Climbing the Walls (OFFICIALLY RESUMED!)

Chapter 8: The Campfire Kick-Off

Chapter 8: The Campfire Kick-off

It seems as if our efforts were in vain, as no one notices the guitars. Instead, everyone chats about the camp, where they’re from, and we roast weenies 'til they’re almost gone. The other girls ask the One Direction guys a lot of questions, and so we listen quietly. It’s not boring, surprisingly; it’s actually nice to get to know more about who we'll be spending our summer with.

As Kyle finishes off the last wiener, Gary checks the time, announcing that he'll now be calling it a night. He says his goodbyes to everyone, winks and tells us to "be careful," and "not to have too much fun.." Patricia departs shortly after Gary, reminding us that there are bags of untouched marshmallows! Niall is over the moon at this news, and loads up a stick full of the fluffy white sweets. Everyone laughs.

“So,” Sabrina glances around, “who’s up for some more adult fun?” A chorus of “oohs” comes from around the circle, everyone curious about what she has in mind.

“What are you talking about, you naughty girl?” Brittany pries, scratching the air as if she’s a cat & winking. She shrugs, and the redhead adds a “meow,” for effect.

“Well I, for one, don’t think it’s a campfire without music and booze,” Sabrina says. “I happen to know of a few bottles kicking around.. So who wants to get this party STARTED?” she shouts, beginning to open the backpacks & purses, each of which are filled with liquor. People cheer!

“Who knew?” Mere says, nearly drowned out by the whooping from nearly every councillor. “Maybe Princess will be alright after all!” She saunters over to Sabrina, & quickly returns with a bottle of Absolut Vodka.

“Eyech, Mere! That stuff’s dirty!” Lauren teases.

“Let’s do some SHOTS!” yells unknown-boy from across the fire, finally looking like he’s come to life. Soon, plastic cups are being passed around, as we’re about to make a toast to the Summer, with One Direction & a crew of practical strangers.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Sabrina says, raising her red cup in the air, shaking her hair wildly, “here’s to RIGHT NOW! Let’s get WASTED!”

Everyone cheers, downing their first shot and lining up for more. Mere and I are no strangers to heavy drinking, so we share a look of relief that this summer’s kick-off is actually getting underway. However, downing a shot of Absolut isn’t my idea of fun: I’m definitely a beer girl, with the occasional sweet cocktail thrown into the mix.

Ryan turns up out of nowhere with a set of speakers & an iPhone dock - before requests can even be made, there’s an LMFAO song being blasted from someone's mobile. Wild dancing breaks out everywhere around the fire, the girls are singing along loudly, and everyone looks to be having a great time.

I glance around, noticing that Liam doesn’t have a cup.

 “You don’t’ drink?” I say, miming the action over a booming ‘Party Rock Anthem.’

“Eh, not always!” comes the reply. “I don’t mind, s'just that I only had one kidney for a very long time, so alcohol wasn’t really much for me!”

“Oh, wow!” I add, surprised. “I had no idea! Please don’t let us make you uncomfortable,” I shout. He smiles a 'thank-you,' & flashes a thumbs up, as Zayn walks over, adding “he’s a good sport abou’ it! Takes care of the lads when they need it!” and pats him on the back.

“You mean when you need it!” Liam quips, getting another silly jab from Zayn. The conversation ends as Lauren & a girl named Samantha dance over, grabbing the boys’ hands & leading them up atop the stone benches for a dance. All I can do is smile and giggle.