tiptoed around his bed to my own and stripped down to my boxer shorts. Once in bed, I pulled up the comforter and stared at the ceiling thinking of Penny.
I woke startled. A layer of sweat coated my whole body like I had a fever, but I felt fine. I must have been dreaming. But then I heard it. Muffled voices. A whimper.
Throwing back the comforter, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and sat as still as possible to listen for any sounds. Mason was asleep on his back, mouth hanging open, and his chest rising and falling with each throaty breath. Trying to hear anything over his snoring and my pounding heart was almost impossible, so I crept to the door and pressed one ear against the wood.
I heard it again.
Before I knew what I was doing, my hand was wrapped around the door handle and I’d yanked it open. Rushing into the hallway, the cool air hit me slowing me down for a second. What in the hell was I doing? All I knew was that something felt very wrong. The muffled noise was coming from the end of the hallway. It was hard to make out any clear voices or even tell if it was human; it could have quite easily been an injured animal, but my gut knew.
I knew.
Back pressed flat against the wall, I inched my way down the hallway closer to Penny’s door. There was a sliver of moonlight coming in through the window at the opposite end of the hallway. My heart beat frantically in my chest while I tried to come up with some kind of plan.
But it was too late.
Penny’s door opened slowly, and Derek stepped out in the hallway, one hand adjusting his zipper. I almost stopped breathing trying to make myself invisible. Puke rose up in my throat as I watched Derek smooth down his pants, and I had to clamp my mouth shut.
What was I witnessing?
There was a gentle murmuring sound coming from inside Penny’s room. Derek glanced back, pulled the door shut, and headed back downstairs to where his and Marie’s room was situated. Everything closed in around me until it felt like all the air had been sucked out of the hallway.
Penny.
I sprang into action moving as fast as I could without making a sound. I didn’t risk knocking and slipped silently into Penny’s dark room. A figure was curled up on the cot sobbing quietly. The kind of sobs that tell you how much a person is hurting. Dirty, messy, ugly cries. And yet, somehow, my brave, strong friend was managing to contain them.
Penny must have sensed me because she rolled over slightly and looked right at me.
“B- Bl- Blake?” she sniffled, and my chest cracked.
My whole world was crumbling around me, but I managed to ground out, “What the fuck has he done to you?”
“W hat do you think they’re doing in there?” Blake leaped up on the wooden railing surrounding the cabin’s balcony and smiled down at me.
“Preening themselves, I guess. It’s hard work being a thirteen-year-old girl these days.” I looked back at the cabin from my position on the top step. The girls had been getting ready for almost an hour.
“I can’t ever remember you taking that long to get ready.”
I turned back to Blake and met his eyes with a playful smirk. “That’s because I never had anyone to impress.”
He arched his eyebrow, and a smirk of his own broke over his face causing my stomach to flip. “Oh, is that so? No one to impress, huh?”
Blake held my gaze, and I knew we were lost in our memories. A time when I’d traded my usual jeans and hand-me-down chucks for a summer dress Jessica let me borrow. I’d even curled my hair and swept it to one side with a piece of ribbon I stole from Mrs. Ryson, the home economics teacher at school. Blake had almost tripped over his own feet when he saw me. It was one of the first times I realized he was more to me than just my best friend.
“Oh, hey, girls.” Blake shook his head as if he was shaking out the memories. “All set for the campfire? The boys are itching to see you.”
I swatted my hand through the railing. It
I woke startled. A layer of sweat coated my whole body like I had a fever, but I felt fine. I must have been dreaming. But then I heard it. Muffled voices. A whimper.
Throwing back the comforter, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and sat as still as possible to listen for any sounds. Mason was asleep on his back, mouth hanging open, and his chest rising and falling with each throaty breath. Trying to hear anything over his snoring and my pounding heart was almost impossible, so I crept to the door and pressed one ear against the wood.
I heard it again.
Before I knew what I was doing, my hand was wrapped around the door handle and I’d yanked it open. Rushing into the hallway, the cool air hit me slowing me down for a second. What in the hell was I doing? All I knew was that something felt very wrong. The muffled noise was coming from the end of the hallway. It was hard to make out any clear voices or even tell if it was human; it could have quite easily been an injured animal, but my gut knew.
I knew.
Back pressed flat against the wall, I inched my way down the hallway closer to Penny’s door. There was a sliver of moonlight coming in through the window at the opposite end of the hallway. My heart beat frantically in my chest while I tried to come up with some kind of plan.
But it was too late.
Penny’s door opened slowly, and Derek stepped out in the hallway, one hand adjusting his zipper. I almost stopped breathing trying to make myself invisible. Puke rose up in my throat as I watched Derek smooth down his pants, and I had to clamp my mouth shut.
What was I witnessing?
There was a gentle murmuring sound coming from inside Penny’s room. Derek glanced back, pulled the door shut, and headed back downstairs to where his and Marie’s room was situated. Everything closed in around me until it felt like all the air had been sucked out of the hallway.
Penny.
I sprang into action moving as fast as I could without making a sound. I didn’t risk knocking and slipped silently into Penny’s dark room. A figure was curled up on the cot sobbing quietly. The kind of sobs that tell you how much a person is hurting. Dirty, messy, ugly cries. And yet, somehow, my brave, strong friend was managing to contain them.
Penny must have sensed me because she rolled over slightly and looked right at me.
“B- Bl- Blake?” she sniffled, and my chest cracked.
My whole world was crumbling around me, but I managed to ground out, “What the fuck has he done to you?”
“W hat do you think they’re doing in there?” Blake leaped up on the wooden railing surrounding the cabin’s balcony and smiled down at me.
“Preening themselves, I guess. It’s hard work being a thirteen-year-old girl these days.” I looked back at the cabin from my position on the top step. The girls had been getting ready for almost an hour.
“I can’t ever remember you taking that long to get ready.”
I turned back to Blake and met his eyes with a playful smirk. “That’s because I never had anyone to impress.”
He arched his eyebrow, and a smirk of his own broke over his face causing my stomach to flip. “Oh, is that so? No one to impress, huh?”
Blake held my gaze, and I knew we were lost in our memories. A time when I’d traded my usual jeans and hand-me-down chucks for a summer dress Jessica let me borrow. I’d even curled my hair and swept it to one side with a piece of ribbon I stole from Mrs. Ryson, the home economics teacher at school. Blake had almost tripped over his own feet when he saw me. It was one of the first times I realized he was more to me than just my best friend.
“Oh, hey, girls.” Blake shook his head as if he was shaking out the memories. “All set for the campfire? The boys are itching to see you.”
I swatted my hand through the railing. It
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