by Amanda Adair
Allie’s is putting on makeup that makes her face look like a deer. Like Bambi. That kind of makeup has been a trend for some years now, but I still don’t get it. It looks cute but since deers are often hit by cars I think it’s distasteful.
Layla seems to like Halloween and dressing up. She asked Allie to help her follow a Joker makeup tutorial on YouTube. It definitely worked out. She looks like a depressed clown. Gigi is as uncreative a me. She’s wearing all black, a long-sleeved shirt and leggings, and glasses. To finish the look she’s used an eyeliner to draw Harry Potter’s Z-shaped scar onto her face.
“I love your look,” I say as soon as we’re all done.
“Whose,” Allie asks since my gaze wanders around.
“Each of you looks amazing,” I say.
“You’re so sweet,” Hannah says and gives me a kiss. That’s why I don’t understand her. Sometimes she’s fighting with us and sometimes she’s the one who hugs us or say things like you’re so pretty or look at your hair, wow. Most of the time it’s because she wants something from us. Like borrow our shirt or use our lipstick.
At the lake we all grab as many marshmallows as we can carry and stand around the fire. The last campfire reminded us how in love we are with roasted marshmallows. I always put some into my hot chocolate, but I haven’t roasted them in a while. They’re so tasty I can’t stop eating them. At some point the marshmallows are used up. Too many of us love marshmallows. There is some leftover grilled meat. Even the bread is gone now.
“In case you want to drink alcohol,” Hannah whispers, “you can ask Jerry to put some tequila into your drinks.” She pauses, then adds, “and don’t tell anyone or I’ll kill you.”
“We can get into trouble if they find out we’re drinking,” Gigi says.
“Stupid,” Allie says to her, “they know. Jerry is Brenda’s little brother.”
I doubt they’ll let us drink and smoke at camp. “Are you sure?”
Because of my responsibilities at home I haven’t been to any real party in ages. I’ve never seen those red cups for real. I’ve never danced on a table or played beer pong. I give Layla and Gigi a challenging look, then I get up. After I’ve emptied three cups I feel more than a little dizzy and groggy. Allie and Hannah tell me to suck it up. Layla forces me to drink some water.
Drunk girls aren’t good mentors. None of us could’ve prevented what happened next. Nothing could’ve prepared me for what happened that night. And the following days. Little did I know that this night would change my life.
To the better, not worse.
chapter 24
HANNAH
I wonder why Allie helped that British girl with the heavy accent, Layla, look ridiculous. I mean, c’mon, the Joker? It was Layla’s stupid idea. A lonely strange guy that’s laughing a lot, wants to be a comedian but isn’t funny at all and then kills a bunch of people. I didn’t get the movie. I didn’t want to watch it, but my date did, and I thought it’s a good idea to let him choose a movie. Why are guys too dumb to just pick a romantic one with lots of kissing and a little drama.
Also, the bonfire night at Hawkins Valley is a party and for parties you’re supposed to look either cute or hot or both. You should want to look good and have an immense amount of fun.
While Layla is helping Tana stay away I’m talking to a guy. He wants to kiss me. His face and lips come closer with every word he says. I don’t listen to any of his word vomit. It’s irrelevant but he’s cute and athletic. He invited me to his dorm in Florida and I told him I will maybe come visit him there.
The second he presses his lips onto mine a rough voice says, “the party’s over.”
The Floridan hottie immediately steps back and we both try to locate the voice. A young man stands in the direction of the cabins. He continues talking through a megaphone.
“You didn’t follow the rules, which is why we have to end this party right now. We ask you to help tidy up the area and go to your cabins. Your own cabins, not someone else’s. Thank you.”
The people around us moan and whistle. Someone shouts, “party pooper.”
Another screams, “wait, what? How about the night walk?”
I wonder what loser couldn’t keep their mouth shut. Maybe someone has staggered too much, so they had to stop us from drinking more. Jerry assured me the counselors don’t care. They want us to have a good time. Suddenly Brenda walks past us with a bucket full of water. She swings the bucket and the water lands on the bonfire. It extinguishes immediately.
“Have a good night,” Brenda says and leaves us behind. She doesn’t help us clean up. The young man tells us to put away the cups and plates, pillows and blankets.
After we’re done Allie and I start walking towards the cabins, followed by Tana, Layla and Gigi. They’re quiet but I didn’t expect them to be anything else but boring. When we arrive at our cabin I watch the Floridan guy enter his. Too bad we can’t hang out tonight in case a counselor finds our we’re not in our own cabin they can’t just expel us but refuse a refund to our parents who in ninety-nine percent of all cases payed for camp.
Before I can express my boredom Allie says, “we’re not gonna go to sleep now, right?”
“We’re so not gonna sleep,” I reply and climb up the latter to my bed.
As Layla closes the door she says, “what do you have in mind? A game?”
“Whisper down the lane,” Tana says.
“Lame,” I cut her off. “How about who am I?”
“Yes,” Allie says and claps her hands. I didn’t know she’s been drinking as well but she only claps her hands like a dumb monkey when she filled with liquor.
