Camp Pinewood ~Book 2~

1

*Sydney's POV*
I felt the change of the road, even deep in my land of sleep and peace. I could hear the gravel grinding beneath the tires as I forced my eyes to open up. My feet were resting on the dashboard and I felt completely relaxed. But that all changed as I saw where we were.

"We're here." Ethan told me as I glanced over at him groggily. I sat up and glanced out the window, my heart racing hard and fast in my chest as I saw the old familiar sign- well somewhat familiar, since it was painted a different color now- of the summer camp. Inside held so many memories- my first love, my first heartbreak, my first... well you get the idea.


And now I was back. Back at Camp Pinewood.
"Great... I'm so excited..." I trailed off, trying to seem normal. But really, I was regretting my choice of being a counselor here.

"It'll be fine." Ethan told me, comforting me with a hand on my knee. That touch worked, and I felt my heart relax a little. Just a little.
"I know..."
"You know, in a cheesy romantic movie, you're supposed to say 'That's because you're here with me.'" He told me, his face completely serious.
"Yeah, well if life were a cheesy romantic movie, you'd be a lot better looking and we'd be driving off into the sunset."
"Ouch. You mean you don't love all of this?" he asked, motioning to himself with one hand.
I shrugged. "Eh... I honestly wonder why I'm still with you after all this time." I said, opening up the door to get out.
"That's nice. Thanks for that!" He called from the other side.

I grabbed my bag from the backseat and started towards the entrance of the camp while he followed behind. As I entered the now painted red doors, I marveled out how much the rest of the place had changed. Before, when I was going here as a camper, it looked like a dump. Decorations had not been in their vocabulary. Now, there were potted plants resting here and there throughout the courtyard, and all the cabins had been painted white. All the window shutters were black, and every door was red. I wondered if the same people were still owning it, or if someone else was now.

I also wondered what had been done to Cabin 13. Was it different too or had it been forgotten, like a dream?
"Hello! You two must be camp counselors, yes?" a voice asked from behind us. We were standing in front of the administration office, looking around in awe at everything here.
I turned first, my mouth opening automatically to speak. But nothing came out. I was speechless. Actually I was completely and utterly flabbergasted.
I had turned around to see the light blue eyes and blonde hair- now streaked with dark brown highlights. She looked older too, more adultish. Which I guess made sense since it's been two years.


She looked just as surprised as I did. And she didn't look too happy about it either. In fact, I felt an almost murderous rage radiating off of her, and I was standing a few feet away.
"Hey Alyssa." Ethan, who had finally turned around, greeted. I'd told him about her, and they'd even met once- briefly- before we left camp.
"What... what are you doing here?" She asked, trying- as hard as she could- to fake some sort of niceness and professionalism.
"We're camp counselors." Ethan explained. "What about you?"
"I own the place now." She said blankly. "I took over after my parents died a few months ago."
There was a pause of awkward silence. Then, finally finding my voice, I said "I'm so sorry."
And I did mean that. I'd never wish the death of a parent on anyone, even someone as crazy as her. I only hoped that the experience and trauma didn't make her even more insane than she had been before. In fact, I hoped she had gotten some sense over the past two years.

"Me too. It's been hard, but... I'm glad I can run this place. Hopefully I'm making them proud." She said. She sounded more normal now, and then motioned to the door. "Come on in. Let's get you guys settled with your cabins."
We followed her in. As we all went inside, she peppered us with questions, asking how we've been and whether or not we were together or not.
"Yeah, we are. We've been dating since we left that one summer." I told her.
After that summer had ended, Ethan and I got back together. It took me a little time- I'd had to deal with the aftermath of turning Jesse in and getting past what I'd felt for him too. Ethan had been there through it all for me, and once I knew I was done with it, we started dating.
I'd been weary at first. I wondered if he'd try another stunt like he had before. But he never did. In fact, we didn't do anything until a year had passed. He'd waited- patiently- until I felt more comfortable.
"Aw, that's great you guys!" Alyssa said, smiling at us while she got our packets out. "I'm so happy for you."


She gave us our assignments and cabins. I was in Cabin 8, just like I had been before. Ethan was in cabin 6.
"That's not too far." He said, smiling as he read over my shoulder.
"Hey, we have a strict policy here." Alyssa said in a professional tone of voice. "No fooling around."

"You don't have to tell me twice. I could use a little distance." I said.

"Oh whatever. Come on, let's go get settled." Ethan said, grabbing my hand.
"See you guys later at the camp meet and greet." She told us. "It's at eight tonight!"