Excerpt: Angel in Disguise :: Summer of Heck

::Summer Camp::

Alex yawned and then took a sip of his cup of coffee while listening to his best friend Darren ramble on about how much fun the summer was going to be. Listening to him ramble was always an entertaining thing, as he tended to get completely off subject and then manage to get back to the subject.

“…and then Ritzy fell off of the top bunk in the middle of the night and scared me half to death! So, you know how I always keep a glass of water near me at night? Well, I grabbed that and threw it at her and missed and then she made fun of me for throwing it and said something about how I would probably fend off a burglar with a glass of water, which is actually true. I think it would work, don’t you? I mean, what kind of burglar expects to have a glass of water thrown at them?”

“I have no idea,” Alex said.

“Exactly!” Darren exclaimed. “See, now why can’t Ritzy understand that?”

Alex shrugged and took another sip of coffee.

Darren sighed and picked up a log for that night’s campfire. “So, are you excited? You know, about watching over little kids for two weeks?”

Alex shrugged. “I guess. I still can’t believe you talked me into this. Thirteen kids is a lot.”

“Not really,” Darren said. “Usually that cabin has about fifteen kids. This is probably going to be the tamest year in ages.”

“Tame?” Alex repeated. “There’s going to be over fifty kids coming here today! How is that tame? It’s insane!”

“It’s the best camp around,” Darren explained. “Kids have been coming here for ages. Their parents probably came to this camp when they were kids. Didn’t I tell you all of this when we were signing up for the job?” He frowned. “Or were you ignoring me again and just pretending to listen?”

Alex scratched the back of his neck. “I was listening. Kind of.”

Darren groaned. “Alex! You gotta listen when I’m telling you important stuff! One of these days you’re gonna miss something really important and then you’ll regret not listening to me!”

“Yeah, I know,” Alex muttered. “I’m already regretting it. I could be at home asleep in my comfy bed right now but instead I’m standing outside, awake, talking to you while waiting for over fifty little kids to show up.”

“Hey, you were the one who was complaining about having nothing to do,” Darren said defensively. “It’s not my fault you thought being a camp counselor would be fun. I did try to warn you.”

“Darren, the only thing you told me was that it was fun but a lot of hard work,” Alex told him. “And then you went off on a tangent about how much fun you had at camp when you were a kid.”

----

::Road Trip::

“Skylar Lee Freehart!” Roxanne yelled when she and Zephyr finally found Regan and Sky in the food court nearly an hour later. “What the hell have you been doing? Do you have-- Did you fall in one of the fountains again?” She demanded.

Sky looked down at his wet clothes and plucked at his shirt sleeve. “Huh, how could you tell? They’re much dryer than they were earlier.”

Roxanne would have face-palmed if she wasn’t so dignified.

“Again?” Regan questioned. “You mean he’s done this before?”

“Several times,” Roxanne said dryly. “The last time was because he threw a coin into the air, only to realize he forgot to make a wish. So he tried to catch it. Instead, he fell face-first into the fountain. The time before that he tripped over his own feet while walking along the fountain wall.”

“What is this, embarrass Sky day?” Sky complained. “It’s not like I do it on purpose!”

“That’s the sad part,” Roxanne said. “That you don’t do it on purpose.”

Sky pouted. “Yeah, well, you don’t have to tell everyone about it. That’s just mean.” He sniffed and looked down at his pizza slice before picking it up and taking a bite.

“Whatever,” Roxanne muttered. “I’m going to go get food. Don’t move from this spot, I mean it.”

“‘kay.” Sky replied. “You go get food. I won’t move. Promise.”

Roxanne looked at him for a moment, trying to figure out if he was being serious or not. Then she shrugged and asked Zephyr if he wanted to come with her to get food. He agreed and the two set off for one of the healthier food stands.