Hi everyone! I'm so sorry for the long wait, but I needed to get some inspiration, which luckily I found within a trip to the beach, a visit to my old summer camp, and some amazing books (twilight anyone?). So hopefully the wait will be worthwhile. And if not, just wait for the next couple of chapters...there will be many things revealed (including some parts of this chapter that aren't fully explained). Please be patient, answers are coming soon!

Thanks so much to everyone for sticking with me! I appreciate all of your comments and posts, so please keep letting me know what you think! And of course...enjoy!

I tie the bright red scarf around my pony tail, carefully pulling it tightly, and look at my reflection in the mirror. My immediate thought is how tired I look. Three weeks of camp, ten campers, close to 100 songwriting programs, breaking up with one boyfriend, basically losing another, all while seeing my reputation plummet into the toilet, have made for one exhausting summer.

I take a deep breath and internally remind myself how strong I am.

I can do this. I've been through so much in my life and this last week of camp will be no different. I can get through this. I have to get through this.

"Are you talking to yourself again?" I hear from behind me, glancing in the mirror to see Jessica's reflection looking back at me.

"Did I actually say those things out loud?" I ask, my head starting to spin.

"Yep," she replies with a nod. "Are you losing your mind, Jude?"

"No," I assert, whipping around to look at her. "Why? Does it look like I am?"

She shrugs and glances at me hesitantly. "I don't know…talking to yourself in the mirror, not going out last night, waking up later than usual…are you suicidal or something?"

I raise my brows at her. "Suicidal? No. Sleep deprived? Yes."

"Okay, well, if you want to talk or whatever…" she responds, alluding to the idea that I should go to my camper to vent.

I try to keep my smirk quiet as I say, "Since when have you become so maternal, Jessica?"

"Someone needs to be," she replies, gazing past me to look at her reflection in the mirror. She stops to fluff her hair, reminding me that she is, in fact, thirteen.

"Jessica, I appreciate your concern, but really, I'm fine. I've been through much worse than this."

"Yes, I heard," she says, thinking for a moment before repeating my own words back to me with her usual overdramatic flair. "I'm strong! I can get through this!"

"I am," I say, slightly offended by her mocking tone. "And I definitely don't need to be looked after by a thirteen year-old."

She scoffs loudly at my statement, turning to look at me. "Okay…but the way I see it, I'm pretty much all you've got."

At that, she turns back around, fluffs her hair one last time and leaves the bathroom.

Crap. I think she might actually have a point.

- - -

I need to work down my priority list of potential disasters. And instead of starting with the biggest possible catastrophe, I'm going to start with the easiest one to resolve: Amy.

I approach her bed at the front of the bunk, watching her for a moment as she stares into the mirror against the wall and carefully applies a layer of gold eyeshadow to her eyelids.

"I can see you standing there," she mutters, not budging from her position with the wand over her eye.

"Sorry," I mumble, biting my lip as I nervously wait for her to finish.

"Did you want something or were you just interested in learning some tips on how to apply eyeshadow?"

"No…I wanted to talk to you actually," I say quickly, swallowing my nerves which have suddenly surfaced.

"So talk," she says flatly, continuing to apply her eye makeup.

It appears as though she's not going to turn around, so I need to do my best to diffuse this situation before she pokes me in the eye with her wand.

"Amy, I'm really sorry about what I said about Josh," I state with as must sincerity as I can muster. "I didn't mean it…it just kind of came out…and I was upset about the team assignments."

She doesn't respond or move from her position as I pause from my apology.

Hmm…okay…keep going, I suppose.

"I know that Josh and Nicole are siblings," I continue, waiting for her to interject at any moment, "but I guess I really shouldn't be judging either of them. Especially not together."

She dips her wand back into the gold eye makeup and continues to line her lids as I struggle to add more to my already lengthy apology.

"I know Josh is a good guy. I never thought he wasn't…I just got…carried away."

