Camp Paramore

by Wendy Lea Thomas

  “I still have to pee,” she added.

  “Fuuuuuck,” I shouted.

  It wasn’t long before we both erupted into a laughing fit. When that wore off, we began shouting at the tops of our lungs for someone to help us.

  “Helllllllllllp…Somebody…Heeeellllpppp!”

  It was no good. It was Sunday, and with the blizzard and the dwindling crowd because of the press leaks, most of our floor was vacant. Everyone was gone.

  We hung there for a few seconds, defeated and silent, before Caitlyn looked up at me.

  “It seems as if Dorian has taken a liking to you,” she said.

  “Yea,” I said, not really wanting to hear her opinion on the matter.

  We fell silent for another minute.

  “You like it here don’t you?” I asked.

  “What’s not to like? There’s a lot of wealth around here and I get to sleep with gorgeous celebrities. It’s a dream come true,” she said excitedly.

  “Why is that? Don’t you ever want a relationship? Find love. Get married and maybe settle down someday?”

  “Are we talking about me or you?” she asserted. Good point, Caitlyn.

  “But seriously, don’t you want to find Mister Right and settle down with him?” I defended.

  “Eventually, I guess but I just haven’t found him yet,” she said, struggling some more under her bonds. These straps had just enough flexibility to endure our movements. “Who’s the right guy for you, Aria?”

  Her question caused me to fidget in my restraints. “I thought I knew…” I trailed off.

  Caitlyn studied me. “How’s Dorian treating you?”

  “He’s really amazing once you get to know him.” I straightened my shoulders, trying not to show how much this conversation was bothering me. “Are you staying with Chase again soon?”

  Her face lit up. “Yes. I can’t wait. I’m training to be his sub this upcoming weekend, that will be new for me.”

  I smiled warmly at her. This was the first civil conversation that Caitlyn and I ever had. This weekend just kept getting weirder.

  “Did you hear that Travis and Maya decided to hold the wedding here at Paramore? Since the crowds have been getting smaller, and they don’t have any family nearby, they decided to have a friend’s only wedding. I guess they will fly back to Colorado to have their family reception.” Wow, a wedding at Paramore. I secretly wondered what it would be like to get married here.

  “When is it?” I asked.

  “Jesus, don’t you and Avery talk at all anymore?”

  I lowered my head. “No,” I said. “Avery hasn’t mentioned it yet and I haven’t spoke to Sara lately.” Dorian’s been occupying most of my time and my mind lately.

  “In three weeks.”

  I smiled. I was happy they were getting married. But deep down I knew she was right about Avery. I needed to see and speak with him more, but the problem was that Dorian kept hijacking my thoughts.

  We hung there in silence for a little while until I started thinking about last night.

  “You know, I don’t remember anything after our toast last night. Can you?” I questioned.

  “The last thing I remember was downing that second shot,” she said. “I got nothing after that. I bet they roofied us because that’s the only way I wouldn’t have woke up while they were hanging us. I’m a really light sleeper…God I really have to pee!” she shouted.

  “That’s it,” I said.

  “What’s it?” she asked.

  “Pee. Maybe if you pee it will weaken the adhesive on the tape enough for you to break free,” I said very enthusiastically.

  “I’m not peeing while I’m stuck up here on the wall. If it doesn’t work, I’ll be stuck here soaking in my own urine. There’s no fucking way. Think of something else.”

  “It’s the best chance we’ve got,” I said. “At least give it a try.”

  “That is so nasty.” Caitlyn warned. After awhile of coaxing she finally gave in. She closed her eyes and concentrated. “This is grossing me out,” she said as the warm stream flowed from her and started slipping down around her legs. Caitlyn made a vinegar face as the droplets of pee flowed through the tape and landed on the desk below her. “It’s getting on my Coach purse,” she hissed.

  “Alright, it’s starting to gross me out too. Please hurry up,” I begged.

  As soon as the dampness flowed over her legs she started thrashing about as hard as she could. She wiggled in one huge motion to the right and back to the left. Whack! Whack!

