"Oh. My. Gods!" Arabella squeaked, turning over in her bed and looking up at the ceiling. Daniel, who was sitting on hsi bed, burst out laughing. He smiled over at her and raised an eyebrow.
"You know...I've never seen anyone react the way you do to things like this" Daniel said and Arabella pushed herself up, so that she was looking at him with wide eyes.
"Danny...I am freaking out. I...I can't believe...he said" Arabella let out a huff and she closed her eyes, feeling rather frazzled.
"Tell me what he said again?" Daniel said, standing up and walking over to Arabella's bed. He sat down beside her and Arabella turned so that her whole body was facing him.
"Well, you know how I told you about last night at capture the flag? How the guy had saved me again last night?" Arabella said. When she had told Daniel about the guy saving her, she had left out the part about the kiss. What had happened between her and the guy who saved her felt so personal and sacred. She didn't really want to tell anyone about it, not even Daniel.
"He said that he had something important to tell me and then he said that he was the guy who saved me. I was just..stunned and I didn't believe him but then he was able to give me so many details. He knew where it was and he knew what happened." Arabella sighed and she looked up at her brother with worried eyes. "Besides, he's a friend. I should trust him"
"If he was able to give you a lot of detail then maybe you should give him a chance" Daniel said with a shrug and Arabella sighed, twisting a curl of her hair around her fingers nervously.
"But I trusted Brett. I believe Brett when he told me but he was just lying the whole time" Arabella groaned and she looked down, rubbing her eyes. "What if I decide to let him in and then find out that he's been lying to me too? I couldn't deal with something like that again."
"Sure, you could. You're tough" Daniel said and Arabella scoffed a little bit. "Look...sometimes you have to kiss a couple frogs before you find your prince" He said, making Arabella roll her eyes.
"You're like a walking greeting card" Arabella said with a little laugh and Daniel shrugged it off.
"Either way, you're going to need to trust someone else at some point in your life. Yeah, he might hurt you. He might also be a great person to have in your life" Daniel told her and he pushed himself off of the bed, walking back over to his own.
"Well...we'll see" Arabella said softly and she stood up, walking over to her trunk and popping it open. She had spent most of her life at camp and now she was packing it all up. Sure, she was going to be back next summer but this felt so....huge. Arabella had a really hard year at camp and she was surrounded by people that knew her and knew her past. What she really needed was time away from it all, even if it was hard for her to do.
She let out a little sigh and pulled out her duffel bag from the bottom of her trunk, slowly starting to fold up her stuff. Her clothes, her shoes, her accessories. Almost everything went back into her bag. However, she did leave a few personal things. Her journals, her books, her folders full of paintings. Arabella sat down on her bed and picked up her teddy bear, holding him in her arms. She let out a little sigh and flopped back onto her pillows, closing her eyes.
"Don't fall asleep" Daniel said from his bed, an audible smile in his voice.
"I'm not sleeping. I'm resting my eyes" Arabella muttered.
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Arabella woke up about a haf an hour later to an empty cabin. She groaned, searching through her a little box of accessories to find another watch, since her old one was still missing. She glanced at the time and let out a little sigh. Everyone would be eating supper right now. To be totally honest, she wasn't very hungry. Her stomach was tied up with knots and she knew that if she went down to the dinner table, she would never want to leave.
She turned over on her side and let out a little sigh. Her thoughts and her feelings were so jumbled. All she could really think about at that moment was Ethan. He told her that he had saved her. Would it really be so bad to trust him? If she didn't trust him, she might never find out who her hero was. Maybe he was telling the truth. The details that he was able to give her, they were right. There was no doubt in her mind that he had been there.
Ethan could be the guy. He could be the one who had saved her and he could be the one that was perfect for her. When she had kissed him in the woods, she felt like she knew him. It wouldn't be that odd for Ethan to be that guy. She knew him for ages. Arabella could spend time with him, they could get to know each other, maybe they could fall in love. At the thought of that, Arabella smiled a little bit. It was a happy thought.
But what if he wasn't the guy? Brett had lied to her and it broke her heart. Ethan could be lying to her too and she just knew that it would hurt even more. All she wanted was to find this guy and talk to him. She wanted to know him and she wanted to be in his life. She wanted to love him. Arabella didn't know how much disappointment she could take.
Arabella sat up and she ran her fingers through her hair, looking down at her duffel bag. She would be leaving early in the morning, before anyone was awake. If there was anything that she wanted to do or say, she needed to say it now. Arabella didn't want to live with any regrets. She glanced down at the tan line on her wrist and knew what she needed to do. Quickly, Arabella jumped out of bed and slid into her shoes. She moved towards the door and out of the cabin as fast as possible. From where she was standing, Arabella could see that most kids were going down to the fire but she saw a familiar shape walking towards the Ares cabin. Before she could stop herself, Arabella rushed away from her cabin and towards him. Towards Ethan. "Ethan?" She called out as she walked up to him. He turned around adn gave her a small smile.
"Hey, Arabella" Ethan said and he put his hands in his pockets, leaning towards her a little bit. "I didn't see you at dinner tonight. The Aphrodite table looked empty without you.
"Oh, I'm sure they were just fine without me" Arabella giggled softly and she looked up at him, her eyes locking with his. She saw him last night. There was no doubt in her mind.
"Was there something you wanted to talk about or did you just want to check out my hot bod?" Ethan said, putting a hand on his chest and Arabella rolled her eyes, a smile on her face.
"I wanted to tell you that I believe you" Arabella said softly and Ethan looked down at her with a suddenly serious face. "It kind of comes at a really crappy time because I'm about to leave and everything but I couldn't go without you knowing that I believe in you and-" She was cut off when she felt Ethan's arms wrap around her and he hugged her tightly.
"I was hoping you would say that" Ethan said in a low voice before letting her go. Arabella looked up at him and she took a deep breath before taking out a pen.
"Give me your hand" She said and Ethan raised an eyebrow but he stuck his hand out anyway. Arabella took his large hand in her gingerly and started writing on his palm. "This is where I'll be living in New York this year. Visit me, sometime?" She asked him and Ethan grinned.
"Of course" He said and he bent down, kissing her cheek. With a flushed face, Arabella smiled and gave him a small wave before turning around and walking towards her cabin.
Maybe things would work out for her this time. Maybe the next year would be better. As she stepped into the doors of the Aphrodite cabin, Arabella looked back and saw Ethan, still standing where he was. When he saw her, he grinned and gave her a small wave. She smiled softly before walking into her cabin and sitting down on her bed. Arabella let out a little sigh and put her teddy bear into her bag, smiling softly.