The Bennett Sisters

Chapter 2 - Arlington Bennett

2 – Arlington Bennett

I have dreams bigger than the whole town of Paradise. I was going to get out of here. My sister, Montgomery, got out of here. At least for a few months. She's back now, failed dreams and all. Okay, so maybe that was a little vulgar. It was rough for her, and I love her dearly. Monty might be the only sister that I have that actually gets me. However, I'd only been home for a week before I left her alone to deal with our other sisters.

Luckily I was out of Paradise for the summer. I was a paid camp counselor for a kid's summer camp. It wasn't so bad. I kind of liked kids and my job was mainly to keep track of them at night and escort them to their daily activities. Every three days we had a day's gap before getting the next batch of kids. Then, I was pretty much free to do whatever I wanted. It wasn't a bad gig. Paid me three grand and I had a stellar tan.

Dylan winked at me as he lead his troupe of unruly boys to the lake. I was taking Emily to the medic. She fell off her bike, supposedly, but didn't have a mark on her.

I rolled my eyes at Dylan. He'd come a long ways since the beginning of the summer, I had to give him that. When we first arrived, us counselors had a small get together for "team building." Dylan had walked up to me, towering six foot three frame, medium build and backwards baseball cap.

"Hey, I'm Dylan, nice to meet you," he'd said, charming smile and shining blue eyes. I burst out in laughter. Granted this summer camp was more than two hours from home, but Paradise was a very small town, surely he recognized me from school.

"I'm fully aware, Huxley," I said, referring to his last name. His shit eating grin dropped off his face.

"We go to the same high school. We went to preschool together. You ate glue when Jake Lewis dared you too," I said, rolling my eyes and turning to walk away.

"Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean—I really can't believe I didn't recognize you. I'm sorry," he tried to stop me, "You're one of the Bennett sisters."

"It's not a big deal, we don't run in the same circles. I'm just a little surprised though, I mean, Paradise isn't a huge town," I shrugged.

"I know, I feel awful, let me make it up to you...Daytona?" he tried.

"Nice try, but wrong sister. I'm Arlington. My friends call me Arlie," I'd said, giving up on him again. He spent the rest of the weeks at the summer camp trying to make it up to me. It was nice, but had gotten a little annoying. I ended up snapping at him last week during one of our three day breaks.

"I can get it myself, Dylan! I'd like to go one fucking day without you breathing down my fucking neck. I'm an independent person. I don't need your validation. I don't need you to know who I am. It doesn't offend me! You're forgiven, whatever, just leave me fucking alone!" I had screamed.

I hadn't talked to him since. He was still being friendly to me, but he'd gotten the pictured and backed off a lot.

"When's your next break, Dylan?" I yelled to him. He seemed a little shocked.

"Three, you?" he asked.

"Same," I replied.

"I'll meet you at your cabin," he said.

I nodded. I took Emily to the medic, but he was out helping another camper with a broken arm.

"Do you just need a band-aid?" I asked.