  She shook her head, trying to recover from knocking it into the wall. “Owwwww.”

  But the tape still held her firm. “Shit, this fucking sucks!” she exclaimed as she scowled at me. “Great, I’m stuck here soaked with piss, and I’m going to have to throw my purse out.”

  “Huh, I really thought that would have worked,” I said ponderingly, as her glare intensified. Just then, a knock came at the door as it opened slowly and Jenna peeked her head in.

  “Hello, anybody here? Caitlyn are we going to breakfast?” Jenna walked in the room and her eyes widened as big as balloons.

  “Oh my, what have you two been up to?” Jenna said as she stepped through the door.

  “Hey,” we said in soured unison. Then Caitlyn continued.

  “The terror twins drugged us and stuck us up here,” I said. Jenna chuckled. “It’s not funny, Jenna.”

  “I know,” she said shaking her head. “I’m sorry.” But then she burst out in contagious laughter and I started to giggle at Jenna’s reaction.

  “I’m serious, Jenna,” Caitlyn finished, but that just made Jenna laugh harder and I followed. We must have looked ridiculous hanging there. After a few minutes, we calmed our giggles, then got down to the business of getting free.

  I caught Jenna up to speed on the events of last night and this morning, including the part about Caitlyn peeing herself, and explaining why there were mousetraps all over the floor.

  “Come here and pull me down,” Caitlyn demanded, barely waiting for me to finish.

  “No way, I’m not touching you. You’re soaked in your own pee,” Jenna exclaimed. Caitlyn scowled further. “Sorry, but it’s disgusting Caitlyn, though I do have an idea,” Jenna said. She ran into the hall and returned a few moments later holding the fire extinguisher taken from its perch on a small shelf by the elevator. Then she laid out her plan.

  “OK, since there’s no fucking way I’m touching Caitlyn, and Aria, you’re too high for me to reach, not to mention I’m not stepping through those mouse traps. I’m going to fire off this fire extinguisher on that tape holding you which should freeze it just enough to cause the tape to lose adhesion so you can spring yourself free, with a little help of gravity, of course,” she said, aiming it at me.

  “Just push yourself off slowly, Aria, so you don’t hit those mousetraps when you land. Luckily, it seems that they ran out of mousetraps before they could completely cover your bed. If you let yourself down easy, you can step down onto that bare spot and you’ll be fine. Are you ready?”

  I nodded as she pointed the extinguisher my way and unleashed a white cloud of frostiness over me. Whoosh!

  When it ended, I looked like Casper the friendly ghost. But the tape hardened and I felt its grip weaken. I mustered up all my strength and lurched my body forward in one swift motion. All of a sudden, it let go and down I went. BWUUMP!

  “Agghhhhh,” I screamed as I fell. I dropped down onto my bed, missing the barren spot and landing right in the middle of the mousetraps. Snap! Snap! Snap!

  “Owwwww, not again.” But I fell with such force that I careened back up in the air and over in between our beds.

  As I bounced, my legs knocked into the end table and tipped up the tray that Caitlyn had left there. She was a slob, and that damned tray sat there for more than a week filled with a bowl of chocolate syrup.

  It flew up into the air and coated my face, neck, and arms. It got everywhere, and between that and the fire foam
, it looked like I was covered in rocky road ice cream. I tried to get the thick layer off of me and forgot where I was. I scooted back and landed right on more mousetraps. Snap! Snap! Snap! Pinch! Snap!

  “Owwwww!” God dammit!

  Snap! Snap! Snap! The mousetraps fired off in rapid succession. They were bouncing up into the air, landing on other traps, and setting those off. Jenna threw down the fire extinguisher causing it to go off.

  Whooshshoosh.

  It blasted Caitlyn in the chest and face with a giant white cloud. The canister shot off like a rocket knocking over the trashcan, lamp, and everything else in its path, firing off its thick dusted foam all over our room.

  Jenna quickly ducked back into the hallway for cover. I tucked myself into a ball and held on until the mousetraps and the fire extinguisher were done firing off.

