"alright, clay. let's get it out. justin's in my room with ana. so what the fuck is wrong with you that you're pissed off at me?" i asked.
"you're with him." clay told me after we got home from the dance and he changed out of his clothes.
"yeah, clay, it's new. i still don't get why you're pissed off at me." i told him, sitting on justin's bed.
"because they have been fucking with me for weeks!" he shouted at me. "you're sleeping with the enemy!"
"why are you so concerned with who i'm with?"
"i could give two shits! but it's, of all people, diego!"
"alright, you know what? maybe... maybe everyone is right. maybe you don't need to be going on that camping trip." i said, shaking my head.
"i'm not breakable." he told me. "so you all just need to quit treating me like i am."
"we're all breakable, clay! and you're the worst." i said to him.
A FEW DAYS LATER IN A CABIN DURING THE SENIOR CAMPING TRIP....
"do you have a condom?" i asked diego.
"i, uh, i gotta go help the guys." diego replied.
"help the guys with what?" i asked him.
"just... help them. does it matter?" he asked.
"well... it does when you're turning down sex to do it, so..." i trailed off, "is it about messing with clay?"
"why do you care? you said he was crazy."
"that's why i care. you push him, he snaps, you get suspended again. i get bored and find another stupid, hot guy." i chuckled.
"this really about clay? or is this about justin?" he asked me. i rolled my eyes and got up.
"don't worry about justin." i said to him.
"so, will you drop the subject if i tell you i won't fuck with clay?" he asked.
i saw the guys begin to walk in, causing diego to stand up as well.
"also, um, i'm not stupid." he told me.
"really? 'cause you're letting me walk away." i said, walking out of the cabin.
a few hours later, we were around the campfire getting ready to start senior share.
"okay, then, the question for senior share. 'looking back on your time at liberty, do you have any regrets?' you know, let's pick something a little happier. uh... 'who do you trust most in your life and why?'" lanie asked all of us.
"i'll go. i, um... i always trust my boys to have my back. and... i... i trusted monty, always. he was the one that got me to play. freshman year, i, um, remember telling him, 'dominicans don't play football.' but he wouldn't take that. he taught me pride, he taught me what it was to trust someone, and... and i miss him." diego said.
"can i go?" i asked.
"sure, honey." lanie said, handing the shell to me.
"the person i trust... or trusted most... was jeff atkins. after getting out of a horrible relationship, he was there and heard me rant and cry more times than i can count. he was someone i trusted with everything i had. he knew every secret of mine and i knew his. when he... when he died, i almost didn't make it. luckily, one of my closest friends, clay, saved me. that's why he's been the person i trust most in my life since jeff died. he's been there for me for nearly two years and he's never let me down. and i'm grateful for that." i finished.
he just looked at me and shook his head, causing me to nod with tears in my eyes.
"alright, everyone wake up early in the morning and we will get our first game going." mr. standall told us. we all headed into our individual tents for the night.
THE NEXT MORNING...
i got up and changed. when i walked out, diego was waiting outside my tent.
"what?" i asked.
"i thought i was supposed to be the one you trust the most." he said to me.
"oh my god you sound like an insecure girl." i said, scoffing and walking away.
"you don't trust me, but you trust a dead ex and some kid who's clinically insane?" he asked me. i turned around, walked up to him and slapped him.
"don't talk about jeff. do not ever talk about him." i said to him. "because that's where i draw the line. and clay? without him, i'd be homeless or dead."
"when were you going to tell me what monty did to you?" he asked.
"it's not something i like broadcasted, alright? i don't like people knowing what happened between us." i replied.
"and the kid?" he asked. "monty's?"
"who told you this?" i asked.
"it doesn't matter who told me anything. why didn't you say anything to me?"
"because i'm not obligated to. you don't own me. i don't have to tell you a damn thing." i said, waking away and toward the group of people for the activities today. before we got started, winston walked up to me.
"morning." he said.
"leave me alone." i told him.
"woah, what's up?" he asked me.
"when i told you about montgomery, that didn't mean go fucking tell all of evergreen county." i replied. "so like i said, leave me the fuck alone." i said, getting up and walking away and sitting somewhere else.
lanie and mr. standall walked over to us and began explaining the game.
"everyone gets a sheet of clues and a GPS device, which i hope you know how to operate. we've collected all of your phones, and if anyone has a second phone, then you're disqualified." lanie began.
"and also your parents are too rich." diego added, causing everyone, but me and our group, to laugh.
"hidden around this camp are canvas bags with treasure inside, like this one." lanie continued.
