Sunnyside Up with Red Ketchup

by Andrews, Ashley

  * * * * *

  A hike. That's what the first physical activity was. Supposedly, this was a camp where you built up your talents and practiced with people who had similar skills. But, according to Leo, the head camper, you were also there to build up your character. To make new friends and use teamwork. What good was that going to do her? All of the other people seemed to be tall, well—built and fit. She was small, puny, and weak.

  She swallowed and shoved another t-shirt inside her large backpack. She'd seen the route they were supposed to take. If you stood at a certain point at the camp, you could see the two enormous hills in the distance. The pathway that wrapped itself around the grassy mountain looked long, steep and tiring.

  Sighing, she swung the backpack around onto her back, amazed at how heavy it seemed after she had tried to pack sparingly. Her face scrunched up as she worked to readjust the straps in order to make it more comfortable. After she was satisfied, she took a step forward, towards the door.

  It turned out her backpack really was too heavy. After she had taken the step, she went off balance and fell backwards straight onto the floor, landing clumsily on the bag. She groaned out loud and shook the straps off, getting up to rub her sore back.

  She kicked the bag with her right foot and then slumped onto the bed, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. The hike hadn't even started yet and she was already exhausted.

  After she had unwillingly emptied half of the contents of her bag, she opened the door and started to head down the stairs. Everyone else was waiting in the huge courtyard, their expensive looking bags resting snugly on their backs. She sighed under her breath and rubbed at her aching shoulders. Even after half emptying the bag, it still felt like it weighed a ton.

  "Red!" She heard someone call. She looked around for the source of the voice and saw Rupert hurrying towards her from outside the black gates. He took no notice of the glares he received as he ran forward to talk to her. She smiled at him.

  He grinned when he approached her. “I just wanted to say good luck. Royal Nature is going to be hiking up a different hill than you guys." A look of displeasure spread across his face and he looked around nervously before leaning toward her. "Apparently, we're not worthy of hiking up the same mountain as you rich snobs."

  She grinned, and then realized he was being serious and frowned. She looked around at the surrounding boys. If you looked carefully, you could see the air of smugness around them. It made her shiver.

  She smiled weakly at Rupert. "Well, it's a shame I won't be hiking with you."

  He smiled back and opened his mouth to say something again, but a pair of arms appeared from behind her and threw themselves around her neck, choking her.

  "Red! I missed you!"

  Her hands flew to the arms at her throat, struggling hard to get them off. Rupert's face was a picture of utter shock and he took a step forward to help when the arms suddenly retreated. She coughed and rubbed at her neck, turning around to stare at her assaulter. Leo.

  "Head Camper." Rupert said formally from beside her, nodding his head in greeting.

  Leo used his middle finger to salute in reply. Beside him, Seth released the hold on the camper's collar, smiling a greeting to her.

  She smiled brightly back, pushing what had happened the day before to the back of her head. After all, he had pants on; he’d only been shirtless, right?

  "Hi." she said, a smile twitching around her lips and her eyes not leaving his. He raised a hand.

  "Hello," he said in his velvety voice.

  "Are you done playing?" A familiar voice from behind her called out. She jumped and turned quickly, staring into the Zane’s eyes. He was dressed in rich—looking, black denim jeans and a long—sleeved turtleneck top. If it had been anyone else, it would have looked ridiculous. He was way overdressed for a summer hike in the woods. But on him, it worked.

  "Hello, Z—" she started.

  "Don't. Even. Bother," Zane growled at her, interrupting before she could finish her cheerful greeting.

  She smiled vibrantly up at him anyway, glad that he had at least acknowledged her presence. She didn't notice Rupert carefully analyzing the atmosphere between the two of them.

  "I’m off now, Red. I'll see you later," Rupert said, sounding a little more crestfallen than he had previously.

  She turned and nodded at him. "Bye."

  He left hurriedly and she stared after him for a few moments. Was something wrong with him? She turned back to the three boys who were having a conversation amongst themselves and it clicked.

