Camp Twin Tails

Chapter 10: Roman Gets Scary

I weave through the crowd and the benches until I spot Roman talking to another camper, Jay, on one of the closer benches to the campfire. I sit down next to the two boys and they both turn their attention to me. 

"Hey Mari what's up?" Roman asks. 

"Nothing much." I shrug, staring at the other campers all laughing in the campfire's orange glow. "Was I interrupting something?"

Jay shakes his head, his dyed bright green hair looking more like a natural brown color in this lighting. His undercut casts a shadow that only adds an almost black tone, even farther from the real color.

The other boy smiles that frustratingly perfect smile of his, "Nah, don't worry about it. Just so you know though, we were just talking about how a bunch of kids got busted with smoking smuggled cigarettes. The worst part is the counselors are talking about maybe checking everyone else's cabins too just in case."

Oh great. I swear to god if someone saw Calder there I'm gonna strangle him. I guess it makes sense though, they don't want anyone else breaking the rules. But still, not looking forward to the possibility of that. 

Both boys look at me when I heavily sigh, having gotten too lost in thought to remember their presence. Roman cocks an eyebrow at me while Jay gives me a teasing smirk. "You got something to hide hmm? A crush maybe?" the ladder says, eyeing Roman after a second. 

I shake my head firmly, also shaking off any blush from realizing why exactly Jay looked at Roman. "Nope. I just don't like other people going through my belongings, they are after all mine."

"Ah come on," Jay laughs, patting my shoulder. "There's gotta be more to it then that! Like you're some secret government agent sent here undercover to spy on someone. Or maybe you're a celebrity in disguise!"

Roman laughs, "Yeah right Jay. Even if she was a government agent or something, why would she be undercover at Camp Twin Tails? That doesn't make any sense." 

Aside from the suspicious camp directors, Roman's not wrong. You'd think if I was sent to spy on someone it would be at some private rich kid camp or something. But on the other hand, being an undercover agent would at least maybe include getting backed by the government for figuring out what's going on. 

Unfortunately for me, I'm not anything of the sort. 

The green haired boy frowns- more like pouts- and crosses his arms. "You never know. Marina and her brother could totally pull off being spies!" 

"Yeah well, that's about the one thing we can agree on." Roman smirks at me, causing butterflies to take flight in my stomach. 

I attempt to clear my throat, "And you would be more like the hot millionaire target who annoyingly is too nice to get rid of." 

This just makes Roman's smirk widen and he runs a hand through his messy black hair, almost tempting me to move closer to him. But Jay teasingly bumping him on the shoulder brings me to my senses instead. 

Before I can say anything, another camper bumps into me while laughing and doesn't even notice, or if she does, she doesn't care. Roman stands up from the bench and offers me his hand, "Come on, let's go somewhere quieter. The others are getting a little too rowdy." 

Nodding, I take his hand and stand up. The three of us escape the hoard of loud children and head off into the fading light in silence. 

We only stop once we reach the hammocks, immediately I hop on one while Jay sits on the ground and Roman leans against a tree. My mind wanders back to our earlier conversation about me possibly- but not really- being some undercover agent, like a stuck zipper you have to keep pulling down before you can go up.