A Parthan Summer, Julie Steimle [best ereader for pdf TXT] 📗

would like to thank my dog, Jethro, for always being there to howl with the chorus.” Brian would have continued, laughing of course, but Robert pushed Brian away from the microphone.

“Thank you, Brian Henderson. Now comes the award for the Best Excuse to Get Out of K.P. Duty,” Robert said, keeping the pace going fast.

He gave several awards, including for the skits on the first night and some for girls he simply thought were cute—something that made several boys laugh and a few girls jealous.

“Now our last award. This is given to the Girl with the Nicest Panties….” Laughing, he said, “and we all know whom this goes to.” 

Zormna’s face went hot immediately. She covered her head with her arms and placed it on the table. Jeff burst into laughter on the other end of the room.

“You know who you are, Zormna, so come on up.” Robert grinned, holding a bag and shaking it.

Her friends forced her to stand. Reluctantly, she dragged her feet up to the front of the room. Robert immediately pulled out a pair of red shorts that had permanent marker on the rear that said:

 

I climbed the flagpole in my underwear and all I got were these shorts

 

Zormna laughed when she saw them. Turning redder, she snatched the shorts from Robert’s hands. He also handed her the bag, which had some candy in it.

After Zormna sat down, Robert thanked those involved then turned the time back to Mr. Hardt.

The camp director thanked the boy and smiled down upon the crowd. He cleared his throat and began to speak.

“Tomorrow you will pack up and leave this camp, taking the experiences with you. You will face challenges not experienced here in this isolated spot of forest.” He caught Zormna’s eye and spoke frankly, “Some of them I cannot possibly perceive, and I wish you the best as you go through your struggles. Others, you can apply what you have learned here, and you will move mountains.” Smiling, he added, “You are a bright generation, and the challenges you face are tough, but you are the strong material made to match those difficulties. You show great promise, and you are destined for greatness.” 

Zormna glanced over at Jeff where he caught her gaze. His assuring eyes agreed with Mr. Hardt, so much more than Mr. Hardt realized. They were destined for greatness. Their conversation in the infirmary came back to her with chills.

Mr. Hardt continued his speech and then wiped his eyes, smiling. “Good luck, and I hope to see many of you return next year.”

The director stepped down from the podium. The students clapped. As the applause died down, the campers filed out of their seats into the outside air.

Zormna followed her crowd, stopping to look at the lodge fire. It sparked and cracked in natural spontaneity, still intriguing her. Yet, she pulled herself away from the fire and walked with her group into the starlit night, gazing upward with a contented grin. Each star flickered with familiarity, and Zormna smiled.

Camp would be over. It was temporary, just like her time on Earth would also end. Her pain and endurance would pay off.

Jeff also walked out into the clear night air, hiking up the hill with his friends to their cabin. Yet before making his ascent up to where he hoped to get in a little sleep, knowing that night his friends would party and would not go to bed until early the next morning, he glanced at Zormna who strolled with a more relaxed gait than when she had come to camp. She had mellowed, if only a bit. He then smiled at the secure simplicity his life had taken on Earth. None of the suburban peer pressure compared to the undercity life of dodging People’s Military and gang members that had tormented him since he was young. It was just too bad the FBI had to ruin it.

Of course, as he glanced back at the lodge where he could see Agent Brown chatting with his partner, life was not meant to remain in a quiet state forever. Everyone had their purpose…and those FBI were only trying to defend their nation from invaders. The only problem was, he was sure they would not believe his people were not a threat to them.

With a shrug, Jeff continued towards the cabin.

 

 

 

Chapter Seventeen: Back to the Normal Life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“When life gets you down, just turn around and order another hotdog”—anon—

 

 

No one was actually sure how long it took to pack the next day. Camp was over. They did a mass cleanup of the campground after a continental breakfast, each group picking up litter around their cabins, and a thorough scrub down of the bathrooms, removing the last stains and residue of soap scum, mildew and Kool-Ade. They packed away the mats and scoured down the tables with bleach. After the mass cleanup, they had lunch, which was served in brown bags already wrapped up the night before. Collecting the bags, they all sat on the grassy lawn chatting with one another before dumping the remaining trash in the campground dumpster and parting to their cabins.

In the Pennington cabins on the boys’ side, the Klingon poster returned to Brian’s bag, rolled up and placed snug against his socks, Marilyn Monroe returned to Mark’s bag, and Jeff’s sanded and sticker-free ukulele ended tucked under his arm. Soon the cabin was bare.

By one o’clock they lugged their bags back down the hill to the busses that had started to arrive in the lot at noon. The Harvest charter busses filled first, each one of the preppy teens cheering as they took their seats. The Monroe busses were being loaded when the Billsburg and Pennington busses arrived.

Jeff tramped down the hill, lugging his duffle bag and sleeping bag in his arms, sighing as he took one last look of the pine forest. Brian glanced at him with a smirk, carrying his own load.