  When it was over, the entire room looked like an arctic war zone. Both Caitlyn and I were covered in frosty glaze and chocolate sauce. Caitlyn had it the worst though still soaked in her own pee.

  Jenna poked her head through the door. Both she and Caitlyn looked at me lying there and burst into laughter. I still had mousetraps stuck to my frosted, marbled, formerly red sequin devil dress that I wore last night. I stood up, wiped the chocolate sauce and white firefighting foam out of my eyes, and moved towards Caitlyn on her perch.

  “Why the fuck was there a bowl of chocolate sauce next to your bed?” I asked incredulously.

  “It’s my one vice, okay?” she said in between guffaws of laughter. “I like to dip rice cakes in the sauce. I can’t eat a lot of shit and keep this body tight,” she said, holding back her laughter. “You look like an angry zebra!” she snickered. Then she and Jenna burst out laughing again.

  “Yea…yea. Do you want me to leave you up there?” I asked narrowing my eyes at her.

  “No,” she said, shutting up quickly. Then she batted her eyes at me, begging for mercy.

  I crawled up over her desk, almost slipping off from all the slick foam covering it. I gave a couple small tugs at the strips of damp tape but they were being stubborn. So, I decided to put all my weight into it and gave it one giant yank. It buckled immediately with a loud crack. As it let go, my feet slipped out from under me and I tumbled backwards landing on top of the fire extinguisher, lamp, trashcan, and the rest.

  “Owwww, God dammit!” I howled.

  “Oh my god, are you all right?” Jenna chimed in.

  I lay there motionless and moaned. I was nauseous from drinking. My back and head were killing me from falling on the floor twice, and I had pinch marks all over me from where the mousetraps bit into my skin. “Twice in one year is two times too many to roll around on mouse traps,” I said.

  “Look,” Jenna stated. “Those bitches really need to be taken down. They drugged you two and caused this disaster. That’s fucking diabolical.”

  “We better tell Avery about this,” Caitlyn said, as she sat down in the foamy goo covering her bed.

  “No! No way,” I said. “Paybacks are a bitch and so are we. We’ll get them back but it’s got to be dignified and it’s got to be public.” Sara taught me that back at Camp Jameson, and it was still true.

  “We’ve got to take them down in front of all of Paramore, and I think I may have an idea,” I said as I stared at the now empty fire extinguisher beside me on the floor. A grin spread over my face as my evil plan to get back at them slowly fell in to place. This is going to be epic.

  ∞

  CHAPTER 20

  CANDYLAND

  Thursday, November 15th – Weekend Seven

  My chemistry exam was tomorrow and I was behind in my studies. I was spending too much time partying at Paramore. I started freaking out about exams after Jenna asked me about my classes and how they were going. She had a way of getting me to be introspective. So, I left Sunday without even saying goodbye to Avery.

  As you might guess, that didn’t sit well with him. When he texted me, I could hear the anger in his voice. But I think if we actually spoke, I wouldn’t have been able to keep what happened to Caitlyn and me a secret, and I wanted my chance to payback the terror twins. Avery would just have to wait for now, there were more important issues to face. I had to pass my classes. I couldn’t lose my scholarship. I was not going to fail out of nursing school.

  I downed an energy drink, pulled out my books, and started studying Chemistry at the kitchen table. I would need a miracle to pass, but time really flew by this semester. It was already Thanksgiving next week. Avery asked what I was doing for Thanksgiving dinner and I couldn’t even give him an answer. I truthfully couldn’t think about that now.

  I read through some chemistry equations and practiced their conversions. Sara and Colt made it home and both made their excuses to go to the library to study, but I think they just wanted to give me some time alone.

  After about four hours, I was barely able to keep my eyes open. I reached a point where I didn’t know the answers to any of the questions. The study session didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. I thought I knew at least some of the material, but I was sitting there mostly blank and defeated.

  My anxiety spiked. I couldn’t memorize even the most basic equations. I was so screwed. It was Thursday night, tomorrow was my exam, and then I had to get back to Paramore. It was the Candyland theme party this weekend and I had Jenna and Caitlyn working on our surprise for the twins.

