Riley and the Boxers | ✔️

Sixteen

S I X T E E N

A school camp was just what I needed.

The entire junior and senior student body were gathered in the school's assembly hall, listening to the Principal, Mr Howard, inform us about the camp in his usual monotonic voice. His expression was motionless; totally burning the fun that the camp probably was.

"This should be a fun, exciting and leisurely experience as a reward for all the hard work you Junior and Seniors years have been studying. The cost of the excursion is quite pricy, therefore negotiations are opened to be made with your year advisor. We advise you very much to attend, since St Crows is a private school and doesn't provide many holidays. However, this is because of high educational purposes..." He paused, what seemed like gulping before continuing. "Mrs Pebbles may now step forward and announce her speech."

There was a long silence, everyone watched Mr Howard swiftly sorted through the papers behind the podium. Then he walked towards the row of seats on the left of the stage, where the head teachers and student representatives sat.

Mrs Pebbles jumped off her seat, walked towards the podium, adjusted the microphone and cleared her voice. "Good morning, fellow senior students of our high school. Last night, the students of music and drama performed sensationally in front of a very special guest. Miss Samantha Willow, a director of the PA Annual Show. Miss Willow loved the performances! So as a reward, drama and music students will be taken to the camp separately from the rest of you. Same price is still needed to pay, the only difference is they would be staying for an extra night. Have fun kids! I'll be handing out the notes now. Thank you."

Mrs Pebbles stepped down the stairs, slowly handing every student she came across one notification and information sheet. I stretched out my arms and looked at Orio whose grin was so wide, you could mistaken him as a happy clown.

He beamed at me, clapping his hands together. "This is going to be so much fun! If last year was a blast, this year should be much better! I wonder what hot guy will be my roommate this year..."

I laughed and couldn't agree more. I was a total sucker for camps; campfires, singing along to folk songs, outdoor activities and the food there always made me happy. It was a great opportunity to meet new people! Suddenly something popped into my mind, pushing all my thoughts away.

Slowly tilting my head, I peeked at Chance who was sitting a little behind everybody, frowning to himself.

"Pst, Chance!" I whispered, not wanting to attract any attention. His head immediately snapped at me, his eyes blunt. He cocked a brow as I continued, "Are you coming to camp?"

He scoffed. "In my darkest nightmares." I winced. "Camps make me puke. Never been to camp, never will."

No wonder why we never got along...

I scowled at him and turned away, but managed to catch a glimpse of his death glare. Camps? Stupid? He's stupid. He obviously missed out on life if he's never been to camp!

Mrs Pebbles walked by and stopped in front of us, smiling knowingly. "It's okay boys, your guardians already paid for you three. I was amazed at how quick she was to pay, but I'm glad you're all coming, as you guys are also part of the performing squad! You don't need the notification sheet, but here's the information one..." She passed me three sheets of paper before shooting a toothy grin and walking on. I was amused, it was only a few seconds ago that I was questioning if Elva would be able to pay for us.

I passed one to Orio and turned around to pass one to Chance, only to be met by his fuming expression, his fists balled and jaws clenched together. His piercing, fury eyes stared right ahead and he breathed heavily, trying to contain his fury. And it was right then and there I understood clearly how much he hated camps.