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“What the fuck is going on?” Max questions. Nikki and Neil both turn away from the crowd, towards him.
“Oh, you’re up!” Nikki says happily. She was holding a piece of paper, so was everyone else.
“You were in a deep sleep, so I didn’t want to disturb you. Especially since last time..” Neil looked at Nikki and they both nodded.
“Max! Come here! You need a paper!!” David called out to Max and he rolled his eyes,
“I’ll be back.” The two waved Max away.
While walking towards David, Max got a gut feeling something big is about to happen, none of the campers are ever crowded together like this. He looked back at Nikki and Neil and they were just talking, it reminded him of Parents day.
That was last summer, but this summer Neil told Max that his dad and Nikki’s mom were getting married. I guess they hit it off on parents day. After camp is over, Nikki and her mom are moving in with Neil and his dad. They get along well, so they’ll be fine.
“Here, you’ll need to look over this!” David was as enthusiastic as ever, it pissed him off. Max looked down at the paper and it was a song. He looked up annoyed at David.
“Are you kidding me?” Max raised his voice, then took a deep breath in and walked away, back to Nikki and Neil.
“I think I’ve heard this song before, maybe from Easter?” Max walked in on their conversation.
“What even are these lyrics?” Max added himself in,
“I don’t know, I’m Jewish so I don’t get it.” Neil stated the obvious,
“Hello everyone!! Thank you for coming here for auditions!!” Preston yelled from the stage, in a diaper and fake wings.
“JESUS CHRIST!!” Max cried and covered his eyes.
“Exactly!!” Preston exclaimed.
“Preston, for God's sake please put some more clothing on!!” Gwen yelled out, tired from the campers already even though Camp just started up again a week ago.
“Oh Dear..” David worriedly exclaimed while shuffling Preston off the stage.
“Does he just have that in his camp bag?” Neil questioned,
“Yeah, wasn’t that the same one he wore when it snowed last summer?” Nikki tapped her chin.
“Now that everyone’s distracted, let’s go to the lake and get out of this hell hole for the day!” Max suggested and they cheered along with him while sneaking away.
“Oh Max, where do you think you’re going?” David stopped in front of the three, and exhaustion weighed Max down from pushing past him.
“Ugh.” Max groaned while walking back, and so did the other two.
“Hello everybody! Again…Thank you for coming to the auditions!!” Preston was dressed now, but was still wearing the fake wings.
“I’m making a Jesus Christ inspired play!! We need an angel like singing voice for an Angel! Who will be soaring through the air on a high note!!” Preston exclaimed, and no one batted an eye.
“Do we even have the right material to make someone float on stage?” Neil asked, and Max sighed.
“I don’t care enough, I haven’t even had breakfast yet.” Max rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
“I can sing pretty high” Nikki told the two, “Mom forced me into singing lessons from a young age, she said if I wasn’t going to do anything girly, I had to at least do singing. I hated every minute of it.” Nikki sighed while looking into the forest, at paw prints. “Those could be bear prints! Come on, guys!!” Nikki exclaimed, starting to run,
“Don’t go running off now, Nikki! Your audition is coming up after Nurf’s.” David grabbed her from the back of her shirt’s collar, picking her up off of the ground. She usually flails her legs but this time she’s just crossing her arms and pouted while dangling. Max looked at where Nurf was and he sounded horrible.
“What kind of singing is that?! Put in more effort!!” Preston demanded, but Nurf jolted at him, starting a fight. Max giggled a laugh.
“Bring Nikki here so she can practice! I’m gonna bandage Preston’s arm!” Gwen yelled out, and David started walking over to the stage with Nikki, like she weighed nothing. Nurf was walking away too, No one knows where to though. But it’s best not to question.
“Do I have to sing? I hate it.” Nikki complained while David was putting her down.
