"I never stopped trying to forget you. Dear God, I wish I could."
Bonnibel raised her arm to wipe her tears. All she could taste was blood, and she wasn't even sure whose it was. Not that it mattered to her anymore. She drew her knees up to her chin and hugged them. Her body ached and she was exhausted and alone and Marceline was gone and it was all her fault.
"I'd give anything for you to be here, Marcy," Bonnibel cried. "If I could, I would take everything back. I'd do it for you, Marceline, I swear I would…"
Bonnie held her head between her legs and stared at the dirty ground. The surrounding air was thick, foggy, and it was hard for her to breathe. She sobbed uncontrollably, her body heaving and sighing, and she pressed her face into her mud caked knees. Her eyes burned more with every tear. Wiping her face with her sleeve, she sat up against the tree behind her and listened to the hum of crickets, praying she wouldn't make it through the night. This was the end for her. After losing everything, Bonnie didn't want to press on anymore. She was giving up.
A static crackling turned Bonnie's attention to her walkie talkie.
"He - o?"
Bonnie's hands shot out for the walkie, whose screen emit a soft green glow. It was still set to the channel Marceline had set it to.
"Marceline?! Is that you?"
"Bon - ? Are y - there?" the walkie talkie crackled.
"Marcy, I'm here! Please, I'm here! Oh, my God, I'm so happy to hear your voice. I thought you were gone, I thought I'd never see you again."
"I can't h - r you, B - nibel..."
The walkie talkie's static droned out Marceline's voice and Bonnie's grip tightened on the little box. She pulled the antenna out as far as it could go, ripping it out almost entirely.
"No, please," she begged, "don't leave me again. Don't leave me alone here. Please, Marcy, I love you..."
With no immediate answer, Bonnibel leaned back into the tree. She left go of the walkie talkie, letting it drop from her hands. It fell to the ground with a loud thump. She held her face and sobbed again. On the ground next to her, the walkie buzzed back to life.
"I love you, Bonnibel."
It seemed as though the fifth cup of coffee was a bad idea.
Bonnibel sat bouncing her leg impatiently. Never had she been so anxious about camp, of all things. Camp Moonstone was the only thing she had to look forward to, and now, she was terrified going back wasn't going to be the same. She played with a piece of her hair nervously, running her fingers over the pink strands.
The camp bus pushed forward along the dirt road leading up to the campsite. The engine sputtered at every hill to be climbed. Bonnie sighed and looked out of the window at the tall trees towering above. With every bump and pothole in the road, Bonnie's stomach gurgled louder and she laid her hand over it. She tapped her feet together quickly, looking down at her hands. When the bus reached the tall sign that read "Lake Moonstone", she took a quick breath of relief.
The bus pulled into the roundabout drop off, where two other buses-just as old as this one was, Bonnie noted-were dropping off campers.
"Bonnibel B.?" a camp counselor stood up at the front of the bus, fumbling with his clipboard and some loose papers. He was sweating profusely, wiping his brow with his wrist. His voice sometimes gave out when he called over the noisy teenagers.
"Over here," Bonnibel waved her hand above her head, catching the counselor's attention. The blonde man nodded at her.
"Peter B.?" The counselor called out.
Pepper, Bonnie's best friend, sat next to her. He raised his hand and sighed. "It's Pepper," he corrected.
The counselor nodded to him swiftly and jotted a note on his clipboard.
"Do you think that new counselor looks familiar?" Pepper said to Bonnie. "I swear I've seen him somewhere."
"I'm not sure, Pep," Bonnie replied, eyeing up the counselor for herself.
"Well, maybe not." Pepper leaned back in his seat.
Bonnie stared outside of the bus window at the forest. She could smell the fresh pine and took in a quick breath. Going to college meant sacrificing a lot, and she mulled over the thought. Bonnie ached for the murky water of Moonstone Lake, the soothing sound of chirping crickets at night, a roaring, smokey campfire, surrounded by friendly faces and people she cared the most about. Camp was the place Pepper and Bonnie had met, made some of her most favorite memories and where she'd grown up. The tall trees provided a shady canopy that shielded the summer sun from beating down too bright, the sturdy wooden cabins were more than cozy and Bonnie smiled at the thought of the nights she'd spent bundled up in a sleeping bag, safer than she'd ever felt anywhere else.
Next to her, Pepper pulled out his earphones and put them into his bag. "Hey, do you think…" he started to ask, moving his wavy red hair out of his face. He didn't finish the idea.
"Think what?" Bonnie looked at him.
Pepper hesitated and stared at her. He furrowed his brow and looked down. "Do you think this summer will be better than last year?" He said after a few moments.
