The Genetic Code

Chapter 22

Juliette

The second day passed by pretty quickly. I mostly tried to stay on the down-low, Sterling often came and teased me, Kera had a few failed attempts at ousting me from the camp activities, and Ivan didn't really come to bother me anymore.

We spent the second night in the chalet, which is spacious, luxurious, and has an amazing view of the sea — of course, as much as you would expect for a whole cohort of Perfects who are used to twenty-star hotels. It really makes me anxious when I think about how much this camp must be costing my parents, but I know worrying now isn't going to do anything, so I decide to stop stressing about it now and figure out what to do when I get back to the city.

Each group has their own chalet, with the guys and girls in separate bedrooms across from each other.

It's morning, and we've all just woken up. I'm sitting on the bed checking my messages while the other three girls busy themselves around the room. I can hear loud voices in the hallway. The boys are probably up too.

There's a loud knock on the door. I look to the other girls, who continue bustling around the room, obviously not intending to go and answer it. I sigh, and jump off my bed, putting on my slippers, and walk to the door.

I pull it open, and as I had expected, the four boys are standing in the hall. They immediately march past me and enter the room.

"Rise and shine, girls! This is your wake-up call," one of the guys, Luke, I think, announces.

"You sure we're not still dreaming?" the girl I recognize as Lana flirts.

Max, who stands the closest to the blonde girl, leans in and looks at her quizzically. "Are you... Lana? You look really different."

"What are you talking ab—"

It was then, that the three girls realized, in horror, that they were showing their bare faces to teenage humans of the male gender. As if on cue, all three of them run screaming into the joint bathroom and slam the door shut. I simply kick off my slippers and sit back down on the plush bed. The guys make themselves at home, crashing onto the unoccupied beds and making a ruckus, except for Sterling, who sits quietly at the chair near the door, closest to my bed. He still has a bedhead, which makes me smile in amusement.

"You're not going to go get dolled up with the rest of them?" he asks me.

I look at him with raised eyebrows. "Are you kidding? It'll be like a warzone in there. I'll wait until the battle subsides."

Sterling pulls his cheek up in a lopsided grin. "Anyway, you still look the same even with a bare face."

"It's the same face. Shouldn't I look the same? What were you expecting under here, a grinch?"

"Well, if you look at some of these other girls, putting on make-up is like putting on a brand new face," he says dramatically, gesturing with his hands, "a clown face for most of them."

I chuckle. It's true, though.