Morning came slowly. Vlad went to wash his face. As always, he had woken up last. No one rushed him or forced him to get up with everyone else — and that was exactly what he liked about this place. The camp seemed to let him drift through the mornings like a dream no one wanted to interrupt.
He decided to take another shower. Afterward, he sat down with his notebook and began to write:
"July 7th, 09:00.
As always, I woke up last. Today is Parents' Day, which is strange — they didn't make us clean the camp because it's already perfectly clean. The only thing that truly makes me happy is that today my mom and dad are coming. I want to tell them so many things, though I keep wondering if I should tell them that there's something strange about this camp. I'll ask Elizabeth and the boys later.
The camp is very beautiful, and the clothes here are pretty nice too. Besides the clothes… one girl here is beautiful as well.
I think I still shouldn't tell my parents anything. They might get scared and take me away from the camp, and I don't want to leave.
I almost forgot to mention that Elizabeth and I also wrote a story about Simon and Nolan called The Foggy School. Elizabeth wanted to call it Black Hands and Eyes, but I insisted on my title, and eventually she agreed."
Vlad closed the notebook and stood up. Before leaving the room, he glanced at the nightstand. There lay the wreath. He quickly put it on and quietly said:
— Almost forgot.
At breakfast, he decided to sit next to his friends so that what happened last time wouldn't repeat itself. They talked about random nonsense until Maxim suddenly said:
— I kinda like one girl here. She's pretty.
Yegor looked at him carefully.
— Which girl?
Maxim hesitated for a second.
— Uh… Lilith. Not the counselor. The girl.
Suddenly everyone at the table — Alex, Vlad, Kirill, Sasha, and Yegor — froze. Alex's spoon nearly reached his mouth before stopping midair. Vlad looked at Maxim with the kind of shock someone would have if they heard that Stephen King had never written It.
Sasha spoke first:
— Lilith? Wow. Surprising. I thought we all liked kids our own level…
Maxim frowned slightly.
— What, you don't like her?
Sasha shrugged lazily.
— Who said I don't? I'm supporting you. I like Emil.
Vlad looked down for a moment before saying:
— Well… since we're saying this now, I like Elizabeth. That's why I sat with her that day and yelled at you guys.
The boys fell silent. Then Yegor muttered:
— Yeah… I like Sasha too. The girl.
After that, nobody spoke. Not because they were shocked by each other's confessions, but because there simply wasn't anything left to say. They had already revealed the things that mattered. Some of them just wanted to sit quietly and listen to music while the strange morning atmosphere wrapped around them like soft smoke.
The silence was finally broken by Kirill.
— Today's Parents' Day, right?
Alex nodded.
— Yeah. And what's even weirder is that our parents are actually coming today.
Maxim smiled faintly.
— My little sister Maria is coming too.
The boys smiled. Maxim's sister was sweet — around six years old. A beautiful and intelligent little girl.
Vlad suddenly asked:
— Are we going to tell our parents that this camp feels like Huxley's Brave New World?
Yegor frowned.
— Huxley? That author you were reading at school?
Vlad nodded quickly and excitedly, almost like a little kid happy that his friends remembered something important to him. Though honestly, it was hard to forget Huxley after hearing Vlad talk about him so much.
Kirill spread butter over a piece of bread while speaking:
— I don't think we should tell them anything. From what I remember from your stories, it's better if we stay quiet. Otherwise they'll take us away from here… and none of us want that.
The boys nodded in agreement. Then they left the cafeteria and went to play basketball.
Back in the dining hall, Estelle remained sitting alone at the table. He looked deeply upset, as if something inside him had quietly collapsed. His eyes stayed fixed on the floor, lost in thoughts so deep they almost seemed to pull him somewhere else.
Roman interrupted the silence softly:
— Estelle, did something happen?
For several seconds Estelle didn't answer, as though he couldn't hear him at all. Only after a while did he slowly look up at Roman, like a man briefly waking from a heavy trance, like Raskolnikov surfacing from his own thoughts.
— Hm? What? Everyone already left?
Roman nodded slightly.
— Did something happen, Estelle? You seem upset. Are your parents coming today?
Estelle nodded slowly.
— Yeah. But my mother and father are working overtime. My older brother and older sister are coming instead.
Roman looked at him with quiet sympathy.
— Come on. Let's go to the room and talk.
Estelle followed him.
When they entered the room, Roman sat down on a chair, and Estelle sat across from him. They talked for a long time. Estelle told him everything weighing on his mind. Roman listened carefully, almost like a psychologist — calm, patient, knowing exactly when to speak and when silence was enough.
By the time they finished talking, Estelle had calmed down. Roman smiled at him.
The smile was soft. Beautiful. The kind of smile that made you want to stare at it all day. It pulled at the mind gently, almost hypnotically, making it feel natural to obey whatever he said next.
At some point, Estelle fell asleep. His head slowly dropped onto Roman's knees.
Roman carefully lifted him and laid him down on the bed. Then he leaned closer and whispered softly into his ear, his voice smooth and strangely soothing, almost sinking directly into Estelle's sleeping mind:
— Wake up at 14:35.
After that, he quietly left the room.