Cabin 304

3. Fresh meat

Joanna’s Point Of View

I folded my sleeves over my palm, lifting it and dragging it across my forehead, taking the sweat away. Although incredibly embarrassing that I was sweating over a so called "little hike" I showed no shame. I sighed, sitting down on a log as some of the other kids bent near the creek, collecting water into their special purifying water bottles. We were all given them (which would have been so useful on Monday!) right before we started walking. I watched as everyone else filled up their bottles and waited for the drops of water to hit the bottom, meaning they were now clean. A head full of dark hair like mine sat on a pair of broad shoulders, which were covered by a black windbreaker stood almost directly in front of me. He turned catching my gaze, which immediately was placed elsewhere, until I noticed... He looked familiar.

"You're Joanna Grey, right?" I looked up. Apparently I looked familiar as well. I nodded. He was maybe sixteen or seventeen, and my timid-self gladly shrunk down into a microscopic sized human being as I looked at him.

Is everyone attractive besides me?

“Oh right, my friend Candice says your parents are pretty good friends.” That caught my attention. I looked at him, trying to think back. For a moment, I thought that maybe Candice looked somewhat familiar, but I knew it wasn’t true. I’d never seen that girl in my life, until her and her snooty friend laughed at me.

I raised my eyebrows, almost certain that I wasn’t going to be able to speak to him. I guess I found out my ultimate weakness: boys. You learn something new every day, right? 

“I’m Spencer,” He said, holding out his palm to me. I looked down at it, and immediately saw the hand that was waving towards the ego-killer on my first day here.

One of Justin’s friends. 

I shook his hand politely, but thinking what an unreligious name.

“I know, right? I’m not complaining though,” I looked up at him, wondering if he had already gotten bored with me and started to converse with someone else but…. No. He looked right at me.

Then I realized… I had said that aloud.

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that!” I sputtered stupidly. Oh just great. Can I not make a good impression on anyone who is fairly attractive? “I wasn’t trying to come off rude,” I said in a small voice.

He smiled, revealing dimples on either cheek. “It’s all good.” He stood up, brushing off his rear of dirt, making me realize that everyone was just about ready to continue on hiking.

I’d like to say that he threw a cheeky comment at me, or winked, or brought up Justin or… just something. But nothing much happened after that. He walked with his friends and I walked alone. It wasn’t interesting. It wasn’t fun. It just continued on as a boring, appropriate, normal, dreary day.

And I wondered: If the circumstances were different, and I was willing to take risks, would my days be just like this?

 -       -

Age mingle. By far one of my favorite times of the day, not counting break time, of course. Megan and I were a heck of a lot different, but we seemed to click instantly. It was my fourth day being here making it Wednesday (if you count Sunday) and so far so good (sort of).

“I hate rain,” Megan groaned, staring out the window longingly. I smiled, looking down at the packet that was barely forced down our throats when we discovered that we weren’t allowed to go on the planned scavenger hunt in the pouring down rain. Who am I kidding though? This was a plus for me.