The Miscreants of Xiphoid Camp [NOT UPDATING CURRENTLY]

» 2130 « Chapter 9 - Lake Day

After one week spent within its confines, Avior had fallen into an unfortunate sort of rhythm at Xiphoid Camp. Breakfast was served from six-thirty to eight, from then until noon you were free to do whatever you wanted, at noon the entire camp congregated at the center for announcements and, every other day, an 'inter-cabin activity'. There was a wide range of activities that Fred Finch might dream up in his sick, twisted mind, from a poison ivy hunt to a complicated mockery of jousting in which you rode upon the back of a taller camper and whacked your adversary with a stick. Avior had kicked Marcus's ass at that.

After that, lunch was served for an hour, and from then on you could do whatever your heart desired until dinner (six to seven o'clock). Disappointingly, the school had been unlocked and the teachers brought in a week before September first, giving those who were new to Xiphoid Camp a chance to look around the school and get used to the way things worked there. Arin had shown Avior around the school the day before. It was quite unimpressive, a simple hallway with three rooms on the left, two rooms and two bathrooms on the right, and a 'staff only' area straight ahead.

They should have locked it better. Avior and Arin spent close to an hour in there, pretending to sip coffee daintily and fire people from behind large, cluttered desks that clearly hadn't been touched in months. For someone that was not at all his friend, Arin was good company. It was safe to say that Avior had adjusted to the way things worked at Xiphoid Camp.

But the past week's happenings had done nothing to prepare him for Lake Day.

Avior rubbed his eyes blearily and yawned. It was still dark out, the sun just barely beginning to make an appearance. Bradley Robinson had sprung out of bed and turned on the lights an hour before, yelling "good morning, everyone! Get up and get your swim trunks on, because today is LAKE DAY!" What a horrendous way to wake up. Avior had nearly screamed. Unlike the first day at camp, when each cabin stuck together, this time there was no structure to the circle formed around the firepit-slash-Fred-Finch-announcement-podium, and the cabins merged together and spread out throughout the circle.

A pair of hands covered Avior's eyes, and his heart leapt into his throat for a moment. "Guess who?" a voice said from behind. Avior grabbed Arin's wrists and pushed their hands away from his eyes. Arin laughed and stood next to him.

"Good morning, Arin," Avior said cordially. "How are you on this fine day at—" he checked the time on his phone— "six thirty-eight?"

"I'm just dandy, thank you for asking! Excited for your first ever LAKE DAY?"

Avior shrugged. "I'm trying to remain optimistic," he said. That was a lie. He was decidedly not excited about lake day. Who knew what sort of things were submerged in that filthy water? It was likely to be a cesspool of animal shit and dead rats.

Arin rubbed their hands together. "That's better than I was expecting! It's gonna be so much fun, I promise,"

Avior would have to take their word for it. He generally tried to avoid large bodies of water, but maybe it was only three feet deep, or the water was crystal-clear, or—

No. He was out of ideas. This was going to suck.

The hot sun beat down on Avior's poor, exposed, pale skin, and he found himself longing for the damp chill of the early morning. It was far too hot. He sat perched on the edge of one of the many large rocks lining the far side of the lake, squinting out at the water, which was far from clear. It was dark and murky and the bottom was covered in tiny, sharp rocks and tall, slimy plants. Disgusting. He refused to touch it.