Camp Pinewood

Chapter 18

{Song in video: In The Valley Below - Peaches}

"Still didn't find the camera yet?" Josh asked me as he came up to the table during lunch.

"No," I said, shaking my head glumly. "It was a gift from my parents too because they knew how much I wanted that camera."

"Aw, I'm sorry." He gave me a concerned look, and touched my arm.

"It was my own fault anyways. Maybe I did leave it somewhere."

"We can still look for it."

"We looked everywhere already though. We looked at different places this morning, and the girls are still banned from activities."

He sighed. "Yeah, I know."

We changed the subject to activities, and then Josh asked, "Hey, have you seen Helena by any chance? We still have to talk to her."

I paused for a moment, feeling puzzled. "No, I haven't seen her that much actually since yesterday."

"Really? That's weird."

"Yeah, it is."

"Well, I know that wasn't on your mind because of the camera thing."

"Yeah, I guess."

Just then, we saw Helena pass by. "Helena," Josh called after her.

Helena whirled around, with a panicked look on her face. "Yeah?" She said in an uncertain tone.

"We need to talk to you."

"About what?" She looked nervous.

"It's about Rowan and I."

"Oh...well, I've got to help Janee with something-"

"I'm sure Janee can wait a few minutes."

Josh and I explained what happened with us and Bryson, and she immediately burst into tears.

"Are you okay?" I asked, feeling confused. "Why are you crying?"

"It's...uh...nothing," Helena said, and quickly walked away.

Josh and I looked at each other with confused faces. "Do you know what happened?" I asked him.

"Not a clue," Josh replied.

We quickly followed after Helena. "Hey, what's wrong?" I asked her.

"I'm sorry," Helena replied, tears streaming down her face. "I-I took your camera." She pulled it out of her bag, handing it to me.

I didn't know how to react or respond, but I held the camera in my hands, with my mouth open.

"It's not broken or anything, just so you know." She wiped her tears.

"Oh..." I said, still not knowing how to respond.

"Why did you steal her camera?" Josh asked, glaring at her.

"I thought she cheated on you, and I got mad, so I took her camera because of that. I'm not sure why I did that, it was an impulsive thing to do." She turned to me. "I'm sorry, Rowan. I didn't mean to cause all of this. It was all a misunderstanding, but even so, I shouldn't have took your camera without permission."

"Do you know how much that camera costs? It's seven hundred dollars," I said with a straight face, feeling annoyed.

"I am sorry." She looked down at the ground. When she looked back up, she said, "I'll tell Janee and Shane everything."