Save ourselves- One Direction

Avery

The car jolted along the forest road. I leaned my head against the window and looked out. Along the forest road, next to the trees, there were groups of tents and a few brick houses. So this is where I was to spend the next four months. What a load of bullshit.

"Hey Avery, you okay?" my driver and personal prison guard asked me.

I laughed humorlessly.

"Okay? I''m probably not okay until I'm out of this hell," I said sarcastically.

The guy, whose name I had forgotten again, laughed.

"If you say so. Well then, welcome to hell," he laughed.

The sign that gave my current hell a name passed us by.

"Houens Odde Camp* for Troubled Children and Adolescents".

How I had gotten there? Um, let's start at the beginning. In films you do that with a good old flashback and since this is my story (not only mine but also mine), why shouldn't I be allowed to claim that for myself?

12 days before...

My bag was packed and ready and I tugged at the zip to close it.

"Avy, are you ready sweetie?" my mother asked as she walked in.

"If I can get this stupid zip closed, yes," I mumbled under my breath.

Mom smiled and pressed the suitcase together so I could close it. Then she sat down next to me on the bed.

"Oh my darling, are you sure you're okay with this?" she asked as she stroked my cheek.

"For the seventh time now. Yes, mom. I'll be fine. I'll get along with Aunt Lucy all right, and if I don't, we'll just stay out of each other's way. Her house is supposedly big enough," I said confidently.

She gave me a kiss on the cheek and hugged me. I returned the hug with a smile.

"Have a nice time with Dad and finally talk things out. Otherwise I'll have to move out sooner than you'd like," I threatened laughing.

"We'll do as you say. And you be good for Aunt Lucy, okay?" she asked me and I nodded.

****************************

We had been living in Amsterdam for two years now. My parents and I had moved several times. I was born in Surrey, lived there until I was 7, before we moved to Germany until I turned 14 and then came here. The moves annoyed me, but Amsterdam was a wonderful city.

I loved it there. There were bridges and canals everywhere, you could go to almost any place in the city by boat. And the many tulips made the city incredibly vibrant with their blaze of colour. And there was something else I loved there. Above all, there were many old buildings there, with columns, projections and ornaments. The perfect environment for a freeclimber like me. Of course it was forbidden, but it gave me a total adrenaline rush every time. Thank God no one had caught me yet. My life was good. There was only one small problem. My parents. Or rather their marriage. They had been married for 19 years and loved each other, that much I knew. Unfortunately, their jobs meant that they didn't have enough time together and they fought more and more over little things.

No matter what it was about. Whether it was because my father was 20 minutes late for dinner, my mother withdrew 60 euros from their shared bank account without telling him, or because one of them forgot to turn off the light before leaving the house, everything always turned into a huge fight. To be fair, they were usually careful not to let me see as much as possible, but of course I was getting older and could feel the constant tension between them. It had been going on for almost a year now and now they had finally decided, instead of always fighting, to go on a holiday together to the sea. Three weeks at the sea, relaxation and peace. And just the two of them.