⌚ 6:24 AM

Since El was thrusted from her sleep, she's been paralyzed under her covers, frozen in horror. It's been over twenty minutes since she woke up and saw a gigantic daddy longlegs spider three feet directly above her face. Perched precariously on the board above her head that holds Grace's mattress up, the spider seems to be staring directly at her, provoking her.

Spiders give El the heebie-jeebies with their spindly legs and pincers and beady eyes. She is well aware that the particular spider above her is a venomous one, so all the more is she freaked out.

Of course, today is the day Grace chooses to swing her legs from top bunk and hop down instead of climbing down like a normal person. El whimpers as the bed creaks, and the spider loses its footing for a second. The thing is dangerously close to landing on her face but she dare not move.

El can feel moisture in her eyes and she tries to blink it away. How sad is it that she's crying over a tiny spider? (It's not tiny though. From leg to leg, it might as well be the size of El's palm. Granted, she has tiny palms but whatever.)

Grace, who is now on her way to the bathroom, peers at El's direction - not at El, of course, never at El. She sighs and walks towards her vanity, where a month-old issue of Vogue magazine is laid out. El gulps. For a fleeting moment, she thinks Grace will thwack her on the head for being such a weakling.

But she doesn't. Grace purses her lips, sauntering back to the bunk. A quick glance at the spider is all she takes, and she doesn't even flinch. She tucks her hair behind her ears and licks her lips and grunts. El pulls the covers tighter over herself, her eyes barely peeking through. It seems like an eternity that Grace has the rolled-up magazine raised.

Suddenly, in a swift motion, she swipes at the spider and it lands on the floor by Grace's feet. With a satisfying crunch, Grace huffs, sets her magazine down at El's covered feet, and throws her hair over a shoulder. Heading to the bathroom, she smirks - El feels like she wasn't supposed to see that, but she's been watching Grace very closely. Too closely. It's actually quite concerning.

When the bathroom door shuts, El throws the covers off her sweaty figure. She peers down at the hardwood floor, gasping when she sees the dead spider carcass crushed against it. Legs bent every which way, exoskeleton shattered. Grace did that without even thinking twice. El is more scared now that there's a possibility that Grace is capable of breaking her neck without breaking a sweat.

However, El is too busy being stunned at the fact that Grace saved her from a fucking spider. The same Grace who seemingly doesn't give two shits about her - and she doesn't give two shits about either not at all nope - killed a spider for El. And looked hot doing so. Well, she does look hot either way, but the rest still stands.

El didn't even thank Grace. She saved El's life. (Is that stretching it?)

The life she's kind of ruining at the moment. (That's definitely stretching it.)

El eyes the remains of the spider on the floor once more. She shudders, imagining it's her bloody head. Still, Grace could probably skin her alive and she'd still be thinking about how great Grace's hair or mouth or her general person, really, looks. Grace Upland just has that effect on people.

And it scares El. Almost as much as a spider would.

⌚ 1:16 PM

It dawns on El that there are four days of camp left. That hits her like a bus, of course. Time, considering it's a stupid illusion fabricated by mankind to convince themselves they have their shit together, seemed to simultaneously fly by and crawl along. El would think, camp's about to end already? and the start of camp seemed like eons ago, within two seconds.

Along with this realization, she comes to remember that she only has three days in total left to beat some serious Woods' asses. El doesn't like not knowing where the Ashes stand in terms of points accumulated during the summer (why couldn't Lionel take a hint from Dumbledore?), so all she really can do is try her best and win.

Considering Cabin A's activity for today is dodgeball (which they lost the first time they played) against Cabin G (whose counselor is Will Rodgers), El isn't feeling too great about that.

She did make sure her cabin practiced for the activity this time around. No slacking. They couldn't afford to slack.

Less things are on El's mind now - she almost forgot how it felt to worry about winning and winning only, so she stretched Cabin A to the limit. Dodging drills. Throwing drills. Aiming drills. Numerous games against each other. El felt like a drill sergeant when they practiced, screaming commands at the top of her lungs. Fortunately, Cabin A behaved like trained soldiers, following her every command. El thought she would never see the day.

