Camp Little Willow

Chapter 11

     At the camp, I change into fresh clothes. I don't bother looking in the mirror, I know I'm a mess. On my way to the girls' cabin, I quickly stop off at the beach to collect my things.

     I'm eight minutes late to the girls.

     "Did you oversleep? Honestly, what are you going to do when I'm not there to wake you?" Zoe jokes as I pant in the doorway.

     "Er, yeah," I mumble as the girls rush around the room like a tornado of excitement, getting ready for the day ahead.

     "What?" Zoe pries, moving towards me.

     I wait to catch my breath completely before I blurt out, "I went for a swim since I woke up really early, and you won't believe who else was out there."

     "Who?" She asks, her eyes lighting up.

     "Ryan Jefferson. And the best part? I swam into his fricken' boat!" I sigh, feeling my cheeks colour.

     "No!" Zoe squeals, drawing it out in a tell-me-everything kind of way.

     I'm about to launch into the full, embarrassing story when Nellie tugs on the hem of my T-shirt. I know we're not meant to have favourites, but something just makes me like Nellie that little bit more.

     "Cassie, can you plait my hair?" She holds two neon green hairbands up for me.

     "Of course," I reply, silently relieved not to share my story just yet.

     "This conversation is not over," Zoe smirks as Nellie takes my hand and leads me to her bed.

     "How come your hair's so wet?" Nellie asks innocently as she jumps onto the bed, seemingly more settle than yesterday. 

     I sit down behind her and run the brush through her soft hair. "I went swimming this morning," I reply, realising that my hair probably could do with a brush too. 

     I divide Nellie's almost white hair as equally as possible and start to plait one side. She hands me a band and I move onto the next side. It doesn't look too bad considering I've only ever plaited my own hair before, and not very well at that.

     "Are we gonna swim in the lake?" Nellie asks, pulling at a thread of her yellow top.

     "Not today, but we will sometime. Do you like swimming?" Nellie shrugs and then disappears into the bathroom. I'd think it weird if I didn't already know how interactions with Nellie tend to go.

*

     After a morning of warm-up activities and lunch, all groups gather on the beach where Jen and the older counsellors have set up the first games for Group Competition. As we sit the kids down, I can't help but glance across the lake. I wonder what Ryan's up to? 

     Ohmigod, Cassie! I turn away from the lake, cheeks burning.

     "Good afternoon, Campers! We have a very exciting first day of Group Competitions! Every Sunday there will be a new activity to compete in. At the end of each day, the girl and boy from each group who score the most points will win a medal!" There's an excitable 'ooh' from the crowd. "But don't worry if you don't win; there's pizza for dinner and every Sunday night we have a campfire with s'mores!" Jen beams and everyone cheers. I can't help but join in, their glee infectious. It reminds me of Sports Day at primary school.

     "Right, littles, our game is super duper hard! You're going to have ten bean bags." Zoe catches the beanbag Zack tosses her and she shows it to the kids. "And you have to throw them into a hoop. Each hoop has a different score. Red is ten points, orange is twenty and green is thirty." Zack jumps into each hoop as Zoe says its colour. "If your bean bag doesn't land in a hoop then you score zero, but that's not gonna happen because you're all awesome!" Zoe grins at the littles.