“What do you think, Erika?” Victoria smiled. “Shall we see if they still show ‘Ladybugs’?” “Victoria, I would have thought, you’d be more interested in ‘Poison Ivy’.” Samantha sneered. “Why don’t you and Eric-a go watch ‘The Birdcage’?” Victoria shot back. Erika could feel her heart in her throat. Victoria said that she had a week to tell the others, and here she was forcing the issue. She wasn’t ready. Camp Kumoni By Anistasia Allread

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Chapter 27
 
“How are you doing?” Rachel greeted her tall friend in the mess hall.

Katie blushed and looked down away from her friends’ face. “I’m totally embarrassed. I’m so sorry I chickened out like that.” She apologized.

“What are you talking about?” Samantha spoke up. “You’re afraid of heights. You could have told us or even Skyler that you didn’t want to do the course.”

“And let you all down.” Katie sat down at their table, not daring to meet her cabin mates’ gaze.

“I kept telling her that she wasn’t letting you all down.” Dani piped up. “She won’t listen to me.”

“Katie, we all have dark secrets.” Krystal put a hand on Katie’s shoulder.

Erika looked over to Victoria who met her gaze with a hard stare. If her eyes had been lasers, they would have burned holes through the back of her head. Erika looked away; her heart skipped a beat. She was going to have to tell these friends of hers that she had been lying to them. These were her first real friends that she has had since she had met Summer, and now, she was lying to them.

They all took seats at their table. Victoria made a point to sit on the opposite end of the table from Erika. She continued to cast scowls down the table at her.

Mrs. Hobbs came out and announced the new weekly point totals for the cabins. Columbine was in the lead again for this week, but by a much narrower margin.

“Now for last week’s winner.” Mrs. Hobbs announced. The mess hall became deathly quiet. If there had been any roaches in the room, they would have been heard scurrying across the floor. “Last week’s point leaders and winners, are ……… Columbine cabin!”

The mess erupted in polite applause. Erika watched as Katie, Samantha, and Dani all squealed and bounced up and down in their seats.

Rachel jumped up, pumping her fist in the air. “Yeah!” she yelled. She then leaned across the table and high-fived all of her cabin mates.

“Columbine cabin,” Mrs. Hobbs continued after the cheering died down. “will be going into town next Saturday to watch a movie of their choosing.” She looked over at Erika and the other girls. “Nothing rated ‘R’.” she added.

Amber had their mugs all set out on the tables when they arrived at arts and crafts. “We need to finish sewing the leather together and nailing the bottoms on.” She greeted the Columbine girls. “Once you are done with that, we are going to be dipping them into this bee’s wax.” She pointed to a camping stove with a pot of yellowish liquid in it.

“What does the bee’s wax do?” Dani inquired.

“It will stiffen the leather and make it water resistant.” Amber explained.

“So that is what will allow us to keep our drinks from soaking through the leather?” Krystal examined her leather tube. She’d sewn it together, but hadn’t nailed the bottom in.

“No.” Amber picked up a finished mug. “Once you have bees waxed your mug, we put this epoxy in it. It will coat the inside of the leather, as well as the wood bottom and will seal it, allowing it to hold liquids.”

The girls sat down and began working on their mugs. Again, Victoria made a point in not sitting anywhere near Erika and Samantha.

“Amber, can you handle this bunch?” Phoenix asked.

Amber nodded. “Sure. I’ve got duct tape and a hot glue gun should anything go wrong.”

“I’ve got to go to a meeting.” Phoenix smiled. She shot a quick look over in Erika’s direction, but Erika pretended not to notice. “I should be back before you’re all done.”

“Where does she go all the time? And with who?” Dani wondered aloud after Phoenix left.

“Who knows?” Samantha ventured. “Rachel did counselors disappear for meetings like this last year?”

“Every once in a while they would….. But not this often.” She shrugged. “So what movie should we see?” Rachel posed to her cabin mates.

“Tootsie.” Victoria muttered low enough for only Samantha and Erika to hear.

“What’s that?” Rachel asked.

“Huh?” Victoria looked up. “Oh, I was just pondering what TO SEE.” She cast a glance over at Erika.

