the Romeo + Juliet Experiment

Chapter Two: Ryan

I was pretty sure this whole thing was bullshit. Like against a hundred school policies bullshit. But whatever. It was mandatory and I could be into a week away with a bunch of girls.

Our bus pulled into the camp ground and Miss Johnson barely kept her footing.

"Now, I want you all on your best behaviour. We all remember what happened on the Year Seven co-ed camp that got them cancelled..."

"What happened on the Year Seven co-ed camp?" Mark asked me.

I shrugged. "I didn't know we had a Year Seven co-ed camp."

"I think it was before our time," Ben answered.

We looked over to see him lounging with his feet on the seat in the next row and his arms crossed over his chest.

Miss Johnson was still going. "We've got one hour until our 'ball'..."

Ben gave an exaggerated yawn as Mark huffed, "Woop. Because this isn't going to be a load of fucking shit."

I nodded. "Yeah. A week of basically dating instead of school. I would actually rather take all my exams naked."

"Wait a minute..." Ben sat up exaggeratedly slowly. "Wait a minute..."

"What?" Mark asked.

"He's not wrong."

"What?" I asked.

Ben smacked me in the chest. "Wait. Wait. Wait..."

I pushed the hand that was still on my chest away. "Nothing good ever comes after that tone..."

"A week of dating. Dudes!" Ben whacked me again. "This isn't a week of school camp. This is a week of wooing the lady-folk."

"Nice," Mark sniggered, fist-bumping Ben.

"There's still an assignment," I reminded them.

"Yeah, a bunch of drivel about three days to fall in love," Mark waved my trivial concerns away.

So, they'd officially amped themselves up and I was equally as unenthusiastic. And it seemed I was the only one. Literally the only one.

As soon as we were off the bus, pheromones, hormones and vibes created a potent enough stench to bring a tear to my eyes. It was insane. You'd think none of these kids had ever met a member of the opposite sex before. Girls flicked their hair back and giggled. Boys strutted like idiots and kicked their chins in greeting.

It was all I could do to make it to our dormitory without straining my eye muscles.

"Did you see that blonde?" Ben asked as we dumped our bags.

I laughed. "You have an unhealthy obsession with blondes, my man."

"What can I say?" He shrugged wildly. "I like the mystery."

"What mystery?" Mark asked.

Ben and I smirked to each other.

"You mean like when they grow it out?" Mark continued.

I snorted and Ben laughed.

"Not that, then?" Mark asked.

I shook my head. "No. Not that."

Ben and I exchanged another look while we waited for Mark to work it out. Dude wasn't an idiot, he wasn't even fresh, he just didn't always think things through.

"Oh!" he finally cried. "Oh. Like, under..." He pointed between his legs. "Like...?" Ben and I nodded. "Riiight!" He nodded as he unzipped his bag. "Cool. Got it."