Camp Koradel

They woke up when it was hardly morning; the sun wasn’t up yet, and as she stumbled her way to the bathroom, Sophie tried not to step on any of the grumbling girls. In the bathroom, it was all the same color wood as the rest of the cabin, excluding the black stall doors. She was afraid to see her reflection, but she looked anyway and gawked at the mirror. Brown hair naturally highlighted with brown stuck up in every direction; frizzy and poufy, its imitation of a mop was stunning.

Hastily, she rummaged through the dark bathroom drawers, desperately trying to find a brush while running her fingers through her mop-head.

“If you’re looking for a brush, you might as well give up.”

Sophie gasped and whirled around to see Erin standing in the door of the bigger of the two stalls. “Why?”

Instead of answering, Erin said, “Here,” and stuck a little pink brush out toward her.

“OMG!” squealed Paige, rushing into the bathroom. “The guys will be here in, like, less than half an hour!”

“The guys?” Sophie asked no one in particular.

“Remember how I said they gave me the address to the boys’ camp?” At Sophie’s nod, Erin said, “Those guys.”

“I’m, like, so excited to see Scott!”

Now Sophie turned her confused look back to Paige. This girl was jumping up and down, her short blonde hair bouncing with her.

Sabrina walked in then, explaining, “He is, like, only the most gorgeous guy in the world, and we can actually fall head over heels for him, because he isn’t a jerk.”

“Guys,” Kasie chimed in, poking her head in the bathroom doorway, “Madame Rosette said Galvin will be here in 10 minutes prompt.”

The next few minutes were chaos as Erin gave Sophie one of her extra outfits — thin sweat pants and a tank top — and they cleaned up the sleeping area. They had just arranged themselves in a docile alphabetical line when Mr. Wellman — who seemed to actually go by Galvin — opened the door. He had obviously shaved, which suited him much better. Sophie wondered how old he was; surely not much older than 20…

“Good morning, girls.”

All of them — except Sophie — nodded in unison to his greeting. He smiled at her. “Since we have a new girl, the guys are here for a celebration. You may go outside.”

They ran to the door, but when Sophie passed Galvin, he whispered, “You could come back in, though.”

She continued slowly out the door, shocked by his words. The celebration was for her; why would she go inside? But soon, sitting on the porch and thinking about him, she found herself lonely and uncomfortable, so she wandered inside to meet Galvin, who was sitting on the couch in the living room. He smiled at her and said, “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come.”

“I’m not even sure why I did,” she confessed.

“I guess you just couldn’t resist.” He smiled a handsome, cocky smile that made her instantly want to smile back.

She didn’t show any emotion whatsoever. “Why did you want me in here?”

He hesitated. “How do you like the place?”

“Honestly, it’s a lot better than home.”

His smile returned, this time solicitous rather than cocky. “I guess that’s a good thing to hear, and that must be why you didn’t pass that little inspection with Rosette yesterday.”

Sophie glanced down at the raw skin of her left arm and instead of telling him to mind his own business, she asked, “Are you two … together?”

He laughed a deep, lovely laugh. “No, she’s about twice my age.”

“And how old are you?”

“Twenty one.”

“Ah,” she said thoughtfully, “the perfect age, isn’t it?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “You don’t really seem like the type to be into older men.”

“So that’s a bad thing?”

Winking, he stood to his feet. “That’s for me to know, and for you to find out.” With that, he left the room, leaving a shocked-still Sophie to loneliness once more.

——————————

Allison was worried. Two days ago, she had accused Sophie of cutting herself, and she hadn’t been in school since. How far would Sophie go to avoid her? As she rang the doorbell again, she thought maybe very far. Glancing around to see if anyone was watching, she turned the doorknob to find it unlocked. Silently, she stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

“Sophie?” No answer. “Look, I’m sorry,” she called as she walked up the stairs, “if I made you mad.” She turned off of the staircase and walked through the empty hall and knocked on her door. As expected, there was no answer, so she pushed the door open. “Are you in here?” She wasn’t, but her journal was on the white desk in her little, plain room.

Out of pure conceit, Allison picked up the journal and opened it to the first page.

I wasn’t sure if I should say “Dear Journal” since, of course, this isn’t a diary, But…I’m not sure…I’ve never—Gotta go!”

