Sixty-Two ☼ Phan

Fourteen

The next day, I was woken, to my surprise, by James.

"Dan?" he whispered.

I groaned. Apparently, that was not a good decision, because he immediately shushed me. I blinked up at him, groggily, my black stuffed bear coddled close to me.

"What time is it?" I asked, quieter.

"About five."

"In the morning?"

Another shush. Phil, in the bed next to mine, flipped over. Ever since I squelched his idea that people would think less of him if he wasn't seen, he'd been waking up and going to bed the same time as me. I'm sure he'd always slept there, it's just that, since none of us had ever been up any earlier than eight, mind the day we got our counselors, he had been rather good at managing his sleeping schedule so that it didn't cross ours.

"There's something I want to show you." He pulled at my blanket.

I tried to keep hold. "Can't it wait until later?"

"No."

The blanket slipped from my hands, leaving me now cold in addition to being awake. My bear fell, too. I lied there for a couple seconds before giving in and sitting up.

"Fine. Whatever," I muttered.

"Meet me outside when you're ready. Don't take too long." He walked out the door, closing it behind him silently.

I glared grumpily at the floor, then stood and slipped into the first pair of jeans of mine I saw. Shoes on, shirt wrinkled but acceptable. I went out the door a mere two minutes after James, stopping only once to put my stuffed bear back onto the pillow.

He was leant on the outer wall of the cabin, biting his lip anxiously. As soon as he saw me he gestured to follow.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Hush."

"We're outside!"

He stopped to give me a serious look. "Would you just be quiet and follow?"

I frowned but didn't say anything else. Common sense rattled somewhere in my head. I was tired, but not stupid. It had to be important for him to wake me up at this time. And if it wasn't important, I'm sure James already knew that I would, quite literally, murder him.

To further my surprise, our little adventure ended outside of Mr. L's cabin. I was finding that a strange sense of déjà vu constantly radiated from James. He opened the door and walked in. A man on a mission. And I, a boy on his way to find out whether or not he was about to kill that man.

"This better be worth it," I murmured.

As I did last time, I looked around. It was still strange to go immediately from a small cabin for four people straight into a larger cabin for one. A veil of luxury, slightly distorted to fit the camping theme.

He walked over to the computer desk. I fell behind, admiring the decor.

"Hey," I said. "Where's Mr. L?"

"I don't know," he told me, typing the password in. I still remembered it from when I saw it on that sticky note.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean I don't know. I saw him leave and ran to get you."

I stared at him in disbelief.

"So you have no idea what he went to do?" I stood behind him now.