"I hope so. Why do you ask?"
"Listen, I'm serious. I just wanna know how you're feeling about all of this, Bonnie," Pepper frowned at her. "You haven't barely said anything the whole ride here. Are you worried we'll have to deal with… Well, you know... Whether it's Cinna or Mar-"
Bonnie made a sour face and shook her head. "Don't finish that sentence," she exclaimed, shutting down the conversation.
As the counselor at the front of the bus finished the roll call, the campers gathered their belongings and shuffled out of the bus. Bonnie stood up and followed Pepper, the pins on her backpack shaking noisily. They paused outside of the bus doors for a moment, taking in the chaos of the first day of camp: bustling counselors running back and forth through the buildings, campers chatting excitedly about the summer ahead of them, an assortment of younger kids struggling with all of their luggage.
"I'm sure gonna miss this place," Pepper said, sighing. He looked to Bonnie, and she nodded sadly.
A red-haired girl pushed past them, knocking into Bonnie. "Get out of my way, would you?" she scoffed.
Bonnie rubbed her elbow and scowled at her as she rushed away, hauling a large duffel bag and a red suitcase.
"Don't bother getting so angry over Phoebe, Bon," Pepper reached for Bonnie's hand and squeezed. She smiled at him and squeezed back.
"Hi Bonnie! Hey, Pepper!" a second year, Finn, bounded up to them and flashed a sweet smile to Bonnibel. "It's great to see you guys!" He pushed his sandy hair behind his ear and adjusted one of the straps of his green backpack on his shoulder.
"Finn!" Bonnie greeted. She shifted her weight and looked past him, moving her arms behind her back.
"Oh, hi, Finn," Pepper, unamused, crossed his arms. "You look like you've had an exciting first day already."
"I guess you could, uh, say that," Finn let out a forced laugh and rocked on his heels. "And well, uh, I have news for you, Bonnie."
"News? For me? What is it?" Bonnie tilted her head slightly, trying to seem interested.
"I heard there's a new building they built this winter."
Bonnie rolled her eyes and sighed. "Well, that's great and all, but I'm not sure why you're telling me this."
"It's a science lab, Bonnie!" Finn exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "Complete with a chemistry lab and everything!"
Bonnie glanced at Pepper, who was already looking down at her. He shrugged and grinned.
"Well, not really a chemistry lab we're allowed to use," Finn muttered, "we aren't even allowed to go there without a camp counselor. It's like, some big government building or something."
"Oh, wow, that is cool," Bonnie replied absentmindedly, looking over Finn's shoulder. "I wonder why Lady didn't tell me about that."
"I heard they were doing some kind of medical testing there," Finn adjusted his bookbag again, "something about this new parasite they found in the water from the lake, somebody got real sick from it, and the FBI had to come and do a whole investigation, and the government didn't want anyone to know, because they didn't want people to stop coming to the camp."
"Oh Finn, that's ridiculous," Bonnie scoffed. She folded her arms neatly in front of her and raised her eyebrow. "I can't believe you'd believe that."
Pepper laughed and punched Finn on the shoulder. Finn grinned sheepishly and rubbed his arm. "Well, at least we know the Lake water's clean now." Pepper said.
"How do you know it's not true?" Finn asked, distraught, looking back and forth between the two older campers. "And how do you know it's clean? What if there really is some kind of bug swimming around with us in there?"
"Because they wouldn't let us come back if there was some kind of infestation. Duh." Pepper laughed again, shaking his head.
"Oh, I guess you're right," Finn looked down at the ground and rubbed his shoe into the dirt.
"Hey, even if there was a parasite, they definitely would have cleaned it all up before we got here. I'm sure everything's okay now, Finn. It's a cool idea." Bonnie put her hand on Finn's shoulder and squeezed, reassuring him.
Finn's eyes brightened back up and he beamed again. "You really think so, Bonnie?"
Bonnibel nodded. "It's a really cool idea," she repeated.
Finn smiled. "It's super cool! Hey, anyway, I gotta go find my brother, but I'll see you guys later!" He said, waving goodbye and heading towards the Camp Hall.
"Where does he get all the energy?" Pepper watched after Finn for a minute and took in a breath. He rubbed his hands together and clapped once. "Well, we should probably head inside too. Wouldn't want to miss Lady's orientation speech." He winked.
As the pair walked around the side of the bus, a girl with long, honey-brown curls was struggling to retrieve her bag from the bottom of the pile of other camper's luggage. She tugged on the blue strap of a polka-dotted duffel bag and groaned. Bonnie ran to help her and hesitated.
