Now You See Me

four.

***
This has got to be the fattest, most incredible house I've ever step foot in. My poor, bread-and-ketchup self felt like I was dirtying the air by just standing there.

"This is insane. Bet all three houses cost more than a couple million all together." Marty whistled as the team unloaded all their belongings in the giant, white accented lobby area we were in.

"7 million." Someone said behind us, standing in the middle of the three-doored entrance to the mansion.

She was an older woman. Jet black hair that was so dark it looked blue in the sunlight- clearly she dyes it regularly. About 5'3 and wearing a light blue button up shirt that was tucked in her dark-washed jeans that were held up by... a Gucci belt?! Her crimson red lipstick was very much overdrawn on her thin lips and they matched her very pointy and very ornate cowgirl boots. Perched on her head was a stetson cattleman hat.

What's up with people and their outfit statements?

"7 million." She repeated in a punctuated southern accent, when everyone's eyes were on her. "For just this house. The other two were even more expensive. Costed me my life's savings."

We all looked between her and the gorgeous home around us, nodding and slowing taking in the amount of money that made these walls. I was baffled, to say the least. The most amount of money I've ever held in my own hands was $500 from my first babysitting check back in 10th grade.

Coach McMasters was the first to break the silence, "Meet your camp coordinator team, the ma'am who graciously lent her home, er, homes for us to use- Miss. Cindy Hoffman." A chorus of hellos resounded, followed by a few claps of gratitude.

Miss Cindy waved her hand in the air as she stepped further into the lobby, dismissing the air of awe and honor our claps produced around her.

"How ya doin' folks? Hopefully that plane ride wasn't too awful. Now I know y'all are hungry, I can practically hear them belly's rumblin'. Follow me into the back yard for yer dinner- it's pizza time!" With a single, loud clap she lead the team through the unbelievably large living area, the kitchen, and stood before the house's back sliding doors.

I thought I could hear people outside. I tried looking between the closed blinds as I saw forms of people moving around in the backyard.

"Oh yes, forgot to mention the other team staying here is already out 'er eatin'. Nice team, just like y'all." And with that she slid open the sliding doors and we all walked out onto a wide, platform patio.

I was momentarily blinded by the bright sunlight. I felt someone grab my left wrist, briefly shaking it.

"Oh my gosh Angie- look!" Sarai loudly whispered into my left ear, making me follow her surprised gaze to the farthest table from the house. Seeing a group of about six kids our age sitting there I didn't really know why she seemed so surprised.

"What? What am I supposed to be looking- oh." A boy, wearing a familiar white bucket hat, got up and I recognized those baggy sweatpants.

Grape kid. So my prediction was right... the other team staying here were the Angels.

Taking my eyes off of the boy whom we had met back at the airport earlier that day, I looked around the area, sizing up the rest of his teammates. I could hear Miss Cindy ushering our team to go get our food and make ourselves comfortable.

There were only three tables completely unoccupied- enough to fit about 18 people. Guess some of us were sitting on the grass or sharing tables with the Angels.

"We have to hurry up and get a table- I lowkey don't feel like associating myself with our possible rivals." Sarai said as she lead us toward the boxes of pizza on a table.

"They are our rivals, Sarai. And if we're going to be sharing the same grounds as them, why not take the opportunity now to befriend some of them?" Marty reasoned as he trailed behind us.

"Let's just hurry up and find a place to sit at. All I care about is satisfying my hunger right now." I looked at the pizza laid out in front of us, it's grease glistening in the sun. The pepperoni were calling my name.

As I was reaching for a slice of pepperoni pizza, I saw Sarai visibly stiffen beside me in my peripheral.

"Yo, if it isn't the landmines!" I turned my face to the source of the loud, sort of obnoxious voice. The boy was standing behind Sarai, Marty, and I with two other boys beside him.

"Oh, it's Grape Kid." I said plainly. I didn't mean to say the nickname I dubbed him out loud to his face, but I didn't like the way he purposely mixed up our team name. Plus, I didn't even know his actual name.

If I wasn't staring right at his face I wouldn't have caught the fleeting moment of irritation on his face. Sarai coughed to stifle her laugh. Grape Kid ignored her and Marty, holding my stare.

The blondie to Grape Kid's right looked between us, "Eli, do you know these guys?"

Ah, so that's his name. Eli. That's a cute name... and a cute face.

Realizing what I was thinking I shook my head, using the outward expression to also answer Blondie, "No, we just ran into him at the airport when he came up to us, asking about our shirts."

"Grape Kid, huh? That's real funny but I can't blame you since I never actually properly introduced myself." I was slightly impatient, since my stomach was crying for food.

Marty must have read my mind, "Um, hey everyone, my name's Marty- can we, like, go sit down because I'm kind of starving here..."

"Oh my bad, let's go sit at our table then," Eli was still staring at me, watching my reaction, as if he knew I was about to decline- which I was. "Why not introduce you guys to the other team, right?"

I kept my face blank and simply shrugged. The three of us followed Eli and his gang to the table furthest from the house. I could feel the stares of his team and my own teammates on us as we walked around the tables.

The three of us sat on one side of the long, rectangular table, while Eli and his buddies sat across from us. It felt very awkward, like we were about to debate the shape of the Earth or something.

Marty and his oblivious self took a huge bite of his pizza and said with his mouth full, "So, who wants to go first? Well, technically I did so how about you guys?" He looked expectantly at Eli, who shifted his hat on his head.

"Sure. I'm Elijah Kim. My friends call me Eli, but to strangers," he picked his nail, "it's Elijah."

I wanted to roll my eyes. So badly. Wow, dramatic much. Also... that name definitely sounds familiar. Where have I seen this kid..?

Then, stretching his arms out behind him to place them over the shoulders of the two boys on either side of him, he continued, "This is Judah, my cousin and lifelong best friend," Judah, the other Asian kid, gave us a slight finger wave, "and this is Garrett," the blonde kid, "...Co-Captain of our team, alongside me."

My eyebrows shot up a little bit.

***
Grape Kid... how we feeling abt him👀 I want him and Angie to have some hostility towards each other just because they both find each other cayuteeee lol. And then the mutual hostility is heightened because of their team rivalry.

I will probably proceed with Marty as more of a background character bc I want to focus more on Sarai and Angie since it'll be easier to do so.

So far we have one reader- ME LOLOLOL 🥺🤪🙃