Chapter sixteen
"This is just too perfect." Ivy giggled as the girls spotted their future target.
"We aren't doing it till tonight." Mel warned them all one last time. 'Project pay back's a witch' was set in motion after breakfast when the girls snuck into the kitchen after the serving ladies left for break.
"I can't wait to see his face." Ivy giggled again.
"Not till tonight." Mel sternly said over her shoulder as she walked out of the bullpen and positioned herself to the left of the home plate. The girls luckily had all their field games together... and so did Ryleigh.
"Swing batta' batta'! Swing!" Keira chanted and was seated by Anika.
"She's on our team so you don't want to distract her." Anika playfully scolded.
"Just checkin' to make sure she's focused."
The pitcher lobbed the baseball in Mel's direction and she swung the metal bat. The two objects collided with a loud ting that echoed in Anika's ears.
"Go! Go Mel! Go M-E-L-I-S-S-A!" Keira sang while doing a cheering dance. By the time the outfield threw the ball in, Mel was already landed on third base.
"Alright Annie, bring our Mel and yourself home." Ivy patted Anika's shoulder as she passed by the magenta haired girl.
"I'll try." she muttered more to herself and picked up the bat, giving it a few swings to test the weight in her hands. From the corner of her eye she saw the pitcher turn around to the outfield and motion something with his hands. Her grey eyes found Ryleigh at second base. Standing a few steps away from the base, he returned her glare with one of his signature smirks. With a roll of her eyes, Anika stepped up to home plate and rested the bat over she shoulder. The pitcher wound up and hurled the ball dangerously close to Anika's face so that she had to jump back to avoid the flash of white. A chorus of yells came from her bullpen and Anika also noticed that Mel looked ready to storm over to the mound and beat the kid to a pulp. With a shake of her head to Mel, Anika inched up to the plate and positioned herself again. She looked up from her feet to meet the pitcher's eyes over his black leather glove. Anika tightened her grip on the bat and thought back to the time when Greg's older brother took them out to do some mailbox smashing in an abandoned town.
Anika's smirk grew wider as he wound up again and threw the ball down the middle expecting her to jump back for the rest of his pitches. What he wasn't expecting was line drive to his stomach. The ball cracked off the bat and shot directly to pitcher's mound. With a gurgled yelp, the pitcher collapsed on the ground.
Anika smirked at him and a shocked looking Ryleigh before taking off around the bases. His team members were all shouting at him to get up and throw the ball but all the pitcher could do was groan. By the time the first baseman ran over to the mound, Mel and Anika had already crossed home plate. The pitcher waved off the help from his teammates and slowly picked himself up and made his way off the field. The game continued and the new pitcher threw straight down the middle each time.
"Hey miss dominator. Heard you put another in the infirmary." Skinner snuck up on the girls as they were headed to the lunchroom after showering. He squeezed his tall frame between Anika and Ivy and slung his arms around each of their shoulders.
"He almost hit this beautiful face." Anika brushed her fingertips past her cheeks.
"Oh no he didn't." Skinner gasped dramatically. "So you cracked two of his ribs?"
"Really two?" Keira smirked as she replayed him falling down.
"It was indirect. The ball kind of hit him." Anika sheepishly kicked a rock off the path.
Ivy scoffed. "Yeah right. It didn't just kind of hit him. It rocketed to him. Like, a line drive to his stomach." Skinner boomed out his loud laugh and ruffled Anika's hair ignoring her protests.
"Haven't they all learned not to mess with our Annie." he chuckled when she finally slapped his hands away.
"You would think they would, but then again guys aren't all that bright." Mel smirked at Skinner.
"Hey!" the girls laughed at Skinner's pouty face.
"So you got that kid back, but what's the plan for Ryleigh?" Skinner changed topic.
"Okay, so we have the eggs hidden in our cabin. Before everyone arrives at the bon fire, we're going to set the rest of the plan in motion." Keira explained.
"What's the rest of the plan?"
"We can't tell you." Mel said exasperatedly. "You can't lie or keep a secret to save your life."
"Fine. Do you need me to do anything?" Skinner offered.
"Actually, we need a bucket." Anika mentioned.
"I can get one. I'm on clean up duty after lunch anyway. I'll just sneak one out." Skinner nodded.
"Great. Just drop it off at our cabin when you get it." Anika instructed.
After lunch, Anika, Ivy and Keira followed the path to the lake for a session of afternoon canoeing. Skinner was going to be late because of clean up duty and Mel had art.
There was only supposed to be two people to a boat but Keira managed to let the instructor allow for Anika and Ivy to join her in one canoe. Across the lake, Ryleigh was already set afloat in his canoe with another kid who Anika presumed was his cabin mate only because she'd seen him around Ryleigh a few times before.
"Ready?" Ivy asked as Keira hopped into the front of the long boat and picked up one of the paddles and handed the other to Anika at the back of the boat.
"Alright, set us loose." Keira gave permission to the pink haired girl who obeyed and untied the rope that kept them from pulling away from the dock. She jumped aboard and let out a squeal as the canoe rocked a bit.
"No one rock the boat." Keira said with one hand on her paddle in a death grip and the other white knuckled hand clamping to her seat.
"What's wrong? You can swim, right?" Anika dipped her paddle into the inky black and blue water and started to steer them out towards the lake.
"Of course I can swim." Keira laughed nervously. Ivy turned around in the middle seat to share a look with Anika before facing forwards again.
