Camp Pining Hearts

Chapter 4

There was a buzz of anticipation across the campground on Saturday morning that could be particularly felt in Pink Cabin. The feeling of barely contained excitement that seemed to pulse from the beds lining the room woke Peridot up early. Sleep kept pulling her mind back, creating a weird half-world where she was conscious of reality while, at the same time, she struggled to fall back into whatever dream she'd been having. It was right at the edge of her mind's eye, but she couldn't remember a single detail of it.

Then there was a crackle that preceded a clipped, cheery voice. "Good morning, campers! Who knows what day it is?"

And then, all at once, the haze was shattered as fifteen children bolted upright and yelled in unison, "It's Beach Day!" This succeeded in shocking Peridot into full wakefulness. Over the intercom, Pearl gave the morning report and instructions: meet at the Temple, have breakfast, and then head to the buses.

Peridot clutched her heart as she sat up and tried to even out her breathing. Meanwhile, a little blob of blurriness suddenly popped into Peridot's line of vision, and she could feel her mattress adjust as it crawled onto her bed to join her. It chuckled softly before it said, "Sorry, Peridot, did we scare you?"

Squinting her eyes a little bit, she could just make out the definition of thick, black hair and a big, toothy grin. It was Steven. "I'm fine," Peridot said as she reached to grab her glasses and put them on her face. Her heart was still pumping a little hard for comfort. "It's all right."

"I want you to meet my dad!" he said, leaning his head even closer to her. "He's really great and he works at the car wash and he's going to come by around dinner to say hi."

"Oh. Okay."

"Okay!" Steven repeated, and then he hopped off the bed. "I'm gonna get started on my sunscreen."

Breakfast at the Temple was a madhouse, which was obvious as soon as Peridot pushed open the door and was slammed with a wall of sound. Campers were bouncing from table to table, a sea of loud, wiggling rainbow bandanas. She haphazardly stumbled her way past kids and collapsed at the staff table, where Jasper and Lapis were sitting alone.

"Hey, Per," Jasper greeted, mouth (of course) full of her breakfast. "Happy Beach Day!"

"I'm gonna die here," Peridot grumbled, dropping her head into her hands and rubbing her temples. "Every Saturday. These kids are a collective menace to my nerves."

"Yeah, I don't get it," hummed Lapis, turning around in her seat to observe the crowd behind her. "Aren't most of these kids fromBeach City? Why are they so amped?"

"Nah, not most of them," Jenny said, approaching the table from behind Lapis with the boys trailing behind her. All three sat in their regular spots. "But the ones that are boardies are probably just pumped to go home and see their families for a couple hours."

"Boardies?" Lapis asked.

"Locals," supplied Buck, his voice dreamy as usual. "You know. Like the boardwalk. We're boardies."

"Attention, please, everyone!" The voice was particularly loud and shrill, followed by a screech of audio feedback. Swiveling her head around, Peridot saw Pearl not five feet from her, clipboard in one hand and loudspeaker in the other, hovering just in front of her mouth. "The buses have arrived! Now, please, in an orderly fashion, if you could make—"

The cacophony of voices reached an impossibly higher volume as the sound of benches being shoved back and running feet joined it. In a swarm, the many bodies in the room crammed themselves out the door of the Temple and down the front steps. Peridot and the others held back, shuffling towards the exit as Pearl hurried past them while simultaneously yelling into her megaphone, "Amethyst, you cannot bring an entire plate of pancakes on the bus, get back here!"