I stop at this point, waiting for a few long moments, praying that she'll make some sort of recognition of my words. I'll take anything - a nod, a glance into the mirror - anything that makes it seem like I might be forgiven.

I bite my lip, watching her finish lining her lids and put down the wand. She slowly turns around on the bed to face me, sighing as she sees the desperate look on my face.

"I'm sorry too," she says quietly, looking down at her comforter. "I think I got a little…intense."

"You had every right to," I reply, immediately feeling myself relax at her apology. "What I said was horrible. Josh hasn't done anything wrong, so I shouldn't have said what I did."

"Yeah, but still…I shouldn't have jumped on you like that," she admits, shaking her head. "It's just that Josh really isn't like his sister. In fact, he's been trying really hard to not get involved in her life."

I look at her in confusion, her statement taking me by surprise.

"Why?"

"He thinks she likes drama too much," she explains with a shrug. "He once told me that trouble always tends to follow Nicole…and if it doesn't, she'll create it herself."

I smirk at her words, obviously knowing first-hand how much that girl loves drama.

"But Josh, he tries to avoid that stuff," Amy continues, looking at me convincingly. "He takes his job really seriously. That's part of why we're keeping our relationship quiet. He wants Darius and everyone else to focus on the job he's doing instead of what else he has going on in his life."

"That makes sense," I say, retreating to my bed and sitting down.

"He just doesn't want people to mistake him for his sister," she finishes. "They're totally different."

"I understand," I reply. "I like Sadie, but I don't really want to be judged for her actions. She's not always the brightest bulb in the bunch."

Amy emits a quiet snicker, appearing to be more at ease in my presence.

"I'm sorry," I say softly. "I didn't know…and it wasn't my place."

"It's okay," she replies with a comforting nod.

"Have you guys talked about what you'll do once camp is over?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"A little," she says hesitantly. "It's kind of a touchy subject. I'm off to university next year and Josh is hoping to make this camp director thing a full-time job. So I guess it's up in the air."

"I'm sure you'll work it out," I assert, trying to be positive. "You two seem to have something special. You'll definitely find a way to make it work."

"I hope so," she says with a slight edge of nervousness. But as quickly as her distress develops, it disappears and she looks up at me with a small grin.

"So," she starts, seemingly back to normal, "what are you going to do about Nicole?"

"Ugh, I have no idea," I reply, sighing deeply. "These next few days of color war are going to be torture."

"And what about the article? Did you find out anything more about the person who gave the interview?"

"Nope. But I have an inside source working on it," I respond with a mischievous grin.

She eyes me suspiciously but shakes her head. "I'm not even going to ask."

I laugh at her response. "You don't want to know."

"My suggestion?" she says, standing from her bed. "Just ignore her. Whatever Nicole does, she's just looking for attention. So don't get sucked into her web of drama."

I can't stop the smirk from escaping my lips as I shake my head and say, "I think it's too late for that."

"Good point," she says, smiling as she opens the door to the campers' section to get them together for our first period.

- - -

I was never good at sports. Sadie was the athlete – I was the musician. That was the way it's always worked.

Yet, here I am, standing on the edge of the soccer field, giving my campers on the red team support as they kick the ball from one side of the field to the other.

Honestly, I have no clue what's going on. My eyes are having trouble following the white ball around the field. And even though everyone is wearing their team colors, I continually find myself cheering for the wrong team.

I hear screams from further down the sidelines and my eyes automatically drift towards the sound.

And there is Nicole cheering on our same team.

Ugh.

It would be one thing if we were separated, not having to be at the same activities. But since my life always seems to go the wrong way, we were actually paired together, being forced to watch the 13 and 14 year olds all day together.

As my eyes glance towards her, she looks over and meets my gaze, raising her brows at me down the field. I quickly look away and cross my arms, taking a deep breath to keep myself from doing anything rash.

But as I attempt to focus back on the game, I hear the crunch of the grass beside me and feel her walking towards me. She stops a few inches away, turning to watch the game alongside me.

