Summer's a Bummer, as Dull as Can Be... or is it?

Olivia nodded in agreement, quite excited at the idea of flashlight tage. She had seen it played quite a lot during the summer time, in the small patch of a garden behind the children’s home. She had watched, usually from beneath the back steps, as the other children would run about, shouting and laughing, away from the beam of the flashlight. Without her voice though, Olivia had never been able to participate, though she had desired to on more than a few occasions. She supposed there was a bit of trouble when it came to choosing not to speak. But she wasn’t about the change her ways, not when she was so used to staying silent. Words were just noise and the only one Olivia really wanted to communicate with was Rodina. The blonde understood her well enough and that was plenty for Olivia.

The little brown haired one bopped after Rodina, skipping along and holding onto her hand as they dumped their trays and then headed outside for the game. The night air was balmy, warm enough to stay out even though there was the slight chill of a breeze. It didn’t bother Olivia as her sneakers hit the grass and they headed down behind the mess hall. There was a nice large area there, between some of the cabins and the first aid station. There would be plenty of places to hide against in the shadows and space to run if you needed to. Olivia looked at Rodina and then the counselor, wondering if they’d be allowed to work together on this one. Rodina had said she would let Olivia hold the flashlight, did that mean the older girl was willing to shout out the names for her even though Rodina could very well have done it by herself?

Olivia’s question was quickly answered, as Rodina opened her mouth and asked if the two of them could go first. Olivia looked down at her feet, feeling warmth spread through her chest and she gripped her rabbit tightly to it. It was such a lovely thing, having someone who looked out for you. It was then, that Olivia decided on her own, in her head, that she quite loved Rodina in that special way that all little girls love their very best friend. Now, she had already loved her, but she hadn’t been willing to admit it to herself yet, for fear that Rodina wouldn’t feel the same way about her. But the blonde was proving it, in the way she tugged Olivia along everywhere, had spent the day sharing her hat, back pack, and flashlight. Rodina had noticed when Olivia was wary of the waterfall and led her down ahead of everyone else, and she had picked her up, carrying Olivia on her back when the younger girl had sliced open her knee. They had brushed each other’s hair, shared Olivia’s bed, and Rodina had even said they could again tonight. Olivia wasn’t positive, but if she had to put a definition behind what true friendship looked like, she was pretty damn certain that was it.

The counselor agreed, sending Olivia’s heart racing with excitement. The woman had been pre-warned about Olivia Bonnet, as the counselors always were about the parentless children who were sent to the camp. A lot of them had quirks or triggers, thus making them a little bit more difficult to deal with. Apparently, pairing the mute girl who had a tendency towards temper-tantrums with what seemed to be the boldest and friendliest girl in the group had been a smart move. Olivia had never gotten to play this game before and now she was going to! Oh what a marvelous thing camp was after all. She had been expecting to sit off to the sidelines of most things, or hide away in the cabin with one of her books unless forced to join in on an activity. There had been none of that though. No, with a friend, Olivia could do everything with everyone else and not feel the tiniest bit left out because for once she was included. Olivia grabbed tighter to Rodina’s hand, tugging on it and chirping as she bounced on the balls of her feet, a bright smile spread across her face. She listened, as the other girls repeated their names, eyeing them carefully but knowing she probably wouldn’t be of much help of Rodina forget who was who. It didn’t matter too much though, just playing would be fun.

When Rodina handed over the flashlight and told Olivia to lead, the ten year old stared at her for a moment, slightly confused. She was much more used to Rodina being the one doing the leading and in fact, she quite preferred it, knowing the older girl wasn’t about to steer her wrong. However, if Rodina wanted her to go first this time, Olivia would. The child would do just about anything to please her new friend. So, Olivia nodded with a firm sort of air, absolute seriousness etched upon her face. She took the flashlight with small hands and spun around, waiting for everyone else to hide. Finally, after two minutes, they were allowed to turn back around.

Despite the dark, the stars above were gorgeous. Olivia became momentarily distracted, staring up at them before she realized it was time to find the rest of the group. She nodded, grinning at Rodina and holding out the flashlight, swooping it from side to side across the open area. She gripped the older girl’s hand tighter and took off, long legs fast, knee much better than it had been earlier. She let out a giggle, the beam of the flashlight bouncing along the grass, searching. It fell upon a pair of shoes not too far away from the starting point and Olivia quickly raised the light higher, trying to spotlight the person long enough for Rodina to recognize even as the girl started to bolt away from them with a shriek.

Olivia was very happy when Rodina recognized their cabin mate so easily as she attempted to keep the beam of light on the girl the best she could, her legs moving as they chased after her until the girl stopped. Patricia did not look happy about having been caught and Olivia felt a little bad for her, but then again, it was all just part of the game. She wasn’t sure, but perhaps hiding was more fun than having to be ‘it’. Olivia had really enjoyed it though, even if it hadn’t lasted very long. She would have let Patricia get away just to keep doing it, but that was not how the game worked, and maybe hiding would be nice as well. So long as she was with Rodina she actually didn’t care too much what they did. The other girl’s presence was what made camp fun for Olivia, more so than any of the games or crafts or hikes, and even the bunnies. Having a friend to share those things with made camp much more worthwhile than Olivia had ever expected it to be.