  Rupert was probably intimidated by this lot. These guys all had more money, dressed differently, maybe he felt out of place.

  Leo jumped up the few steps that led to the dorm and cleared his throat. Then he opened his arms wide and began to talk. "Campers! The time has come to do our ritual hike up the Twin Mountains! Let's call on our team spirit and—" Leo stopped. No one was listening to him. Sighing, he ran a hand dramatically through his hair and stuck out his bottom lip. "Let's go." He murmured, looking like a child whose toy had just been taken away.

  The dorm members began to trek through the Tunnel of Tree's and a soft chatter broke the silence. The sun was beaming down hard. Before long she frowned as it began to feel as though her skin was slowly crisping. She had coated herself in sun screen, but it didn't seem to be protecting her very well. She swung her backpack off, and pulled out a small black fedora. Sure, it wasn't that great looking, but it happened to be the only hat that she could borrow from one of the agents.

  She placed it on her head and sighed, wiping away a small trickle of sweat that had already began to travel down the side of her face. They hadn't even reached the hill yet and she was already hot.

  She felt a low vibration under her t-shirt and stopped walking. She looked around cautiously at the other campers, but none of them seemed to be paying any attention to her. Zane had headed to the front with the others and she watched him walk further away. Oh well. She could catch up with him later.

  She pulled out the earpiece and placed it in her ear.

  "Dexter?" she whispered, starting to walk again, keeping a sharp eye on the surrounding campers.

  "Will you be alright on this hike? I had no idea the camp did things like this, honestly—"

  "Dexter, it's alright. I can do this. It's not that hard," She swallowed, blowing her bangs out from underneath her hat. It really was hot. She heard a sigh down the other end of the mic.

  "Alright. Don't over exert yourself—Blaine's men could arrive any moment and we might need you to hold them off."

  She didn't know how she was supposed to hold them off. It had been a while since she’d practiced her combat training. But she wasn't going to say that aloud.

  “I won't," she replied. The other end of the line beeped off, so she took the earpiece out, placed it in her pocket instead of back under her shirt and began to search the crowd for Zane.

  They were already three hours into the hike up the hill before she spotted Zane's head at the front of the crowd. She pushed her way to his side. He frowned at her when she approached him.

  "Did I say you could walk with me?" His harsh voice did nothing to faze her and she smiled up at him.

  "You didn't say I couldn't," she replied back, looking up at him innocently. He stared at her for a few moments, then sniffed and continued walking, acting like she wasn’t there. She looked around for the others. Casper and Leo were talking animatedly to each other and Seth was walking silently by himself. For a moment, she watched him. He looked so sad and lonely—she almost wished she had gone to him instead. It looked like he really needed someone to talk to.

  "He's always like that, don't feel sorry for him."

  She looked back at Zane who was staring straight ahead, his face expressionless and a strange tenseness to his tone. It was the first time he'd actually said something to her that wasn't a harsh comment and he didn't look happy about it. In fact, he didn't look very happy at all. She edged closer to
him and ignored his disgusted expression at the invasion of his personal space.

  "Why?" she asked curiously, looking over her shoulder to stare at Seth in case he happened to hear. Zane rolled his eyes and pushed her away from him, wiping his hand on his t-shirt afterwards as though she had given him some sort of infection.

  "It's none of your business," he folded his arms and increased his speed. Blowing her bangs up to move the air across her forehead, she hurried forward to keep up with him. She walked beside him for the next few minutes, unaware of the narrowed eyes that were fixed on the side of her head.

  "Can't you take a hint that I don't want to be near you?" he snapped in order to bring her attention to his displeasure.

  She stretched her arms up above her head, readjusting the hat and shaking off the dizziness she felt as they ventured further up the hill. Looking up at it just made her head spin.

