Cabin 13 ~Book 1~

9

*Jesse's POV*

I peered at her through my eye lashes and found her eyes focused intently on mine.

Her beautiful, amazing, stormy grey eyes that sent shivers through...

My thoughts were broken up when Sydney spoke again.

"Why does it matter?" she asked me.

"I don't know. There's just something about you. Something that makes me want you to like me. I can't help but seek your approval." I told her truthfully.

"Well... Don't seek my 'approval'. Because you won't get it. I don't believe you, Jesse. And I don't trust you either." She told me, crossing her arms over her chest while glaring at me.

My eyes followed those arms and I couldn't help but her look over- as I'd done so many times since I'd met her. She wasn't very tall- compared to my height of 6'2 at least- and only fell at an average 5'6. But she still looked as if she could take anyone out. She looked as if she hadtaken others out before. Her dark brown- almost black- hair fell past her shoulders in layers, framing her face perfectly. With her arms in plain view now, I could see the tattoo on her wrist much more clearly and it looked like a trail of stars. I wondered briefly why she'd gotten them, and what they meant to her.

Leaving her best feature for last, I finally met her eyes again. Those piercing grey eyes that could just reach right into your soul and see anything you tried to hide from everyone else. But at the same time, they didn't dare to let anyone else in. They were walls of mystery and secrets that left you with the desire to discover what she was hiding behind them.

It was when I'd met her eyes that I realized she'd been trying to get my attention back. "Pierce, my face is up here. Keep your eyes north, and focus. Are you going to tell me what you pulled me out here to tell me or should I just leave before you continue what you tried earlier?" she asked me.

"I won't try anything again." I promised quickly. Then, as I looked at her, I realized that it was going to be hard to keep that promise.

"You better." She muttered under her breath. Then, louder, she asked me again. "So are you going to tell me or not?"


"You looked me up on the internet." I stated. "You found out about Brandon and you think I killed him."

She nodded slowly, not bothering to deny it this time. "Yeah, thank you captain freaking obvious. Go on to what I don't know. Like why you did it."

"I didn't do it."

"Okay, so let's say I believed that. You didn't kill him, but you beat him up, right?" I nodded slowly, and she continued on. "Then why did you beat him up?"


I shook my head. "It was just a stupid mistake, alright? He ticked me off, and I snapped. Simple as that." I shrugged.

She scoffed. "You think that's going to get me to believe you didn't kill him? 'I snapped and beat him up.' Yeah, that doesn't make it sound like you have some kind of mental disorder."

"I didn't kill him!" I growled, not sure how to get her to believe me.


"Then who did Jesse?!"

I didn't answer. I couldn't answer. Telling her meant going to jail. And I wasn't about to let that happen.

She turned and started to walk back to the lake without another word. I stepped forward and grabbed her hand, turning her back around to face me again. My other hand reached out and rested on her arm, and just like on the dock, she was so close. So close that I could smell her, and I noticed then that she didn't actually bother to put on any type of perfume. Not that she even needed it.

And for once I could actually see what she was really feeling through those eyes of hers: distrust, anger, and- worst of all- fear.

I scared her. And from the little bit I knew about her, she really didn't seem like the type to scare easy.

"Sydney, I'm not going to hurt you." I told her, looking right into her eyes and almost pleading with her to understand this. To trust me.

That was when the first set of voices rang through the trees, signaling that our time was up out here. And I hadn't even told her anything I needed to tell her. Someone- who sounded a lot like Alyssa- called out our names, right as I pulled away from her. Just as they found us, I told her one more thing:

"Meet me in Cabin 13 tonight, an hour after lights out. No walls, no lies. I'll tell you everything."


*Syndey's POV*
Given the fact that this camp is full of a bunch of teenagers with many problems, it wasn't surprising that they weren't happy about me running off with Jesse into the middle of the woods. And given the fact that his girlfriend was a counselor here, I knew I'd have to deal with a lot more than whatever punishment they decided to give me.

Where was she in his mind when he tried to kiss me today? I asked myself, tuning out the lecture they were giving me.
"Considering the fact that this is your first real infraction here at Camp Pinewood- as well as your first year here- we'll be lenient. But we don't give out third chances, and next time this happens you will be cleaning the mess hall alone for the rest of your time here."

I nodded my head, even though that really didn't seem that bad. I had much more pressing things on my mind than the risk of cleaning out the mess hall.

"Good. Then for now, your only punishment is that you are banned from the rest of your group activities for this week. Alyssa, take her back to the cabin now."

I reluctantly followed her, waiting for whatever explosion was building inside of her. Part of me wanted to make her think something had happened between Jesse and I. But that conversation between them stopped me. If she really had "taken care of it" with the Brandon Faye case, then she might just be crazy enough to "take care of it" with a threat like me. The thought wasn't exactly scary, just disturbing really.

Then it happened. As soon as we were far enough away from the office, she grabbed my arm- her nails digging into my skin, and pulled me to the side and behind a large bush.

"You little slut. I told you to stay away from Jesse." She hissed.

"Wow, way to be a pot calling the kettle black." I muttered, then looked at her hand- which was still gripping my arm. "You know, you'd bewise to let go of me."

"And you'd be wise to take this last warning and stay away from him."

"Or what? You'll get me banned from more of these stupid activities? You'll be like every high school mean girl cliché and 'ruin my life?' Yeah, I'm shaking with fear."

She stepped closer, finally letting go of my arm. I felt a little bit of blood start to roll down my arm, but I ignored it. Her face being so close to mine was a little more disorienting than a drop or two of blood. Especially since it was obvious that she was way past "mean girl" territory.

"You don't know what I'm really capable of Sydney. And I know you don't want to find out." She told me, right before she brushed past me and walked away.