Camp Paradis || Jean Kirstein

I Want To Talk To You About Your Birthday

Sunday afternoon, the girls and I walked back into the camp. I had finally convinced everyone to come with me when I found out there was a nail place in a small outlet mall about twenty five minutes from here. It felt good to have my nails done again, I felt like a completely different person. I chose a light blue color this time.

"See Annie, doesn't this feel amazing?" I asked as she walked next to me. Annie just gotta neutral color, I didn't think that she was quite brave enough yet since she didn't really get her nails done before this.

  She brought them up to look at them, "They're fine."

I'll take it.

"Thanks for paying, Beckett!" Sasha skipped in front of us, admiring her bright purple color. She was in a rush to show Niccolo before he would be too busy with dinner since the new wave of campers would be coming soon.

"Yeah," Mika joined me on my other side, "I can't remember the last time I had mine done. Maybe for graduation."

"Yeah the black was a nice choice." I complimented.

"I hate that your sister couldn't come."

I shrugged, "She likes to do her own. I asked her to do mine once and she said no because it was too much pressure." I rolled my eyes, "She's so weird. What are you guys doing now?" I asked.

"I'm going to help Eren finish making sure the gym is good." Annie, "He did it on his own all day so I'm gonna finish it up."

"Oh I'll come with you." Mika added, "I haven't really seen him today. What about you, Beckett?"

"I don't know. I might see if I can grab an early dinner and head to bed early. I gotta figure out how I'm gonna sneak away for the night to go visit Jean's mom."

"You're going out of town again?" Annie asked. We stopped at the base of the camp, continuing our conversation before the two of them parted from me.

"Yeah, her birthday is Wednesday. So we're driving down to see her."

"Yeah," Mika started, "But-"

"But why are you going?" Annie was much more direct than her friend.

What was with the third-degree, "She invited me. My birthday is right after hers, she's making Jean cook for the both of us."

"Oh, we didn't realize your birthday was coming up too. I feel terrible, we would have done something." Mika apologized.

I waved her away, "Don't worry about it, I never really do anything anyways." lie, "I don't even really like birthday parties. But," I started to back away, "I'll see you guys later, I'm gonna see if I can grab something to eat."

They said their goodbyes and headed towards the gym. I started to the mess hall, hearing Jean's music through the open door. I hadn't seen him after we got back from the zoo last night, but he did follow me back on Instagram. I still didn't know how to approach my feelings towards him, and avoiding him was all I knew how to do.

I'd never really had a real crush before. In school I wasn't ever interested, and celebrity crushes didn't count. Jean was here, accessible, and tangible.

  I climbed up the steps and opened the door. It sounded like the kitchen was already bustling and moving from behind the counter. I knocked on the silver surface, "Niccolo?"

  "Busy." I heard him, but I couldn't see him.

  I called out into the kitchen again, "I just want an advance on dinner."