That's Why They Call it the Unexpected

A Really Special Girl

               As soon as we walked in, I couldn’t help but notice the fact that there were a lot of campers here – roughly about 35 kids ranging from ages 14-17, and only about seven of them were boys. They were all standing in an oval that was most likely supposed to be a circle. There were only four adults in the room, and not long after Tyler, Laury, and I joined the circle, Kora walked in and stood by the adults.

               “They’re all here now Michelle,” Kora said.

               “Thanks,” Michelle said. Then she raised her voice a bit more so that everybody in the room could hear her. “Okay, everybody. Welcome to camp, whether it’s your first year here or if you’ve been coming here for years. If you didn’t notice, I am the director this year and hopefully we will all have fun together.”

               Everybody nodded their heads and I even saw one of the boys wink at Michelle before he said, “I hope we will, too.” Ugh. Have I mentioned before how much I hate players? They drive me crazy. But I get why this guy said it. Michelle is really pretty. Unblemished skin, straight white teeth, and a body most girls would kill for. She also had light blue eyes with blonde hair.

               “Okay... well, to start off we’re going to play a game to get to know each other.” Everybody groaned. “Oh, come on it won’t be that bad. You’ll get candy,” she said as she shook a container of gummy bears. Everyone brightened considerably at that. “But you can’t eat it until I say you can,” she warned. She walked around the circle and everybody took one.

               Once she got around the circle and took her place again, she took a gummy bear herself. “Okay, here’s how we play the game. Whichever color gummy bear you took is how many things you will tell us about yourself in addition to your name. Clear is five things, green is four, red is three, orange is two, and yellow is one. I’ll start.” I looked down into my hand. I mentally groaned. I had taken green, so I have to tell four things.

               “I have red. My name is Michelle Datore. I am 23 years old. My favourite color is blue and I like to go camping with my family.”

               The girl beside her started listing her things. Instead of listening I wracked my brains for what I would say. Deep in thought, I looked up when Laury nudged me with me elbow. The girl two ahead of me was saying her things. “Thanks,” I mouthed to Laury. She mouthed back, “No problem.”

               Now it was my turn. “My name is Ella. My nickname is El, I am 16 years old, green is obviously my favourite flavour of gummy bear, and my favourite thing to do is draw and paint.” There, the four easiest things I could say without giving away too much about myself. Laury went next.

               “My name is Lauren. My nickname is Laury, El is my best friend in the whole world, I have never had a boyfriend, my favourite fruit is pineapple, and I listen to every kind of music out there.” Sucker, she must have chosen the clear gummy bear. I once again tuned out until I saw that Tyler’s turn was coming up. He was the first guy to go, seeing as we were going around the circle clockwise.

               “My name is Tyler. I like to play pretty much any sport.” Lucky bum, he must have taken a yellow gummy bear. Being the mature person I am, I stuck my tongue out at Tyler. He returned it by sticking his tongue out, too. Then the guy beside him started to speak.

               “My name is Derek. I’m here because I broke a really special girl’s heart, and it was the biggest mistake I have ever made.” I froze, and slowly turned my head to meet Derek’s gaze. He hasn’t changed a bit. He’s still the same old Derek. Tanned and muscular from playing football, with deep brown eyes you could drown in. His hair was the same color as his eyes. He was 6’2”. I heard Laury’s intake of breath beside me. She grabbed my hand and I gripped it hard, as if she was my lifeline. I started to tremble and was almost hyperventilating. Then I felt my anger rising, and I stood up as tall as I could and let go of Laury’s hand.

               Apparently the game was over because everybody started filing out the door. Laury gave me a quick hug and I told her I’d meet her in the cabin. Nobody was left in the old lodge except for me and Derek. He walked over to me. With the coldest voice I had ever spoken in I said, “How dare you say that in front of everybody.”

               He opened his mouth to speak, but he never did. That’s because I punched him as hard as I could and calmly walked out the door.