Forest

Chapter 4|-/

Walking back into the cabin, I head straight towards my bunk and plug in my headphones. I tune out everything else, focusing solely on my composition. The lyrics seem to pour out, all of the bottled up emotions from this morning and last night factoring in. Adding the lyrics to nearly finished instramental piece of mine finishes the first draft of the song in ten minutes. I can't help but smile— songs usually take me a bit longer than that to finish.

I'm in my own little world, continuing to fiddle with aspects of the song, until someone taps me on the shoulder. I slide my headphones off to see Debby.

"Now that everyone's settled in theres a big group activity." She explains. "We gotta get down there now." I nod, putting my equipment away and following her and the other girls out of the cabin.

I separate myself from the other girls as we walk, walking more towards Debby and Jessie. I mind my own business, admiring the serenity of the forest and wishing I had my music playing. I know its allowed, but we were in a rush and I left my headphones plugged into my computer. Out of the corner of my eye I see the other girls whispering and glancing in my way. Not even a full day in and they already don't like me.

We walk back to the main section of the camp, merging into the group of teens and leaders from the whole camp. Slowly filing into the main auditorium, we sit in a row marked with our cabin number. I look around, meeting eyes with Danny, who is across the auditorium with his cabin.

"You good?" He mouths, giving me a questioning look and a thumbs up. I shrug. He must see it on my face, because he mimes a big breath, mouthing to me "breathe". I nod, taking a deep breath and trying to shake away the anxiety. He sits down with his cabin, looking back to check on me occasionally. Every so often I also see his leaders, Tyler and Josh, glancing back at me. Josh also looks back at Debby and I can see it in his eyes that he's head over heels for her.

"Good afternoon Campers!" A hyper man practically bounces onto the stage, mic in hand. "I'm Mark, and I'd like to personally welcome you all to Camp Mele!" This causes a cheer to erupt from the audience. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

He goes on to explain how dancers and musicians will train separately for the morning sessions, then after lunch we'll work together in small groups. After supper everynight there is a different activity, and every other Friday night is essentially a talent show. Once he's done explaining everything, were sent off on a tour of the camp with our cabins and then off to supper. I get my food, standing awkwardly while looking for a place to sit. Seating is free-for-all, not with our cabins, so I have no where to sit. My heart keeps beating faster and faster as I look around, feeling like everyone is staring at me. Just as the air starts to feel like it's being pulled from my lungs, a voice calling my name catches my attention.

"Kya!" Danny calls, waving me over to the empty seat next to him. I sit down trying to calm my heartrate. "Kya, this is Miles, Jax, and Ace. They're in my cabin. Guys this is my sister, Kya."

"Nice to meet you." Miles smiles before focusing his attention back to his food. His dark brown, almost black, hair is pulled up into a bun on the top of his head, showing off geometric patterns shaved into the back of his head. The other two Danny introduced say something, but all I hear is mumbles as my heart starts to speed up again. I feel like I'm not even in my body anymore, unable to control my own actions. Danny squeezes my shoulder, making me look to him.

"You're okay." He says quietly so no one else hears. He squeezes my shoulder again as two other people sit down at the table, one next to me and the other across from him. I instantly feel trapped, like I need to get away. I look to see Tyler next to me, smiling at his campers.

"Hey guys." He says, looking to them all.

"Hey Ty." Most of them chorus back. Josh with his bright purple hair sits across from Tyler.

"How are you guys liking camp so far?" Josh asks, sending himself, Miles, Jax, and Ace into a conversation that I ignore. I zone out completely, finishing my food quickly and staring at my empty plate. Was coming here really a good idea? I mean, I've only been here for a couple hours and I've already almost had a panic attack.

Maybe mom was right.
—|-/—

I stay on edge for the rest of the evening. First chance I got, I grabbed my headphones from the cabin and I guess that helped a little, but not much. Its now time for the group activity and Im absolutely freaking out.

We're walking as a group from our cabin, the quiet of the forest barely helping my current situation. Everything else is quiet, so I feel as if everyone can hear my music, or I'm breathing too loud; drawing attention to myself. I spiral down and down, thinking that everything I do is making them hate me more. All I want to do is break down, but I cant. Every step I take it builds more and more, and by the time we make it to the clearing, I just cant take it.

"D-debby" I choke out, catching her attention. None of this should be a surprise, I mean, it was in all of my registration forms and my parents told her and Jessie. Night terrors. Anxiety. Depression. Im a full book. Lucky me.

"What's up, chica?" Debby asks upon seeing my disgruntled expression.

"I-" I start, but am unable to finish my sentence. She notices something is up and falls back from the group with me.

"Hey, its okay. Just breathe." She tells me. "We can find your brother when we get there, yeah?" I nod, taking a few steps. "Just take your time, theres no rush." But there is a rush, in my mind. I need to get to Danny before I break down completely.

We make it to the clearing, and Debby tells Jessie whats going on. Luckily, shes discrete about it, but I still get dirty looks from the other girls. Its getting harder and harder to hold back the tears as she leads me towards the group of people to find Danny.

As soon as I see him with his cabin, I take off running, launching my arms around his neck and completely breaking down.

—|-/—