Jonas
"We are about 5 minutes away from our super fun summer at Camp Pinecove!" says the Camp Counselor over the intercom. Her voice is the first thing I heard when I woke up from the long bus ride from Houston. "So let's be happy and perky and ready to start this adventure! It will be a summer you'll never forget Who knows? Maybe you'll end up meeting your best friend!"
The peachy feelings, the upbeat attitude, the positive environment that has so desperately been advertised as something to be felt this summer is too much for me to bear. None of these kids are people that I would reach out to as one of my best friends, and I know because not a single one of them was there for me this year when dad passed.
Mom thought that this would be a good experience for me to get out of the house and enjoy something "fun" after the tragedy. Judging by the looks on everyone's faces that I've seen on this bus, everyone is pretty much feeling the same way as me.
"Take me out of my misery." says Rosalie Clarke from across the aisle.
She's been in every one of my classes since the age of five when we walked into Ms. Jander's kindergarten classroom. She's stunning in every way imaginable. She makes it hard not to stare at her, and she doesn't even try. I've been super curious as to how she found herself in this situation. I want to ask her, but I haven't been able to work up the courage to do so.
The bumpy gravel smooths out as we pull into the parking lot of the camp. In the parking lot is a giant building that I'm assuming is the mess hall, and on either side of the mess hall are trails leading to the cabins that we'll be staying in this summer.
"Rooming is going to be super great this year!" says the camp counselor. "My name is Rita for those of you who were too tired to remember that from this morning. My partner Mike is over there with your room assignments. Please exit in a single file line off of the bus and grab your things from the storage container in the trunk of the bus!" She nods her head and gives a smile that I don't think she believes, and walks off the bus and opens up the trunk of the bus.
We file into the aisle one by one just wanting to get off the bus. "Well, loser! It looks like it's going to be a great summer!" says Charlie clapping me on the back. "I hope we are bunkmates! It'll be loads of fun!"
Charlie Walker is the epitome of the guy that "peaked in high school starter pack." Junior captain to the football team. And has dated Rosalie on and off since Freshman year. He's the person that every guy in the school wants to be, and most girls want to get with him. Why he's here is no secret. His parents' vacation in Bora Bora every year, but his strong partying climate that he surrounds himself with during the school year finally caught up with him when he got caught high in algebra class. He made sure to make a big scene when he got back from his suspension at the end of this year.
"Charlie don't you have something better to do?" asks Rosalie without looking at either of us as she walks towards the exit of the bus. "I heard that there is a cliff down one of the trails that you can dive from."
Charlie instantly gets quiet, and we get off the bus walking towards the trunk where we can grab our suitcase.
Rita is standing next to an equally as perky guy in shorts that are way to short for his height. He has freckles and a giant pimple right at the base of his nose that looks like it's ready to bust. "Howdy campers," he says with a giant coffee-stained smile. "My name is Mike! I'm the male camp advisor while we are here at Camp Pinecove! We have some things to get through today, but let us get on ahead with the room assignments!"
He goes down a list of male names. As the boys began to pair off, I notice that the possibility of me having to room with Charlie Walker for the summer is looking to be more and more of a possibility.
"Jonas James," says Mike with a smile. "Will be roomies with Mr. Charles Walker!" A snort erupts from behind me, and my summer is even more ruined than it was when mom told me that I had to come here in the first place. "Come on over and get your key boys! You'll be staying in cabin #2."
Charlie claps his hand on my shoulder, harder than socially acceptable, and grabs the key out of Mike's hand. "This is going to be a great summer, Jonas," he says with a smile as he forces me towards the trails that lead to the cabin. "I'm not happy I'm here, but at least I have something to do from now on, loser." he says as he swings his bags into my arms. "Carry my stuff, don't drop it."
