Night Owls and Summer Skies [Formerly Camp Mapplewood]

Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

The countryside of Luton sat surrounded by sea. A salty breeze roamed the campgrounds, invading my system with each inhale. The smell made the bitter taste in my mouth a little bit better. As much as I tried, the smile attempted by my mouth didn't amount to much. Brooding took over. Ever since successfully managing my depressive episodes with my dad, they didn't happen as much. Sometimes, it swirled in like an unstoppable vortex, swallowing the light whole. It went to show that people's choices had consequences but didn't necessarily impact them in the slightest. It zoned in on me, like I shouted at the sky to return the light, only to be given something much worse.

It was a fatal attraction, something that couldn't be helped, no matter what precautions were taken. The trust in my mom, resulted in me dressed in a tatty black t-shirt, surrounded by roughly two hundred other teenagers in the same attire. The assortment of coloured camp t-shirts had yet to be handed out since our assigned groups remained scattered and only on a sheet Mr. Black held in his hands.

Gathered like pigs for the slaughter, helpless to prevent the inevitable stay all summer long, we stood all because people in the position of power wanted us there. Assuming that others desperately didn't want to be there as well was the only thing that got me through the forced waiting around.

It couldn't only be me.

My arms were crossed as I waited for my name to be called. Mr. Black chose who went where, everyone was to be put into a distinctive category, with a group of people that they'd be placed with for the rest of the summer.

I had been dropped off at the campsite three hours prior and a certain amount of rage still coursed through my veins. More than that, it was betrayal, an unexpected knife twisted into my gut by my own relative and someone new in her life that I'd never met before. Then, of course, she showed me their matching rings just seconds before she departed the property.

I swallowed back a heavy sigh.

My childhood friend released an aggravated huff, directed at me. "Okay, we've concentrated on your negative emotions all day. You're way past the limit."

"Past the limit," I repeated skeptically. "It's been a few hours. Did your mom ditch you to go on a cruise?"

"No. But..."

"...Were you dumped at a summer camp unexpectedly? Told you to pack for a holiday only to be discarded beside a dust-filled road? Or did your mom get married without telling you and went off on a three-month holiday with her new-found hubby without you?"

"No," she said, sounding slightly apologetic.

"Do you have a phobia of camping?"

There was a scoff. "That's not a real fear. Is it?"