Warrior's Rise Read Free Page A

seriously needed to go on a diet.
    “Welcome back, campers!” Willow greeted with a great, big, stunning smile.
    The kids grinned collectively and a few cried out, “Hey, Miss Willow!”
    “Now, I know some of you are new here to Rogue River, so let me be the first to give you a warm welcome. I’m Miss Willow, head counselor. If you have anything you need to talk about, or have any complaints, you can come to me any time. Let me introduce you to our other counselors, Counselor Linda and Counselor John. Most of you know them already.”
    A lot of the kids waved to Merlin and Cat-Lady also.
    “We have a new addition this year.” She pointed over at Logan, but didn’t look at him. “Counselor Logan. He will be taking care of some of our older campers.”
    The same bunch of friendly kids waved at him also, but he did his best to look fearsome. As a result, they averted their eyes almost immediately.
    “Now, the other counselors and myself will be calling out role, so listen for your names. After you’re into your groups, you’ll be taken to your bunks where you can unpack and get settled. Dinner is at six and we will have an orientation meeting at that time so that everyone can get to know one another. Lights out is at nine. Be sure you get a good night’s rest because we have lots of exciting things planned for you tomorrow.” She grinned. “Is everyone ready for an awesome summer?”
    The group screamed and cheered.
    “All right! Let’s get to it then!”
    Willow took her list and started to call names so Logan did the same. “When I call your name, I want you to line up in front of me!” he commanded. “Don’t talk and don’t give me any crap! Just do as you’re told!” He saw Willow give him a scornful look, but he ignored it. He wasn’t going to go easy on these geeks just because she did. He was there to make men out of these losers. He cleared his throat and looked down at his list. “Lucy Wilcox!”
    A girl scrambled to stand in front of him and he almost whimpered. She was dressed in some frightening hippie skirt and she was actually wearing a brown knit shawl. Her dark blonde hair was in pigtails and she was toting an enormous book of some kind under one arm. He grimaced.
    “Colton Mason!”
    Okay, never mind. Pigtail girl was okay. This guy was a walking disaster.
    “Doug Evans!”
    A gaunt, thin, short boy with thick glasses scurried up like a frightened mouse. The large boy Logan had called up to the line a moment ago grinned down at the newcomer and tousled his hair.
    “Aki Takahashi!”
    Dang, he could barely even get her name out. He wasn’t surprised to see that she was Japanese.
    “Darlene Rivers!”
    A few giggles and snickers caught his attention and he looked up as a tall, decently built kid rolled his eyes, sighed and joined the group. “Darien,” he corrected. “I’m a guy.”
    Logan took a moment to look over this one. He was still undeniably freakish, but less so than his comrades. Reasonably muscular, black hair… But he was wearing that ridiculous black nail polish. What was with that? Guys were not supposed to wear fingernail polish. And… Oh good lord. Was he wearing eyeliner…? Maybe not. Okay, maybe he just had thick eyelashes… He shook his head. What did he care? They were all freaks. Every last one of them.
    “All right, maggots,” he started. “Let’s get a few things straight here. I’m not your average, run of the mill, walk all over me, pushover counselor, got it? I don’t tolerate whining. I don’t tolerate crying, and I don’t tolerate disobedience. When I say jump, I want to hear ‘how high?’ When I say go all the way, I want to hear you say ‘yes, sir!’”
    “Um… Excuse me… Sir ?” The large one interrupted, his voice hinting at mockery. “When you say, ‘go all the way’ I’m personally going to be heading for the hills because I’m pretty sure that goes against several sexual harassment laws. Besides, no offense, but I just