Have We Been Here Before? 《Experimental Story》

Chapter Five.

Thea hated getting up early. Nothing ever interesting happened before like, ten, so why did she have to be up and in the dining pavilion for eight? She felt the gravel tremble and turn under her feet as she dragged them, her shoes having dirt roll on and off of them. Now July tenth, she had been at the camp for almost two weeks. Gentle winds blew through her hair, knocking her baby hairs out of place and the hair in her ponytail tried to whip forward. Feeling awkward and out of place walking by herself, Thea readjusted her shirt, the material already starting to stick to her back with the muggy air.
  Others gathered around the doors of the building and Thea was relieved to have spotted Finnick waiting as well. While she’d only hung out with him three times, one of those being when they met, it was better than having to stand alone until someone else showed up. She went over to him, standing by his side.
  “Hey Finnick.” she greeted, sighing as she felt her shoulders relax, no longer feeling like she was being watched for being alone. He looked at her with a small and friendly smile.
  “Hey Thea.” he seemed relieved.
  “Do they usually do this?”
  “Do what? Volunteer jobs?-”
  “No, no, sorry. Take this long to get ready. Felicity and Joey, I mean.” she laughed slightly. They both seemed to look to the cabins as she said it, or rather the path that led to them.
  “Felicity, yes, but I’m not sure about Joey.” He hummed. “What about Charlotte? I haven’t seen her yet.”
  “Oh, Charlotte usually runs a bit late.” she smiled before adding, “But never by much.” she shrugged. They stood in silence for a moment, before Finnick broke it and turned to her fully.
  “Did you know fifteen to twenty percent of Americans are always late?” Thea blinked.
“I- I did not.” She furrowed her brows for a moment as she processed the information. Good thing we’re Canadian then, she thought to herself, before turning to him as well.
  “How do you know that?” she asked, tilting her head as she always did.
  “I read a lot.” he shrugged and Thea nodded after a moment, silently wondering what you’d read to find that out.
   “I don’t think I’ve ever met a boy who likes to read. Not really.” she hummed.
  “I think that’s a shame.” he chuckled lightly. She smiled at him, delightfully amused. “What?”
  “Nothing… I just couldn’t agree more.” she laughed slightly, smiling wider as she answered after seeing his confused face. She looked back to the path, seeing people still arriving. She smoothed out her shirt and her ponytail, bringing it to rest on her shoulder.
  “You know, Finnick, you're wonderfully different from most boys I’ve met.” she blurted out, before even realising she’d said it.
  “Thanks, I could say the same for you.” he laughed and she did as well, finding this laugh to be slightly different from the ones he sported around his sister but just as delightful.
  “What’s so funny?” Joey said, making them jump as he appeared by her side.
  “Nothing.” Finnick smiled slightly, as he watched Thea put her hand over her heart, amused by her reaction. Joey looked at him for a moment, before focusing on Thea again.
  “How long have you been here?” she asked him, turning to him now. He smiled softly down at her, his dimples showing as he did.
   “Not long, I was inside. I didn’t know we were meeting outside.” Joey glanced at Finnick again.
  “Oh, well, we didn’t know you were here and it just happened that I saw Finnick first.” Thea shrugged.
  “Oh okay.” he hummed, but Thea’s attention was grabbed before she had time to register his tone, as Charlotte and Felicity came down the path.
  “Charlotte, Felicity!” she called, stepping forward with a wave and smile. Charlotte sped up, smiling as well, her blonde braids bouncing slightly against her shoulders.
  “You're late.” Thea pretended to pout angrily as Charlotte giggled.
   “Sorry, Doll, it takes a while for all this to get ready.” She gestured to her appearance before both of them burst out laughing from her dramatic tone.
  “Well I hope you're ready now.” Felicity joked, as they spotted people heading into the dinning building. The group of five filed into the building, standing in the back, since most people had already taken up most of the seating on the first floor inside. In Front of the kitchen windows, they had set up a microphone and there were a bunch of the camp counsellors standing a few feet behind it. A woman, who was maybe in her mid to late twenties walked up to the mic. She seemed slightly out of place, with perfectly done hair and nice clothes, considering she was at a camp. She smiled welcomingly at all the faces and not far from her, Thea spotted a man who looked even more out of place. With neatly cut hair, a black polo shirt and khaki shorts, he looked like someone who would consistently go to a country club like it was the local park. He was tall, with dark hair and eyes, and he seemed rather bored. Or angry. Thea couldn’t really tell because the man seemingly had no emotion. He watched the women who went up to the mic, his eyes softer as he did, with his arms crossed.
  “Hello everyone.” the woman greeted, her voice enthusiastic and happy, which seemed to watch her so far. “I’m Aubrey,” she turned and looked at the man, gesturing to him.  “And this is Ethan, or Anderson as you probably would remember, since he is the new camp manager and is the one that would have been sending emails to your guardians.” she smiled and the man, Anderson, waved slightly.
  “Um, we’re so happy to welcome back old campers and greet new ones, even as new ones ourselves.” she chuckled slightly, earning a few from the crowd as well. Thea didn’t really know what was funny, but she politely smiled.  “First to start us off, I would really just like to appreciate our counsellors, who are volunteers themselves and will be helping you all with your assignments.” she gestured to the group twenty to thirty year olds behind her. A few hollered at or clapped for the ones they knew.
   “Yes, um. If you're new to the camp, you’ve probably heard a little bit about this by now and if you're a seasoned camper, this is just a refresher, but I’m going to explain what the volunteer jobs are. A few of you will be going to help out at the animal shelter, do prep for different daycares, help organise and such for places in the town and for some, you’ll even be helping plan events around the town.” Thea perked up slightly at the last bit, always having enjoyed planning things.
  “Now, you might be asking, why do we do this? While, one of the reasons we’re able to keep our prices as low as they are for a summer sleep away camp, is because the town does a lot of fundraising for us. In exchange for fundraising, we do volunteer work around the town. Also, for those who need volunteer hours for high school, you can log these hours for that.” she explained, almost everyone focused on her as she talked. “Does anyone have any questions so far?”
   “The flyers said that this is a five week program, are we, like, gonna go every day and do this?” a girl called from the crowd, raising her hand as she did.
  “Oh, yes! So, for the schedule with this program, it is every other day during the week starting tomorrow. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Uh, this doesn’t include weekends, and you only go for about two hours. The places that have been chosen for the jobs are close to the camp, so you will be walking, but for the first week you’ll have people from your placement walking you to and from. Also, since some of you are older and this is supposed to be fun, campers that are sixteen and up will be allowed to stay in the town for about an hour after your time at your job is complete. If you don’t listen to your curfew however, you will lose this privilege, this is a one and done kind of thing. Speaking of, if you do not show up to your placement and do not have a reason that has been shared with your counsellor, you will be personally escorted to your placement by them and you will be on bathroom cleaning and kitchen help shifts for the rest of the week, if not longer. So, I would recommend that you show up.” she warned and Thea glanced at Charlotte.