"You know, it really would help if you cheered for the right team," she mutters, her eyes staying focused on the field. "You're going to give our campers a complex."

"You know what would help me?" I respond, completely forgetting Amy's advice to not entertain her. "If you moved back to the far end of the field."

Her eyes grow wide as she glares at me intently.

"I'm sorry, am I invading your territory?" she asks with a sarcastic edge. "I thought only you were allowed to do that."

I now realize that we're no longer talking about the game.

I roll my eyes and huff loudly, hoping that she'll walk back down the field at any moment.

"What's the problem?" she asks innocently. "Am I wrong? Have you not been invading other people's territory?"

I struggle internally with myself, unable to decide whether to respond or just let it go.

"It doesn't matter anyway," she continues, her eyes shifting back towards the field as she proudly adds, "Tommy already told me that you were a mistake."

"Excuse me?" I ask, my eyes nearly jumping out of their sockets.

"Tommy explained everything," she replies, a small grin emerging on her face as she continues to watch the game in front of us. "He apologized and said that whatever happened with you was just a misstep and obviously a huge mistake."

"What…but we…we didn't even do anything," I mumble, taken aback by her words.

She rolls her eyes at my attempt to fight for myself, saying confidently, "It really doesn't matter now since your little game is over, Jude. He and I are back together. So I suggest you try to find someone who actually likes you instead of trying to steal someone else's boyfriend."

My jaw drops by the end of her little speech, the fury rising within my whole system.

But before I can figure out whether it's better to punch her or scream at her, she turns to face me and adds,

"Oh, and I don't think I'll be needing those singing lessons anymore. Tommy offered to help me with some private, one-on-one sessions," she says, revealing a smug grin, as she turns to walk back towards the other end of the field.

I feel my heart begin to pound as I watch her walk away, my fury quickly becoming an outright rage. My mind is whirling, trying to recall everything she has just said. Tommy apologized? They're back together??

I take deep breaths and try to refocus my attention on the game. But I find myself constantly questioning if I was just imagining the moments he and I shared together, if our attraction was actually just one-sided. I replay the time we spent together in the infirmary, our songwriting programs, our flirting turned makeout session…none of our actions constituted an "illicit affair," but they still meant something…didn't they?

Is it possible that none of it mattered to him? Could I really have been a mistake?

I suddenly find myself more angry than I was before. And I realize that I'm not angry with Nicole – I'm angry with Tommy.

And the only way I'm going to find answers is to go straight to the source.

- - -

As I drop my kids off at the rec hall for a massive Name That Tune competition, I walk back outside and scan the camp grounds.

Josh is at the pool watching a swimming competition. Darius is at the office with Sadie. All of the female counselors are in the rec hall behind me and the male counselors are at sporting games with their teams.

So based on my calculations and how fast Josh can run, I'm estimating that I have exactly fifteen minutes to find Tommy before I'm found and escorted back to the rec hall.

I take off as fast as I can, considering all of the possible sports activities where Tommy could be. I reach the dirt road, carefully watching Josh at the pool from the corner of my eye, and continue to run towards the basketball courts. As I get closer, I look at the kids playing and see that they're too young to be Tommy's campers. Okay…not basketball.

I continue along the dirt road, my heart beating in my chest, and suddenly stop as I see a softball game in front of me. The kids appear to be a little older, so I quickly scan the field to see if he's there.

Just as I'm about to give up, I hear a voice coming from a figure with his back to me. He's cheering on his team and yelling for one of his kids to back up further into the outfield.

Wow. Who knew Tommy liked softball?

I feel my heart start to beat more rapidly than during my run. My nerves have suddenly resurfaced and I swallow the lump that has formed in my throat, taking a tentative step towards him.

"Hey," I say, approaching his side. He turns to look at me, his brows raised in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" he asks.

"I need to talk to you," I say quietly, biting my lip. I'm trying to remember to breathe and slow my racing heart, but it doesn't seem to want to listen.

