When the classic sound of the bugle sounded for lunch, Alex and I rounded up our campers and headed straight for the dining hall. Once our group had gotten situated at their table, we went in search of ours. I spotted Kara, Lisa—and I definitely couldn't miss Christina—sitting at a table with the rest of Alex's friends that I'd met the first night. We grabbed trays and picked up the lunch special of the day, which happened to be hotdogs and waffle fries, and walked over together.

"Hey, how's the first day going?" Kara asked, scooting over to make room for me. I grabbed a chair from an empty table and dragged it over before setting my tray down.

"We saw Brett and Sara," Alex grumbled before I could answer. Everyone looked up, their eyes all on The Captain. "He's definitely asking for it this year," he added, roughly biting off a piece of his hotdog.

"We have to get them hard this year," Christina said, a hint of anger in her tone. Everyone else nodded in agreement, but I just sat there clueless. I mean, pranks were supposed to be all fun and games. Why were they taking it so seriously? It was as if they were planning an attack for war.

“Wow, you guys really take it to the extreme don’t you?” I commented, regretting it right away as everyone’s eyes set on me.

“They tried to get Alex fired last year,” Lisa explained. I frowned and looked at Alex who was sitting silently, his hands balling up into loose fists.

“We pulled off the most brilliant prank last year on Brett and his friends,” Jack cut in. “Then as revenge that jerk, Brett, broke into our cabin one night and slipped some of his weed stash into Alex’s bag. He reported him to Sullivan and the whole staff searched through our cabin.”

“Yeah, they went through all our bags and everything,” Rian said. “There were even a couple officers there just in case Brett’s claim was true.”

“Did they find it?” I asked awed at how low Brett had gone just to get a little revenge over a stupid prank.

“Yeah, but since Sullivan’s known me for years and actually likes me, she believed me when I told her it wasn’t mine,” Alex answered though he sounded like he was still sore towards the subject. “I swear that guy just never knows where to draw the line.”

“Don’t worry,” Christina placed her hand on Alex’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “He won’t know what hit him this time.”

At this Alex perked up, that sly grin returning to his face.

“How about we give them a little preview of what’s to come?” Zack suggested, sounding like he had a devious plan cooking up in his head already. I looked on surprised. Until now he had only seemed like the type to stand back and follow as the others called the shots.

“Nah,” Alex waved him off. “It’s too soon. Wait until the weekend. They’ll be doing their own thing and won’t even think to suspect anything.”

“So it’s settled. We strike Friday night,” Jack said, whooping with excitement. The girls all laughed at him and I couldn’t help but join in with them. Jack noticed and pointed his finger at me. “Hey, you in cadet?” he asked and I assumed this was my “newbie” name. Alex turned his attention to me as well, waiting for my answer.

I simply shrugged and replied, “Count me in.”

***

As the sun began to set, spewing streams of purple, blue and pink into the dimming sky, all the counselors led their groups back to their cabins for the night. When we reached our campsite, Alex and I parted ways, him taking the boys to their cabin and me taking the girls to ours. My girls, who were all 11 and 12 years old, scurried inside to their bunks where they met up with the other girls from Kara’s, Lisa’s, and Christina’s groups. I made my way to my own room, glancing down at my digital watch to see how long we had until lights out. It was 8:30, giving me plenty of time to unwind before I had to take my nightly pill.

“Yay, Jamie’s here!” Lisa clapped in her white camisole and plaid pink pajama shorts, plopping down in the beanbag chair she’d secretly brought from home. “We’re watching movies!”

I looked down to see a portable DVD player set up with a bowl of popcorn and a bag of twizzlers on the floor beside it. Christina had apparently decided to have a Disney themed movie marathon and was sorting through her collection of classics, looking for the perfect one to start off the night. Walking past her and Lisa, I grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of Soffe shorts from my bag and quickly changed.

“What are we watching first?” Kara called out from the bathroom, washing her face.
“The Little Mermaid!” Christina shouted back, popping the disc into the player. Lisa rolled her eyes and slumped back in her chair, letting out an exaggerated groan.
“Without fail, every year, this is always the first movie we watch!”

“Seriously Chris,” Kara laughed softly, walking in from the washroom and sitting down with all of us. “You definitely dyed your hair because you have an obsession with Ariel.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she sing-songed, winking at us. The three of us laughed and stuffed our faces with popcorn as the movie started playing. We continued talking and cracking jokes throughout the movie and the next two as well. I was actually having fun and laughing wholeheartedly for what felt like the first time in months. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d smiled so wide my cheeks ached.

Time slipped by and soon enough it was ten o’clock; time to put our girls to bed. Christina and Kara put the movie we were currently watching—my pick, Beauty and the Beast—on pause and went to make sure that our campers were all tucked away in their sleeping bags, leaving Lisa and myself alone.

“So I heard you’re working with Alex,” Lisa said casually, her eyes focused on her blue-painted toenails. I turned to her, my eyebrows knit together in confusion. “I just figured. He said you both ran into Brett today,” she shrugged.

“Oh right, yeah. We’re working together,” I nodded slowly, not sure where this conversation was headed. I knew she and Alex had been a thing. Judging by the way she and Kara always whispered about him when no one else was around, I could tell it hadn’t been too long ago.

“He’s a really nice guy. I worked with him my first summer here too. We’d already known each other, but he showed me the ropes and everything…” she trailed off on a sort of sad note. I had the urge to pat her on the shoulder or something, but it just didn’t feel right. She was clearly not over him…at all.

“Yeah…he seems like a really great guy,” I offered, not sure of what else to say. I decided to change the subject, hoping it would lighten the mood a little. “So what do you think the prank this weekend’s going to be?” I asked, happy when I saw a little grin spread across Lisa’s face.

She looked up at me and shrugged. “I don’t know, Alex and Christina are usually the masterminds and they never reveal anything until they’ve finalized every last detail.”

I nodded and opened my mouth to say something else when Kara and Christina came running into the room, crashing down on the floor between us. They started playing the movie again, and instantly were completely absorbed by it. I turned to Lisa and smiled apologetically since our conversation had been cut short. She smiled back and turned to watch the rest of the movie, some of that sadness from before returning to her eyes as Belle and the Beast danced together.