The Game

Hi... *waves awkwardly* Um, kinda bad news followed by more kinda bad news...

Okay, so I haven't written a damn thing for this story. And I have two completely legitimate excuses for this. Firstly, I may or may not have been grounded severely. With that being said, I'm sneaking onto my iPod to tell you guys this. My grounding includes no electronic use (iPod, phone, and laptop) unless it's school related, my dad lets me get on it, or to buy books, and I have no idea when I'll get it back. So...yeah, I haven't gotten the chance to write except once. Which brings me to my next point...

The chapter I am stuck on is... for lack of a better word, sucky. The plot I already changed, which was not according to plan obviously. And now my characters are a little screwed up -- okay, a lot-a screwed up -- so... I can't write them. I can write Sam and Zoe of course, but River is too nice and Jordan... God, I just hate writing his characteristic this chapter. His personality is horribly screwed up. And I want to throw Rissa and Flint in the chapter too but... I don't even know how. It isn't working well. Jordan is the main problem, and I do want to change River from being so nice but... I can't make it work. And River says "Okay?" too much. I need to fix that... But I hate it. And I don't even like thinking about that chapter.

I also have recently found out I have severe depression -- I've known I'm depressed, but I never thought it was that bad until just a while back -- and I'm possibly bipolar, and I'm going to look into getting a therapist or something because it's getting to a point that I can't handle anymore. Which could also delay the writing. Which sucks.

So, it will be quite a while until I write again. Probably November or December at this rate. And even then I'll just stare at my computer screen with frustration and confusion.

I am sorry for the excuses, for not writing, for making you wait months. You guys are the best because of your loyalty and I promise you I will never give up on this story. I will make it work and I have a lot of ideas for this story, and it will not go to waste. I will finish one way or another. Even if I have to write this chapter a hundred different ways, I will finish.

You guys are the best and I love you and I thank you for being so patient and loyal.

 

Um... SURPRISE!? I have my stuff again. And an update. It's kinda ironic because the day after I told you guys I wouldn't have my stuff, I got it back. So, I wrote, I fixed, and I finished this chapter!
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Chapter 6 – The Infirmary, Ideas, and Weird River

When I open my eyes, all I see is white. But it’s blurry. Very, very blurry, to say the least. And the first thing I feel is the overwhelming feeling to throw up. I sit up, a hand over my mouth, searching for something, anything to throw up in. Suddenly, a bucket is sat beside me and I finally let go. I try to push my hair back, but I’m shuddering and I can’t see. Someone grabs my hair and is hesitantly rubbing my back.

“It’s okay,” I hear, but hardly. All I can hear is myself, and it is not pleasant. Once I’m done heaving everything in my stomach, I sit back up. And the weird thing is, I still can’t see. Then it hits me, I’m not wearing my contacts. Not color contacts, like real “I need them to see” contacts.

“Shit. Who are you?” I look around and squint and I see black in the white. “Wait, River?”

“Yep. Are you blind or something?” he asks, waving a blurry hand in front of me. I squint even more, trying to hit him or stop his hand or something. All this blurry vision is giving me a serious headache. And it’s horrible.

“Well, I don’t have my contacts in, and I don’t have my glasses on, so I think I am, thanks.” I hear him stifle a laugh. “Go ahead, laugh. I’m used to it.” And he starts roaring with laughter. I ignore him, rolling my eyes, my blind, blind eyes. He’s such a jerk. He pushes me into the water, almost kills me, pranks me constantly, and he’s such a freaking jerk after that truce. What the actual hell?

“Sorry, here,” he tells me after he’s done laughing. He places something on my ears and my vision clears. He has my glasses? I wonder how. Then the answer hits me. Zoe. Of course. She’s the only person who knows about my vision problems. Well, now so does River. But still, she’d be the only person who would think about getting me my glasses.

“Where’s Zoe?” I ask, looking around. The only person I see is River, and he has the biggest damn smirk on his face and I swear I am going to kill him.

“She came yesterday, dropped your glasses off, and she watched you sleep for a while. And yes, you have been out for a long time,” he tells me when I widen my eyes. Yesterday? I have been passed out for almost 24 hours? Oh my gosh, how? That is my absolute worst nightmare. Well, not necessarily, but it’s bad enough.

“Okay, so why in the world did you push me in the fucking lake, River?” I ask angrily, glaring at him. His mouth forms into a small O and I raise my eyebrows. He glances down at his hands, which are wrung in his lap, and he doesn’t speak for a long while.