He glances around at the game and his campers, his eyes settling on another staff member a few feet away.

"Hey, Mike, are you okay if I step away for a couple of minutes?"

The guy who I assume is Mike nods and replies, "Sure. I got it covered."

I grin at Mike as his eyes meet mine, trying to send him waves of thanks. I feel his eyes still on us as I start to follow Tommy away from the softball field and back onto the dirt road.

"What's up?" he asks, cocking his head at me.

It's funny how he acts like nothing's wrong. Like nothing's happening in either of our lives. Like I just came to shoot the breeze and check out how he looks playing softball.

I take a deep breath to compose myself and say, "We need to talk. About something Nicole told me this morning….about a conversation she had with you earlier."

Not wanting to rehash the details, I pause, hoping that he'll catch my drift. He appears confused for a few moments, but realization quickly dawns on him as he emits a long sigh and puts his hands on the sides of his head.

"How much did she tell you?"

"Enough," I answer blankly, crossing my arms and staring hard at him. "What are you doing, Tommy?"

He's clearly thrown off by my question as he furrows his brows at me. "What do you mean?"

"What are you doing? With her?" I ask again, emphasizing the reference to Nicole.

He groans in response, his eyes drifting downwards as he starts to kick aimlessly at the dirt on the road.

"You're still with her?" I ask, not being able to conceal my own frustration.

He stares up at the sky, breathing loudly and emits a quiet, "Yeah."

"Why?" I ask, my tone growing more heated. "Why did you apologize for something we didn't really do?"

He grows silent and gazes towards the game, obviously not wanting to answer my question.

"Why are you still with her?" I ask again, more softly, taking a hesitant step towards him.

He finally looks at me with a serious expression, his eyes reflecting his own inner turmoil. But he remains quiet, still appearing to struggle with his response.

"I don't understand," I plead, my eyes never leaving his. "Why didn't you stick up for me? For us? Do I really not mean anything to you?"

I see him start to break down, taking a few breaths before quietly replying,

"No, of course you do, but…it's complicated, Jude."

I shake my head, unwilling to accept that explanation.

"No, Tommy. You don't get off that easy…explain it to me."

"I can't," he mutters, taking a step away from me, his expression suddenly growing colder and more distant.

"Why not? What am I missing here?" I ask, my voice cracking as I feel my emotions change from frustration to sadness.

"Jude," he starts, running a hand through his hair.

But just as it looks like he's about to delve into an explanation, I hear my name being called from behind me. I turn around to see Sadie running towards me, raising her hand in the air.

"Jude! I need you!" she calls, approaching me.

I sigh in frustration, turning towards her.

"I'll go back to the rec hall in a minute, Sadie," I say hastily, wanting Tommy to finish.

"That's not it," she says with a sense of urgency. "I need you. It's important."

I glance back at Tommy, my disappointment transparent. As much as I need to hear what he's about to say, I know that Sadie will not give up until I talk to her.

"I guess I have to go. But can we continue this later? Please?" I ask, searching his eyes desperately.

He offers a small nod then silently turns and walks back towards the softball field. I watch him go for a few moments, biting my lip and wondering what he was going to say.

"Sorry," I hear from behind me, realizing that Sadie was still standing there. "Did I interrupt something?"

I sigh loudly and turn back towards her. "Just your average daily meltdown."

"Well I think I have something that might cheer you up," she says, a small grin appearing on her face. She digs into her pocket and pulls out a small piece of folded paper, handing it to me.

"Here," she says, as I take it.

"What's this?"

"It's what you asked me for," she says, her smile growing wider. "Mission accomplished."

I scan the words on the paper and instantly feel all of my distress fade away. I look up at her with a grin, feeling my first sense of excitement in weeks.

"You rock, Sadie."

"I know," she says, flipping her hair. "What are you going to do now?"

I take a deep breath and look at her more solemnly.

"I'm going to end this whole nightmare – once and for all."