Breathe || Max X Reader - Camp Camp

XXXI

Word Count: 900
Y/N's POV

     Despite Preston's best efforts, I had only gotten worse and worse throughout the week. It started small. Little things, like not wanting to talk, or laziness. I became more apathetic, unforgiving.
     From there, I started spiraling. I eventually refused to eat. I still ate when I absolutely had to, but I hated it. My body just wouldn't let me. I wasn't really trying to harm myself, I just wanted to punish myself. More than anything, I wanted to be able to control something. After Max had been ripped from me, there was no more stability in my life.
     By the end of the week, I was a wreck. Nikki was so afraid of me that she began sleeping outside of our tent. She left the entire space to me, fearful that I might sock her right in the face if she dared to enter. She was wrong, though.
     The rest of the campers had distanced themselves as well. Though, I was mainly concerned about Nikki, the girl who most of the time showed no fear. Then again, maybe I was wrong. Maybe she wasn't afraid at all, and I was just looking at everything the wrong way. I didn't know.
It was honestly hopeless, there was nothing good left for me anymore. Camp didn't feel the same without Max. Everybody was in an upset mood. It was confusing to me. None of the campers ever liked Max, so I couldn't understand why him leaving affected everyone so badly.

     I noticed that camp moved slower, but I really noticed on Thursday. I remember that the camp activity was butterfly catching. I begged Preston to help me find an excuse to bail, but he refused. So, I participated.
     One of the first things David reminded the campers about were the poison ivy plants, and how it would really stink to accidentally touch poison ivy. He told us to be careful about where we stepped, and to prioritize safety. Even though I wasn't honestly paying attention, I still noticed that his dumb speech went on forever.
     The actual process of catching the butterflies was unbearable. David had partnered me with Dolph, which was a terrible mistake. The entire time he pranced around me and wouldn't shut his trap.
     "Y/N? Do you like animals?", he asked. And at first, I wasn't too angry about it. In fact, I was really excited because he was only enthusiastic camper left.
     So, I did what any good human would do, and I told him "yes". But, then he continued on and on. It just kept going forever.
     By the end of the day we had only caught three butterflies, and neither of us spoke to each other. That was because of when I blew up on him. And, of course, I regret it now, but I didn't at the time.

     The non-stop crunching of leaves and sticks was already driving me nuts. I couldn't focus, and I couldn't think straight. Dolph stood behind me. I motioned for him to hand me the butterfly catching net. Without warning, I snatched it from his hand. "Owie!", he whined. The butterfly, now startled, flew away.
You have got to be kidding me. I bit my bottom lip and tried to hold myself together. That was the only butterfly that we had even came close to catching so far that day. The little German boy hopped up and down, holding his hand. Crunch, crunch. I clenched my teeth. Not those sticks again. I was so angry. Nothing was going my way.
     "Stop!", I screamed. I showed my teeth to Dolph as I grabbed him by the left shoulder and squeezed. "Shut up!"
     Dolph looked to the ground, frowning. "If it makes you feel any better, I think you're an excellent butterfly catcher. I bet if Max were here he wouldn't have been able to do that.", he reckoned. I furrowed my eyebrows.
     That kid had no right to've brought Max into this. I let go of his shoulder and I stomped as loudly as I could manage. "Screw off!", I shrieked. "Shut up and leave me alone! You suck at this!" I kicked the ground and watched as a few leaves stirred about.
     Dolph was left staring at me in disbelief as I walked off. I remembered hearing the boy mutter something under his breath, but I couldn't hear what. I knew it was about Max, though, so I was probably better off not hearing it.

     And that was how Thursday went. The rest of the week was long and mundane. I noticed the campers began to talk a lot amongst themselves, but never to me.
     I finished off the week with nothing left but anger and emptiness. I honestly couldn't recall what happened in the recent week, because it all felt like a blur. Without Max, everything felt so surreal. And nobody seemed to really care all that much, either.
     Unless that was what the campers were talking about, amongst themselves.
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A/N - This was going to be a longer chapter, but since @RhinestonePeach commented about an hour ago on my latest chapter wanting an update, I kicked things into high gear to try and update. 🤗 I hope this was a good chapter. And no, it wasn't filler. You'll see where there was an insanely important detail in this chapter soon enough... ☁️