KALIKABUZA

Chapter 47

Sunday morning at Cabin 7. Half our team is out, while the rest of us are stranded here. I didn't want to stay, but the Princess Michelle didn't bother to ask me if I wanted to come along with her. In fact, she snuck off, with Will, Jackson and Bianca, before I was even dressed. Well, I don't know why I'm mad about that, because even if she had asked me to come along, I wouldn't have been very happy... Apparently, the big news this morning, is that Duke Anderson and the Princess Michelle officially hooked up last night after the party in Dynamo Dome. I've lost her, to that... swag-boy conspiracy theorist. And it's not like they were so in love that they decided to seal their love in a bond everlasting. No. I know it was just a matter of the Princess Michelle proving her heterosexuality by hooking up with the most popular male in Kalikabuza. And so, she snuck off, escaping me, to go have fun with her new boyfriend.

This morning, my heart feels like a block of iron that is slowly sinking me into the earth. Two years fighting for her love... only to lose her to a boy with an inflated ego. But the worst part is, that they are actually the perfect couple. Everyone knows it. They're both royalty. Their egos compliment one another. In her heart of hearts, I am, and will always be, just her Cherry Hill classmate. But why does it have to be this way? I thought we had something special. That night at the pool... I felt a connection with her. Did she feel nothing?

"Where are you going, Elise?" Adriana asks me.

"Just..." I stop at the door. I don't know where I'm going. I want out.

"Is something wrong?"

"I'm just going out." I open the door, and exit the cabin. I have no idea where I'm going to go. I just know that I have to be alone for a while. I am sinking... sinking... Normally, when we leave the Village, we head toward the gates of the park, or to Dynamo Dome, or to Spiky Peak Mall. But this time... I'm heading in the opposite direction, toward the parking lot, where I first arrived at this park. I can see the spot where dad dropped me off. That was a week ago... Feels much longer. Why did I come to this stupid camp? I knew it would cost a lot of money. I knew I didn't have the social skills to make any friends. I knew I wasn't going to be any good at the sports and games. And yet I came here, because Princess Michelle was coming. Well... I came, I saw, and I'm heart broken. I wish I was back home, sitting on the couch, watching Netflix with Dad. That would be so nice right now. And something else that would be really, really nice, was if I were straight, and could just fall for one of the hot guys in Kalikabuza. Maybe I'll force myself to be straight. Maybe I'll start talking to boys more. What do you think, Mom?

The fence between myself and the parking lot is closed. I can't go there. I grab the chain-link fence and look at the green space where I first sat shyly on a bench and watched everyone make friends before the gates of Kalikabuza even opened. Somehow I magically expected Michelle to come waltzing into my arms. Oh Mom... how did you find love with Dad? Why is it so hard for me? I think I'll just stay here by this fence for the rest of the week. Dad will show up eventually.

"Hey over there!" Someone calls out. What the. I turn around. It's... Macy, of Swag. She seems to be just casually walking by, but now she's coming toward me. I turn back around, and keep looking across the fence. Why is she here? I don't reply. I'm not here. Leave a message. "Elise? Hey!"

I tap my foot, and hope she'll go away.

"You okay?"

I scoff. "You know, when someone doesn't say anything, it's because maybe they don't want to talk."

"I get it," Macy says. "I just saw you there and—"

"I'm fine, thank you. You can go."

"Oh, that's cool. You just look... Well... do you wanna talk? I mean, since we don't know each other much, it might be easier for you to talk to me about your problems."