Sunset Camp

Chapter 13: A Family?

I started to feel better, it just pained me somehow, I felt guilty in a way.

As I became calmer and calmer, I decided to do the simple technique that helps most people ease their clash of emotions on situations like this. 

Breathe in and breathe out, before walking outside of the bathroom and try to join the others as quick as possible. I was thinking of making it seem like I had a bathroom emergency, but the people in my group, they already knew.

This was becoming more and more stressful.

I looked myself in the mirror for one last time, it all seemed now pretty well, so I decided to go out and join the others before they suspect my absence or anything.

When I went outside, I saw the others hanging by the Tree's Shadow, so I decided to slowly catch up to them. They were chatting about something, but briefly shifted the conversation upon my arrival.

I noticed Dia was there too, and she was looking a bit, concerned, to say the least, Inside of me I felt like she could have told the others that I began crying in the session for the activity that we were in beforehand, the Resilience and Power one.

I took a deep breath trying to calm my inner self before joining the rest. I began to slowly walk towards them, trying to erase any thought of the previous activity but they simply wouldn't go away, so I had to deal with it while at it. 

"Hey, Tim." My walking was interrupted. 

"Oh hi... Joey. I did-didn't see you there. ah.." I said as I was startled.

"Are you okay? You're all yellow somehow. Did something happen?" He puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Yes, I-I'm alright.."

"Are you sure?" he looks at me with a worried look. 

"Yeah, I'm totally fine." I smiled awkwardly, but I know he wasn't fully convinced, but he decided to let me be and not question me further.

We walked together to our friends, with me being one step behind of him since I was walking slower.

We sat down near each other on one of the benches there.

I could hear them talking about the activities, what the others had been doing, the drama club learning the basics of acting, the animation club brainstorming ideas for their final project, the meditating club connecting with the nature, and our club. None of us that participated were talking about what went down. 

"Yeah it was alright." That's what we'd say. Except the embarrassment I had to face, there wasn't much, thankfully none of them knew that, right?

Us who were in the Resilience and Power were just silently observing the others talk about their activities with their clubmates, we didn't really want to talk about ourselves.

We tend to drift the attention away from the activities in general so we wouldn't get asked bunch.

"Everyone, in 10 minutes the free time will be over and I'm going to need everyone back in the main hall for the upcoming activities." Liam spoke through the megaphone.

We started getting up slowly and all of the sudden, Joey grabbed my hand and pulled me aside.

"You seem pretty down, can you let me know what happened." He gave me that same worried expression.

"It's just..." I sigh and began to look slightly on the left side.

"I don't think I am cut for this to begin with." I said.

"Hey, hey, now why do you say that?" He said as he places his hand on my shoulder.

"I don-, I don't honestly know..." 

I felt so isolated, so... alone. I really felt like now I did not belong with these people.

Suddenly Joey hugs me, tightly, but gently, I could feel the sincerity from this embrace. I felt my worries vanish from my body.

"Look, it's going to be okay, I promise, I'm here for you anytime you need me, just tell me. It worries me seeing you like this. Didn't you promise yourself to have the outmost fun here?" He looks at me straight in the eyes, both hands placed on my shoulders. 

I felt like exploding to tears, because I hadn't felt something like this from another person, not to mention someone I just recently met. Such words. I felt like god sent him for me, to finally be at peace.

I just smiled and he started laughing.

"See? It's not so bad now isn't it." He gives me that nostalgic smile.

"Mhm!" I nod as a response.

"Alright now, how about we get inside? The others are already there, hopefully we have some chairs so we can sit close to one another right?"

"Yeah sure!"

He grabbed me by the hand and wouldn't let go, it felt like we rode the wind together for hours and hours, even though it was in closer proximity, just a couple of seconds away from us.  

When we got inside, I noticed how only one of the chairs was available out of all the ones. But I followed Joey to that one seat as he proceeded to sit on it. Close to him was Ellie, on his right side to be exact.

I decided to sit on the ground with my back leaning at both of his legs. I felt closer to him, more than ever to be exact. 

"Alright now let's begin with our next big activity." It was another 2-hour discussion activity.

I was feeling really uneasy staying at the ground with my butt pressing against the cold floor without something under.

Out of nowhere, Joey whispers on my ear.

"Sit on my lap." 

I blushed like a maniac, because this was so out of the ordinary, out of nowhere. I was so confused that I asked myself the question.

"Did he really just say that?"

I slowly turned my head around to look at him, he was gesturing me to sit on his lap.

I was feeling a lot of emotions all at once, I was thinking should I do it, maybe not, it's too much?

All of the sudden he grabs from my armpits and tries to lift me up so I can sit on his lap. I was feeling so nervous, anxious, embarrassed, stressed. If only he knew, would he do the same things as he is doing now?

I calmly sat on his lap while Liam was elaborating the discussion including the other campers. 

I could feel a sense of warmth, a feeling of safeness.

Again out of nowhere, he lets.

"Daddy's good boy."

I quickly turn around and face him, looking at him with a weirdly shocked expression. This time, I was actually really speechless to what he was trying to do.

Ellie joined in.

"No he's mommys good boy."

She grabs me and now I was sitting at both of their laps. So far I was feeling an awkward tension within myself, so awkward that I felt unable to move a single inch.

Both of them were laughing and Joey said:

"How about, our good boy?"

Ellie begins laughing and just nods.

So now, we're a family I guess? 

This day is full of ups and downs, lefts and rights, and it keeps getting weirder and weirder in a way. But I grew fond of Joey, and I felt the same from him. I couldn't feel happier.