Soaring Higher

Chapter 14

I'm standing outside the cabin, waiting for Erin to get on with it and take us to lunch.

I'm starving.

'So, we have something big coming up,' she says, grabbing back my attention from a scab on my arm.

I can see a lot of others are doing the same.

'We'll be having a little celebration for the camp opening in about four days time, you know, dancing, food, playing around. I'm going to give you some free time today to get prepared, you probably will want a dress or some sort of formal attire.' She says with a roll of her eyes. 'Not my idea.'

I hear murmurs from the crowd, including Amber. I anticipate she'll be wearing something that will turn heads.

Emery nudges me and I realize she was trying to talk to me.

'Yes?' I whisper, now that Erin is going over the schedule again.

'We should go shopping for "formal attire" in our free time.' She says with a smirk.

'Why not.' I shrug.

'Yes! This is going to be great!' She squeals.

'Shhh. We don't wanna get in trouble.' I whisper.

She rolls her eyes. 'Yeah. Whatever.'

'Hey! Am I the only one that cares!?' I say, but it's hard for me to keep a straight face.

'And, let's go to lunch!' I hear Erin conclude.

We follow her to the lunch area, a group of picnic tables underneath a huge roof.

'Let's get a table before anyone else can.' Emery says, sprinting ahead.

We sit at a spot in the corner, closest to a group of trees.

Soon all the tables are taking up, other than a few loners walking around looking for an available spot.

One of them comes up to us. I recognize her, the copper haired girl.

'Hey.. um can I sit here?' She asks, and immediately all those high school cliche movies fill my head.

'Sure.' I smile, shuffling to the side to make room.

'I'm Elaine.' She says, still looking kind of nervous.

'I'm Maggie.' I say politely back.

'Emery.'

'Cool!' All the shyness had disappeared, and a hyper energy had replaced it.

'So, you, Maggie. Everyone's talking about you.' She says leaning forward.

I lean backwards, almost falling off my chair.

'Uh, what?' I clear my throat.

'You know, how Rooster spooked?' She says.

'Oh crap.' My face reddens.

'Oh don't worry it's cool. At least not all of them are saying bad stuff.'

'Oh crap. Oh crap.' I feel like banging my head on the table. 'What are they saying?'

'Oh mostly things like, "That was harsh" or "yikes".. but do you really know what Amber and her crackheads are saying?'

'Do you I want to know?' I ask, my stomach dropping.

'I don't care if you do or don't. I'll tell you anyways.' She shrugs.

I've noticed Emery hasn't been talking much. I think she feels as bad for me as I feel for myself.

'They're saying you're doing it for attention.. and that you shouldn't be in this camp if your such a bad rider, you know.'

I suddenly feel nauseous, and discouraged. That only lasts for a second until an anger builds up inside me.

'That-' I'm interrupted by a hot meal placed in front of me by a lunch lady.

'Ooh! I'm starving!' Emery picks up her spoon.

It's baked potatoes with cheese and butter, my favourite. I decide to forget my Amber problems for now, and focus on my delicious food. I pick up my glass of orange juice, until I'm surprised again with a presence behind me.

I dribble my drink back into my glass and whip around. A tall boy, with black hair and a nice smile is standing there. I'm about to ask him who he is, when I realize he's the guy from the lake.. "Gryphon".

'Hey Gryph.' Elaine says, casually.

I realize I've been overreacting, and that it's not such a big deal.

'Um. Yeah.' Emery and I say awkwardly. This tall boy was standing in front of us like everything's normal.

'Oh yeah, this is my brother.' Elaine points at Gryphon. 'My annoying brother.'

'Shut up.' He says, placing a hand on her head.

'Get off of me.' She giggles.

'Hear about the celebration?' He says, taking a seat beside Elaine, picking bits of cheese off her plate.

'Yeah. You going with Amber?' She wears a smug expression.

'Elaine!' He says, turning red. 'We talked once! I'm not suddenly her boyfriend.'

'That's odd, because she's looking at you now.'

He looks over to Amber, who's waving at him, somehow making everything she does look cute.

He reddens even more, if possible, and waves back.

'Cmon, it's undeniable that you're attracted to her.'

'Can we talk about something else!?' He says.

'Yeah.. uh what horse do you ride?'

I can't help but see Amber staring at Gryphon, with an evil grin plastered on her face.