Allison stared at the scribbled words, confused. What would have made her stop writing so suddenly? Turning the page, she realized the answer was much more complex than she would have ever imagined. In blood, the page read, I hate my dad! There was a razor blade taped to the middle of the page, and, in pencil, an arrow pointed to it from the words, “My best friend.”

After the next page, she slammed it closed and ran out of the house with it clutched it her arm.

————————————

“Sophie?” It was Erin, poking her head through the door. “You okay?”

Sophie was peering into her empty suitcase, her clothes scattered across the room like a tornado had struck. She turned her head, and at the sight of Erin, she burst into tears.

Erin sprinted to her and placed an arm around her shoulder. The poor girl’s mascara was dripping down her pale cheeks and she just looked pathetic. “Shh, Sophie; it’s okay.”

Sophie immediately tried to stop the flow of tears, but failed. It was like everything in her life she had ever held back decided to come up right then. “You don’t…have to stay in here.”

“I’m not going to leave you alone like this.” And she didn’t for a while, until…

“Erin Hughes and Sophie Graham,” Galvin’s voice reverberated from the hallway before he stepped in the doorway, “You two need to go outside and enjoy the party.” Then he got a better view of the girls, and told Erin to leave.

Hesitantly, she hugged Sophie, stood from the bed, and left the room. They heard the front door open and close, and then Galvin sat down on Sophie’s bed. She buried her face in her pillow, pretending he wasn’t there.

“Are you alright?”

“Ecstatic,” she muttered, her voice muffled by the pillow.

“Sophie, I know this must be hard—”

And she snapped. “No, you don’t. You don’t know anything! You’re just a stupid adult, who somehow forgot what it’s like to be a teenager, and who’s not even brave enough to fight for his own country! You’re one of them; don’t tell me you understand!”

Suddenly, he pulled her into his arms and her head fell gently against his hard chest. His left hand was streaming through her hair as she sobbed, dampening his shirt. It wasn’t that she had forgotten the girls’ words about Galvin, but maybe they had just been misconstrued. Even thinking the guy might be alright, all she could feel for a while was anger. At her dad, Galvin, herself, and even Erin! Why had she walked in on her!?

No, she thought, clearing her mind, she wasn’t mad at Erin. Just herself: for cutting, for going back inside and talking to Galvin, for coming to this stupid camp! Maybe if she’d been a better daughter, her father wouldn’t have brought her here. He would have kept her because he would have truly loved her. This was all her fault.

After a while, she asked, “Why are you doing this?”

“Because you caught my eye, and you seem really upset.”

“I caught your eye?”

“Look, my point is I don’t like seeing a crying girl have to suck it up and go out to a crowd of people, acting like nothing happened.”

She sat up now, and staring him straight in the eye, repeated her question with more force. “What did you mean I caught your eye?”

For a moment, he just stared at her. “Sophie, you’re beautiful.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he spoke first. “I know that we just met yesterday.” He paused, and though it seemed like he wasn’t going to say anything else, Sophie felt that there was more bubbling just under the surface.

She wasn’t going to wait to say anything, though. “I’m not looking for a relationship.”

His face changed then, a sudden switch of something unidentifiable, and he said sternly, “And I’m not asking for one.” He stood, and she desperately wished he wouldn’t have.

“I didn’t—”

“You should go out and enjoy the party. It is for you, anyway.”

“It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to.” With that said, she fell back onto the bed, burying her face in her pillows once more with just the slightest hope that he wouldn’t leave. Of course, though, his heavy footsteps soon stomped through the hall and out the front door.

She sat up ten minutes later, looking in the mirror, and though what she saw wasn’t too pretty even after cleaning herself up, she set off for the celebration outside…

And saw Erin, walking beside a tan, black-haired boy, Paige, Sabrina, Mary, Kasie, and Charley. She walked towards them, and said, “Hey guys.”

Mary looked up and shouted, “There she is!”

Erin looked at her with sad eyes and said, “Sophie, this is Scott; Scott, this is Sophie.”

The black haired boy— Scott— turned to Sophie, and he smiled a cute smile. “Hey,” he said with a deep voice.

She felt blood rush to her cheeks. “Hi,” she replied simply.

Charley chose then to jump in. “We were just talking about you, and then, pow! There you were!”

Paige giggled at her, and then another boy came over to their little group. “Hey,” he said to Sophie, “I’m Kyle.”