“You live on the edge of Pennington Forest, you dork.” Brian said, “You can go camping there tomorrow if you wanted.”

Jeff chuckled, nodding. “Yeah…but no one would want to go with me. They’d miss their tech too much.”

 They walked down to the gravel parking lot, hauling their bags together with Jonathan and Mark chatting about what they were going to do the rest of the summer. Mark’s parents were planning to go to Hawaii for a month while he was going to his cousins’ house in Wyoming.

“They’ve got cows there. My dad says I need to see what real organic farmers do, with free range chicken and herding cows if you can believe it,” he said with obvious complaint to his voice.

“That’s nothing,” Jonathan returned with a smirk. “My dad wants me to spend the rest of summer on a road trip they’ve got planned. We’re going to see every national monument this summer, even if it kills us.”

“Your dad has time for that?” Brian asked, heaving his bag onto his shoulder.

Jonathan shrugged. “He owns his own company. Knowing him, he’ll probably do business over his cell phone the entire time—and I’ll get sick on the trip, again.”

Jeff smirked as he peered his way.

“Didn’t that happen last year?” Brian asked.

Jonathan nodded. “All over the back seat. We ended up staying in Tennessee for two weeks in a motel. We all caught the bug.”

Mark sniggered.

“I hate traveling,” Jonathan muttered gloomily.

“Well,” Brian said with a shrug. “I’m going to scout camp after this.”

“Scout camp? Are you still a boy scout?” Mark asked with a laugh.

Brian nodded with a blush. “I’m getting my eagle. Don’t laugh.”

Jeff smirked and sighed again.

“What about you? What are you doing the rest of the summer?” Jonathan asked him just as they stepped onto the gravel.

Shrugging, Jeff replied, “I dunno. Work? I don’t have any plans.”

The boys shrugged, though Mark smirked.

“So, you’re sticking around Pennington?” Mark asked.

Jeff nodded and then looked across the parking lot. Coach Brown and Maya were loading up their car—but the man was watching him as their group emerged from the boys’ area of the camp.

“Sounds boring,” Mark said. “I’m jealous.”

Jonathan snickered.

Nodding, Jeff replied, still keeping his eye on the FBI agent, “Yeah, boring.”

They crossed the lot to their bus, weaving in and out of the other crowds of students packing into the busses. The Monroe buses were already filling up. One was pulling out of the parking lot.

“Pennington sucks!” bellowed from the departing bus’s windows.

All four boys looked. They saw Damon Pikes and his wrestling team sticking their heads out the window, making rude gestures at them. The bus nearly halted—possibly because the bus driver was telling them to get their heads back in the window—but just as likely to give the boys a last opportunity to bark at their rival.

“Pennington sucks! You walk like ducks! Losers!” They jeered.

Brian dropped his bag and shouted back, leading his group in a responding cheer:

 

Maybe you forgot—but you’re not so hot!

We whipped your butt. You don’t have a shot!

Run home to your mommies!

 

Damon was heard yelling as the bus roared down the road. “Wait until the real meet. We’ll bury you!”

“In your dreams!” Brian shouted back, echoed by other teammates. He then turned and patted Jeff on the shoulder as he loaded his own bag into the bus. “I can’t wait to see you bust his butt this next year, Jeff.”

Jeff laughed and nodded—but really didn’t care about it anymore. It was, after all, petty to what truly mattered.

His eyes were still on Coach Brown who had moved to get a better view of him before loading his last bit of stuff into his own car.

The Pennington boys packed their things onto the bus.

The others in the camp slowly trickled down to the parking lot. Most of Harvest High had gone already. Holly had left without saying a word to Zormna—negative or otherwise. Some girls said the karate girl was too humiliated to face the Irish girl. Others said that she was too afraid. Whatever they were saying, Zormna made no effort to speak to her either. Truthfully, Zormna was relieved to see all the Harvest charter busses gone when she carried her bags down the hill.

The girls started to load up once the other Pennington busses were nearly full. Zormna took one last look up at her cabin and smiled, glad to be getting home. She turned quickly toward the gravel lot and rushed down the hill, greeting her friends as she arrived at the bus.

“Took you long enough,” Michelle spouted irritably.

“I’m here,” Zormna said, loading her bag into the side compartment. The peach duffle was no worse for wear, and its contents were crammed snugly inside, including a few souvenirs Zormna had picked up.

Without any more dawdling, Zormna climbed inside the bus and went up the rubber grip steps. She wandered down the aisle until she found her spot next to Joy who grinned at her with a similar contentment at returning to civilization. The same fat, smelly bus driver climbed into his seat and started the engine, mostly to act as an alarm clock for those still dawdling outside so they would hurry up and get on so he could go.

Zormna looked out her window at the boys’ bus where the wrestlers sat. She watched Brian and Mark laughing and opening