Chapter Two

    By Betsy Hardi


    How did she already know my name? Shane wondered as he drove away from Brightlee. I didn't sign up for anything.
    As Shane drove up the final length of the dirt road and around a bend, Camp Peace started to appear before his eyes and his questions about Brightlee's clipboard started to vanish. He was taken aback by the downtrodden buildings that surrounded him, but decided to log this disappointment with the rest of his low expectations for the summer.



    From Shane's first impression, the entire camp was designed in a circular shape, with an unimpressive single-story building at the center. Shane assumed that this was the dining hall, as a couple dozen tables were lined along the porch adjacent to it. All of the buildings had a similar grey stone structure, complete with forest green roofs and brown woodwork around the windows.
    Nothing like the typical summer camp, Shane thought as he pulled his car into an empty gravel lot. I wonder where everyone else parked their cars.
    As he began to think he had taken a wrong turn, Shane was startled by a knock on his window. Looking out, Shane was welcomed by the image of a red-headed man in his early twenties. The man had a clipboard that matched Brightlee's and donned a bright green "Camp Peace" shirt. His face was covered in a light beard and a smile was displayed brightly. Shane began to roll down his window, but was only partially successful before the man opened his car door and reached in for a hug.
    "Welcome to Camp Peace! My name is Tate and I'm one of the directors this year! We're so glad that you've decided to join us this summer."
    Oh great, Shane thought, Another overly-excited camp counselor. What have I gotten myself into?
    "Hi, I'm Shane. Shane Solomon," Shane attempted to stammer through the tight hug in which Tate had captivated him. "I don't see any other cars. Did I park in the wrong place?"
    "Oh no. It's totally fine. No one else brought their cars."
    Hippies. I've joined a hippie commune. Maybe I can just get into my car and leave now. This was all a mistake.
    Before Shane could think twice, Tate had pulled three of his suitcases out of the car and was headed towards one of the stone buildings.
    "We're running a little late. We don't want to miss the beginning, but I can give you a quick tour while we drop off your stuff," Tate said as he quickly picked up another bag without any evidence of the weight he was under. "This building in the center is the dining hall. Ignore the spider webs, we don't use it very much. You'll be living in this one here. We call it Salem."
    As they entered through the wooden door frame, Shane was surprised by the interior of the building. The floor was covered by a blood red carpet and the walls were plastered with a midnight blue colored wall paper. There was one large common room with three rooms connected to it. The common room was full of furniture carved from cherry wood. The only thing that the common room lacked was any type of technology. Shane shrugged this off though, as he could live one summer without keeping up with his favorite TV show.
    "You'll be in this room here. Salem is a pretty old building, but we do what we can to make all of our counselors feel comfortable," Tate said as he chose a bed for Shane. "Well, you'll have time to unpack later. We've got to head to the beginning."
    The beginning is starting to sound pretty creepy, thought Shane as they walked outside.
    Tate had led Shane out a different door than they had entered, so it was to Shane's surprise that they passed a brick building, nearly five stories high. Unlike all of the other buildings, this one seemed to be new and lacked the dusty abandoned feeling that the other buildings encompassed.
    "What's that building?" Shane asked Tate, unable to tear his eyes away from the beautiful building towering over his head.
    With a chuckle, Tate's smile was wiped from his face. "That's just a maintenance building. The whole East side of camp is off-limits to summer staff. It's boring anyways…"
    Off limits? What it this, Beauty and the Beast? Shane wondered as he started to follow Tate towards another building. What have I gotten myself into?


    Shane's trust in Tate was dwindling fast as they entered an insignificant building on the west side of camp. He could tell that there was something about the tall building that Tate was keeping from him, but at the same time, what right did he have to know everything about this camp right away?
    He continued to ponder these questions as they walked into a small corridor. At the end of the corridor stood a blonde girl, dressed in a tie-dye shirt and blue jean shorts. She had a clipboard like Brightlee and Tate's, but seemed to hold it with distance. As she looked up to see who had entered the way. Shane caught her olive eyes and couldn't help but feel like he'd seen them before.
    Tate led Shane over to the girl with the olive eyes.
    "Hey Keah, this is Shane. He'll be joining us this summer."
    Shane reached his hand out to shake her's, but could not stop staring at her face. With an awkward chuckle, Shane began to introduce himself.
    "Hi, I'm Shane. You look really familiar. Have we met before?"
    With a look of apathy in her olive eyes, Keah smiled and replied, "Nope. I don't think we have. I must have one of those faces. I get that all the time!
    I know I've seen her before, Shane thought. Where have I seen her? Could it have been Psychology class? Trig class? Maybe it's even both, now that he thought about it. Shane mostly hung out with the same group of friends, but he felt daunted by the familiar face of the girl with the olive eyes.
    "We must go inside now or we're going to miss the beginning," Tate said and stepped through the door.
    "Well, it was really nice meeting you," Shane said as he pulled his hand from Keah's.
    "Shane, we really need to talk. You can't act like you've seen me before," Keah said, checking the room behind her to make sure no one was listening. "My friends and I have been watching you for awhile. I'm glad you got our flyer. We need your help."