Something Curry

The bus ride was roughly an hour and a half, but everyone was quite excited and talkative. We shared food, played games and enjoyed our time. There were lots of windy roads, so we had to take a few breaks in between.

When we arrived at the center of the camp, we were greeted by a few counselors that would overlook the functioning of the camp. There were villas built onto the mountain and we were split into groups of either boys or girls. I had shared one with 2 other guys, Walker and his friend Lix.

Lix had been the person Walker mistook me for on the first day of school, and apart from wavy hair, we looked nothing alike. He was taller and had much longer hair.

After settling into our temporary homes, we were summoned to meet with our group at the central plaza for lunch. One of the other first year teacher’s stepped up and began speaking through a megaphone.

“Hello everyone, and welcome to your first school camp at Calderon High! As we mentioned before, you will be asked to investigate a specific area and present it. But to start with, let’s have a nice barbecue. In your groups, you will need to figure out what you’ll need to cook. Good luck.”

Groups were sent to their allocated work bench. I met up with my team and what awaited us was a table with stacks of uncooked meat, rice, vegetables, pots, pans and a place to start a fire.

“Well, I guess we’re going to be making some curry…!”

Walker, our leader, each gave us jobs to do. He and Sefilio were in charge of the meat, Azuno, Rei and I were in charge of the vegetables and rice and finally, Ivey was bringing us drinks to keep us hydrated.

“This shit is hard…”

Azuno had taken a while chopping a single broccoli into janky fragments and had a troubled look. I was struggling myself, having just finished chopping one carrot.

“Yeah… The only thing I can cook is like an omelet.”

Azuno laughed.

“Heh, that’s better than me. I can only make instant ramen. One time my parents were away for a week on a business trip, so I ate instant ramen for like 5 days straight.”

Meanwhile as we both bonded over our hopelessness at cooking, Rei was meticulously cooking at a high rate. She effortlessly was chopping onions like a factory robot.

“You know… we should get back to chopping.”

Azuno continued to watch and tried to replicate her technique.

We had finally finished all the preparation and begun cooking. Walker had insisted that Azuno and I didn’t go anywhere near the fire. Instead, we sat on a bench nearby and watched the chefs do their thing.

“Did you two get banned from cooking?”

Ivey brought over some fruit and sat down with us.

“Well I didn’t see you do any cooking either,” Azuno said, as he grabbed a slice of watermelon from the plate.

“Hey, I can cook. It just seemed like you guys had everything under control.”

“Sure… When I see it, I’ll believe it.”

We continued to talk as the others were cooking. It didn’t take long for the smell of some sweet curry to fill the air.

“It’s ready!”

We each got our servings and sat together on the table and took our first bite.

“Mhm~ That’s really good.”

“Yeah, not bad, not bad!”

It has a spiciness that didn’t hurt the tongue, and the flavors were able to work together. The meat was soft and chunky and melted in the mouth.

“I’d say our group is pretty good.”

Walker smiled, and we all laughed as we looked forward to what would come next.

After eating and cleaning up, we had a bit of free time before dinner. I had taken a shower and spent some time with my roommates.

Dinner came around, and I saw Ivey and Azuno on a table, so I sat with them.

“I thought you were going to sit with Rei. There’s a free spot for you over there,” Ivey said, pointing in her direction.

Sure enough, there was a free spot next to Rei. Everyone else seemed to have noticed it, and were all too scared of the pressure of sitting next to her.

“Haha, there’s no way that’s reserved for me. It’s more like everyone else is too scared to sit with her.”

“Oh? Could we join you guys?”

Sefilio had walked past with her friends and was looking for a table.

None of us seemed to oppose her requests, so she and her friends sat down. The two girls quickly introduced themselves as Ayase and Mona.

It was slightly awkward as we all held small conversations amongst ourselves until Sefilio broke the barrier.

“Are you still mad at me Ivey?”

Ivey had looked at her, confused.

“What do you mean?”

“About the lake thing… I’m sorry about that.”

Ivey laughed and smiled.

“Oh, that? I didn’t really care about that. It’s fine.”

“Hey, do you two know each other?”

Azuno raised the question, as he began eating his noodles. Sefilio nodded.

“Yeah, Ivey and I go all the way back. I’ve known him since I was like 8. He used to be such a cute child and now he’s grown so twisted.”

“And you haven’t changed either. The same childish person, who believed in Santa until high-school.”

Sefilio’s face flushed and tried to divert the attention to somewhere else. Mona and Ayase laughed, confirming Ivey’s statement.

“So anyways, where did you guys go to junior high?”

I made my way back to my room to prepare for the next day. We would begin our project and have to do some work. I was alone in our villa as the others had gone to visit their friends in other villas.

I opened my laptop and began writing the next chapter of my novel. At the moment, my current work was a crime story.

I had just about finished the chapter, when there was a knock on the door. I opened it and to my surprise, it was Sefilio.

“Hey… You need something?”

“No… Well, actually I guess. Follow me.”