Layla is the only who has a self-stick notepad. We all shut ourselves away in our beds and write down a name. I don’t want to be too obvious, so I cross out Kim Kardashian and write down Kylie Jenner instead. That one should be harder, I think.
“Everybody ready?,” Tana asks.
“Just a second,” Gigi says.
Of course, Gigi is the slowest. Whenever we ask her something she hesitates and then nothing comes out of her mouth. And she stutters sometimes, especially when you say things like everybody who’s never made out with another girl raise your hands. She also doesn’t know how to properly ask questions. When it’s her turn (and she’s the one with Kylie’s name on her forehead) she asks if she’s a man, then if she’s a fictional character and if she’s a novelist. She loses the game. Everybody finishes before she does. Even Allie get it that she’s Melinda Gates (which was written down by Tana) and I’m sure Kylie is more famous among girls like us.
We all agree that we still don’t want to go to bed when one of us has the idea to play another game.
“I’ve read about this game online,” she says. “It seemed scary.”
She asks me to go first and instructs me to lay down in the middle while the other girls sit down in a circle around me. I almost stop listening when she starts mumbling words like death and blood and Amaris but when she starts telling a story about me my ability to concentrate finally increases.
Hannah Ludwig is a loud and unmissable girl. At her boarding school she was the girl with the most friends and the most followers on social media, but she probably won’t be acknowledged that much at the University of Connecticut.
Close my eyes, huh? So she can spread lies about me. How does she even know I got into the University of Connecticut? Is she stalking me? Sounds like some revenge-on-a-popular-girl story.
Beware, pride comes before a fall.
Hannah’s downfall starts on a sunny summer day at camp. She’s been swimming, hiking, having BBQs and playing volleyball every day but today she doesn’t want to go out today. Sometimes even an extrovert like Hannah needs some time alone. Well, she isn’t exactly alone. When her roommates leave the cabin a boy sneaks in. Jerry, the boy who provides them with alcohol. They’re not exactly dating but casually making out sometime. Whenever he’s with her at the cabin they both make sure nobody’s about to interrupt them
. Jerry is on top of Hannah, kissing her and touching her thighs underneath her short dress, when someone knocks on the door.
Shh, she makes and pushes him away. Get off of me.
When Brenda opens the door, Jerry’s hiding in their closet. It’s a small closet and it’s occupied by mostly Hannah’s and Allie’s stuff. He squeezed himself inside and pushed all shoes, clothes and bags aside. He has no idea what his sister wants. Did she see him enter the cabin? But that’s not it. Brenda’s looking for Gigi. Hannah is trying to get rid of her by telling Brenda that Gigi’s at the lake. It’s true. She is.
She did stalk me. She just admitted it. Jerry’s been with me a few times. We’re not dating. I want her to shut up, but I can’t as long as she’s talking about me. It would look like I have something to hide. I don’t since Jerry, and I aren’t a real thing. He’s a toy boy, nothing else, nothing more.
As soon as Brenda closes the door Jerry comes out of his hideout.
She can’t find me in here, he tells her, I need to go. But we should continue tomorrow.
What a loser, she thinks. He’s afraid of his sister.
She lays down on Layla’s bed, on which they’ve just made out. It may be cool to sleep in the top bunk, but the bottom bunk is more comfortable when you’re not alone. Two days ago Jerry came to their cabin at night. Five pm maybe. They had sex and Hannah really hopes no one noticed. It felt great to do something forbidden but she didn’t want anyone to wake up and record them.
She calmed herself down by telling her that it’s too dark to film her. But they could still tell the counselors and they wouldn’t be too happy. They want us to at least keep quiet about the naughty things we do when they’re not around. But they will punish us if we’re too stupid not to get caught.
As she’s lying on Layla’s mattress she’s thinking about Aaron, the guy the actually wants to date. Hannah never gets the guy she wants but many jerks who just use her. They’re never really interested in her. She’s never truly felt understood by any guy. A weird smell rips her out of her thoughts. Is it a candle? The bonfire? Wait, today there is no bonfire.
Fire! It smells like fire and smoke.
She jumps up and hits her head. Then she sees that the bunk bed next to the closet on the corner is afire. FIRE. Actual flames reach out for the wooden ceiling and the other wooden furniture. Hannah’s in shock and her head hurts but she manages to get up and run towards the front door. Before she reaches the doorknob she stumbles and falls. This time she hits her head harder.
She doesn’t wake up.
chapter 25
ALLISON
I like the second story about Hannah way more than the first. It’s about her meeting one of the British royals while abroad at the University of St. Andrews, falling in love and becoming a princess. I told Hannah she shouldn’t make out with Jerry and waste her time with a guy like him.
I just don’t understand how she knows that we got into the University of Connecticut and not our dream college, the University of Southern California. We want to transfer, that’s for sure, so it’s kind of half-true but we haven’t told many people that we’re going to the University of Connecticut first. Hannah and I exchange looks after she’s done telling the second story. Does she want me to tell her to stop? I can’t tell what’s going on in Hannah’s head right now.
“Who wants to go next?,” she asks and looks at me. “Allison?”
