{Character in picture: Evan Crooks as Troy Blackwell}
{Song in video: Neon Trees - Everybody Talks}
Today, we were going to do more artsy activities, such as making jewelry, painting, and drawing.
While we were making jewelry, Jillian was giving Lupe, Chantel, and I some makeup and fashion advice.
"Rowan, you should definitely wear rose gold eyeshadow sometime," Jillian said to me.
"I would if I brought any of that," I said, shrugging and laughing. "I only have foundation and some chapstick."
"I still can't believe you brought so much makeup, clothes, and accessories," Lupe said to Jillian. "We're at summer camp for crying out loud."
"You still want to look good, Loopy," Chantel said. "I like matching accessories to my outfits." She showed us the orange earrings she was wearing with her orange blouse and denim shorts.
"See? Chantel has a good fashion sense," Jillian teased, laughing.
"I do like both of you two's style," I said. "Jillian, you have a edgy almost gothic style, and Chantel, you have a colorful style."
"You know it." Jillian grinned.
"I do like colors and colorful things," Chantel said, jokingly flipping her hair.
After we went silent for a few moments, I looked around, noticing most of the girls in the room pointing at me, and whispering amongst each other.
I glanced at my friends, who looked confused, and seemed to have noticed too.
"Why is everyone looking at me?" I asked my friends, feeling uneasy. I had a feeling that it wasn't in a good way.
"I'm not sure..." Jillian said, glancing around, and glaring at the girls. Some of them quickly turned away and went back to what they were doing, but some were still whispering to each other.
"Do I have something embarrassing on me?" I looked at Jillian's compact mirror.
"No, and no period stains either," Lupe said, frowning.
"How long have they been doing that?" Chantel asked, looking confused.
"I did see a guy briefly walk in, and talked to some of the girls, but I didn't think anything of it at the time," Jillian said. "Maybe it has to do with that." She shrugged.
"It can't be that bad," Lupe said, turning to me. "You didn't do anything either."
"Time for lunch, everyone!" Janee exclaimed suddenly. "Please clean up your things before you go."
We put up the jewelry beads, bracelets, and bracelets.
After that, we headed over to lunch, and I saw even more people glancing over at me and whispering things. This was the most uncomfortable I have felt in a while.
"They're still talking about me," I said, glancing around.
"Hey, if you all have anything to say, then say it to our face!" Jillian exclaimed, looking annoyed.
The people that heard that quickly stopped looking at me.
Jillian rolled her eyes.
"I just wonder what they're saying," I said, frowning. "I didn't do anything."
"I'll find out," Jillian said. She went over to a group of girls that were obviously talking about me. She came back a minute later. "Okay, so you're not going to believe this-"
"What did they say?" Chantel asked, interrupting Jillian.
"She was just about to say it!" Lupe hissed.
"Oops, sorry." Chantel winced, and Lupe rolled her eyes.
Jillian turned to me. "Basically, someone spread a rumor that you cheated on Josh, and everyone is making a big deal over that," she said.
"What? But that's not true," I said, my eyes widening. "That issue was already settled anyways. Who would bring that back up and spread lies?"
"I have no idea, but I told them it wasn't true, and asked them who they heard it from, but they mentioned different names, so now we can ask where those people heard it from."
"It's so strange. I've never been the center of gossip, especially one that isn't true at all."
"It's good you weren't, but we'll get this settled. I've had ridiculous rumors spread about me in school."
"Like what?"
"Well, there's been more rumors about me since I'm dating Talon. Since he's older, they called me a slut that does drugs." She rolled her eyes.
"Oh yeah, I remember that," Lupe said. "That was so stupid."
"That rumor faded after a while, and then they moved onto a next topic to talk about." She shrugged. "Unfortunately, that's a thing for teenagers."
"Yeah, I never understood that," I said, slightly tilting my head in confusion.
"We're all kind of guilty of gossip sometimes," Chantel said.
"True," Jillian said. "I just hate the kind that's vicious or false."
