Young Wild

Chapter III

"Drew, what are you planning..?" I asked the Crew leader cautiously.

"We have all the time in the world, so I'll tell you later," she whispers and then raises her voice so all the girls can hear. "So, Addie, that's out new nickname for you, what's with you and Ryan?"

The Crew huddled so close I start to feel claustrophobic. And I don't even have claustrophobia.

"We're just friends. He's been one of the only people who's actually taken the time to get to know me. He's one of my best friends. I've known him longer than just about anybody..."

Technically it was true. I didn't count my family... They're... family.

Some of the Crew sighed and Drew asked, "Have you ever kissed him? Tell us the deets!" She threw back her head.

I guess that's some Drew Crew thing, because they all do it sometimes. It looks really weird from afar, a girl just walking, with her head tilted so far back you can't tell if she broke her neck or if she's just that flexible.

This was becoming a very uncomfortable subject for me "I've never kissed him. I don't plan to."

"What's the point of having a guy-friend if you're never taking it to the next level?"

"I don't want to hurt our friendship. If it didn't work out... I can't even think about it. I don't want to." I start to feel myself blush as I think about how it would be for me and Ryan to be... Rydalynn.

Drew links her arm through mine. "Hon, it's officially time to teach you the Aphrodite way."

By this time, we were at the cabins. Before I knew it, they had ushered Livy and I inside.

We stood, backs to each other, not facing the mirror, which was surprising considering all the mirrors.

The crew and some other campers rushed around us, all carrying some sort of makeup. Some giggled, some had straight faces. I could never tell if their laughs were because they were doing something terrible to us, or just because this was their strong suit and they somehow enjoyed this.

Neither of us were allowed to look as the work was being done on us, but I was being allowed to see myself in a mirror before presenting myself to Ryan this evening. Livy, however, was not allowed to look at herself until debuting her new look to the camp. I felt scared for her. That meant they had either done something so horrible they wanted her to not know about it, or they had done something so amazingly perfect they wanted to build up its amazingness.

I was leaning toward the former.

A girl walked through the front door. She had dark hair and glasses.

"Gabby, did you finish setting up and tell Ryan to meet Addalynn there?" Drew hissed. She sounded so terrifying.

Gabby tried hard not to shake as she nodded her head yes.

"A little harsh, don't you think?" I asked tentatively.

"No, no. I run this camp, since Piper's gone."

"Oh." My feet were suddenly really interesting.

"No looking down! You can't see your outfit yet!" Drew fumed.

I snapped my head up so hard I might have given myself whiplash... If that's possible.

"You let me put it on myself."

"We had you blindfolded, didn't we?"

No comment from me.

Livy started to shake. I knew she felt nervous. I had seen them take black powderish makeup to her face. They had dragged it under her eyes. That really confused me. I'd heard them messing up her long dark hair. Either it was to help give it a naturally whipped around look, or they really were trying to mess it up.