If there is one thing Allison Parker is good at it’s not writing essays or understanding politics but swimming. Allie’s parents tried so hard to find a hobby for their daughter. At age seven her friends were in love with playing tennis or ambitious when it comes to play the piano. Allie took her time to figure out what her talent might be. She’s an excellent swimmer, fast and agile. The probability of her drowning is literally zero. She would even survive the Titanic, at least if the water wasn’t freezing.
Allie found the summer camp with its magnificent lake online and convinced her best friend Hannah to sign up and her parents to pay for it. It seems like the perfect camp for her, wouldn’t she be forced to share a room with Gigi. One day at camp a few guys know on the door and ask if anyone wants to go to the lake. Allie joins them and spends hours at the lake, tanning and eating.
At some point it’s so hot that she wants to go swim and cool her body down. She takes a boat with the group of guys and a girl and they maneuver the boat to the middle of the lake. There she takes off her colorful summer dress and jumps into the water. The others stay there and enjoy the weather, the blazing sun and the light breeze. When they look around they can’t see Allison anymore.
Allison, one of the guys shouts.
Suddenly their boat is shaking, and two hands appear on the side of the boat, then a head. It’s Allison who laughs.
Afraid?, she asks.
Not funny, the guy responds.
He wants to grab her hand and help her out of the water, but her body suddenly disappears like it’s being dragged back into the water. Again, the guys scream and shout. Shout her name and shout for help. One of them jumps into the water and starts searching for her.
Two hours later her corpse is pulled out of the water.
First I’m supposed to get into Harvard due to my parents’ connections, then according to her second story I’m supposed to drown in a lake. She thinks this is funny, doesn’t she? What’s her suggestion? I’m not as good at swimming as I think and my parents do everything for me, their little princess who’s incapable of managing her own life?
“So scary,” I say. “You should choose a more realistic story. As you mentioned I’m a great swimmer.”
“Okay, got it,” she says and points at Layla. “Come on, you’re e next.”
“Sure,” Layla says excitedly.
Layla Asaad used to binge-watch Lost, even though she never understood the ending. Most paranormal mystery series begin telling their stories in an exciting way but then they mess up the ending. Did they even think of a proper ending when they started filming? Probably not. What strikes her most, however, is that she can barely hop on an airplane anymore without the fear of a crash. It’s funny because whenever her dad’s around with his big beard and angry eyes the people around her are afraid of him dropping a bomb rather than suffering the same fate as Oceanic Flight 815.
Her dad is a great guy, even though he’s stricter than all the dads of her friends at school. The Christophers, Michaels and Alexanders. But her dad has always been making sure that his daughter is safe since her mom died while giving birth to Layla. He’s booked a flight from Quebec to London. She’s getting on and off the plane without anything happening to her.
Three months later she goes on a school trip to Italy. Milan, the city of fashion and art. She’s looking forward to cones full of strawberry ice cream and fresh Italian pizzas. She’s going to enjoy all of this, the food, the busy city life and the museums but she’s never going to return from her trip.
When boarding the flight number PM 172 everything seems alright. The crew members smile at the passengers and the passengers quickly find the way to their seats. The weather is good and the free sandwich with cheese and tomatoes that they get on the two-hour-long short-haul flight is tasty. Shortly after their departure, above Switzerland, the plane loses height. Through the oval window next to her Layla can see how the grass and the mountains around them come closer and closer. The crew is desperately trying to open the door to the cockpit, but they can’t get inside.
The airplane crashes onto the ground and splits into millions of pieces.
chapter 26
LAYLA
I don’t know how she knows that I’m afraid of flying. I haven’t told her. We’ve talked a lot during the last couple of weeks, but I’ve never mentioned the TV series or flying or anything like that. Not to her and not to anybody else at camp. Maybe she’s been stalking me online, but I’ve never mentioned our school trip to Italy either. How does she know all that? It’s scary enough that she’s turned out the l
ights, so that only the moonlight shines on our faces but now her stories seem to be based on things she can’t know of.
I want to stop her from talking. I want to tell them we should all go to bed now. But she’s already going on.
As much as she’s afraid of flying Layla likes a special someone. A girl named Mia. Did I say like? She loves Mia. She met her during her year abroad in Augsburg, Germany. She’s visited her several times. But they can’t be together.
Mia’s parents hate the idea of having a daughter that’s gay. She could never tell them. She’s heard them talk bad about homosexuals many times. Layla is sure that her parents will understand. They want her to be happy. But she doesn’t want to tell them until the two girls can be together. She wants her to come to England and study with her at the University of Liverpool.
Wow, I think. Her story’s somehow cute but also a bit too much. I don’t care if she uses my relationship with Mia for her so-called game, but I do mind that she’s pretending to know it all. When I told her a bit about my lesbian self I knew she’s open-minded and supportive. She likes everyone, no matter what. I’m curious about the ending. I love surprises. She’s more creative than I expected.
Mia’s too afraid to tell her parents but when Layla visits her she invites her home. Her parents have prepared dinner. Steak and vegetables. They talk about Layla’s plans for her future and her life in England. After they’ve finished their meals Mia gets up.