Heat Lightning

Chapter Nine

After a few days, I had become infatuated. Cory was all I could think of.

I was sitting on a park bench, and flower beds were surrounding me. It was a romantic setting, and I had my walkman on. The song Stuck On You by Lionel Richie was playing. I kept thinking of Cory. I imagined what it would be like meeting his family, then getting married to him. Except we hadn't yet gone on a date.

But alas, it was time for lunch, so I got up and walked to the dining hall.

"Does anyone like this food we're eating?" asked Billy Lake during lunch.

"Me," said Dale. We were all sitting together. A bunch of us.

"It's good," said Alison.

"Well, I think it's pukey," Billy stated.

"Just shut up and eat it," Lauren said, rolling her eyes.

"Listen, you," Billy said, looking amused. He reached over and tugged on Lauren's long golden locks.

"Don't touch me," Lauren objected. I laughed to myself.

"Does anyone know any good jokes?" Cory piped up.

"Yeah, you," teased Billy.

"Ha!" Cory mocked. "Very funny."

"Hey, Cory. What's that big pimple on your shoulders?" asked Chris with a smirk.

"My head," Cory replied drolly, rolling his eyes.

"Enough," snapped Neil. "You're all a bunch of idiots!"

"What?" Lauren asked, staring at Neil with a blank look.

"Excuse me, Neil?" Alison said with narrowed eyes.

Neil shook his head. "You're all a bunch of slaves! A bunch of idiots!"

"Shut the hell up, Neil," Cory barked, giggling. "You're the idiot, dude."

Neil punched him in the arm. "Sure, bud."

"Get your hands off him, you scumbag!" I barked at Neil.

"We're only messing around," laughed Cory, holding his hands up.

I was surprised to see Cory be submissive toward another guy. Then I realized. He might be giving Neil some leeway because he empathized with his pain.

I noticed that Alison kept her eye on Neil. He was acting weird, and Alison told me it was because he had run out of drugs. When he got up and walked away with Shona Fairview, I could tell Alison was upset. I knew the fact that Shona was his ex-girlfriend bothered her. Alison looked extremely irritated. A counsellor came over and led Neil away and spoke to him.

Suddenly Dale tapped Alison on the shoulder. "What?" she snapped.

"Hi," Dale said.

"Hi," she murmured.

"Have you seen Lauren?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's around," Alison replied. She was still watching Neil and the counsellor, with Shona standing beside Neil, out of the corner of her eye.

"Dammit," she pouted.

"What's wrong?" Dale asked.

"That skank Shona Fairview," Alison mumbled, getting up from the table in a frenzy. "I have to go now."

Dale turned to me. He was looking around the dining hall every which way. "Do you know where Lauren is?" he asked. I pointed to her in the doorway, chatting to some other campers. Just then, we heard an announcement over the camp loudspeaker that exercise class was about to begin. We were going to be doing aerobics today.