Chapter 40: Camp nightmare: Day one

By Saturday morning, I was just throwing clothes into my bags for the hockey camp. I had no idea what I needed, I basically just stuffed in clothes not even taking a look. I was in the middle zipping up my bags when there was a soft knock on my door. "Yeah!" I called. "Are you doing okay in here?" Meredith asked after opening the door. "I honestly don't know what I'm doing." I replied. She laughed softly and entered my bedroom. "Where are we?" She asked opening my bags and skimming through them.

"Did you remember to pack a toiletries bag?" She asked. "Nope." I walked to my bathroom and got the things that I will be needing. Meredith was helping me pack the right stuff. "It's probably no secret, but I suck as a girl." Meredith giggled. "The last time I went to a camp was when I was ten-years-old. My mom basically packed my bag." I told her. "There wasn't something like girlie soap or special shampoo for my hair." I continued. I was suddenly aware that I was doing this for the first time without my mom.

It got so overwhelming that I sat down on my bed. Meredith picked up on my sudden change in moods, she dropped what she was busy with and sat down next to me. "I'm a girl and in a few years I will be a woman and I don't even know how to pack my own bag." How dumb was that? "You just forgot that's all." She assured me. "And you are only finding your feet after five years, give yourself some credit. It's not easy to become a woman." She brushed her hand down my back in a comforting gesture.

"I'm still trying to figure out how to be a mother to Jonah and you. I still make mistakes while other mothers look like rockstars compare to me."

"But, you never gave up."

"I can't. I already failed you once, I should've tried to push harder. You too needed my help and I forgot."

"It's not your responsibility, Meredith. I was stubborn and should've asked for help." She smiled and gave me a hug. "Let's take baby steps." I nodded. "What about you and dad? The wedding? Why post-phone it? I wanted at first for you and my dad not to get married but realizing now, my dad needs you."

"For now, you are important. Getting you through school and getting you in College then we will discuss it again. But, for now, it is on hold. Your future comes first for now."

"Meredith..." She shook her head. "Hon, you have been through hell and mistreated by both your father and me. It's time that we look after you before looking after ourselves. We have been selfish for too long."

"Let's get you into College and then we will discuss the wedding plans, deal?"

"Deal." My father walked in when Meredith pulled me in for a hug. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we need to go." My father said tapping his watch. "Enjoy this camp." Meredith said before standing up and helping carry my bags with my father. Jonah stayed behind with Meredith while my father drove me over to the school early morning. I tried not to smile when I saw Brandon's Dodge parked in front of the school when we arrived.

He was leaning with his back against the car while wearing his shades. "What brings you to school this early?" I asked. When I got closer he removed his shades and showed me his tired eyes. "Not a morning person?" I asked amused. "Nope. I love my sleep, Adams, but I can't let you get on that bus without saying goodbye." He said. I believe that there were no words to express how I felt right now. "Come on, kids." My father interrupted. "The coach is calling all the hockey girls to the bus." My father said taking out my bags.

Brandon helped carry the bags as we made our way over to the bus. "Morning, Adams." Casey greeted when she too was loading her bags. Her eyes then found Brandon who was standing behind me helping me to load my bags. She quirked an eyebrow but didn't say anything. She then turned to walk away. "I'll see you on the bus." She said before leaving.

"She seems nice." Brandon teased. "She actually is when you pull back all the layers. Not like someone else we know." Brandon smirked. "I was meaning to ask, what happened the other day with you and Clarissa?" He didn't look amused anymore. "I had to give her a straight answer and a decent explanation of why I believe it was over between me and her."

"Did she handle it alright?" He pulled up his shoulders. "She cried, kept on begging for a second chance, and told me that she loves me. I never thought how difficult it is to break a girl's heart and it's not something I like doing." He said while he scratched the back of his neck. He looked utterly defeated. "All this time she actually fell in love with me when I tried to show her that there was nothing serious going on between us. I feel like an ass right now." It looked like he needed a hug right now.

"We need to talk when you get back, Adams." He said unable to make eye contact with me. "You are letting me get on the bus with that suspense ending?" He smiled at my reply. "It's not something to overthink about."

"You scare me sometimes, you know that right?" He chuckled and then overwhelmed me with a hug. "Nah, I'm not that scary." He said into my ear. "See you soon, Adams." He pulled away and then gave my father the chance to say goodbye. I finally got on the bus, Casey called motioning for me to sit down next to her. I decided to be nice for once and sat down next to her. "Brandon Hills, eh?" She asked. "He's a friend." I told her. "Hmm, okay." She didn't look convinced.

The coach boarded the bus and welcomed us all. "Well, girls. Today I'm standing with a smile on my face. So, who's ready as I am for this camp?" The girls didn't look convinced. "Come on, it will be fun." She then motioned for the bus driver to start the engine. "And now I'm scared." Nicole muttered from behind us.

The ride to the camp wasn't as long as we anticipated, but once we reached the camp everyone got silent. "Did we take the wrong turn?" Briana asked looking out the window. "I don't want to be someone's meal, I'm too young." Nicole joined in making the girls erupt in laughter. "No, girls. We are at the right camp and no there are no cannibals out her. Only wild animals."

"As if that makes any of a difference." Casey mumbled. Once the bus came to a stop, we grabbed our things and exit the bus. I looked around like the other girls did. There is a lake, a mud pit, a wall, and then a course with different types of obstacles. "Are we at some kind of Bootcamp?" Casey asked taking the words right out of my mouth.

"No, we actually call this our teambuilding camp." We turned to the voice. I heard Briana inhale sharply once her eyes laid on him. The guy looked like an elite soldier with his baggie pants, tight shirt tucked into his pants, and his warrior boots. He looked like he was about in his early twenties. "Oh, yummy." She murmured when he removed his hat. "Briana please keep your panties on." Casey muttered. "Come on, you are not going to agree with me that he is good-looking."

"No, some of us are immune to him and some of us already have a man in sight." Was she insinuating anything? "So, girls. From today we are going to start with team building." He motioned to the course. "Please make your way to your cabins, you have thirty-minutes to load off your luggage and get dressed into something more comfortable and then meet me at the course."

I was sharing a cabin with Casey, Briana, and Casey. We got our bags and made our way over to our cabin. It had two bunk beds, a bathroom and that's it. "Why does it feel like we are being treated like some soldiers?" Nicole asked. "You did see our instructor right?" I asked placing my bags on top of my bed. And then pulling out some shorts and a shirt. "Our yummy, instructor. Do you guys think that he will there to give us a boost?" Casey, Nicole, and I shared the same expression.

"You need to get laid." Casey said. "Yeah, and why not by him?" We groaned. We left the cabin after getting dressed and made our way to the course. "So, are we ready for some fun?" He asked. Does he call this fun?

Fifteen minutes later, we were dying for a breath of fresh air and a hot shower. We crawled through a mud pit, climbed a tall wall using each other as support to get over the wall, and then we had multiple obstacles on the course. "You can hit the showers now. Dinner will be served in the cafeteria at six on the dot. Don't be late."

We returned to our cabins, cleaned up, got dressed in clean clothes, and made our way down to the cafeteria. The girls went ahead to some food while I went over to the lake. I looked over my shoulder when I heard footsteps thinking it was the girls who decided to join me but to dismay, it wasn't.

"We meet again, Sasha-lee Adams."