Boot Camp

17: Old Version

The sun beats down on my neck as I stand outside, deep in thought while everyone else quietly chatters. I'm not thrilled about an early morning team challenge. Especially considering how today started.

Last night, I fell asleep on an uncomfortable ninety-degree angle with my head half off the mattress. This resulted in a twisting pain in the side of my neck that makes it difficult to move it from side to side.

I also found another note.

By this point, I'm not apprehensive about them; I know whoever leaves them must attend this camp. But what's cryptic about this note is the new nature of the message.

Guess the little slut found another man. - X

When I found it this morning, I tore it apart and threw it in the waste basket. Who the fuck does this person think she is calling me a slut?

Or moreover, how is my personal life any of her business?

My eyes flit to the girls around me. There's Martina next to me, busy making a paper airplane out of a paper that flew off Cheryl's clipboard, to sail at Adriana and her friends.

It's impossible X is her.

I look over at Cynthia who has been warming up with jumping jacks for the past ten minutes and staring me down as if we're about to duel.

She is sketchy, but then again, she looks like a product of overly competitive parents with way too high standards.

And then I glance at Natalie standing next to her, admiring her nails in the sunlight.

She's more suspicious. On the first day, she was excited to hang out with me and then she randomly moved out of our dorm to join Cynthia.

And lastly there's Adriana, standing by a tree and swatting a nonexistent fly around her face.

Thinking about the notes and the possible writer are not worth riling myself up. I need the mental capacity to win the impending team challenge.

"Alright, all you half-asleep young ladies!" Cheryl calls, clapping her hands together. "Today's challenge will surely wake you up. Walk ahead and you will see an obstacle course. Only in this obstacle course, you can and might get a little messy."

Please don't let it be mud. Please don't let it be mud. Please don't let it—

"That's right, I'm talking about mud," she says, a bright smile appearing on her face. The buzz of the girls' chatter is replaced by silence.

"Mud?" Adriana reiterates, her lips parting in disgust. "We're not boys. That's revolting."

"She's gonna be the first one down," Martina whispers to me, her hand covering half of her mouth. I stifle a giggle as I look at the obstacle course nervously.

Cheryl looks at Adriana and gives her a curt nod before turning her attention to the rest of us. "The first portion of this obstacle course involves a basic sprint down a narrow path. This will lead you up a small rock-climbing wall, through a section of tires, a jump between two blocks over muddy ground, and lastly, a balance beam over a mass of mud. One slip will land you in a very dirty mess, so if you don't want to risk it, be very careful. The girls who don't fall into the mud will receive bonus points!"

"Wait, so it's actually possible we won't fall?" I ask anxiously.

"Of course," she replies. "Now you will go in rounds of five, as since there are five divisions of this obstacle course. Joanna, Cynthia, Willow, Adriana, and Whitney, you're up first!"