"I think pretty much everyone does," I said, shrugging.
"Except those who spread those and live off of drama." She rolled her eyes in disgust.
"That's true."
We walked over to get lunch, and got our food.
"Hey," Josh said, smiling as he headed toward us.
"Hey," I said back, giving him a half-smile. I tried hiding how uncomfortable I felt with everyone staring at me and whispering about me.
After we got our food, we went over to the table we usually sat at. On the way over, I noticed even more people were staring at me, frowning.
I tried to ignore it, but it made me feel even more uncomfortable.
"Slut," a guy with shaggy brown hair coughed as we passed by him.
My eyes widened when I heard that, but I tried ignoring it.
Josh looked at me, noticing that I was uncomfortable. "What is going on?" He asked me, frowning in confusion when he saw people whispering and pointing at me.
"Apparently, there's a rumor spread about me," I said as we sat down.
"What rumor?" His eyebrows furrowed.
"Someone spread a rumor that I cheated on you with Bryson."
"Are you serious? Since when?" He looked around at the people whispering and pointing at me, glaring at them.
"Since this morning."
"I thought that was already cleared up."
"I thought so too."
"We're going to put a stop to this and find out who started it." He had a determined look in his eyes.
"Okay." I nodded, not sure what else to do or say. "That guy we passed by earlier called me a slut."
He grabbed my hand, and before I could fully register what was happening because it was so fast, we headed over to the same guy.
Josh turned to him, saying, "This is Rowan, and she is definitely not in the least bit a slut. She did not cheat on me. There was a misunderstanding. Get your facts straight before you spread harmful gossip that can destroy someone's reputation." He glared, having his fists clenched.
"I'm sorry that it turned out to be false. I didn't know," the guy mumbled, looking down.
Josh nodded his head, and then took me over to the front of the cafeteria.
"Everyone, I have an announcement to make," Josh said loudly. Some people became quiet, but most people were still talking. "Hey, I need everyone's attention!" He clapped, and then everyone was silent, looking over at us.
"What are you doing?" I whispered, giving him a confused look.
"You'll see." He whispered back. He looked at the crowd again, and said, "Okay, I don't know who started this rumor about Rowan, Bryson, and I that turned out to be a misunderstanding that was already solved a little while ago. The rumor isn't true at all, and turned out to be a misunderstanding. Do not chastise Rowan anymore. She didn't do anything. She's a nice and great person, and doesn't deserve to be talked about in such a bad way."
I widened my eyes in surprise because I never expected Josh to speak in front of everyone like that.
"Thank you," I said to Josh, giving him a smile.
"You're welcome." He smiled back, then leaned over to kiss me.
"I still wonder who started the rumors though." I frowned.
"We're going to figure that out." He grabbed me by the hand again, and we asked different people where they heard that from, which didn't take too long. Some people said that it's from the same guy that Josh talked to earlier. No one really knew the guy that well.
Josh and I went over to approach the guy.
"So I've heard that you were the one spreading the rumor," Josh said, glaring at him.
"Hey, I found out through Helena," the guy defended, shrugging.
"Helena?" I said, glancing at Josh, looking shocked.
"Come on," Josh said to me, and we started walking toward Helena, who was sitting at a table talking to a few girls and guys.
"We know you're the one that started the rumor," Josh said as soon as we approached her at the table.
"What are you talking about?" Helena said, looking confused.
"You started that rumor that turned out to be a misunderstanding." He crossed his arms, looking annoyed.
"I know that you all settled it, but I haven't told anyone about that." She frowned.
"Then why did one of the guys say that they heard it from you?"
"I don't know..." She began to feel uncomfortable since the girls and guys at the table stopped talking, and were now watching the conversation.
"It's okay, Josh," I said, giving him a slight smile.
"No, it's not. She spread a false rumor about you," Josh said, glancing at me.
"Wait, do you mean the guy over there told you?" Helena asked, pointing him out. He sat across the room from where we were.
