I shakily held the sword up to my chest as I stepped onto the cracked circle of asphalt. I had a barely working military helmet, and was face to face with a way older kid. I was nervous, and I could barely work up the courage to walk onto the asphalt. The older kid was Oscar, a leaner 22 year old. How the heck was a 12 year old able to beat a 22 year old with a scruffy chin? That’s what our counselor decided! Jake was obviously focused on getting activities going rather than focusing on paring kids in the right groups. I would have been fine fighting Cooper. Or Logan, at least. Oscar grinned, that grin when you know he will start to mess things up. And use explosives in the mix. “Begin,” Jake cleared his throat. The sword trembled in my hands as I stared Oscar down menacingly.

  I charged at Oscar, hitting his chest-plate and jabbing his sides. He pushed me to the ground, sending me barreling into asphalt. I groaned as he hit his sword on my chest-plate. My chest protector rattled unsettlingly. I rolled over before he could get another jab in, and kicked his shin. Our shins weren’t guarded properly, so it would hurt for him. He grabbed his knee and held a firm grip on the sword. I swung at his chest, hoping for him to feel the same uncomfortable rattle. Instead, he held firm on his iron grip and took a swing full force at my head. I braced myself for impact, and (luckily) fell on top of my sword. I still had grip on the loose tape job done on it. I scooped it up and jammed it into Oscar’s shoulder. It obviously wasn’t too deep. When I pulled the sword out, blood splashed. Jake dropped his clipboard and grabbed a cloth, wrapping it around his shoulder. “Go to the infirmary.” Jake directed. Oscar glared at me, and dropped his sword, walking off to the south. I sighed and glanced at everyone. Older kids started booing me. I sheepishly got off the circle and slumped down over by Cooper, and Clay. Cooper handed me a cloth, and I cleaned my blade off. His dark blood was reflecting, and when I wiped it off, I saw my reflection. I hated being the reason blood was drawn. I sat my silver sword next to me and curled up into a ball, waiting for the next duel. “Uh, Cooper and… Dervin.” Jake said, Cooper sighed to himself. A sigh of self-confidence. I wished I had that. The most I had was self-doubt. Dervin was 18. A year of from Cooper. Clay inched closer to me and watched my expression, as if he was studying it. “Nice fight, man.” He said, glancing back at Cooper. “Oscar has always been a jerk.” I glanced back at him. “Really?” I had never heard of Oscar. Oscar was invisible or me. Clay nodded and cleared his throat. Oscar was a quieter kid, and never really hung out around our cabin before. “Yeah, he used to bully me. Glad you put him in his place.” Clay smiled, and glanced up as Cooper was making his chest-plate rattle and ‘make music.’ He was winning, but not by much. Dervin was able to swipe him off his feet more than once. After him doing it again, Cooper dropped his sword, the metal clanging against the stone. Cooper visibly was shaken. “Dervin wins.” Jake said lazily and asked for the next two kids. Cooper trailed back and quietly took his stuff off. “Nerd,” Dervin scoffed and threw a stone at his head. Luckily, his helmet was on. I yawned. We had lunch a few hours ago, and now, it was almost dinner time. Jake had four more duels to do before thirty minutes was up. All I could think about was Cooper and pasta for dinner. “You did pretty good in that fight,” I smiled at Cooper, who smiled back. “Yeah, we can help you get better to beat Dervin.” Clay said and looked up. Two kids, in their early twenties, were sparking a chaotic duel. One was risking his whole life without a helmet, and the other couldn’t land a hit. The two were terrible, and I could tell Jake wanted to take the swords and crunch them. I was, in fact happy I won a duel. And I didn’t need a older kid’s help!

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  Dinner rolled around. Pasta with melted marinara and cheese. Mozzarella, to be clear. Dinner was quiet. Opal and Logan were with other kids, and Sky was eating with younger kids, (14-15) telling them stories about Dragon duels. “Hmm, we need a chant, just the three of us.” Clay nodded. “We tell our stories.” Cooper mumbled. Me and Clay repeated him, keeping to ourselves. “Nobody can relive.” Clay and I repeated Cooper, who was still fumbling through speech. “Our story will outlive.” Clay grabbed his lemonade and taped my glass. I grinned and tapped Cooper’s. Cooper taped Clay’s. “This year,” Clay said, yawning.

  “Will be the best.”