○ a time-honored tradition at xiphoid camp returns. ◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜ lake day was the one day every year where the person snatching away precious extra hours of sleep each morning was not fred finch, but rather bradley robinson. it was an extraordinary sight, for fred finch would likely walk through fire if it meant he would be ringing his great brass bell at the end of it. avior had once seen him slog through thigh-deep snow, waving the bell high above his head, so dedicated he was to this mundane task. "it's LAKE DAY!" bradley sang as he leapt from his bunk. "lake day, Y'ALL!" james joined in from above avior's bed. he too chose to forgo the use of the ladder, landing with a dull thud on the already abused floorboards. "ten more minutes, then lake day!" todd suggested. nicolas said something muffled and unintelligible in agreement. "we don't think so!" bradley and james said in eerie syncopation, and the cabin came alive in a blaze of light. outside the window, it was still pitch-black. bradley and james had gone mad. a third thud sounded, which meant that now marcus, too, had leapt from his bed. grand. avior loved that. "YEAH!" bradley whooped, and he and marcus high-fived. "that's my boy! he knows how things work on LAKE DAY!" nicolas rolled off of his bed and onto the floor, where he laid in a tangle of sheets, glaring daggers at bradley. "wow. look. i'm awake, too," he said, voice devoid of any emotion. "that's very rude," james said. "yes, it is!" bradley agreed. "thank you, jamesy. guys, jamesy is the only person here who loves me," todd coughed loudly, and nicolas, try as he might, couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from twitching upward. huh. what was *that* all about? "well, we have four out of six, now." marcus had a peculiar look on his face. avior did not like it. it looked as though he were scheming. "LAST ONE UP IS A LOSER!" he cried. avior flew from his bed so quickly it felt as though a giant invisible hand had swept him off of the mattress, for one terrifying moment it seemed that the sheet had ensnared his foot, but he was on his feet in seconds. avior viator was no loser. "not fair!" todd said, "he's smaller than me, i'll bet you anything that that makes him more aerodynamic!" "sorry, did i say *last*?" marcus said with feigned innocence, "i meant /second to last/!" his face broke into a wide grin. "PREPARE TO DIE, THEN!" avior spat. marcus gill was a backstabbing liar, and he simply could not be allowed to get away with such treachery. in seconds, avior had grabbed the pillow from his bed and flung it at marcus with full force, which, regrettably, was not as much as he'd like. the pillow hit marcus squarely in the chest and fell to the floor. marcus stared at it for a moment, then looked up. "dude," he said, "did you seriously just *yeet* a pillow at me?" bradley and todd exploded into laughter, while james struggled to keep a straight face. "YEET?" bradley wheezed. "i— that word is so old— why would you—" "i don't know, i was looking for interesting words in the archives!" marcus said. "and i liked that one! what's so funny about it?" "well, it's—" todd gasped for air, "it's just a ridiculous word! yeet? really? who came up with that?" "i don't know!" marcus said again, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. "I GOT DIBS ON THE BATHROOM!" nicolas interrupted, racing past with his swim trunks clutched tightly in his fist. "DIBS!" he shouted again, slamming the bathroom door. "he's going to take forever," james said, dismayed. "wait!" bradley said, "who gets second dibs, nicky?" "don't call me nicky! todd gets second dibs," "aw, thanks, nicky!" "second dibs REVOKED!" ⋘◦⋙ lake day was nothing special, if you asked avior. he would not touch the lake water, for it was a nasty, filthy cesspool of germs and rat p[][][], no doubt. he sunburned too quickly and hated getting water on his face. no, lake day was terrible. but arin and destiny loved it madly, and so he would endure the lake day-inflicted suffering. in the name of friendship and all that. he had yet to touch the water, instead opting to perch upon the same rocky outcrop as last year and watch his friends swim. “it’s not really all that dirty, avi,” arin said, destiny at aer side. ae had wrapped a plastic bag tightly around the cast on aer hand. it was not ideal for keeping it dry, but so far it seemed to work out. “just try it. you might actually like lake day if you try swimming for once,” avior slowly dipped a hand into the water. “it’s cold!” he yelped, clutching his hand— probably contaminated with lake water now— to his chest. “why is it so cold?” “you’re stalling,” destiny said, rolling onto her back. she was very good at swimming, avior had noticed. lucky her. “just get over it and join us!” destiny was a lot less nice than arin. avior liked that. he never knew how to react to niceness. “absolutely not,” avior said. “i’d rather die,”
