Horns erupted, fireworks exploded. I saw Seth fall flat to his stomach and shimmy to the nearest copse of trees for cover.
“Wait? What? They fight to the death? Oh, no. That’s not what I intended. Not at all. Well, shoot…” The voice was still on the loudspeaker but sounded decidedly less grandiose. All of the students stood looking at each other, trying to figure out if this was some kind of joke.
There was a strange shuffling noise over the speakers and then finally, “I mean welcome to the seventh annual Pemberlympics!” More fireworks exploded. Classical music blared from the speakers.
A tall, gangly man in a full suit and bow tie burst from the trees with a small microphone in his hand.
“I’m your host! Siegfried Manchester!”
The man only spoke in exclamation points. There was a smattering of applause as he took a bow, revealing his sweat-soaked back to his small audience of students and chaperones.
“Welcome to Camp Brown! You have been carefully selected to compete in a series of mental and physical challenges over the next few days! The winner will receive an internship with my company this summer!”
“Whoa, watch out. I’m going to kick your ass for that internship.” Bradley’s voice was laced with sarcasm. Poor Siegfried gave away an internship every year as the grand prize for his weird competition, having absolutely no idea that students actively tried not to win it. No one wanted to work over the summer, and most of the kids were forced into this trip by their parents. So the competition actually involved performing the worst without getting caught actively losing.
So, yeah, I was pretty much born to win this game. Er…lose this game? Whatever. There was no way in hell I was getting stuck with that internship.
“As tradition dictates, you will be living in cabins! One with nature! And our first competition will decide your roommates and partners for the remainder of your stay!”
I caught Liam’s eye. But he just looked away and threw his arm over Naomi’s shoulders.
“There are backpacks hidden in the woods behind me. You will be grouped in rooms by color with one chaperone per cabin. The person who finds the golden pack will stay with me in the executive cabin and wins the first challenge!”
Right. So it was basically a game of hot potato in the middle of a forest. Whoever got stuck with the golden pack was totally screwed.
Seth started sprinting toward the woods, fierce determination written across his features. Siegfried pulled a small starting pistol from his pocket and shot a blank into the air.
“Freeze, Ginger! The games have yet to begin!”
I busted out laughing. I couldn’t help it. This whole thing was just too awesomely ridiculous for words. To my surprise, Bradley started laughing too. Then Taylor and Bethany. And Maddie. And Liam. And finally, even Seth and Naomi. It was the kind of laughter where you knew it was going to get you in trouble, but that just made the whole thing even funnier. Even my dad and my Econ teacher were doing some suspicious coughing that made me pretty sure they were choking back giggles.
“Now! Now! Order! I mean…” Siegfried shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot like he had to pee. “Let the games begin!” He fired more blanks into the air, and this time everyone took off.
Naomi and Liam darted to the left and I followed them, keeping a slower pace. I had to see Naomi’s color bag so we could be in the same cabin, but I quickly lost sight of them in the dense woods. Crap, crap, crap. There was no way I’d be able to keep an eye on her if we were separated. I saw a bag in the trees and made a grab for it. I could always hold on to it until I found Naomi again and then ditch it somewhere if she had a different color.
I pulled the straps over my shoulders and kept running.
“Naomi, take this red one!” Liam’s voice rang out in the woods.
I sent him a mental thanks and started on faster, desperate to find another red bag. All around me I heard shouts of joy and a few curses. Slowly but surely, all of the packs were being taken, and I still hadn’t found a red one. I was running out of time. Shit, shit, shit.
And then the gunshots rang out again. More music followed by Siegfried’s voice. “All of the packs have been located. Report to camp for your assignments and for the winner announcement.”
I made my way out of the shade of the trees and onto the beach next to the lake where the rest of the students had already gathered. I scoured my fellow campers, searching for red. I found Naomi first, triumphant and cradling her red bag like a baby. Bethany and Taylor were wearing matching blue packs. Maddie and Seth had blue too. Now that was going to be an interesting room. Yikes. Another shot of red, this time Porter Reynolds. Oh God, please let Liam have the last red, please, please, please.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around to find Liam, eyebrow cocked, red backpack at his feet.
“I’m impressed.” I was actually more grateful than impressed, but he didn’t need to know that.
“No, I’m the one who’s impressed.”
“What do you mean?” Was he trying to be a dick? Yeah, I hadn’t gotten a red, but at least I had yellow. It was better than getting stuck with our weird-ass host.
“I mean, you got the gold! Congratulations!” Liam slapped me on the back.
“Very funny. It’s yellow, you…”
But I didn’t have time to finish my sentence because Siegfried was already moving toward me like a bow-tie-rocking missile.
“Our winner! Our winner! Congratulations, young lady! You are now in first place!”
“Yellow.” It was the only word that came to my lips, and as soon as I said it, I knew my mistake.
“Oh no, it’s gold! You got the gold!” Siegfried took my arm and swung me into what could only be described as a victory jig.
Apparently, I wasn’t very good at losing.