“What do you think, Erika?” Victoria smiled. “Shall we see if they still show ‘Ladybugs’?”

“Victoria, I would have thought, you’d be more interested in ‘Poison Ivy’.” Samantha sneered acidly.

“Why don’t you and Eric-a go watch ‘The Birdcage’?” Victoria shot back.

Erika could feel her heart in her throat. Victoria said that she had a week to tell the others, and here she was forcing the issue. She wasn’t ready. Especially not like this. She was hoping to sit them all down and tell them calmly, not have it blurted out in a verbal fight.

The other girls of the cabin stopped what they were doing and glanced back and forth between the girls, wondering what was going on.

“It looks like you need to watch ‘Nanny McPhee’ and learn some manners.” Samantha practically spat.

“HEY!” Rachel yelled. “What’s going on with you two?” she looked between Victoria and Samantha.

The two girls stared hard at each other, neither willing to look away from the stare down.

Rachel waited, glancing back and forth. “You two need to take this somewhere else.” She stood between the two. “Go on.” She demanded. “Go work this out. We do not want this in the cabin.” She looked between the two who were still locked in the stare down. “NOW!”

With eyes still locked, Samantha got up from next to Erika. Victoria mirrored her movements from the other table. Erika started to get up too. After all this not only concerned her, it was about her.

“I’ve got this one, Erika.” Samantha looked away from Victoria.

“Where are you two going?” Amber recovered from her shock and joined Rachel, Victoria, and Samantha.

“There is something that these two feel they need to fight over, and neither one wants to do it in front of us.” Rachel explained. “So, they can go somewhere else and figure out a compromise.”

“I don’t think so.” Amber stated. “You two need to work something out? You do it on your time, not mine… If you need to, I’ll get Phoenix or Director Hobbs, but you aren’t going to go off and scrap it out.”

Rachel looked to the normally quiet arts and crafts counselor then back to the two cabin mates. “Okay you two, keep your traps shut. You can figure this out after we’re done working on our mugs.” Rachel then turned to Amber. “I’m sorry Amber. I didn’t mean to over step my bounds. It’s just that this is my cabin and I don’t want fighting amongst my bunk mates. My cabin two years ago was torn apart by two who couldn’t get along.”

“It is important to get along with your bunkmates. It makes living with them much easier. I just can’t have two girls fighting, go off and duke it out.” Amber laid a hand on Rachel’s shoulder. “Perhaps Phoenix should sit down with them.”

Erika sat in utter disbelief. Never in the past few years had anyone stood up for Eric, or protected him. No one tried to save him from a laid trap; no one did more than snicker as he had been picked on. Here at camp, Samantha, the girl, of whom he had worshiped from afar, his golden goddess, the woman of his dreams, stood up for him as another tried to belittle him, and embarrass him. It all happened while he was Erika. How could this be? As a guy, no one would lift a hand to protect him or save him, but as a girl, Erika would get shielded from unnecessary belligerence?

The awe that she felt quickly turned to self-hatred. Sure, someone had stood up for her, but who was it? Samantha. Samantha was the one who Erika wanted so much to please, so much to show that she cared about her. Yet it was Samantha who stood up for her, making her feel even less of a person, a coward. The plague that Eric had always been.

Erika’s heart shrank, causing an ache that she had only felt once before, a pain that she felt when she found out that she had lost Summer. She hadn’t lost Samantha, but her cheerleading friend sticking up for her, was worse. It was along the lines of a girl whom a guy liked, telling him those ever so fatal words, ‘I just want to be friends. You’re like a brother to me’. For if Samantha stood up and defended Erika like she would a little sister, then there was no way that Samantha would ever see Erika in any other way than as just that, a little sister.

Erika pushed away her mug and got up from the table.

“Where are you going?” Samantha looked concerned. “You’re not done yet are you?”

“I am today.” Erika retorted. She walked over to Amber. “Amber, I really need to use the bathroom.”