"Yes."
"That's Troy Blackwell. I found that guy sneaking into the girls' cabins, and he was reading my diary." She explained. "I wrote that in my diary when the incident happen..."
"Oh..." Josh looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Helena."
"It's okay. I know you're just protecting your girlfriend." She laughed. "That's a sweet thing to do."
"Thanks." He smiled.
"You're welcome." She smiled back, and then she frowned. "Although, I should have taken that out of my diary. Then, this wouldn't spread in the first place."
"It's fine," I said, feeling a lot more relieved since this morning.
"By the way, Troy is kind of sneaky and has a tendency to spread rumors. No one really knows him that well, but that's what I've heard from a few people."
"Yeah, I don't really know him. I've never talked to him much, except when he was on my team for the activities to play basketball and when I just confronted him. I wanted to punch that guy, but I knew it would just make things worse. At least, I told everyone in the crowd what the truth is."
"He called her that?" Her eyes widened.
He nodded.
She turned to me. "I'm sorry, Rowan. I didn't think of taking that page out of my diary. I forgot to do that."
"It's okay. It's not really your fault," I said, giving her a reassuring smile.
"You know, I should tell Shane and Janee what happened. The guy snuck into the girls' cabins, read the diary, and then spread a false rumor," Josh said.
"I think we should," I said, nodding my head in agreement.
"I agree," Helena said.
The three of us went over to Shane and Janee, and explained what happened.
"Yeah, that's definitely not right," Janee said. She turned to me. "I'm sorry, Rowan."
"We will talk to him. We do not tolerate this sort of behavior here," Shane said. "We will also think of a punishment."
"Thank you," I said to them.
"We appreciate it," Josh said.
"Me too," Helena said, and then she went back over to the table.
Josh and I started walking back to where our friends were. He put his arm around me.
"By the way, I had a feeling that it wasn't Helena though."
"Really?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Even though she knew about the misunderstanding, I just knew she didn't spread it."
"That's interesting."
"Yeah." I laughed.
We stopped walking, kissed, and then sat at a table, talking.
A while later, we got to our friends, and explained to them what happened.
"People still write in diaries?" Lupe asked, looking confused.
"Yes, Loopy, people still write in diaries," Chantel said.
"What's wrong with diaries?" Roger asked.
"I never said there was anything wrong with it. I just think it's kind of weird for a teenager to still have a diary," Lupe said.
"It's not that weird." Roger looked somewhat offended.
"Do you have a diary, Roger?" Jillian asked with an amused smile on her face.
Roger's face turned red, and he looked flustered. "Uh..."
"It's okay to have a diary," Lupe said, smiling and giving him a hug. "Even though I still think it's a bit weird."
All of us laughed, and then talked for a bit, until Janee and Shane got everyone's attention from the front of the cafeteria. "Hey, we would like everyone's attention," Shane said sternly.
As usual, everyone got quiet quickly after Shane got everyone's attention.
Troy was standing next to Shane and Janee, looking uncomfortable.
"Please turn your attention over to Troy Blackwell. He has something he needs to say," Janee said.
After a few seconds of silence, Troy said, "I'm sorry Rowan for spreading that false rumor about you. It will not happen again. Also, I'm sorry for sneaking into the girls' cabins and reading something of Helena's." He looked at the ground.
"Thank you," Janee said.
"Now, you will help me for the remainder of camp for setting up for different activities, and will also help clean after lunch," Shane said.
After that, everyone went back to what they were doing.
"I'm glad that was solved," Josh said, giving me a smile.
"Me too," I said smiling back.
Josh and our friends went over to the forest. Josh and I went over to take pictures while the rest of our friends talked.
**********
A/N: A rumor was spread about Rowan cheating on Josh with Bryson, even though that misunderstanding was already solved recently. A guy named Troy secretly read Helena's diary, and spread the false rumor to everyone.
Wasn't it sweet for Josh to defend Rowan to everyone? :)
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