Embrace Yourself
chapter one.
“I’m pretty excited to be here this summer, and I’m not even a part of the struggling youth,” Louis commented as he tossed his suitcase on the bottom bunk of the bed that he would be sharing with one of his best friends, Liam, for the rest of the summer.
Louis’ stepfather worked at Camp Hope, a place where struggling youth would come for the summer to “try to find themselves” and to “make friends while staying out of trouble”. Louis agreed that it was a nice, outdoorsy place to spend the summer at, but he wasn’t sure if keeping dozens of troubled teenagers locked in this one camp would be the best idea. Before he came here to work as a cook with his four best friends, he imagined seeing teenagers going through drug withdrawals and getting into knife-fights, but his stepfather told him that it was nothing like that. It was somewhere where the teens were accepted and where they could get help to become better people, and Louis left it at that because he was just here to help for the summer and that was it.
“Yeah, it should be fun,” Louis’ other friend, Niall, agreed as he climbed up on the top bunk of the bed that he would be sharing with Harry. “We get to go backpacking and all of that with the rest of the people, right?”
Louis nodded his head as he unzipped his suitcase and started to stuff his clothes in the two top drawers of one of the two dressers in the room. “Yeah, we get to do everything that they do. The only thing they don’t do that we do is serve the food.”
“So, what’s on the agenda for the first day?” Zayn asked curiously as he plopped down on the twin bed that he would be spending his nights of the summer in. “Are we doing anything special?”
“Mark said to meet in the dining hall in the next hour so we can have dinner with the troubled youth,” Louis answered as he looked at all of his friends. “We’re going to be separated because we all can’t sit together at one table.”
“Well, that’s going to be awkward,” Liam muttered as he began putting his clothes away. “We have to make friends with people who are completely different than us.”
“I don’t think it’ll be that bad,” Louis replied honestly, wanting to go into this whole experience with an open mind. “Maybe we’ll make some friends, who knows? And maybe we’ll have an awesome time. What else would we have done this summer if we weren’t going to be here?”
“Play videogames and go to the beach…” Niall trailed off as he glanced over at Louis while the rest of his friends nodded their heads in agreement.
“We’ll be swimming here and we can have plenty of fun without videogames,” Louis stated matter of factly. “Let’s just have fun this summer. Okay?”
“Okay,” the rest of the guys said in unison before they all started to unpack their suitcases before it was time for dinner.
+
After four hours on the bus, Brady was finally at Camp Hope. She sighed to herself as she looked out the window at where she would be spending the whole summer at. She dreaded the bus ride, which was full of silence and awkwardness among her and the rest of the “struggling youth”, and she was sure she would dread the rest of the summer just as much, if not more.
The bus driver opened the door so everyone could step off, and Brady grabbed her bags and entered the isle way so she could file off of the bus with the rest of the boys and girls that were around her age. She looked around at everyone and even if she had something in common with them, she knew she wouldn’t get along with any of them. Brady was never one to make friends and to approach a group spontaneously, and she was okay with spending the summer as a loner. She was used to being by herself; she was an only child and whenever she was home she was alone. It was just the fact that she wasn’t home that pissed her off.
As she exited the bus, she glared at the bus driver, who she knew would get to go home after everyone was off the bus. She stepped off and looked around at her surroundings—at her home for the summer. There were tall, green trees towering over her and there were numerous buildings that she was sure she would get lost among while trying to find her way around. Dozens of adults and teenagers were walking around trying to get to where they were supposed to be, and Brady was already overwhelmed with how many people were lingering around.
She slowly started towards a huge group of people that were by three adults with clipboards, hoping that they would help her get to where she was supposed to be. Except that she was trying to accomplish this without having to have a conversation with any of them.
“In the main building, which is called Snyder Hall, you will find a list of your names and where you will be staying for the summer,” one of the adults said as he looked among all of the teenagers that were surrounding him. “Snyder Hall is straight to your right, so go inside and find out where you should be. Dinner will be in an hour so make sure to be in the dining hall in the next hour, which is the building directly behind me.”
