31. Camp
CAMP
Camp.
I’ve never been, but it doesn’t sound so shocking given my upbringing.
Tall, mossy trees tower over us, asserting sheer dominance in an eerie way. Some girls on the bus joke about it looking as if we are stepping into a horror movie, but I’m not convinced. Creepy monsters and ghosts don’t scare me when people can be just as scary, if not more.
Mrs Moore heads out first, then it goes in order from the back to the front. And we, Samantha, Renee, and Zarya, are middle-class. Forgotten, even by the teachers. They pity the front row, and they notice the back. We are just along for the ride.
I grab my bag and hand Samantha her suitcase. When I ask her what she brought, she tells me she has all her skincare and haircare products inside. I can tell she takes care of herself. Her olive skin glows, and her hair glistens in the sunlight, sending curly ringlets down her back.
The year twelve bus parks beside ours as we get out.
Mrs Moore doesn’t pay mind to the Year Twelve students.
She makes us follow her to where we will stay tonight.
Our first stop is the four cabins. We already eye the popular girls.
Two groups end up claiming the cabins, and as they head off to their luxurious rooms with better mattresses, beds, and private bathrooms, Mrs Moore shows us to the smaller cabins that remind me of tissue boxes—small, white, boxed containers.
“I thought we were going to be together?” Samantha whispers to Renee.
“Me too,” Renee replies. “But I guess the larger group of girls got the cabin.”
“Go in groups of two and claim your room,” Miss Moore says. “Afterwards, head back to the bonfire. From there, we will go hiking and abseiling.”
Samantha and I look at each other. Then, we go down the rows of containers. Zarya and Renee enter one, and others before us move from door to door, checking them out before settling into their designated ones. By the time we find one, it’s the last one left, facing the eerily haunting trees.
Samantha eyes me before opening the door. “Uh…what the fuck is this?” The room catches her off guard, and Samantha isn’t usually the one to be surprised.
There is a bunk bed pressed against the right side of the wall, and that is it. A window with a hole in the fly screen is on the other side of the small container. Samantha flicks the light switch and yelps when it makes a popping sound, plunging us into the dimly lit early morning light.
“Wow,” she breathes.
I go to the window and close it before flies or mosquitoes weasel their way in, when I realise the window doesn’t lock. It seems like someone broke the hinge, which reminds me of my door at home.
Grimacing at the irritating resemblance of the two, I face Samantha, but she’s already out the door and calling Mrs Moore’s name.
I follow behind her and struggle to catch up to her long strides when someone slams into me.
I stumble back and land on my arse. “Loser,” Sarah Jane sneers as she walks past.
I sigh as I rise and follow Samantha. She’s already at the bonfire and complaining to Mrs Moore.
“I’m sorry, Samantha. We are already swamped. There’s no other cabin available for you, but I can arrange for a worker to inspect it. Aside from that, maybe you and…Noya…can bunk with someone else.”
“Seriously?” Samantha blurts. “This is inhumane!”
“It’s camp,” Mrs Moore says stubbornly. “Embrace the wild.”
Muttering under her breath, Samantha whirls around and stomps back down the rows of tissue boxes. “Let’s see if Zarya and Renee will let us bunk with them because I am not sleeping in that room.”
Luckily for us, Renee and Zarya welcome us with open arms after we tell them about our incident in the other room.
Zarya and Samantha head back to the other room to grab another mattress. We can’t fit two in here, so Samantha and I decide to bunk together on the bottom while Renee claims the top and Zarya takes the mattress.
As we reach the bonfire, most of our year and the year above move in groups with the year advisers. We stay at the back, and I clutch my phone, looking at the no-service symbol. I wonder if Conner has sent me a message, but because there’s no service, it hasn’t come through yet…
I ignore what Mrs Moore says and follow Samantha, Renee, and Zarya towards the hiking trail with the rest of our year, so I assume we’re going there. Samantha links her arm with mine and tells me some spooky stories about a murderer on this trail.
My imagination grows, seeing a man in the woods, cloaked in darkness, and with a knife clutched in his hand as he watches us. I wonder if he thinks I’ll be an easy victim, seeking the girl no one would miss, but before my imagination runs away, a pitched scream tears me out of my thoughts.
A girl in my year runs back, and when we look ahead, Mrs More has an incredulous look on her face. “Seriously, Rebecca. It’s a lizard. This is why you girls need to get out of the city more and experience life.”
The lizard doesn’t move, as if it wants to be stone as we all walk past it. Samantha takes a picture and tells me she will send it to Dylan when we return home.
The hike isn’t that eventful. We cross a rickety bridge that sways from side to side. Algae floats in the lake underneath, and I bet that if anyone dares to swim in it, they will need to go to the hospital for a checkup.
