon boy, I know you want to win, but no horseplay" the DJ shouts to Simon after seeing him push Cole out of the way while running.
"Roger that!" Simon rolls his eyes secretively.
"It's just a game Simon, take it easy" Lili's eyes widens.
Cole and Riley are just staring at Simon, waiting for what he might do next. What is this kid capable of?
After sipping a drink of water, the DJ moves on. "Pepsi!"
"Coke!"
"Pepsi!"
"Coke!"
The rounds go on for some time.
"You four are amazing! Let's go for another round of pepsi! Ay!"
Now it's Riley's and Lili's turn to run over to the boys. Simon quickly stands up from his kneeling position and runs in front of Riley. Before Lili can move over to Simon, Simon pushes Riley to the other side.
"What?" Cole stands up in disbelief, "What is your problem?"
"I said I'm here to win!" Simon shouts back.
"Simon, stop. This is just a game." Lili embarrassingly tries to calm her cousin down.
"Are you OK Riley?" Cole looks down at Riley.
"Yeah, I'm ok. Really." Riley answers back moving farther away from Simon.
"Yo man, I was just playing. The girl's fine, let's keep going with this game" Simon jumps up and down.
"This girl?" Cole softly says walking over to Simon. "This girl" now speaking louder and closer to Simon, "is my sister, and you have no right to touch her." he yells back .
"Okay, hate to break this little pow wow, but it is crystal clear who our winner is." the DJ intervenes stepping in between Cole and Simon. He then pauses to hold up Cole's and Riley's hands, "Everyone please give a warm round of applause to Mr.Cole and Ms.Riley!"
Everyone manages to smile, but there is a sense of awkwardness in the room after the stunt Simon just pulled. Simon is bad news, and I'm starting to think he could be dangerous too.