Cabin A is precisely sixteen minutes late for the dodgeball game. El is pretty peeved about that. However, Cabin G turns out to be twenty three minutes late. And Lionel is a whole thirty minutes late. El tries not to dwell on that too much. Time is a stupid illusion. Who cares about when what happens and who's early and who's late and how quickly or slowly things go by? Who really cares? Not El. (That's a big fat lie.)

El gives her cabin a pep talk, the best she's given in over a week. "Don't fuck up!" she cries, earning a frown from Lionel. Oh no, she's disappointed her father! What ever shall she do?

The best part is that Cabin A repeats her statement: "Don't fuck up!" Yes, even the two ten year olds say the dreaded f-word. Lionel seems about to collapse.

Once both cabins have laid themselves out across the dodgeball court, a line of old red balls separating them, Lionel blows his whistle and the game begins. El can practically hear dramatic music as the older girls sprint towards the dodgeballs and start chucking them towards the boys. One, two, three get hit. El cheers. Four, five.

"You're excited," Will says from where he's seated on the root of a particularly large acacia tree.

El stops hopping in the air to send him a glare. "You can't blame me when my cabin is beating your sorry little - "

The whistle sounds and Lionel says, "Cabin G wins the first round!"

El's statement is mutilated. She shuts her mouth, not able to stop it from drooping into a frown. Her brows furrow. All the adrenaline buzzing in her body seems to have seeped out.

Will stretches, leaning back against the tree trunk behind him. "Come again?"

"Fuck you," El mutters. She sits beside Will as the second round begins. She gives her cabin another cheer, this one with more gusto and less profanity.

"How's it going?" Will asks, beaming.

El tears her eyes away from the game. Of all the awful things she is, she tries not to be rude. (She tends to come off that way a lot, though.) "Good," she replies curtly. "You?"

"Good," he parrots.

Bianca hurls a ball at a rather skinny Asian boy, who catches it and throws it in Laura's face. El snorts when Bianca immediately turns red, clawing at a ball that's rolled at her feet and launches it in the boy's genital region. She bares her teeth at him, a universal sign that clearly states, "don't fuck with me." He is too terrified to call a foul.

"How are things with you and Lou?" El asks nonchalantly. Well, as nonchalantly as she can manage. So Will won't notice that Bianca cheated.

"Good," Will says suspiciously. Not about Bianca...he's studying El. "Why?"

"Nothing, nothing."

Will hums. "Okay, then." He's blushing.

"But really..."

He rolls his eyes, acting all annoyed even if he obviously wants to talk about the topic at hand. "What do you want to know?"

Before El can speak, the whistle gets blown once again. El holds her breath. Then Lionel says, "Cabin A wins round two!" He gives the campers five minutes before the final round.

"Hold that thought," El says and gathers her cabin around her. She has her priorities in check, okay. Winning before Will's love life.

She gives them reassuring words, some more profane than others, and feels her insides flood with affection as their eyes light up with determination. Never in a billion years would El ever think she'd be inspiring a bunch of kids (maybe she's taking that too far...so she isn't inspiring them. Motivating? Encouraging?). She nods and sends them off, like a Spartan sending his son off into battle.

"You've gotten better," Will comments while Lionel declares the third round of dodgeball has started.

El eyes Brittany, a red rubber ball in each hand, passing one to Tiffany and pelting the other one towards an unsuspecting tall ginger. He turns in time to get hit directly in the stomach. "Gotten better at what?" El asks at the same time Will groans, "Come on, Allan! Really?"

He sighs.

El tries again. "What have I gotten better at?"

"Being a counselor." Will picks a clump of grass from the ground, letting it scatter around El's knees. "When we had that basketball game, you lost and you got really butthurt over it," he chuckles, "and now look at you. I told you, you'd get better, you ass."