I roll my eyes and throw his bag onto the gravel trail. He turns to me like he's ready to start some sort of fight, but I step up to his face, and he looks surprised. "Look, I've had the year from hell. My dad died a couple of months ago, my mom has been a total nervous wreck, and I'm not going to deal with you driving me crazy this summer. So if you want to get over the petty high school bullshit and act civil let me know, if not I can just put in a request to switch rooms."
Charlie stares at me with a look mixed with emotions of impressiveness and respect and shakes out his hand. "You don't get in my way I won't get in yours." he says.
I shake his hand give him a light smile. "Deal."
It takes us a minute to find the cabin. Charlie doesn't bother with small talk as we walk, and to be honest, it doesn't bother me that he isn't the most chatty. I don't know him other than the times that he's thrown me up against the lockers in passing at school. I don't want to either.
"This is us." he says as he walks up to the porch of a well-sized cabin. He places the key in the lock and walks into the cabin, and I'm surprised at how nice it is. The bunk beds I was expecting to have two full sized beds on opposite sides of the room in the cabins. The mattress looks a little beat up, but I don't think the sleep will be too bad. There's a giant window in the back center wall of our room that takes up a good portion of the wall. On the left side of the room is the bathroom, and we each have our own dressers for our stuff.
"Left or right?" I ask him referring to the beds. Charlie instead walks over to the bed farthest away from the bathroom and sits down on it. "I'd rather not smell the shits you take, dude." he says as he kicks back onto the mattress and places his pillow under his head.
"Tough break about your dad," he says not looking at me. "I didn't know that happened to your family."
"It wasn't exactly something I like to advertise," I say walking over to my own bed and sitting down. "He struggled with cancer for a long time, but he fought for as long as he could. I just wish he got to see me walk the stage next year." I say surprised at how much I just opened up to him.
"I'm sure he was proud, Jonas," says Charlie being unusually sympathetic."God, I hate this place." he says sitting up and looking around the room. "As far as camp cabins go I guess this was okay, but I could be in Bora Bora right now with girls in skimpy bikinis, but instead I'm stuck in a cabin in the middle of nowhere Texas with your scrawny ass."
Well, that was short lived.
He gets up and begins to unpack his belongings into the dresser. I sit there and look around the room one more time before I get up and start to do the same. We unpack in silence, yet again before we hear a trumpet come over the loudspeaker outside our rooms.
"Good evening, Campers!" says Rita's enthusiastic voice over the intercom. "Now that you guys got a chance to settle in it's time for our very special camp orientation! Please make your way back to the mess hall where we will begin!"
Charlie walks to the door and swings it open and without a word throws the key behind him for me to catch. It clatters to the ground, and he turns around and chuckles to himself before he disappears down the trail. I quickly follow behind, walking out of the cabin and locking the door behind me.
I stroll towards the mess hall. I don't mind missing orientation if I'm honest. I'd be lucky if I accidentally did something to get kicked out of this place. I'm about halfway back to the mess hall when I hear someone running behind me.
"Oh good!" says a female voice. "I guess I'm not the only one that's going to be late!"
I turn around, and my voice instantly catches in my throat. Rosalie Clarke is jogging towards me right now. I quickly turn around to see if someone else is behind me, and when I don't see anyone, I get a nervous feeling sitting my stomach.
"Uh, yeah," I manage to choke out. "I, uh, I was unpacking."
"Jonas, right?" she says and then her eyes get wide. "And I just realized how much of a bitch I just sounded like considering we've been in every class since like 5th-grade together," she says as her cheeks turn a bit red. "Sorry about that, we just have never really talked."
"Yeah," I say resist the urge to correct the fact that it was kindergarten and not fifth grade. "This orientation sounds lame, huh?" I ask her as she glances at me a little shocked.
"How'd you even end up here, Jonas?" she asks me curiously. "I can't imagine that Mr. "I've never done anything wrong in my life" did something bad enough to end up in a reformatory camp for the summer."
"My mom was just worried about me." I say instantly wishing I could take it back.
