The mess hall was a short building, but was huge in size. It was built to carry up to 100 boys. Smaller cabins meant for sleeping were built around it. It should be lunch time for them, I hope, I thought as I climbed the steps to the mess hall and pushed open the heavy door.

Chatter was all around me, and nobody even noticed my entrance. It wasn't nearly as full as it was in the summers, but there must've still been 40 boys milling around.

I immediately felt sick. I backed up so I was behind Chris, and he was scanning the faces of the people sitting and eating. His eyes lit up as he saw someone. "I know him," he explained, and walked down the ranks of boys, taking his spot between two guys. I quickly lost sight of him.

Task done, I thought to myself, and turned on my heel to leave. Suddenly, commotion broke out from where I assume the kitchen was, following out into the large dining room.

"I've been stuck here for weeks! Weeks! You guys won't even let me eat with them in fear of what? That I'll go crazy?" A very blonde girl stormed out of the room, and a seemingly flustered camp counselor was following after her, saying something I couldn't hear.

The room silenced at the commotion and everyone looked. I squinted hard at the girl. I swore I knew her...

Oh.

It was Natalie.

Of course she would be making a scene like this. She was always so dramatic in everything she did, and was the small town's 'it-girl'. With her taking any possible attention away from me, I decided to watch the scene unfold.

"God, shut up, John! I'm not asking you to let me hook up with all of these guys, I just want some human interaction before I lose my mind! Anything! I can't keep sleeping in that dirty cot in the kitchen or I'll-I'll—" Her voice broke and I could see the tears start to flow. Poor John was now standing, mouth agape, no idea what to do.

I could now hear him over the silence in the room. "Okay, fine. You can eat out here. But that's—"

Cheers from all the boys in the room erupted, and I gave an incredulous laugh at the scene. They must've known what she had done, or who she had been with.

She was the type of girl to try and get as many Valentine's day kisses as her age. She did what she wanted, whenever she wanted, and nobody could tell her otherwise. Her parents were the richest in the town, and she was sure to remind anybody who talked down on her of that fact.

She looked around with a smile, and the tears were all an act. She raised her arms up too, and the cheering grew louder. I shook my head and opened the door to leave as the chatter resumed.

Quick footsteps approach me, and I feel a hold on my arm as I go to open the door. I whip around to see Natalie with a surprised look on her face.

"Oh my God! Willow Shade, if it isn't you."

"Natalie Till," I greet in a flat, unenthusiastic tone. Her smile is daunting, a fake sickly sweet expression that makes my stomach do a flip.

"Are you stuck up here too? I could see them housing you with the boys on accident. Explains why I never saw you." She gives me an even wider grin, probably hoping I'll react.

"Don't make me put a curse on your house, Natalie." I make monster claws with my hands and imitate ghost sounds in front of her. Her smile drops into a face of disgust.

"God, you're so weird," she says, scoffing. I give her an I don't want to talk to you or ever see you again look and throw open the door, making my way out.

She chases after me, saying "Wait! Wait, I'm sorry, old habits die hard." I ignore her and roll my eyes, stomping quickly back to my house. "Please, Willow, I can't stay with them anymore. The pipes froze and they haven't had showers and it smells like an animal died in there. Please, I'm begging you."

I stop immediately and spin to face her. "Why would I help you out? I should stick you with those boys after all the stuff you did to me back in school."

"I know I'm mean, but I'm trying to get better," she says in an annoying high-pitched voice. She stomps her feet like a child, and I can't help but laugh.

"Why, daddy say he's gonna cut off your allowance if you do something again?" I smirk at her.

Her face pales before turning red, and she looks like she's about to say something, but decides against it. Instead she takes a deep breath and the fake, plastic smile returns to her face. "Please?" She says.

"No."

"Oh, come on! Take pity on a girl, would you?" I spin and start back towards my house, but she continues to follow me, shouting pleads and whiny cries at me.

After about two minutes, I stop dead where I was standing. I hear her footsteps stop too, and I turn around, looking her dead in the eyes.

"You can stay with me, but if me or my wolf get hungry in the middle of the night, I can't guarantee your safety." I say, and I flash her the same artificial smile she gave me. Her face falls immediately, then lifts into what seems to be pure joy.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She shouts, throwing her arms around me in a hug. I stand, shocked, until she's done. "Sorry, I really am losing my mind out here."

I roll my eyes and continue the way back to my house. "Why would you stay with me? Didn't the counselor say you could eat with the boys again?"

"Well, yeah, but then I saw you and I was like, hey, it would be better to room with a girl instead and not be looked at like an object, you know?"

"Thought you said they would room me with me boys."

She laughs loudly, snorting, too. "That was kinda funny, you have to admit."