After Rodina told Patricia what was what and they had handed over the flashlight, Olivia followed after the older girl into the darkness. She was not normally too fond of being outside in the dark, never knowing what might be lurking, but they were probably pretty safe here. The counselors wouldn’t risk their safety like that, so if they said it was okay, then it must be. It didn’t take very long to find a place to hang low either. Rodina had quickly located a nice little space behind some bushes that was sure to keep them properly hidden away from the beam of the flashlight. Olivia pressed through the bushes, having to crawl a little bit to do so, until she was in the little space of a hole, squished right up next to Rodina. She didn’t mind that in the least and gave the tiniest of little chirps before covering her mouth. Her body shook with excitement, big green spread across her face.

The light from the flashlight swooped over the area, hitting the bushes but just barely missing the two pre-teens hidden behind them. Olivia almost fell into a fit of giggles at the fact that they hadn’t been spotted. Rodina was right, this was a really good place to hide! There was no way anyone was going to find them here. Yes, Olivia thought, hiding was already much more fun than being it. The anticipation of waiting, the possibility of getting caught… it built a large wave of suspense so high in the ten-year-old she gave a large quiver and wrapped her arms around Rodina tightly. She kissed the other girl’s cheek, eyes shining wide in the dimness of the world. Oh, flashlight tag was simply the best!

Quintessence Waverly had been less than pleased when her mother had decided to send her off to camp for another summer. She would much rather spend the weeks before school with Will and Daniel, her two best friends from home, but after an incident involving the fire alarms at school her mother had thought that might not be the best idea. Quinn was used to this, of course, but it was still slightly upsetting.

Fayme Bellaire had packed her daughter away in train with no hesitation. Quinn had no clue what her mother did when she was gone. Sometimes, Quinn thought her mother's only hobby was fussing over Quinn. The nearly-eleven year old thought it would be a much better idea if it was Fayme who was sent off to a camp for some time away. It was her mother, after all, who did nothing but sit in their home all day.

Upon her arrival to the camp, Quinn was handed a black t-shirt and instructed to befriend Julia Goodwaters. Julia was a preppy looking blonde thing. Her hair was tied back with pink ribbons and when she spoke one could tell she thought herself higher than you. Though Quinn was hardly one to judge a book by its cover, she took an immediate disliking to her "buddy". It hadn't seemed that Julia had been all quite fond of the brunette either.

Quinn had tired of most of her cabinmates just as quickly, and promptly ditched them the moment she could. While the other girls were sitting around a fire much smaller than the one they'd had the first nigh, Quinn had managed to fall away from the counselors' watchful eyes. The lavender group was a little ways away playing a game of flashlight tag.

She climbed a tree a little ways away from a building, where she could easily survey everything around her before deciding how she wanted to spend her evening. She saw two girls crawl behind a few bushes to hide for the game, but they weren't much of her concern. As she was about to crawl down, "It" made her way over to the pair. It looked as if they were about to be caught, but Quinn decided in that moment that they would be her game for the night. Still perched on a tree branch, she scrunched up her face and focused on a bush farther away from the two. It was with great pleasure that she saw the branches begin to quiver and "It" ran closer to investigate.

Quinn wasn't quite sure when she'd discovered her ability to move things like branches, but it was often useful. Of course, there were other strange things that occurred around her she absolutely hated. One time, she'd been angry with her mother and their kettle had exploded. Her mother had gone ballistic, just barely stopping short of blaming Quinn for the incident.

Quinn scrambled down the tree once "it" had gotten far enough away. She approached where the two girls were hiding, pulling aside the branches covering them and peering in.

Rodina had been expecting to get caught by the girl who was currently 'it', but then felt a small calm surge of energy from somewhere across from their hideout. The flashlight left their sight and the footsteps dashed away from their location. Rodina wondered if she was imagining the energy, but she was rather certain someone had used magic, whether they knew it or not. Rodina glanced over at Olivia pondering if it could be her best friend, but decided to stop deluding herself as the energy had not come from the young girl.  Rodina smiled to herself as she concluded that someone else at this camp had magic. Rodina wondered what had caught the 'it' girl's attention, but she would have to worry about that later as footsteps approached them. This time no flashlight swooped over Olivia or Rodina, so it was likely just another girl trying to hide.

Rodina felt Olivia cling tightly to her and tried to position herself in front of the younger girl. Rodina doubted that whoever was headed toward them was going to be a threat, but she had always learned to be prepared for anything. Rodina closed her eyes for three seconds sensing the magic she possessed. Rodina didn't call it forth, but was prepared to use it to protect them if it ever became necessary. Once the girl came into sight Rodina relaxed a little. The girl was hardly a threat as she seemed nice enough. Rodina didn't recognize the girl, but figured she must have sneaked away from her own group as the lavender group was the only one scheduled for flashlight tag. Rodina smiled at the girl and her eyes gleamed with a little mischief. "I'm Rodina and this here is Olivia," Rodina introduced them to the stranger, "Ditching your own group? Join us and we can talk about strategies for exploring more great hiding places."

Rodina reached out with her free hand to shake the stranger's hand in greeting. She was quite curious to know the name of this stranger who had come across their hiding spot so easily. "So how did you manage to find us," Rodina asked the girl.