"We were in the woods..." I began, talking to the whole of the camp. They all wanted to know what happened. "and he heard this howl. It sounded pretty close. We ran towards it, and we heard it breathing...I turned around and saw it. It was huge, the size of a horse. We ran away from it, but it followed us. Then we got back here."
"No one believes you, freak!" Sal shouted. Everyone nodded, except Molly, John and Greg. Of course my three best friends believed me. Of course no one else did. I wouldn't.
"Fake!" I heard someone shout.
"Loser!" I looked at the ground.
"Lanky git!" Andy shouted. I had thought we were friends, once. It hurt more than it should have.
"Nerd!" My cheeks blazed.
"Geek!" I was going to explode.
"Freak!"
"You're all meretricious imbeciles!" I yelled. Everyone stared at me. "You know nothing about me! You know nothing about my life! So don't judge me!" I paused. "Actually, judge me, don't judge me, I don't care. Just leave me alone." And with that, I stormed off into the tent.
"Sherlock, you can't stay in there forever." I heard Molly call from behind the zipped tent door.
"Yes I can." I said, my slightly voice muffled by the sleeping bag I had pulled around me.
"I'm coming in, then."
"No! I don't want you to see me like this." I shouted, rolling over on the hard ground and wiping away the tear that had been rolling silently down my face. I knew Molly would come in anyway. I sighed as she unzipped the tent door, climbing in and sitting down next to me.
"I know you saw a dog. I know you were telling the truth."
"What does it matter? No one else does!" I looked up, and saw that Molly was hurt. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."
"You're upset."
"That's not a valid excuse."
Molly shrugged.
"I thought Sal was your friend. I thought Andy was, too."
"We were close in the first year...but then we kind of drifted apart."
"Why?"
"You won't like it."
"I won't mind."
Molly looked at me. "I went out with Andy. Sally likes him so she hates me, really, and then when me and Andy broke up that changed things..."
"Oh." I said, barely registering the information. It didn't matter to me. Not that I didn't care about Molly- I did, obviously -but it just...wasn't important information. I had a feeling I would delete it at some point.
We sat in silence for a while. There was nothing to say.
"Are you coming out or what? Staying in here will just make you more miserable."
"I'm fine."
"You didn't cry when we were kidnapped, but you're crying now? You're not fine."
"I'm not crying."
"Yes you are."
I sighed, and sat up. I realized I wasn't wearing a shirt and pulled the sleeping bag around myself, embarrassed. Molly laughed.
"Not a bit cold?"
I shrugged. I was cold, but I hadn't realized until Molly said.
"I'll leave you to get dressed. Try not to die of hypothermia while I'm away."