Camp Pinewood ~Book 2~

21

The lunch with my campers' parents went extremely well and I was happy to see that things were going smoothly despite the drama in my own life. After lunch I decided to have a private moment to myself. I walked towards my cabin but paused when I heard crying coming from somewhere behind me. Thinking that it was a camper that needed help, I went to investigate. I followed the crying to the Camp lake and groaned when I saw that the person weeping was Alyssa. She had her back towards me and was sitting with her feet in the water, her expensive heels thrown carelessly down beside her.

I would have just turned around and walked back to my cabin but I felt bad that something was going on with Alyssa. Maybe she was thinking about her parents?

"Are you ok?" I asked her as I sat down beside her.

Alyssa shot me a frosty look before wiping her tears away. "Leave me alone."

I held my hands up in surrender. "Fine."

It's not like I cared about her anyways.

I got up and started to walk away. Before I could get far though, Alyssa's voice stopped me.

"The frustrating thing about you is that you don't even realize what you've done to me." She hissed.

My blood started to boil. "I haven't done anything to you Alyssa, get over yourself! If there's anyone who should be upset right now, it's me after all the shit that you've put me through."

Alyssa sighed. "You just don't get it."

I rolled my eyes and returned to my spot beside her. I sat close enough to hear what she was saying, but not close enough that she could push me in the lake. I wouldn't put it past her to try and drown me or something.

"What don't I get?" I asked.

"I've had a really hard life and you've seemed to make everything worse after it finally started going good." She mumbled.

I scoffed. "You're filthy rich Alyssa, try to get sympathy out of someone else. I have no interest in hearing your rich girl sob story."

"I'm not trying to get sympathy from you. I just want you to understand what you've done to me." She glared.

"Please, go on." I said sarcastically.

"I may have been rich when I was younger, but I was far from happy," She began. "My dad was always at work and my mom was always out planning social events and sleeping with her secret boyfriend. They never had any time left for spending time with me."

I fake smiled. "So you were lonely, big deal. A lot of people are lonely Alyssa."

"But most people aren't sexually abused by their father."

My eyes widened.

"I bet you feel sorry for me now... Well don't." Alyssa snapped. "My mother didn't love him and he knew about her man on the side. So he took out his frustrations on me. Every time he raped me I would look at myself in the mirror afterwards and hate my reflection. I saw a weak, disgusting, little girl. I thought that life would be better if I could find someway to ease the emotional pain that I felt, so I turned to self mutilation. I hated the sight and smell of blood so I never cut myself, instead I would burn myself with cigarettes or starve myself. I wanted to do something that I could control and I knew that I could control the pain that I felt."

I reached out a hand to place on Alyssa'a back in comfort. When she felt the contact, she shrugged away from me.

"Anyways, one day my parents caught me and got the brilliant idea to start a camp for kids who struggle with inner demons. The first year it started they sent me there, and that's where I met Jesse." Alyssa got a peaceful look on her face. "I was 17 at the time and he was 14. He acted so old that I didn't even realize that he was 3 years younger than me. One night my father snuck into my cabin and I managed to creep out before he could see me. I ended up taking one of my belts with me to hang myself in the woods. I thought that my life would never get better . And then Jesse found me and saved me. He didn't even know what I planned to do. He took me back to his cabin and we slept together that night. For the first time in my life I felt loved."

I didn't realize when a few stray tears escaped my eyes.

"We dated all throughout the end of my teenage years and the prime time of his. I was there for him through the whole Brandon Faye drama. When he told me what he had done I never hesitated, I hid the body for him. I couldn't let him go to jail and leave me. When I became a counselor here, Jesse and I had to hide our relationship. I honestly thought that Jesse was going to propose to me. And then you came along." Alyssa's voice hardened. "You came in and wrecked everything. Jesse immediately left me for you and you will never know what that loss did to me. I tried and I tried to get him back and no matter what I do, it never works. He never comes back to me."

"You can't force someone to love you Alyssa." I told her.

"Shut up Sydney!" She shrieked. "I hate you. My life was perfect before you came here and stole Jesse away from me. It's not fair that you get everything I've ever wanted while I'm left to be alone, again."

"You don't have to be alone. There are other boys out there besides Jesse Peirce." I reasoned. "Maybe if you actually let people in, you would find that friendship can fill the emptiness that you feel."

Alyssa sniffed. "Who would want to be friends with me?"

"I would." I shocked myself by saying.

Alyssa raised an eyebrow. "Really? After everything that I've done to you, you would still want to be friends with me?"

I grimaced. "We were friends when you were my counselor right?"

"No." Alyssa deadpanned. "You hated me."

Oh, right.

"Well we can try, starting now. As long as you promise to move on from Jesse and put everything that happened with us behind you." I said.

Alyssa thought about it for a second. "Deal. And I'm sorry Sydney, for everything."

"I forgive you. " I stood up and opened my arms. "I think this calls for a hug."

Alyssa frowned. "I'm not much of a hug person."

"Well you are now." I tugged her to her feet. Alyssa smiled the first genuine smile I've seen from her and embraced me.

I was so focused on hugging Alyssa and starting clean that I didn't see when someone snuck into my cabin.