“Well, the tension was horrible. And I didn’t know what else to do.” I watch him shrug when he finally speaks, and I hear shame fill his voice. “I thought you knew how to swim. Jordan told me he taught you how a few years back, so I didn’t think you would almost die. You scared me to death. I thought you died. So, I dove in to the lake and pulled you out. You blacked out and I swear to God, I thought you actually died. But when I brought you here, the nurse said you’d be fine, and I haven’t left your side since.” My mouth is hanging open in pure shock and awe. River Carlyle saved my life. River saved me. River. River Carlyle. And he hasn’t left my side at all. It explains the bags under his eyes and how bloodshot they are. I can’t believe he’s so…selfless…

“River, I don’t know what to say,” I whisper, tears in my eyes. And River’s voice is so sincere, so honest; I know he is not lying to me.

“Don’t say anything. It’s kind of embarrassing. And before you say it, you don’t owe me anything, okay? Let’s just push on and win the competition.” He isn’t looking at me now, and I can see him blushing faintly. It seems like it’s really bothering him, so I nod in agreement.

“Okay. I won’t say a word. But we need to talk about this again.”

“No. Yesterday’s history, Sam. We can’t talk about it again.” River looks up and glares at me. His eyes narrow as he glares, giving him a completely evil look.

“We will be talking about it again, River. I owe you for saving my life. So, whether you like it or not, we will be talking about this again.” River stands, like he’s about to leave, but he just looks at me. His hands are in fists and he is scaring the crap out of me. He seriously looks like he will hit something, namely me. I think he can see the fear either in my eyes or on my face because his eyebrows furrow and his eyes cloud over, like he’s thinking or somewhere else. Suddenly, he turns and walks out without saying a word.

What the hell just happen? I don’t get what he was about to do. Whatever, he’s weird anyway. When he finally leaves, in barrels Zoe, and I thought River looked bad. Zoe gives “worried” a whole new look. Her hair is a matted mess. Her eyes are just as bloodshot as River’s except I can tell she was crying. Her face is red and puffy to show those signs. I just don’t know why she’s freaking out so much. But then again, River did say I looked like I was dead.

“Hey, are you okay, what happened?” Zoe asks in a worried voice. And once she asks, my heart warms up because I know how much she cares. And she’s my friend. Just seeing her makes me feel so much better.

“I’m fine, boo, I’m fine,” I tell her with a smile. “Just a little water in my lungs. I’ll be back in our cabin and we’ll be filming before you know it.” Zoe opens her mouth again and I place my hand over her mouth. “Don’t ask. I’m not allowed to speak about it.”

I don’t know why I’m not telling my best friend. I mean, come on, she is my sister almost. She knows everything about me. And yet, I won’t say this one thing one person, someone I hated no less, doesn’t want me to say. And it’s strange. But I guess it’s the least I can do for now, because I do owe that boy. He’s my frenemy. Or, maybe he is my friend. I’m not sure right now.

“Fine,” she huffs, pushing my hand away. “But by the end of the summer, I will know what happened. And why River was in here for however long you were in here. I think something happened when you two ran off.” She wiggles her eyebrows with a smirk and I scrunch up my nose.

“Gross, no. We just made up, kinda. We’re friends but we still hate each other. Know what I mean?” I smile softly and she nods, rolling her eyes.

“Sure, whatever. Go with that. I’m going to go.” She moves away from me and grins down at me.

“Thanks, I’ll see you soon, Zoe.” I smile and she waves, walking out. I wonder why only one person is visiting me at a time. And since when did we get an infirmary? I mean, people get hurt occasionally, sure, but then again, it was River and I who made this possible. Because of our pranks, we would hurt each other a lot. It was kinda our calling card for a while. Still, why is it one person at a time visiting me? It’s not like I just had surgery or something. But I guess the nurse told them not to or they want it to be private. I have no idea.

Jordan of course shows up and sits with me for a while, talking to me to make sure I’m fine. After that, Rissa comes in, and she only says, “Great, you’re not dead. That means you can pull off pranks. See ya.” No one else comes in and not too long after Rissa leaves, I’m allowed to leave.

The first thing I do is round up Jordan, River, and Zoe so we can discuss our ideas, after switching in contacts of course. We sit on the stage where we were only yesterday, where River and I were arguing. All of us have decided the musical isn’t going to work all too well, considering the fact that River and I can’t even sing without yelling at each other.

“Well, we need to do something unique,” Zoe tells the three of us, her feet in my lap as she lies down. “The play idea is probably overdone. We need something fresh and amazing.” I nod in agreement as I lean back on Jordan, his shoulder in the middle of my back.

“We could do a live play?” Jordan suggests but I shake my head with a frown.

