A new student (Brynn)

[sarah natalie fair-miller]

Sarah had been out running around the camp for the last two hours now but no matter how far or fast she was running at, she wasn't getting tired in the slightest so she headed back to her cabin and got into the shower. Sarah stood underneath the shower with the water going over her, Sarah rested her hands on the wall as she thought about the day before and how she had a meeting with Carter McLeod. And how Sarah had found herself playing with her hair as Carter set up the Nature Centre for when the campers would arrive for the session. Normally this wouldn't bother Sarah since she has liked a few people in the past but she has only ever looked and never touched since she is happily married to her husband. But this is different since this time it has been her liking a female that has never happened before and the fact that Sarah has always thought of herself as being totally straight.

After a while of simply standing under the flowing water and having a wash, Sarah left the shower and got changed into a pair of blue boots, blue jeans along with an orange top. She then made her way to the building where the Arts and Crafts is held and started to set it up as she wondered what the day will hold for her and if she is actually interested in females or not. After setting up, Sarah walked over to her desk and pulled out a notebook and a pencil as she started to work on a portrait of herself, her husband and her daughter to pass the time until the campers arrive in about half an hours time.

[Deleted]

Time was something she had always had yet had always lost. It was always there and it was always gone. She had enough time to do most of what she wanted or needed, but no time left over after that. If only time would work like roll over minutes. Sadly, it never quite worked that way. Nothing worked the exact way that was wanted. This was definitely no exception. Brynn had arrived not too long ago and had thought of only to unpack. She had thrown her suitcase down and laid on the bed letting out a sigh of relief. This was a place where she could breathe. She knew people here and they knew her. No one expected her to do anything. She was not looked at as the Daughter of Grayson Industries. It was nice for once to be just anybody.

She rolled off her bed and unpacked. Slowly, she placed each thing in their designated spot as they always were. Last was the picture of her and her father laughing together in a field of flowers. It was their favorite spot to go when her father could take off. It was their land of flowers. He was the King and she was the Princess. The King and Princess of Flowers.

Brynn smiled as she looked at the photo. She glanced at the clock right beside the picture and jumped up. Was it really already passed the opening ceremonies? There were places she wanted to go, especially now that she was a Counselor In Training. She had decided who she wanted to train under. She ran out the door and made her way across the camp until she finally reached the Arts and Crafts Cabin. She slowed to a walk as she advanced the entrance. She threw open the door with a bright smile.

"Miss Sarah!" Brynn called out cheerfully. She knew that Sarah Fair-Miller was a married woman, but she could not help but always refer to her as miss. "Miss Sarah! I decided that I would love to train under you this year since I'm now a CIT."

[sarah natalie fair-miller]

As Sarah continued to draw the picture of her, her husband and her daughter. She stopped when she went into one of the draws and found a picture of her and a brownish-blond female, Sarah smirked slightly as she looked at the picture. "This was taken last year with Brynn Grayson. We had spent the day together where I helped her in thinking about what she wanted to be a counselor-in-training for this year, since it is her first year where she decides what she starts her training to be a counselor-in-training but Brynn had no idea. So I had gone through all of the options available from being a counselor of a grade, being a instructor of one of the facilities that are available at the Camp, working in the Nature Centre or even being a librarian. But she still didn't have a clue so I wonder has she made up her mind yet or is she going to remain a camper until then?" Sarah asked.

Sarah put the picture back into the draw before she went back to drawing the picture. "I wonder what the new and even the old campers going to be like since people can change a lot from the end of one Camp and the start of the next Camp. So only time will tell." Sarah said as she finished drawing most of the picture of her and moved on to drawing the picture of her husband.

Sarah let out a sigh as times like this she did hope that she had her own counselor-in-training who could help her to set up the sessions and so that Sarah can have a chat with while they are setting up. Soon enough she heard something that she hears so many times and that is footsteps travelling fast towards the Arts and Crafts Cabin. "I wonder who that could be since the campers aren't due here for a while more." Sarah thought. Sarah remained concentrating on the drawing since it could just be someone running to one of the other cabins that is past the Arts and Crafts Cabin. Soon enough she heard the door open and get greeted by a bright smile.

"I have told you Brynn, to either call me Sarah or Mrs. Miller since it just sounds like Sarah is my last name and not my first name." Sarah smiled up at Brynn knowing that the female knows she is married but still calls her by 'Miss' what is kind of her. "I would of thought you would of chosen being Rock Climbing conselor-in-training since I hear that a one of the previous campers may have became one." Sarah said. Sarah placed the drawing down, got up and walked over to the younger female. "So why did you decide to chose being trained by me?" Sarah asked wanting to know the reason.

