The Camp

Chapter 9

As I stood surrounded by sleeping celebrities I began to panic, my breaths started to escape in sharp, wheezy rasps and my increasing panic of being caught only made it worse. I stood there with wide, scared eyes and when I heard something move to my left my head darted in that direction and my eyes met Jack's. He was tucked into his bed with a soft quilt that he'd pulled up to his chin and the pillow behind him was sideways across the corner. He looked as surprised as I was, and we spent a good few seconds staring at each other in fear. I didn't dare speak in case I woke any of the others up as well and by Jack's face he didn't dare wake the others up either and so it left us in an impossible situation. "What the hell?" He whispered, his eyes darting across the other beds to check they were still asleep, "How did you get in here?" I didn't really hear him, he sounded like an echo in the back of my head because I had begun to look around. There were rare items on the walls, signed basketball shirts from athletes who had stayed here, posters and even a wig on a stand. The beds looked so comfortable that I immediately felt like climbing in even though there was already someone in every single one. It was wonderful. "Hello?" Jack whispered and I turned back to him, finally calming down enough to speak. "I was looking for the cafeteria...I thought this was the cafeteria." He sat there in complete silence for a second and then burst into hysterical laughter, he rocked backwards, and forwards and one bare arm appeared so that he could clutch his aching lungs. Tears brimmed his eyes and it only seemed to fuel his laughter when he mumbled to himself, "You were looking for the cafeteria?" I was becoming increasingly anxious about the whole situation because if anyone found out then it would look really bad for me.

Jack must've registered my unease because he wound down his laughter and swiped the tears from his eyes. "Ok, if you turn around, I'll get dressed and help you get out of here unseen." I did as he said, having no other option than to let him help me. I ended up looking at Finn, who was sleeping peacefully on his side underneath a layer of thick quilt. I felt like a stalker as I waited for Jack to finish changing. The whole time I could hear the ruffling of the cotton and fabric he was dressing in until finally he announced that he was dressed, and I could turn around.

"You've got to be careful though because the floor is what I call a time bomb." I looked at him with fear, after all he'd just announced that the floor was a bomb, not like a real bomb but it's pretty squeaky and it could wake the others." I sighed in relief but was only greeted with more shock when he extended his hand for me to take. My emotions were conflicted because they weren't allowed to touch us, and we weren't supposed to interact with them. "It's just a hand." He reassured me and I took it, lightly at first and then with a stronger grip as he led me across to the door. It was a bridge between both of our worlds. He went first so that he could show me where to step and when he opened the door, I released his hand and darted outside into the open air. Jack followed, stepping out onto the path and closing the door quietly behind himself.

In the moonlight I could see that he was wearing a pair of slack khakis and a grey t-shirt. "Are you ok?" He asked and I nodded through a deep breath, it was just me and him outside now and the lack of drones made it easier to talk than it had before. "You know you've caused me some trouble since you first arrive..." He mumbled as he took a seat on the step down from the door, I hadn't really noticed it on my way in but now I could see it quite clearly. "I'm sor-" I began but his smiled cut me off, in my confusion I just stood still, looking down at him. "It's ok, I like getting into trouble." He chuckled and patted the step beside him, I really wasn't supposed to sit with him but after that experience I felt like it was ok, so I found myself sat shoulder to shoulder with Jack Grazer in the dead of night. "And I enjoyed breaking the rules." He added as I clasped my hands in my lap. "How's your hand doing?" He asked and I lifted it to take a look, the water had washed out the majority of the rocks and the cut was healing better after being ripped open again in the obstacle course. "I'm fine, I guess." I shrugged, I hadn't really thought about it until he asked me, and I was almost sure that he didn't really want to know how it was.