Camp Hope

chapter 2

 "It will be okay, I'm okay. The camp will be fine." I think, trying to calm myself down as my hands were shaking. My mother leads me out the door and into the silent afternoon air.

The air that normally has a calming feel to it is now dominated with the feeling of dread and despair. Once we start driving, I start thinking of everything bad that could happen while I'm at the camp, and it's not helping the nerves that I'm feeling.

After an hour of the silent car ride, my mom finally speaks up. "Oliver sweetie, how are you holding up?" I freeze, not knowing whether to respond truthfully or if I should lie to her. I choose the latter. "Uh.. Yeah, I'm okay," I manage to whisper out. I'm trying my best not to show my nervousness, knowing that we are really close to pulling into the new camp.

I try to take a deep breath hoping that this camp won't be as bad as I'm thinking it will be. After about twenty more minutes of us sitting in silence. I finally see a sign that says "Camp Hope" in big bold letters. My breath picks up slightly and my hand begins to sweat nervously while I wonder about what's going to happen to me while I'm here.

We pull up to a gate where an older man asks my mom what my name is and asks to see her ID. My mom tells the man my name and hands out the ID card. He opens the gates for us allowing us to get through without any problems. After we park the car, I carefully and slowly get out. I'm probably looking very skittish to the onlookers that were loitering around the parking lot, probably not wanting to go in yet.

Honestly, I don't blame them. I'm quite hesitant to go in myself but my mom is insisting that we hurry. "Come on sweetie, we need to go in and get everything set up," my mom says gently, seeing how nervous I am about going inside of the big main cabin. I assume the office and nurse would be in here. But I follow her regardless, not wanting to make her upset by basically hiding by the car. "O-okay mom."

I have to basically run to follow after her because of how fast she is walking away. "Mom slowdown!" I manage to gasp out. When we finally get in the huge cabin, I see a friendly looking lady at a desk smiling and waving us over. "Hello, welcome to Camp Hope! What's your name sweetie?" she asks, trying to coax me out from behind my mother. "U-um.. My name is Oliver Banks ma'am," I say, stepping out from behind my mother so I can get a good look at her.

"Well hello, Oliver. My name is Kristina, but you can call me Mrs. Kristy while you're here," she replies with a smile. I smile back at her shyly. "S-so, how do the c-cabins work?" I ask, wondering about the way the cabins are set up. "Oh, just follow me and I'll explain everything," she says, standing up from her desk and gesturing for me and my mom to follow her.

We walk out of the cabin and to the left where we see a sign that says "Boy's Cabins" and she leads us to a dark blue painted cabin that's a little farther away from everyone else than the other cabins are. It sits right in front of a yellow cabin that has a similar design. "Okay Oliver, this is your cabin; you will bunk with three other boys and a counselor so that if you need anything you can go to him," she explains.

"Oh o-okay so uh-.. is there anything I n-need to watch out for or like to watch what I say so I don't trigger somebody?" I ask hesitantly, wanting to know if I need to fix anything so I don't trigger anyone. "Well, do not bring up food to any of the boys unless they speak about it first. Oh, and do not touch them without asking even if it's a handshake or a hug," she says seriously with no room for argument in her tone. "Yes ma'am," I reply quickly, not wanting to make her upset.

She suggests we head in so I can get unpacked and comfortable. I feel my breathing pick up just a little. "Does this mean mom will leave soon?" I think to myself, gently scratching at the back of my hand. It's not quite hard enough to draw blood but enough to leave little red lines to keep me grounded so I don't begin to panic.

We walk in and I immediately stop as I see four pairs of eyes slide my way and lock onto my attire and figure. I freeze up, not making eye contact with any of the people in front of me hoping they will stop looking at me like I'm fresh meat.

I start to scratch slightly harder just to feel a slight sting, needing something that's able to keep me from running out of this cabin. My little bit of panic gets interrupted by Mrs. Kristy speaking. "Okay Oliver, let me introduce you to your cabin mates."