I dropped out of the bus, avoiding the stairs, and looked around. It was your typical Australian camp ground. We were in the middle of nowhere – of which there was plenty down here. Gumtrees surrounded us and there was a billabong nestled all sweetly among the reeds and the trees. There were some dormitories, a couple of communal buildings, and a few shower blocks.
Despite someone’s assurances, there was in fact no sign of any other busload of students.
“All right, girls!” Mr Lawrence called. “So, I’m not sure what time Miss Johnson and the boys from Prince Edwards will be here, but the ‘ball’ will start at five in the mess hall. Until then, settle in and don’t wander too far.”
“Wait. What are we supposed to wear?” Flick asked.
“Oh my God, I literally only brought stuff to slob around in,” Tibby whined.
“Did you bring your hot bathers, at least?” Norah asked.
“No!” Tibby rounded on her, in full panic mode. “Did you?”
Norah flicked her hair back. “All my bathers are my hot bathers.”
I snorted and fist bumped her as Tibby glared.
“You’re not as funny as you think you are.”
“She so is, though,” I said as Mr Lawrence pointed us to our dormitory.
We grabbed our bags and the whole class disbanded towards our dormitories, all noticeably on one side of the camp ground. They were quite clearly doing their very best to segregate the sexes.
Brilliant.
Because teenagers had no ability to cross invisible lines and sneak around.
Well played.
“Just stop!” Norah laughed, putting her arm around me as Tibby opened the door to our dorm.
“Stop what?” I asked her.
“Stop overthinking. Stop analysing. Stop judging. It’s just another assignment. And what are you good at?”
“If you say assignments, I’m gonna–”
“Assignments!” both Norah and Tibby laughed.
I threw my bag on a bed and followed it.
“Okay. So…I’ve got singlets and shorts and thongs. That is all I have,” Tibby said as she rifled through her bag. “That is it!”
Norah threw me a packet of Twisties and I ripped them open as I watched their small freak out.
“I did bring make-up,” Norah admitted.
“For what possible reason?” I laughed, throwing a Twistie at her.
“Because I am so incredibly insecure even around my closest friends that I must hide behind this mask of beauty,” she joked.
I snorted. “Uh huh.”
I lay in relative comfort while they got themselves ready to meet their Romeos and stuffed my face with our contraband.
We knew when the boys arrived because everything got louder. There was squealing and laughter and suddenly a lot more chatter. I managed to contain my incandescent excitement while my two best friends ran to the window.
“It’s time! It’s time!” Tibby and Norah squealed, jumping up and down.
“Woot,” was my response as I dropped back onto the bed.
2
Ryan
I was pretty sure this whole thing was bullshit. Like against a hundred school policies bullshit. But whatever. It was mandatory and I could be into a week away with a bunch of girls.
Our bus pulled into the camp ground and Miss Johnson barely kept her footing.
“Now, I want you all on your best behaviour. We all remember what happened on the Year Seven co-ed camp that got them cancelled…”
“What happened on the Year Seven co-ed camp?” Mark asked me.
I shrugged. “I didn’t know we had a Year Seven co-ed camp.”
“I think it was before our time,” Ben answered.
We looked over to see him lounging with his feet on the seat in the next row and his arms crossed over his chest.
Miss Johnson was still going. “We’ve got one hour until our ‘ball’…”
Ben gave an exaggerated yawn as Mark huffed, “Woop. Because this isn’t going to be a load of fucking shit.”
I nodded. “Yeah. A week of basically dating instead of school. I would actually rather take all my exams naked.”
“Wait a minute…” Ben sat up exaggeratedly slowly. “Wait a minute…”
“What?” Mark asked.
“He’s not wrong.”
“What?” I asked.
Ben smacked me in the chest. “Wait. Wait. Wait…”
I pushed the hand that was still on my chest away. “Nothing good ever comes after that tone…”
“A week of dating. Dudes!” Ben whacked me again. “This isn’t a week of school camp. This is a week of wooing the lady-folk.”
