Smoke Screen

Chapter 17

On the first full day of camp, Layla woke up bright and early with a slight headache and a sore back. The mattress she had slept on was springy and uncomfortable. It was so hard to fall asleep on that she had barely slept all night.
She groaned as she got up. The other girls were already up and at it as they rushed around to get ready for the day. Layla waited for most of them to be done before getting up.
    She hated mornings, especially ones as early as this. Her lack of sleep made her cranky and easily irritable.
    So that she did not accidentally punch someone in the face due to her grumpy state, she decided to do her best to avoid everyone. Yet despite her best efforts to seem unapproachable, there was still one person it did not work on.
    As Layla sat down at one of the tables in the cafeteria after filling her tray with food, Tony approached her. Without asking, he sat down across from her. Though she knew that even if he did ask her first, he still would have sat down despite what her answer was.
    "Morning, Layla." He said. From the fresh look on his face and the upbeat tone of his voice Layla could tell that he was into mornings much more than her. That or he was just really excited for summer camp. "How're you today?"
    She pushed her food around with her fork as she avoided looking at him. "I'm fine."
    "Did you sleep well?" He asked.
    She looked up at him lazily. The purple under her eyes was brighter than the coloring in her hair. "What do you think?"
    He shrugged. "It's nothing a little coffee can't fix." He continued to be positive and friendly.
    "Or a lot of coffee." She said before taking a long swig out of her mug.
    "I'm excited for the games today." He said. She raised an eyebrow. Games? What games? "And I'm glad we're on the same team."
    "What team?" Layla asked, having no idea what he was talking about.
    He gazed at her with a confused look. "We're both on team blue."
    "And why are we on a team?"
Tony was even more confused but answered anyway. "The campers were all split into four teams. Red, yellow, green, and blue. They explained it all yesterday."
    "Oh, when everyone gathered in the amphitheater?" She asked. He nodded. "Yeah, I skipped that."
    "Umm, it wasn't really optional." He said.
    Layla shrugged. "No one told me that."
    "They told everyone that." He said under his breath.
    "So, what'd I miss?" She asked, completely indifferent to the fact that she missed a mandatory announcement.
    Tony sighed before explaining everything to her. "Throughout this week the teams will compete in different games and stuff. At the end the winner will be announced."
    "And if I don't want to participate?"
    "You have to participate." He told her. She shrank down in her seat. Great. Exactly what she wanted to do all week. "It'll be fun." He tried to convince her but to no avail.
    "Whatever." She messed around with her food again to avoid looking at him.
    "What? Scared to lose?" He taunted her. She sat up and looked up at him.
    "I don't lose. Besides, we're on the same team." She said.
    "So let's work together to make sure our team wins." He said, holding out his hand as if to make a deal.
    She looked at him for a few seconds before smiling as she brushed away his hand. "Whatever, Toretto." The tone in her voice was lighter than before and was on the verge of being playful.
    Tony smiled. Even if it was only a little, he was finally starting to get through to her.