Watching the marshmallows on my stick stretch from the heat, I pull the stick back and begin to chew the marshmallow off. It's delicious. Looking up, the sky is indigo, with some stars lining up. Running to the log beside me, Phoenix jumps onto it.

"Yo."

"Hi."

He greets me before sticking two marshmallows into his stick. 

"You look relaxed."

Phoenix mentions, turning his head to face me. Unsure how to respond, I squeak out a noise of confusion. He lets out a small snicker. 

"The entire day, you've been nervous."

He puts his hand beside his mouth, whispering.

"I can't blame you, I was the same too. But seeing you like this is a first, and it's nice."

I'm left speechless. My heart flutters as I break a smile. 

"I guess it is nice to relax for once." 

I respond, staring down. 

"It's Thanks to-"

Before I can finish, I see Tom walking by, greeting the other camp leaders. I sigh quietly in disappointment. 

"What's wrong?"

Phoenix asks, ushering himself closer to me. I turn to look at him. 

"Phoenix, at lunch, it didn't go as well as I thought. I saw your camp leader Brock with Joyce. And they kept on staring at us."

Phoenix's eyes widen in alarm. 

"I think they might be spying on us, and the worst part is, Tom was there too."

We both pause in fear. 

"Come with me."

I notice his hand reached out to me. I look back up at him, confused. Taking his hand and eyeing the campfire, We sneak to the bush beside the log we were sitting on. 

"There's still people here."

"We're nowhere near the spot."

No one noticed us as we stepped out of the campfire. Phoenix guides me to the field, where many people trail through. It's much darker and colder. My eyes dart from side to side, wondering where he's taking me. Eventually, we reach the cabin area, confusing me. Until he drags me behind a cabin, then letting go of my hand. 

"We should probably still keep our voice down."

He states, studying the area. There were small peaks of moonlight shining through the trees, letting me see parts of his face and my hands. I nod to his advice in response. 

"Anyway, sorry. You were saying?"

"Two of the camp leaders talking with Tom, and they seemed to be pretty angry, but focused. It's almost as if they were investigating something."

I explain. 

"Ah. I'm guessing you think that they're onto us?"

"Y-Yes."

His arms cross his waist as he heaves a short breath in disappointment. 

"I'm worried about what they would do if they knew about what we saw, but at the same time, Could it be that they're worried about us?"

Phoenix looks back up at me, leaving a questionable noise to my worry.

"It could be, but maybe if they really were worried, they would have called us and asked us some questions. If we were hurt, scared, you know."

His statement made my heart race, wondering what to believe. I place a hand over my chin, tipping my head downwards.

"Now that you mention it, it's almost as if the Camp is a school. The cabin camp leaders are the school nurses for each cabin that they have to look after, the activity camp leaders are our teachers, and Tom and Jenna are the Principals. And aren't the school nurses supposed to make sure that the students are safe?"

Phoenix replies with a sigh of understanding and approval to my metaphor. 

"And it's the Principal and Vice Principal's job to make sure the kids are safe, learning and having fun."

I nod in response. 

"Why'd you think they would be worried? Didn't you also say that they looked angry?"

Phoenix asks. 

"Some people are like that."

"Like who? What idiot would be angry at the person they wanted to protect?"

"My mom."

Phoenix lets out a "hm?" Still with his arms crossed.

"She's very calm most of the time, but if it ever comes that I make too silly of a mistake or do something stupid, she will tell me off. I've always been confused with her passive-aggressive attitude, and I can't say I like it, but I know she cares for me. Maybe all she needs is time?"

When I look back up again, he's staring at me shocked and still. 

"I-I'm so sorry. Was that too much? I can get carried away."

He leaves out a short laugh, reassuring me. 

"In the end, I still think that the Camp Leaders are onto us. They were staring down at me, and I've never seen Joyce that shocked, or Tom that concentrated. Is Brock the type to act that way too?"

"Based on how long I've known him, I've only ever seen him teasing us as a joke, always carefree and happy. I'm pretty sure you remember when he caught us talking earlier today."

I nod before he continues. 

"From other people, I've heard that they've never seen him strict. It's a 'rare sight'. Brock's the type to let things go when something goes wrong."

"How do you know about that?"

"Weirdly, some girl from another cabin was found running from the forest, and Brock found her. She was apologizing like crazy, but he said she did nothing wrong. I didn't know what to believe. Apparently the girl was scared. It sounded like no matter how bad the situation was, Brock could never...show his worry? This was just something I heard from the other guys in my cabin."

This is terrifying. Brock sounds terrifying. 

"Do you think those guys came to Brenowa camp longer?"

I ask. 

"Nope. It's their first time."

I sigh. 

"So if all of the leaders looked pissed, and were all looking at you, still pissed, what could they want with you? To tell you off?"

Phoenix asks, holding his head.

"I want to guess so, but I feel like there has to be something else."

"Why would you think that?"

"It's just like what you were telling me."

Phoenix raises a brow, his eyes widening. 

"Remember how you told me earlier at the nature walk that to be mad at someone they would have to do something horrible? Because I was so worried about Sky being mad at me. In our case, we made the mistake by getting lost, but we still followed Jenna. We scared ourselves by seeing that corpse. The more I think about it, do you think that's a good reason for someone to tell us off?"

Phoenix is still silent, still processing my question.

"I wouldn't think so." 

He responds.

"Then, let's wait. I don't know what they could be doing, but we should be ready if they plan on actually telling us off. We can tell them what happened, remember?"

"They would have to do something, to make sure that something like that doesn't happen again so the camp is safe."

We both nod affirmatively.

When we're about to go back to the log, I reach out my hand, signalling him to wait. 

"Phoenix, what about Sky? Shouldn't we tell her about this too?"

He hesitates on the spot. 

"I know we promised not to tell anyone, but shouldn't she be an exception-"

"No."

My eyes widen. 

"No. Sky's been through enough. She doesn't need something like this scaring her. Plus, she won't believe us anyway."

"Isn't she your friend? What if something happens?"

"I know when something's wrong with her. I can protect her from whatever's going to come."

His voice went from light to dark within seconds. I hold back the urge to go against his plan.

"What do you mean, whatever's going to come?"

"I-It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

I sigh worriedly, feeling uneasy about Phoenix's decision. When he turns to walk back to the campfire, I follow him, but I still worry. Phoenix, how will you handle it when Sky is not at the lunch table to say hi anymore?