The Swim series - Book One

Chapter 6

Our Grade merged into the crowd of Year Eight students, who were all complaining just as much as we were.

All of a sudden I heard my name. It came hurtling towards me at such an alarming rate, that for a second I thought I was in sort of sudden danger.

"EMILY!!! EMILY MEADOWS! THERE SHE IS! GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

I looked around and saw the same freckled boy, who was photographed inside the envelope I was holding.

"THAT'S MY BUDDY, EMILY MEADOWS!" Quentin announced, before tackling me down to the floor. 

"Quentin, thank you for showing so much enthusiasm" Christina said, smiling at this knock-out scene. "Year Eights! Listen up! I'd like to encourage the rest of you, to find and say hello to your Year Seven buddies!"

Did this happen? No. Quentin was the only Year Eight student who attempted to seek me out.

Our Camp directors arrived next. There was a male and a female.  They both looked extremely confused to find everyone standing there, and me on the floor with Quentin.

"Did we book a camp?" the male director asked.

The female director scratched at her eyebrow ring, and then shuffled off to check.

"Brett!" Christina came sprinting past me. "Have you prepared a welcome speech?"

"A welcome speech?" he glared at her. "Christina, are you kidding me right now? We owe these people a god-damn apology!"

"I understand it's a little warm..."

"You could fry an egg outside!" Brett accused. "We need to get back on the bus and go home!"

There was a welcome speech of sorts but it wasn't given by Brett. The two camp directors came back and asked for everyone to sit down so that they could introduce themselves and Camp Horizon.

"I'm Sam, and this is Julia" the male director said, "And today, we're going to be leading you through a series of games and activities, that are all designed to foster team working skills"

Sam had more to say but he had to stop briefly, because a Year Eight girl at the back of the shed had both fainted and developed a nose bleed.

"I'm not going to lie to you, we don't normally book camps during bushfire season" Sam continued, "And the outside temperature is teetering on the edge of dangerous"

Sam said that if it got any hotter then we'd have to cancel the day, and spend time doing less physically excertive games in the Activities centre instead.

"Where's the activities centre?" Brett whispered to Landon. Landon nodded at the shed we were sitting under.

"This is a shed?"

"No. It's an activities centre"

"How?" Brett asked. "What activities could we possibly do in here?"

Sam chose to talk about all of the different spiders and bugs that lived on the campground next, and pointed out that many of them were capable of killing us. Red back spiders, paralysis ticks, and twelve of Australia's most venomous snakes.

I looked over and saw that Brett Beattie was on his phone now, trying to book an Uber home.

"Watch where you step, watch out for what's hanging above you" Sam said. "And if you feel sudden numbness in your neck, arms, legs, or torso, stop what you're doing and confide in a friend"

"Nah, I'm out of here" Brett told Landon and Huffie, who were both snickering so hard at his horrified expressions, that they'd seemingly forgotten all about their own personal discomfort. "Confide in a friend" Brett muttered. "What the hell is that gonna do for me? All of my friends are as dumb as shit"