"so all these clues have been designed to keep you in safe places, but this is the wild. we're out here alone, and we need to look out for each other. so stick with your partner, please. and if you should encounter some wildlife, try to remain calm and back slowly away." mr. standall said.
"then come back to camp and change your underwear." diego said.
"yes, thank you, diego. alright, stay safe, have fun." lanie said, dismissing us.
since alex was my partner, i began walking with him.
"so, i heard you and diego got into a fight." he told me.
"i don't really want to talk about it." i replied.
suddenly we heard screaming.
"shit, was that clay?" he asked.
"no, diego promised me they wouldn't fuck with him." i said, shaking my head.
"what? you just believe whatever diego tells you? you heard how much he misses monty." he told me.
"i know, that's why i've got him on the hook. you know? to check him." i replied.
"what if he's got you on the hook?" he asked.
"he doesn't. even if he did, i'm not dumb enough to let him get close to me. i know what i'm doing." i said to him. "is this why you wanted to partner with me? to criticize me?" i asked.
"no, i'm not... no." he replied.
"then why aren't you with your new best friend? the new kid." i asked, continuing to walk.
"we're not even friends, really." he replied.
"you guys are bunking together." i said.
"not anymore." he informed me.
"why, what happened?" i asked.
"why do you care?" alex asked.
before i could reply, we came across the log from the first clue.
"wait! look! aah! bingo." i exclaimed.
i put my hand in the wood and when i pulled it out, i saw maggots and screamed while alex ran off and threw up.
"fuck this. i'm out." alex said, walking away.
"alex! hey, wait, come back!" i shouted. "what the fuck?" i said to myself. i continued walking in the woods until i saw justin and charlie.
"guys!" i shouted.
"kylie?" charlie asked.
"what're you guys doing?" i asked. "justin, where the fuck is clay?" i asked.
"i don't know. i think diego is fucking with him again." justin replied.
"he isn't doing it! he promised me!" i repeated.
"kylie, i know you're fucking him, but do you have to be so obvious?" he asked me.
"fuck you, justin." i said, scoffing.
as we continued walking, we ended up in front of the cabin diego and i were in yesterday. justin opened the door and looked around.
"shit. they're not here." justin told us.
"if we hang out, they'll show. or do we go back and report clay missing?" charlie asked.
"i don't know. it's just attention we don't need." justin replied, looking around.
"we don't need clay lost either." i said, also looking around. suddenly the door slammed open.
"what the fuck? what the fuck?" justin exclaimed, jumping.
"where's clay, diego?" charlie asked.
"we don't know." he replied.
"fuck you, you don't know. what are you guys doing? what's the game?" justin asked him.
"we just... we fucked with the clues, okay? we sent people places to freak them out, that's it. andd there's shit happening that is not us. there's something out there." diego told us, obviously freaked out.
"diego, man, give it up. you're a somewhat decent DB, but you are a shitty liar." charlie said, chuckling.
suddenly we heard muffled screaming and beecher came in and wasn't wearing pants.
"come on. jesus, enough!" justin shouted at diego.
"it's not us!" diego shouted. "i told you it's not us."
they began to help beecher out. they helped him up and untied him.
"can we... get him some pants?" justin asked.
after beecher put pants on, diego spoke up.
"look, whoever it is, whatever it is, it came after us. they fucked up our tent and stole our shit. they attacked beecher." he explained.
"the where the fuck is clay?" justin asked once again.
"why do you care so much about that little prick? we don't know where he is." diego replied.
"tellin' ya, it's the dead kid." luke spoke up.
"it's the woods." beecher added.
"it's the ghost of burnham woods." luke finished.
"oh, come on, stupid!" justin told him.
"can you honestly tell me you didn't see or hear anything fucked up out there tonight? kylie?" diego asked me.
"i..."
"kylie, what happened?" justin asked, standing up.
before i spoke up, there was a banging on the door that stopped after a few seconds, causing the lights to go off.
"we could starve in here." luke said.
"dude, you're not gonna starve any time soon." justin told him.
"hey! i have very low body fat, foley. this is muscle." luke shot back.
"i have a few granola camp cookies." charlie added.
there was a banging on door, causing us to scream. when the door opened, it was zach.
"okay, this thing's getting all kinds of fucked up." zach told us.
"we're out of here." luke said, the football guys trailing behind him.
"are you fucking kidding? stop them!" i told zach.
"we're all getting the fuck out of here." justin said.
"no. we gotta talk." zach said, slamming the door shut.
he began telling us about winston and alex and how winston could alibi monty for the night bryce was killed, along with the email that threatened to out us all if we didn't confess ourselves.
"so, winston... and alex?" charlie asked.
"and alex is, like, heartbroken. and now we're fucked. oh, i'm sorry, more fucked." he told us.