[Deleted]

Brynn made her way through the Cabin until she finally found her favorite instructor. She laughed a little at her slip up of the tongue. She always seemed to forget that her instructor had a special request on which honorific she preferred. She remembered considering it the year before. She never liked calling her teachers by their last name. It seemed almost demeaning to her. It was like they were all so different and by calling someone by their last name, it made them specifically different. She understood that the teachers were higher ranking than the students, but she felt that this sort of differentiating thing made them miles apart, so she always liked to learn their first names. Of course, she understood that still she had to show authority, therefore she used honorifics.

"I am so sorry! You just seem too young for misses, and I do hate calling people by their last names as you know. It just feels wrong. Like we could never be friends or anything." She sighed and willed herself to stand calmly. "But I shall try to remember to only call you Sarah from now on. Her smile never faded.

"Oh no!" Brynn exclaimed but caught herself. "I mean, I love rock climbing as well you know, but I do not think I would find much enjoyment doing that that much. Arts and crafts is much more my thing. I find it so much more satisyfing than rock climbing. Besides, rock climbing comes with a lot of injuries." That was not something she really wanted to deal with on a normal basis. She had never been very good with crying. It always made her sad and upset. She would just be depressed her entire summer, and that did not sound terribly appealing to her.

Then a previous statement came to her. "Who is the new instructor?" She had heard that a new instructor was coming, but she was not sure who it was. She wondered if she had known the person when he or she was a camper before.

[sarah natalie fair-miller]

Sarah smiled warmly at Brynn and soon raised an eye brow when the other female started to laugh a little at something but Sarah didn't care and simply shrugged it away since it is none of her business. Even though she is the elder of all of the campers she has always been pretty lenient in what they call her since she allows her daughter to call her 'mum' or any of the variants of it and the other campers she gets to call her either Sarah or Ms. Fair-Miller or Mrs Fair-Miller since some prefer to call her by her first name and other by 'Ms. ...' or 'Mrs. ...', so she always told the campers at the start of the camp what they can call her. But with Brynn it is different since no matter how many times Sarah tells Brynn to call her by one of the names she normally addresses her as Miss. Sarah instead.

"I take that as a compliment. But it just confuses me when someone calls me by 'Miss', 'Ms' or 'Mrs.' then my first name since for all we know there could be someone out there who changed their last to Sarah and she could also be a worker here. I see the two of us as camping friends and I did help you out with looking into the options last year." Sarah continued to smile at the female even when the other female sighed. "Don't worry about it, Brynn. Since everyone has their own problems and their own names for people." Sarah said.

Sarah's smile turned into a smirk when Brynn gave a brief sentence but then changed into a more detailed expression. "I do know that, everyone has there own thing that they like and people do change a lot from the end of one camp at one year and the start the camp the following year. The injuries only come when you are showing of and you aren't really the sort of person who would try showing of for someone unless you have changed from the last time I saw you?" Sarah raised an eyebrow as she wondered if Brynn has changed dramatically from the previous year.

Sarah looked up into the air as she thought about who the new rock climbing instructor is. "I don't actually know. I think the name was Nathan Gray or something like that. I guess I will find out when I look at the list of instructors later on today." Sarah looked back down at her now student instead of a normal camper. "So has anything changed about you since last camp?" Sarah asked deciding to have a little catch up with Brynn before the campers arrive.

[Deleted]

"Well, it is a compliment, Mi- Sarah." Brynn caught herself hoping it was fast enough to not bother her instructor. She want not sure if it was habit that made her continuously slip up or simply etiquette that had been pounded in her head by her father, but there was definitely something there that made her want to address her as Miss. It just seemed like her brain felt that it should be that way. Brynn's face lit up as Sarah said they were friends. The adult she thought most highly of at the camp felt close enough to her to call her a friend. Though it probably would not have excited many others, it excited her. She really was not sure why, though. It was just exciting to have someone she thought highly of to think somewhat highly of her. "I am so glad we are friends!" She had a hard time moving passed that thought. She let herself have a giddy moment then took in a deep breath to calm herself. "I just want to do right by you. So I shall remember to only call you Sarah." Though she was able to mostly contain herself, her smile was still as bright as ever.