Brady grunted to herself as she hoisted her backpack over her shoulder and readjusted her grip she had on her duffle bag before walking towards Snyder Hall to find out where she would be rooming this summer. She ignored everyone running circles around her as she headed towards the giant building to her right. She wanted to get inside her room and be able to unpack her things so she could just get the first night over with.
Once she got to Snyder Hall, she went inside to see what seemed like hundreds of teens crowded around the tables that had lists on them. She wasn’t sure why Camp Hope couldn’t have sent her some information in the mail to make everything easier for her and everyone else, but she wasn’t going to question anyone about it.
After looking around at some of the lists that she managed to squeeze her way to, she found out that she was in Carver Hall room number 132, and she made her way towards the building so she could get away from the swarm of people. She pulled out a map that she got from the bus driver on the bus and started to make her way towards Carver Hall, hoping that her roommate(s) weren’t complete fucks.
+
Once Brady opened the door to her room (when she finally found it), she went inside to see a girl sitting on the top bunk of a bed and another girl on a twin bed reading a book. The girl sitting on the top bunk had blonde hair, blue eyes, and seemed to be about Brady’s size. She didn’t say anything and she just watched as Brady made her way into the room and tossed her bags onto the bottom bunk. Brady glanced over at the girl on the twin bed, who had brown hair, brown eyes, and was skinny and tall. Not bothering to greet the girls who were now her roommates, Brady started to unpack her things. She walked over to one of the two dressers in the room and pulled the top drawer open to see that it was already full of clothes.
“I left the bottom two drawers for you,” the girl with blonde hair commented as she continued to watch Brady. Her tone was slightly clipped and unfriendly, causing Brady to bite her tongue to refrain from saying something snarky.
“Thanks,” was all Brady said as she closed the top drawer and opened the third drawer, before tossing her clothes into it. It was silent between the three girls for nearly a half hour, the brunette absorbed in whatever book she was reading and the blonde just sitting on the top bunk watching Brady. When it was finally time to go to dinner, Brady heaved a small sigh of relief before she exited the room, leaving her roommates back in the room.
Louis’ stepfather worked at Camp Hope, a place where struggling youth would come for the summer to “try to find themselves” and to “make friends while staying out of trouble”. Louis agreed that it was a nice, outdoorsy place to spend the summer at, but he wasn’t sure if keeping dozens of troubled teenagers locked in this one camp would be the best idea. Before he came here to work as a cook with his four best friends, he imagined seeing teenagers going through drug withdrawals and getting into knife-fights, but his stepfather told him that it was nothing like that. It was somewhere where the teens were accepted and where they could get help to become better people, and Louis left it at that because he was just here to help for the summer and that was it.
“Yeah, it should be fun,” Louis’ other friend, Niall, agreed as he climbed up on the top bunk of the bed that he would be sharing with Harry. “We get to go backpacking and all of that with the rest of the people, right?”
Louis nodded his head as he unzipped his suitcase and started to stuff his clothes in the two top drawers of one of the two dressers in the room. “Yeah, we get to do everything that they do. The only thing they don’t do that we do is serve the food.”
“So, what’s on the agenda for the first day?” Zayn asked curiously as he plopped down on the twin bed that he would be spending his nights of the summer in. “Are we doing anything special?”
“Mark said to meet in the dining hall in the next hour so we can have dinner with the troubled youth,” Louis answered as he looked at all of his friends. “We’re going to be separated because we all can’t sit together at one table.”
“Well, that’s going to be awkward,” Liam muttered as he began putting his clothes away. “We have to make friends with people who are completely different than us.”
“I don’t think it’ll be that bad,” Louis replied honestly, wanting to go into this whole experience with an open mind. “Maybe we’ll make some friends, who knows? And maybe we’ll have an awesome time. What else would we have done this summer if we weren’t going to be here?”
“Play videogames and go to the beach…” Niall trailed off as he glanced over at Louis while the rest of his friends nodded their heads in agreement.
“We’ll be swimming here and we can have plenty of fun without videogames,” Louis stated matter of factly. “Let’s just have fun this summer. Okay?”
“Okay,” the rest of the guys said in unison before they all started to unpack their suitcases before it was time for dinner.
