Virgin Camp

Ryan’s POV

I stopped kissing Damon after a few seconds. I couldn’t stand how he made me feel. My head was all messed up and I felt like I was upside down. Nothing made sense. I pushed Damon away and dashed for the door, my flighty tendances taking over once again. I didn’t know where I was running to, I just was. It felt good to let my body take over for me, and take me somewhere that my mind hadn’t thought of first.

“Lorraine! Come back!” I heard Damon call after me. I rolled my eyes and quickened my pace, heading for the entrance to the camp. I was getting out. I wasn’t going to put up with the condescending Whities, the arrogant group one girls, or the shitty food.

A strong hand grabbing my tiny forearm stopped me in my tracks. I tried to pry Damon’s hand off me, but he had a firm grip. I resorted to staring at him with the most hateful look in my eyes that I could muster. It hardly affected him. I guess he was used to it by now. If anything, he just looked bored. His hazel eyes drifted over me like he was just waiting for this episode I was having to be over.

I felt a little stupid, and a lot like I was being treated like a child. I hated that. I looked up at Damon and jutted my bottom lip out, blowing my bangs out of my face and sighing. “Can you please let go of my arm before you cut off my circulation?” I said slowly, trying not to sound so irritated. I was tiring of myself, also. Damon released his grip on me without a word.

I walked over to the nearest bench and sat down, Damon taking a seat beside me. I stared down at my feet, my elbows resting on my knees, holding my head in my hands. I tried to pretend that Damon wasn’t there but this proved impossible, as he felt the need to strike up a conversation.

“You don’t always have to be who they want you to, you know,” he said.

“What the fuck?”

“This persona you have going,” Damon said. “I can tell it won’t last long.”

“What persona, Damon? There is no persona. This is just me.”

“The person talking to me right now is you. The person who ran out of that classroom like it was Hell is you,” he said.

“Where are you going with this?”

“This whole ‘fuck everything’ attitude you have isn’t you.”

“You don’t even know me,” I said, looking up at him. He shrugged.

“Maybe,” he said, “but unlike everyone else here, I actually notice these things about you.”

“Fuck you,” I spat, rolling my eyes.

“See, now you’re pissed at me because I’m right,” he said quietly.

“What are you? A psychologist? Go fuck some virgins and leave me alone,” I said. He shrugged and got up, looking back at me one last time before leaving. Something about that last look he gave me was off. The whole conversation we’d had was off. What the fuck was he going on about? He noticed things about me? What did that even mean? I didn’t have time to think about it. The bells were ringing signalling the end of the morning class and the beginning of lunch.

I trudged off towards the largest log cabin that housed the cafeteria, with the knowledge that nobody liked me, I was kind of an asshole, and I was still stuck at Virgin Camp.

• • •

Inside the cafeteria, the first thing I noticed was that there was a bright yellow banana placed in front of every chair on the table, at every table. A large bowl of condoms rested in the centre. Everyone else stared and broke out into whispers. I laughed. Loudly. It was just like the Whities to turn lunch into an impromptu sex ed class. I found it all to be fucking hilarious, especially the way some of the other campers were staring at the condoms like they were some sort of weapon.

Everyone started to take their seats. It appeared that most people had managed to actually make friends, and separated into groups quickly. Even Natalie, the moody bitch from my cabin, had managed to make an actual friend. He was dorky looking, and borderline ugly, but I supposed he wasn’t that bad. He was smiling at Natalie like the sun shone out her fucking ass and she was grinning back at him like an absolute idiot.

Idiots. The lot of them.

It quickly dawned on me that I had no one to sit with. I wasn’t going to let the stupid camp get to me, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let the rest of the campers think that I actually cared about their opinions of me. With those thoughts in mind, I marched right over to where Natalie was sitting with the borderline ugly boy and sat opposite them. They both stopped grinning at each other to look at me. Natalie glared at me like she wanted me to stop living, right on the spot. The boy’s eyes widened and he looked like he was about to shit himself.

“Boo!” I said suddenly, slamming my hands down on the table and staring straight at him. He flinched and his lips turned down at the corners in a frown. I rolled my eyes before turning my attention towards Pat - the big boss with the stupid bob. She explained that absolutely everyone would have to follow the instructions on the floating computer screens that drifted around to our tables.

“Please follow the instructions and understand that this is very serious,” she said. “This camp has a proud reputation of a zero per cent rate of teen pregnancy and I’d like to keep it that way.”

I snorted in laughter before picking up the banana in front of me, peeling it, and taking a huge bit out of it. I chewed slowly, looking around with satisfaction at the look of disgust on the faces of the campers and Whities. The heavy silence that settled over the cabin was broken when Natalie started laughing. It was that sort of piss-your-pants laughter that makes you red in the face and sore in the stomach.

I grinned at her as I chewed on the banana and watched with amusement as she peeled hers and started to eat it, too. The boy next to her just stared at the two of us, as did everyone else. We both laughed stupidly when we’d finished. I looked back over at Pat, and noticed Damon standing to the side of her, shaking his head and smiling.

“Natalie and Lorraine,” Pat said, “get out. Now.”

“What? No escort this time?” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. I held a hand over my heart and pretended I was hurt by this. Pat bit down on her lip and pointed at the door. I led the way, Natalie following after me. Once out the door, we erupted into fits of laughter.

“Kudos!” I said. “Thank fuck I’m not the only normal one here.”

“I know what you mean,” Natalie said. “It’s weird how everyone else just, like, accepts this place.”

“I don’t get it,” I said. “Maybe the government placed brain-control chips in their brains at birth.”

Natalie laughed. “These people need some fucking therapy.”

“I’d say that they just need a good fuck,” I said with a smirk. Natalie scoffed an shoved me in the shoulder, muttering “nice.”

“I’d apologize for being an asshole to you, but I’m not gonna lie. I actually kind of enjoy it,” I said with a smile. Natalie laughed and shook her head.

“I’d apologize for being a bitch to you, but I’m not gonna lie. You’re kind of an asshole so it was required,” Natalie stated dryly. I laughed at her sarcastic humor and held my hand out for her to shake.

“I propose a truce,” I said.

“What kind of truce?” Natalie questioned, her eyes narrowing.

“I won’t be an asshole to you and you won’t be a bitch to me,” I said.

“What’s the catch?”

“We combine forces and fuck this shit up,” I shot back at her, nodding towards the sign above us that so proudly stated the name of the camp. “Metaphorically, of course,” I added. “I intend to leave this place at the end of the summer with my virginity.”

“You don’t want to lose it?” Natalie asked me.

“No reason to,” I said, dropping my hand back to my side. “Doesn’t it make sense to save it for someone you actually, I don’t know, like?”

“So you don’t like your Slayer either?”

“He’s kind of an asshole.”

“I’d say you’re well suited to each other, then,” Natalie smirked.

“Fuck you,” I grinned at her. “So, do we have an accord?”

Natalie nodded. “You’re on,” she said, shaking hands with me.

It was going to be a long summer.