Atonement Retreat

Izzie wanted to go home. She wanted to go back to the little ranch home she grew up in, even if it meant spending the hot summer afternoons listening to her mother complain about the temperature. She wanted to spend her nights eating fast food ice cream and listening to crappy radio music, because anything was better than what she was doing right now. She sat on one of the picnic tables, furthest from the door so she could properly sulk without being harassed.

The bench opposite of hers creaked, indicating that someone was sitting in front of her. She felt her heart race, wondering if Tyler had come to apologize. Or maybe it was Rian, filling her in on some perverse thing or another that had occurred. When Izzie finally pried her blue eyes away from the tattered wood, she was shocked to see Dylan in front of her.

“Don’t give me that look,” He grumbled, fiddling with his tray of food uneasily as he assessed her. Izzie shrugged unapologetically.

“Sorry, wasn’t expecting it to be you.” She murmured, glancing at her own tray of food. She hadn’t even attempted to humor her healthy assortment of foods, other than picking at the wrapper of her granola bar.

“Didn’t mean to disappoint you,” Dylan sneered lightly. “Are you okay? You look like you just saw someone run over a puppy.”

Izzie screwed up her face. Tyler hadn’t run over a puppy, but she felt like he would’ve enjoyed possibly running her over. She felt her cheeks heat up as she remembered what he did yesterday, screaming at her incessantly with several of her campers within earshot. Never in her life, had Izzie ever felt as embarrassed as she did in that moment. Knowing that someone detested her to the point that it brought them to yelling made her squirm uncomfortably. She would lose nights of sleep over this.

“Hey,” Dylan’s voice interrupted her from her thoughts. “I heard what happened...”

Izzie held up a hand. “I just don’t want to talk about it, okay? I really-”

“No, no. I just wanted to say I’m sorry.” Dylan looked like he was struggling with himself immensely, his face taking on several expressions before he began speaking again. “I promise, Tyler’s not as big of a dick as he seems. He’s just been going through a really rough patch. I thought maybe this would be good for him, but he’s just not snapping out of it.”

There was a mean girl inside of Izzie that wanted her to not give a hoot about Tyler and whatever issues he had. However, deep past her bitter feelings she was intrigued. “What do you mean?”

Dylan half-heartedly shrugged. “He’s just going through a bad break up or whatever. He’s just not getting out of this funk. But really, I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve to get your head ripped off.”

She laughed dryly. “Well, maybe I did. I mean according to him, I’m pretty annoying... so.”

“Seriously, don’t take it to heart.”

“Easier said than done, but I appreciate it. Really.” Izzie told him flatly, forcing a smile onto her lips as she stood. She gazed down at her food again, before pushing it toward him lightly. “If you want, you can have the rest. I’m not hungry.”

“Thanks.” Dylan eyed her as she stood up, giving him one last forced smile before moving back into the throng of young campers.

Izzie absolutely hated that she wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere else but the present moment. As she walked, she found it becoming increasingly more difficult to act as excited as the campers were as they buzzed and speculated what activities they would be partaking in that day. She spotted Tyler, sitting at a table with a handful of kids who looked to be trading fruit snacks as if they were illegal drugs. He sat unsmiling, his head bent at an angle that suggested he was looking at something in particular. If he felt Izzie’s unwavering gaze, he made no indication.

For a moment, she felt a pang of sadness for him. She wasn’t sure she completely bought Dylan’s words on Tyler’s mood swings being on account of a terrible break-up. The moment was fleeting however, and she found herself bitter and upset just like she was before.

She’d decided to spare him the pity, ignoring him as she rounded up her campers. This morning they seemed to be scattered throughout the dining lodge, something that was testing her patience nearly as much as Tyler pouting in the distance.

Izzie and the campers made their way to the makeshift, dusty baseball field located in the far corner of the campgrounds. It was either softball, soccer, or football, and since she had no desire to embarrass herself at the other sports she was making softball mandatory.

“Didn’t you play softball?” Marissa asked sweetly, blinking up at Izzie with doe eyes as she watched the older girl distribute the equipment. Izzie grabbed a bat, sizing it up with a few swings as the camper kicked at the softballs.

“Yeah, I played in a rec league.” Izzie responded nonchalantly. “Nothing special.”

The boys were quickly snatching the best of the tattered softballs, congregating loudly and making a scene of electing Tyler to be the pitcher. Izzie glared at him, watching as he laughed among them as if all was well in the world.

“Stop staring at him!” Marissa chided loudly, a toothy grin on her face as she rolled up her small sleeves. “Instead of hitting the ball, hit him instead!”