“okay, then.” destiny vanished beneath the water’s murky surface. “where is she going?” avior asked. arin shrugged. a cold, slippery hand closed around his ankle and gave a sharp tug, and avior had only a second to realize what this meant for him before he was pulled from the rock and plunged into the lake's depths. he resurfaced a moment later, gasping and blinking lake water out of his eyes, and destiny treaded water beside him, laughing like she had not just committed an offense worthy of murder. “destiny, you utter MADWOMAN,” avior said. “this is ridiculous! cruel! devilish!” “you look like a drowned rat,” destiny giggled. avior fixed her with a piercing glare as he extracted himself from the horrid lake water. “you’re both evil,” he said. ⋘◦⋙ avior’s hair had only just begun to feel dry when his day was further ruined by the arrival of none other than his worst enemy. “well, well, well. if it isn’t MUCUS gill,” avior said icily. marcus scowled. “don’t call me mucus!” he said. blah blah blah. whine whine whine. avior would call him whatever he damn well wanted to! "what do you want?" he said, pushing his still-damp hair out of his eyes. "i want to talk to you," marcus said. he spared a furtive glance around. "in private," he added quietly. "about what?" avior said, dubious. marcus was probably going to lure him off into the forest and then kill him or something. he wouldn't put it past him. "something important," marcus said. "you're being awfully cagey," avior accused. "i don't trust you," marcus laughed incredulously. "you think *i* would ever trust *you*, either?" he had a good point. "okay," avior said after a long moment of deliberation. ⋘◦⋙ marcus had grabbed avior by the wrist and led him away immediately, and he did not release his vicelike grip until he and avior were out of earshot of the lake, some twenty yards deep into the forest. a bit excessive. this had better be very important. "i want— i want to make a deal with you." marcus looked as though the words caused him physical pain to say. "what kind of deal?" "you tell me why you keep going off into the forest, and i'll keep quiet about both that AND the scant," marcus said. "that's no deal. i'd force you to keep quiet about it anyway," avior said. he turned away, fully intent on going back to the lake. marcus grabbed his wrist again. "wait!" "would you STOP grabbing my WRIST?" avior snapped, whirling back around to face him. marcus let go and held up his hands apologetically. "what if i told you a secret?" he asked. "in exchange for the information," oh, avior liked this idea very much. secrets were valuable. he loved secrets dearly. "okay," he said. "so why do you keep running off to the forest?" marcus asked. avior had two options. he could lie and make up some story about finding a wounded animal or something and nursing it back to health, or he could tell the truth. all of the truth, which included the bit about the demons' plan to kill marcus. marcus, who would not believe a word that came out of avior's mouth, anyway. marcus, who would be terrified at the prospect of demonic forces after his life. "there are demons out there," avior said, and before he could change his mind, he added, "and they want to kill you," marcus's expression did not change at first. he gave a small, short laugh. "nice try," he said, though his voice wavered. "stop messing with me!" he laughed again. "no, i'm not! i swear on fred finch's beloved brass bell, there are demons in the forest!" well. there was one demon. "you're just trying to scare me," marcus said. "there are no demons out here," he sounded so sure of himself. honestly got you nowhere. through some wild whim of good fortune, alfonso materialized directly behind marcus. alfonso smiled. he waved a hand, and for a moment, the forest went completely and totally dark, like someone had switched off the sun. when the world blazed back to life, alfonso was gone, and marcus was standing frozen, a look of abject horror on his face. "you made them angry," avior whispered. he could hardly conceal his delight. "is the other part true, too?" marcus asked, voice threaded through with horror. avior nodded. "very much so," he answered. he hadn't even had to lie this time. how wonderful. marcus looked as though he was about to faint. that wouldn't do at all. "hey, stickybeak." avior snapped his fingers. "tell me your secret now," he demanded. "huh?" marcus slowly shook off the dazed expression on his face. "oh. right." "well?" marcus greatly resembled a man teetering on the edge of a cliff in that moment. his gaze darted from left to right to left again, and finally settled, eyes meeting avior's. "i don't," he began, then drew in a deep breath and said in a rush, "hate you as much as i want to," before avior could respond, marcus darted away, crashing through the underbrush and hightailing it back to the lake. now, what the hell was THAT supposed to mean?
