Chapter eleven
"Everything alright?" Anika jumped as she tiptoed into the cabin.
"What the hell, Mel?" Anika swore softly.
"You're a poet and you don't even know it." Keira said, her arm still flung over her eyes.
"How long have you two been awake?"
"A few minutes." Mel answered and tilted her head to the side in question.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Anika read the worry in the red head's eyes.
"Where'd you disappear off to?" Keira asked, sitting up in bed now.
"The dock. The water was like glass." Anika gave a small smile.
"Yeah? That must've been neat. Did you live near water?" Keira let out a long yawn.
"If sleeping next to a puddle counts...." Anika muttered under her breath. "No, but my friend had a pool we all used." Anika forced a smile.
"Sounds fun. I lived near the ocean but the water was always too cold to go in." Keira shivered at the memory.
"Did you eat breakfast yet?" Mel asked with her back facing Anika as she searched her dresser for a fresh tank top and pair of long shorts.
"Not yet."
"Good. Grab a pair of clothes and I'll show you where the showers are. Then we can go grab something." Mel decided.
"How was the rest of the bon fire last night?" Mel asked on the walk to the girl's hygiene station.
"Nothing exciting happened. After you guys left, so did Ryleigh. It carried on like any normal fire. People talked, mostly about you." Keira frowned as she met Anika's grey eyes.
"I figured that." Anika mumbled. "I kinda lost it last night." she rubbed the back of her neck.
"He was getting on my nerves and I'm not really the violent one, but I wanted to throw him in the fire. He disappointed a lot of girls by stooping that low to bring out your... er, story."
"Just so you know, I've never touched any kind of drug before." Anika admitted, hoping that Ryleigh wasn't spreading rumors about her.
"I'd never throw my life away like my... mother did."
"You didn't seem the type to." Keira offered a sad smile.
"Oh, and don't let anything Victoria says bother you. Knowing her, she's probably going to make some snide comments about your mom at breakfast. Unfortunately, we share the north wing with her." Keira scowled.
"So I've heard." Anika breathed as they reached the showers.
Once they finished at the bathroom, the three girls walked out with slightly damp hair. They wore their bathing suits under their tank tops and shorts knowing that they were going to pay a visit to the lake. It was only eight thirty in the morning but already Anika felt slightly clammy in the early morning heat.
"Hey girls." Skinner called out a few yards back on the path they were taking to the cafeteria. They stopped and waited for the white blond haired boy as he jogged up to them. His worried cherry brown eyes connected with Anika's.
"Please tell me they serve good food for breakfast." Anika quickly avoided the subject that nearly spilled from Skinner's lips.
"Pretty good for delinquent camp." Keira nodded. "I'd go for the cinnamon buns before they go, though."
Skinner opened the door and followed the girls into the dinner hall where most kids were already sitting around.
"It gets crowded real quick. Unlike lunch, there's only one shift for breakfast." Mel explained, glaring at a particular group of kids openly staring at them, mostly Anika.
YOU ARE READING
A Silver Summer
Teen FictionCaught by the police after a late night graffiti spree, Anika is faced with a decision. Go to a summer camp for troubled teens or pay a hefty vandalizing fine. Barely scraping by on her own, the choice is clear what Anika has to do, but that doesn't...