○ the first morning at xiphoid camp, summer of 2131. ◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜ the familiar clanging of fred finch's bell echoed through the camp early that morning, but it did not wake avior up. he had already been awake for ages. at first he had tried to fall back asleep, but there comes a point in the morning where one realizes that no matter how hard you try, in the end, you will still be awake when the sun begins to appear on the horizon. he had accepted that long ago, and since then had simply lain on his back, staring up at the underside of james's mattress and allowing his thoughts to run rampant and wild. the little voice had appeared at some point, and now sporadically dropped in to offer its opinion or some nasty advice. avior did not like the little voice very much. it had a lot to say on the whole matter with arin and the reading thing, which had been the morning's main topic. it doubted that arin would keep his secret, toyed with the idea that ae did indeed think he was stupid, and went on and on about the consequences that would ensue if the secret got out. he was sick of it. 'i'm sick of you, too,' the little voice sneered. 'don't you think i have better things to do?' then why didn't it shove off and go do those things? 'because i don't want to,' the little voice said primly. ⋘◦⋙ avior did not remember his first day at xiphoid camp very well. he remembered being angry about anything and everything, he remembered being appalled at fred finch's unwavering joyfulness, he remembered them handing out t-shirts (his own from the year before had gone missing long ago. he hadn't found it yet), and he remembered going into the forest with his cabinmates, but that was it. perhaps this year would be more interesting. once again, the cabins all stuck together in small clusters, forming a semicircle around fred finch and caryn like they had the year prior. "welcome, new campers, and welcome back to the older ones! today marks the official start of the summer twenty-one thirty-one session here at xiphoid camp!" fred finch beamed at the campers surrounding him. "as many of you already know, here at xiphoid camp, we value nothing more than community, which is why i'd like to take this moment to reintroduce our wonderful staff!" this was where avior had started to lose interest last time. he shifted from foot to foot and allowed his eyes to wander around the semicircle, where he finally found destiny, who looked nearly just as bored as he was. she was standing idly, combing her fingers through her long blonde hair and staring up at the tops of the trees in the forest. for some reason, avior found that to be funny. if she found out about alfonso's mansion, she'd probably be horrified, and then, would she still be looking at the trees next year, or would she be afraid of them? fred finch had just finished introducing the junior counselors in training (there was a new one this year, apparently) and had now opened a large cardboard box. "okay! when your cabin's name is called, step forward as a group to receive your official xiphoid camp t-shirt!" fred finch said. the shirt caryn handed to avior was hideous. who had had the idea to put white lettering on a teal and purple *tie-dye* background? disgusting. no wonder last year's shirt had gone missing. "come back at twelve o'clock for our first inter-cabin activity!" caryn said when the last shirt had been handed out. "breakfast is being served in the dining hall," she added. ⋘◦⋙ "in a fight between fred finch and caryn, who would win?" avior asked arin as they took their seats at the same table with the wobbly leg that they had sat at the year before. "interesting question," arin mused. "size-wise, they're evenly matched. strength-wise, too. i think it would be a tie," "WRONG," avior declared, slamming a fist down on the table. this was a subject he was very passionate about. there was only one correct answer. "fred finch is WEAK. caryn would OBLITERATE him." it felt good to shout for fun, like this. the only times anyone shouted at his home were when someone was exceptionally angry, usually about something avior had done. he was good at getting people to yell at him. extremely good at it. "what're we yelling about?" destiny asked, setting her styrofoam tray down at the table. "hello, destiny!" arin said pleasantly. "DESTINY! hi!" avior said at the same time as aer, with much more enthusiasm. he was in a strange mood today. the sort of mood that he suspected bradley and fred finch were perpetually in, where one wants to smile at everything and be happy for no reason whatsoever. it was weird. he almost hated it. "avior has found a new hobby," arin explained. "he likes to ask me which staff members would win in fights against each other," destiny nodded sagely. "that is so interesting," she said. "see? destiny gets it," avior said to arin.
"sorry i'm wrong," arin said flatly. the corners of aer mouth twitched upward. "was that sarcasm?" destiny asked. "why, i think it was!" avior exclaimed. "arin, beloved arin, i am so very proud of you," "thanks!" arin said. "i live for your approval," destiny cocked her head to the side. "was *that* sarcasm, too?" she stage-whispered. "no," avior said. he was completely serious about that. arin could be a bit of a doormat sometimes. ⋘◦⋙ standing back in the semicircle, waiting for caryn and fred finch to arrive, avior found himself wondering what the first inter-cabin activity would be. perhaps a scavenger hunt like last time. perhaps something different. preferably something that would split the cabins into teams, and preferably something where he could win against marcus. speaking of marcus, avior had hardly seen him at all since that disastrous conversation they'd had the day before. that was slightly disappointing. arin and destiny were all right, great people, sure, but they both liked him a lot, and that was a weird feeling. avior wasn't sure that he liked being cared about as much as he liked being someone's enemy. well, now was a good a time as any to strike up a conversation, and so avior stepped closer to marcus, who was staring vacantly at his shoes, and said in his ear, "what d'you think we're gonna be doing?" marcus jumped, and his eyebrows came remarkably close to reaching his hairline as he yelped, "don't sneak up on me like that!" "wasn't sneaking," avior said with feigned innocence. "must you always assume the worst in me?" "you know damn well why i have every right to assume the worst in you," marcus sneered, turning his face away. "only stickybeaks assume that everyone is out to get them," avior laughed. "i have other interests," marcus did not reply. he appeared to have sprouted the beginnings of a spine over the past five months. that had gone poorly. whatever. marcus's opinion of him did not matter. "hello, hello, campers!" fred finch called out as he jogged into the center of the semicircle. he stopped and took a moment to breathe, then rubbed his hands together excitedly, announcing, "we have an *extremely* thrilling activity for you today! does anyone want to guess what it might be?" "are we going horseback riding?" a girl from secundo guessed timidly. "will we go into the forest again?" a girl from octavo asked. "I GOT IT! we're going to be biting each other's teeth!" a boy from septimus called out. "YEAH!" his friend agreed. avior had forgotten how strange those two were. fred finch seemed to be as a loss for words. "i, uh, thank you for your enthusiasm, but no, ehm, that's not what we're..." caryn stepped forward and took over for her bumbling cohort. "we're going to be making human pyramids," she said flatly. what a horrible idea. this could only go poorly.
