Silver Bound Girl

Chapter 16

            Rune gently laid his camera down onto the weathered wood of the picnic table, then grinned at Willow, who was sitting across from him. “I’m not going to lie, when you told me this whole Welcome Day was fun, I was skeptical. Now, I’m jealous I didn’t get to do it.”

            Willow smiled back. “Don’t worry. We’ve got the Grad Goodbye Day which is essentially the same thing, except it’s in June.”

            He glanced around at the dark grass, grey sky, the lake’s sandy edge, and the other picnic tables that were filled with chattering grade nines. “That’d almost be better. More likely to be sunny, and the water would feel a lot better in summer.”

            “It’s nice now. Or at least, it was when I did this two years ago.”

            “What was your favourite event?”

            “The tire roll. None of the girls on my team would do it, and since I have an unholy love of roller coasters, I volunteered. It’s a lot of fun. As long as you have a strong stomach for that kind of thing.”

            He laughed. “Why is it that I can picture you in one of those tires without any problem? So far the Sumo wrestling looked the most fun to me. I’ve always wanted to try those suits on.”

            “I heard that it’s fun. But just wait until you see what the grade nines’ll be doing after lunch. I heard one of the volunteers say they’ve got tug o’war and pass the Lifesaver. I’m sure we’ll get some awesome pictures of those, especially with the Lifesaver. My year, one of the teachers got a picture of two guys passing it at an angle where it looked like they were kissing. They’re both still embarrassed by it.”

            “Blackmail photos, nice.”

            “Willow?” a voice called hesitantly, at odds with the tall girl it had come from. Both of them turned to stare at her, as she said “Can I talk to you?”

            She stood immediately, recognizing her cousin Tracy. “What is it?”

            Tracy glanced at Rune then back at Willow. “Can we talk privately?”

            Willow nodded, then turned to Rune. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be long.”

            He smiled and waved. “Don’t worry about it. Take all the time you need.”

            She smiled back briefly, before leading Tracy over to one of the trees that stood at the edge of the beach. It was the farthest away from the picnic tables, and with almost everyone eating, Willow thought it’d be the best place to talk without being overheard. “What’s wrong?” she asked, rubbing one arm as a breeze blew past, raising goosebumps.

            “It’s Paul. He lost his necklace during the water race and he can’t find it.”

            For a moment, Willow was overwhelmed by the urge to hunt Paul down and throttle him. Then she sighed. “Alright. We can deal with this. First off, you tell that idiot twin of yours that he’s to say he doesn’t feel well, and try and avoid participating in the rough events. And I don’t care how much he wants to. He can accept it as punishment for not keeping better track of his necklace. Now here,” she said, taking off her ring. “Give this to him to wear until he gets home. And tell him if he loses it, he gets to be my sparring partner for the next two weeks.”

            Tracy nodded, slipping the ring onto her own finger. “I’ll tell him. Damian and Trent are going to double-check the water and beach after lunch, too.”