Stephanie Johnson
There was a noticeable change in Santiago and Minhyuk's behavior at lunch, and it didn't seem to be a good one. Park was shaking, his hands clamoring against the table, food untouched. I glanced over at Santiago, his bowl remained full as he aimlessly stirred its contents. It was a weird sight given that he frequently ate as though the world was coming to an end. I called him out on it once only to get called a skinny bitch.
"The food can't be that bad, right?" Becky leaned over, placing a hand on Santiago's arm. Is she making moves on that dumbass? I shook my head, she has a girlfriend, stop being weird. My brother and Park looked at each other, exchanging a silent conversation. Santiago's eye seemed darker than they were this morning and Park was unnaturally quiet. Even though I hadn't known him for that long, I had gotten used to his snide remarks.
"So how were your classes?" Becky tried to break the ice, hoping to distract the boys from whatever was bothering them. Probably not the best topic to bring up, but at least she was trying. I didn't think there were going to be classes at camp, but I didn't actually know what I had expected. Mrs. Niven had only said it was a great experience that helped her son become the leader he was today. She mentioned something along the lines of it being more intended for people like her, which probably explained the sheer quantity of kids wearing expensive clothes. I don't know why they would create a camp like this for rich kids, but at the time I wasn't going to argue.
"I got some saran wrap," Santiago muttered, nodding to the yellow box. There were some other things next to it that definitely weren't easy to come by. I thought I was imagining slight lumps in Park's pockets earlier, but these new items were only confirming my thoughts.
"How did you get that?" I frowned, something was going on here.
"Let's go," Park grumbled, his face pale, "We're going to be late." Why is he avoiding my question? What's he hiding?
Regardless, I sighed, knowing he was right and lead the way to our long-awaited class, running.
Simply put, it was hell. On a good day at school I stood in the corner and talked with friends. I'm pretty sure my gym teacher noticed but she didn't get paid enough to care. Now I could only wish that she made me run hundreds of miles. Maybe I should have actually followed Miranda King's training videos instead of just watching them while snacking. Even the most athletic girl in our little running group looked like she was struggling, but all of us were afraid to stop. When we finally reached the end of our five-mile long course we were all parched. Apparently, we ran our mile too slow because the guards quickly rushed us off to the next class, dripping in sweat.
We stumbled into the next room, barely glancing at the numbers on the door as it slammed shut threateningly behind us.
"Welcome to Weapons." A thin blond woman greeted us, lips ruby red. She looked like she might be the president of the PTO or manager of the shoe department. Her next words, however, completely changed my mind.
"I sincerely hope that you will all survive." Her smile never reached her eyes. The pale skin seemed too stiff, and her eyebrows were too dark.
"We can't catch a break can we?" My idiot brother grumbled. Does he ever stop complaining?
The blond woman resumed as if she hadn't been interrupted, though the slight wrinkle of her nose indicated that she heard us perfectly well.
"Choosing your weapon can save or end your life." She let out a small laugh. The rest of the classes for some strange reason did not find this funny.
"Choose wisely!" Her grin grew as if Christmas had come early. Somehow, she managed to look scarier than some of the guards standing outside.
"We will begin this class with more primitive weapons." Reaching over she opened up a cupboard. Inside were shelves and racks of knives, swords, throwing stars, and other weapons that I couldn't name to save my life. Which is probably a bad thing.
"You will all choose one weapon that you can take outside of class." She smirked, probably imaging the bloodbath that would follow.
"All firearms are not permitted outside of class, we find that they are too efficient and easy to use." She continued on with her monologue, "We don't want all of you dead do we?"
Just like kindergarteners, she made us line up in front of the cupboard. Becky, Santiago, Park, and I were towards the back of the line. Since I elbowed Santiago out of the way I was in front of our group. Even though he was behind me, I could almost feel Park's discomfort. When it was finally my turn I stared down at the assortment of weapons. I have never even held any sort of weapon before so I was completely overwhelmed. I've used a knife to chop vegetables before so...
I started to reach for a knife in the corner of the cupboard and picked it up.
"They come as a pair," The blonde lady spoke, nodding to an identical knife in the cupboard.
I grasped both handles, two knives are better than one, right? Park came moments after me with a machete. I raised an eyebrow in response.
"It was this or nunchucks."
I nodded as Becky approached us with a collection of throwing darts, no doubt laced with something nasty. She shrugged.
Finally, my ass of a brother came over with a pair of...
"Nunchucks." Park coughed out, turning red in an attempt to contain his laughter.
"It was the only thing I recognized," Santiago defended himself, that moron.
"Do you even know how to use those?" Suddenly Park's machete didn't seem that ridiculous.
He was quiet for a minute before sighing, "When I was little I really wanted to be a ninja and my dad bought me a kit that had nunchucks in them and I got really good."
I smirked as I thought about a little devil running around with nunchucks, no doubt injuring himself in the process.
"You are good with them, then...?" Becky was skeptical, mirroring our thoughts.
"Yeah, I mean, it was at least six or seven years ago?" Santiago responded and then demonstrated his skills by smacking himself in the face. I doubled over laughing, that frickin idiot! I haven't laughed that hard since hanging out with my friends during lunch.
I miss the familiarity of my life,
same people,
same places, it was comfortable. Every weekend, I'd hang out with friends at the mall,
"Steph~ what do you think of this new lipstick?" Audrey's heavily accented voice came from behind me, her tanned skin offset with a vibrant crimson.
"Lovely!" I, myself was trying on various foundations.
"Do you think your brother is into pink or red?" Zoe's voice came from across the aisle as she held up two eyeshadow pallets.
"For the last time, my step-brother is an asshole, you don't want to date him." I made sure to emphasize "step", it was going to take a lot to make me see him as anything else.
"He can't be that bad, I'm sure you'll warm up to each other at camp!" Zoe came around the corner, her short stature mimicking that of a well endowed twelve-year-old. Her real name wasn't actually Zoe, but she changed it to fit in more. Not that I sould remember what her actual name was. If she wanted to be called Zoe, I had no problems with that.
"Aww~ I'm gonna miss you, babe! Bring back some souvenirs!" Audrey joked, grabbing my arm. If only we could bring our phones, I'd be able to stay in touch. We hugged each other before leaving the store to get some coffee.
"I am just out of practice," he grumbled, red spreading across his face. I still can't see Zoe and him together, she's way too sweet for a player like him.
"Sure...," Park raised an eyebrow before patting him on the shoulder as Becky merely smiled. I looked between them, Becky with her large painter's shirt and Santiago's tight, white t-shirt, they fit together perfectly.
Ahahaha, fuck this.