“Yes, we need to be supportive of Preston’s interests!” David reasoned, “Why do you not like singing?” He asked,
“My Mom forced me into lessons since I was little, and I always hated it. I apparently sang well enough to be put in competitions and I always won them! Like, that’s cool and all but I hated it! It was never fun, I was always practicing singing! I begged Mom to let me stop but she didn’t listen, so I disqualified myself. I got in a lot of trouble. She said it was gonna pay our rent or something…” Nikki rambled on, and Max found himself genuinely feeling bad for her.
“Well, you’ll only have to do it once! Try to be nice to Preston.” David patted her on the head and walked away to talk to the other campers.
“Damn, that sucks.” Max told Nikki while getting closer to her.
“Yeah, I was even put on the news!” She rolled her eyes and dropped the paper.
“I recognized this song too, I sang it in my old Church’s choir!” She groaned then sat down, Max sat beside her.
“Just do it quickly so you can get it over with.” Max told her, and she nodded. Then Gwen came back with Preston.
“Next!” Preston yelled, like he was a star. Nikki stood up, picking the paper up with her.
“The splendor of a King, clothed in majesty, let all the Earth rejoice. All the Earth rejoice~” She started singing and everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her in awe. “He wraps himself in light and darkness, tries to hide, and trembles at His voice. Trembles at His voice~” Her voice was so lovely to hear, like nothing before. She was hitting every high note, and sounded beautiful. “How great is our God- HEY! It’s a bear!!” Her voice screeched and she stopped singing while jumping off the stage to chase after a bear. It must’ve stopped because of how lovely she sounded. Everyone in the area looked at each other in surprise.
“Nikki…Can sing?” Max questioned, “No wonder she was on the news!” he was still in shock,
“Oh yeah, I think I saw her a couple years back!” Neil exclaimed
“Yeah, same! She was about to win the one million dollar prize for amazing children singers but she left the competition. Everyone got pissed off because they betted on her and stuff.” Nerris told the others,
“A million dollars?!” Max exclaimed. “Fucking hell, I would’ve been pissed off too!!”
“Now now, kids, there’s probably a reason she left!” David tried calming the situation down, but it was getting more riled up by the second.
“Was that Nikki?” Gwen asked while rushing over,
“Yeah, it appears so.” David answered,
“Who knew she could sing so well?” Gwen said
“Apparently a lot of people. She almost won a million dollars for her voice, but she disqualified herself before she could get it.” Max answered. Gwen gave David a look,
“I need to speak with David for a moment.” Gwen said suspiciously while pulling him aside, leaving the campers alone. Max never wants to be alone with these jackasses, and he’s curious, so he decided to follow close behind.
“David, this can help!” Gwen exclaimed, “The camp won't be in debt if we get her in a competition or two.” She suggested, and David looked uneasy.
“I don't know about this…” David responded hesitantly, “Didn't she disqualify herself?” he added,
“We don't have the money to think about it right now!” She cried, and David sighed.
“Alright, we'll give it a try.” Gwen smiled while starting to walk back to the other kids, but she jumped when she saw Max in the way.
“Ah! Max…” she guiltily tried having small talk, but Max only stood there and didn’t say a thing, only giving an interrogative stare at the two of them.
“Space kid’s on fire,” Max told her without a care in the world while pointing behind him. Nurf tied him to a tree that was on fire.
“Space kid!” Gwen cried tiredly,
“Oh dear...” David said shocked while running with Gwen.
Before, Nikki ran off after that bear cub, and now she's running towards Max covered in mud.
“He got away.” She sighed while crossing her arms. Max looked her up and down
“Do you wear dresses?” he asked randomly, she looked confused.
“No, I hate dresses!” She sounded disgusted at the thought. “Mom used to force me in them,” She reminisced even though it was a bad memory.
“Oh, might want to get used to them for the summer,” Max shrugged,
“What is with the ominous message?” she asked, “is there something I don't know?” she questioned. Max paused for a minute; should I tell her about how Gwen and David are going to exploit her? Or should I let her find out herself? He pondered,
“The Jesus play or whatever,” he mentioned. “You probably got the lead role or some shit.” he made up an excuse while smirking, and she smiled.