Abseiling is scarier, though. We pass the year twelve students, and Sarah Jane smirks at me.
I decide I don’t want to push boundaries and instead record Renee, Zarya and Samantha as they head down the massive wooden wall structure. It’s the least I can do. If Conner were here, he’d push me to do it, and I more than likely would, but without him, I don’t think I’m ready.
Afterwards, we make our way down the path, and Mrs Moore tells us that before it gets dark, we should shower. Envious of the girls in the cabins with their indoor bathrooms, we head down another path, following the sign leading us to shady, creepy outdoor bathrooms.
“What the fuck,” Samantha breathes. Ahead of us is something that resembles a shack, with water trickling out from the running water inside.
I grip my towel tightly with my dry clothes wrapped inside and follow Samantha into the girls’ shower.
A few girls are already in the stalls, complaining that the water isn’t warm enough.
One student has a stall door open, and she tells me she has finished, so that I can use that one.
I murmur my thanks, close the door, and stiffen as I realise there isn’t anywhere to put my clothes aside from the stool in the corner.
Light also seeps in from the slanted, uneven stones near my feet, which lead outside the shower.
I undress and touch the yellow bruises across my belly and thighs. The water is cooler than warm, but it doesn’t bother me much. It’s a hot day, so it’s like swimming in a pool.
Untying the elastic, I step under and wash the grime, dirt, and sweat clinging to my skin.
I close my eyes, tip my head back, and drag my fingers through my hairline when a light flashes underneath my eyelids.
I open my eyes and look down. A stream of water flows through the uneven stones, leading outside.
“Hey, are you nearly done, Noya?” Samantha calls.
I turn the water off. “Yeah…I will meet you back at the cabin. I still need to dry off and dress.”
“I will wait outside, then.”
After I dry off and dress, she waits for me outside the girls’ showers. As we make our way to the campfire, we both admit the showers are creepy and will have one when we get home tomorrow morning.
We aren’t sure why Mrs Moore praises camping until we enter the dining hall for dinner. They sure went all out, setting up a dessert table and an all-you-can-eat roast.
After we eat, Samantha and I skip the bonfire. Rumour has it they hired someone to scare everyone with a spooky story. So, we lie in bed and talk instead.
“I’m sorry for begging you to come,” Samantha whispers. In the corner of my eye, I notice her squirm. “I thought it would be more fun than this.”
“I had fun,” I admit. “Besides, we haven’t done that much together all year. It’s my fault. It was a tough year for me.”
“Yeah, I get that. Your parents are harsh on you, aren’t they?”
I nod in the hopes she sees.
“What are you going to do on Monday if Andy is back at school?”
“Nothing.” I bite my lip before saying, “Conner said he wants to talk to him. Other than that, I don’t want to talk to Andy or hear what he has to say…at least not yet. I don’t need any excuses.”
“True.” She faces me, propping herself up on her elbow. Even in the darkness, I can see her grinning. “Have you and Conner kissed yet?”
My face burns. “No.”
“I bet it will be romantic. The first kiss is always like that. When Dylan and I first kissed, I felt sick—but a good kind of sick. I had butterflies in my stomach, and my heart wouldn’t calm down. It’s thrilling.”
“I’ve never kissed anyone before,” I whisper. “I haven’t done anything with anyone before.”
“That’s normal. Dylan was my first,” she admits. “But let me tell you, after the kiss, you can’t keep your hands off each other. Any chance my parents are away, or his mum is away, we jump at it.” She giggles. “We are rabbits.”
“Really?” My hands tighten against the thin sheet.
Will it be like that for us? After we kiss, will Conner want something more from me? Will a rush of lust take hold and…?
I close my eyes and breathe in and out deeply.
“I think you and Conner will be different,” Samantha says, her voice softer. “The way he treats you…he’s careful. Did he tell you he spoke to me on Friday when you headed to Creative Arts?”
“No,” I answer, and there’s a swirl of emotions filling my stomach.
“He wanted to know if I knew what Andy did to you. I didn’t tell him anything but to give you space for the day and that you would tell him in your own time, but…
” She sits up on the bed and crosses her legs.
“He told me that if you never wanted to talk to him again, to make sure I kept an eye on you. He made me promise that. I told him that, of course, I fucking will. You’re my best friend.
It’s just how he will give you all the space in the world if you need it.
Fuck, Noya, I think he is in love with you. ”
“It’s intense,” I say, smiling.
“If he asked you out, what would you say?”
“Yes.”
Samantha squeals, and she jumps up, only to hit her head on the bars above. I giggle as Samantha rolls over and falls onto the mattress beside our bed. After that, our conversations became more lighthearted.
Tonight was fun, but I cannot deny that I miss talking to Conner.