“We’ll start with the starting ceremony,” Natalie stated, “We know y’all been through this, but we need to get it done, the new and old.” Ryan and Ben groaned. I flinched as their voices rang in my ears.

Natalie ranted on about safety and time schedules. Sometime along the mix, Clara joined in, giving me a small wave before settling at the far left.

“Finally, introductions,” Natalie puffed a deep breath, “You all know me, I know all of you. In case you don’t, I’m Natalie, you can call me Coach Natalie or Natalie. I wish we can all get along during the next ten days. Remember, you’re here to sail. So you can go home with new knowledge, skills, muscles or sunburns. At least one will be required.” Judging from the faint grunt, Ben probably elbowed Jake at the comment.

“I’ll be passing the mic to Gavin right now.”

“Big G!” Zeke shouted as Gavin took over. The stage thumped with his steps.

“Looks like Zeke wants to be in charge of the ice breakers,” Gavin mused, his voice steady and stern, his words suggesting the opposite as he fueled the chaos, “Thank you Zeke for volunteering.” Zeke gaped as I giggled quietly.

Gavin waited for the chattering to die down before he continued, “I’m Gavin, I’ll co-teach with Natalie and I’ll also be the life instructor for boys. I live in M6, so go there to hand in your phones every night, get your laundry, and report anything wrong with the dorms. I’m emphasizing the laundry part, we have all sorts of missing clothing every year. I won’t hesitate to throw away your stuff if you leave it here. For the next few days, I wish you the best of luck on water, and get the expected results. Let’s welcome our last staff member, Leo.”

The hooting and clapping erupted tenfold. My ears and head ached at this point.

A lean, tanned man around his thirties leapt onto the stage. He wore the plastic flipflops and ugly orange sunglasses around his neck. They would look ridiculous if he hadn’t looked so confident and self-assured.

“I’m Leo. Y’all can call me Leo or Lion. I know the most of you here, and hopefully you haven’t forgotten about me,” he chuckled slightly, “I wouldn’t waste much of your time, so let’s get on with the ice breakers. Any thoughts, Mr. Zeke?”

“Still thinking,” Zeke mumbled, in actually in deep thought.

“Alright. How ‘bout everyone introduce your name and a fact about yourself? Let’s start with Ryan.”

Ryan stood up languidly, his posture hinting at a clear lack of sleep, “I’m Ryan Thomson, and the only acceptable candy are gummy-bears.”

Leo laughed slightly and proposed, “Everyone can follow this format. You’re name and the only blah blah is blah blah blah.”

Leo gestured Jake, the boy stood up reluctantly, “I’m Jake Carter. I’d say the only game I grind is Minecraft.”

I held back a snort. Some others snickered.

“I’m Ben Jones. The only real music is rap.”

“My name is Q. The only book I like is Little Prince.”

“Name’s Zeke Velurm. The only character I would play is Jinx.”

“I’m Justin, and the only likable TV show is Love, Death, Robots.” That explains a lot about the creepy stories he had. The show is a legend though.

“I’m Delilah Fannel, and the only app I use is Snapchat.”

“I’m Clara. The only underrated game I play is Phigros.”

Every introduction is followed by whispered teasing and laughs. I relaxed into my seat.

Natalie dismissed us after Zeke’s so-called icebreakers. Nothing much happened, but I got a video of Justin pouncing and hooting beside Coach Leo like an ape and overenthusiastic hyena. Ryan and Q filmed it too. Zeke himself did some ridiculous dance as a part of the game punishment. His moves too vague to know what he was doing. Gavin took away our phones on the way out.

I heard another cometic groan behind me and glanced to Clara worryingly. She balanced a lifejacket, duffle bag, suitcase and helmet. I suggested to help, she refused and proceeded to make more noise.

“Which room were we in again?” I asked.

“M3,” Clara huffed. She grumbled with drama as she hiked the slipping duffle bag onto her shoulders.

We soon reached our wooden cabin. The wooden steps creaked ominously as I slinged my suitcase up.

“M3…” Clara mumbled and recalled, “There’s no stories about M3 yet. The time when Rick cried after his breakup was in M6. I mainly roomed in M7.”

I took note of asking her about Rick, never heard of him but he had to be someone.

I maneuvered inside the room with difficulty, throwing my bag onto the sofa. I kicked off my shoes and took in the room.

King-sized bed, lots of floor space to pile things around, and a set of stairs. I climbed up, my feet thumped against the floor, the sound echoed as I felt the hollow beneath the steps.

Clara let out a few cries as she settled in as well. The 2^nd floor was a lot smaller, the bed just a large mattress on the ground, with forest green pillows and same-colored cushions. I loved it.

“You can’t believe the bathroom! Eww!” Clara’s voice came from downstairs. I rushed down and glanced inside. Nothing out of ordinary.

“It’s normal, I guess,” I shrugged, “Could be better.”

“You don’t see how small it is?” Clara grumbled while she pushed her suitcase against the wall with sharp, aggressive movements.

We talked some more, organizing the luggage and taking our belongings out. For me it meant launching everything onto the sofa like I had just claimed it. I kind of did.

“Who are you pairing with?” I asked. Partners are usually fixated for campers who visited on school weekends. Ryan and Ben were the textbook example. I’d known she and Q always paired, but Q was going with Zeke this time.

“I’m with Theo,” Clara scoffed, “I’d want anyone but him. Bro has such an arrogant face.”

“At least he’s good,” I reasoned. Memories of the May Camp flooded back. Theo had lifted me and Elsa up from the water like some drowning kitten after the boat capsized and we were in the water. He had paced around the front of the boat with ease, where there’s no support and the boat hulls thin. His steps light and elegant like some trampoline artist.