“I hope not, but thanks for the encouragement” she shrugged, and David approached them from behind.
“Nikki! You sang so lovely” David complimented her, and she smiled again,
“Thanks! Being forced to practice really works” She chuckled in astonishment. David looked guiltily down at her, and Max looked menacingly up at him. It was a triangle of different thoughts.
“Anyway, how about we celebrate your singing?” he suggested,
“Celebrate?” she asked.
“Yeah! It must take a lot of effort to get that good!” Max could tell he thought of that on the spot.
“Hm, not really.” she said, “can everyone celebrate with us?” Her eyes grew bigger while looking up at him,
“Uh…” he muttered out, “maybe next time!” he awkwardly said, she pouted sadly, “you can take 2 friends though!” He told her, and she lit up again.
“What.” Max stared at him, and Nikki instantly grabbed Max’s arm, pulling him close to her.
“I wanna take Max and Neil!” She excitedly said, and Max pushed her off.
“Take me where?” Neil asked while walking over,
“To celebrate my singing!” She caught Neil up on the situation, and Max sighed.
While Nikki got distracted with David, Max pulled Neil aside,
“She clearly doesn't know the truth, and David has a specific look on his face, what's really going on?” Neil asked cluelessly.
“Gwen and David are going to exploit Nikki and put her in competitions so the camp doesn't shut down…Again.” Max told him, and he looked speechless. “She's inviting us to celebrate with her,” he added.
“What's with exploiting in this camp?” Neil questioned.
“I don't know,” Max responded. Gwen came over holding car keys and a piece of paper.
“Alright, ready?” Gwen asked, and David nodded.
“Guys, guys!” She yelled out, “You're gonna love cotton candy ice cream!” She exclaimed, and Gwen looked confused, giving David a look.
“Nikki, I have to talk to David very quickly, go over to them” She smiled; Nikki walked over to Max and Neil with a pep in her step,
“Cotton candy is not that good,” Neil scoffed, and Nikki gasped.
“It's the best!” she announced,
“Vanilla is better,” He argued,
“It's so common though!” She cried, and they started arguing like real siblings; Max tuned them out, and focused on David and Gwen's conversation.
“Why are they coming along?” Gwen asked,
“I told Nikki that we're celebrating her singing, and she could bring 2 people.” David explained, and Gwen looked stressed out,
“So where are they going to be?” She questioned, “They can't go in with her!” She argued, and David thought for a moment,
“They can wait in the waiting room with me.” He suggested, and she thought for a moment.
“Whatever. We don't have time.” She turned towards the three and waved her hand, motioning for them to come over. Nikki sprinted to her, Max and Neil walked a normal pace. “I told the other kids we're leaving.” Gwen told David, and he nodded. Everyone was serious while Nikki was shining full of excitement.
“Where are you going?” Nurf approached them,
“I told you, we’re going out.” Gwen repeated.
“I'm not talking to you, Gwendolyn.” He stared directly at Max. “Where the hell are they going?” He asked, “as the new camp counselor, they must stay here,”
“You put Nurf in charge?” Max questioned, “He's the worst one out of all of us!”
“I didn't, I put Ered in charge.” She sighed. “Just don't do anything I wouldn't do while we're gone!” She told him while starting to walk faster to the car; The three followed her.
The three children stuck in the car watched the trees pass by, well Neil did; Max was stuck in between both of them, staring out the windshield. Nikki was a ball of energy and wouldn’t stop fidgeting around.
“How much longer until we reach the city?” Neil asked, turning his head straight forward. “I need to pick up a shift at radio shack, the manager has been complaining,”
“I actually forgot about that place,” Max said,
“Oh! That was when I became terribly sick!” Nikki reminisced on another bad memory.
“Calm down everyone!” David turned his head to look at them, and was answered with crickets. “After this turn we’ll be in the city!” He happily told them, and Nikki started cheering.
Gwen soon parked in front of a big building, that said entertainment corporation.
