Camp Redwood

I walked back to my cabin around six.

Kalliope and me spent most of the afternoon in the shade near the lake, talking and smoking. We were sitting on a rock between two high trees, facing the lake filled with giggling, laughing teenagers. Sebastian was the life guard, sitting on a high chair with a pair of sunglasses with arms crossed. Aubrey was talking to him, head tilted up and a small smile on her face.

We think she likes him.

Kalliope’s pretty cool.

There’s no way to get around it. She laughs a lot, and she’s pretty cute when she’s mad, and there’s something about how she wraps her lips around her cigarettes, all dainty and sweet, that I know is going to end up driving me crazy soon.

I didn’t really want to go to the campfire thing. I wanted to hang out in my room and read something or just hang out, but Kalliope wanted to, so I relented. She wanted to go get something to eat and then meet up, so I went back to my cabin to rest up a little bit.

I flopped down on my bed, sighing quietly.

It’s been a long couple of days.

Well, months, really.

My parents have this thing where they just can’t manage to get along very well. I don’t know how they ever got married in the first place. They both come from money though, so it can’t be that. I’d like to believe that they did feel something for each other at some point, but all traces of those feelings are gone. My dad can’t keep it in his pants, and my mom has a thing for our gardener.

You would think that because my parents are ‘rich’—my dad has a car dealership and my mom’s a dermatologist—that I wouldn’t really be all that screwed up and that my life would just be picture perfect. I’ll admit that I have some pretty nice things—not that I really want them because you can’t buy love.

I have this thing where I really like to forget.

I like to forget catching my parents betraying each other’s trust. I like to forget their fights. I like to forget myself the most though.

So I drink.

A lot.

It could be worse.

It’s really not that hard getting it, you know. I sneak it from the liquor cabinet and they just keep refilling it. They don’t really notice. They're too busy making each other miserable. Well, at least they didn’t until I kind of drank a little too much and ended up getting my stomach pumped.

That was fun.

My mother cried for a little bit, then yelled at me for being stupid, apologized, yelled some more about how this was just a desperate cry for attention (which it wasn't - I just got carried away), then cried. My dad kind of just stood off to the side and kept trying to discreetly text his mistress.

He thought I wouldn’t notice, I suppose. A few months later, I end up here. They sent me away first chance they got.

I’m not really surprised.



I met Kalliope on the way there by accident.

See, I was walking down with Sebastian, who was cool I guess, in his own right, talking about different thing to do around here. Apparently, they let us go out to the movies every other Saturday if we’re good. There’s swimming, of course, and they have some courts down here for tennis and basketball and so on. I don’t really feel like doing much of anything—because it hasn’t quite set in yet, that I’m here and that I’m actually going to talk about it or whatever.

It’s lame.

Keegan and Aubrey were stopped near the side of the dirt path, waiting as Kalliope folded over and tied her shoes. I wasn’t exactly thrilled about Keegan being there, though. One, he was annoying, two, he wouldn’t stop talking about ‘the hot piece of ass’ he saw this morning (who turned out to be Kalliope), and three, he was just annoying and…ugh.

Aubrey was pretty okay, I suppose. She was kind of loud, but she was nice and sweet and kind and apparently, she was rooming with Kalliope, so I should have probably been nice to her.

I wanted to surprise them.

Well, really Kalliope, but still.

Sebastian called out a greeting and Aubrey turns around, waving her hand wildly.

“Hi you guys!” Keegan turns his head and rolls his eyes, shaking his head. Kalliope stands up, dusting herself off. She turned around, tucking some of her curly hair behind her ear as she turned around to see what the commotion was all about. She eyed me and smiled shyly, tucking her hands into the back of her jeans.

“Hi, Forrest.”



The campfire was near the lake.

Aubrey quickly dragged Kalliope away to go find some marshmallows.

“We’ll be right back!” Aubrey called out.

Keegan went off by himself unsurprisingly, and after a couple of minutes, Sebastian left too. I didn’t really mind being alone for once. I kind of liked it. It had been an awfully long day and to be honest, I was only there because Kalliope was. I was sitting on a bench near the fire, waiting for her to come back.

Someone sat next to me with a quiet sigh, the old bench creaking a little with the new weight. I looked to my side, only to see that it was Lupe.

What happened earlier today wasn’t really cool. I mean, I’m not a fan of drama and I’ve never been, and the whole thing with Kalliope and her was kind of upsetting. Why did she have to be so mean to someone she didn’t even know? It was weird.

I don’t like being rude or anything to anybody, because I’ve always believed in treating people like you’d like to be treated, and maybe she’s just having a bad day and maybe she really is nice after all.

“Hey,” I say and she looks up from her book with a bit of irritation that turns into a smile.

“Hi.” She shuts the book. “You’re…Forrest, right?”

“Um, yeah.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m just…waiting,” I say with a laugh, rubbing the back of my neck.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“What did you mean?”

“You know what I mean.”

“You want to know why I’m here?”

She nodded.

“You know why.”

“Really?” She made a face. “Pretty little rich white kid like you in a place like this for no reason?”

I frowned.

“What?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, ’cause you, like, have a ‘drinking’ problem or whatever?” She laughed. “Really? What’re you really here for, huh? Ain’t nothin’ wrong with likin’ beer or whatever. I mean, it’s not like a big problem.”

