Chapter Text
"Please, mom," Wynonna held the hem of the older woman's shirt, "I don't wanna stay here." Look at them, they look like silly nerds.
"This is your punishment. Next time, think better before you bring a bottle of whiskey hidden in your backpack," her mother said.
"Calm down, little sister," Willa wrapped her arm around the girl's neck, "a month will pass quickly and you'll have fun."
“A month?!” Wynonna's eyes widened in astonishment. "You said it was just one week, mama.”
“Yeah, I lied. Now go” she kissed the girl's forehead, who was frowning, “behave yourself and make friends.”
"I'm going to kill myself", she said dramatically "bye, baby girl, wish me luck.”
Wynonna placed a kiss on her baby sister's cheek and went to where other children were. They all seemed to know each other, hugging each other, shouting excitedly. She was looking around, clutching her backpack, hoping to see some familiar face. Nothing.
Our young woman had just returned with her family to Purgatory after spending four years outside the quiet town because of the death of her father, Officer Ward Earp, a well-known name for being a police officer in his small town.
Since her father's death, Wynonna has become a young rebel. His favorite pastime was to play tricks on other people. Her behavior went from bad to worse until her mother decided to send her to Purgatory's only summer camp: Coyotes.
A tired-looking monitor said something to the megaphone, and a cluster of children rushed to him, bumping into the girl, knocking her to the floor.
"Great way to start, Earp" she said to herself, huffing, still on the floor.
"Earp?" a curious voice directed at her, "Like Ward Earp?"
"Yeap". Wynonna looked up to see who asked, then ducked it again. "He was my father."
"Wow, your father was a hero!" The girl spoke, delighted, reaching out to help the other get up. "I'm Nicole. Nicole Haught. You can call me Nic."
"Yeah, no." She got up off the floor with the help of the red-haired girl, then patted her pants to clean. "Wynonna. The last name you already know."
"Man, your father is one of the many reasons I wanted to become a cop." Nicole walked behind the brunette, who seemed to want distance.
"Do you want to be a cop?" she laughed and kept walking, not looking at the face of the girl who had helped her get up.
"Yeah, I want it!", she said, quickening her pace. "Hey, I've never seen you here before."
"Are you flirting with me?"
"No!" The redhead was looking at her in astonishment. "Just curious."
"Just kidding. And yeah, this is my first time here."
“I come every year since I was nine. I love this place, we have fishing and a contest and rock climbing and-“
"Yeah, yeah, I know, Nicholas, you nerds love it." Wynonna interrupted her, walking away from the group of kids.
"Hey, where are you going?" The redhead continued to follow her.
“I don't know, I just want to get away from these assholes.”
"Nope, you can't go there." Nicole grabbed the girl's arm.
"Do you work here?" She stared at the girl's hand on her arm.
“No, but-”
"So get your paw off me." The brunette slapped the other girl's hand.
"Hey!" Nicole said angry. "I won't let you go anywhere outside campgrounds!"
"Oh, I miss the reformatory." Wynonna said, rolling her eyes.
"What are the two girls doing here? Children are not allowed in this area." A monitor appeared behind them, making them jump in a gasp.
“Hi Becky, I was just trying to take her back with the other kids.” Nicole said.
"She's lying, she brought me here. I don't even know this place, it's my first time here." Wynonna said. Nicole glared at her, mouth open at the girl's boldness.
"Hi, Nic. And you must be Wynonna Earp, aren't you?" The monitor crossed her arms.
"I see I'm quite popular around here." The Earp girl said.
"Yeah, we were warned about you and your behavior." The monitor said.
"But I didn't even do anything!" The brunette made a gesture of indignation with her hands.
“And neither will do. Nicole, since you're practically home, you keep an eye on your new friend, all right?” The monitor said.
“What?!” Both girls said together.
"You heard. Now you both get back there, right now." The monitor said, crossing her arms.
The girls walked with their heads bowed down to where the group of children were and Wynonna muttered a curse word. The man finally stopped talking and all the girls were directed to the female dormitory.
The other girls were all choosing their pairs, the vast majority already knew each other and they were putting their things in their bunks.
Wynonna and Nicole just watched, waiting for the remaining places. They spotted a empty bunk at the end of the room, looked at each other with raised eyebrows and ran as fast as they could. Nicole get there first because of her long legs but Wynonna tossed her bag away on the top bed.
"I'll be on top, I got here first." Nicole said.
"No, my stuff got here first, get out, Haught." The brunette replied.
"I come here every year and always stay in the top bed!"
