Camp Killer {hiatus}

➳ THURSDAY

▽Alex

     FEEDBACK SCREECHES LIKE a banshee keening, the echo ringing in my ears. I flop back in bed and press my pillow over my face. Maybe if I pretend not to hear Judy, she'll go away.

     A second later, the megaphone screeches again, and Judy's voice cuts through. "Everyone outside, please!" she calls.

     Maybe not.

     Early morning light filters in through the curtains, painting the cabin grey. Great — another day without sun. So much for teaching myself how to swim.

     Not that I would swim now, anyways. That lake... it's been tainted. It is the keeper of lost things. Hidden things. Dead things.

     If Rose and I hadn't been at the dock that night, would Isaac still have been found? Or would we still be searching for him, searching for closure?

     My stomach twists at the thought of Rose, and a sigh escapes me. Just yesterday I'd thought to myself, if Rose had a secret boyfriend, I would flip. And now, it's a reality. So, do I flip?

     I glance over at Rose, who's slowly peeling the covers back. Her limbs seem heavy, her expression dark, and her eyes are hardly more than weary, bloodshot slits. Would it be wrong of me to add more stress to her life at a time like this? Should I forgive her for keeping Jack — her boyfriend? — a secret from me?

     Rose meets my gaze and her eyes betray nothing. No sliver of remorse. No anger. Nothing. I remember the shock on her face last night, the panic at being caught, being exposed. The agony. How can those feelings be gone now? How could they have been erased in just one night?

     I think about it — last night. About braiding my best friend's hair and laughing with her until nothing mattered anymore. Nothing except us, our friendship. The years behind us and the years ahead of us. There were no secret boyfriends and no dead brothers between us. There was only her and I.

     Does that mean nothing anymore?

     No, I have to believe it means something. I have to give her a chance.

     "Did you sleep okay last night?" Rose asks quietly, carefully. As if she's trying to see what I know, what I remember. If I really did see what she thinks I saw.

     I decide, in that moment, that I will give her the opportunity to tell me in her own time. Even if it is totally screwed up that she's in a secret relationship with Madeline's boyfriend — who happens to be Jack González, of all people. Even if she didn't tell me.

     We all have secrets.

     I smile at her, sitting up and stretching. "I slept like a baby," I answer, then reach for my glasses resting on the bedside table. "God, I can barely see a thing," I remark, shoving them onto my face and blinking. "I think I need a stronger pair. My eyes are definitely getting worse."

     Almost imperceptibly, the tension in Rose's shoulders eases. "I'll take you to the mall when we get back," she offers.

     Phew. Safe.

     Somewhere outside, Judy starts shouting again, and someone groans.

"Could she please just shut the fuck up already?" Veronica seethes, and Madeline gives a generous laugh which Veronica pointedly ignores. Across the room, Chloe meets my eyes and mouths, Drama! I nod my head in agreement. It appears the once inseparable Madeline and Veronica are in desperate need of some time apart.

     What's different about me and Rose compared to Madeline and Veronica? I guess Veronica wasn't interested in giving Madeline a second chance — or maybe she has before and this was the last straw. Maybe their relationship just wasn't built to last.