You Call This a Gift?

Jonah jumped out of the wood’s sliding ever so slightly on the gravel and continued running toward the counselors’ building where the nurse’s office was. He began yelling for help. When someone ran over, he told them to run ahead and get the nurse ready. I watched as we flew past my cabin Kenna was standing on the porch and screamed out to us. I saw the counselors’ building come into view.

“Jonah, please stop running, it hurts,” I pleaded with tears in my eyes.

He stopped running and started speed-walking.

“Jonah, I can walk,” I said.

“I’m not putting you down until we’re with the nurse,” he said refusing to listen to me.

The doors swung open. Jeremy stood holding them for us. Jonah pushed through and went down the hall to the nurse’s office. He placed me on the bed. I looked at his arms and chest which were red and swollen from the heat I pressed against him. My eyes stung as tears began rolling down my cheeks. I broke out crying, “Jonah, I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

He glanced at the redness and looked back. Reaching out, he wiped my tears away saying, “You didn’t. I’m fine.”

The nurse ran into the room and demanded that Jonah needed to leave. Jeremy pulled him out and closed the door. The heat in my body started to cool down to a tolerable warmth. My face was dripping with sweat. My clothes were damp and warm, and the smell of singed flesh filled the air around me. The nurse did a few tests before telling me I was fine, and that she had no idea what had happened. Jeremy told me to head home to the cabin and that I was to stay there all of tomorrow and rest.

I made my way out the door of the counselors’ building. The cool breeze hit my skin and it felt like heaven.

“Anna, how are you?” I heard as I noticed that Jonah was standing against the building still as red as when he placed me on the bed.

“I’m apparently fine. No fever, nothing,” I said with confusion.

The look on his face was full of anger and fear. “Jonah…what is wrong?” I demanded an answer.

“Nothing, let’s get you back to your cabin; you need to rest,” he said.

Then, he thrust his hand out taking mine in his, pulling me in the direction of my cabin. If I hadn’t been so confused and out of it, I would have pulled my hand away and stormed home on my own.

We climbed the steps of the porch. He pulled the door open holding it for me to enter. Kenna, Sable, and Lorraine were sitting on the couch.

“Are you okay, we heard what happened?” Lorraine asked.

I nodded.

“Keep an eye on her. She’s not to leave the cabin until Wednesday morning. Those were Jeremy’s orders,” he stated with a worried look on his face as he disappeared out the door and took off running away from the cabin.

I slumped onto the couch, my brain swirling, and fell asleep immediately. Then, I opened my eyes to see the girls lounging around the living room. Kenna was on her phone texting, Sable was reading, and Lorraine was painting her nails.

“Oh, you’re awake?” Lorraine said with a smile. “How are you feeling?” she added quickly.

The other girls turned to look at me. They gave me smiles and went back to their activities not wanting to pester me with questions.

“Better,” I replied trying to sit up.

“Easy does it,” she said moving over to help me.

I was confused as to why she had been so nice to me in the past few days. “I got it, thanks,” I said climbing to my feet. “I’m going to go for a walk,” I said as I started making my way to the door.

All the girls jumped up to protest.

“I’m fine, I’m capable of going for a walk,” I argued.

“Then I’m going with you,” Lorraine demanded.

I was too tired to argue and shrugged. We started walking down the path towards the dining hall and counselors’ building.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Wherever the road takes us,” I said.

The sky was blue with scattered clouds. The sun was gleaming as it slowly began making its way down. We passed the buildings and continued down the path. There was a little recreation area with a wooden bench facing away from the wood line. I made my way over and sat down. “How’s Jonah?” I asked her, remembering the redness I had caused him. I hoped he was okay. I wish he had just put me down like I asked.

“The nurse said he would be okay and that the burns would stop hurting shortly,” she replied looking at the ground, her blonde hair dangling around her face.

I nodded and copied her moving my eyes to the ground. I pushed some rocks around with my feet.

