George and I went to sleep very late that night. He climbed our bunk bed while I take the other mattress. I stayed there for a while, staring at George's mattress thinking about how cool is my new age ray. I tried to talk with George, but he was deeply sleeping. I wonder if age changing could be exhausting or maybe it's due to the rush of hormones he went through.
At the sunrise, everyone had woke up except me. George tried to wake me up with a pillow but I just wanted to keep sleeping. However, when I realized that he was talking with someone, I was curious and opened and eye. It was the camp director, mr. Turin and judging by George's expression, we're in trouble.
After a moment, the man left and I woke up, I looked at George's face and he seemed concerned by something. He had my bag in his hands where I had hidden the age gun, but it was empty.So, I assumed that he had given it to mr. Turin.
"Are we in problem?" I asked George after realizing that we must be grounded by stealing camp's property.
"No, he was upset and disappointed but that's it, he didn't ground us." George threw by bag to the floor. "He told me there's a big meeting in the dining hall in ten minutes, so be ready to go."
"And how did he know that we had the gun?"
"I don't know. He didn't say much more than what I had already told you."
I woke up, changed my pajamas and went to the bathroom to clean my face and brush my teeth. Then I combed my hair, put my shoes and followed George's to the dining hall.
Everyone was there, since the younger kids to the oldest. The dining hall was large but not enough for everybody sitting in there, so some guys like me or George were standing up. On a corner, there's mr. Turin and the counselors talking to each other. In front of them, there's a big table with a lot of stuff on, but covered in a long white tablecloth.
"Ok, I think we're all here." Mr. Turin said when he noticed that me and George had arrived. "As you must know, every year at the end, the science camp showcase an experiment to your parents. Last year it was gravity and we could see some of your mates floating around and high jumping like if they're on moon's surface."
"It was soo cool!" George whispered to me.
"However, last year we got a lot of legal problems with your parents because the gravity machine didn't work too well and some of you almost got shot to the space. So, this year we've decided to give some intense testing to our inventions and we need your help for that."
He took off the tablecloth and revealed some weird devices on the table, including the age ray that I had stolen a few days ago. I knew what was coming.
"This devices are our experiments for this year. However, they're not tested and we need your help for that. We've 12 cabins with 10 boys each. On this table, there are 10 devices. So, per cabin 1 of you will be test subject for each device. Your counselors had the names on a list. Follow their instructions and make 10 groups!"
Our counselors give us some instructions to divide in groups. Each group was integrated by one boy from each cabin, so there's kids from 7 to 18 years old in every group. Everybody was confused and wondering what kind of experiments need so many test subjects. I knew it, but I didn't say a word. I was kinda sad that George and I weren't in the same group.
"Ok, now that you're in your respective group. I'm going to explain what are these inventions." He took what it seemed a necklace and showed it. "This is called the underwater breather. When you attached it to your neck it grows gills on you, so you can breth underwater. The first group is going to wear them and live underwater for the next months. We have built a special cabin inside the lake for you. I recommend you to wear your swimsuits all the time."
After mr. Turin stopped speaking a counselor guided the first group to take their necklaces. He told them to change their clothes and prepare for living underwater in an hour. The boys stared at the necklaces on their hands. They didn't seem to happy to spend the rest of the camp living like fishes. But no one said a word, including the boys from the other groups. All of us, were concerned wondering what device we'll be testing.