“He’s with Natalie, like girlfriend-boyfriend kind,” Clara stated, her moves halted momentarily as she glanced at me, gauging my reaction.

“Oh! That explains a lot,” I gasped. Natalie changing easily in front of a classroom filled with girls and Theo. Their weird interactions. The way Natalie barked out a laugh when she misheard Theo calling her “baby”. He said, “Bag please”.

Clara nods fiercely, she climbed onto the bed, still holding her sunglass casing, “They’re like mentor-student relationship. They got together last year … October? I already joined that time for a few months when they announced the news. I’m just like ‘how did that happen?’”

I giggled at her depiction.

The door creaked open, Theo’s muffled voice came from the entrance. I stood up, glancing at Clara. She noticed me and shrugged with the same confused expression.

Natalie took her suitcase and stomped upstairs. She came down seconds later and bid Theo goodbye, dramatically slamming the door in his face. She approached us.

“I’m rooming with you two, I’ll take the upstairs and you two be in the king-sized bed if it’s no trouble,” Natalie stated, a slit of concern showing.

“It’s alright,” Clara assured, tugging a smile. I nodded and mumbled something along the lines of it as well.

“Great! Great!” Natalie huffed, sounding relieved, “I’ll be needing the bathroom.”

She dashed off, the bathroom closing with a click.

“What was that?” I mouthed to Clara. Her face filled with disbelief like the world just turned against her. Then the unmistakable lyrics of Dynamite sounded from the bathroom. I gaped, Clara giggled, her laugh turning into a faked cough.

“Why do we room with a coach?” Clara whispered, acting outraged. Her eyes narrowed at the bathroom door.

“I roomed with Yolanda before during the Winter Camp, ‘cuz I was the only girl there,” I supplied. Yolanda was the stricter, more serious and demanding version of Natalie. She wasn’t at the summer camp because of some international race. Saw on her Instagram posts.

Clara stared at me, “The Yolanda? Like Coach Yolanda? Wonder how you’d survive it. Respect.”

As soon as Natalie came out of the bathroom, she left the dorm. The front door clicked shut. Clara’s eyes twinkled as she pulled me over, detailing every remembered gossip about our new roommate.

“She publishes like, 2 AM emo posts on Twitch about her and Theo when they had a fight. It takes up like three whole photos to screenshot the entire thing,” Clara whispers, gesturing the length with her hands, “I’ll show you the pictures once we get our phones back.”

I went to change into my water-clothes before Clara drags me down the rabbit hole of gossip.

I went in. the showerhead hanged just beside the toilet, no barriers, no glass walls, just a flimsy piece of curtain. I realized with horror that the shower took up half of the space, this might as well be a larger-than-average closet. Cupboard under the stairs, I mused to myself as I noticed the slight tilt of the ceiling where the stairs would be.

“It’s so small!” I shouted out, hoping Clara heard me.

I heard a light scoff, followed by, “I told you so!”

Natalie came in as I stepped out of the bathroom.

She held two phones in her hand. Mine, and Clara’s. Clara squealed and grabbed hers, mumbling thank yous and you’re the bests. I took mine as well.

“I’m supposed to keep these. So just don’t wave it in front of anyone,” Natalie mused before she disappeared up the stairs.

“Lunch’s at 12:30!” she yelled as her footsteps echoed above us.

Clara went on a rant about some video game as she played her phone, abandoning any thoughts of organizing.

My phone lit up with a new notification as well. I squinted at the name. Zeke?

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1 minute ago

Yang house tonight?

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“Zeke just asked me for a trip to Yang, you want to go?” I asked.

“I could go if you went as well,” Clara paused for a second, “Just ask him who will be there.”

I nodded and sent the text before chatting with Zoe, my best friend but I’ll never admit because she might say something like don’t get emotionally attached.

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Camp is so exhausting. Socializing is so exhausting

I wanna dig a hole and stay there for the next seven days

Unleash your extroverted side! At least try to talk

Jakes here. The one I told you about

Oh

Interesting

Interesting? unbelievable

Im in Yunnan btw. We’re trying out mushrooms, the kind that gives hallucinations if you undercook it

Sounds scary

It is

Just call an ambulance if the mushroom starts singing

lol will do

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I left the chat.

“Zeke hasn’t responded. What’s the guy doing?” I huffed.

“He texts when he likes, then ghosts people randomly.”

“I do that as well, so not much room for me to judge,” I sighed, “I still don’t get why he asked me. I met him today?”

“He’s weird like that, don’t even bother,” Clara said dismissively, “he’s also a women-pleaser. Just today, he vaporized behind me and whispered to me about the sailing pairings. Super weird. Like ‘get away from me, we are not friends’!”

I hummed as she returned to her game.

Moments later, we went to the West Restaurant. I slid open the glass door, everyone’s already here. The red-bricked floor contrasted with the interiors beautifully. I slid into one of the black sofas, taking in the room. Haven’t been here before, we always ate in the White Tent when there’s a lot of people. It’s just us right now. Random photos of past camps filled the wall, doubted that even makes up a quarter of how many photos there actually were.

A staff member came in with a tray of rice. The steam and heat soothed my eyes as I scooped half a plate. The staff went away through a dimly lit doorway, leading to the back kitchen. I recognized the space as their drink counter. I winced, remembering all the previous suffering I endured because I believed that this was the only place that sold drinks in the camp. That’s why everyone loves Yang House, at least they have reasonable prices. One drink here is equivalent to four at the Yang’s.