“Nice,” Mark sniggered, fist-bumping Ben.
“There’s still an assignment,” I reminded them.
“Yeah, a bunch of drivel about three days to fall in love,” Mark waved my trivial concerns away.
So, they’d officially amped themselves up and I was equally as unenthusiastic. And it seemed I was the only one. Literally the only one.
As soon as we were off the bus, pheromones, hormones and vibes created a potent enough stench to bring a tear to my eyes. It was insane. You’d think none of these kids had ever met a member of the opposite sex before. Girls flicked their hair back and giggled. Boys strutted like idiots and kicked their chins in greeting.
It was all I could do to make it to our dormitory without straining my eye muscles.
“Did you see that blonde?” Ben asked as we dumped our bags.
I laughed. “You have an unhealthy obsession with blondes, my man.”
“What can I say?” He shrugged wildly. “I like the mystery.”
“What mystery?” Mark asked.
Ben and I smirked to each other.
“You mean like when they grow it out?” Mark continued.
I snorted and Ben laughed.
“Not that, then?” Mark asked.
I shook my head. “No. Not that.”
Ben and I exchanged another look while we waited for Mark to work it out. Dude wasn’t an idiot, he wasn’t even fresh, he just didn’t always think things through.
“Oh!” he finally cried. “Oh. Like, under…” He pointed between his legs. “Like…?” Ben and I nodded. “Riiight!” He nodded as he unzipped his bag. “Cool. Got it.”
Mark and I snorted again, then we all dicked around until Miss Johnson knocked on the door and stuck her head in.
“The ‘ball’ is about to start, guys,” she said with a wide smile. “We’re all going to meet in the mess hall.”
I nodded. “Thanks, Miss J.”
She looked at me warmly.
“What?” I asked.
“Just trying to remember what your smile looks like, Ryan,” she said fondly before she closed the door behind her.
The boys jostled me and sniggered.
“Oh, your smile, Wyan,” Ben put on a baby voice.
“Yeah. It’s been so long since we saw it,” Mark joined in the teasing.
“All right. Shut your faces, dipshits.” I pushed Mark’s arm off me. “And put on some deodorant for fuck’s sake!” I laughed. “You’re not getting anywhere with your Juliet like that.”
By the time we strolled into the mess hall, Miss Johnson and the Our Lady’s teacher were addressing the classes. It was all a bunch of how the week was going to go, what was expected of us – both educationally and behaviourally – and what our assignment involved.
The room was set out with tables and chairs stacked against the walls and everyone was sitting on the floor in various states of spreadeagled. I could see the distinctive groups separating the kids as they sat with each other.
The guys were in a variety of boardies, t-shirts, singlets, tracky-dacks, baseball caps, and sporting paraphernalia – the footy players were in attendance, the cricketers were out in force, and that one kid who liked rugby all year round was wearing his jersey with the sleeves rolled up.
The girls were likewise attired, only there was more
skin showing and their clothes were inherently tighter. I wasn’t complaining. There were even a couple in nothing but shorts and bikini tops. Definitely wasn’t complaining.
“Boys, can you take your nametags please?” a guy whispered as he came up to us. He looked like one of the camp counsellors.
We nodded and took our tags as the teachers kept talking. We each got a super chic plastic pin tag with our names on it and, tucked in to that, a piece of folded paper. Something holding me back, I looked over at the boys to see what was written on their pieces of paper before opening mine.
They were names. Names of Our Lady’s students.
As I looked the girls over again, I wondered which one was mine. Was she going to be one of those incessantly excited girls who couldn’t stop sneaking looks over to the boys? Was she going to be one of the ones who looked ecstatic and terrified at the same time? Fuck it, I hoped not.
“Nametags on, please,” we were told quietly but sternly.
