Chapter 4 Kai
A screeching noise pulls our attention to the corner of the room. A speaker I didn’t even notice before starts talking.
“Welcome campers!! I hope you’re all settled down and met your new friends for the summer. Please join the counselors and me in the main hall. You can’t miss it! It’s the only non-wooden building out here!” I recognize Tim’s voice.
We all got up from our respective spots, where we had been wasting time for the last hour and a half. Kiersten leads us out of the cabin to the gravel path. The camp is fuller than I expected as all of the people filter out of their cabins. The cabin on our left appears to be a boys' while the one to our right seems to be another girls'.
We follow the forming crowd down the gravel path to the large building I saw a glimpse of earlier. He’s right, it is the only non-wooden building in the never-ending forest. Beth and I walk beside each other, still following after Kiersten and Lexi. The building is painted in a red-and-white color scheme. A few counselors are standing at the large glass doors, holding them open.
“I wonder if the bathrooms are here,” Beth says to me.
It would make sense for the bathrooms to be in the new building only.
“Probably. Kinda sucks though it’s a bit away from our cabin.” I respond.
It takes almost five minutes to get to the building at a steady walk from our cabin, which will suck for the bathroom situation. We walk into the building, enveloped by the crowd's noise. We’re being ushered into what looks to be an auditorium. Beth steps in front of me as we walk down the aisle of the chairs, finding a seat in the middle of the room.
“Wow, I didn’t realize they had a whole theater at this place.”
“Me either.” Beth and I’s conversation stops when Tim and a group of counselors walk onto the stage.
“Welcome, campers! Are you ready to have fun?” He asks the crowd enthusiastically, holding the microphone to his mouth.
People cheer in response to his question. He looks thrilled. More counselors join him on the stage as he continues talking. He explains the bathroom situation, showers and toilets with running water are available here only. He outlines the food schedule, promising a menu at our cabins tonight. He tells us about all the things the camp offers. And then he gets to the fun part, introducing the counselors.
“Here are our select lucky counselors who will be making your experience more enjoyable.” They all line up beside Tim, smiling at the crowd.
I look through the lineup, there is a mix of boys and girls, some who look happy to be here and some who look forced, and then my eyes stop on the blonde boy from earlier. I can see him much better now, and I thank myself for having good taste even from a faraway glance. He stands taller than the two boys on either side of him, his shaggy blonde hair resting at his ears. He looks more mature than the boys sitting around us, making me question his age.
Tim goes down the line introducing everyone. He stands beside the blonde boy, gesturing to him. “This is Kai. It is his first summer here, so please give him some grace.”
He shows off his perfect teeth at the mention of his name.
His eyes crinkle just slightly, and it’s official. I have a crush on him.
Beth nudges my shoulder with hers, making me look away from him. “Close your jaw, he’s older than us, and he’s a counselor while you’re a camper.”
I move my jaw, although it was already shut, giving her a playful look. “I’m just looking, nothing wrong with that.”
She smirks at me, “I wonder which counselor’s cabin he’s staying in.” I
catch onto what she's insinuating and push her shoulder with mine. She laughs quietly, looking back at Tim’s speech. Beth is a bit crazier than I would have guessed.
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“I have never been so happy to be eating cafeteria food,” Beth says as we sit at a long lunch table.
Lexi and Kiersten sit across from us while Peyton and the triplets, as I like to call them, sit further down the table.
“I hope it’s better than school food,” Lexi says, eyeing the not-so-appetizing slice of pizza on her plate.
“You know the worst school food I ever had was at a school in Oklahoma, they served this pasta sauce that was like the worst thing I’ve tasted, ends up the sauce was growing mold, and they would just add more to the container and then feed it to us.”
They eye the pizza again.
“Yeah, I think I’ll stick with this then.”
“Yeah, it was crazy; it took several kids getting severe food poisoning for them to find out.”
Kiersten gives me a disgusted look.
“Wait, so you lived in Oklahoma before moving here?” Beth asks her mouth full of pizza.
I shake my head, “No, I lived in Wyoming before moving here.”
They look at me, confused.
“So you move around a lot?” Lexie asks.
“Yeah, my parents always make me move for their work. I’ve lived in at least five states.”
“What do they do for work that requires them to move so much?” Kiersten asks with a tone that insinuates I’m lying.
“They do private investigator stuff, but I’m not really allowed to know much about their work.” I shrug.
“Do you like moving?” Beth asks as I take the first bite of my pizza. It’s one of the better cafeteria pizzas I’ve had.
“I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either. I’ll just say I’m ready to settle down once I graduate.”
“No college for you then,” Kiersten says in a condescending tone.
“I’m going, but I’ll just pick one state to live in, not five.” My response to her is short.
I know she’s just upset about being stuck here and taking it out on me. Beth and I finished our pizza pretty quickly after the conversation turned sour, getting up to dump our trays and head back to the cabin for the night. It’s almost completely dark outside now; the meeting took longer than I thought.
I dump my tray first, putting it in the stack for cleaning, standing off to the side while Beth does the same.
“You ready?” I ask, taking a step backwards.
Beth reaches a hand out to stop me, but it’s too late. My foot lands on another person's while my back hits their front.
“Whoa, watch where you’re going.” A smooth, masculine voice teases while his hands graze the back of my arms.
I turn around quickly, taking a step back from him. “I’m so sorry.”
He smiles, his dark blue eyes looking down at me.
It's Kai.