Zephyr | Camp Cretaceous

Things Fall Apart 2/2

[Camp Cretaceous]

Sulking on the couch with her knees drawn up to her chest, Yasmina hardly noticed when the others got up and entered the living room. Her glum mood continued long after Sammy announced her presence, joining Yaz on the couch and pulling her legs up to her chest before resting her cheek on her knees. Yasmina's lips curled slightly in a smile at that but otherwise remained fixed on a frown.

"Dino-goddess didn't make it?" Sammy asked softly. When Yaz shook her head and sniffled, the Texan girl nudged her gently. "Well, another day ain't so bad, right? And I'm sure she has a good reason, too." Yaz let out a scoff, hating that the gregarious girl was right. That was the extent of the girl comforting her, and it was just enough. "Here's your sketchbook. I saw you forgot it."

Yasmina glanced at her book before dropping her legs and resting her feet flat on the smooth floor. "Thank you," she said quietly, not surprised by the hoarseness of her voice. "I was too excited to remember it." An almost unnoticeable smile split across her lips as she flipped through the pages—too many of them had an intricate drawing of Zephyr for her not to smile. "And... thanks for not being excessively comforting."

Sammy laughed, "You're welcome."

Just then, Darius threw open the doors and slid into the living room. "What up, Camp Cretaceous!" He said with way too much enthusiasm for someone who almost died yesterday. "Whoo-hoo!"

Ben slurped his juice box as Kenji leaned back on a chair. "Not in a 'whoo-hoo' mood this morning, Darius," he said with too little arrogance for a guy who genuinely can't stop talking about his dad's money. "Not after yesterday. Trekking through a rainstorm will do that to you." He looked at Ben while saying this.

The light boy in the blue button-up gave Kenji an annoyed look. "We only had to walk because you crashed our gyrosphere," he said before slurping his juice box. Kenji growled at him, and Ben hid behind Darius.

"But today is a new day!" Darius complained, trying to excite them. But Yasmina was too annoyed to care much; instead, she showed Sammy some of her drawings, regaling her with the story behind some of them as she did. Apparently, the Texan's favourites were with Zephyr and the Raptors. "Kayak day! Who doesn't waned paddle alongside dinosaurs, real dinosaurs? It's gonna be awesome, right?"

"You know what?" Yasmina said, drawing attention to herself. "Sure. Why not? Anything to get through one more day." Sammy grinned at her, and Ben and Kenji glanced at each other with freaked-out looks. "But it won't be kayaking." Getting to her feet, she snatched the note from Kenji and handed it to Darius.

"'BRB. Gotta go. Boss-talk. BB. Later. Smiley face.' Is that a dinosaur emoji with a thumbs up?" Kenji leaned back on his chair again and told Darius it was Dave's language, and Roxie translated. "'We have to go talk to our boss. Stay inside until we return. Draw, bond, whatever. The radio's set for channel six in case you need us. Stay inside, stay inside. Do not leave, Kenji, looking at you.'" Darius chuckled. "Uh... 'Sorry for the kids' menus—it's all Dave had.'" They each looked at the kids' menus on the ping-pong table.

"Do they understand how old we are?" Kenji whined. "When was the last time you even saw a crayon?" Ben flipped his drawing over and showed them.

"I have notes," Yasmina quipped. Sammy nudged her for being rude, and Yaz rolled her eyes. Just then, an angry Brooklynn appeared in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest. "Brooklynn," Yaz greeted with a slight smile at her maybe-friend. "What's new on the Internet, superstar?"

"I wouldn't know because when I went to get my phone from its charger, it wasn't there!" Yasmina frowned slightly—she vividly remembered putting on charge right after hanging up with Zephyr. "Someone stole my phone!" But that was too heavy an accusation for Yaz not to be snarky about.