"Oh, thanks so much, I-" the girl's smile fell away as she stared at Bonnie. Her bright face lost all color.
"Cinna, hi," Pepper said awkwardly, pulling out Cinna's bag and handing it out to her. "Nice to see you."
Cinna's dark eyes filled with tears. She looked away, hiding her face from Bonnie.
"Oh, Cinna," Bonnie whispered. "I'm sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry for." Cinna stated sharply. She didn't look up. She grabbed for her bag and took off in the other direction.
Bonnie looked up at Pepper with a frown.
"It's okay," Pepper put his arm around Bonnie. "What's done is done."
The two found their bags and made their way to the Camp Hall, the largest building on the campsite and where the auditorium and lunch hall were held. They found a seat in the middle of the mass of campers and chattered away until the Camp Director, a tall, graceful woman dressed in a Camp Moonstone shirt, stepped out onto the stage at the front of the room. She waved her hands around, gesturing for everyone's attention, and stepped up to the microphone.
"Welcome to Camp Moonstone!" she cheered. The campers all murmured a greeting back. "Welcome, all first years, and welcome back any returning campers! If you don't already know who I am, my name is Miss Lady, and I'm your camp director. I hope you all will have a great summer with us."
Lady smiled at Bonnie and she returned the gesture with a small wave. As Lady went on, going over the orientation- the same speech she'd given every year about camp rules, safety in the wilderness, that sort of thing- Bonnie scoped out the room. She recognized a few faces from the past two summers she'd gone to camp, along with a lot of new first year campers. She spotted Phoebe across the room who was staring at her with a fiery glare. Bonnie held her gaze, and Phoebe smirked maliciously. Bonnie looked away.
"I'd also like to introduce you all to a new counselor working here this summer," Lady spoke into the microphone, "His name is Jake! Jake, why don't you come up and introduce yourself?"
The counselor from Bonnie's bus walked up the steps to the stage with hesitation. He blushed when Lady smiled at him encouragingly, holding out the microphone. Jake took it and ran a hand through his hair. A couple of girls in the audience swooned, which made Jake's face flush even more. "Hello guys and gals, and uh, welcome to Camp Moonstone! I'm happy to be here as counselor for you all this year!" The audience clapped.
"Jake was actually a camper here himself," Lady grinned at him sweetly. "He and I went here together!" She clasped her hands together and put them in front of her. She stood close to Jake and nearly swayed, not taking her eyes off his.
A group of first years whistled and a couple of campers laughed. Jake and Lady's faces turned a bright pink and she looked away shyly.
"It's great to be back," Jake said, handing the microphone back to Lady. She went back to her orientation speech.
"I recognize him now! Isn't that Finn's older brother?" Pepper asked, leaning over to Bonnie.
"Now that you mention it, yeah, that's him," Bonnie replied. "I didn't realize it was him on the bus."
"Me either! He got hot, didn't he?" Pepper raised his eyebrows at Bonnie and chuckled.
Bonnie giggled quietly, and looked up at Pepper. Behind him was a counselor about the same age as Jake, who had a thick Mohawk and a pierced face. He stood against the auditorium wall, flexing, one arm raised behind his head, talking to a girl with long black hair in two braids. It was who he was talking to who made Bonnie's stomach churn.
"Bonnie, what's wrong?" Pepper was about to turn around when Bonnie grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"Don't, it's her." Bonnie's face flushed a deep red. She wanted to turn back towards the stage but she was stuck staring at the back of the girl. She held on the counselor's arm and giggled. She moved closer to him and moved a strand of hair behind her ear. Bonnie could feel herself melting. She forced herself to look down and leaned forward, her hands gripping the hard blue plastic of the chair. She listened to her heart pounding in her chest and felt her breath getting quicker.
"Hey, Bonnie, it's all right," Pepper draped his arm over Bonnie's back and whispered to her. "Bonnie, you're okay."
Pepper's words washed over Bonnie, leaving her at ease for a brief moment. She steadied herself and put her hand over her chest. It's okay, Bonnie. You're okay, she thought to herself. Her stomach gurgled and the anxious feeling from the bus came flooding back to her.
"I don't feel so good, Pep," Bonnie whispered. "I didn't think she'd come back this year."
"Hey, Bonnie, I know. It'll be okay. You guys broke up for a reason. You can't change it," Pepper paused. "She's too immature for you. It never would have worked out. Cinna will be okay."
Bonnie looked up at Pepper, pleadingly. She held her stomach and scrunched up her face. "It's not Cinna, Pep," she said weakly, "It's Marceline."
