The next morning I woke up beside Jory but she was already awake. Grease coated my hair and I could feel the makeup that had stayed on my face the night before. When it was 6:45 I walked out of my cabin and ran to the shower. I was quick and then got dressed. When I looked at myself in the mirror after my eyes were bloodshot and I had faint dark circles under my eyes. My hair was a mess of wet curls and my clothes stuck to my body as water started soaking through. I looked down as I walked out of the bathroom and only looked up when I was sure that I was right beside my cabin. I wrapped my hair in a towel and started on my makeup. I only put on mascara and a little lip chap. Then my hair was faintly dry but it wasn't making my shirt wet so it worked. When I was done I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled. My eyes popped because of the black mascara and my freckles darkened when the light hit them, my smile was also sparkling white. I looked better and my friends were ready so I walked out with Jory and Brooklynn leaving Izzy by herself. I was known for not being able to stay mad at anyone but this time at least I didn't have to see her after camp and I wouldn't have to see her next year because she was still going to be in teen and I would be in Youth.
We sang Oh Canada while the flags raised and then we filed in for breakfast. My stomach felt queasy and I didn't think I could eat anything without bringing it back up. After all my friends were done I hid my untouched food and threw it away and asked L-smack if I could go back to my cabin to fetch something. She said yes and I almost ran to my cabin. When I was finally there I was breathless. My mind was running wild and I was so nervous about what Alex was going to say. I didn't even know if I wanted to go with him or if this was my mind being confused because of my feeling with Hayden. When I collected myself I walked to the Seminar where everyone was. I found Jory who gave me a worried look but I brushed it off with a smile and turned my attention to the councillors at the front. I looked over at Izzy who had glued herself to Alex. She caught my eye and glared right back. I didn't see why she was mad at me. It's not like I knew she liked him and then sprung it on her saying I liked him too. Oh, wait that's exactly what she did. The councillors went to the front and told us about Journey. Today was the day we did the speeches and I couldn't be more not prepared. I had everything written down but it felt like I had no words expressing what I was thinking. We were split into two groups. One group went to do their speeches while the other went to do the Journey. I was lucky that my group was the one that got to do Journey first although I did have to spend more time agonizing about my speech. We got split into two more groups and I was stuck with Izzy and Alex. We first walked into the Rec building and there were harnesses waiting with helmets on the ground. I walked to one and watched as everyone found their own pair. The men and women there that were in charge said their names. Then a man showed us how to put the harnesses on properly. When everyone was done and they checked everything. When we were all ready we headed to the rock wall. It was in the middle of nowhere surrounded by trees. My type of paradise.
One by one, everyone got a turn on the rock wall. Some people made it all the way to the top and others only went halfway. When it was my turn, I looked up and gulped. It looked really tall and being scared of heights, this was not my ideal fun activity to do with people I barely knew. But nevertheless, I went and grabbed the first rock. Humming the melody to the first song that came to my head, I made my way up the wall and blocked everyone else around me out. I didn't look up or down to see where I was on the rock wall. One by one I grabbed the next rock in front of my face and made my way up till I saw the top of the wall. I rang the bell and finally looked down. Have you ever done something like that and you instantly regret it because I had just done that? I said the words that had to be said and then repeatedly pushed my legs off the rock wall until I had my feet on solid ground again. When we were finally done I breathed a silent breath of relief and started following the two men telling us where to go.
Our next challenge was archery. We even got to learn from the man who taught Jennifer Laurence how to do archery for the hunger games. I wasn't very good at archery but I did try my best and while doing this Alex and Izzy started to actually talk to me. Izzy discarded her previous behavior and started acting like we were so close and nothing had changed. I couldn't believe that she was this bipolar and didn't care if I was hurt or not. I acted like nothing happened just so it wouldn't be awkward but inside I just wanted everything to end. After a while they called for lunch and we all regrouped in the Pavilion. I was so glad to be with Brooklynn and Jory again. I felt too awkward when I didn't have my lifelines. At that moment when I saw them I felt safe and when they were gone I didn't know what to do.
Lunch was as good as you can get with camp food but my mind was on other things like the speech I had to say in front of everyone. I had done an oral book report before so I just looked at this like it but my speech was about my sister. She was the only thing on my mind because she was leaving me for college. We always talked about this happening and it did happen to everyone who had siblings but I wasn't ready for it. She loved this camp and I was growing to love it too but it wasn't making me feel closer to her like I wanted to. Lunch ended just like every other day in my life and I had to be ready to speak about my life problems in front of people I barely knew. We split into groups again and one by one we said our speeches. After about half of the kids were done I just wanted to get the speech over with so I stood up and went to the podium. I looked down at the words I had written down and started speaking. It was easy to keep going once I had started and after a couple of minutes it was over. I went back to my friends without looking at anyone.
It took most of the afternoon to say all of our speeches and then we were all sent to go back to our cabins for some quiet time before supper. Eating was easy but I was still worried about Alex. I hadn't gotten an answer from him yet and I didn't know how much longer he would make me wait for it. The Banquet was tomorrow after all. I shook my head and tried to listen to the conversation that was being held by my best friends. They were talking about the talent show and what they wanted to do in it. I had no desire to even step a foot out of my chair to do anything. I had been in one play and I wasn't confident enough to go and walk into that terror of many eyes starring. They could do what they wanted and I would support them but I never wanted to be them.
Then it was time to clean. Purple went to the seminar to clean with red. Brooklynn Ofcourse squealed because she got to spend more time with me. But Alex would also be there with us. No words were said as each group cleaned. I stole a few glances Alex's way but he never looked up from the vacuum. Boys were dumb. That was the only thing going through my head as I wiped tables and laughed with Brookie. After a bit she disappeared and I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around to find Alex standing behind me.
"What's up?" I asked
"Yes"
"Yes what??" it only took me a few seconds to realize what he was saying. Yes was the answer to my question. He was going to be my banquet date. I looked down and smiled and like the cheshire cat, he had disappeared and Brooklynn was at my side again smiling like a weirdo.
After we were all finished cleaning up we headed back to the pavilion for the talent show. Mira started with her idea of a contemporary dance. It wasn't the best but it was ok. Cassy sang hold on, Cheyenne sang count on me, but the best was Kaylee sang one call away. She had one of the best voices I have ever heard.Jaxson was literally dragged up there just to stand there and lick his teeth and smile. Yes I will give it to him. He is very hot but I don't get why they would parade him around like an animal at a zoo. Lastly Liam and Alex did card tricks. When Alex asked for a volunteer Brooklynn and Jory kept whispering at me to put my hand up but I wouldn't be that girl. The one so obsessed with her crush she would do anything to be around him and in his eyes.
After all that excitement was done we had supper and then headed to the seminar. Warm fuzzies were given out and then it was MOVIE TIME. We watched Queen of Katwe. It wasn't very interesting but it wasn't bad either. I spent the most time talking to Izzy anyway. I had gotten smarties from my secret friend and I gave Quinn a picture of a minion in a box of feathers. When the movie was done we all got in a circle and sang Champion and headed to flag lowering. Then it was bedtime, I couldn't wait to put my head on my bed and just sleep. Jory had other ideas though and decided that she was going to throw blankets at me because of her sugar high. I love her but she really needed to chill out that night.