Camp Revenge Season 2
Chapter 6: "Change"
I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go. Things go wrong so that you can appreciate them when they're right. You believe less so that you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself. And sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.
One word: Baking. She's baking. Mitchie is baking. Not just like a dozen cupcakes or something – About, maybe, twenty dozen cupcakes. She's in the kitchen… baking. Nothing else. Just. Baking. She's baked cookies, muffins, cakes… you name it, she's baked it. I mean, we could have a bake sale with all this crap!
I walked into the kitchen. "Mitchie? Put down the spoon and stop baking,"
She shook her head. "Denny died. And now I am baking," Mitchie pulled another batch of cookies from the oven. She set the tray down on the counter, letting it cool off, and then put another batch in the oven.
"You're insane," I told her.
"Not insane," she defended cracking some eggs into a bowl. "Just… baking,"
"Fine then. Not insane; crazy, out of your mind, psycho… must I continue?"
Mitchie started mixing some more brownie mix. "If you get to call me that, then I get to call you a man whore. Speaking of which, you better say sorry to Tess," She grabbed a basket. "Here. Bring these to her,"
I took the basket. "Muffins? You want me to bring her a basket of muffins?"
She nodded. "Muffins are comfort food,"
"Actually, sandwiches are comfort food," I said but took the basket anyway. "Don't kill yourself while I'm gone," I said and headed out the door.
"I'm not suicidal!" She called out after me. "Just... baking,"
I went out of the kitchen and went over to Tess's cabin. I knocked on the door and Tess answered. She glared at me and then shut the door.
I knocked on the door again.
She reopened the door. "What?!" she barked.
I held out the basket. "I baked you muffins – Well, Mitchie did, but I'm bringing them to you. Can I come in?" I asked.
Tess slammed the door and then I stood there for a second, thinking about what was going on. I shrugged and then went to my uncle's cabin. He looked at me. "Hi, Shane. What's with the basket?"
I walked closer to him and gave him the muffins. "Mitchie's baking. A lot. She's baked enough to open a bakery,"
Uncle Brown took the basket and ate one of the blueberry muffins. "These are pretty good," he said through a mouthful of muffin.
"But that's the problem," I said.
"What's so wrong about tasty muffins?" my uncle asked.
"She's baking!" I exclaimed.
He shrugged. "So? It's good baking too. She must get it from her mum, eh?"
I rolled my eyes. "You must not understand the problem here… SHE'S BAKING,"
"There's nothing wrong with baking, Shane," he said.
"Everything's wrong with it!" I practically screamed.
Uncle Brown ate another muffin. "Hey go see if she made some of those brownies with the powdered sugar on the top – you know, crack brownies. Yeah, go get me some crack brownies,"
I rolled my eyes and left his cabin. I went back into the kitchen and grabbed every single batch of muffins, cookies, cupcakes, and brownies that I could find – I had to take it all in a wheelbarrow – and I took them all to Uncle Brown's cabin.
He gawked at the treats. "What are you? A PTA mum?"
I took the so called 'crack brownies' our and handed them to him. "Here are your hash brownies," I put my hands on my hips. "Now do you think we don't have a problem here?"
Uncle Brown pointed to the wheelbarrow. "We have a serious problem here," he said.
I nodded. "Now you understand!"
He took the wheelbarrow and we both went back into the kitchen. Mitchie looked up at us, green frosting smeared across her face, powdered sugar in her hair, flour all over her clothes… and was that egg in her hair, also? She's a mess. I went closer to Mitchie and grabbed the spoon she was holding. She tried to fight me for it, but me being taller than her and all, I held it up high and she couldn't reach it.
"Give it back!" she cried and jumped up for the batter-covered spoon.
I shook my head. "No more baking for you, young lady,"
Mitchie kept on trying to get the spoon from me. "This is how I cope, Shane! Give it back!"
I shook my head again. "No," I tossed the spoon across the room and it fell on the floor. I grabbed Mitchie's shoulders and forced her to look at me. "You are a mess. Go take a shower and get cleaned up,"
She huffed. "I'll drown myself in the bathtub unless you give me the spoon back,"
I pointed to the spoon. "It's on the ground. It's dirty… germ infested. Don't bake anymore,"
Mitchie scoffed. "Fine," she said and left the kitchen.
"I'll come check on you to make sure you didn't kill yourself," I called out after her.
"I don't need rescuing!" she yelled.
I sighed and turned to Uncle Brown. I picked up a brownie. "Brownie, Brownie?"
Uncle Brown took the brownie and ate it. He left the kitchen.
I went over to all the mixing bowls and put them all in the sink. I grabbed the spoon off of the floor and put it in the sink as well. I took the wheelbarrow of baked goods and set it out in the dining hall. Then, I went over to Tess's cabin and knocked on the door.
"What do you want?" she asked when she answered.
Oh, God. She's wearing her wedding dress. I walked in her cabin and sat down on her bed.
She sat down on a chair by her bed and looked at me… with that face.
"Don't look at me like that," I said, shaking my head. "It annoys me and makes me feel like you haven't been fed,"
"You cheated on me with your ex-girlfriend… at the prom. Could you get any lower than that?" she asked.
I stared at her, not saying a word.
"Isn't it ironic?" she asked. "We ignore those who adore us, adore those who ignore us, hurt those who love us, and love those who hurt us?"
I didn't say anything.
"It's hard to wait around for something you know may never happen, but it's even harder when you know it's everything you want," she continued. "You do what you want… because I'm not what you wanted,"
Silence.
"But even though, I forgive you for what you did," Tess said.
"You forgive me?" I asked.
Tess nodded. "I don't forgive people because I'm weak; I forgive people because I'm strong enough to know people make mistakes,"
I stood up. "I sure as hell wouldn't forgive me if I were you," I said and walked away.
"Don't play games with a girl who can play better!" she called out after me.
I went into Mitchie's bathroom to check on her. I knocked on the bathroom door. "Mitchie?" I asked.
No reply.
The door was unlocked, so I went inside and saw the bathtub filled up with bubbles and everything. But no Mitchie. "Mitchie?" I asked again.
I went over to the bathtub and looked down into it, only to see Mitchie under the water. I stared at her for a second and then reached in the tub and pulled her out. She coughed and gasped.
"You tried to kill yourself," I whispered.
She narrowed her eyes. "I don't need a knight in shining whatever,"
Maybe it is true. Maybe we don't know what we have until we lost it. But maybe it's also true that we don't know what we're missing until we find it.