“He really likes you, ya know,” she said looking at me with a smile.

“Oh, I haven’t noticed,” I said rolling my eyes with a giggle.

She gently nudged my shoulder saying, “No, I’m serious. He really does.”

“Yeah…,” I said looking back at the ground. I liked him too. All my thoughts about Davis had slowly been replaced with thoughts of Jonah. I didn’t want to start drama by dating my cabin mate’s brother though. I looked sadly at the rock pile I had made with my feet and slowly smoothed it flat. “So, why have you been so nice to me lately?” I questioned her.

She tilted her head up and glanced around. “Would you be mad if I said because someone asked me to look out for you?” she said with a guilty look on her face.

My face turned red with embarrassment and anger. Great, so now Jonah thinks he can make his sister follow me around. I stood up and started walking back towards the cabin.

Lorraine waited a minute to make sure she gave me some space before following. I walked in all different directions until I lost Lorraine. I peered at the tree line that separated camp from the woods and decided to take a walk alone. I climbed over the bushes and pushed through the branches. I started walking towards the lake where the rock I had fallen off of was. Thoughts began bombarding my brain: “How did I hurt Jonah?” “How did my skin become that hot?” “What the hell was wrong with me?” “Would he still like me after this?” “Why did he look so guilty?” These thoughts rolled around my mind as the lake came into view. I glanced out and enjoyed the colors the sunset left dancing on the water. There were three geese swimming across the lake and a Mallard duck. They swam so beautifully. I climbed up on the rock carefully remembering what had happened last time. I pondered who could have saved me: “Was it a human?” “Was it someone I knew?” “Was it staff?” As quickly as those thoughts entered my head, they left. The sunset was beginning to end, and the woods was getting darker. I decided to make my way out and back to the cabin.

Right as I pushed my way out of the woods, I tripped on a piece of a bush. I put my arms out to catch myself before falling face first into gravel. Before my face met the rocks, arms wrapped around me catching me. As I reclaimed my balance, I glanced up to see Jonah’s eyes meet mine. The look on his face was of aggravation.

“Why are you out of your cabin? And why are you in the woods?” he asked his face tight and scrunched.

“I needed some air, and I needed some alone time which I couldn’t get since you hired your sister to follow me everywhere,” I argued tension now building in my face too.

“I did not hire my sister, what are you talking about?” he asked the tension now leaving his face and confusion entering.

“She said she was asked to look after me,” I stated. “I assumed you were the one who asked,” I added.

“I did not ask her to do that, I swear,” he said apologetically.

I looked up making eye contact again. His eyes were filled with concern and heat. “Jonah, I’m fine. I was just heading back to my cabin now, and if you say you didn’t ask her then…” I took a deep breath. “Then I believe you,” I finished.

“Good! Because I didn’t,” he replied with some of the concern now leaving his eyes. “Let’s get you back to the cabin,” he added as he started moving in that direction.

The next morning, I waved goodbye to the girls as they left to go do camp activities. I was, of course, stuck here on cabin arrest until tomorrow. I decided it might be a good time to call my mom and catch up with her. I grabbed my phone ready to call. I reminded myself not to tell her about the fevers. I didn’t want to worry her. I listened to the repeated ringing in my ears.

“Sweetie! I’ve been waiting for you to call. How are you?” she bumbled through the phone.

We exchanged a boring conversation for over an hour. I also spent about twenty minutes catching up with Marina. “I love you too and I’ll talk to you soon... ok…ok...bye,” I said as I hung up with Marina.

Lunch was approaching, and I decided to make my way to the dining hall. I didn’t know if I was allowed to leave for that, but I was hungry and there wasn’t much left in the cabin. I walked in and saw all the crowds gathering at tables. Laughing and happiness filled the walls. I felt a smile creep upon my face. I felt a tap on my shoulder and swung around to see Kenna.

