RUN ( ; tommy slater )

PART 1

     I stared into the dusty mirror, trying to fix my dark hair that was currently in knots. I woke up late again. I was supposed to help Joan set up the mess hall with decorations and flags. The Color War is tomorrow, and I was not excited.

"Ugh," I reached for my toothbrush, globbing the toothpaste on the bristles. I didn't understand why Color War was even a thing. It made the rivalry between the two towns even worse.

"Lori? Come on, we gotta start getting the mess hall ready." The faint smell of weed and perfume told me who the unknown person was. I spit into the sink, putting the toothbrush on the sink counter before turning around to open the door.

"Yes?" I crossed my arms, seeing the one and only Joan. She had been my best friend ever since our first year as a counselor at Camp Nightwing. She grabbed my hand, dragging me out of the bathroom.

"Let's go, Kurt's been bugging me all day about the decorations in the mess hall." Joan sighed, walking out of our cabin as I unwillingly followed, her hand still locked with mine.

"Why are you talking as if you hate him? Don't you have sex with him all the time?" I replied, using my other hand to cover my eyes from the sun that was beaming down on us. Joan dropped my hand, turning around to glare at me.

"Oops?" I shrugged at her, remembering I was the only one she told about them. Joan opened her mouth to say something when Tommy walked over to us.

"Hey Lori, hey Joan." He greeted us both, nodding in both of our directions.

"Hey, Tommy."

"Hey."

"Can I talk to Lori in private for a second?" The tall blonde looked over to me, wiping his hands with a damp cloth. Joan turned to look over at me, winking before skipping to the mess hall.

"What's up?" I looked up at him, plastering a fake smile on my face. Tommy and I were best friends ever since freshman year in Shadyside Highschool. We were inseparable, until this year of course. Tommy got a new girlfriend and he didn't pay any attention to me. I know it makes me look like I'm one of those girls but I couldn't help it. I was so used to it being just us.

"Are you doing okay? You've been waking up later than usual and you don't seem like yourself." He stepped closer to me, bringing his hand up to put it on my shoulder. I backed up, putting my hand up.

"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be fine?" I retorted and started walking in the opposite direction of him until a large hand landed on my shoulder. I turned around to see Tommy with a worried expression on his face.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." He slowly nodded at me, and I could tell he knew I was lying. I turned the other way once again, walking towards the mess hall.

     "Does this look okay?" I held up a small, blue banner with Shadyside written on it. The white letters were messy and crooked. Joan looked up from the shirt she was painting.

"Yeah, it looks fine. What did you and Tommy talk about?" She got up from her seat on the picnic table to sit next to me on the floor. I knew I wasn't gonna get out of this.

"Nothing, why?" I sighed, tossing the banner I finished onto the brown table Joan was once sitting on.

"Last time we talked about him, you seemed pretty mad." She reached for the marijuana that was on the bench seat.

"It's nothing, Joan." I grabbed the white marker and started to write on the piece of fabric.

"I know you, Lori. You and Tommy were best friends until he started dating Cindy." She sighed, bringing the marijuana up to her face before stopping to gasp, "Do you like Tommy?" I dropped the marker that was in my hand.

"What? No! We've been friends for forever. It isn't like that." I sat up to glare at Joan, surprised that after all these years she would even think that.

"How do I know you guys haven't hooked up before?" She gave a knowing look to me before lighting and smoking the weed in front of her face. I shook my head, standing up.

"I'm gonna check up on Ziggy, okay? Make sure she hasn't gotten in any more trouble." I didn't bother waiting for a response from her, pushing the door open to be met with Ziggy was normally easy to spot among the others. She was short, temperamental, and ginger. Yet I couldn't find her, but I did see Cindy standing by nature & science. Cindy and I were pretty good friends, and we still talked a lot even after she started dating Tommy.

"Oh, hey Lori! What's up? Also, have you seen Ziggy? I know you guys are good friends." She crossed her arms with her eyebrows furrowed.

"That's actually what I came to you about, you haven't seen her?" My face quickly turned from emotionless to worried. If Ziggy wasn't hanging around her cabin, she was definitely causing trouble. Cindy shook her head, a concerned expression already painted on her face. "I'll try and find her, 'kay?" I put my hand on Cindy's shoulder before trotting off to find her little sister.

     "Ziggy, where are you?" I grumbled, trekking through the forest. After my conversation with Cindy, I had checked everywhere around camp and I couldn't find her. I figured she had been in her cabin so I let it go for a couple of hours, but another camper told me she wasn't there. I looked around, scanning the forest. The forest was very empty, only having skinny trees and the occasional logs that lay on the ground.

"Ziggy?" I didn't want to give up on her, and if she was in the forest alone, I did not want to leave her in here alone. But I had the distinct feeling I wasn't alone in the forest.

SNAP

A/N: this is it for the first part! i decided to leave it on a tiny cliffhanger, hehe. i'll see you for the next part!!