Camp Koradel

Sophie wasn’t sure if she wanted to go inside or not. Sitting on the front porch in a little rocking chair was peaceful, whereas going inside sounded disastrous and stressful. The cabin smelled new and old at the same time. It had a fresh scent, but it was unlike any other she had witnessed. Sighing, she looked down at the wooden porch floor, and saw a pen. Fumbling out of her chair, she grabbed it and searched around for paper. When the urge to write hit, Sophie just couldn’t resist it. When she actually found a small napkin on the porch, she scribbled, surprised.

I wish to be a black rose,
A strange, exotic beauty,
An outcast from all those.

She started with this stanza, and before she knew it, she had a full poem. Where did that come from? Sophie wondered to herself, and that’s when Kasie stepped outside.

She flinched at the sight of Sophie. “There you are. Everyone’s been wondering about you.”

“Is that why you came out here?”

Surprisingly, Kasie answered, “No.” There was silence for a few minutes until Kasie decided to sit next to her in another rocking chair, closing her eyes and leaning her head back. “Are you okay?” When Sophie didn’t answer, Kasie lifted her head and stared at her. “I don’t mean to be rude—“

“You’re not being rude. I just… I’m not sure if I’m alright, you know?”

She nodded, and for a while, they just sat there in silence, staring at the road, the grass, the beautiful garden.

“Haven’t you wanted to run away from here?”

Kasie laughed, “You’ve only been here two days and you’re already thinking… Ha! Well, of course, I’ve thought about it, but where would we all go? We’re just kids, and right now, any homeless kids are being sent into these Camps. That’s why Brad and Mary are here.”

“Mary was homeless?”

Kasie nodded. “That’s why she’s never even considered leaving. She knows what it’s like to live out on the streets, and frankly, I don’t want to know as much about that as her.” Sophie agreed, nodding silently. “Congratulations on winning your fist challenge, by the way.”

“Thanks,” she said. “I just want tomorrow to be fun. It might be terrible to say, since you guys will be back here busting your backs, but that’s really what I want.”

“Well, Sophie, I hope it’s what you get. I really do.”

——————————

“Turn up the country station!”

Sophie laughed beside Erin. They were sitting in the back seat of an old, extended cab truck, windows down and singing as loud as possible. Galvin was driving, so Madame Rosette reached out to change the station. Honkey-Tonk Badonkey-Donk was playing, and the two girls sang carelessly, giggling madly.

Galvin was laughing, and to Sophie’s surprise, he truly pretended nothing had happened between them. After she had finally come inside the day before, she went straight to bed even though it wasn’t even fully dark out. No one said anything about it when she woke up, and then when the guys showed up, they left with Galvin and Madame Rosette. The boys’ camp leader was left alone to test each of them.

The previous night, Sophie’s dreams had been flashes of her with Allison; the one that left her cold as a winter night was the last time they had spoken. Sophie’s last words had been, Get the hell away from me… She tried to push it all away when she awoke, though, because she wanted it to be a good day.

Galvin pulled the truck into the parking lot of some place called Go U.S.A. © Neither of them had ever heard of it, but they soon saw the go kart race track and smiled happily at each other.

“Erin,” Sophie asked, “are you excited?”

“Definitely, girl; I haven’t been away from that cabin in a month!”

They got their tickets and the three of them (Madame Rosette didn’t want to race) got into their go karts and waited to start the race. When the guy said “go,” they all slammed on their gas pedals and sped off onto the course.

Erin was joyfully screaming as she cut in front of Sophie. They were both ahead of Galvin, but he wasn’t falling too far behind; Sophie had a feeling he was letting them stay ahead. Surely enough, he ended up winning the race. In the last minute, he stomped on the gas pedal and maneuvered through them easily. As they left the track, Sophie and Erin scoffed him, calling him a jerk and Erin even muttered under her breath, “Asshole.”

“What was that?” He asked, smiling and turning back to look at them.

“Oh, nothing,” Erin said, trying not to burst into laughter, though they knew he knew what she said.

“So,” Galvin asked as he started up the truck, “swimming, correct?”

“Yes,” the two girls exclaimed together, and soon, they were headed to the mall to get bathing suits. Sophie thought she felt Galvin looking in his rearview mirror at her, but when she looked up, his eyes were focused on the road.

“Would you two like to go in alone?”

“Yes,” Erin answered, and as they walked away from the truck, she muttered, “Now they can get their alone time.” She laughed, and Sophie forced a smile for her. “Are you alright, girl?”

Sophie shrugged with attempted nonchalance, but Erin eyed her suspiciously.

