Page 11 of A Twist in Fate
That is all.
“Okay, I’ll leave it alone but promise me you will come over on one of your days off for dinner. I miss you,” she says, pulling me into a hug.
“I miss you too,” I say, and then she pulls away, walking towards the car. I turn around as it drives away and walk over to my little sister, who still is talking to Ivy as well as another little girl I don't recognise. She has dark skin and braided hair and is wearing light blue overalls. Ivy is laughing at whatever they are saying. The same laugh I'm starting to get used to and enjoying far too much.
“What's so funny?” I ask.
“Nothing.” Daisy giggles, looking up at me as I stand back next to Ivy.
“What's going on?” I whisper into Ivy’s ear as her cheeks turn a little pink.
“Nothing you should be worried about. We are just having fun.” She smiles at me, brightly, the light and herhair falling perfectly over her face. “Lucas, this is Mila, and you know Daisy.” Mila sticks her hand out for me to shake, which I do. “They are both in our group this summer,” Ivy continues.
“You better help us win the games on the 4th of July. I have a feeling Ivy won't be much help, but don't worry I know Daisy is ruthless when it comes to competitive games,” I say. All the girls laugh, and I smile to myself hearing that beautiful sound that's starting to become familiar to me.
Within the next two and a half hours, the rest of our group had arrived, and it is split exactly into 3 girls and 3 boys. They are all extremely excited, curious and are getting along with one another already. I had been slightly nervous to look after such a young age group but I love looking after Daisy, and they are all just so excited to be here, so it is probably the best situation for me. I am also used to being around the younger kids because I used to help Mom out with my sisters as I got older. It was hard to ask the kids anything individually, and when Ivy asks how old they were, most of them yell back all differentnumbers all at once, but over the past two and a half hours I have started to learn about each of them.
My sister, Daisy, is seven years old and is probably the most excited kid out of all of them in our group to be here and probably even the most excited of whole camp. Her bright blonde hair, brighter than mine or my sisters, is practically white in the sun and matches her bubbly personality. Her and my sister are practically duplicates of each other and all three of us have our mothers’ distinctive features, except for the waves in my hair.
Mila is nine and honestly might be the smartest and most respectful kid on this planet. She is extremely polite and absolutely loves to read. Her dark hair is extremely long and evenly braided. She is getting comfortable with us already because as soon as Ivy asked her what she was reading, she started rambling about it to her. I think Mila is that sort of person who tends to talk a lot when she finds something she's passionate about. Ivy is the same way. I have noticed that over the past week.
The last of the girls in our group is Violet. She is the youngest of them at only six years old and is extremely quiet. She didn't seem to resist when she had to leave her mom but it's obvious that she is shy. She has dark blonde hair, almost brunette, that is cut into soft bangs and darkbrown eyes. She has barely said a word to any of the other children or us adults. This is her first year at camp and is probably the first time she will be away from her parents for such a long time. Like Mila, she is very polite but also very quiet and reserved.
Miles looks like a mini-James, with his dark tan skin and dark curly hair all over the place. He is seven and his hair is constantly covering his face. He is obsessed with video games, which means that very soon he will be a pain in my ass. While there's the projector out some nights and a small TV in the den, there are no video games for him to play whilst he is here. Unlike James, Miles is not the main troublemaker out of the group.
Theo is. He is a brunette boy with straight short hair away from his eyes. For the few hours I have known him, he always has a cheeky smile on his face and believe me, I would know because at least one of my sisters has that stupid smile on their faces every day. He is eight years old and definitely has grown up getting what he wants.
Jacob was the last kid to arrive and according to Charlie, has been here before. He is nine years old and the oldest in our group. He is quiet but more in a way that he seems like he doesn't want to speak, not shy like Violet. He still carried a small smile on his face as we led themall to their cabins. I think he is just pretending to not like it here and is not happy being around the younger ones.
We decide to split up after that, Ivy with the girls and me with the boys, to show them to their cabins and help them unpack. The boys’ and girls’ cabins are right next to each other, as if they are the same building. The girls’ cabin is opposite Ivys’ and the boys’ opposite mine. I half wave at Ivy and she waves back before heading into the cabin.
The kids’ cabins are larger than our rooms and have three beds in a row and a bathroom at the back. We had cleaned the wooden floors and walls, today and we put fresh bedding on the beds. Miles, the smallest of the three, jumps right onto the nearest bed, makes a starfish with his body and closes his eyes before his frantic curls could fall over his face. Then, Theo pulls at his leg but underestimates how easy it would be to pull him off the side of the bed because soon after, Miles is tumbling on top of him, on the floor. Luckily for me, they clearly find it funny and help each other up.
“So, who needs help unpacking?” I ask. Jacob and Miles stay quiet and start putting their things away however Theo perks up and so I walk over and start helping him unpack his things.
“Are we still allowed to put posters on the walls and stuff?” Jacob asks quietly, pulling out a stack of photos, posters, and pieces of paper.
“Yeah of course,” I reply, smiling at him, and he gives me a small one back. He picks up some really impressive artwork and pins it to his wall.
“Woah!” Theo says. “Did you draw those? They are amazing!” He smiles, walking over and taking a closer look. They were extremely good for his age. He had pictures of all sorts of things from a motorbike and landscapes.
“He's right, Jacob,” I say, smiling at him, “You are extremely talented.” His small cheeks turn a little pink, he returns the smile before turning around to continue unpacking, placing family photos on the walls and clothes in the correct drawers under their beds.
“Are you guys okay if I leave you to go check on the girls?” I say, a few minutes later. They all nod at me so I quickly leave the room and go up across the porch to the adjacent cabin. I knock on the door, lightly and it almost instantly swings open. Those brown waves, dark eyes and beautiful freckles met me at the door.
“Hi, sunshine,” I say, smiling, feeling almost breathless.
“Hi,” she replies sweetly, looking up at me and smiling brightly. Her hair is pulled into a bun, which it wasn't when I left her a bit ago, and a few pieces are falling out of it, spiralling into curls.
“Are you guys boyfriend and girlfriend?”
What the hell?
Mila is peering around looking at us as if she were suspicious of us with a small grin on her face. Ivy turns back around abruptly, looking at her feet, clearly flustered. She starts stuttering, obviously not really knowing what to say and in shock by what she just heard.
“Boyfriends and girlfriends have nicknames for each other. My mom and dad do. You must be boyfriend and girlfriend,” Mila continues, crossing her arms.
“God, I wish but, me and sunshine, sadly, no. I am not good enough for her,” I say, smiling as she turns to me, with the most disbelieving look on her face.
