Camp Pining Hearts

Chapter 9

Peridot had died in her sleep—at least, that's what she figured must have happened. Because there was no earthly explanation for the demonic screeching that assaulted her eardrums the next morning other than, of course, the devil itself.

As she was pushed further and further towards full wakefulness, however, Peridot recognized the sound of microphone feedback that preceded a familiarly clipped and cheery voice. Something behind Peridot's eyes pulsed painfully with every syllable that was spoken. "Good morning, campers! Here we are, Saturday again! You know what that means!"

The din that followed sounded to Peridot like a blown out amplifier that was turned up to its highest volume. "Beach Day!"

And as if Peridot wasn't pained enough, she was then greeted by a kick to the face.

Oh, yeah. She had definitely died and gone to hell.

She felt scrambling beside her on the mattress. "Oh, shit. Sorry, Peri!" That was Amethyst's voice.

Peridot willed her eyelids to peel open—and regretted the action instantly, as the sunlight that was streaming through the windows blinded her.

Amethyst then popped into her line of vision, which graciously blocked out the worst of the stabbing sensation that Peridot's eyes were feeling. But trying to focus on the other girl's face—which was blurred and whirling—made Peridot's stomach turn over.

With a groan, Peridot threw her arm over her face and—through the fog of her mind—managed to mumble, "Amethyst. What were you doing in my bed?"

"Oh, you don't remember? That's too bad, because I definitely remember," Amethyst said. Her voice was playful, nearly coy. "And I'd hate for our magical experience to just become another notch on your bedpost." Peridot then felt a whisper of the other girl's fingertips on the skin of her upper arm.

"What?" Peridot recoiled, shooting upward and away from Amethyst's touch. But then her head pulsed and her stomach flipped harder, and Peridot was kept from completing her escape by her own body's violent protests (that traitor).

Amethyst, meanwhile, had dissolved into a fit of laughter. "I'm just messing with you, Peri, dang! Nothing happened! I just crashed with you in case you started choking on your own puke. It would've been kind of hard to keep an eye out if I'd slept across the cabin from you, don't you think?"

Peridot didn't respond immediately. Instead, she remained still for an extra moment in order to allow the spinning room to slow. The other campers, racing excitedly from bunk to bunk and trading bottles of sunscreen and other supplies, did nothing to help this along.

She slowly laid back down before re-closing her eyes and groaning, "What happened last night?"

"Well, where does your memory get foggy?"

Peridot thought so hard about this that she felt a twinge in her temple. "Uh—" An image of Jasper, terrifying and tall, came to the forefront of her mind. "Jasper punched that kid, right? That was real?" At Amethyst's nod, Peridot continued. "After that, nothing."

Amethyst shrugged. "I can't help you much then. You ran off to follow Lapis. The rest of us didn't see you again until Lapis came running back inside, freaking out about how you'd fainted. Then we grabbed you and came back to camp."

As soon as Amethyst said Lapis's name, it rang a bell in the far back of Peridot's cloudy mind. But try as she might to wade through the muddled mess therein, Peridot couldn't remember what she was supposed to be remembering. It was infuriating, and it made her temples pound harder than they already were.