“Wow, they’re seriously doing it.” Neil whispered to Max, and he rolled his eyes in return. Of course they would actually do it, Thought Max. They stepped out of the car and stood next to Nikki
“Well yeah! They suck!” Max whispered back.
“Okay kids, let’s head here first!” Gwen guided them into the building, and Max could hear Nikki’s stomach start to growl.
“Where’s the ice cream?” She whined while looking around.
“Y-You’ll get it after!” David stuttered, and nervousness set on her face. David and Gwen approached the front desk, and pushed the three to sit down in the waiting areas.
“We’re not getting ice cream, are we?” Nikki asked like it wasn’t obvious, but nothing is ever obvious to her.
“Yeah, dipshit!” Max rolled his eyes again, and she held her stomach.
“The building said entertainment.corp,” Neil added, and she groaned while leaning back into a chair.
“This sucks!” She exclaimed.
“Nikki! Come here! The nice man wants to meet you!” David calmly told her, and she got up slowly, and walked over even slower. Max and Neil sat there quietly, not having a word to say. Max watched Nikki get guided into a room with Gwen, and David walked over and sat down beside him. “Skies are high for her!” He recited, “Isn’t that such an inspiring thing?” He questioned,
“I think you’re making a dumbass decision.” Max glared at him while crossing his arms.
“I agree with Max” Neil nodded,
“It will only be for a little while, no harm done!” He told them, “Besides, if she really wants out, she can always ask us to take her out.” He added, and Neil sighed.
“You think her Mom didn’t tell her the same thing?” Max added, and David went into thought,
“Her Mom forced her into the exact same competitions.” Neil reminded them, and David looked worried.
Later, Nikki came back with Gwen; Gwen looked astonished and Nikki looked exhausted. She rushed over to them, and David walked over to Gwen.
“I had to sing over and over again! Until my throat started aching!” Nikki exclaimed. Her voice was hoarse so it was harder to understand her.
“She got in! She’s in the competition!” Gwen excitedly told David, and he looked happy but also worried; their reminder must’ve gotten to him.
“I got in?!” Nikki turned her head around at the speed of light, her hoarse voice followed slowly. Gwen looked past David and at Nikki with stars in her eyes.
“Yes!” She rushed over to Nikki, “This is your big chance to be a star!” Gwen kneeled down in front of Nikki, grabbing her hands. It’s like Gwen wasn’t thinking about anyone else, only her own dreams.
“I mean, yeah...” Nikki was slowly getting her voice back, “But I don’t want that. Or to be in these stupid competitions!” She exclaimed. Gwen looked taken back, “I was already a star. I don’t want that again.” She sighed sadly while looking away.
“Gwen, maybe listen to her.” David said while walking up to her from behind.
“Well, it’s not your choice!” Gwen told her, and she looked confused, so did David.
“We agreed that if she didn’t want to do the competitions, she didn’t have to.” David reminded Gwen, and she looked behind her.
“Do you want the camp to shut down?” Gwen asked hysterically.
“I don’t, but-”
“Good!” She interrupted David, and a nervous sweat went down his forehead. “Ice cream for everyone!” She cheered while running out of the building. They all just watched her in disbelief. Nikki sighed while slowly following her out. David watched her; honestly, the three all did. Max tapped his pocket, and looked up at David.
“We tried to tell you” Max shrugged his shoulders and started walking out, so did Neil.
When Max tapped his pocket, he was stopping an audio recording; Max knew for a fact this was ought to happen, so he stole David’s phone and started secretly recording Gwen’s psychotic break, for a lawyer.
It was sunset when they arrived back at the camp, and everyone was going crazy, like normal.
Nurf, wearing a Gwen costume, approached us; along with Nerris, Harrison, and Ered. David and Gwen went back to the counselor cabin to talk, and Nurf stopped the three from walking.
“What ice cream did you guys get?” Nurf asked, it sounded like he was mocking them.
“Cotton candy,” Max answered. “Nikki pleaded for us to get it,” he placed his hands in his pockets while making up an excuse.
