Women's Empowerment Camp

Chapter 9: 'Life Sucks Sometimes, But At Least There's Pizza'

David waited anxiously as he saw Gwen's car pull up. She had no idea about the pizza party David had planned while the campers were away. Gwen parked by the cabin and let the kids get out from the passenger seat. But she stopped Nikki. "You guys go see David, I need to have a word with Nikki." Gwen said, the other campers nodding. Nikki looked worried seeing her friends leave. "A-Am I in trouble, Gwen?" She asked nervously. "Not at all." Gwen replied. "In fact, I just wanna say how proud I am of you and your friends... But mostly you." Nikki smiled at those words, "But what about that 'lesson' you said you were gonna teach the Flower Scouts?" Nikki asked. "Pfft. Don't worry about it." Gwen scoffed as she unbuckled her seatbelt, Nikki did the same and the both got out of the car. 

"Well, campers! I hope you had a great sales day!" David greeted as the remaining 4 campers walked onto the front porch. "Yeah, we sold 3 whole boxes today, David!" Nerris said. "Well, you couldn't have done it without my acting skills!" Preston bragged. "All you did was pretend to be sick or injured just so people could buy our shitty bars." Max crossed his arms. "But at least we made the money!" Preston scoffed. "Yeah it was pretty funny." Gwen said, rolling her eyes as she brought Nikki onto the front porch with her. "Gwen! You and Nikki are just in time for the big surprise I put together!" David greeted with a smile. "Did you build an enclosure for the mascot?!" Nikki asked excitedly. "Heavens, no. But I'm sure you'll love it nonetheless." David opened the door the the mess hall for the kids to see fold out tables lined up with what Max counted out to be 10 whole pizzas. "Eat up, kids! There's plenty more where that came from!" David said as the 5 campers ran inside. Gwen turned to David, "Uhhhh David? Where did you get the money for all of this?" Gwen asked. "I just used some of the money from sales. I'm sure Campbell won't mind." David replied. "Well color me impressed." Gwen said, not expecting David to rebel against Campbell like that. 

"I still can't believe you like pineapple on pizza, Space Kid!" Harrison said. "It's definitely overhated." Space Kid shrugged. "Don't you mean 'overrated?'" Asked Ered. "No, I mean overhated." Space Kid replied. "I still think fruit of any kind shouldn't be on a pizza, and nothing can change my mind about that." Dolf said, cringing at the sight of the pineapple slices on pizza. "Y'know, Dolf. I actually tried a slice and it's actually not that bad." Nurf shrugged, holding a half eaten slice of pizza. "You really should try it, Dolf!" Space Kid suggested. "Oh alright. Ered, pass me a slice." Dolf was handed a slice of the pizza and eyeballed it at first, his lip quivered at the sight of the pineapple slices stacked on top of the melted cheese. He looked up at the rest of the campers surrounding him. "You're absolutely sure this tastes good?" He questioned. "Well technically, I said 'not that bad' but" Nurf tried to mansplain before being elbowed by Ered. "Ow..." he muttered. Dolf took a small bite of the side with the most pineapple on it and slowly chewed it. "So....?" Space Kid mused. "...I like it!" Dolf replied, swallowing the pineapple pizza chunk he had. 

David and Gwen sat a few tables away from the kids, watching them enjoy the pizza. "Thanks for the pizza, David." Gwen said, holding up a slice. "Oh, the pleasure is all mine, Gwen." David replied. "Those kids have worked so hard selling candy bars, it was only fair enough they earn some sort of reward from it." He took a bite of his pizza while Gwen did the same. Nikki got up from her table and went to throw out her plate, but Gwen stopped her. "Hey, Nikki! Don't you want any seconds?" Nikki paused for a minute. "...Now that you mention it..." She mused and decided to go to one of the fold out tables. David's phone began to ring, so he wiped his hands and answered it. "You reached Camp Campbell, David speaking!" David said, only to be greeted by his hero, Cameron Campbell. "Hello there, Davey! It's the end of the mont, and you know what THAT means." Campbell greeted. "Why yes, Mr. Campbell. We sold the rest of the candy bars this afternoon!" David replied. "Great! How much money have we- YOU made in sales?" Campbell asked. "Glad you asked! We're just tallying up the sales right now." David responded.

Nikki got herself another slice from the table and went to go sit with Max and Neil. She walked over to their table and sat across from Max, just as she always did. "Thank God that shitshow is overwith." Max said, taking a bite out of his pizza slice. "Yeah, but I'd have to say it's a job well done." Nikki said with a smile. "Really? Even after the Flower Scouts kept picking on you?" Neil questioned. "It's water under the bridge now, Neil. I kinda found out their motive while I was hiding under the table." Nikki confessed. "Which was?" Neil knew it was gonna be something totally bogus. "Basically Tabii wanted to get me out of the picture so she could hook up with you." Nikki shrugged. "Why am I not surprised...." Neil sighed, letting his head fall into his hands. 

David returned to the table after hanging up with Campbell. He seemed content, which made Gwen a little curious. "What happened back there, David?" Gwen asked. "Well, I gave Campbell the final sales numbers and he was REALLY pleased with the outcome!" David replied. "So pleased that he's willing to split the earnings with us in case he gets sent out to Super Guantanamo again." Gwen was pretty surprised, but appreciated the offer. Nikki approached David and Gwen's table again without her plate. "Thanks for the pizza, David!" Nikki said. "Don't mention it, Nikki! ...By the way, you've got some sauce on your face there." David said, pointing to her face. "Really?! Hold on, lemme see if I can lick it off." Nikki replied, sticking her tongue out so she can reach the spot David had pointed out to her. It resported to Gwen grabbing a napkin and wiping Nikki's face. "There." She said bluntly. "Thanks, Gwen!" Nikki said, preparing to walk away before David grabbed her by the arm. "By the way, Nikki..." He paused as Nikki turned to face him. "I'm sorry for ignoring what you were going through. I wish I had intervened sooner." David confessed. "Awww, I forgive you David." Nikki replied. "By the way, Gwen... What did you do with those vegan bars that we took off the market?" She asked. "Oh I just... Thought I'd give the Flower Scouts a little gift in the means of calling a truce." Gwen mused with a glare that you'd normally see from Max. Nikki made a dramatic gasp. "You didn't..." She said. "Oh, but I did." Gwen replied. "Those kids look like they're gonna have herpes for a week tops!" She held back laughter. "GWEN!!!!" David shouted.

The End