Call me Different *ON HOLD*

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

With Jay leading the way, we walked up to the first building, labelled ‘Main Admin’. The interior was cosy; soft looking sofas and chairs edging the room, with tables piled with magazines. A large desk was occupied by a young woman, who was frantically shuffling papers, talking on the phone and dealing with all the new camp arrivals. The whole room had the woodsy scent that I loved.

“Yes, that’s the one. Okay. Okay. Hold the line please. Hi, no...You take the left turn off the highway and follow the...yes. Okay. Cabin 14? Yes the changes we talked about. It hasn’t been done? Uhh hold on...” The receptionist grew frantic with every phone call she answered to. We joined the line of eager campers, mainly from my pack, waiting to find out their rooms.

I bounced slightly on my heels, wanting nothing more than to run around and explore the grounds, but Jay kept his arm firmly around my shoulder, probably holding me back.

“How long is this going to take?” I whined.

Instead of answering me, the line simply moved forward, and soon enough we were standing in front of the desk.

“Jason! No you listen to me – Sorry give me one second – I asked you...” The lady shot us an apologetic smile and turned to rummage through some draws.

“Wow must be a hard job.” I commented.

Jay nodded. “She has to co-ordinate like all the packs in the country, plus she has four kids.”

I widened my eyes. “Poor woman. How do you seem to know so much about everything?”

“You’re seriously asking? It’s a natural talent El. I thought you would understand that.”

I was about to reply when the receptionist turned back to us.

“Hi, I am so sorry about that. What’s your names?” She smiled distractedly.

“We’re from the eastern pack. I’m Jayden, this is Ella.” Jay introduced us.

She nodded and typed something into her computer. “Pack alpha? Lucas, Ella’s dad.”

“Ah, Alpha blood I see. Well, you’re not the only one! I’ve already signed in 4 direct descendents today.” She laughed, for whatever reason I wasn’t sure.

I glanced at Jay, but his face was clear so I shrugged it off and listened to what she was saying.

“Okay Ella, cabin 4. Jayden, cabin 14. Breakfast at 8.30, lunch at 12, dinner at 7. Curfew of 11pm, do what you want during the day, unless an activity is mentioned... Don’t do anything stupid. Oh! And no fighting with the other wolves, no alcohol, no drugs and no sex.” She listed the rules monotonously, as if she had said the same phrase 100 times already, which she probably had.

We nodded eagerly as she handed us a few pieces of paper. “Thank you!” I chirped, but she had already moved onto the next people.

“So now what?” I asked, confused.

“Let’s go get our bags and head to the bonfire!”

Without Jay, I would never have been able to find my cabin. There were 10 blocks of cabins, each with 4 rooms that slept 4 people each, and each block had their own bathroom and shower room. They were nestled in amongst many trees, and surrounded by tall pines. In the dark I couldn’t make out much, but I could tell it would look stunning in the day time.

Jay walked me to cabin 4, which was empty. Two beds were on the left and two beds were on the right side of the room, each with its own bedside table and a small set of drawers under the bed. The end of the room had a huge window, looking out into the darkness. Three of the four beds were covered in bags and clothes, leaving me the one closest to the window on the right side.

I couldn’t help but let out a squeal – it was better than I even imagined!

Jay laughed at me and threw my bags down on my bed. “You like?”

“I love!”

“I’m glad. Now, you’ll have the rest of the summer to squeal at your room, but for now I need to drop my bags off before we miss the bonfire. You coming?”

There was no way I’d be able to find anything by myself, so I took one more glance at my room and followed Jay out the door.

He expertly led me through the dark into another cabin, identical to mine, where he dumped his bags and shut the door behind him.

“Ready to go see everyone?” His eyes glistened in the dim light coming from inside the cabins.

I nodded enthusiastically, turned and began to walk. Jay cleared his throat from behind me, and I spun around.

“Uh, this way El,” he said, pointing in a different direction to the one I was walking in.

I thanked god that my blush wasn’t visible in the darkness. There was nothing Jay loved more than making fun of me, and I wasn’t going to let his teasing bring me down.

“I know.” I sniffed, turned course and followed him the right way.

For the umpteenth time, he laughed at me. I elbowed him as hard as I could, which seemed to only make him laugh harder. Soon enough we were both in hysterics. Tears began rolling down my cheeks as the pathway was suddenly illuminated by orange light and amplified by a myriad of voices.