“We should’ve gotten Vanilla, it wasn’t that good” Neil shrugged, and Nikki wasn’t responding.
“Yeah, it wasn’t that good…” She mumbled and pushed past Nurf while staring at the ground. They turned around and watched her walk to her tent, confused.
“What’s up with Nikki?” Nerris asked,
“We didn’t get ice cream, she’s being forced into singing competitions again. And we had to tag along.” Neil broke the truth, and they looked even more confused.
“The camp is in debt, again.” Max sighed tiredly. “I say we make them get the shit beaten out of them again” he suggested.
“It’s in debt again?” Harrison questioned,
“This is like the third time, so uncool.” Ered rolled her eyes,
“What’s with this camp and exploiting kids?” Harrison exclaimed.
“I could call in a big dragon to keep Nikki safe in the castle!” Nerris suggested, and Harrison looked at them annoyingly,
“That won’t work. Dragons aren’t real.” He groaned, and they looked taken back. “I could make Nikki turn invisible, or the company invisible...Once I figure out how…” He pondered on.
“Your dumb magic isn’t going to work!” Nerris yelled,
“It’s more practical than your stupid mythical creatures!” He argued.
“Shut up!” Max yelled, and they both stopped arguing to turn towards him, “I know how to spread the word.” Max told them ominously. “Gather everyone here tomorrow morning, after breakfast.” Max tapped his pocket and started walking to his tent, Neil followed.
Morning rolled around, and Max actually woke up earlier than Neil. He snickered while hopping out of bed, and grabbing his hoodie —which still had the phone hidden inside— He put it on mischievously and headed to the mess hall.
There were only five kids awake and eating breakfast, and they were all surprised to see Max awake at such an hour.
He glanced at everyone, Dolph was painting a mountain; Preston was posing in front of the canvas, even though Dolph wasn’t drawing him, or going to, David was helping Space kid take his helmet off since it got stuck on his head again for the fifth time these past two weeks, Nerris was juggling dice, and Nikki was sitting alone while eating slowly. Max approached her and sat down beside her,
“Oh, hey Max…” Nikki wasn’t as energetic as usual.
“Hey, what’s up with you?” Max questioned, and she sighed.
“I don’t want to do those competitions.” She had a bitter taste in her mouth while telling him that, and he doesn't know why but he hates seeing her like this.
“Yeah, I get that. I mean, I was forced to attend this shitty camp for the third year in a row.” Max stuck his spork in the terrible looking mashed potatoes. “But I got an idea of getting you out.” he smirked.
Nikki’s expression lightened as she asked, “What is it?”
“Can’t tell you, it’s a secret.”
“What? why not?” her eyebrows furrowed.
“It’ll only work if you don’t know.” Truthfully, that’s a lie. If Nikki knew, she would just get in the way.
“Well, it doesn’t matter whether you tell me or not, I just hope whatever you’re planning works.” Her voice saddened while looking down at her yucky mashed potatoes. “I lost my appetite,” Nikki said lastly while standing up and walking away with her tray.
After breakfast, every camper, excluding Nikki, gathered in front of the mess hall.
“Thank you all for coming, everyone.” Says Max.
“So, what’s your absolutely grand idea to help Nikki out?” Preston questioned and crossed his arms.
“I’m glad you asked. This phone I’m holding here has an audio recording of Gwen’s psychotic break.” Max snickered. “We’re taking them to court!” he exclaimed.
Max has wanted to get out of this camp one way or another, and now he finally can!
“Okay, but how? We’re only kids, we can’t do jack.” Neil rationally asked.
“By getting a lawyer, obviously.” Max replied.
“Okay, but how are we going to get the money? The camp’s already in debt.” Neil asked again. Max doesn’t have a response this time, he’s stumped.
“Damn it!” Max snapped and threw the phone on the ground. He thought that his perfect plan of bringing the camp to court would get him out, but it isn’t as easy as it seems.
“How about we have a big fight?” Nurf suggested while cracking his knuckles.