  “Alright, I am going to call out names and you are going to step forward when you hear yours. Then, your assigned counsellors will raise their hands and you will go with them. They will give you your shirts, which you are expected to wear when at your placement, so we can keep track of you.” The man from earlier said loud and clear, mic in hand, as Aubrey stood next to him. Thea stood in line, her head spinning as she tried to remember everything that had been explained earlier. Charlotte fidget beside her, as they both stood in one of the two lines.
   “Ben Ottoson, Peyton Ricks, Vanessa Thompson, Brandy Abbott, Jace Manning, Lindsey Leroy, Stanley Mueller, Cara Miller, Ian Klassen, Jocelyn Iver, Francis Holland, Russell Benson, Nancy Ahmed, Cindy Foster, Kayden Heinrichs, Troy Shelswell, Hallie Nolan, Cathay Jackson.” The kids stepped forward, from the two long lines of people that faced each other. “You guys will be going with Janine, Duncan and Leigh.”
  Anderson continued to go through names and soon the lines of about seventy people each turned into thirty each, as kids were led away from the group with their assigned counsellors.
  “Gaeton Hicks, Sandi Macmillian, Beverly Hu, Maya Riley, Nickolas Solace, Sue Orris, Micheal Bennett, Reece Porton, Bella Fyes, Dorothy Wilson-” Thea heart jumped from her chest as she heard her name and she nervously stepped forward, as she listened to him call the rest of the names. “You're with Sarah, Olive and Emilia.” he sighed, looking up from the list. Thea walked over to the three women holding a hand in the air. One looked to be in her late thirties, but the other two looked like they were in their early twenties. She scanned the people walking over with her, the back of her neck feeling hot as she did.
  “Alright guys, let's go over to the table and we’ll get you settled with a shirt size, then go over what job you were assigned.” The blonde one, who was also one of the younger ones, said, clapping her hands together. “I’m Olive, this is Sarah,” she gestured to the older woman, “And this is Emilia.” she pointed to the taller noirette haired girl.

“What job did you get?” Thea walked up and beside Charlotte, both of them clutching their shirts in their hands.
  “Organising old files at the police station, it’s so boring!” she whined. Thea smiled. 
  “I’m sorry..”
  “It’s fine. I’ll make it fine.” Charlotte sighed. “What about you?”
  “Event planning. I’m supposed to plan and get ready for a party that the town is hosting for all the teens. The camp’s invited though, so that’s nice.” Thea hummed.
  “Lucky! You like planning.” she pushed Thea’s shoulder.
  “Hey, bet I beat you back to the cabins.” Thea challenged.
  “You're on!” Charlotte grinned and they both bolted down the path, dodging people as they went.