We dutifully did as we were told with a sidebar from Ben of, “This does not match my outfit…”
The Our Lady’s teacher clapped his hands. “All right. So, you’ve got two hours to find your partner for this week. The hope is you won’t know each other. If you do, please keep it to yourself.”
“This whole camp was difficult enough to organise as it was,” Miss Johnson added. “We are not redoing the partners. So. Two hours to meet, greet and begin the wooing, as it were. Then it’s dinner. So, if you decide to wander, be back here at seven.”
Everyone started standing up, the laughing and talking already begun.
“No swimming, guys!” the Our Lady teacher called over the rising noise. “Okay? Not before dinner!”
“Who have you got?” Mark asked, excitedly.
I took one more look around the room to see if any girl had spotted me yet. The two groups were slowly mingling, along with a lot of awkward chuckling and chatter. No one seemed to have fallen in love with me across a crowded room.
Finally, I opened my paper and eventually looked down. “Jess Clayton.”
“Sounds hot,” was Mark’s contribution.
“Sounds…like a name,” I muttered.
I took a deep, steadying breath and looked around.
“Dude,” Ben laughed roughly. “This is a school-sanctioned hook-up fest, let’s be honest.” He put his arm around me. “Forget the love shit, and just do what you usually do.”
I nodded. “I could be persuaded to give her a night she’d never forget.”
“That’s my boy.” Ben snorted, “I mean, she’d pray to forget it–”
“But utter horror tends to stain,” Mark finished for him.
I shook my head as I huffed a rough chuckle. “Well, duh.”
“I feel sorry for her already.”
“Yeah. So, it’s in everyone’s best interest to just forget the whole thing, eh?”
Mark took my shoulders and turned me to face everyone else. “Can you see a single girl here like her, mate?”
“Yeah,” Ben joined in. “Is there any girl here who could even tempt you, eh?”
I shrugged them off. They meant well, but I wasn’t really in the mood for a reminder of my recent catastrophic failure in the romance department.
“How many times does a bad boy get a reformation anyway?” Mark asked.
I rolled my eyes, but Ben answered, “Once. If it doesn’t stick, it’s hopeless.”
“Shut the fuck up, the both of you. Go and find your Juliets…”
“Um…Mark?” a girl came up to us and he was distracted.
Then Ben was gone as well and I was standing there alone.
“Maybe she’s not here?” I muttered.
“Who are you looking for?” a girl asked me.
I looked down at her and saw her name was Norah. “Uh, Jess.”
“Which one?”
I checked the paper again. “Clayton.”
She snorted, then looked apologetic. “Sorry. Um. Good luck with that. Jessica!” she yelled as she turned around. “Romeo. Oh Romeo. Hereforeart thou Romeo!” Then shrieked, “Jessica!”
“What?” someone replied testily and turned towards us.
Oh. sweet Jesus. Thank fuck.
If this was Jess, I might get through this alive.
Brown hair in the messiest bun, knee-length slim cargo shorts, a thick-strapped singlet, and Converses, she looked about as unenthusiastic as I did about this whole thing.
“Jess, might I introduce you to Ryan?” Norah said as Jess stopped next to her.
Jess pushed Norah’s shoulder and I saw the companionship in it. Friends then?
Jess nodded at me. “Hey. Nice to meet you.”
My eyes dropped to the nametag on her chest and saw it did, in fact, say ‘Jess Clayton’.
Okay, then.
I looked up and found bright brown eyes staring right back at me, completely unwaveringly. It was challenging and confident. She was also, interestingly, make-up free.
I nodded. “Back at you.”
“If you’ll excuse me,” Norah said. “I think I’ve spotted the next tear in my heart.”
Jess frowned at her as she left. “She’ll be the death of me,” she muttered then turned a very forced smile on me. “So, Ryan Miller?”
I nodded. “That’s what they tell me. Jess Clayton?”
“I am likewise told that’s my name.”
“Okay then.”