“That won’t do! We have to put up a magic barrier around the camp grounds. That way-”
“That sounds stupid, Nerris. You’ve been trying that fake barrier for weeks, but nothing’s happened since it doesn’t exist.” Harrison interrupted Nerris, making them mad.
“It is real! Besides, what ideas do you have? Pull out bunnies from your lame top hat then order them to bite David’s ankles?”
“Well…” Harrison thought for a moment, but no comeback came to mind.
“How about popping the car’s tires?” More and more campers spoke up and suggested ideas, and Preston was fuming.
“I don’t get it! How come Nikki became a star before me?! I didn’t even have the chance to show my talent and shine!” Preston snapped and kicked David’s phone on the ground. His loud outburst gave Max an idea.
“Oh Preston, you must be feeling soo~ angry and envious because of Nikki, huh?” Max fakes a pout.
“Yeah I am!” Preston yells.
“Your potential is being pushed to the side all because Nikki has a sweet voice.” Max adds on.
“Yeah!” Preston shouts again.
“Everyone, let’s have a riot!!” Max yells, and everyone follows suit. They’re all cheering. “We’ll get Nikki out of corporation hands!”
The next moment, Nikki was being led out of the mess hall and caught sight of the cheering.
“Aww…I’m missing the fun!” Nikki complained.
“You can have fun with them after your eventful day!” Gwen shuffled her to the car,
“But they could be planning on setting something on fire!” she cried while opening the back door of the car and sitting in the back.
“Let’s hope that’s not the case.” David wearily said. Nikki watched their cheering continue as the car pulled away.
“The riot starts now! Everyone inside!” Max instructed, and everyone ran in yelling.
The drive Nikki had to take into the city was very long and boring. It would’ve been better if Max and Neil were here with her.
“Why do I have to do this? I don’t want to!” Nikki complained again.
“It hasn’t been a full day yet, you don’t know whether you actually like it or not.” Gwen shrugged Nikki’s feelings off. “You’ll get used to it! I would know since my dad is a musician.”
“Don’t bring your daddy issues into this!” Nikki snaps. “I just wanna be back at camp with Jerry and the others…”
“Let’s change the very heated topic, shall we?” David inserted himself into the conversation and was met with silence. “So, Nikki. Who’s Jerry?”
“The bear cub I found yesterday morning.” She crossed her arms and the car became even quieter. The only thing heard was the loud annoying grumbling of the car engine.
Back at the camp were orderly tables with each camper designing “Free Nikki!” posters, and Max is pleased, but Preston thinks otherwise.
“This isn’t enough!” Preston exclaimed. “There needs to be more done for this cause!”
“What more can be done? Everyone is working efficiently like this.” asks Neil. Preston clenches his fists like he’s about to punch Neil.
“STOP ASKING QUESTIONS!” Max and Preston scream at the same time. Max, too, was sick of it.
Neil was taken back. “Sorry for asking reasonable fucking questions, assholes…” He grumbles while turning back to his poster.
“He is right though, Preston. What else could we do?” Max adds onto what Neil said.
“Preston’s eyes grow wide with hysteria. “We can cause a big commotion, like a fire!” Max stops and looks at him in his crazy mindset.
“I like it!” Max smiles joyfully, and turns to the campers hard at work. “There’s been a change of plans, everyone!” Max announces, and all the campers stop to listen. “There will be two groups: Group one will be led by Dolph, and will be making posters.”
Dolph jumps up onto a table, “I will lead us to victory!”
“Group two will be led by Nurf, and will be finding supplies to start the fire.”
“Fuck yeah! Arts and crafts sucks balls!” Nurf exclaimed while ripping his poster in half.
“With that settled, any questions?”
“Since it’s your idea, shouldn’t you and Preston be leading the groups?” Neil asked, again.
“Me doing work that benefits anyone but myself? Fuck nah!” Max laughed up a response. “Go wherever the fuck you want, I don’t give a shit.” Max shrugged and sat down at a table.
People are rushing around except for Nerris and Harrison, which are approaching Max.
