Reflections

Chapter 7

"Do you honestly think I believe that you just got lost?" Anna asked as the six of them sat in front of a row of adults who all stared at them, their teachers in disbelief of the stupidity of 17 year olds while the counselors were trying not to laugh.

"I promise. We didn't realize we had passed the marker until we got to the cliff." Kaiden said as he crossed his arms over his chest and dropped his head backwards to lean on the back of the chair.

"You're going to fall off your chair if you try to sit any lower on it." Zoya sang, only briefly casting a glance at Callisto who immediately smiled.

"Ya right, thats-" He stopped speaking when his chair jerked and he fell gracelessly to the floor. Callisto in the seat behind him clamped her jaw shut trying to fight off the laughter that was bubbling up her throat.

"Alright! That is enough!!" Ms Trolles yelled and within an instant everyone was quiet.

"You blatantly ignored the rules and you clearly have no regard for your own safety so from now until further notice you will not be able to take part in the evening activities but instead you will.." Ms Trolles trailed off as she looked from side to side.

"You will be writing a letter of how much you regret walking around like fools." She finished with a triumphant huff and everyone stared at her.

Students, teachers and counselors alike all stared at the extremities she was taking. They did mess up, but the punishment was far too harsh for it to actually be realistic.

"Ms. How about you guys go and join the other kids at the fire. We'll deal with them and ensure that the punishment is sufficient." Willem said as he gently ushered the two teachers out the small office room leaving only the 8 of them to deal with the issue.

"Alright. So now since they are gone, we are going to be frank with you. You guys messed up badly but we don't like to hand out ridiculous punishments when people are supposed to be having a good time." Anna said as she crossed her arms over her chest and Willem walked back from closing the door.

"So basically. You guys will just have to clean dishes after breakfast for like a day? And then you're free to go." Willem said as he stood in front of the group of kids.

"See we're not ridiculously irrational. Just play by the rules and maybe some good will come out of it." Anna shrugged before they stared down the six in dead silence.

Callisto avoided their gaze as she scratched her head, AJ looked like someone had kicked his puppy, Zoya looked bored, Kaiden looked like he was going to piss his pants and Xenia had drifted off into a daydream long before.

"Get out of here. No fire tonight. But tomorrow." Anna said and they nodded. 5 stood up from their chairs before Callisto hauled Xenia to her feet who then snapped out of her daydream.

"Froggos." She shouted.

"Fro- ggos..?" The councilors asked each other quietly as they watched slightly concerned for the pair who were rushing off.

~

"So..." Callisto drawled as she looked at her friend who sat on her 'bed' and fiddled with the pencil she whipped out of her pocket.

"Don't say anything." Xenia moaned horrified at the moment that occurred.

"Froggos?" Callisto asked as her lip turned slightly upwards. She tried to fight off a smile as she watched her friend turn red and bury her face into the sleeping bag that was rolled over the old mattress.

"I like frogs." Xenia grinned sheepishly only lifting half her head up to look at the girl who stood leaning against the adjacent bunk beds frame.

"I'll make sure to get you one for your birthday." Callisto said, nodding her head and looking at the wall as if she was looking away into the distance.

"Really!?" Xenias body shot up and her head smacked into the metal part holding the top bed up.

"No."

"Oww!!" Callisto said at the same time as Xenia howled in pain and fell backwards onto the bed holding her head.

Callisto watched as her friend rubbed her head and sighed unhappily before finally getting up, shoving off her shoes and maneuvering herself onto the top bunk, where her legs dangled down over the edge and she looked down at Callisto.

"Get some sleep and dream of all the frogs you want to get me." Xenia said as she didn't bother changing and climbed into her sleeping bag and threw her blanket over.

"Goodnight." Callisto said softly as she laid down on the bottom bunk, her hands hooked behind her head and her right ankle crossed over the left. She stared up the crisscrossed metal and traced her eyes with it, hoping that the repetitiveness would lul her sleep.