I roll my eyes and stop talking, but instead I think about what she said. Not be looked at like an object. I feel sorry for her, and I look back at her. She smiles, genuinely this time.

"I got stuck up here because I was coming to see my boyfriend. You may know him. Aiden?"

I racked my brain to think of any Aidens in our school. "Aiden Whitmore?" She shakes her head. "Thomason?" She shakes her head again, but adds that he was a good kisser. "Those are the only two I remember."

"Aiden Caddel, silly," she said. I stretch my brain, but no memory of him comes. I shrug my shoulders. "Well, anyway, his dad caught him stealing his beers again and sent him up here. He was gonna get him for Christmas, but the roads got blocked off. Now he's stuck up here until it thaws!" She did her snort-laugh again, and I gave a pity chuckle. "Well anyway, he told me he wanted to see me the day before the storm, so I biked all the way up here. Next thing I knew, the storm of the century blew in!"

"Fascinating," I say, hoping she'll run out of conversation soon.

But she doesn't. The entire walk back to my house, I have the most horrible, murderous thoughts swirling in my head while she non-stop chatters. When we finally reach my house, I almost collapse with relief.

The sun has hardly ticked through the sky, and I know it's gonna be impossible to engage in conversations with her for that long. I'm already regretting my decision of letting her stay, but I could imagine the boys going crazy over her. It's safer here. I throw the door open, and Dog is standing there, tail wagging.

"Oh my God," Natalie says from behind me. "Puppy!" She pushes past me and falls onto the floor next to Dog, immediately giving him rubs all over. His tongue lolls out of his mouth while she fusses over him and scratches his belly.

Unbelievable. I go in, shut the door with a hard thud and take off my boots. I walk past her, into the kitchen, my headache pounding harder.

For a second, the ground seems to slide away from me, and I have to put my hand on the countertop to steady myself. Dog seems to sense this and comes over, whining and brushing his head against my leg.

"I'm okay," I assure him, and look back at Natalie. She's standing, observing the shelves full of trinkets.

"These are so cool!" She calls, and I want to cry at the sound of her voice. I wondered if all her friends wanted to blast their heads off being around her too.

I push down the evil thought, and instead start doing the motions to make tea. "Want tea?" I ask innocently, carefully watching her from the kitchen. She's looking up and down the row of trinkets, occasionally lifting a hand to touch one but decides otherwise.

"Yeah, sure! You guys probably got the freshest tea up here. My daddy..."

I let myself drift out of thought as I start boiling the kettle and grinding the leaves, wanting to escape for a moment. I close my eyes, hard, her voice still droning in the background, when I have an idea.

"I'm gonna play some music," I call, and she stops what she was saying, looking at me with wide eyes. "Come sit at the table. Tea will be ready in a minute."

I leave the kitchen unattended and head into my sister's room. I try not to think about it too hard as I grab her stereo and pick out a CD my grandmother had given her, Elton John. It was our favorite when we were kids. As my fingers wrap around the case, my head swelters again and I feel the room slipping from beneath me. What is going on?

I press my head into my palm and squeeze my eyes shut, hard. After a few long seconds, I regain my senses and let out a deep exhale.

"You alright?"

Her voice makes me jump, and I quickly grab the stereo and CD and spin around. "Fine, just have a headache," I say, and she moves out of the doorway as I come out, slamming the door closed.

"I didn't know you liked pink so much," she says, taking a spot at the table that used to be my grandmother's and mindlessly starts picking at her nails.

"I don't," I say, putting the stereo down and putting the CD in and Jamaica Jerk Off starts playing heartily.

"Then whose room was that?" She asks, and I hesitate. Nobody at school knew about Aspen.

"My little sister's," I decide to say after a minute, pouring the boiling water into two cups and adding in the herbs for tea. I join her at the table, sitting beside her, in my mom's usual seat.

"I didn't know you had a little sister," she says, her eyes brightening. "I have a little brother and he's the biggest nuisance. How old is she?"

I tap my fingers on my cup, looking into the darkening liquid. I try to show as little emotional as possible while I say "She's dead. She'd be 15 this year."

Natalie's face falls immediately. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't...I'm sorry."

I give her a tight smile. "It's alright," I say, taking a sip of my tea and looking away, hoping she won't see the tears in my eyes.

"How did..." she trails off, and I cringe at her question.

"I don't want to talk about it," I say firmly. I want to leave the room, but I have nowhere to go, no excuses. The fire, I think, and swiftly stand and move to the living room, prodding at the fire and adding a few logs. It spits and the flames raise.

I return to my seat, but she's still looking at me with sorrow in her eyes. "I never knew."

"Nobody did but my family." And it was my fault. "It happened years ago, it's okay now."

She frowned, but let it go after a minute. The CD switched to This Song Has No Title and I was thankful for something to ebb away at the silence.