“Max~! Harrison is insisting on joining the fire side, but I want to join the fire side because my fire breathing will be of much use!” Nerris complained.
“Then both of you join the fire side.” Max said.
“We can’t! Nerris and I have a pact where we can’t join forces-”
“Then both of you fags can go color in a rainbow or some shit. I truthfully don’t care.” Max replied.
“But-”
“Go and do something!” Max snapped.
Nerris sighed, “I guess it’s needed.” They took out two dice and rolled them. The dice on the right rolled a six while the one on the left rolled a four. “Ahah! Later, loser!” Nerris stuck their tongue out while running over to the group that surrounded Nurf. Harrison picked the two dice up and hid them away in his pocket.
“Their dice rolling ability always is to their advantage.” Harrison groaned and walked back to his poster.
With all the campers back at camp, Nikki is also under orders. For the past two hours, some old fat man in a fedora has been telling her and three other kids to sing songs over and over again; stopping at certain parts, repeating lyrics, and even speaking rhythms. Nikki hates speaking rhythms. The kids don’t seem bothered by it, rather, they enjoy the fat guy’s company! Why is Nikki the only one annoyed? I mean, he’s clearly a pedo. The smiles on everyone’s faces were so big that they seemed fabricated, and Nikki was tired of it. This reminded her of her time on America’s Got talent! Her eye twitched, her fists clenched, and she shut her mouth shut. No sound came out of her now. This caused a disruption, and the room became silent after her. Of course her voice just had to be good enough to make her the main vocalist!
“Oh, Nikki? Is something wrong?” The fedora man stepped forward and reached his hand out to pat her shoulder. Nikki opened her mouth wide and bit down on his hand, making him draw blood. “Ouch!” he yelped and snatched his hand back while shaking it.
“Nikki! What did we say about biting people?!” Gwen raised her voice.
“I don’t care!” Nikki snapped. “I hate it here! I’m going back to camp!” she angrily rushed out of the room, and David and Gwen ran after her as she left the building. “The competitions are so stupid! It’s just a room filled with jealousy!”
“Nikki, come back! Let’s talk this out!” David pleaded, but she only started running faster.
“It’s only a competition, why’re you so upset?!” Gwen yelled, and it made Nikki stop.
“You say you understand what I’m going through because you too were a musician, but you got to choose that path as a child. I was forced into it.” Nikki scorned, she was like a wild animal, so wild that David had to pick her up from the back of her collar while she flailed around angrily so he wouldn’t get bit or scratched.
Gwen realized she was wrong. It was wrong of her to do this in the first place without Nikki’s permission. “Wow, Nikki, I’m sorry. This was really wrong of me to do, especially when you expressed your feelings to me many times.” Gwen sighed sadly at fault, and Nikki calmed her flailing limbs as she heard that. “I’ll take you out of the competition and figure out the situation with the camp later.” Gwen added.
“Aww, Gwen!” Nikki was now smiling. David placed her back on the ground, and she ran up to Gwen and hugged her. “I forgive you, we all make mistakes, especially when it comes to money.” She snuggled her head on the side of Gwen’s leg. “Especially that fedora pedo dude…He basically has money dangling in front of him.” She giggled, but Gwen and David stayed silent.
“You two can wait in the car while I go in.” Gwen says, and David nods.
“How about ice cream?” David smiles and ruffles Nikki’s hair.
Gwen didn’t waste time re-entering the entertainment building and canceling the rest of the rehearsals. She then walked back into the rehearsal room to grab her sweater and Nikki’s water bottle.
“Where’s our star?” Fedora man’s voice croaked while approaching Gwen.
“Gone. Nikki won’t be attending anymore.” Gwen replied bluntly, and he fell silent.
“Why’s that? Wasn’t she doing soo~ great?” Fedora man stepped even closer.