I look away. Kalliope and Aubrey are walking towards us, Aubrey with three bags of marshmallows in her hand and Kalliope with a bunch of sticks in hers.

It’s a huge problem.

Everyone thinks that my life is perfect and that everything is just peachy keen, except it's not. The worst part is that everyone thinks so, regardless of how well they do or don't know me. That's probably why I hate mostly everyone.

“Actually, I got alcohol poisoning a few months ago and almost died, so um…yeah." I shrug my shoulders. "It’s kind of a problem,” I say, getting up.

“I-I didn’t know!” she calls out as I make my way towards the girls.



“How do you even do this?” Kalliope asked, poking her marshmallow with her stick with a frown. “This is stupid.”

“No, it isn’t! It’s easy!” Aubrey exclaimed, pushing her stick through a couple of marshmallows quickly, pushing it into the fire. “See?” Kalliope slumped back, tapping the stick against her leg, popping the marshmallow into her mouth, chewing sullenly. It was cute. Aubrey plopped the bag onto her legs with her free hand, grabbing a small handful and handed them to Kalliope. She smiled sweetly. “Just try it!” She pulled the marshmallows out, pulling the sticky blobs off with a laugh. “They’re good.”

Kalliope sighs.

“I’m happy you like it.” Aubrey simply smiles and looks around as she blows on her stick. Her face lights up as she yells, “Keegan! Hey! Over here!”

Oddly enough, Keegan smiled and waved her over.

“Bye, guys,” she said, getting up and running towards him.

“Bye!” Kalliope replied, looking at them for a few seconds. “Wanna ditch?” she asked me, eyes bright as a soft smile played on her lips.

“Thought you’d never ask.”

We stand up and she glances around quickly, slipping her hand into mine. We sneak away and she laughs quietly as we make it into a thicket of trees. She falls down and pulls me with her into an undergrowth of berries, giggling.

“That thing was so stupid, Forrest,” she says between giggles. It’s getting dark. The stars are coming out. It’s not cold but it’s not really all too warm either. I like it. We lay down and I take a moment to look at the treetops above. We’re quiet again and it’s not really all too bothersome, mostly because I don’t know what I can say without sounding horribly stupid and ruining it.

Whatever it is.

“It makes you feel so small,” she says quietly, looking over at me.

“What does?”

“The stars and stuff. There’s so many of them…can’t see all these back home.”

“Where is it?”

“What? Home?” She laughs, shaking her head. “It’s far, far away from this hole, that’s for sure. How about you?”

“I guess it’s kind of far. My parents aren’t home a lot so it’s not really much of a home, but it’s…far.” I smile.

“Can you see them back home? The stars, I mean.”

“Yeah, you can actually. We live outside of the city, so yeah.”

“Must be nice.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you miss it yet?”

“No.”

“Me neither. Not much to miss, you know?” She smiles sadly.

We grew silent again after a few minutes. She looks over at me and laughs, giggling.

“What?”

“Nothing. Your face just makes me laugh, that’s all.”

“Calling me ugly?”

“No. You’re just funny, that’s all.”

“Well, that’s a shame, ’cause I think you’re really pretty.”



It was nice, laying out there with Kalliope, eating some marshmallows and laughing at people at the camp.

Nothing nice lasts, though, and eventually we had to leave. Kalliope didn’t want to walk by herself. She leaned into my side, humming softly under her breath as we neared her cabin.

“Thanks for hanging out with me tonight,” she murmured softly, looking up at me.

“I didn’t mind.”

“It was nice. I had a good time.” She jerks her thumb back at her cabin. The fluorescent lights were on and Aubrey was peeking though the thin curtains, trying to hide. Her silhouette ducked down, peeking above the windowsill.

“Me too.”

“We should do that again.”

“I think so.”

She smiles.

“I’m gonna kiss you, okay?”

“Okay,” she breathes.

I press my lips to hers and she leans in, holding my face. We stay like that until something crackles and an announcement comes on over the PA system.

“Good evening, everybody,” Sebastian drawls. “This is one of your counselors, Sebastian speaking here, wishing everybody a good night. Curfew starts at eleven, which is in ten minutes and counting. Just thought I’d let you guys know. Just a friendly reminder: everyone that if anybody breaks this rule, Dr. Poxleitner will not be a happy camper in the morning, so you might wanna start heading back to your respective cabins and such if you haven’t yet already…uh…now, some announcements about tomorrow: there will tennis at nine, volleyball at ten, lunch will be served promptly at noon, first come first served, uh…there will be swimming. Also, please remember to check the list at the main office for your session with Dr. Poxleitner! Those are pretty important. Keep cool and remember to smile. This has been Sebastian with your evening announcements. Sweet dreams.”

She leans her forehead against mine and laughs.

“I don’t want you to get yelled at or whatever.” She pecks my lips again. “I’ll see you later.”

I smile.

She goes in and turns around, wrinkling her nose at me as she shuts the door. I stand there for a minute because I feel good, great even, and I haven’t felt like that in a while.

The windows are open and I don’t really mean to eavesdrop, but it happens anyway.

“Kallie has a boyfriend!” Aubrey yells, laughing.

“I do not!” she exclaims.

“You like—” Aubrey whines. “You didn’t have to throw it! Gosh!”

“Just go to sleep, huh?”

The lights go out and I walk back to my cabin, whistling softly under my breath.