Chapter 36 Bow And Arrow
“Please don’t shoot me,” Beth begs, making me cackle with laughter.
I raise the bow without an arrow in it, teasing her. She jumps before realizing the arrow is missing. She’s retrieving her arrow from the target we have been practicing on. I wouldn’t have guessed it, but shooting arrows is really fun. I’m not the best at it, but it’s still enjoyable. It’s especially fun to watch Beth shoot. She has a natural-born talent for hitting the target every time.
“Try to hit the target this time.” She teases me by coming to stand behind me with her arrow now in her hand.
I readied my bow, trying to get my aim down. I rest my arms, letting the bow go down. I look over the counselor, waiting for her to give us the go-ahead. We have to wait for everyone to get their arrows and clear the shooting space. It takes forever, but I’d much rather wait than see someone get hit with these dull arrows.
“Shoot away.” She yells to us all lined up.
I readied my bow again, pulling the arrow back tightly, making my arm shake softly. I release the arrow, blinking rapidly as it pierces the target. My very first time hitting the target.
“Oh my gosh, Anna, you did it!” Beth cheers, wrapping her arm around my shoulders.
“Watch out Bethy, I’m after your job next.”
She pushes me softly away from her. Once again, we’re stuck waiting for everyone to shoot.
“Look who’s over there. Mister healer.” She nudges me in the direction of the other group of campers shooting the arrows behind us.
I look over, although I already know from her sarcastic tone who she’s talking about.
“Don’t look at him, I don’t want to talk to him.” My voice is low, as though he might hear me.
After leaving his cabin, I quickly realized how weird and unnecessary the whole thing was, making me want to stay even further away from him.
“He won’t, he’s busy with his group.” She’s still looking over in his direction while I keep my gaze directly in front of me.
“Oh shit.”
My head whips to her. She looks like she’s seen a ghost.
“He’s coming right now.” She says frantically.
“Beth, I’m going to kill you,” I mutter, still not looking at him.
But he still comes right up to us. His hand came to graze my shoulder to get my attention. “Hello, ladies.”
I jump at the contact, turning to him with a forced smile.
“Hi.” He just looks at me, his smile fading quickly from my lack of enthusiasm.
“What’s wrong?” He brings his hand to my arm in a comforting way, but it’s anything but that.
Discomfort blooms in my stomach. I take a step back, moving away from him.
“Nothing, I’m just busy.”
The smile is far from his face now. He looks like he did that day he threatened Alec. He’s pissed.
“So you’re just going to ignore me now? After everything?”
This man is acting crazy again, and it’s getting on my nerves. Now is not the time or place.
“There hasn’t been anything. You’re my counselor, and that’s it.” My words are harsh, but I hope it gets the point across.
He clenches his jaw, nodding sarcastically. “Right. Sorry to bother you.” He walks away, and I can practically see the anger rolling off of him.
“Serves him right, he needs to leave you the hell alone,” Beth reassures me.
“Collect your arrows!” She yells, snapping me away from this moment.
I’m becoming a pro bow and arrow shooter, not dealing with a weird guy.
\~~~
The last thing I expected when waking up today was that we would be the talk of the camp. As soon as Beth and I left the cabin this morning, we were stared at, talked about, and flat out treated like a zoo animal in a glass cage.
“What have we done?” Beth asks as we eat, trying to ignore the people openly talking about us.
“I don’t know. I thought maybe I was imagining things.”
She looks even more annoyed when I don’t provide some insight. She angrily shovels cereal into her mouth, glaring at everyone around us. I move my spoon around slowly, not feeling like eating with an audience.
I lean closer towards her, keeping my voice quiet. “Do you think it has to do with me sneaking out of camp?”
“Maybe? I would hope not, but I guess it’s a possibility. But it’s not like that’s crazy enough for them to be gossiping this much.”
“Did you do something crazy?” I lean away from her.
She shakes her head with a soft chuckle. “I’ve been the good one between the two of us. The most I’ve done to earn gossip is steal food from here.”
She’s right, it most definitely is not her, it’s me they’re all looking at and talking about. We get up as soon as she finishes her bow, dumping our dishes.
“I wish they would just talk to us if they have something to say.” She’s much more ballsy than I most days. Although I can admit I agree with her.
We start walking to the doors that lead us to the path again, but a girl steps in front of us, making us both stop suddenly.
“Is it true?” She looks too young to be here at the camp. She wears a bright, hot-pink shirt, her hair tied in space buns with matching hot-pink scrunchies.
I’m too confused to respond right away. Beth seems to be the same way. She gives me an exaggeratedly confused look.
“What are you talking about?” She asks.
The girl looks away from Beth to me.
“Is it true you hooked up with a counselor?”
My stomach drops so quickly I feel nauseous. Oh my gosh.
“What the fuck is your deal? She didn’t hook up with any counselor, so fuck off.” Beth raises her voice, defending me.
I appreciate it, but my brain is frozen at her words. I know exactly who did this and why.