El recalls it perfectly. She'd almost cried then - it seems stupid now that she knows there's worse things to cry over. "Thanks," she says genuinely. "You ass."

Will smiles wide. El takes a moment to glance at the game. Seven boys and four girls are left standing .Fuck. She looks back at Will, attempting to hide the panic rising in her throat. "So, Louise..."

"What?" and Will's smile has morphed into a wide grin.

El's heart swells. Seeing Will light up at just the mention of Louise's name, that must feel wonderful. It must be wonderful to be the owner of the name. El hates that she's envious of it, but she can't help it. She yearns to light someone up like that. To be lit up like that. And of course El's primary goal in life certainly isn't to make someone all giddy - still, that would be nice. A bonus.

El can't help but reflect Will's grin. "What's up with you two?"

Will blushes, keeping his eyes on the grass. "I actually...don't know."

"Hm?" El glances at the game. Laura, Brittany, and Alex are baring their teeth at two boys. Both parties have a bounty of red rubber balls at their feet, but no one is budging. "What does that mean?" she asks Will.

"I don't know," he repeats. "One day she's all over me, the next, she treats me like her brother and I'm so confused. It's weird."

"Mixed signals, huh?"

"Yeah."

"That's okay," El says. "Maybe she's confused, too. I mean, you obviously like her - " Will turns an even deeper red, "- and I can't blame you. Louise might not know she's flirting with you or whatever. Who knows with her?" El shrugs. "I suck at relationships, why am I even giving you advice?"

"You tried," Will says, patting her on the back. "We both suck at relationships, so don't worry." He winks suggestively and it's El's turn to be all embarrassed. "At least Louise let me into her pants."

"Ohmygod," El shudders. "Don't."

Before Will can respond, the final whistle blows and El's breath hitches in her throat. Shit. She wasn't cheering. What a horrible counselor she is. She heaves a gigantic breath and braces her ears.

"Congratulations, Cabin A!"

El loses it. She jumps up and gallops to her cabin to envelop them all in a huge hug. She might look stupid. This is probably the most she's celebrated for a win. She doesn't care. "I'm so fucking proud of you!" she squeals. Even Cabin G are being good sports, shaking hands and smiling; Will has taught them well.

"Language!" Lionel calls.

El laughs haughtily, taking Lionel in her arms and squeezing the air out of him. He gives out a little oof, and wraps his arms around her as well. "Congratulations," he whispers.

"Thank you," El replies. She lets go of the camp director, and he lets go of her, then he's off, mumbling something about a basketball game happening at the other side of the woods.

"Good job, Counselor El!" Will says sarcastically but it doesn't bite.

El flips him a glorious bird, sneering. "Same to you, Counselor Will."

⌚ 8:10 PM

After El drops Cabin A off at their cabin, she sets out to meet Louise and Will at the pier, as they agreed to when dinner ended. She takes it in - the woods at night, moonlight peeking through the leaves, stars dotting the dark sky, shadows crawling on the ground. Less than three more nights of this. Then it's back to worrying about extra credit and suburbs and arguing parents.

Her well-worn hiking boots clunk against the rotting wood of the pier as she jogs to meet the two figures sitting, legs dangling off the side. The shorter one with distinct turquoise locks has her head in the taller one's shoulder. El smirks. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she says.

"Nah," Louise says in an easy tone, lifting her head.

Will is stiff, rigid. "Hey, El."

"So why'd you invite me on your date?" El asks, sitting beside Louise.

"Right. A date." Louise snorts. "If this was a fucking date we wouldn't have invited you in the first place."

"Three's a crowd," Will agrees.

"Ever heard of threesomes?" El points out.

"Are you insinuating something - ?" Louise raises an eyebrow and El is reminded of Grace. It's as if she's been hit by a damn bus and she hates it.

"N-no!" El splutters.

"Oh, yeah," Louise croons. "You're too set on Grace to consider anything else."

