Nail Biter

6

Gwen never ended up putting the bandages back on. It wasn't her fault, David had never insisted that she do so. He still kept an eye on her. He was trying to make sure that she wouldn't start biting her nails again. Gwen would be lying if she said she didn't appreciate his attention, even if it was more for her well being then it was for her as she was. The problem is that it made her anxious. It made her want to bite her nails. Not consciously, but to have David so obviously making sure that she wouldn't end up with bloody fingers again left a feeling of pressure. Like a spotlight in a cheap high school play, but only from one person instead of hundreds. For some reason, likely because it was David, the spotlight felt just as suffocating.

That wasn't his fault. It was her fault for wanting to look like somebody who was worth his attention for something other than her gnarled fingers.

“Oh my God, stop fucking staring at each other for five seconds, please?” Max’s annoyed voice broke the concentration that Gwen didn't realise she had. She turned away from David and crossed her arms, leaning slightly onto her left leg hoping that it would somehow emphasize her closed body language. Maybe David would believe that she had been staring at the woods behind him from her side of the craft area. That she was just spacing out and really hadn’t been thinking at all. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to lie to him. He would just drop it if she was lucky.

“What do you want?” Gwen forced the tone of her voice to be level, but it ended up coming out lower than usual. She sounded like she was straining herself not to be suspicious and it showed on Max’s slightly amused reaction.

“I can't reach the scissors.”

“I'm not giving you scissors, we're doing origami.”

“I'm not going to use them for origami, I'm going to gauge your eyes out. Give me the fucking scissors.”

Gwen silently seethed. Max didn't even seem to be putting any effort into tormenting her at this point, he just wanted her to embarrass herself in front of David. Gwen watched as Max snatched a blue sheet of paper from the table behind her and returned to sit between to Nikki and Neil. Neil actually appeared to be trying to make a crane, but Nikki was spending her time trying to light her paper on fire with a stray piece of glass that she found under the table.

“Nikki!” Before Gwen could react, she heard David let out a strained yell as he ran towards her and quickly plucked the glass from her hand and held it away from her between his fingers.

Of course, a time where it would have actually been useful to have a layer of bandages over her fingers. She could have offered to take care of the glass for David while he still watched the campers, but she knew he would never let her. It would still be possible to hurt herself, but she was at least less clumsy than him. Regardless, he was already gone. That was her fault. She could have just wrapped bandages around her hands without him. What was the point of he wasn't with her, though?

Gwen nearly gagged at that thought. The point is to not rip your damned fingers off, she scolded herself. It shouldn't have anything to do with him.

By the time David had returned, Nikki had just folded her paper sheet into a hat. She jumped onto the picnic table declaring that she was a pirate. Gwen walked over and convinced her to keep her pirate adventures quiet until the kids had some free time. Jesus Christ, I'm starting to turn into David.

David returned fifteen minutes later after cleaning out a small cut on the palm of his hand that he claimed came from the glass. Gwen mentally kicked herself for not coming with him to take care of his cut. The then did the same forever considering that.

From her peripheral, she watched as David sat down at Nerris and Space Kid’s table to help them with their crafts. Quietly, Gwen walked towards him, picked up a single piece of paper from the pile that sat on the table, and walked back to stand where she was before. David watched her go before Space kid brought his attention back to helping them. Nerris looked at David, then at Gwen, then back to her own mess of folded paper.

“I tried to make a dragon,” Nerris said, “but he looks more like… A rock.”

“A meteorite!” Space Kid yelled excitedly. Nerris stared blankly at him.

David told her to wait a few minutes while he helped Space Kid because he was the first to ask for help. “Why don't you go see Gwen? Maybe you can improvise a bunch of little creatures!”

Why the Hell had David said that? Well, because they were both counsellors, of course, that part was obvious, but why now? The last thing Gwen needed was to admit to David that she hadn't actually looked over the origami book that he gave her the week before. It would have been his fault if he hadn’t offered to help her turn the pages of her books, but it was Gwen’s fault for having other books to read.

Nerris listened to David’s advice, walking towards Gwen who was struggling to remember how to fold her own piece of paper and trying to look thoughtful as she turned it over in her hands. Really, this was just a way to distract herself. It still felt strange to be able to move her hands so freely. She had gotten used to the bandages.

“David said you can help me?” Nerris sounded sceptical. It wasn't exactly unwarranted considering Gwen’s reputation, but it was still a bit agitating. The last thing Gwen needed was to admit that she couldn't actually help her. Then David would end up teaching them both.

Gwen looked at Nerris, secretly making sure that David was still distracted by Space Kid.

“Nerris, I actually never learned how to make origami.” Gwen felt a pang of guilt when Nerris appeared downtrodden. “Hey, don't give me that. I can show you how to make something even better.”

It was about fifteen minutes later that the camp had once again fallen into disorganized chaos while the kids ran around throwing paper airplanes at each other. These paper airplanes were a good deal more flight ready than they had been a few days ago.

“This is my fault.” Gwen wasn't ashamed of admitting this one out loud while she and David looked at the mess. “I showed Nerris how to make a really cool looking one and Erid wanted one too, so then they both showed Dolph who made several different types of planes and handed them out to Nikki, Preston, and Harrison. Then Nerf started reenacting King Kong and climbing the tables trying to punch paper planes out of the air and Max tried to escape into the woods but I caught him.”

“Will you keep an eye on Space Kid while I take care of this?” David asked through an obviously forced smile. The tightness of his jaw was painfully noticeable.

“Sure thing, David.”

For a short moment, his fake smile was as real as ever.

“Thank you, Gwen!” David rushed around to pick up after and round up the rioting children. Gwen was exhausted from chasing after Max, anyway. She decided to believe that it was David's way of thanking her for catching him before he made it to the lake.

She couldn't help but feel like it wasn't fair, though. All she had done was chase down Max. David was calming a riot.

“David!” Gwen yelled through the crowd despite her best efforts to hold herself back. “Do you need any help?”

“I’m fine!”

“No, you’re not!” Gwen stood up. “Stay here, Space Kid, David is in over his head, again.”