Tattooed Heart

Season 01 - Chapter 02 (02)

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Time Jump~

Shawn Mullen's POV~

"Day 11
July 4, 2018

Happy Fourth of July, I guess! As an environmentalist, it's not even close to being my favorite holiday, but I can't exactly do anything to stop it from being celebrated at camp, so I'm going to do my best to enjoy the day, for the campers if not myself. At least there won't be any fireworks!

Anyway, the competition has been going well. So far, the scoreboard looks as one would expect, with Albert and Victor in the Top 5. I'm in 7th, which isn't too bad for someone who isn't actively trying to come out in first place. No time for competing today, though. We're going swimming!

And having a barbeque, but I've never been too big on barbeques. I'm too picky when it comes to food. Also, the counselors will be split into two groups of five today, I think. I hope I'll be with Carly and Albert and that Victor will choose to hang with us. (He would.) Let's go find out!

-Shawn Mullen"

Markus ended up supervising me as well as Victor, Carly, two other counselors, and half of the campers. Albert, on the other hand, was with Maria and the rest of the minors at the recreation hall, which had been modified for the summer holiday. Later, the groups would swap locations.

For now, Victor and I were in the men's portion of the bathhouse close to the cabins and beside the swimming pool. Aside from his father, he was the only guy wearing a shirt, specifically a forest-themed flannel. I was curious about his choice to hide his body but did not ask questions.

Instead, the assistant counselor and I talked about today's rousing activities while male campers dressed appropriately around us before rushing out of the brick building to jump into the water, which was pleasantly warm thanks to the late-morning sun. Today was going to be a good day.

Victor spoke in front of a sink and a mirror as I slathered sunscreen on myself. "So I was thinking we could head back up to the Rockbrook shed to get away from all the celebrations later today."

"Will we have time to?" I curiously wondered aloud. "I mean, not only will we need to find time to get away in the first place, but we need to keep the kids in mind, too. We can't leave them."

"Says who?"

I nudged Victor, scowling. He laughed and eventually followed me outdoors, where the blinding sun shined, the wispy clouds drifted, and a breeze blew. As Victor walked to a speaker on a table and scrolled through his smartphone to comb for music to play, Carly and I met on the poolside.

The sports coach greeted me with sheer excitement. "There you are! I was talking to Kaine and mentioned watching fireworks up on Lookout Point tonight. How freaking cool would that be?!"

Immediately, I grimaced at the thoughts of frightened animals and the possibility of producing a forest fire that could burn Rockbrook Camp from front to back within minutes. "Not very cool."

The Padilla member scoffed, though she was blatantly more buoyant than sincere. "Lame."

I played along with the silly game and smirked, proud of my defensive stance on the important matter. "Caring about the environment makes me lame, huh? Sounds worth it if you ask me."

Carly only laughed. "I'm teasing, Shawn!" she said playfully, gradually becoming a little serious, which concerned me. "As I said, though, I, uh, was just talking to Kaine, and he didn't really—"