Now, El shares the same expression Will has on. It seems Louise really has that influence on people. "Fuck off."

Louise giggles despicably. "You two are hilarious."

El eyes Will over Louise's shoulder. He's too busy gazing at the view of Lake Ashwood to respond. Veins portruding at his neck, he's trying is very hardest to keep everything down. El finds it endearing, in a way. She's never seen this side of him. Will has always been the nice one, the kind one, the sometimes sassy one. El would've never pegged him as a romantic.

"So this is why you made me come down here?" El asks. "So Louise can torment me and we can stare at the lake?"

"First off," Louise says, "neither of us made you come down here. You gave your full consent. Second, no. We can change that, if you want."

Will snaps his gaze away from the glassy lake to grin at the two girls. "I vaguely remember Luke and Jason having a bottle of pinot noir stashed away somewhere in their cabin."

"I get it," El jokes. "You were planning on getting me drunk!"

"You're hopeless." Louise rolls her eyes.

And so this is how the three counselors end up at the door of Cabin 1, Jason and Luke's cabin. El tries not to get too anxious about the prospect of drinking yet again, so she raises her hand to knock on the door. When no one answers after a minute, El tries again but Louise catches her fist.

She's smirking, a playful glint in her eyes and pink lips upturned. "Don't."

Will snickers, pursing his lips. He grasps the door handle, turning it slowly to make no noise. Pushing the door open slowly, his grin seems to widen along with the gap between the wooden door and the doorframe.

El lets out a strangled yelp at the sight that awaits them.

Two dark-skinned bodies are pressed firmly to each other against the far wall. Both have their shirts off, the back visible to El taut and rippling. That's Jason, both hands in Luke's messy hair (that's a sight, since Luke's hair is usually in a perfect coif), kissing the living hell out of him. They haven't stopped since El yelped. Luke is just really letting Jason know how much he's loving this with the sounds he's letting out. El doesn't even want to look further down.

"What the fuck?" El hisses, panic-stricken.

Will and Louise are too busy howling with silent laughter, clutching their stomachs.

"Let's get out of here," El whispers.

Will is hyperventilating. "It's only getting good, though!"

Luke, opens both of his eyes to glare at Will and stick up his middle finger in their direction.

El can't tear her eyes away from the two boys making out. "Let's go!" She's really more worried about how she's finding the scene pleasing - and she means that in the least sexual way, mind you - and less about finding two boys making out. What the hell is with her?

"Okay, okay," Louise says between giggles. "Before they whip their pants off."

"Get out!" Jason growls against Luke's jaw.

Will holds the door open so El and Louise can hop out of the cabin. He and Louise soon get back to laughing their asses off, while El is just stood there, still as a hefty boulder. "Let me guess," she mutters, still in stupor, "there was no pinot noir."

"Nope!" Louise cackles.

"Then why the fuck did you do that?"

"We knew the two lovebirds would be going at it," Will says and wipes at the tears forming in his eyes. "We just wanted you to have the viewing pleasure."

"Christ, you scarred me for life." El sighs, tugging at her bushy ponytail.

"You're welcome." Louise's violent cackles have turned into hushed chuckles.

"That was so fucked-up."

"It's called a joke, El." Louise retorts dryly. "You should try having a sense of humor sometime."

"Ha ha, how hilarious!"

"You should've seen the look on your face!" Will gasps, and suddenly, he and Louise are holding onto each other for dear life, to keep themselves stood up.

"I hate you both."

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a/n: hurray for filler chapters!! lol this was short n horrible (dont even tRY to say otherwise) but i am v excited for the next chapter B)))))))))

dedication goes to ashley (@soullessghoul) bc she made me realize that grace and el are basically angelica and susie from rugrats (bonus: cindy and libby from jimmy neutron) and the gif up there is them being sassy af

ye ok for now im graciously asking u all to comment but till next time folks!!!!!!!!! (u better fasten ur seatbelts next chapter will - hopefully - be a bumpy ride)