𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳 ~ [𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘹 𝘖𝘊]

⇒ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴇᴠᴇɴ

[Please check my announcements page for an explanation as why updates may be inconsistent]

"What did you do?" I stared Gwen down,  unimpressed. She was red in the face, panting from running down to where David and I were sat by the lake.

"Oh Avery, I screwed up." Fuck.

"Oh no." The redhead counsellor gulped, sharing a worried look at me.

"See, I knew Neil had a crush on Erin, but somehow I'm trying to match them up she developed a crush on Snake, who's crushing on the other kid with an eyepatch, Tabii, who's borderline obsessed with Neil." We left her alone for twenty minutes! I didn't really know what she was talking about, I assumed still hung up on the kids getting summer crushes. I still thought it was weird she was trying to involve herself in that.

"Well, it sounds like your matchmaking has caused enough trouble." I commented with a  tired yawn.

"And that's what I thought-"

"Please stop there..." David half squeaked.

"But I realised I can actually make things better for everyone." She then went on to explain some cracked-out plan I didn't pay attention to. I had no clue what was happening, and I'd be happier if I continued to not know.

"And you're telling us this because you want our advice, right?" The turquoise eyed man queried. "Because our advice is don't." I nodded, in agreement with the statement.

"No, I need you two to distract everyone while I plot my scheme on graph paper in my bunk." Who let her be in charge of kids?

"Gwen!" I called after her, beyond annoyed at her antics.

"Huh, so this is what it feels like to be the level-headed counsellor." I shot the man a dry smile at this statement.

"Welcome to my world, Davey." We walked back into the Mess Hall to be confronted with an odd scene. Max and Nikki were suspiciously absent, the third member of their troupe, Neil, being on the dancefloor with the blue haired Flowerscout, Erin. For someone as socially awkward as him I was surprised and a little proud. Snake and Petrol were handing out Woodscout business cards, and I got the distinct feeling Pikeman was also around, trying to scrounge up his awful skills at talking to women to use on Gwen when she got back. I didn't know what his thing with her was but it was weird.

"Hey! Watch it." Sasha complained, bumping into David on her escape from Jermy.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The redhead apologised profusely. "While you're here, you don't have any ideas on how to make this night more fun, do you?" Wasn't sure why he was asking a kid, but oh well. A devilish smirk grew on her face.

"Actually, I do have an idea for a little friendly competition..."

* . °•★|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•° . *

"Quiet down everyone, it's time for a fun announcement." Only one more hour of this shit. "We're going to have ourselves a dance-off." Honestly, I just think Sasha had suggested this so she could be crowned dance queen or whatever. My suspicions were confirmed when she grabbed the mic from David and hissed:

"And the winners will be crowned King and Queen of the Summer Social!"

"But remember, it's all in the name of fun. So find a partner, put on your dancing shoes, and hit it!" At this point, I was surprising myself with how utterly uncaring and bored I was. Normally activities around camp could at least result in some form of adventure, this was painfully static.

I watched with mild interest as Erin and Neil stayed swaying together and Tabii partnered with Snake. I hadn't been paying attention to what Gwen had been saying about the love square or whatever it was, but from the way the two girls were glaring at each other, I could tell nothing good was to come of it.

"And switch!" When did our co-counsellor even get back? I eyed David with concern as the darker skinned woman grabbed the mic.

"Gwen, what are you doing?" I asked tiredly.

"I- uh, you know, to keep things fair." She stuttered over her words. "Everybody switch partners!"

"This has gone too fucking far now. They're kids, let them live their lives. The oldest out of those four is like twelve, you can't ship them." I confronted her angrily. "Do you not think that's mildly inappropriate?"

I would not get to hear Gwen's reaction to that, because David then snagged my wrist, pulling me over to dance with him. I decided not to complain, this would be the most fun I'd had all night. I let one of his hands settle around my waist and the other clasped my own. I had a flashback to my dad's wedding and fought back a smile.

"Hey there, Avery!" He greeted me, maneuvering our feet randomly around the Mess Hall floor.

"Hey yourself." I sighed, letting my face press against his chest.

"You seem a little troubled, everything okay?" He frowned a little, wrinkling his eyebrows. I shrugged, giving him a quick kiss.

"Just tired I guess. I've also got something weighing on my mind." I admitted after a pause.

"I'm all ears." He beamed, all be it a little nervously give I'd just told him something was worrying me.

"I've just been thinking about when we talked about getting an apartment together." I glanced the other way, avoiding eye contact. "It sounds stupid, but were you being serious when you said you wanted to?"

"Was I being serious? Avery, of course I was! I mean, we practically live together full time already, what with you staying with me in winter and being here spring and summer." He chuckled lightly. "Why wouldn't you think I was being serious?"

"I just don't want it to seem like we're taking things too fast, you know? We've only been romantically involved for a month." I explained to him.

"Well, while that makes sense, we have been excellent friends for two years anyway. Honestly, no matter what happens, I don't see that changing." He thought for a moment. "Not that I'm expecting anything negative to happen, I mean, I've liked you for long enough to know not to screw this up."

"Hold on, what do you mean liked me long enough?" My head shot up, piquing my interest.

"Well, I, um... I sort of suspected for a while, but I definitely knew when you spent all week after Bonquisha broke up with me looking after me and making sure I was okay." David was blushing now, not expecting to be put on the spot so much. "You were very patient with me."

"I always will be patient with you, you put so much effort into everything, I really don't think we give you enough credit." I told the redhead.

"You really mean that?" I nodded.

"And hey, if it's any consolation, I like you so much I know not to screw this up." I grinned.

"It is, Avery, it is."