a sister who's actions are untamed,
and a brother who's feelings are untamed.
With complete different personalities, yet an awesome bond, the siblings join a summer camp. She plans to fix her problems, he plans to make friends.
But while she's able...
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"Thomas, you can't just throw a knife at him and expect him to not go crazy," I hiss, pulling him behind the Homestead.
"I threw it at his feet! No, more like— I dropped the knife to the ground, and it landed in front of his feet," he says.
I sigh. "Why did you even grab a knife in the first place? Why would you run into the cafeteria full with kids, and why the hell did he call you that name? Stephen?"
"See?" He crosses his arms as he leans against the wall, face sadder than before. "As he said, everyone gets upset with me—"
"Hey." I slap his arm, hard. "Don't listen to him. Yes, you for sure made us upset because of this, but that's partly Janson's fault. He shouldn't have called you out like that, and you need to realize throwing knives at camp instructors isn't very appreciated. Now explain why he called you that— or just explain everything. What does he mean, your mom before your stepdad? Your real father? The divorce? Why—"
"Lelia, stop." Thomas rubs the back of his neck. I quickly close my mouth, now ashamed. I'm just too curious.
"You told me your parents had a divorce," I retry. This time, I speak slower. It's hard to keep calm, but I do my best.
"I did?"
"Yeah. When you and I were drunk. But you don't remember what you say or do when you're drunk. And most people always tell truths when they're drunk, so I'm confused how you didn't."
"Perhaps I got so used to the lie that I also memorized it while being drunk." He gives me a poor smile, then shrugs. "But yes, my parents divorced."
"What's with the name?"
He bites his lip.
I'm going way too fast again. "Uhm— alright. We'll sit down. If you even want to talk about it."
"Everyone else knows anyway."
"So? That doesn't mean you don't get to decide which other people can or can't know. It's your story."
"Right." He stares at the ground, nodding. "Well, Stephen was my name before. All my friends know because the first I was here, at eleven years old, my name was still Stephen. Oh, Newt wasn't at our camp that time yet. He came two years later. I don't know if that's important for the story or not, but whatever."
And Jorge said all the kids my age are here because of parties and drinking.
I swear— if Minho has a crazy backstory, I'll go crazy, too. Jennifer hasn't mentioned it, so that's either good or bad. I don't think Newt is here because of parties— as he's both not the biggest partier, and he is quite shut down about why he got here.
"I was crying and kicking and everything at once when I arrived. I didn't want to leave Mom with my father. Yet I didn't have much of a choice. I did make the most amazing friends, so it got a little better, but I was still worried he would hurt Mom. I mean, he had hurt her before. He had hurt me before— that's why she sent me away from him.
