LT Day 11 - Lotte?

“Lotte? Oh, man.” Oliva makes this face, and that tells you a lot right there. It looks like it’s not lost on Lotte’s teammates that she’s a handful. “She’s just one of those, you know? I bet back home she was the best, but here she’s not. She’s up against you and Adella and Chun, and you can’t get noticed like that. I think that makes her angsty.”

“She’s not a bad player,” you say grudgingly.

“No, but she’s not a star. Not like you.”

You snort. “We lost, remember?”

“We all lose sometimes.” She shrugs, and you’re distracted by the jiggle.

“I guess so.”

“I think she has a big family,” Olivia says thoughtfully, touching one finger to her lips. “And I think she might be hiding an injury.”

An injury? Maybe from that whole disaster with the canoes?

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure. I heard Chun calling her out over it, something to do with her back. I think Lotte said that she tried to impress her little sister by doing some fancy kick that she saw.” Olivia shakes her head. “Something like that. Anyway, I think she has a lot going on.”

Fancy kick? Like the one that made you internet famous, and got you invited to this camp in the first place? Lotte is a jerk to everyone, not just you… but you have felt as though she had it in for you in particular. Does she blame you for that injury? Were you the one that she was trying to imitate?

“She’s making it up,” you say. “She probably wants sympathy.”

“Maybe,” Olivia replies, unconcerned.

You can’t let yourself get sucked into thinking about Lotte again. This is how she does it. Maybe somehow she knew that you would be here with Olivia, and planted this information just to get to you. OK, so probably not. But you wouldn’t put anything past her.

Nobody’s swimming, but a lot of girls are down here, so one of the counselors is in the lifeguard tower. It’s Claudette. She looks super cute in that red, lifeguard one piece. You especially like her little bulge down there, and her big glasses.

You haven’t spoken to her, and maybe last night shouldn’t be talked about. She’s a counselor here, so for all you know she fools around with everyone who comes through this camp. You can’t read anything special in it, but it was fun. And no strings attached. With Lotte, there’s nothing but strings and suffering. With Claudette, just fun and orgasms. This is definitely the wrong time to get distracted.

And you need to talk to your team. You sigh and give yourself another twenty minutes to soak in the peace and quiet, and the sight of some of these swimsuits… then you return to the cabin and find Lara. You tell her to gather everyone, and she does.

You can’t practice in the rain, so you have a long talk about what you have to do differently. It’s a good conversation. Everyone gives their opinion, and you accept it when they say that they felt like you weren’t present this past week.

You promise to do better. It’s OK. Nobody’s really mad, they just feel a lot of pressure from FUTA. You do too.

You step outside to find that the rain is stopping. That’s nice, but the ground is still soggy and gross. It doesn’t make you want to go anywhere. You lean against the cabin and look around, not even sure what you’re looking for. Probably Claudette. You have to be honest with yourself. If you aren’t going to think about Lotte, you’re going to need a distraction.

It’s no good. Your eyes are drawn to the blonde hair, shining in the new sunlight.

Lotte is over by the tree line, pretty far away. What’s she doing? You squint, looking past her. There’s someone else going into the woods, and Lotte is what? Watching them?

Damn it, she’s at it again. Stalking someone.

Lotte goes quietly into the trees.

You hesitate, then follow.