  My insecurities rose and I groaned inwardly and refocused my thoughts towards studying for my Microbiology test. Ugh, it was going to be a long night.

  At five in the morning, I crawled to the couch and passed out on the opposite end as Sara. She had crashed out hours ago and I didn’t want to disturb her.

  Last night, Sara and Colt had come back from studying, made dinner, and afterwards stayed in their room. I could hear Sara’s sewing machine until midnight, then when Colt went to bed, she came out and studied on the couch until she fell asleep.

  The TV was still on, but muted. The screen flashed a photo of Dorian. Even with no sound, it was obvious the story had something to do with Paramore. My heart began to race at the sight of him. I craved him.

  *****

  Avery knew how to throw a Party. I stood in Ballroom A wearing a dark lilac Thakoon micro dress and matching platform heels, in awe at Avery’s version of Candyland. It was Saturday night and I was supposed to meet Dorian here. He was flying in late from Vancouver because principal photography had begun on part three of the Shades of Discontent trilogy. He was truly the biggest name in Hollywood right now despite Tor trying to bring him down by leaking photos of him from here at Paramore. I will give Dorian credit; he wasn’t going to let anything or anyone stop him from coming here to see me. He was determined and successful.

  I wish I could say the same for myself. I was sure that I bombed my exam yesterday. I was hoping for the best, but I expected the worst. I went completely blank during the test. Maybe it was exhaustion but I’ve got to do better on the next one or I’m going to fail.

  I took in the life-sized Candyland board game that filled the center of the ballroom with a lane of one hundred and thirty-four colorful squares making paths that led through a variety of fantastically designed sets starting with the Candy Cane Forest on my left. The candy canes were eight to ten feet tall and in the center of its densely populated section were king-sized rainbow colored canopy beds that were hidden from view unless you found your way through the maze.

  At the far end of the floor, Avery had built a full-size two-story replica of King Kandy’s Castle. It had gingerbread walls supported by four large towers of giant strawberry frosted cupcakes that stood at least twenty feet high each. Icing swirled up their sides and they were topped with multi-colored sprinkles. Its roof was bright cherry red with large candied shingles of frosted cake icing. Its outside gingerbread walls were decorated with bright lime and blueberry frosting with large gummy bears decorating its lawn and cherry licorice columns supporting the main archway. This party is totally going
to ruin my diet. I swear I’ve gained five pounds just standing here looking at it.

  The giant game board was woven with lime, blueberry, lemon, plum, and orange spaces. The remaining cherry spaces lead to Gum Drop Mountain, or through the molasses swamp, which was a very large sticky hot tub of heated chocolate and molasses. Two of these spaces were designated as ‘cherry pitfalls’. Those who were going to play the game in live action later in the night, if you landed on one of these spaces you got thrown into the molasses hot tub.

  Gingerbread Plum Trees lined the pathway and wound through the Lollipop Woods on the right side where more beds were situated amongst a forest of rainbow lollipops, which resembled dwarf pear trees.

  The bar in the center was a peanut brittle cottage with large round peppermint tables around its edges and red and white candy chairs aligning each table. On its roof was a large milkshake fountain from which flowed soft ice cream, which swirled and bubbled, and was chilled by laser cooled ice tracks that swirled downward from its apex.

  Gumdrop Mountain was a giant rainbow colored pyramid of gumdrop blocks with each level sporting a queen-sized gumdrop bed. The beds were cherry, orange, lemon, and lime colored. It was stunning.

  Kim and both the terror twins were bartending. Kim was dressed like Queen Frostine, while Genevieve was Gramma Nut, and Jezebel was Mamma Gingersnap. It would have been funnier if one of them was dressed as Gloppy the chocolate monster but they looked pretty humiliated the way they were.

  “Guess who gets to be King Kandy?” a voice from behind me sounded. I turned around to see who was speaking. “That’s right. It’s me.” Wren was grinning literally like a King in a Candy store.