"So, it's time for a little change, I think!" Wynonna said.
"You don't think anything." The redhead jumped on the top bed, throwing Wynonna's bag on the floor, who glared at her, grabbing her things and putting them on the bottom bed, irritated.
The other girls all seemed agitated. As they finished making their beds, they left the dormitory in small groups, always talking. Wynonna finished what she was doing and looked around, seeing the nearly empty room, just Nicole sitting cross-legged on the top bed, listening to a CD player.
"So where are your friends?" The brunette spokes to the other girl.
"I don't have many friends here." She answered with her eyes downcast.
"The monitors don't count." Wynonna said.
"I don't have any friends here, then." Nicole answered with a sideways smile.
Wynonna looked down. She took pity on his roommate.
"Hey, what are you listening to?" The brunette changed the subject, patting the redhead's foot.
“Britney Spears.” Nicole answered.
“Really?” Wynonna said.
“Nope. It’s Simple Plan.”
"A-ha! I knew there was an emo under that flannel. Hey, let's go outside. Or are you gonna stay here alone?" Wynonna said.
“I want to stay here now.” Nicole said.
Wynonna nodded and left the dorm, leaving the girl alone in that huge room. Deep down, she was quite curious to understand why the redhead didn't want to leave.
A little over an hour later she returned to her room, where Nicole was still in the same position. Wynonna was laughing, pointing to the door with a hot dog in hand.
"You will not believe!" She said with her mouth full of food. "Two girls named Mercedes and Beth were doing a cheerleader dance performance when a blonde girl, Karen, I think, tripped and knocked them all down! The three of them!" She laughed so hard that there was a funny noise in her laugh.
"What? Are Mercedes and Beth here? Oh, damn it." Nicole rolled her eyes.
"Didn't you hear what I said? They fell." Wynonna was recovering from laughter. "Oh, I brought you a hot dog." She said, reaching out to the girl in the bunk.
"It's bitten." The redhead stared at the snack.
"I was really hungry." Earp jumped on the top bunk bed, his body half supported and the other half hanging. Nicole rolled her eyes, setting the hot dog aside and pulling the other girl up the waistband. "What's the matter with the Gardner?" Wynonna said.
Haught hesitated a little to speak, paused the song and replied to his colleague: "They don't like me very much since last year's camp."
"Why? Just because you're annoying?" Wynonna chuckled.
"No." Nicole scowled. "Actually, I don't know why. We were friends and Karen too, the blonde girl, but last year the sisters took me out of the group for some reason."
"You must be pretty annoying then." Wynonna joked, but seeing the other girl's sad countenance, she said, "Look, don't mind them. They can't even dance."
There was no time for Nicole to answered, the room was filled with the girls who slept there, talking loudly and screaming, which made the two of them exchange an annoyed look. A monitor came into the dorm, ordering each one to her bed because it was time for bed. Some of them complained, but all went to their respective beds, and the light went out.
The room went quiet quickly, hearing only Wynonna's growl:
"This is increasingly sounding like reformatory."
This made some girls nearby, including Nicole, laugh. She turned on the bed and closed her eyes.
The next morning a shrill siren rang, announcing that it was time to wake up. Wynonna woke up scared, but refused to get up, cursing for the fright. Nicole excitedly jumped off the bunk, facing her roommate.
"Hey, Earp, good morning! Get up, let's have breakfast." Nicole said.
"Is it eleven o'clock yet?" She said hoarsely.
“Eleven? It's half past seven! Get up, we have a lot to do today.” The redhead said.
"I hope running away from here is one of them." Wynonna tucked the pillow over her face.
Nicole rolled her eyes, shrugging, and headed for the locker room to change clothes. When she returned Wynonna was still in the same position with the pillow in her face.
"Wynonna, you'll miss breakfast."
"Yeah, yeah, Nicole-bossy-Haught, I'm coming." The brunette gestured to her colleague, who went to the cafeteria impatiently.
After a few minutes Wynonna appears in the cafeteria, with the worst face ever and messy hair. She looks around the cafeteria trying to find the redhead and then sees her on a side table with a skinny boy.
"Wassup?" She tosses her tray of food on the table and sit across from them.
"Wynonna, this is Jeremy." Nicole said and the boy smiled at her "he was alone here, so I decided to sit with him."
"Yay! The table of the socially excluded." The Earp girl said wryly.
"You think you're Robin Hood, aren't you?" Nicole wrinkled her nose.
"Well, maybe I am." The brunette wrinkled her nose back.
