TIES [EN]

Chapter 1 - LIZ

Yorkshire Countryside, August 2024.
4th week of summer camp.

The birds are already chirping this morning, I think that woke me up. Or maybe it's my roommates' steps. Anyway, I don't need to get out of my duvets until the instructor sh...

-Come on, girls! Stand up. Get these bodies out of these beds. Right now!

Well, he just shouted it out. Now I have to get up and hurry. Here we go.
I jump out of bed to jump in my shoes. I grab the bucket next to them, a big smile on my lips, and sneak between my four friends to the bathroom. There, I put the large container in the sink and run water flush with the rim. It's time to go. I take my bucket and run out of the cabin under the eyes and questions of my roommates. I answer them when I leave the wooden terrace:

-It's time to party!

And time to run. Run as fast as possible before the other instructors go to wake the boys' cabins. I slalom between the wooden houses and the trees to reach the "boys' area" as it is officially called.
The sun is already strong at this hour, it's as if it never stops shining. No Moon, no night: only the sun every day for three weeks now. I'm too hot under my sweatshirt and jogging while running like that. But it's very close now.
Second aisle, first cabin on the left. I slowly climb the few steps and tiptoe to the door to not make the old wood creak. One hand on the handle of the bucket and the other on the door, I open it.

The cabin in front of me is a nightmare. It's just a pile of dirty clothes on the ground and packets of chips or cakes up to the last bed on the left. There, everything seems clean and tidy as always. I put a finger on my lips when I see one of the boys waking up.

I watch him sleep peacefully when I arrive in front of his bed. His body is wrapped in a blanket, only his arm gets out of bed. And his face, so calm. He looks like an angel. I should end this. I grab the bucket with both hands and throw all the water into the bed in front of me. He wakes up.

-WHAT THE HELL...

He sees me, puts on his glasses and opens his mouth wide. I think it looks like a smile.

-HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OLIVER! I shouted as I dropped the empty bucket at my feet.

Oliver gets out of his wet blankets and gets up. His shirt underneath doesn't look any better. It's great. It's perfect. Even his little curls on his forehead are soaked in water. It's a masterpiece.

He steps towards me, he comes for me, I step back. And I'm running away. I walk back to the cabin steps and hear Oliver's footsteps behind me. I already knew he was going to chase me. So let's play a little game. I start running around the whole "boy zone" to escape my best friend. I go through every row and between every cabin, Oliver on my heels. The other teenagers leave their rooms fully dressed to go to breakfast. That's what we should do too, but today is a special day and nothing can stop us.

I run to the large rectangular chalet that serves as a dormitory for pre-teens. A voice stops me and Oliver a few meters away. He joins me and we both watch one of our instructors Kyle, leaning against the railing of the wooden terrace. He remains there to examine us from top to bottom, a little smile on the corner of his lips:

-Liz and Oliver. I don't want to know why you two are running around in pajamas when you're supposed to be dressed... like perfect obedient teenagers. And I don't want to know why you, Oliver, are soaked... but you're being punished.

I can guess by his tone and the little smile that what our instructor said is ironic. Well, maybe not on the fact that we're going to be punished. But, I can't help but puff. Inside, it's even worse. It's the image of Oliver soaked in front of Kyle passing and looping again.

-New kids are coming this afternoon. You will be in charge of visiting them at the camp, I am sure it will help them.

-But it's Oliver's birthday today! I replied.

-Well, consider it a gift then.

-Okay. Can we go now?

The monitor nods, amused. The second after, I'm heading for the big vacant lot in the middle of the summer camp. I run to the middle of it. There, without trees, the sun seems even stronger and brighter. That's why I'm surprised when I turn around and come face to face with Oliver. He grabs my legs and lifts me up. I laugh my head off as he makes me spin again and again in the air.
Under the sun, you can feel it well. He rests me and as he does, I stare into his eyew, an ocean of blue. I combed his little strands falling on his forehead and said to him:

-I wish you a happy birthday, Oliver Borowski. I love you.