Camp Murderface by Saundra Mitchell

Camp Murderface by Saundra Mitchell

Author:Saundra Mitchell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2020-03-18T00:00:00+00:00


14

Who Who Who vs. Cha Cha Cha

Tez

Ouch!

Something hard digs into my ribs. “Boy, what are you doing down there?”

Head throbbing, I raise my hand. Rubbing my face slowly, I open my eyes to a familiar face. Whoa, whoa, whoa! The Old Lifeguard stands over me, his whistle dangling from his neck like a pendulum.

His boot is in my ribs—definitely not a ghost. Yeouch!

I have to look around. It takes so long to blink my eyes. My throat is sore, and where am I? Slowly, I realize I’m lying on a cold concrete floor. I ache everywhere; it’s like I got hit by a truck. A very small truck, one that fits inside a camp shower. Running water splashes cold against my bare skin.

Wait . . . bare?

Jeez Louise, I’m naked!

Scrambling to cover my kibbles ’n’ bits, I scrape my backside on the floor. Towel, towel, where’s my towel? Oh, it’s in the Old Lifeguard’s bony, ancient hands. Awesome! With one hand still strategically in place, I hold the other one out. “Can I have that, please?”

He gives it to me, then turns his back.

At least I get to stand up with some dignity. My knees feel like rubber, and my head spins as I rise. Wrapping the towel around my waist, I find myself wishing I had another one. Or a robe. A big fluffy one. Maybe with a monogram on it.

“You wanna tell me what you were doing lollygagging and thrashing about in here?” The Old Lifeguard is a statue. He doesn’t even glance back.

Quickly, I grab my laundry bag. Stuffing my soap and wet, paint-stained clothes into it, I say, “I just got dizzy.”

“You sure about that?”

I duck my head and slip around him. When the shower curtain brushes against me, a chill cruises down my spine. “Completely sure. One hundred percent.”

The Old Lifeguard squints at me. “I know about your condition.”

When he says it, it sounds ominous. It’s not like a cheerful Hey, I heard some interesting trivia about you! It’s more like, I know something I can use against you. I swallow hard, and my throat protests painfully. What does this guy want?

Backing away from him, I say, “Yeah, well, I’m fine. If I’d experienced any vasovagal syncope, I’d go to the nurse. But I didn’t. That’s why I’m going to go put on some dry clothes and get back to square dancing.”

When the Old Lifeguard moves, I swear I can hear his bones groaning with the effort. He really is ancient. He looked like a grown-up in the yearbook, and that was a hundred (impossible!) years ago. Why would Camp Sweetwater hire this guy? (How could they hire him?!)

The Old Lifeguard keeps walking toward me. “They’re not square dancing anymore.”

My mouth goes dry. “Okay, then . . . I’ll meet them at the nature center?”

“Kid,” the Old Lifeguard says, walking past mirrors that make him seem even more fun-house terrifying than he does on his own.

The thin, yellowish light thrown off by the bare bulb above us does him no favors, either.



Download



Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.