red mist, sort of
In lieu of sleepaway camp, my parents sent me to a kind of pre-college program at a nearby campus. Most of the kids stayed in the dorms, but some of us were bussed in for the day. We had "day groups," apparently so that we could make friends. Mostly my group sat around glumly until it was time to go do something else.

Two days before the end of first session, the day group leader, Kai, decides that we're finally going to do something fun - she challenges another day group to a water balloon fight. We show up on the field with balloons and, for some reason, a big tub to put them in once filled. The other group doesn't show up, so Kai declares that we're going to fight each other instead.

It's hard to have a fight with people you're completely ambivalent about, but I gave it a shot, throwing a water balloon at this girl Hayley, who happened to be within range. I missed, but Hayley saw, and she rallied her two friends together to get back at me.

Soon I was being pelted with balloons from every angle, and I couldn't keep up in the slightest. Then they stopped - whew! I went and sat down, wondering how this had turned into a major vendetta, when I felt a massive splash - the girls had filled the tub with water and tipped it all onto me. WTF? I think I was angrier than I had ever been. I *had* to get them back.

So I ran to the dining hall and grabbed a bunch of ketchup packets. I put them between some paper towels (for stealth!) and tore open the little corners. Walked right up to Hayley. "Hey!" I said, and when she turned around, I squeezed. It was beautiful.
(tinyninja, Sat 11 Mar 2006, 11:27, Reply)