  "But you're not near me. Look, we're an arms width apart." She held up her arm to demonstrate, then took off the fedora and shook her head, her short hair flapping around her. No matter how much she tried, she just couldn't cool off. Looking at Zane, she envied how he didn't even look like he was sweating.

  He snorted at her actions and eyed her tired, hot appearance, narrowing his eyes in speculation. "You look sick." he said bluntly, slowing his footsteps.

  She resisted the urge to sigh in relief at his decrease in speed and swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. She didn't only look sick—she was beginning to feel it too. She was struggling to just keep her eyes open. Surely that was a bad thing?

  “I—" she started to reply, but her words dried up completely. She stopped walking.

  Zane kept walking, and then realized she wasn't beside him. He stopped and turned his head to look at her over his shoulder, unfolding his arms to step towards her. He said something, but it went in one ear and out the other.

  She vaguely felt herself being tugged off of the pathway and saw that Seth and Casper had gathered around them. They’d moved to the side so the other students could stroll past. She swallowed the lump in her throat and wiped a sleeve along her forehead. Something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong.

  How did she know that? Well, it wasn't everyday your eyes were unable to focus on one spot without everything else rotating around it.

  "Red?" A familiar voice echoed in her head. It was like she was standing in a huge room and the voice was bouncing off of the walls until it finally reached her ears.

  Her head tipped forward on its own accord and her tiny legs were shaking underneath her, no longer able to keep her on her feet. It wasn't long before they gave way, sending her crashing to the ground and into complete darkness.

  Chapter 8: Peach

  The hike was always Zane's least favorite activity at Summer Camp. They weren't nine—year—old kids who had been ditched by their parents in some dirty, run down camp while they headed to Canary Islands for a tan. The whole point of this place was that it was somewhere to go to improve on your talents. But, because such an institute was in the middle of nowhere and the name held the word camp in the title, it was automatically assumed that you were supposed to participate in such ridiculous activities.

  But, the fact that the little kid still hadn't left the camp irked him more than the hike. He'd been unable to respond to her comeback about having nowhere else to go, even if that was the case, couldn't the idiot just move to Royal Nature? Why Royal Haven? Why the top floor?

  It was these questions that kept going unanswered that riled him. But, as he walked along with Red, he found himself unable to bring up the topic of asking her to leave the dorm. It was like his conscience had finally snapped out of it. She was a person and every bit entitled to live on the top floor, just as he was.

  He'd smacked down that thought the moment it had risen. He was letting himself be beaten by a spunky kid who knew nothing about the world.

  But, when said spunky kid had turned a lethal shade of white (in contrast to her usual pale skin) he couldn't help but speak up. Whether it was in concern or worry that the idiot would faint and embarrass him, he was unsure, but he spoke up all the same.

  It felt like his heart had been grasped and squeezed when Red stopped to a halt, her arms falling limp to her side. He should have carried on walking, not taking any notice of her. What did it matter to him if Red collapsed from some unknown illness or whatever?

  After noticing that Seth and Casper had stopped walking, staring worriedly at Red who was paling by the second, he decided that if he didn't help the girl, he'd lose the respect from his friends.

  So, for that poorly made—up excuse, he headed forward and pulled Red to the side of the road, calling her name as often as he could in order to make sure she kept consciousness.

  "Red?" He asked, gripping her shoulders and shaking them slightly. The head containing the messy black mop tipped forward, hiding the slowly closing eyes. Zane stepped backwards and ran a hand through his messy hair. What was he supposed to do?

  His left side was pushed slightly and he looked up alarmingly. Seth had shoved past him to hurry forward, catching Red neatly in his outstretched arms before she could hit the ground. Casper was close behind him. It took a lot of willpower to hold back a completely alarmed expression. His eyes, however, widened.

  Seth easily pulled her up into a baby carry, looking ahead at the rest of the dorm. They had stopped short up ahead for what seemed to be a drink break. Zane watched as Seth visibly relaxed and then looked down at the girl in his arms.