We stood in a lovely uncomfortable silence for too long. Around us, people were breaking into pairs and getting to know each other. Some were hovering awkwardly and barely looking at each other. Some were already in deep conversations about I couldn’t even begin to imagine what. And some were starting to wander as they talked.
“So…” Jess said slowly.
I looked back at her. “So.”
“Uh, what… How much have you guys looked over the source material?”
I looked around. “The school staged the play last year with Saint Marys. The class did the obligatory Baz watch.”
“I swear it’s every teacher’s favourite adaptation,” she said.
I nodded. “You, uh, been subjected to the 2013 movie yet?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Last week. Baz was on the way here.”
“Same.” I grimaced as I amended, “Opposite. We did 2013 on the way here. Baz last week.”
“They probably planned that one.”
“Don’t doubt that they did.”
We were thankfully saved from our riveting small talk when the Our Lady’s English teacher came over to us with his clipboard. “Right. Jess. You two have found each other?”
“Our eyes met across the crowded room and it was love at first sight,” she said deadpan, throwing me a knowing look.
Her teacher smirked. “That’s what I like to hear.” He looked at me. “Ryan Miller?”
Who else did he think I’d be? But I nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Excellent. Well, I’ll leave you two to get acquainted, then.”
Before he walked away, Jess called, “Mr Lawrence?”
“Yes, Jess?”
“If we’re meant to be Romeo and Juliet, where’s our Paris?”
Before he could reply, I said, “Personally, I always liked Mercutio. Also…which one of us is Juliet?”
Mr Lawrence looked between us and he had that sort of look adults got when they thought they knew something you didn’t. “I look forward to seeing how you two handle this experiment into the greatest love story ever told.” He gave us a smile and headed off.
“Oh, puh-lease,” Jess said, exasperation evident in her voice. “Saying ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is the greatest love story ever is like saying ‘Hamlet’ is the poster play for happy families.”
I just managed to keep in an undignified snort. “I think you’ll find that’s the point of this bullshit.”
We looked at each other and there seemed to be something of an understanding that passed between us. I didn’t quite know what it mea
nt, but it was almost a promise, like we were in this together, we were on the same page. Suddenly, the rest of the week didn’t feel like it was going to be quite as shit as I’d originally thought.
We spent the rest of our allotted two hours commenting on the behaviour of our classmates. Far too many of them were trying out the balcony scenes. At least it gave us some entertainment. Particularly when one of the guys in my class fell off his chair.
“Did someone spike the punch?” Jess murmured. “Everyone’s gone insane.”
I whistled. “Damn. Wish I’d thought of that.”
She looked at me and gave me a winning cheeky grin. “I wish you had, too.”
When I dropped onto the bench next to my friends at dinner, I decided it could definitely be worse.
“So, what’s she like?” Mark asked.
“Likely to break your heart?” Ben asked.
I caught Jess’ eye from across the room and shook my head. “She’s nothing like her.”
3
Jess
Ryan hadn’t been what I was expecting. Not that I was sure what I’d been expecting now I was faced with the reality. But I knew I hadn’t been expecting someone I could actually talk to.
After dinner, we’d been allowed to go swimming and everyone had pretty well stuck with their friends. Any intermingling that had happened had nothing to do with the assignment and everything to do with hormonal teenagers. I hadn’t seen nor looked for Ryan, but I had heard all about Tibby and Norah’s Romeos.
And they were still comparing notes at breakfast the next morning as I looked around surreptitiously for Ryan as we ate.
“Danny wants to be a lawyer,” Tibby said.
“Connor wants to join the army,” Norah told her.
There was silence so I dragged my searching eyes back to them and found them looking at me expectantly.
“What?” I asked around my mouthful of eggs.
“What’s Ryan want to do?” Norah pressed.
I shrugged as I picked up my toast. “I dunno.”
“You didn’t talk about it?”
I shrugged wildly. “Why would we have talked about it?”
“Because the whole purpose of this is to get to know each other,” Tibby chastised.
Be Mine: Valentine Novellas to Warm The Heart Page 30