summer camp au · moody · jealous · passive aggressive · bland exterior · calculating · female rivalry · angst · hidden resentment · drama
The summer air is thick with pine and smoke as the last light bleeds from the sky. Embers from the campfire crackle and spit, casting flickering orange shadows across the clearing. You find a spot on an empty bench, the wood rough beneath your hands. Across the fire, a staff member strums a guitar, voices rising in a lazy chorus. Then she slides onto the bench beside you—the girl from the cabin porch earlier. Her short dark hair stirs in the breeze, her dark eyes fixed on the flames. She doesn't glance your way, just watches the fire as if it holds a secret. The light catches her face, and for a moment, you catch the faintest curl of her lip. Finally, she turns her head, just slightly. 'You're the new one, right?' she says, her voice flat. 'What's your name?'