“And that,” Izzie smirked, wiggling as they congregated past the dugout. “Is why you’re my favorite little camper, Marissa.”

Marissa beamed at the praise, motioning for Izzie to step up to the plate. Izzie huffed, knowing that Tyler would be glaring at her from the mound. Sure enough, when she stepped up to kick the dirt off of home plate, she could feel his narrowed eyes heavy on her form.

Izzie couldn’t help but grin as she heard some of the children clapping and cheering her on as she took a couple of practice swings. Tyler seemed to look through her as he tossed the ball between his hands, an action that made her nervous.

“Are you gonna pitch, or no?” Izzie shouted indignantly. He didn’t acknowledge that she even spoke, throwing the ball up in the air a few more times before winding up and lobbing the ball. She flinched as it sailed past her, and the small umpire behind her called a strike. Tyler smirked triumphantly, appearing to be proud of himself. Izzie murmured under her breath, "Asshole."

There was a series of complex hand gestures between the pitcher and the catcher, which consisted of twitchy movements that made Tyler look like he was having a seizure. He lobbed the ball again, this time much quicker and lower to the ground. Izzie hadn't realized how close the ball was traveling toward her until it painfully clipped her shin bone. She let out a yelp, dropping the bat as she immediately dropped to her knee to grab the pulsating spot. She was stunned at how quickly it began to hurt, the pain traveling down to her ankle as she howled in pain.

"Burn in hell, Posey!" Izzie screamed through gritted teeth, her emotions erupting as she stood tall on one leg. She gazed down for a second, feeling herself seethe at the obvious goose egg that was already threatening to appear on the bone. Tyler said something in response, but the throbbing pain overrode anything he had to say.

"Izzie!" Marissa's cry was high and squeaky as she placed a hand on the taller girl's arm worriedly. "Sit on the bench, I'll get ice!"

Izzie attempted to resist, feeling very much out of control that a camper was taking control of a situation when she should've. She watched helplessly as Marissa promptly ran off, leaving her no choice to allow the little umpire to help her to the bench in the dugout. Tyler remained with his back to her a distance away, which was probably his best bet. With the feelings flooding through Izzie's veins, she wasn't sure she would be able to refrain from taking her bat and swinging it at his legs.

Hours later after the incident blew over, Izzie was hobbling among the lodges to find Rian for a complaint session when she was intercepted by Nicole. "Isabelle, you're just who I was looking for."

The tone was severe, instantly managing to worsen Izzie's already sour mood. "Me?"

"Yes, you." Nicole sighed exasperatedly. "Isabelle, what is this I hear that you were screaming at Tyler to 'burn in hell' today during sports? I thought I made it clear that your attitude toward him needed to change. He's doing us a huge favor here, he's helping keep this place running."

"Nicole, he-"

"There's no excuses, Iz. This was your idea, to get Tyler and Dylan out here. I don't know what's going on right now, but whatever is going on between you and Tyler is creating a toxic environment for the campers. They come here to escape bad situations, not to be thrown into another one." Nicole explained. The words brought tears to Izzie's eyes as they hit her like a sucker punch to the stomach. "Now I understand that the issue isn't one-sided, and after speaking with some of the others I've decided it's best that you and Tyler take a few trips to see Mark."

Mark Bowen, who was a counselor a few years older than Izzie, was also a peer mediator at Atonement Retreat who would oftentimes settle disputes that arose between the campers. While the backgrounds of the kids at Atonement varied, it wasn't rare to have a lodge with more than one child with a conflicting anger problem that resorted to fist fighting. It wasn't a popular occurrence, but it gave him something to do other than boss people around.

Realizing that she and Tyler would be treated like the children, made Izzie's cheeks burn.

"And I'm really, really sorry to do this Izzie... but I'm suspending you from your lodge for the next two days. I think you need to rest your leg, and it would be beneficial to the kids to have a break from the... drama."

"Nicole, please. No. Don't take this away from me..." Izzie fought, albeit knowing her efforts would be futile. It was clear on the older woman's face that a decision had already been made.

"It's not permanent. Tomorrow you can wash the tables in the craft room. I'll get you some 'Goo-Gone' and you'll be able to sit and elevate that leg while you clean." Nicole told her. "Now go get some rest, okay? And for god's sakes, please just stop fighting. I hate having to do this to you."

Izzie balked as the woman walked away from her, the embarrassment evident in the color on her cheeks as she continued to process the influx of information.

She was being punished.