The redhead did not return the provocation, seeing the group sitting at the table next to her. She swallowed hard. It was the Gardner sisters, giving her a hello from afar, with a mischievous smile on their faces. Nicole just looked down at her food, but rose her head seeing a blond figure pass in front of her and sit with the Gardner sisters. It was Karen, who smiled genuinely at Nicole making her blush in a dimpled smile.
At their table the three of them were talking about plans for today, trying to decide what activities they would do. Suddenly something comes toward the redhead, sticking in her hair.
"What is it?" She said scared. "Oatmeal?"
"Who..." Wynonna turned to see who would have done it but there was no one else at the back table. She was angry. "We'll find out who did it."
"Do you have any doubt who did it?" Nicole grunted e smell the thing in her hair.
"Well, at least it's vanilla." Jeremy answered and put his finger in her colleague's hair.
After they finished their meal and Nicole cleaning her up, the three decided they were going to play basketball. The redhead was excited because she loved sports. Wynonna had to be convinced. When they arrived on the court, some girls were already there, so they each joined a team, to balance it.
"You made me come to play this damn thing, Haught, now I'll make you swallow the ball! The basket-ball. Ahem, the play ball." Wynonna corrected herself, disconcerted.
"And you will swallow your words." Nicole answered the other girl's teasing.
The whistle blew making the girls run wildly across the court, which made Jeremy laugh from the bench. Wynonna threatened to throw the ball, but was cut off by Nicole, who jumped in front of her, knocking her to the floor.
"Hey, it's not fair!" Wynonna complained, still on the floor.
"I barely touched you. Come on, Earp, you look pretty familiar with the floor." The redhead teased her, passing the ball to a teammate.
"Girl, I swear to god..." Wynonna stood up on her knees. She watched the redhead's movements, waiting for the right moment to steal her ball.
Wynonna approached Nicole when she was ready to receive the pass, punched the ball, sending it flying away from everyone on the court, who complained including Nicole.
"You can't play, do you?" Haught was angry.
“You can’t play, do you?” Wynonna repeated in a high voice.
"Earp?" Nicole was pretty annoyed.
"Heath?" Wynonna said on purpose.
"Oh, real mature." The redhead jumped at Wynonna, but was held in time by the other girls.
The brunette laughed at the situation, after all she got what she wanted, which was to irritate the know-it-all-girl. The monitor accompanying the game kicked them off the court, and they both complained of something inaudible.
The two girls and Jeremy headed toward the main courtyard, where other kids were waiting before going to their respective activities, said nothing along the way, still annoyed with each other. Once there, Wynonna saw a group of boys and that interested her. She went to them, leaving the other two talking with each other.
"Hey, I know what we can do, let's go swimming!" Wynonna came back excited.
“No way, José.” Nicole replied.
"Swimming requires me to be shirtless so... Not gonna happen." Jeremy said.
"Come on, Haught." The brunette said, after rolling her eyes at the boy.
"I'll have rock climbing soon, and besides I can't swim." The last sentence coming out in a low voice.
"What?" Wynonna laughed. "Nicole Haught can't swim? Hey, guys listen up..."
"Shut up, Wynonna!" The redhead covered the other girl's mouth, who was still having fun with the new information.
"Okay, I'll swim then, see you later nerds.” Wynonna said.
Nicole and Jeremy went to get ready for the activity. A few minutes later the monitor arrived, taking some interested children to where the rock climbing would take place. This activity required a lot of time, as only one child at a time climbed the rock with the monitor's guidance.
By the end of the afternoon, everyone returned to the main camp, they were exhausted. The two friends sat on the grass, panting but excited by what had happened. Soon Wynonna appeared and approached them.
"You won't believe it, Wynonna: Nicole won the rock climbing contest." Jeremy said.
"Wow, you can't swim, but you can climb." The brunette said, sitting with them.
“Yeah, my parents are weird.” Nicole joked.
"I met some nice guys there, that fool over there is Perry." She pointed at him. "He's got a platypus name, but he's nice. Oh, and your best friend Mercedes was there with her shadow, I mean, sister. They didn't get in the lake, they didn't want to get wet. They stood on the pier sunning. Well, until the boys got together to splash water on them, of course I joined in. They got pretty pissed, you have to see their faces." Wynonna said.
"They threw water in Karen too?" Nicole chuckled.
"No one escaped. But she took the joke and teamed up with the boys. But the two sisters left complaining." Wynonna said.
The three – why not? – Friends stood there laughing and talking about the day, until the alarm for dinner. They ate and then went to their rooms.