Camp Pinewood ~Book 2~

5

Although it was hard, everyone managed to return to their meal, chatting excitedly amongst themselves while Alyssa stepped off of the stage and headed back to her seat. Jesse was still sitting at the table with us and now his campers were socializing with mine- pretty well actually.

"Guess it's good that they're getting along." Jesse commented.
"Depends on who gets along well with who. I don't know much about your campers, but if one of them likes setting things on fire as much as she does," I looked over at Courtney who was talking to the two twin boys Jesse had. "Then we're all screwed."
He followed my gaze and I saw him frown, deep in thought. "Well, those guys beat up their mother."
"Fan freaking tastic." I muttered, scooping up a bite of my eggs. "What about that guy with the kind of blonde hair?" I asked around the food in my mouth.
He then went on to tell me about the rest of his campers. There was Brandon- yes, even I recognized the name and winced at it when he said it- who had a sex problem and then Evan who sent his dad's car into the river. Brandon was talking to Madison- a match made in heaven really, considering their addiction- and Evan was sitting next to Elease. They were both eating in silence- yes even Elease, as far as I could tell. That's when I noticed Stephanie- sitting at the very end by herself- take a swig of something. It shined in the light as she tilted her head back and I stood up quickly.

"Time to go and be a counselor." I said to Jesse, walking over to her.
It took me a good ten minutes to wrestle the canteen of expensive red wine out of her hands. And the whole time, Jesse had just sat there and watched with an amused expression on his face. Once I'd finally grabbed both of her wrists in one of my hands and pried the drink from them with the other, I felt like I'd just run a marathon. I dumped the drink in the trash and stepped on the plastic canteen with my foot before tossing that too.
"You could have helped me you know." I sighed, sitting back down. Stephanie was now pouting and pushing her oatmeal around with her spoon.
"Hey, she's not my camper." He said, a small smile on his face.

I rolled my eyes. "So, what are we going to do for these games? What the heck is up with this anyway?" I leaned closer to him, my eyes locked on his. I wanted to ask him if he trusted her, but at the same time I didn't think I really should. I didn't even know if he trusted me anymore.
We both looked over at her, and jealousy rose in me once more. She and Ethan were still talking- deep in a conversation about God knows what- and still sitting close together. I felt my blood begin to boil and I wanted nothing more than to just get up and walk over to her-
"Sydney..." I heard Jesse say from beside me, interrupting my thoughts. I hadn't heard him get up but now he was on my side of the table, his hand resting on my shoulder.

"Breathe, Syd. Just breathe. Ethan's not going to do anything with her. He's crazy about you."
I didn't look at him. Honestly, I couldn't. My eyes would have given away too much of what I was feeling right now, though I was sure my pounding heart was telling him all of that too. But I just continued to stare at Alyssa and Ethan.
"It's not him I'm worried about. I trust him." But I don't trust her. I finished mentally. I didn't have to say it out loud. Jesse already knew it's what I was thinking.

"Then trust him. And don't worry about her."
I couldn't help it. I turned towards him, hoping it was only shock he could see in my eyes. He was being... nice. He was being caring. He was actually helping me. And I could tell that it wasn't because he was trying to get me back, or trying to be better than Ethan. No... he was really trying to make me feel better.
Maybe he's really changed. I thought, getting lost in those green eyes of his.

And then, I was pulled back, like a yoyo as the bell that signaled the end of breakfast rang.
Now all I was left with was an odd feeling of déjà vu. And I didn't know why, but I shook it off and stood up with Jesse to round up the troops of the mentally insane that we had.

"Alright, everyone, to the auditorium please!" Alyssa said, gesturing everyone out of the mess hall. "Go and find your activities for this week, as well as the schedule of the Camp Pinewood Games!"

Once we were seated in the auditorium- which really hadn't changed much except for paint and new floors- Alyssa took her place on the stage.
"Okay everyone, I know you guys are probably tired of seeing me-"
"Oh thank God you knew that! Saves us time on having to tell you!" Brandon from Jesse's cabin yelled out. Madison burst into laughter, as did a few others in the room. Jesse, who was sitting beside me, reached in front of him and gave Brandon a good smack on the back of his head.

Alyssa, who looked more ticked off than anything else now, continued. "Anyways... here are your activities for the week. The red team- you guys will be doing arts and crafts. Blue team- Acting. And your performance will be this coming Saturday. Yellow team- chorus. You will also be performing Saturday. Green Team- Water sports." I looked over at Jesse. Our first activity together had been swimming and other water sports. "Orange team- outdoor sports. Purple team- Indoor sports. Alright, please pick up a Camp Pinewood Games schedule on your way out and head towards your designated activities area." She finished, and then quickly stepped off the stage.

And with that, everyone commenced with their assignments.