Summer Camp

Chapter 13

"Wake up Jevine!"

All of Deer cabin was awake and ready for the new day, but Jevine was still in bed, half asleep.

"You're going to make us late for role call! Come on!" Mindy said, trying to pull her off the bed. Jevine pulled her hand away and sat up.

 "There you are! Now get dressed and we'll get going." Debra said. Jevine groaned, but got up and walked towards the door. That's when the girls realized that she had already changed when they were asleep.

They hurried out to follow Jevine to the group spot. The Wolf cabin and their counselors were already there.

 "There are my girls. What took so long?" Natalie asked, counting them all.

"Jevine slept in." Val said. They all looked back at Jevine, who wasn't wearing her good up like she normally was. Her scar was out in the open, being shown to everyone.

"I told you that she had that huge scar on her neck!" Zachary exclaimed.

"Dude! Shut up! Don't point it out!" Malcolm nudged him.

 "You don't gotta nudge me that hard man." He complained.

"Hey Jevine? Where'd you get that-"

"I'm hungry." Jevine brushed them off. She began to walk alone towards the mess hall, when Tristan ran up to her.

"Hang on for a second at least. You're breaking the buddy rule."

"Ugh. Would everyone shut up about that rule? It's dumb and useless." She complained, not stopping.

 "It keeps us safe when walking place to place. There's a reason for everything, and everything has a purpose."

 "Sure. You think that." Jevine said, walking into the mess hall and grabbing her breakfast.

.

.

Free time quickly came, and everyone from the cabin went to do the activities. Jevine and Shane on the other hand, went back to the river.

"Tristan said something this morning that scares me." Jevine said after a long silence.

"What did he say?

"He said, 'There's a reason for everything, and everything has a purpose."

"Ok, and how does that scare you?"

"What happens when you've fulfilled your purpose. Like a piece of paper. It's meant to be written on, but once it's full, you toss it out and get a new one. It's like our lives. Once we fulfil our purpose, are we meant to die? Because maybe that's why my dad died. He served in the army. It was only fair that he died to, right?" Jevine said, shaking and holding back her tears. But her voice gave away her fear.

"I don't want to die. But what if I'm almost done serving my purpose? I don't want to do anything if it means that I'm just going to die and be replaced by a new born child somewhere in the world. What if my mom dies when I'm not round? What if her purpose is to make me happy, and once I am, she'll die? And what about Lathy? Once he finishes his job as an older brother and moved on, will he die and be replaced? Has Alvar not fulfilled his purpose yet if he isn't dead?!" Jevine rambled on. Shane let her rant until she couldn't speak anymore. Then he took some water and splashed it on her.

"Hey! What was that for?!" She complained, drying herself off.

"To help you remember that you're still on earth. You're still here, and you're alive. Tristan didn't think before he spoke to you. He said something that he grew up learning. It's your choice whether or not you choose to live those words or not. Now, are you going to smile for once, or do I have to wait until I've earned that right too?" He said, lifting her spirits.

"I smile unintentionally. So you have to catch me with one. Besides, I've smiled a few times since I've been here. It's just hard for me now. Anyways, is free time over? I want to get back to camp but I don't know if the gun range is done or not." Jevine said.

"Well, let's go find out! " Shane said, pulling Jevine along. She tried fighting back, not wanting to hear the shots of guns. She tried frantically to get away, but Shane's grip was tight.

"Sit down. Let's see if they're done." He said, finally stopping closer to camp. Jevine froze, hoping there were no gunshots.

 Sadly there was, but very, very faint. She covered her ears and curled up into a ball

"No, no. Please." She whimpered. Shane slowly took her hands away from her ears and held them down.

"We're going to slowly get rid of your fear of gunshots, but in order to do that, you need to be willing to let me help you." He said. Another faint gunshot rang through the first and Jevine flinched and hugged her knees against her chest.

"Nothing's going to happen." He reassured her. Yet another gunshot, and Jevine still reacted, but was calmer than before. 

They sat there until the last shot, then got up to meet up with the others for evening role call.