Summer Camp

Chapter 4

It was now dinner, and Jevine was sitting alone at a table. She had a plate with her food on it, barely touched. Not a lot of people were there yet since dinner had barely started, but it didn't take long for the Wolf and Deer cabin to get there.

Why did I switch my jacket out for my scarf? Jevine thought, trying to keep her head down so they wouldn't see her.

 "Hey! Jevine! Looks like you saved a table for us." Cooper said, sliding into a chair next to her. Everyone else sat around, and Jevine got up to throw her plate away. She sat back down so they hopefully wouldn't say anything about her leaving.

 "You're the last one Jevine. Everyone, including Tristan, has shared something that haunts them to this day. You're the last one, so go on and tell us." Mindy said, sitting backwards in her chair and rocking.

 "Here, I'll share mine again so you don't feel like the spotlights on you. The thing that haunts me to this day, is anything slimy. Once it's on you, it takes forever to get off, plus, you don't know where it came from and it's just so nasty!" Debra said.

 "I'll share mine again too, but then it's your turn Jevine. The thing that haunts me the most to this day, small, dark rooms. I am claustrophobic, and it's bad. It's a terrifying thought." Ryan said.

 "Ok, now tell us Jevine! What haunts you the most to this day? Jevine? Hello?" Sevaline said, waving a hand in front of Jevine's stone cold body.

"Alvar! No!" Jevine shouted, falling onto the ground and curling into a ball.

"No, no. It's over. It's over. It won't happen again. He's gone. It's not my fault!" She mumbled to herself, crying to sooth herself.

 "Jevine? Are you ok? Jevine!" Tristan said, kneeling down to help her up. Val and Lola got up and helped as well, wiping Jevine's tears and embracing her, hoping that she would feel better.

 But during the whole fiasco, her scarf came undone.

"Hey, where'd you get that scar from?" Zachary asked, pointing at her neck. Jevine pushed away from Val and Lola, wrapping the scarf back around her neck before anyone else could see.

 "Leave me alone." Jevine said, running out of the mess hall, bumping into Natalie and Asher along the way.

 "Hey, Jevine are you alright?" Natalie asked, pronouncing her name correctly this time.

 "I'm fine." She said, pushing past them and running towards the cabin. Natalie and Asher exchanged concerned looks as they went inside to meet up with the others.

"Why did Jevine just run out crying?" Asher asked, walking up to the table. Everyone stiffened, not making eye contact.

"Guys, come on. She seemed genuinely upset about something." Natalie pressed on.

"Well, we told her about us sharing something that haunts us the most to this day. Everyone else already shared, so she was the last one. Debra and Ryan shared again to make her feel comfortable, but when it was her turn, she was stone cold." Malcom explained first.

"When we woke her from her trance, she started to freak out and have a mental breakdown of something. We tried calming her down, then Zachary pointed out a scar or something on her neck. She then wrapped her scarf around tighter, then ran out." Sevaline finished.

"What was she saying when it happened?" Natalie asked, remembering on Jevine's registration paper, her mother left a note saying that she might have breakdowns if she's constantly reminded about a topic, or if she's thinking about it

 "She said someone's name and that he's gone. Then she kept saying no, and that something wasn't her fault. Why? Is there something we should know about her, or something we should know to avoid this from happening again?" Shane said.

 "For now, I think we should let her be alone. When it's nightly activity time, I'll send someone to go get her. Just eat your dinner right now." Natalie asked. Everyone went to get a plate and ate their dinner in a worried and concerned silence.

Meanwhile, Jevine was inside the cabin. She ripped her scarf from her neck and got out a make up bag that was labled, 'Emergency Only '.

"Sorry mom, but someone saw sooner than what you had hoped. And now I'm hiding." She said to herself. She stood in front of the mirror and tied her hair up in a bun so it wouldn't get messy with the makeup. She pulled out a container of foundation and began brushing it onto her neck to her ear. She then pulled out concealer and began rubbing it on the scar.

 "You're not only meant for dark circles." She mumbled, making sure that she covered her whole scar. When she was satisfied, she dropped down her hair and put on her jacket again. She took out her phone and saw twenty unread texts from her mother. The latest one being:

Was I wrong? Did you have to cover your scar already?

Jevine began to call her mother instead of texting her back.

 "Jevine! You've finally decide to answer me! Tell me, how's it going? You having fun? Did you eat your dinner?" Amber, her mother, burst out.

"One person saw, and that was after both cabins saw my breakdown. They... They were asking what haunts me the most to this day... And they were all playing around and their fears are simple, human ones. All I could think of about my fear, was Alvar coming back. My fear, isn't what they would expect. And you know me mom. I'm incapable of lying, but I'm good at hiding, so I'm sitting in the cabin while they all are eating dinner. And no. I'm not having much fun here." Jevine explained, sniffing her nose and wiping the last few tears from her eyes.

 "Oh. Talk about rough first day. I'm sorry Jevvy. Did you cover your scar with the makeup I gave you?" She asked.

"Yes, but I'm keeping this jacket on. I gotta go mom. Nightly activities are about to start." Jevine said. 

"Ok. Call me if you need to talk. Especially if you want to talk about Alvar and your father. Bye sweetie."

 She hung up and Jevine flopped onto her bed, not wanting to go, but forcing herself to get up and walk out the door. She pulled her hood up to assure that her scar was covered well. She began walking and eventually met up with the group.

"You feeling better Jevine? They told us what happened. We were going to send someone to check on you." Asher said. Jevine nodded, hanging her head low as she followed the group back to the same spot they were at after orientation.

"So, for our nightly activity, we're all going to get in pairs and do a scavenger hunt." Natalie said. Once again, everyone scrambled to get into pairs, but they were now avoiding Jevine.

"I'll be your partner. Everyone else still feels bad about what happened at dinner." 

Jevine looked over and saw Cooper behind her. She nodded, showing that she was ok with it, then turned back to listen.

"Each pair is getting a different envelope with different starting points." Natalie said, handing out the envelopes now.

"First ones to finish, get to skip all chores tomorrow. On your mark, get set, Go!" Asher said.

With the blow of a whistle, the race was on.