+
After four hours on the bus, Brady was finally at Camp Hope. She sighed to herself as she looked out the window at where she would be spending the whole summer at. She dreaded the bus ride, which was full of silence and awkwardness among her and the rest of the “struggling youth”, and she was sure she would dread the rest of the summer just as much, if not more.
The bus driver opened the door so everyone could step off, and Brady grabbed her bags and entered the isle way so she could file off of the bus with the rest of the boys and girls that were around her age. She looked around at everyone and even if she had something in common with them, she knew she wouldn’t get along with any of them. Brady was never one to make friends and to approach a group spontaneously, and she was okay with spending the summer as a loner. She was used to being by herself; she was an only child and whenever she was home she was alone. It was just the fact that she wasn’t home that pissed her off.
As she exited the bus, she glared at the bus driver, who she knew would get to go home after everyone was off the bus. She stepped off and looked around at her surroundings—at her home for the summer. There were tall, green trees towering over her and there were numerous buildings that she was sure she would get lost among while trying to find her way around. Dozens of adults and teenagers were walking around trying to get to where they were supposed to be, and Brady was already overwhelmed with how many people were lingering around.
She slowly started towards a huge group of people that were by three adults with clipboards, hoping that they would help her get to where she was supposed to be. Except that she was trying to accomplish this without having to have a conversation with any of them.
“In the main building, which is called Snyder Hall, you will find a list of your names and where you will be staying for the summer,” one of the adults said as he looked among all of the teenagers that were surrounding him. “Snyder Hall is straight to your right, so go inside and find out where you should be. Dinner will be in an hour so make sure to be in the dining hall in the next hour, which is the building directly behind me.”
Brady grunted to herself as she hoisted her backpack over her shoulder and readjusted her grip she had on her duffle bag before walking towards Snyder Hall to find out where she would be rooming this summer. She ignored everyone running circles around her as she headed towards the giant building to her right. She wanted to get inside her room and be able to unpack her things so she could just get the first night over with.
Once she got to Snyder Hall, she went inside to see what seemed like hundreds of teens crowded around the tables that had lists on them. She wasn’t sure why Camp Hope couldn’t have sent her some information in the mail to make everything easier for her and everyone else, but she wasn’t going to question anyone about it.
After looking around at some of the lists that she managed to squeeze her way to, she found out that she was in Carver Hall room number 132, and she made her way towards the building so she could get away from the swarm of people. She pulled out a map that she got from the bus driver on the bus and started to make her way towards Carver Hall, hoping that her roommate(s) weren’t complete fucks.
+
Once Brady opened the door to her room (when she finally found it), she went inside to see a girl sitting on the top bunk of a bed and another girl on a twin bed reading a book. The girl sitting on the top bunk had blonde hair, blue eyes, and seemed to be about Brady’s size. She didn’t say anything and she just watched as Brady made her way into the room and tossed her bags onto the bottom bunk. Brady glanced over at the girl on the twin bed, who had brown hair, brown eyes, and was skinny and tall. Not bothering to greet the girls who were now her roommates, Brady started to unpack her things. She walked over to one of the two dressers in the room and pulled the top drawer open to see that it was already full of clothes.
“I left the bottom two drawers for you,” the girl with blonde hair commented as she continued to watch Brady. Her tone was slightly clipped and unfriendly, causing Brady to bite her tongue to refrain from saying something snarky.
“Thanks,” was all Brady said as she closed the top drawer and opened the third drawer, before tossing her clothes into it. It was silent between the three girls for nearly a half hour, the brunette absorbed in whatever book she was reading and the blonde just sitting on the top bunk watching Brady. When it was finally time to go to dinner, Brady heaved a small sigh of relief before she exited the room, leaving her roommates back in the room.
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i posted this chapter so quickly because i felt like the prologue was a bit boring. i'm going to try to get this story to move quick, but i always have a problem with that, so i'm sorry if it is a bit dragged at the beginning. i really hope you all like this story and PLEASE give me feedback. thank you to the people who have commented and subscribed already, and please keep the feedback coming. thank you all so much. :)