Welcome to Camp Hope

🦬 Evan's POV 🦬

I went up to Kai with five bracelets in my hand. Ms. Burke was the one to get her hands on these. Each one has a different charm and color so this will be easy to tell them apart.

One is green with a boxing glove charm. The second one is dark blue with a shield as its charm. The third is red with a charm of a brain. The fourth is magenta with a little pink heart charm. The last one is orange with a little carousel horse for its charm.

I handed the bracelets to him, “This is all I can do to help identify you guys apart. If Sami wants one of the girl uniforms I can get you one, Kai.” 

She gave me a smile, “I’m Sami and I’ll appreciate it if you can get me one.” 

I nodded and went to the front to lead the group activity. Today’s activity is building birdhouses. I chose the partners for this week which is Sami and Karson, then Kelly and Flynn. 

Karson wasn’t very happy to have Sami as his partner. Sami was very tense and her eyes darted all over the room. We made eye contact multiple times. I could tell that she was stressed. 

I walked over to them, slowly. She looked back at me and shook her head. I backed off, going over to help Kelly and Flynn. 

Connor was also here with his group of six doing the same activity as us. He walked over to me and looked over my group. 

“Wow lucky, you only have four kids. Everyone else has five to eight kids per group.” Officer Connor exclaimed.

I gave him an awkward smile in response. I rubbed the back of my neck with nerves.

“Actually, it seems that I have nine kids. One of them has DID with five alters.” I said. 

Connor hummed in thought, “Well then. How was y’alls first full day?”

“Not good. Early this morning as I was making my rounds I heard yelling in my boys cabin. Vallen, the one with DID, had one of the alters, Levi, fronted and he strangled Flynn.” I said.

Connor massaged the back of my neck listening whole-heartedly to me. I felt my cheeks grow a little warm. I must be blushing. 

“Then I had to call the community service assignment short because Levi and Karson almost fought. Flynn is probably traumatized from the whole experience.” I said. 

Connor gave me an encouraging smile, “Don’t worry, Evan. Things will get better. The first week is the most stressful.”

“The kids aren’t used to this place and many have a rough past. Which is why we have therapists to help them. Believe in what your older brother says, okay.” he said.

I sighed softly before turning to him. He is like the light in the dark. What did I do to deserve him? 

He isn’t my actual brother, but we grew up together. Connor is older than me by five years. He was ten and I was five when we met. Our fathers were officers in the same precinct. 

We met at one of their parties. They were celebrating because they solved a cold case. I was hiding behind my dads legs. Connor just walked up to me and just started talking to me. 

I thought he was so cool. I automatically started looking up to him. We were inseparable.

My dad was a single parent and worked long hours. So I used to have to stay with a nanny when he worked. But after that party, Connor’s mom offered to let me stay at their house until he got off. 

I was very grateful for them being in my life. Connor nudged my side, knocking me out of my trance. He looked very concerned for me. 

“What were you thinking so hard about?” Connor asked. 

I chuckled softly, “Nothing much, just about how we met and our childhood.”

He laughed at that. God, his laugh. I quickly looked away from him and studied Sami. She was smiling at something Kelly said. I then turned my attention towards Flynn and Karson. 

Karson looks like he is getting pretty annoyed. I hope I don’t need to step in. Flynn glanced up at me before looking back at Karson. He said something to Karson, causing him to look confused. Luckily, I didn’t need to step in.

“You look like a concerned parent, Ev.” Connor laughed.

I rolled my eyes before catching one of his kids stand up with her fist raised. I barely had to nudge Connor before he sprang into action. He got in between her and this other kid.

He was trying to talk her down from acting on her anger. It didn’t look like it was working. I walked over to them and laid my hand on her shoulder.

“Take a few deep breaths. It’s okay.” I told her.

She looked over her shoulder towards me and took a deep breath. I got her to calm down. She sat back down, returning to the activity.

Once everything calmed down we went back to observing the activity. Kelly glanced back at Flynn and Karson before saying something to Sami. Sami looked confused but shrugged it off.

At least everything is running smoothly, I sighed with relief. Connor looked at me concerned. I watched as Sami went limp. This wasn’t a switch from what I observed from earlier.

I rushed over and caught her before she collapsed on the floor. I quickly checked her pulse. It was steady so I moved her into the recovery position. I felt everyone’s eyes on us as well as crowding us. 

“What do you need me to do?” Connor asked. 

I looked up, taking in my surroundings. Kelly was panic-stricken. I took a deep breath. 

“Connor, go get Dr. York. Everyone sit down, I can’t have you crowding us.” I demanded.

Connor rushed out to get Dr. York. Kelly came up to us. 

“Kelly, was there anything off about Sami before she collapsed?” I asked. 

She hesitated before crouching down beside me. 

“Not really. She said that she was feeling lightheaded and then she passed out.” she said.