That kept them from getting into their vehicles and getting the hell out of Alpine.
“What’s the problem in here?” Jayden leaned against the jamb of the door into their room.
Ashlyn popped her hands on her hips and said through clenched teeth, “I want Tiffany to cut my hair and she won’t do it. It’s growing out and I look horrible.”
“I’ve got one demerit. I’m not getting another one,” Tiffany declared.
“I read that handbook from one end to the other, and I didn’t find a thing about cutting hair or not cutting hair,” Carmella said. “What do you think, Jayden?”
“I can’t think that if Ashlyn wants her hair cut it would warrant a demerit,” Jayden answered. “Maybe you should both sign a paper saying that Ashlyn wouldn’t hold Tiffany responsible and that Tiffany would do the best job she possibly could. We could put it in your files.”
“We have a file?” Tiffany asked. “What do you do with it when our time is up here?”
“We send them to the court when you finish this course, and they can see by our recommendations, or by what kind of demerits or merits you earn, whether or not to allow you to go back to your high school or if you’ll need to do some time in juvie,” Jayden answered.
“Holy sh—” Carmella clamped a hand over her mouth. “I don’t want to waste a demerit on a cuss word.”
“If it is directed at a counselor or an employee of the camp, it is, and the f-bomb is forbidden,” Tiffany answered. “Page fifteen, paragraph six.”
“What are you, like a lawyer?” Ashlyn asked.
“Nope, but I read that whole thing, too, after my demerit because I don’t ever want to do the hog lot stuff again.” Tiffany shuddered. “I hated that job worse than even doing the stalls with all that horse crap and wet straw.”
“All right, already,” Ashlyn almost snorted. “Can she cut my hair or not, Jayden?”
“Not right now because in one minute it’s going to be time for you to hustle outside for exercises,” Jayden said. “So, get your hair put up in a ponytail and pull it out the back of your cap.”
Carmella reached for her cap that hung on the bedpost and dropped it—then it bounced up under her cot. When she bent to get it, she jumped back and yelled, “Spider.”
The siren sounded and both of the other girls took off out of the bedroom in a run. All the color left Carmella’s face and she started to whimper like a puppy. “Jayden, the spider is on my cap, and I’m going to be in trouble if I go out there without my cap.”
Jayden got down on her hands and knees and peeked under the bed. “That damn thing is as big as King Kong! Here, you take my cap and get on out of here. I’ll deal with this monster before I go to the kitchen.”
“Thank you.” Carmella jerked the hat onto her head and pulled her ponytail out the back as she ran for the door. “If you can catch it, please put it in the box and freeze it,” she yelled just before the wooden screen door slammed shut behind her.
A big brown tarantula sat on the top of Carmella’s cap like a king on a throne and seemed to glare at her as if it were daring her to approach him without permission. She wasn’t afraid of a normal spider, but in her mind this thing was as big as a gorilla and looked twice as vicious.
“Is everything all right in here?” Elijah yelled from outside.
His voice startled Jayden so much that she jumped backward, lost her balance, and sprawled out on the floor on her back. The spider must’ve heard boots on the wooden floor because it hopped off the hat and became nothing more than a dark blur as it ran right toward Jayden’s hair.
“Help!” She jumped back and tried to yell at the same time, but her voice came out more like a cross between the whine of a hungry puppy and the screech of an owl.
She was still scrambling backward when Elijah entered the room. Even though he wasn’t riding a white horse, Elijah damn sure looked like a knight in shining armor when he reached down with one hand and let the spider crawl right up on his arm.
“Are you crazy?” Jayden gasped.
He extended his free hand toward her. “Need some help?”
She put her hand in his, but once she was standing,