“Hey, what are you doing out of the cabin?” Kenna asked.

I explained my situation as she quickly ushered me to the counter to get some food. Today was pizza day; I stared down at the grease-filled pizza as my stomach let out a growl. Just then three pieces of pizza popped onto my tray.

“Haha, awesome!” Kenna squealed. “How come you got such a great power?” she wined jokingly.

“I wouldn’t call it great,” I replied giggling.

“I think it’s pretty great,” I heard being chimed in from behind me. I turned around with a smile so big it hurt.

“Mrs. Humai!” I yelled with a squeal. I grabbed her in a hug. “I missed you so much! I was so happy when I found out you were my guardian,” I said still smiling just as big.

“And I was just as happy, sweetie,” she said returning the hug. “I need to go sign in and catch up with the teachers, but I wanted to say hi,” she added.

“Okay, bye!” I said as I watched her disappear into the crowd.

I sat eating my pizza when Jonah and Sable came gliding over.

“Hello, cupcake,” he mocked with a twinkle in his eye.

“Hello, Jonah,” I said returning the smile. “Why was Jonah all of a sudden so attractive,” I wondered.

Sable giggled and gave me a wink.

“Hey! Cut it out!” I groaned reminding her of our no-mind-reading deal.

She giggled again and returned to her conversation with Kenna.

“Can I walk you back to your cabin?” Jonah asked with a sweet smile and light blushing on his face. I glanced at the girls who were whispering and giggling. “Yea, let’s go,” I said rolling my eyes at them.

As we walked back, thoughts of being in Jonah’s arms bombarded my mind. “So how are your burns?” I asked sadly glancing at his chest.

“They’re just fine,” he said as he gently took my hands in his. “How are you feeling today?” he questioned me.

I was about answering him when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. “One second,” I mumbled as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I glanced at the screen which showed a text from an unknown number. I opened it to see, “Hey beautiful…never got a text from you…was wondering how you were…and if you still wanted to hang sometime…lol, text me back soon.” My heart sank as I stared at those words. Why now? “Once I finally get over you, you have to send me that,” I argued in my head. “Jonah, I have to go,” I said as I took off towards my cabin.

The second Kenna walked in the door, I shoved my phone in her face. “Kenna, look at this! Can you believe this? I’m freaking out over here, Kenna. What do I do?” I bombarded her.

“Well, if you would relax and move the phone so I can actually see I could answer that,” she said laughing.

I put the phone in her hand and sat down. “So? What do I say?” I repeated.

Kenna sighed, her eyebrows lifted, and her nose scrunched. “How about nothing? Aren’t you over him?” she asked.

I stared at the floor thinking about what she had just said. “I am over him…I think,” I thought to myself. “Yea…I mean I think so,” I said half mumbling.

“I deleted it so now you have to be,” Kenna said handing me the phone back.

“What? Kenna, how could you? I didn’t even save his number. That wasn’t your choice to make,” I said angrily.

“Someone had to do it; as your best friend, that someone was me,” she said just as angrily.

I sat on the couch with my knees pulled up to my chin. “She’s right. I’m over him. I like Jonah,” I said trying to convince myself.

Night was approaching quickly, and all the girls had made their way back to the cabin. Kenna and Lorraine were completely lost in a game of UNO. Sable and I were talking about the camp activities I missed out on. They had watched some older kids fly, teleport, and camouflage. They had also gone for a hike to learn about plant properties and different ways they could help supernaturals. She also filled me in that tomorrow from 10 am to 2 pm, we were going to be spending the day with our guardians and practicing our skills, and after that was free time for the rest of the night. Soon after we finished talking, the girls finished their card game and decided it was time to make some dinner.

I followed them all to the kitchen as we searched the cabinets and fridge for something to cook. I found some beef chunks in the fridge and some broccoli in the freezer and Lorraine had mentioned there was rice in the cabinet. “How about beef and broccoli, we seem to have the stuff?” I asked glancing at them.

