Here Lies Jasmine Lake | ✓

Chapter Two: Jax

Yesterday

Jax Parish hated the summer.

With all his heart.

Instead of flying off to some tropical island or another to spend five long weeks at a luxury resort, like most of his friends, he had been sent off to a "reformation camp" or whatever it was called. The closest thing he had to a king-sized bed was the worn-out sleeping bag his mother had packed for him - despite him being eighteen and perfectly capable of packing - and the closest thing to an en-suite room was a tent that had barely enough room to accommodate one person, let alone one person and a suitcase. There was a cabin, the only modern utility at this place, but it had showers, toilets, the dining hall, a movie room, and an attic for storage. It meant that everyone had to sleep outside in the tents and brave whatever the weather had to offer.

Jax didn't complain, though. He knew that him being stuck here at yet another summer babysitting camp was entirely his own fault. After all, burning down the school building for a last-day-of-school prank was really taking it too far. To be fair, the building was empty, and also, it was better than his first idea, which was blowing the school up. Apparently, that would've been too much.

Huh, maybe that was why his mother had packed for him. He had noticed that his lighter wasn't in his bag.

Jax was currently sitting by the bank of the lake. It was called Jasmine Lake, according to the website where Jax's mother had found this place - Greyard, way to sound like a concentration camp. The worst part was that this camp wasn't one of those camps where they had planned activities and people you could go off and have a smoke with. This camp was for travellers to book in and stay at for "a fun-filled week in the wild". It meant that Jax was sharing this place with other groups of people he didn't even know.

That included hippies with music from the last century, a newlywed couple that made him sick, three girls with giggles that went higher than a piano could go, a pair of pranksters that would burn in hell, and a nineteen year-old goth boy. There was one last person to come, a seventeen year-old girl. Jax couldn't care less about her presence.

"Jax!"

He turned. It was the lady from the married couple. She was called Maria Sloane, according to the "Hello My Name Is" name tag she was wearing. She was evidently insane for picking a deserted area in the middle of the woods for her honeymoon. She'd come with her husband Duncan. She was standing at the edge of the tent area, her jet black hair pulled back in a high ponytail. Her eyes were shining bright with annoyance, but she attempted to hide it with a tight-lipped smile.

"I thought we agreed that we were going to have an icebreaker game ten minutes ago," she said insistently. "Everyone else is waiting for you."

"You can start without me," responded Jax coldly. "I'm not coming."

Maria folded her arms and raised her eyebrows, as if that was supposed to sway Jax's decision.

Jax shrugged. "We all came on the bus. We all know each other."

Maria's eyes narrowed, clearly not taking it as an excuse. "Come on, Jax, your mother didn't sign you up to this camp for nothing. At least come this time. I won't make you do it again, I promise."

Jax sighed inwardly. Everyone knew you couldn't argue with a woman. They always won. There was no point in fighting back. Jax stood up and walked towards the tent area, where everyone was sitting in a circle. Duncan glanced at Jax with his emotionless green eyes, and proceeded to ignore him. Jax shook his head. How he had ever managed to get a happy-go-lucky girl like Maria was beyond him.

"Alright everyone," said Maria cheerfully, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention. It was clear that none of the teenagers wanted to participate. "Let's all say our names and ages. I'll start, and we'll go clockwise." Jax felt a rush of relief when he realized he was on Maria's right. "My name is Maria Sloane, and I'm twenty-five." She gently elbowed Duncan, who's attention was fixated on the grass beneath his fingers.

Duncan looked up, and flashed a glare at everyone in the vicinity. "I'm Duncan. I'm the same age as her."

Jax saw one of the younger boys snicker and mumble something under his breath to another.

Next were the hippies. One of them was tall and stout, and the other was short and petite. The first one had cocoa skin and long, lustrous brown hair. Jax had to admit that she had a certain level of prettiness to her. She smiled brightly. "I'm Marley. I'm twenty-two."

The other hippy looked up. She had shoulder-length, curly brown hair. If she was taller and skinnier, and was wearing less clothes, she would make the perfect beach girl. "I'm called Rain, and I'm also twenty-two."

Jax glanced at the girls next to her. There were three of them, and they were whispering to each other and giggling. The first one looked up. She had ash blonde hair that was clearly dyed, and makeup powdered over her face like snow. "I'm Britt, and I'm fifteen." She twirled a piece of hair between her fingers and stared at Jax purposefully.

The next girl looked up. She was wearing a tank top and shorts, showing off her fit and slender body. Her brown hair was in a side braid. Jax thought that she had an uncanny resemblance to Katniss Everdeen. "My name is Tori. I'm also fifteen."

It was the last girl that got Jax's attention. Unlike the other two, who reminded him of snobby, brainless bimbos, this girl had a look of intelligence in her sea blue eyes. Her mouth twisted into a small smirk. "I'm Alice. Like them, I am fifteen." She flashed a grin, showing off her white teeth. She seemed much too mature for someone her age.

The goth boy, who had been staring at the grass until now, looked up. "I'm Wyatt, and I'm nineteen." He went back to cross-examining the grass.

And now it was the prankster boys. Jax knew they were pranksters, because they'd pulled at least five brutal pranks on the girls by now. One had dark hair and the other had blonde hair. The dark haired one looked similar to Wyatt. Jax assumed that they were brothers. The blonde boy spoke. "My name is Flash, his name is Diesel, and we're sixteen."

"Jax?" Maria gave him a smile, which seemed genuine, but Jax knew better. "What about you? Care to introduce yourself?"

Jax rolled his eyes, to let the world know that he certainly did not want to do this. "My name is-"

The loud sound of a car screeching to a halt filled the air. Jax's head whipped towards the direction of the sound.

A car had just arrived and parked several yards in front of the lake. As Jax watched, a girl angrily stepped out of the passenger seat. She had dark brown wavy hair and blue eyes that clearly displayed the meaning of pissed off. She was wearing a leather jacket and ripped jeans. A small duffel bag dangled from her clenched hand.

Jax swallowed as he realized that damn, she was hot.

The second the girl was out of the car and the door had been shut, the driver of the car, who Jax presumed was the girl's mother, drove off, leaving her daughter with only a cloud of dust to remember her by. Jax expected the girl to be angry or at least a little more frustrated that her mother had driven off without another word, but he was greeted with a pleasant, if not somewhat entertaining, surprise.

The girl dropped her duffel bag, and right before her mother's car was out of sight, she raised both her middle fingers. "Good riddance! See you in hell."

Flash and Diesel burst out laughing.

The girl gave them death stares. "Laugh again and I'll make sure your vocal chords will never function the same again.

The boys shut up.

The girl flashed a deadly smile. "Good choice." She made her way to the closest free tent and dumped her bag in.

"Sweetheart, what's your name and age?" inquired Maria, seemingly oblivious of the girl's temper.

The girl's face contorted to show the words, are you kidding me? She answered the question nonetheless. "Sadie Lake, seventeen. All of you, stay the hell away from me."

And that was when Jax knew it really wouldn't be that boring here after all.