Camp Pinewood ~Book 2~

10

Sydney's POV
"What's that?" I asked, causing him to jump.
"What?" he asked, spinning around to face me. I could tell he was worrying.
It was a moment of truth then. I really had two choices: confront him on it or act like I hadn't seen it. Either way, I didn't feel very comfortable with my choices. But I was Sydney Greene, and I knew better than to let a guy play me like this.
"I asked what that was." I said. I could tell my voice and tone had completely changed, and I knew that he knew it too. But he still tried to play it off.
"It was... just some garbage. I just try to keep it clean around here."
"Liar." I said, sitting up slowly. My hair was a mess and I still felt really tired. But I ignored it.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. I said liar. Because you're lying. I saw what it was. Now I just want to know who they belong to." Even though I felt like I knew the answer already. And when he didn't answer, I held up a hand.
"I don't need an actual answer Ethan. I don't even know why. All I need you to know is that... I'm done. You have fun with her, okay?"
I stood up, starting to walk out of the cabin but he grabbed my arm. "Sydney, wait-"
"No. Just... no Ethan."
"What was I supposed to do?! You and Jesse were obviously getting closer. You expect me to just sit and let my girlfriend cheat on me without finding someone else?"
I yanked my arm from him.
"You know what's funny about that Ethan? Jesse kissed me today. And what did I do? I ran away. Because I was with you and I knew it was wrong and I knew I wanted to be with you. So I stopped him. But you couldn't even show enough self control and will power and didn't even care enough about me to stop what you were doing with Alyssa. But whatever Ethan. Like I said, you have fun with her."
I opened up the door and tried to get away as fast as I could. But not before I heard him yell out. "I will! Just don't expect me to help you when Jesse kills you like he did that Faye kid!"

I spun on my heel to face him. "He made a mistake!" I screamed out. "But that is no reason to hold it against him forever. You don't even know why he did what he did Ethan, so don't you even begin to judge him. He's so much better than you'll ever be, considering you're the one who cheated on me now and nearly raped me two years ago."

I ran off then, not giving him the chance to response. I didn't know where to go. Part of me wanted to go see Jesse, but I really wanted to think. Alone.

People were out now, but not a lot. Campers were out with friends, talking or whatever else. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, and my head was starting to hurt too. I couldn't concentrate on anything anymore, and I didn't know what to think. Everything was coming at me all at once now.
Breathe Sydney.... Breathe. Just count... my mind said to me, pulling out an old trick that always calmed me down.
1... 2, 3, 4, 5... 6... 7, 8... 9... I thought to myself, counting as I walked on to the docks. When I finally got there, I was isolated, surrounded nearly by only water. It was nice. It was peaceful.
I could breathe now, and I could think. And now that I could, I let myself bury my head in my arms, and felt the tears fall from my eyes.

I hated when I cried. But now I couldn't help it. And I didn't care. It was better than bottling it up.
Someone tsked from behind me, and I turned around from where I was sitting. Feeling a sense of déjà vu, I saw Jesse standing behind me. I realized that we'd had this little scene before. Only last time, I'd nearly fallen into the water.
"Hello." He smiled at me. It was a soft smile, and I realized, he could see my tears. I wiped them away quickly, and muttered a quiet hello back.
"You're out here alone." He said, sitting beside me.
"Yeah, there was a reason for that." I said, getting some of my typical sarcasm back.
"Well, I was told before it's not nice to let people be alone."
"Jesse." I said, glaring at him.
"Sydney." He said, mocking my tone.

Admittedly, I couldn't help it. It made me laugh that he tried to mock my tone and glare. I was still annoyed but... something inside me lightened a bit.
"I'm trying to think." I said, trying to be serious.
"Okay, so think. I won't bother you."
"Your presence is bothering me." I muttered.
"Sounds like a personal problem."

"When did you become the most annoying person on earth?"
"The day I took my first breath."

We sat there together for a while, and the banter went back and forth between us a bit. But he did let me think. He didn't push me into anything like kissing him or talking about us. He just sat there with me.
And it felt pretty good.