“No, I think we need to do something no one else would ever think of, something different than what we have been prepared for. Like…” I sigh softly as I think, drumming my fingers on Zoe’s ankle. “Like…”

“A documentary?” River suggests, and I almost forgot he was here. He’s leaning on one of the columns they have for the camp’s plays, though most of them are put away right now.

“Like on us,” I nod with a slight grin. “Think about it, we could get first for sure. It would be about us, River and I, because I know everyone wants to know why we hate each other. And we could talk about our pranks, include Rissa and Flint, and since it’s our last year, why should it matter if we confess?”

“Because we probably won’t be allowed her next year, Sam,” Zoe tells me with wide eyes. “We applied as counselors for next year. I don’t think we should risk it.”

“I think we should,” River says. “And besides, we already started the more serious pranks.” He sends me a glare and I glance back at Jordan with a frown. The snakes really were a bad idea in the end. “Why not confess? Jared confessed for the ones a few years ago, I know that much. So, what the hell? I’m up for it.”

“That makes two votes for it I guess.” I look back at Jordan and he frowns.

“I don’t know. It is really risky. And it is our last year. River applied for counselor too, so I have no idea why he’s risking it.” I hear him tap his foot as he thinks. I wait with a grin, knowing he’ll pick the right choice. “Fine. Sounds like fun.”

“Boo-ya!” I jump up, knocking Zoe’s feet out of my lap with a smile. “Three against one, Zoe. We have to do this. And we can do interviews and you can ask the questions and Jordan can film it and we can interview you two. And you guys can interview Rissa and Flint ad Gwen.”

“Gwen isn’t here anymore, remember?” Zoe says with a frown, sitting up. Right… Gwen told us she wasn’t going to come back this year because she was sick and tired of the stupid pranks. But, I know something Zoe doesn’t.

“She doesn’t live that far away. So it can be a quick trip. And we can talk to Jared too. We can do voice overs and just some shots of us doing what we do best arguing or singing or whatever. It’ll be unique. And we don’t really have anything to lose. So what about confessing about our pranks? We have in the bag.”

“Fine,” Zoe huffs angrily. “But if you think I’m doing all of that by myself, you are so wrong.” She crosses her arms with a frown, and I laugh at her silly idea that she is alone in all this.

“You have Jordan. And I’ll interview you and Jordan. Simple as that. It will be like one of those shows with celebrities.” I shrug with a smile, looking over at River. He has been completely silent since he said he liked the idea, though he has that clouded look in his eyes again, the one that looks like he’s somewhere else than here. I walk over to him and look up at him for a moment before snapping my fingers in his ear. He blinks and the clouded look disappears.

“What?” he asks with raised eyebrows, frowning slightly.

“Did you even hear any of that?” I frown back and cross my arms, looking up at him.

“Yeah, you were talking about interviewing us.” He shrugs, like it doesn’t even matter.

“And? There’s more than just that, River.” I shift my weight onto my left foot and move my arms to my hips, bring on my inner sass. “We aren’t talking about some stupid game. Get your head into this. You know what this is worth to us.” At my words, he straightens, glowering down at me.

“Um, guys?” I hear Zoe ask, though my focus is completely on River. He cannot play this off as something little. I don’t know what he meant yesterday, but it definitely got his attention when I mentioned it.

“What did I tell you, Sam?” he asks me in a low voice, trying to keep it quiet. He is standing over me; this guy is at least six feet tall, almost seven inches taller than me. And yet, I don’t let my look waver. I am going to stay sassy, and he isn’t going to make me back down.

“I know what you told me. But it’s either you pay attention and actually get into the fact that it is competition, like you told me, or maybe, just maybe, Mr. Snow could hear about someone rigging all the girl’s showers to spray green slime,” I threaten, glaring up at him. He actually did that, last year before we left. It was the reason why we shaved his head.

Instead of answering, he flips me the bird and jumps off stage. He walks out and I cross my arms with a frown. I look over at Zoe and Jordan, who are both staring at me in disbelief.

“What?”
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Okay! It's not the best, I'll give it that. And it is taking a completely new directions. Which is why I want to rename the story. I came up with the name A Camp and a River. Of course, it won't be changed on here, just on my computer. And if I finished a few more chapters in the next few months - by December - I will be posting this somewhere else that starts with a W and ends with "pad" with the new name.

Anywho, thanks for waiting. I'll work on the next chapter Wednesday - because I don't get my stuff on Tuesdays or Thursdays - because I have a ton of amazing ideas for this story. Especially with River's background. It and the idea with the documentary River suggests are my favorite things about this story. I'll really develop everyone's backgrounds because I have a lot of ideas for them and for the ending.

Thanks, again, for waiting. You guys are amazing and I love you all!