“Sophie.” She smiled her best smile at him, but glanced once more at Scott. Now she thought she saw him blush. Smiling, she surveyed her surroundings. They were standing beside a circular stone wall, in which there was a fire pit. The six-foot stone wall wrapped around the fire as a great around-the-fire scenario.

“Let’s climb,” said Erin.

The rocks were pretty easy to climb, and since Sophie was up first, she lent Erin a hand. After everyone was on top of the wall, she found herself seated between Erin and Scott.

There were a few guys up there that she didn’t know, so as they were talking and each having separate conversations, Sophie announced, “I’d like to ask a favor of all the guys here.” Everyone went silent and stared at her, and her face flushed again. “Can everyone just tell me their names?”

Every single guy, and even some girls, spoke at once, but over everyone, Scott’s voice was heard shouting, “Scott Bane!”

There was an awkward silence as everyone stared at Scott…then laughter. After a couple minutes, the giggles calmed down and they went clockwise from Scott.

“Roy Sted,” said a ginger-haired, freckly boy who looked only fourteen or fifteen.

“Brad Mamlé.” He was Hispanic, with a slight accent and very dark skin.

Next was a lean, pale boy who looked at least eighteen. “Charles Adams.”

“Mine,” shouted Charley as she poked her head over the side of the wall and ran to hug Charles. Sophie laughed at this and then looked at the blond, blue-eyed boy next to him whose name was Kyle Attaway. Next to him was Travis Porter, who had light brown hair and green eyes. That was all— six guys, eight girls, Camp Koradel, and a bonfire pit.

——————————————

“I wish it was night already,” Sabrina blurted, twisting her hair in her fingers absently. It had to be at least 3 by then, and the sun was hot; Sophie thought she felt her face burning a little.

“Me too,” Paige agreed, “Wednesday nights are, like, amazing.”

“Why?” Sophie asked them.

“Oh,” Paige said with a devious smile, “You’ll see.”

She and Sabrina laughed, and then Erin told her, “Don’t worry; It really is very fun. Isn’t it, Scott?”

Scott, sitting between Sophie and Paige, smiled and nodded. “You’ll like it.”

“I hate curiosity,” Sophie said matter-of-factly.

Scott said thoughtfully, “Me too.”

She turned so that she was facing him. “What are you curious about?”

Scanning Sophie, he seemed to decide that he wanted to tell her. “Do you want to walk with me?”

Hastily nodding, Sophie turned back to Erin and whispered in her ear where they were going. She gave Sophie and encouraging smile and hugged her before they went. On one side of the stone wall was the girls’ cabin, and on the other was the forest. They climbed down on that side and began walking through the many trees.

“You,” Scott said suddenly.

“Huh?” She asked brilliantly.

He chuckled. “I’m curious about you”

“Well, what would you like to know?”

“Anything,” he said, and she sighed. “Where did you live and who did you live with before you came here?”

“Do you know where Campbell Road is in Mount Juliet?” He nodded with a little grin, so she continued, “I lived about five minutes from that street with my dad.”

“Just your dad?”

“Yeah, Mom died years ago.”

“I’m sorry. He never found anyone else?”

She hesitated. “Not really…”

Apparently not noticing her discomfort, he said, “What’s your full name?”

“Sophie Belle Graham.”

His eyes kind of glimmered as he stared at her. “It fits.”

“Fits what?”

Never taking his eyes off of her, he whispered, “Your beauty.”

A few silent minutes later, as if nothing had happened, he said, “Scott Troy Bane is way less attractive.”

Sophie disagreed but didn’t argue. “How old are you?”

“Seventeen; I’ll be turning 18 in about 3 months.”

Sophie smiled. “I’m sixteen.”

Soon, they figured out they had actually gone to the same school, and they discussed everything they could think of from there on, from their favorite type of pencil to what kind of things they liked to do. He worked on his father’s farm, and he had a silly habit of twirling the ring on his right ring finger when thinking intently. It was a class ring with a blue jewel in the middle of the silver band.

After a little while of meaningless conversation, Sophie’s name was called from the fire pit.

“We should probably go back,” Scott said sadly. Sophie nodded while telling herself silently that he wasn’t actually upset that they had to go back, but she couldn’t think of any other reason he would sound upset like that. When did boys start to notice me so much? She asked herself with a small smile.

It was Erin calling her name, and she smiled apologetically when they appeared through the trees.