“Keep your grubby hands away from me before Nikki isn’t the only one screaming.” Gwen turned sour knowing she didn’t have to put up with his bullshit anymore. “Between you and me, we both know why you’re doing this shitty job. You expected to fly high in the industry and touch people’s hearts with your talent, but you only touch kids now, and truthfully, your voice is wayy~ too horrid to listen to for more than five minutes. Don’t come near me or Nikki ever again or you’ll earn an offence on top of all that.” Gwen snarkily smiled while leaning away from him.
“I’m the top recruiter of this agency! I’ll get you fired from any job you have now and in the near future!” his face was red from fury.
“Can’t fire someone who gets paid Jack shit!” Gwen laughed while leaving the room.
After yelling and putting that greaseball in his place, Gwen was feeling over the moon. She gets to the car and sits in the driver seat with a wide smile.
“You seem to be in an excellent mood! Is it because you’re just as excited to get back to the camp?!” David’s eyes glistened.
“That shithole? Fuck nah!” Gwen rolled her eyes. “I just put that fucker in his place!” she cackled, and Nikki joined.
The three of them lost track of time because the sun was setting when they arrived back at the camp. They were met with a burning messhall, and a bunch of kids parading outside with posters and signs.
“Holy shit!” Gwen immediately jumped out of the car, along with David who got out twice as quickly. “Why do my actions always come back to bite me in the ass?!” Gwen cried.
“Release Nikki! Release Nikki!” The campers chanted, and Nikki’s eyes lit up by the fire. An even bigger smile than before was appearing on her face while she smelt the smoke in the air, and heard the cackling of wood. Oh how happy she was to be back.
“WE DID!” Gwen exclaimed over the flames, “Nikki is out of the competition! Now all of you need to step away from the fire!” All of the campers started to cheer, including Nikki. “David! Wind everyone up and do a headcount! I’m getting the fire extinguisher!” Gwen screamed over the blazing fire. David got right to work. He swaddled every camper into a lumpy circle and counted.
“One, two, three…” David started. Max, Neil, and Nikki tuned him out like normal, of course, and caught up.
“So, how were you guys able to get such a big fire started? I wanna know for next time!” Nikki asked.
“Just some jealousy.” Max replied vaguely. “Also some sticks and a lighter, I guess. Neil was about to add something to the conversation, but Max quickly covered his mouth with his hand to prevent him from speaking. “I’m heading to bed. It’s much more tiring being a leader than it seems.” Max slipped out of the pile of kids and headed to his tent.
“So the regular where Max takes credit for what everyone else does?” Nikki turned to Neil.
“Yeah, basically.” Neil responded. “But what about you? How’d you get them to stop?”
“I screamed and ran. The good times.” Nikki blissfully smiled like having to make an outburst for people to listen to you is a good thing.
Neil chuckled, “You never fail to impress me.” he smiled, then added, “I’m gonna hit the hay, too. Being shushed all day pissed me off. I’ll try what you did next time.” Neil waved to her while slipping out of the pile of kids and heading back to his tent. Nikki was alone now and watched the crumpling fire in awe. She wanted Jerry to see such a nice view too, so she also snuck out of the pile of kids and used the last ray of sunlight to find him. They walked back to camp while Nikki held him in her arms like a teddy bear.
“This is home,” Nikki calmly smiled up at the fire illuminating everything with a warm light.
“Nikki! Are you holding a bear cub?! I think it’s amazing how you can make so many friends, but you should put it back before his mother finds us.” David concerningly says. “Those things are not to be dealt with.”
“But it’s Jerry!” Nikki pouts and holds up the cuddly bear cub.
“Nikki befriending a dangerous animal like normal isn’t our biggest concern right now, David! Call the fire department!” Gwen yelled, and David had no choice but to drop it.
“On it, Gwen!” David replied and reached in his pocket to take his phone out, except he couldn’t feel it in any pocket. “Uh Gwen, my phone’s missing!”
“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Gwen cursed.
“What do we do now?!” David questioned loudly, “Gwen?!” She was rushing to the Quartermaster’s quarters, and David followed quickly. Nikki plopped onto the ground with fulfillment. She’s fine with things staying exactly like this.