Now

Chapter Four

        "On the bright side, the bruise doesn't look too bad." Adeline hears Cason state as she comes back to the real world. Adeline decides to keep pretending she is asleep for a few more minutes so she can prepare herself to open her eyes.

"I guess." She hears Jessica answer. Where is she? And why is Cason here?

"We wouldn't have to worry about it if you weren't such a klutz." Adeline could practically hear the smirk in Cason's voice.

"Oh shut up." Jessica replies back. At this moment, Adeline decided it was a good moment to open her eyes and stop eavesdropping on Cason obviously flirting with Jessica. She pops one eye open first, and then the other follows right after. As her eyes come into focus, she realizes she is lying on top of a table in the convention center. The only people in the room are Mason, Cason, Jessica, and the nurse. When they realize she is awake, they all shut up and look down at me.

"How are you feeling?" The stubby nurse questions. Adeline squints up at her and shrugs her shoulders.

"My head is pounding pretty bad. Got any medicine?" She slowly sits up and she notices that Jessica isn't making eye contact with her. The nurse nods and pulls out some pain meds.

"Take two. These should last you for the rest of the day. If you feel like you need more, make sure to come to me later." The nurse says nicely while handing her a cup of water and two pills. "You hit your nose pretty bad on the concrete, but you didn't break it. You will have a killer bruise coming tomorrow."

"Great. How did I get here? I was outside." Adeline questions.

"This young man right here carried you inside. A real gentlemen if I do say so myself." The nurse says while pointing to Cason. Cason looks at me and his face starts turning red. Adeline could tell he doesn't like compliments.

"Thank you." Adeline croaks. He nods his head and looks away awkwardly.

"Can we call you concrete face now?" Cason asks while laughing, obviously trying to change the subject. Jessica's eyes lighten up and she laughs too.

"Yeah, I think concrete face is a good one." She laughs along with Cason. The thing is, Adeline doesn't find it funny. Cason could tell that his joke backfired but Jessica continued to laugh at the stupid joke.

"Very funny." Adeline replies. She finally decides to fully stand up and it takes her a minute to stop feeling dizzy.

"Well now that you're up. You guys have to get back to your bus! Your condos are waiting!" Mason chirps from the front doors.

            The condo was only a minute away from the convention center. As we pull up, the mustard color of the huge building gives Adeline even more of a headache.

"How does it look guys?" The youth pastor questions from the front of the bus. All of the middle schoolers start cheering and all of the high schoolers stay silent. It's crazy how different the middle school is from the high school. In high school, we have experienced so much peer pressure when it comes to the "sins" such as alcohol, drugs, and sex. In middle school, all Adeline was worried about was whether she would get in trouble for not having her room cleaned, or not doing the chores. Most high schoolers have realized how the real world is like and doesn't want to spend a whole month trapped in a place with a bunch of fake Christians. Adeline sighs and wishes she was back in middle school, when everything was still normal.
​​​​​​​
             According to the leaders, high schoolers will be rooming together and the middle schoolers will be rooming together. Eleven girls in one condo? This should be fun. When we arrive in the condo there are three bed rooms and two bathrooms. When you first walk into the front door, the first room on the left is basically a closet with a bunk bed in it. The room on the right was really nice and consisted of two full beds with a conjoining bathroom. Adeline puts her things in that room with Kinley and Jessica. The other room consisted of a huge king bed with a conjoining bathroom and a door to the back deck which overlooked the ocean. And finally, the living room which conjoined the kitchen had a pull out couch that two people could sleep on.
          After Adeline is finished looking around the condo and the view of the ocean, she decides to go unpack her things. When she walks in the room, she sees the new girl Allison sitting on one of the beds.

"Uh hey?" Adeline says to her. Allison just smilies and looks over to Jessica and Kinley.

"Since there are two beds, Allison will sleep with me. You and Kinley can sleep on that bed." Jessica commanded. Adeline grabs her things and pulls them to the other side with Kinley. Adeline really didn't like the new girl even though she doesn't even know her.

"So, what school do you guys go to?" Allison questions to start a conversation. Before Adeline can answer, Jessica speaks for us.

"Adeline and I already graduated. But Kinley is a senior at South." Kinley just nods her head. Adeline starts to unpack her clothing into the drawers of the dresser and the closet.

"No way! I am a senior at south too! How have I not seen you before?" Allison bellowed. Kinley just shrugs her shoulders.

"Different crowds I guess."

"There is no way. I pretty much know everyone." Allison declares. Adeline snickers.

"Obviously not." She mumbles to herself. Obviously they heard her, because they all get silent and she can feel the stares at the back of her head. She REALLY needs to stop mumbling, because she is not very good at it.

"What Adeline? Did you say something?" Jessica questions. Adeline turns around and makes eye contact with Allison.

"Oh. I just said that it was cool that you guys go to the same school. That's all." Jessica nods her head and changes the subject.

"Did you guys see how hot the workers at this camp are? Like seriously I was basically drooling." Jessica pretends to fan herself. Well dogs do drool, Adeline thinks to herself.

"The guy with the man bun? I think his name was Josh. He was my favorite. I can't wait to see him again later tonight at worship." Allison responds. Well looks like Jessica found herself a new friend to talk about boys with.

"I have my eye on someone else." Jessica slits her eyes over to Adeline. "He totally has the bad boy feel just from looking at him. And his hair. Oh my gosh his hair was prettier than mine. I didn't even know that was even possible. You know who I am talking about, right Adeline?" All the girls look over to Adeline and wait for her response.

"Yeah." She nods her head. "He was cute I guess." Adeline knew she was totally lying. He was the most attractive guy she's ever seen in her life. This felt weird for Adeline, because she has never paid much attention to guys before. She had never really been into dating anybody like everyone else was in high school. She thinks of dating as a waste of time. Why would she date a bunch of immature guys in high school who only want sex and nothing else? Not saying sex is a bad thing, but she wants to have sex with someone that she loves. She doesn't want to throw it away just because it's the "normal" thing in society to do.

"It was weird though. He wasn't wearing a camp shirt. So maybe he wasn't a worker. That gives me an even better chance at trying to get with him. He has nothing tying him down." Jessica swirls a piece of hair on her finger while lying bed onto the bed. "This trip is going to be sooo fun."