“Oh yum!” replied Sable.

The other girls voted yes as well. Kenna was cooking the beef, Sable oversaw the rice, and I was cutting broccoli while Lorraine was left setting the table. As I chopped the broccoli, thoughts of the text I had gotten rolled through my mind. Why did I care? Why was I even thinking about him? Jonah and I have gotten close lately and I was really starting to fall for him, so why was I thinking about Davis? Maybe because I never got an end to that story and now, he would be left thinking I was just ignoring him. I try my hardest to not be a jerk and this made me feel like I was the biggest jerk. “I would have to let it go. Kenna deleted the message, I didn’t have his phone number, and I really, really, truly liked Jonah a lot,” I thought to myself as a smile began forming. I felt a nudge on my arm and looked up to see Sable laughing.

“Uhm, girl, I don’t know what’s distracting you, but you have chopped our broccoli into pieces small enough for a baby,” she said laughing.

I looked down at the itty-bitty pieces of broccoli on the counter. I glanced around and saw all three girls giggling. “Oh hush!” I said smiling as I dropped the broccoli pieces into the pan of beef.

I placed my bowl of beef and broccoli onto the table as I situated myself into the chair. There were sighs and groans of delight as everyone tasted the food.

“This is so delicious; this is all I’m eating for the rest of my life!” Lorraine said laughing.

We all joined in laughing. I glanced around the table and realized I came to this camp unwillingly with one best friend and now happily had three. This place really began to feel like home. I never would have though Lorraine would be friends with us, but after today, I knew we were all a package deal. The rest of the time at the table was spent in silence as everyone ate their food happily.

After cleaning up from the mess we made cooking and eating, we all plopped on the couch to watch a movie before bed. We all agreed on Baywatch. The rest of the night was spent in laughter and happiness.

I woke up to Kenna’s phone playing music in the bathroom. I looked around and realized I was still on the couch and Lorraine was on the other side. Sable was lying stretched out on the carpet with a massive pile of blankets and Kenna seemed to be in the shower. I looked at my phone and saw that it was 9:20 am. I jumped up and yelled at the girls to get up.

“Come on, guys, it’s 9:20 am. If you want time to dress, eat, drink some coffee, whatever it is, WAKE UP!!” I shouted.

Momentarily, they slowly began to get up and do what they needed. I ran to the bedroom and grabbed a pair of distressed jean shorts and a pale green button-up shirt. I changed and then threw my hair into a quick bun, slapped on some mascara, and met the girls at the door. We took off running to the dining hall where we were meeting our guardians. It was 10:15 am when we barged through the door.

“Sorry we’re late!” we all spat out while trying to catch our breath.

We got glances from everyone in the room as they turned away and continued finding their guardians.

“Well, I’ll see you guys later back at the cabin, good luck,” I mumbled as I walked off to find Miss Humai. We walked out to the bench I talked with Lorraine on and sat down.

“So, Anna, today, we’re going to do some exercises with your power, okay?” she said smiling kindly. “Today, we are going to learn how to calm your mind,” she added and followed with, “Now close your eyes and take a few deep breaths, think of sounds only such as ocean waves, calm music, thunder, whatever you prefer.”

I closed my eyes and did as I was told; I thought of piano music, a calm melody played in my mind.

“Now think of a flower, but overfill it with your sound,” she said.

I continued the piano music and popped in a flower and went right back to the music. I opened my eyes and looked around. “Hey!” I said jumping up looking around, “There’s no flower!” I added happily.

She giggled and replied, “When your mind is in a completely relaxed state, random thoughts thrown in don’t make it far enough as to why you didn’t summon one.”

I smiled proud of myself and sat to try again. We practiced more calming exercises until lunch and made our way to the cafeteria. We sat with Kenna and Lorraine and filled each other in on what we had been doing. After finishing lunch, we went back outside to the bench to work some more.