SCIENCE CAMP—DAY 2 (PART ONE): JANUARY 10, 2018
It's 4:00 AM. I hear giggling next to me. I wake up and see Kaylyn, trying to stifle her snickers.
"Hi," I whisper groggily. "What's so funny?" She points next to me. A sleeping bag is hanging from the top bunk above us.
"Dude, do you think that's Praniti?" Kaylyn asks me. I make a noise that is supposed to mean "I don't know". Kaylyn reaches across me and tugs on the sleeping bag.
"Whoa!" I say. "Why did you do that?" I'm afraid that Praniti or Akshaya might get annoyed with us (Praniti decided to spend the night in Akshaya's bed).
"Just watch," Kaylyn says. When nothing happens, she tugs on it a little harder. Someone pulls it up, and Kaylyn dies of silent laughter.
We're both quiet for a minute, then Kaylyn breaks the silence. "Look up," she says. "Is that a flashlight?"
I look up, and sure enough, I see the dimmed glow of a flashlight. I see something else too. "And is that," I say, squinting because I don't have my glasses on, "someone making shadow puppets?"
Kaylyn starts laughing again, and this time I'm joined in the hysteria, both of us trying to smother our giggles, and sometimes failing. We spend about fifteen more minutes chatting and making ourselves laugh like this, when we are interrupted.
"Shut up!" someone whisper-shouts. Kaylyn and I fall silent. The person doesn't say anything. Finally, I whisper something.
"Christine?" I whisper. I am a bit hesitant.
"Yeah," she whispers back. "Go to sleep, or talk a little more quietly!"
Kaylyn and I agree, and decide to talk a little more quietly. Our conversations are punctuated with my constant shushes, but soon it gets a little out of hand.
I see Aparna's silhouette rise on her elbows, and Shrimayee moaning a little bit. People are shifting above us, and someone sneezes behind us.
"There you go," Christine whispers furiously. "Now we're all awake. And funnily enough, the counselor's the only one who hasn't woken up, which I think is incredibly lucky!"
Kaylyn and I fall silent. After a while, she whispers something to me.
"Adwithi," she says. "I need to go to the bathroom."
"Now?" I ask. She nods. "You really do have to go to the bathroom?" She nods again. I get off of the bed, and she follows suit. I take my flashlight, and head to the door. However, I have some doubts.
"Do we have to tell the counselor?" I ask. Kaylyn shakes her head and starts to open the door, but I still have my worries. During this commotion, Shrimayee, who is next to us, wakes up.
"Guys?" she asks sleepily. "Where are you going?" I tell her and she nods. "I'm coming too."
The counselor wakes up and we tell her where we are going, and we go out. It's 5:30 now, and it is freezing cold. I shiver, because I don't have my jacket. When we come back inside, I fall into bed, but I don't sleep.
Everyone else is asleep, but I stay awake. I try my hardest, but I just can't. Kaylyn has fallen asleep now, and is on top of my arm. Someone is snoring, making me very annoyed. After a very long hour, at 6:45, Kaylyn wakes up again.
"Adwithi, I'm so sorry," she says. "I fell asleep. Did you fall asleep?"
"It's all right," I say. "And no, I didn't fall asleep. It looks like I won't be able to now, because it's almost seven." Kaylyn gets excited, and when Upasana's alarm goes off, she jumps off the bed and celebrates, nearly knocking me over.
Everyone groans at Kaylyn's enthusiasm, and Aparna throws a pillow at her, which misses and falls to the ground. People start getting their toothbrushes and heading off to the bathroom. I panic for a little bit because I can't find mine, but I locate it and I head to the bathroom.
Everything is chaos inside. No sinks are open, so I borrow someone's to wet my toothbrush and I stand to the side to brush my teeth. After finishing that, I change my clothes, comb my hair, and get my backpack ready. Everything is settled.
Once Praniti is done, we head down to breakfast. Everyone is standing in lines, so we stand with our trail group. Finally, we are allowed to go inside the cafeteria.
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