Camp Pinewood ~Book 2~

12

Jesse's POV
Shortly after Alyssa left, Evan came in. "Wow, that was short. Couldn't do it?" he asked, a smirk on his face.
"Where are the rest of the misfits?" I asked, ignoring his question.
"They went to go walk around. Which means mischief will be happening shortly. I'm taking a nap."
"I didn't ask what you were doing."
"I know. I don't care."

I left him there, shaking my head. Sometimes these boys were a bit too much. I looked around and saw Brandon and Madison sitting on a bench nearly consuming the other.
Yeah, that's something I want to see everyday. I thought, walking away. I wasn't really headed anywhere specific, just wandering around. It wasn't until I saw Ethan strolling through the middle of the camp courtyard that my mind had a destination set.
"Ethan!" I yelled out, without even thinking about it.

He looked up immediately. "What do you want Pierce?"
"What'd you do to Sydney?" I asked. I was tense, I was ready for a fight.
"What did I do to her? What'd she tell you?"
"Not shit. But it doesn't take a genius to figure out that an upset girl sitting by the docks all alone is having boyfriend trouble. So, what'd you do to her, and how badly do I need to beat you for it?"
"Of course. Because that's just your solution for everything isn't it? Someone pisses you off and your first action is to go and beat them up for it. Isn't that what happened with Brandon Faye?"
"Yeah that is what happened. He got what he deserved though. Don't act like you know the whole story."
"I know enough." He smirked.
"Bullshit!" I yelled out. He was really starting to piss me off. "Did you try and rape her again?"

His smirk dropped. "Don't use that crap against me. I apologized for that, over and over again. We all make mistakes Pierce."
"Yeah? Apologies don't mean anything. It's what you do that speaks for itself."
"Oh, that's priceless. Getting life advice from a murderer. Really, I love it."

I couldn't take it anymore. I punched him. Once, twice, three times before he fell back to the ground. He got a few good hits on me before going down. But I kicked him, hard, in the stomach and had a flash of déjà vu. I'd done this before to him. We'd fought before just like this. Only it'd been in the cafeteria.
"Jesse stop!" a voice yelled, followed by many others. I felt hands go around my shoulders, pulling me back. I saw a flash of familiar brown hair and immediately I stopped. When I was far enough away from Ethan that people could help him up, I looked over at Sydney.
"What the hell Jesse?!" she yelled out, slapping me hard on the arm. "What's the matter with you?"
I didn't respond- really what was there to say?- and I saw her turn around to Ethan, who was being led to the nurse. There were only a few of us out here- me, Sydney, Ethan, Brandon, and Madison. Sydney looked back at me, grabbed my arm and led me away.
"Where are we going?" I asked, stumbling behind her.
"Shut up." she snapped, and I did.

We ended up at Cabin 13. She pulled me inside without any apprehension and made me sit down on the dusty old bed.
"You're a freaking mess. And you probably are going to have to hide out for a bit if you're going to avoid any consequences. I mean... Ethan might say something after he's better but you can't go back to jail so..."
"Why are you helping me?" I asked.
She met my eyes. "Because."
And she didn't explain that, so I just left it be.

She pulled a chair up in front of me and started to wipe at my face, using cloths from a first aid kit she'd found.
"Why'd you do it?" She wondered.
"He pissed me off."
"Wow... Please, don't overload me with the details." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"He brought up Faye."
"Oh."

There was a moment of awkward silence. Once she finished cleaning up the little bit of blood on my face, she just sat there. "You've got to let it go you know. People are going to always make comments on it. It's what people do. There's no stopping it, but you don't always have to beat up someone who says things to you."
"He made you cry."
She flushed a scarlet red. "I never-"
"I'm not stupid Syd. I know he was why you were crying."
"But you don't know what he did."
"I don't need to know. He made you cry. He shouldn't have. End of story."

"Jesse..."
"Look, you may not want to be with me. Fine, I get it. I screwed up. But I love you Sydney, and anyone that hurts you is going to have me to deal with."
"I can take care of myself." She growled, glaring at me.
"I never said you couldn't."
"You don't have to take care of me Jesse!"
"I know I don't have to. It's what people in love do though."
She stood up all of a sudden, throwing her arms in the air. "Stop saying that, please!" she said, turning away from me.
"Why Sydney? Because if you don't love me back, then it shouldn't be a problem. I love you. I always will."
"You shouldn't."
"Oh well. Can't help how I feel now can I?"

I stood up and took a few steps forward. There was still a lot of space between us, but I could reach over and touch her if I wanted to. I nearly did.
"Why did you help me Sydney?" I asked her. "You said I can't go back to jail. Why can't I?"
"Because..." she said, trailing off.
"Because why?"
"Because you just can't okay?" she asked, turning back around to face me. She stepped forward a few steps, but still wasn't close enough yet.
"But that doesn't make any sense. If you don't love me, why would you care if I was sent back to jail or not?" I asked her, taking another step forward. We were close enough to kiss, but I didn't kiss her.
"Because maybe I do love you!"
"Maybe?"
"Maybe, I don't know. I'm confused. Alright? I, Sydney Greene, am confused on how I feel." She said, spitting the words at me.
I leaned down and met her lips with mine. She didn't pull back. She didn't push me away and leave. She just stood there, unsure of what to do. I nearly pulled away to give her space but then I felt it.
She kissed me back.