“This isn’t about her. Did something happen with Galvin yesterday?”

Sophie stopped at the entrance of the mall and stared at her. “How—? Never mind. You’re a psychic, Erin.” The girl just smiled and they continued walking. There was silence for a few minutes as Erin waited patiently for an explanation. “Well, he kissed me.”

Erin’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her skull. “Why? How? When? What was it like?”

“Um, I don’t know why; I guess we were just caught up in the moment. It was after you guys went back to the cabin after specialties, and if you really need to know how, I’m going to take a guess and say you’ve never kissed someone?”

Erin glared at her. “Of course I’ve kissed a guy, before! Now, tell me: how was it?”

She hesitated. “It was actually very nice.”

“Oh no, Sophie—”

“He’s not what you guys think. He told me he was a flirt, but that I made him realize that was wrong, and then he kissed me… But he said to pretend nothing happened, because it wasn’t acceptable for a war training camp, and then he left me alone out there.”

She seemed to have nothing to say to that, but as they passed a food court, the girls looked at each other, then at the debit card Galvin had provided them with, and they ran there, exiting with two soft pretzels, cheese dip, and later purchasing two ice cream cones. When they finally decided to enter an outlet for swimwear, all they could find were bikinis in their size, so they tried them on shyly.

Erin stepped out of her dressing room, and asked quietly, “Do you like this one?”

It was red and white striped, and Sophie nodded. They ended up heading to the cashier with matching bathing suits, except Sophie’s was striped with blue instead of red.

“4th of July, girls, eh?” The man asked in a deep voice. His black hair was gelled back into a gross-looking bad imitation of Elvis.

They laughed. “Not really, just liked the bathing suits.”

“What are two pretty girls like y’all doing here all alone? You don’t know these people.”

They laughed again, uncomfortable and just really wanting to leave. “We’ll be careful, sir,” Sophie said.

He handed them a bag and a receipt, and they hurried out of there, walking around the mall and taking their time totally not being careful. “Sophie,” Erin whispered as they passed by a big candy shop. “I think that guy is following us. Don’t look until we turn up here.”

On their left, Sophie glanced over her shoulder to see a man with black, short hair, pale skin, and wearing a black wool jacket. It kind of looked like… “Oh, my God,” she whispered to Erin. “That’s my dad.”

She gasped. “Are you sure?” Suddenly, Erin pulled her into a little clothes store and they pretended to look at dresses. Sure enough, the man stepped in after them, glancing around. “Oh my,” Erin said as he began walking towards them.

“Afternoon, ladies. How are you?”

They stared at him. Sophie was positive this was her dad, though he wore dark shades and a turtle-neck covered up to his chin. “G-good,” Erin answered softly. “It’s rather chilly in here, isn’t it?” she covered smoothly with a believable shiver. “Actually, it is very cold in here. C’mon, Belle.”

Sophie glanced at her, but followed her, pretending to be cold by rubbing her hands on her arms for friction.

“Since when is your name Belle?”

“Excuse me?” Erin said, turning back and facing the man.

“Go,” Sophie whispered to her, “please. He knows—”

“Sophie, how much of a fool do you think I am? Obviously very much of one.” Her eyes widened at Erin, and her father stepped closer to them. “What are you two doing here? Shouldn’t you still be at the cabin?”

“Go away, Dad.” Her voice sounded stronger than it should have. Internally, she was shaking violently, but luckily, she was able to hide it from her dad. “I’m not yours anymore.”

He laughed at her. “I don’t want you to be, except you sure were fun to have for a while. Sophie, I don’t want to be any part of your life.”

“Then why are you following me!?”

“Excuse me, Miss, is there a problem?” This guy had the store’s logo on his shirt.

“No, sir, we’re just chatting,” Sophie’s father answered.

“I asked the lady.” He turned back toward Erin, his light blue eyes concerned. He looked tough, but also looked as if he only used that toughness when necessary. Sophie liked him already.

Erin nodded. “We just want to leave. We’re not with him. Just…let us leave.” She began to walk away, closer to Sophie, who was a couple of feet behind her.

Mr. Graham shouted, “Ah, this is bullshit!”

The worker guy looked startled. “Sir, if you’d like to leave, you may leave, but I’d prefer you stay here a few minutes until they’re—”

His sentence was interrupted because Sophie’s father decided that was the best time to punch him in the face. He grunted and fell to the floor, unconscious.

Sophie and Erin gasped in unison and tried to run out of the store. Sophie’s father grasped her arm, though, and Erin stopped in the doorway when Sophie screamed, “Erin, help!”

A few people were gathering around, and Erin shouted, “The police are here, Sophie.”