Amber looked the pretty, blue-eyed girl up and down. She looked a bit paler than she was used to seeing her. The scowling, pinched face wasn’t the Erika that she had seen in her previous classes. “Okay, are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine.” Erika lied, forcing a smile. “I just need to freshen up.”

“Go on ahead, honey.” Amber stroked Erika’s arm. “Come see me, if you need to go to the infirmary, okay?” she gave her a concerned smile.

“Okay.” Erika turned and quietly slipped away from arts and crafts and made her way to the nearest bathroom which was in the shower house.

Her eyes filled with tears, blurring everything around her into a Monet painting. Her face felt hot, from shame and embarrassment. How could she have let Samantha stand up for her? She probably should have just stood up, told everyone and find herself on her way home. Stupid. She muttered to herself, stupid, stupid, stupid. Why couldn’t you stand up to Victoria? Why? Now Samantha is treating you like a little sister, fighting your battles for you and you didn’t even blink. She pushed through the bathroom door and made her way to the end shower stall and collapsed on the bench in changing area. You just sat there like a dumb-ass while Samantha shielded you.

Tears flowed openly now that she had secluded herself. She drew her knees up to her chest and rocked backwards. Her body shook as she poured her soul into the sobs. Why? Why didn’t you do anything, you stupid, idiot? Her voice was barely a whisper. Why didn’t you stand up and fight your own battle? God! You’re so stupid! She pounded the back of her head against the wall, making a dull thumping sound. Samantha challenged Victoria and you just sat there like a dumb-ass!! A stupid dumb-ass!!! who can’t protect himself, or herself!

She threw her head back against the wall again, feeling a bit of smarts. For a few seconds, the sharp pain in her head over powered the tremendous aching in her chest. It felt like a python squeezing her heart, and every time the heart contracted to beat, the serpent tightened its hold. You may as well be back at school, getting stuffed in a garbage can……… You dumb-ass……… Stupid dumb-ass. Erika threw her head back again smacking it against wall and kept it there, as hot tears rolled unheeded down her face. I need to get away, to stop making this disaster any larger. She thought. Why do I always get into these messes? Why is it that’ the plague’ always comes back to haunt me? I need to just get away and figure out how to clean up this mess I got myself into.

Thoughts of losing Samantha were like waves washing over a sandy beach, always renewing the wetness of the sand, constant and never-ending reminders of pain.

She was startled to wakefulness by a hand, gently shaking her shoulder. “Hey, sleepy head, what’s the matter?” Dani was standing in front of her looking at her eye to eye.

“Nothing.” Erika’s head was foggy. Had she really dozed off? For how long?

“Well that’s bull shit.” Dani smirked. “I’ve spent too many hours crying in a bathroom stall to know that ‘nothing’ is wrong…. You want to talk about it?”

“No.” Erika sat up. “It’s just something I have to deal with.” She looked around disoriented. “What times is it?” She looked to her petite, blonde friend.

“You must have been really out of it.” Dani smiled. “We just finished Arts and Crafts. Amber sent me to see if you were all right. We are all heading back to the cabin to get prepared for our soft-ball game.”

“Thanks for waking me.” Erika heaved herself up.

“No problem.” Dani smiled. “Oh, you might want to wash your face before joining us in the cabin.”

“huh?” Erika looked confused.

“You have a major case of raccoon eyes.” Dani turned and walked out of the shower stall. “I’ll let them know that you’re on your way.”

Erika followed her out of the stall and went to the vanity sinks and looked in the mirror. Dark circles engulfed her red, swollen eyes and there were dark streaks that ran from her eyes down her cheeks. She took a couple of paper towels from the holder, wet them and went to work on wiping the makeup away from her eyes.

“Yep. You definitely need to leave. ‘The plague’ has made a mess of things, yet again. Victoria’s going to make you make a fool of yourself. You will be thrown into one of the boy’s cabins and beaten up. Or your parents will be called…. How are you going to explain this to them?” Her eyes scanned her reflected image from head to abdomen. “And to top it all off, Samantha thinks of you only as a little sister, who needs to be protected… just look at you!” She told the monstrous face in the mirror. “You’re a fucking mess!”

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To Be Continued...
 
End of Chapter Twenty-Seven