[Blue Griffin]

“Hold still Catcall. I'm almost done.” It was past dinner and after a lengthy time in the shower I was now sitting on Chloe’s bunk with her tilting my head back into position as she continued her work with a pair of scissors.

“I’m trying my best. It's just that my face is so itchy.” I said trying to scratch my nose again only succeeding in getting my hand slapped back down.

“I told you, after all that time with that paint on your skin we need to let your pores open up again and hydrate it. That face mask will do both. Just give it a couple more minutes and we can peel it off. Now tilt your head up a little more. I just about done on your hair too.“ Sighing I closed my eyes and let her work. While I was able to get the paint off my skin after a couple cycles of soaping and scrubbing, the same wasn’t as easy to say for my hair. The pink color was washed out, but the two clumps that had been the pigtails stood unruly and split while the rest wasn’t as bad, just worse for the wear. Chloe had volunteered to save it as the other two didn’t have any experience. Heather suggested they could buzz cut it, but Victoria had brought up having a near bald “girl” in camp might be too easy to spot at the goodbye celebration even if we only had a day left before we left camp.

The door squeaked open signifying the pair of them returning from the main hall with dinner. Once I had gotten cleaned and dressed, it had taken a while for me to recap what had happened that day. They weren’t glad to hear about my dare secret being discovered and even less glad about me snapping at Trish (with Chloe giving my hair an especially tight yank), but thought the pig dare would have been punishment enough had not cabin two gotten to me. It had even turned out in our favor as the girls worried about some of the secrets that I could have told cabin two. Given all the work that still needed to be done on my hair and it was our last night together it was decided that eating in our cabin would be best and so the pair of them left to get food for us. Strangely, behind them was Laura.

“Hi Allen, Chloe. Usually the counselors make sure that their campers are good during dinner and to check in. Since Victoria and Heather said you planned on eating in your cabin I thought I’d come along to do my check in.” A pained look flashed across her face as Chloe snipped the last few hairs and brushed out my hair before putting her supplies away. “Also I had heard about what had happened and wanted to apologize. Usually things don’t go this far here. I can talk to the girls counselor about it, but I can’t say we could do much before they leave.

I sighed. “No at this point it would just look petty and wouldn’t get much done. I’m not hurt, besides maybe my pride and its not like I could take them or the camp to court given how I’m not supposed to be her in the first place. By the way how does my hair look?” I gave it a shake side to side getting use to the feeling.

Victoria looked up front unpacking dinner and walked over, a questioning look crossing her face. “You gave him bangs?” she said, turning to Chloe.

“Hey, I tried my best. It’s not like I have any experience giving boys haircuts. If I had tried to even it out any more I’d have to make him be the first girl in camp with a receding hairline.” she said defensively, crossing her arms. At this point I had walked over to Victoria’s bed and grabbed a mirror. The bangs looked passable, but definitely more girly than I would have preferred.

“Well it's better than I could do so thanks Chloe.” I said nodding as Heather called us to eat.

“We got everyone’s favorite. Oh and here.” She slid a pile of candy into the center of the table. “This was covering our cabin’s table. Guessing you can figure out who this is from. Not really enough for a prank, just more rubbing it in.

“Don’t worry about it being tainted with X-Lax or such either. We’ve had a ban on pranks like that once we had an incident years ago.” Laura said, grabbing a piece herself and then turning to me. “Well since you’re all accounted for, I think I’ll check you off and head back to the main hall. Make sure you are packed for tomorrow. Allen I’ve been told that your suitcase and clothes will suddenly show up again tomorrow.” She looked over at the three smirking girls. “I don’t think we want to explain to your parents why you are getting picked up in a dress. If any other parents ask why you are there, just say you’re there to pick up your sister and she’s in the main office with your parents.” I nodded, a mouth full of food, preventing me form speaking. “ Have a good night and I’ll see you guys at the counselors goodbyes before the award ceremony.” As she stepped out of the door, she paused just for a second and turned back. “It really is a shame what happened today, girls. You looked to be top finishers otherwise. To make up the difference now, you’d need a massive run of points overnight or something like the Owner’s Crest. I was really rooting for you.” With that she stepped out and closed the door.

“What’s the Owner’s Crest?” I said, swallowing my mouthful of food as the three of them turned back to me.

The three girls glanced at each other before turning back to me. “The Owner’s Crest… is kinda tricky.” Heather said slowly.

“Back when the old owners were running the camp, they knew about the prank wars. One day one of the campers had mentioned how far behind they were in points, so the owner offered to be pranked. By pranking the owner, that had to be worth more than enough to get in the lead.

“Of course no one would dare prank them.” Chloe said “It would be like pranking your grandmother.”

“So they made the “Owner’s Crest”. An object with their initials on it that if taken from their house is worth a boatload of prank points. No buckets of slime, no injured owners, no campers hating you.”

“It can’t be taken by other cabins, so it's not like everyone grabbing for a loose football, but it could be given away to someone I guess.” Said Heather thinking as she took a bite of her dinner.

“Of course no one ever took them up on the offer. To this day the trinket has been touched.” Victoria said.

“So what are we waiting for? Let’s go get it!” I said

“Hold your horses, Catcall. That’s easier said than done. We all thought once Miss Ruptlee took over that it was no longer in play given how you’d have to sneak into her cabin to get it. With her not being aware of the prank wars if you got caught you’d be in some serious trouble.” Chloe said with the other two nodding in agreement. “I guess Laura must know its still up there or else she wouldn’t have mentioned it, but its near sunset and we have no idea where it is.

“But,“ I sputtered, “If we could get it..”

“Look as much fun as it would be to show those smug cabin two girls the crest, it's our last night. We have to pack up our stuff, Chloe needs to organize and pack her mics from around camp, and after tomorrow we won’t have to think of cabin two again, so let's just have a good last night together.” Heather said. A voice of agreement echoed from the other two and out voted we settled down for a movie, eating the last of the snacks we had brought, me listening to girl chat occasionally chiming in or participating in one last fashion show for the girls. Washing up we all got settle into bed, wishing each other a good night as we drifted off…

At least the other girls did. I stayed awake listening to the girls sleep. Thinking over my time here, the fun we’ve had, the mystery of the unknown girl helping me, past conversations I had with all the girls on camp. Remembering the disappointment in their voices when they realized how many points cabin two had gotten, I knew there was only one thing I could do. “I dare you to get the Owner’s Crest.” I whispered to myself more in motivation than as an order.

Slipping out of my bed, I had purposely chosen my last fashion show outfit for this purpose. Claiming to be too tired to change, the girls had no issue letting me sleep in the black tee with a kitten on it and sweats as a “relaxed bedtime look”. Grabbing a hoodie, some other supplies, and a pair of shoes that I had set next to the door, I eased open the door and silently crept out, closing the door behind me. Putting on the hoodie and heading towards the cabin, I couldn’t see another set of eyes had opened and were watching me head to the owner cabin.