"Right," she says as she places her hand on my shoulder. "I heard about your dad. I'm sorry that he passed, Jonas. That must have been pretty hard."
So not only does she know my name, but Rosalie Clarke knows about something that happened in my life? Finding out that you're visible is a bit overwhelming when it comes from the most popular girl in school. "So what about you?" I ask her in response. "What got you into this place?"
"We should probably hurry up," she says changing the subject quickly. "I don't want to run too late. Sit with me?"
My heart is skipping a beat right now as she takes me by the hand and leads me into the mess hall. I sit down next to her and see Charlie glaring at me from across the room. He is about to get up and walk over to us when the camp director comes onto the stage. "Campers," says a jolly looking man. He has a salt and pepper goatee and dark black hair on top of his head. "Welcome to Pinecove Reformatory Camp for Young Adults. My name is Dr. Asher Winthrop.I've worked with students just like you for many years." he says jumping down from the stage and walking towards the tables we are sitting at.
"Each of you has a reason for being here," he says. "Whether that is drugs, partying, loss. Something happened in your life that made your parents pause and hope that someone can help you. I'm here to tell you that I can." he says confidently. "Our program is designed to help you find the tools to make you a productive member of your society back in Houston. I hope that you kids will enjoy what we have this summer." He opens up a notebook and begins to tell us a long list of rules and expectations for our time here at camp. The first week is all about getting acquainted with the schedule that we are expected to follow while we are at camp. We are all expected to attend a therapy session once a week with Dr. Winthrop; we pick our schedules. We are expected to eat food as a group every day. Other than that, it's a free range.
"And remember, Friday night we are having our "We Survived Week 1" smore bonfire. Attendance is mandatory!"
He wraps up the introduction, and Rosalie laughs as she throws her head back and says "Finally!" she turns to me and gives me a smile that could set the whole world on fire, and then clears her throat. "Hey, do you want to sit with me at dinner? I know that might be a little forward, but you're the only one that hasn't treated me like I'm some delicate princess since I've gotten here."
"Uh, sure!" I say surprised at how confident that came out. "Yeah, I'll meet you at dinner time."
"Sounds like a plan," she says with a smile as she gets up from the table. "Emma, wait up!" she says stopping a girl wearing entirely to much black make up. "Me and my roomie are setting "cabin guidelines," she says with a laugh. "See you soon, Jonas."
She walks out of the room, and as I stand up, a pair of strong hands get placed on my shoulders and shove me back down into the seat. Charlie Walker leans his face down next to my ear and snarls through his teeth, "Just because we agreed to be civil doesn't mean it has to stay that way. Rosalie and I might be off right now, but we will be on again soon enough. Stay away from my girl."
He storms out of the mess hall. I'm left alone to sit in shock as to what the day as held for me. Dinner with Rosalie Clarke? This summer might not be so bad after all.
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Hey guys! I just wanted to thank you for all the support of reading this story. I have a lot of ideas for this, and I hope you guys stick around to see it! I am posting the pictures of the cast in the bottom of this chapter since some of the people I have "cast" in these roles are a bit unknown! I hope you enjoy my vision! (Some characters are cast that you've never heard of, but you'll meet them soon.)
Ansel Elgort as Jonas James (Junior, 17)
"The Average Joe"
Scarlet Leithold as Rosalie Clarke (Junior, 16)
"The Queen Bee"
Thomas Langhendries as Charlie Walker (Junior, 17)
"The Jock"
Eden Fines as Emma Davis (Senior, 18)
"Dark and Twisty"
Leighton Meester as Rachel (Junior, 17)
"The Silver Spoon"
Thomas McDonell as Jeremy (Junior, 17)
"The Follower"
Cameron Boyce as Gonzalo (Senior, 18)
"The Jokester"
Duckie Thot as Whitney (Senior, 18)
"The Good Girl"
Adela Mae Marshall as Rita (College Student, 21)
Asa Butterfield as Mike (College Student, 20)
Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Winthrop (Old)
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