“Oh, Ella! Meet my step-sister, maya!” Says Millie with a smile. Stepsister. STEPSISTER. Holy moly guacamole. Me and maya just stare at each other. I read mayas expression. It’s simple. She’s scared of me outing her as a space nerd. “Do…do you know each other?” Asks Millie. “we go to the same school” I mutter. “Aw nice! My two besties can become besties.”says Millie. Oh. She really has no idea. No idea of what Maya has done to me. What she did to Scarlet… “As if! She still blames me for what is totally her fault.” Maya tuts. My blood turns to ice, and my heart rate increases. My fault. MY FAULT. I’m so sick of hearing that. I was the one who listened to scarlet, who cared for her. “SHUT UP!” I scream. Everyone in the room turns to face me. Before I even know what I’m saying I’m yelling again. “IT WAS YOUR FAULT SHE DID THAT TO HERSELF! YOU SELFISH, VEIN, SELF OBSESSED, USELESS MORON! I GOT THE BLAME BECAUSE OF ONE ARGUMENT, WHEN YOU HAD BULLIED HER FOR YEARS!” I sob, sinking to the ground, hands over my red, tearful eyes. Apart from the sound of me crying, the room is silent. “Do you want to talk about it?” Asks Millie. She sits down next to me. I nod, and look up. Poppy sits up and leaves, annoyed for some reason. Maya huffs and starts unpacking. “Trust me Millie, you don’t want to hear Ella’s little sob story.” Millie shoots Maya a look that could kill, before looking at me kindly. Millie has two sides to her. Noted. Ok. Here we go. “Scarlet was my best friend. We did everything together. I’m not that social- Scarlet was always the extrovert. She was… happy. Until we started secondary school, and maya decided she was going to bully us.”. I shoot Maya a dirty look, to which she rolls her eyes. I open my mouth to speak, but Poppy bursts in. “We have to go to dinner in sun cabin- sorry, have I interrupted something?”, she says the last bit with a sort of annoyed sarcasm. “No…” I say. Oh— I didn’t even get to unpack! “Ella… do you want to Finish telling me about scarlet?” Asks Millie. She’s obviously curious, but won’t admit it. “Um… maybe not…” . I can tell she’s disappointed that she won’t get to find out what happened. “oh, that’s fine…” she smiles. I’m surprised she hasn’t figured it out yet. “Er-hello!” Sneers Poppy. “Are we leaving or not?”. “Yes. Well I am. Come on Mil.” Huffs Maya. “With Ella?” Millie asks, clearly annoyed. “Well. We all have to go- what do you think?”. Maya rolls her eyes as she walks out the door. Millie stands up, I do the same. As I open the door for Millie, I take one look at the room. I’m at camp now. Maya or no Maya, I’m around people who get me. I’m home.
