Chapter Text
Chrys Willet is having the worst year ever.
This must have been how it always was going to turn out. What was she truly expecting? Nothing in her life turned out the way she planned. No amount of dandelions or birthday candles being blown altered her reality. She was always going to be stuck in an endless loop of hurt and pain.
The same way the world spun was the same way she had only known the decay of her soul as she got older.
Whatever happened during the year was past her. Sort of. She just needed to sort her head out and forget everything about her past. She moved away to get away from the crime scene, the thoughts that plagued her head.
Certainly not by choice. However, there wasn't any other option available. And so, Chrys packed up her entire life in cardboard boxes and shipped herself miles away to live with her cousin of all people! She hadn't seen Rel since they were eleven. Everything crashed and burned and now she had to endure this.
She wished she could just close her eyes and wake up when the her body and mind stopped feeling so much agony. When she could stop waking up and feeling like time hadn't moved and that it was still the first day after the incident.
"Hey, Chrys," Rel appeared in the doorway. "I have a little favor to ask." He grinned as he inches closer to the bed she currently laid on.
"What?" She questioned his antics, especially given his behavior. He was too cheerful, too close all the time, too much.
"So I know you've only been here for a few weeks, and school's out. But I knew you were coming up here a few weeks before, while you were still in Chicago... So I signed both of us as summer camp counselors." He glanced around the room frantically as an attempt to hope she would understand.
"What? Why the hell would you do that? Did you really think I would want to do that? You've lost your mind!" She yelled. She couldn't believe it. Why would Rel do something like this to her? Summer camp! She'd only been to one summer camp in her whole life. How was she supposed to be a counselor for kids?
"Look, I get it. But you're new to town! It's already a quiet place, so why not broaden your horizons! You'll meet new people, you'll be in the sun. There's cabins and lakes and hiking. It's only for one month, so you can have the rest of the summer to do whatever you do. Okay?" Rel stared at her as if he was trying to assess who she was.
"A month, a whole month! I could be doing other stuff I enjoy, but instead I'll have to be with kids that I don't even want to be around!"
"We're already signed up on the roster, so you better start packing. One month, that's all." He stated as he exited the room, smiling.
"Ugh." What the hell was he truly thinking? Did all of his brain cells evaporate? Chrys flung herself onto her head, groaning.
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They're back in the car. It's just like when he drove her miles away to the new place she resides in, a ghost that disturbed the silence between Rel and his family. It was nice of them to take her in, all mismatched puzzle pieces and jagged glass.
Except instead of all of the pieces of her life and boxes of her dad's records in the back of the car, they have suitcases. What fun. She can't wait for the sunshine and having to deal with kids 24 hours a day and--
"I know you're angry with me. But my friends will be there. I've been going to this camp since I was a child, and it's really not as bad as you think it is. I've even worked there a few summers ago, so there's that." Rel turned the steering wheel and positioned them back onto the road. "There's a lot to do there. We swim in the lake, canoe, do archery, make s'mores, and there are competitions. You'll really like it."
"Mmm. Sure I will." She glanced in the rearview mirror and caught Rel's eye. Glancing away, she slid down the seat and shoved her earphones on.
There's no way she's surviving a whole month.
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Camp Silverlake.
All the places she could be and she ended up here.
The sun filters through the leaves on the trees. The wooden sign reads, Welcome to Camp Silverlake! as she approached the sign-in table.
"What's your name?" A girl, around her age, asked. She had auburn hair, and crystal-blue eyes. She smiled at Chrys as she said the words and she really was beautiful.
"Chrys Willet." She stated, hoping to get the ordeal over with.
"Chrys Willet... Chrys... Oh! There you are! Counselor for Camp Silverlake. You're in Cabin 4. You'll be staying in a cabin with only female counselors. All of the kids have their own resort separate from the counselors. Since you're a counselor, there's a shirt for you to take, just so the kids know what you're here for. If you have any questions about what to do or what activities are offered each day, just ask me, alright?" She smiled, and Chrys swears she could eat all the sugar in the world and it wouldn't compare to how sweet the girl's smile is.
"Um.. yeah. It's my first time being here so.. I don't really know what I'm doing...but I'll figure it out." She blabbered nervously. She really didn't know why she's saying all of that, and to a total stranger at that. She needed to just take all her stuff to the cabin and get it over with. Chrys quickly grabbed a T-shirt, her chipped nail polish becoming more prominent than ever.
She scurried away as Rel moved toward the table. "Hey Ellie!" She heard him greet the girl in a cheerful manner.
So that's the girl's name. Ellie. It suited her. She seemed like an Ellie.
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There was someone already in Cabin 4.
Roommates!
The first thing Chrys noticed when she opened the wooden latch is that there was another girl in there. And that she was blonde.
Blonde, smooth hair. Blue eyes. Some sort of summer-fun-suntanning-at-the-beach form of a girl had taken shape in front of her.
"Hi! I'm Grace! You must be our roommate! It's so nice to meet you, we're going to have so much fun together!" She practically squealed, and hugged her so tight she almost crushed her lungs.
"Yeah, it's really nice to meet you too. I hope I have a good time." She murmured, a quiet sound compared to Grace's loud echo. "But what do you mean, 'our'?"
"Oh, my best friend is going us. It's just us three in the cabin." She stated, sitting down on the lower part of the bunk bed. The other bunk bed was across from it, with a desk separating the twin beds. Chrys awkwardly leaned on the leg of the bed.
"Who's your friend?"
"Ellie! Ellie Gains! She's managing the check-in area, so you must've seen her before. She's the sweetest girl alive! You'll love her, she's the perfect fit for a program like this. She wants to be a doctor one day, but she could really do anything since she's, like, super smart. It'll be so much fun having her around, and you! We'll have so much fun together!" She happily exclaimed.
"Oh, cool. Yeah. Um, I'll just unpack my stuff, so.." Chrys moved her bags away to the unoccupied bed as she tried to stop her shaking hands.
Ellie. Ellie Gains. She was best friends with Grace and now roommates with Chrys.
The day had barely begun and Chrys was already tired. How could she handle a month?