"Then what's the problem?"
"At the beach, I can touch the bottom." Keira started to explain, forcing herself to be calm. "Out in the middle of this stupid lake I can't."
"Oh, so you're afraid of what's beneath you?" Anika asked as she watched the other canoes around her.
"Exactly." Keira whispered and cautiously peered over the edge of the boat.
"I won't rock the boat if you won't rock the boat. I'm not in the mood to fall in." Ivy shrugged and stuck her hand in the water as the boat easily skimmed across the surface.
"Alright everyone, just stay in the main lake for a while and get used to the oars and steering." the instructor was in his own one-person kayak with a megaphone lifted to his mouth. He listed off a bunch of rules like no splashing each other, no ramming into other boats and no purposely capsizing the canoes.
"Why on earth would they want to do that?" Keira shivered at the thought of being consumed by the inky black water.
"Because kids are idiots?" Anika offered as she watched one poor girl freak out as her male partner started to teasingly rock their canoe.
"Just don't think about it. We'll stick close to the edge." Anika promised.
"Thanks." Keira sighed in relief and released her grip on her seat so that she could help Anika with the paddling.
After forty-five minutes of getting used to the boat, Skinner paddled up to the girls' canoe. Ivy's eyes widened as she looked at his outstretched hand.
"W-what are you crazy? I'm not hoping here to there." Ivy pointed to herself and then to his canoe. "We have to go back to the dock."
"Aw, Ivy. Come on and live a little." Skinner teased, still holding out his hand. Their canoes jostled against each other and Keira snapped her eyes shut and went back to griping her seat.
"Just hop in his canoe Ivy. And do it quick." Keira squeaked as the boat rocked more dramatically.
"I swear, if I fall in...." Ivy muttered, and cautiously took his hand and shakily stood up.
"I won't let you fall in. Now bend over a bit and swing that leg into here." Skinner held Ivy's smaller hand in his large one and gave her the help she needed. When she was half in Skinner's canoe and half out of Keira and Anika's canoe she heard Keira squeak and Anika curse.
"Ryleigh don't!" Anika growled but it was too late.
"Hold on Ivy!" Skinner dropped his paddle and reached out to grab Ivy as she lost her balance. Ivy's scream mixed with Keira's as Ryleigh rammed Anika's canoe from the side. The shock of it had Keira and Anika leaning to the other side so the canoe rolled over about fifteen feet from the edge of the lake. Anika, Keira and Ivy all fell in with splash but because Skinner went to stop Ivy from falling, he lost his footing and tripped over his oar so he too landed in the water.
Underwater, Anika kicked her way back to the surface and sputtered once she filled her lungs with air.
"I'm going to kill you!" Keira beat Anika to the threat as the golden blond girl feverishly spun around. She was freaking out because if Anika couldn't touch the bottom, neither could she.
Instead of hurling insults at a laughing Ryleigh, she focused her energy on trying to roll her canoe over with Skinner's help. Ivy was trying to keep Keira calm and treaded water a few feet away. Skinner could just about touch the sandy bottom with his lanky six foot four height and managed to righten the capsized canoe.
"I could probably get back in, but I don't think Keira can." Anika wiped a strand of her black hair out of her eyes as it suctioned to her forehead.
"Let's bring it to the shore then." Skinner pulled the canoe behind him towards the direction of the trees on the lakeshore.
"Come on Keira. The closer you swim, the quicker you'll find bottom." Anika coaxed the blond to swim over to her and helped the exhausted girl ashore.
"I have this. You go get your canoe." Anika flipped her canoe over and jerked her chin up to where Skinner's was slowly floating away with out anyone in it. Without another word, Skinner swam back out to his boat and towed it to the shoreline.
"Okay, Keira, you can go in." Anika held the boat steady as the tall blond inched her way back into the canoe and took her seat at the front again. Skinner took Anika's spot at holding the boat steady as she climbed in. He gave a gentle push and the two girls were off floating again, sticking closer to the shore than before.
"You two good?" Ivy called from the front of Skinner's canoe. Skinner pushed them off the shore from the back and paddled them out a little farther until they were a few yards away besides Anika and Keira.
"Yeah." Anika assured and raked her eyes past her friend's canoe. She caught Ryleigh and his friend already across the lake and thought to herself how she couldn't wait for tonight.
"He what?" Mel angrily shot up from her seat on the bench and glared over at Ryleigh's table.
"Calm down Mel. He'll get what's coming to him." Keira grumbled bitterly and tugged on Mel's arm to sit the red head back down.
Anika frowned at her iPod as it lit up with the notification that she had an email. She opened it and her frown deepened as she watched the video.
"Guys, someone videotaped it."
"Oh god, I look like a flailing fish." Keira groaned in embarrassment as she watched the scene replay on her own screen. All around them, people laughed and turned to look at their table. From across the room, Anika glared at Ryleigh but let an evil smirk peek on her lips, which made his smug grin falter slightly.
"Alright, let's head out." Anika stood up and collected her dinner tray.
"What? Already?" Ivy questioned but followed Anika's lead.
"Yes. It's time." Mel confirmed. As the group walked out of the cafeteria, Anika made sure to use the closest exit to Ryleigh's table so she could bump his chair, hard. He growled lowly but Anika kept walking.
He was going to wish he hadn't started this war. If he wanted to bring videos into this, than so was she.