  "Wake up! Wake up!" Casper's blonde hair shook as he patted Red's head worryingly. He swallowed and looked up at Seth. "Why won't she wake up? Come on, we need to take her back!" He pulled on Seth's arm, but Seth remained where he was. He used the hand supporting Red's neck to move damp tendrils off of the small girl's forehead.

  "It looks like its just slight heatstroke." He said in a loud voice. Casper frowned at his volume and looked at him confusedly. Seth looked up from Red and his eyes clashed with Zane's.

  “She's got heatstroke," he repeated.

  Zane folded his arms and swallowed, looking into the distance at the group of people. Everyone was busy drinking, with the exception of two girls who were looking in their direction. Zane cleared his throat. “I don't care."

  Seth stared at his stubborn friend and his lips twitched upwards for a second. Then he slung Red over his shoulder and started to walk back the way they had come.

  Zane followed. His stomach feeling more uncomfortable with each step. He had a strange feeling in his gut that he struggled to decipher. Hatred? No, that wasn't it. Worry? No...

  He stared hard at Seth, who was carrying the little, vulnerable looking girl on his back. Swallowing a lump that had strangely formed, he watched her face as he walked, not knowing – not WANTING to know – exactly what he was feeling.

  * * * * *

  She remembered feeling ill. That was it. Echoes of hands being pressed onto her shoulders kept reawakening inside her head, but no matter how hard she searched, she didn't know why.

  She was lying in a bed that wasn't hers and a strange, strong smell was wafting up her nose. She opened her eyes slowly, wincing at the brightness of the room she was lying in. White walls and a white floor. Strange. She saw a figure leaning over her bed.

  "Ah, you're awake." The figure scrambled forward and helped her up, half—pulling her out of the quilt she was lying under. A hand pressed to her forehead. She looked up at Casper, whose face showed intense concentration.

  "Yup, looks like you're alright." He grinned at her and ruffled her hair.

  She stared back blankly. He smiled calmly at her. "You scared the hell out of me. Why didn't you say you weren't feeling well?" He scowled at her, his lips pouting out like a child.

  She shrugged and let out a nervous laugh. “I guess I didn't know myself," She looked around the room she was in. There were lots of beds. "Where am I?" she asked.

  Casper looked at her, his expression frozen.
Then he looked around the room, and back to her again, his bright blue eyes matching hers.

  "You've never seen an infirmary before?"

  She shook her head. Although, very faintly in the back of her mind she remembered lying in a bed, in a room that was similar to this, she hadn't remembered what it was called. She winced. For some reason, thinking about the memory brought back a stab of pain in her chest.

  She let out a sigh of frustration. She was supposed to be keeping an eye on Zane and becoming his best friend, but instead she just fainted, making trouble? She pushed back the quilt and swung her legs out of bed. Casper held her arm, but she shrugged him off.

  "It's alright. I feel a lot better now," she said dismissively. The blonde pouted at her, but she was too preoccupied with her thoughts to notice. Where was Zane?

  She didn't realize she’d said this question out loud until Casper answered it.

  "He and Seth went back to the dorm. They were actually quite glad you managed to get them out of the hike," he grinned at her. She sniffed in reply and hopped off of the bed.

  "Nice to know I’m useful for something." She started to walk off and Casper hurried forward to walk by her side. He stared at her face.

  "Hey," he said, gaining her attention.

  She looked at him questioningly. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and then moved his face slightly closer.

  "Why do you want to be Zane's friend so much?"

  Oh. Oh dear. She let out a nervous laugh and scratched her ear.

  "W—well… I think he's an inspiration?" She hoped he wouldn't notice the fact the sentence clearly ended with a question mark.

  Casper frowned and nodded in approval, patting her on the back. "Yep, I see what you mean. He's been my idol since as long as I can remember." Casper held open the door to the dorm, which they had reached a lot quicker than expected.

  She thanked him and entered. They continued to talk as they made the way up the stairs, but as soon as they were half way up, someone called her name.