"does winston know why alex did it?" charlie asked.
suddenly there was more banging on the door. when zach opened it, it was tony.
"oh, for fuck's sake. can we leave the damn door open now?" i asked everyone.
"diego pointed me this way, so what the fuck is going on?" tony asked.
"winston williams can alibi monty." zach replied.
"seriously?" he asked.
"yeah."
"the hillcrest kid?" tony asked.
"yeah. he knows monty didn't kill bryce. he was with him that night. oh, and on top of that, clay and ani have known that for months." zach informed him.
"um... i'm sure it was just to protect us." tony said.
"big surprise. they failed." zach told him.
"so, the email was winston? i mean, is he gonna talk tonight?" charlie asked.
"we don't know that it was winston. other people might want it out." tony hesitantly told us.
"like who?" i asked.
"like tyler." he replied.
"tony, what makes you say that?" justin asked.
"guys, maybe it was ani. think about it. it's way easier for her to hack clay than winston, and now she's not even here?" i said to them.
"honestly, any one of us could have written that email." justin said.
"including you." zach told justin.
"yes, zach, including me. so are we gonna fucking fall apart about it, or trust each other? what's it gonna be? clay's lost. we need to find him." he said, as alex's dad walked in.
"hey, kids. everything okay? shall we get back to camp?"
we got back to camp and suddenly we heard the horn go off. when i turned around, i saw it was clay
"i won."
"where'd you get all that?" diego asked.
"you left me for dead." clay told him.
"oh, no way, dude. we went back for you, you weren't there."
"i was unconscious." clay said.
"no. you were gone. i don't know what you think you're up to, but we know shit now." diego said. clay walked up to winston.
"you. was it you? are you working with them now?"
"i... seriously, i don't know what you're talking about." he replied.
"clay." i said, walking up to him.
"but what about you? you knew diego was gonna fuck with me. you said so." he told me, pointing his finger at my face, causing me to flinch.
"hey." alex's dad told us, walking up to us. "campfire's ready. let's go."
we all walked toward the campfire and sat down.
"the traditional question for the final campfire. um... the traditional question: 'how has this weekend changed you, and what memory will you take with you forever?'" lanie asked.
winston raised his hand and was handed a conch shell.
"i'll start. it's great to finally be a part of the liberty community, to see how folks really are. i didn't know before, so... that's really great." he said, smiling.
"wonderful, winston." lanie said, smiling.
"yeah... welcome to liberty fucking high school." zach told him.
"yeah. welcome. okay." lanie said, chuckling awkwardly. "who's next? clay jensen, help me out here."
he sighed and grabbed the conch shell.
"how has this weekend changed me? how has this weekend changed us? it hasn't. 'cause i know that my friends and i... we'll be friends for life. there will always be a... a bond between us... that we can never break... even if we wanted to." he said to the seniors.
"can i go next?" alex asked.
the conch shell was handed to him and he began to speak up.
"i just wanted to say... or to confess..." he took a long pause, causing us all to nervously look at him, "that i fucking hate camping."
he threw the shell, causing it to shatter, earning cheers from everyone.
after the campfire, i walked into my tent and closed it, beginning to cry about what clay had said to me earlier. instantly, there was a knock. when i opened it, i saw justin.
"what?" i asked.
"what's wrong?" he asked me, coming in and closing the tent behind him.
"i think clay... i think he's pissed at me." i told him. he was quiet and looked down.
"for what?" he asked me.
"for hanging out with diego, i don't know." i replied, sniffling.
"you know clay isn't pissed off at you. he could never be." he said to me.
"it sure seems like it lately, justin. what the hell am i supposed to do?" i asked.
"i started going to these... meetings with coach kerba and i've been meaning to, uh, make amends with you, since you're the first person on my very long list of amends to make." he admitted.
"okay." i told him, sniffling.
"when we started dating, i made a promise to you that i wouldn't let you down after everything you've been through and i feel like ever since we became parents, i've been constantly letting you and analeia down. i wanted you to trust me so badly, but i didn't know how to make you do that."
"justin, are you serious? i do trust you. more than anything. i've never stopped trusting you. and you've never let me down either. you've done more than i could've ever asked for and i appreciate you for that." i said, shaking my head. he looked down and started crying.
"kylie, i'm sorry." justin said, looking at me with sincere sadness in his eyes.
"i know." i said, looking up at him. "justin, i know."
"i still love you." he spoke up.
"god, i love you so much, justin." i said, leaning in closer to him. he finally kissed me and i felt something i'd been longing for since december.
since my tent was pretty far away from everyone, justin and i...
let's just say we went all the way.