Sarah's smile turned into a smirk when Brynn gave a brief sentence but then changed into a more detailed expression. "I do know that, everyone has there own thing that they like and people do change a lot from the end of one camp at one year and the start the camp the following year. The injuries only come when you are showing of and you aren't really the sort of person who would try showing of for someone unless you have changed from the last time I saw you?" Sarah raised an eyebrow as she wondered if Brynn has changed dramatically from the previous year.

Brynn thought of the name and tried to remember if she knew someone who belonged to it. Nathan Gray did not sound familiar, but she had met quite a few people at the camp. She continued to wonder about the name as Sarah spoke. Soon she tried thinking of all the twelfth graders she has known the year before to see if she could remember him that way. There were very few people she did not know when it came to the camp. She liked to know as many people as possible.
Then it dawned on her.
"Do you mean Nate?" Brynn remembered a boy from the year before who went by Nate. He would have been an instructor or councilor this year if he had come back. She did not know him well, but she remembered him. He had been someone she was not likely to be around. He used poor girls and threw them away like they were nothing. She frowned at the thought of his acts. She could not ever see herself with someone like that.
Brynn shook her head. "No, ma'am. I'm just the same Brynn I've always been." She thought a moment. "I think I might have grown a little since then." She lifted her hand to her forehead as though she were measuring herself. "Maybe just a little bit."

[sarah natalie fair-miller]

Sarah laughed slightly when Brynn messed up by starting to call her 'Miss ...' but then stopped and simply called her Sarah. "I am glad it is since but it also means that I am someone who either likes to sleep around from a fairly young age or I had a child in high school. Since I have a eight year old child." Sarah said not sure if Brynn even knew her age or not. Sarah raised an eye brow slightly, confused when she noticed Brynn's face light up when she said that she thought of Brynn as a friend especially after helping her with the options last year. Sarah wondered if Brynn thought of her as a friend or not since they only see each other at camp time and not out of camp, but then again it would be a bit strange and gross for a twenty four year old to be hanging out with a sixteen year old what might lead to many people to believe the she is secretly sleeping with Brynn what isn't true in the slightest. Sarah shook her head to get rid of the thoughts when she heard Brynn speaking again. "So you see us as friends as well then?" Sarah smiled at her as she wondered if the younger female was being truthful with her or not. "Brynn you can't really do wrong by me since you never do anything wrong. Everyone messes up from time to time so I don't care if you occasionally call me Miss Sarah but just try not to." Sarah said with a smile.

Sarah noticed Brynn is thinking about any previous campers the name so she walked back over to the desk and continued to draw the picture of her, her husband and her daughter, all the while as she also thought about the name. Did she even have either of the names right since there are so many people with some variant of Nathan like Nathaniel, Nat, Natasha, Natalie and Sarah isn't even sure the new rock climbing instructor is a male or female. Sarah let out a sigh in frustration as she couldn't think of the name.

Sarah's gaze turned up to the female as she asked about 'Nate'. "If it is then I hope it isn't the Nate I am thinking of. He was such a hassle to deal with the previous years and he was always found doing things against the camp rules like smoking and going into the female's cabins." Sarah rolled her eyes not really liking Nate Grey. Sarah smirked slightly when she noticed Bryn frowning at something. "Don't tell me that you slept with him the previous year?" Sarah asked.

"So there is nothing new, that is such a shame. Are you still enjoying being a student at... are you still in school or are you now in college?" Sarah asked. Sarah smirked slightly when Brynn lifted her hand up to her forehead to measure her self. "Do you have a boyfriend yet or do you like girls?" Sarah asked wanting to tease Brynn slightly if she does currently have a lover.

[Deleted]

Brynn was slightly taken aback by the response that was given to her attempt to make her words right. She had to think a moment trying to figure out what Sarah had just said. "I just meant that you look younger than I am sure you are. And you are really cool. You're the cool teacher." She topped it off with another one of her bright smiles hoping that she made amends for her wrong doing and had not offended Sarah in any way. That would have been a terrible way to top off her first day of the summer.
"Of course! I like to consider all that I am close to friends, even teachers. Of course, with the teachers, we wouldn't be like really close to the point of hanging out or anything, because that is inappropriate, but we can be friends and laugh at each others jokes and tell each other things you don't tell strangers, but be close enough to tell something that bothers you or you think wrong. I mean, it's' cool being friends with teachers. Like with Mister Xander. He's pretty cool for a teacher. And he likes to get along with everyone. He tries to help and stuff." She was rambling. She was again, trying to amend a wrong she was not even sure had happened. Either way, she wanted Sarah to know that she meant the best in what she said.
All was better at the words of encouragement. Her sunken feeling of unworthiness dissipated, and she was back to being happy little Brynn eager to please those around her. "Thank you, Sarah!" That was all she could say without her giddiness exploding.

