Camp Canoa // Luke Hemmings

The One With Mr Awesome

[Day +69]

Tuesday is climbing and then Calum has to teach the kids how to dance while I go and do inventory in the stables, polishing up the saddles and setting out the food. I hear at lunch that Mikey and Luke set up their group's basketball game next to the open window of the dance studio, purely to humiliate Calum trying to teach 20 ten year olds how to ballroom dance.

[Day +68]

The morning is basketball and windsurfing followed by getting bitten by an overexcited ten year old, and then having to see management about swearing in front of the children. The afternoon was calmer because Calum took pity on me and took them out canoeing. Calum is surprisingly good with kids, this morning I saw him holding Lucy's hand as she positioned a flower crown in his dark hair, telling him all about the fairy kingdom as he listened intently, his brow furrowed in worry for the safety of the king and queen of the fairies. It was actually incredibly sweet.

[Day +67]

Wake up early at 6am and go for breakfast with Danni and Nora and meet the boys there. Get the group and do an activity for the morning. Go to lunch with Calum and meet everyone there. Two more activities in the afternoon. Then dinner and back to the dorm to pass out on my bed.

Repeat.

[Day +66]

Friday at last. This week had been so tiring and we get Friday evenings off to do whatever we want. We decided to walk to Alben again, to see if we can find somewhere to spend our wages. We got paid today and the crinkling feeling of money in our pockets was incredibly liberating. We set off down the uneven dirt path to the town, reaching Alben in twenty minutes. Ashton spotted a little diner, with a huge plastic ice cream sitting outside.

"Do you think we can get ice cream here?" Luke said sarcastically as we all pile into the diner. We sit in a small booth far away from everyone else, ordering 7 coke floats to quench our thirst from the walk here.

"I hate not being able to swear in front of them." I whined and Michael agreed. "Half of my vocabulary is just swear words!" I said, throwing my hands in the air.

"You got that right." Mikey agreed. "Some of these kids are so fucking annoying. I have a hypochondriac in mine, and one kid who pretends to die just for the fun of it! I think one day I'll ignore her and she will have actually died. And twins who pretend to be each other just to fuck with me. And my volunteer partner is some bitch called Rose. She's so condescending and talks to me as if I'm one of the kids!" He says, sulking in his chair. We drink our coke floats quickly, bitching about all of the annoying kids in our groups, Calum standing up for our kids. As our Friday evening comes to an end, we pay the waitress and then walk out of the café. We only get this time off once a week and it seems to go by too quickly. The sun is setting over the sea, casting a golden light over the village as we trudge back up the dirt path.

[Day +65]

I've gained a cut on my cheek where a girl from my group scratched me in a fit of anger. I decided to take them horse riding again with Calum seeing as that's the only thing that they'll behave while doing. There's nothing to hit each other with and watching Calum on a horse is kind of hilarious. He's so understanding of all the kids needs and they will always come to him for a cuddle. It's sickening. Calum and I separate on the dirt track that's flanked by trees, I lead at the front while Calum brings up the rear.

In the afternoon, I see Luke taking his 11 year olds to the basketball court.

"Hey Hemmings!" I yell, catching his attention. He turns to face me.

"Hey." He says, confused.

"I bet my kids are better than yours at canoeing." I say, crossing my arms.