Brynn was still shaking her head at the fowl idea of that wretched Nate boy becoming part of the camp staff when the question came up. Her eyes widened in horror at the thought and she attempted to shake her head, but was unable to with the sheer thought of that ever happening running through her mind. "Wha- no! Of course not! He is a gross, rude, jerk guy who needs someone to teach him a lesson." She composed herself to the point where anger ruled her momentarily. She put her hands on her hips and furrowed her eyebrows. "I guess his momma never told him no when he was little."

She shook her head not aware of anything that might have changed over the school year. "Oh! I am a junior now in high school, which is why I can finally be a CIT. That's new!" She blushed at the last question. She shook her head several times before she finally answered. "No ma'am, I do not have a boyfriend. Daddy says I am not allowed to date until I am married."

[sarah natalie fair-miller]

Sarah raised an eye brow as she smirked at Brynn when she gave Brynn a response about her attempting to call Sarah by just her first name with out the Miss at the start. "Don't worry about it Brynn. I am only messing about since it is true that I had a teenage pregnancy but I am still with the father so it is not like many of the other people who have teenage pregnancy just so they can be 'popular' and what not in school. Personally I can't stand the girls who gets pregnant when they are in high school just so they can be one of the first people out of their year and friends to have kids but then can't stand it when they have to raise the child on their own." Sarah let out a sigh as she wondered what people thought about her having Leila in high school.

"You are one strange girl... you know that, Brynn since I don't really know many people that find teachers being friend material unless they know the teacher from out of school like a family friend or something. But I guess it is different here since we aren't really teacher and student since none of us are really teacher in that sense seeing as how we don't have a teaching degree and what not that would qualify us to be teachers but we simply do this for fun and to give the kids some place to go to during the summer where they don't have their parents watchful eye watching them and making sure they do things a certain way and at a certain time." Sarah raised an eye brow at the mention of Mister Xander then it dawned on her who Brynn meant. "I guess Xander is pretty cool for a Librarian. He is like an older brother to all of the campers and even the staff." Sarah said.

Sarah let out a sigh as she watched the other female who is to eager to please everyone around her no matter who it is. "You should stop trying to please everyone around you, Brynn. You should just find someone at the camp who you can be your self around and not try to please the person." Sarah said wanting Brynn to become more dependant on herself and not being dependent on everyone else.

Sarah smirked slightly when Brynn's attitude changed almost instantly when Sarah asked her if Nate had slept with her at all during any of the previous camp years, from her happy go lucky personality that Brynn has been showing since she entered the Arts and Crafts cabin to a more serious attitude. "Why do I have a feeling that there is something else that has happened between the two of you?" Sarah raised an eyebrow slightly. "You are always so happy but with Nate you are more serious so did he show you a lesson in something and you want payback? That isn't nice, Brynn since everyone has their own problems in their life that they need to deal with and you are blaming his mother." Sarah said.

"So I guess you lied to me since you told me that there is nothing new in your life..." Sarah teased the female. "...I was just wondering since I know the campers can come from all over the place so the school system may be different." Sarah smirked when she noticed a red tint on Brynn's cheeks before she answered the question. "So if you are not allowed a boyfriend before you are married then how are you going to get married since in order for you to get married you need to have a fiancé who is firstly your boyfriend. So I guess you will never get married." Sarah said.

[Deleted]

Brynn shrugged. "It is a choice others have to make. And I commend you for taking responsibility for what happened. That really is the difference isn't it? Making mistakes and admitting them. Daddy says if you admit your mistakes then you can amend them at least a little even if they are permanent mistakes." She knew that that did not necessarily mean the matter was okay, but at least it was something.
She was not sure whether she should take that as a compliment or not. "Uh, thank you." Strange could be good and strange could be bad. In this case, she really was not sure. "It just does not seem right that we cannot even be friends with someone just because they are older or a teacher. If someone twenty nine can be friends with someone forty two, why can't a sixteen year old be a friend with a..." She did not know Sarah's age now that she thought about it. "teacher? I mean, not like hang out and do stuff with, but in a confiding sort of  way?" She just did not understand people sometimes.
Brynn's eyes search around the room trying to grasp the right response to that. "I know, but this is me right? I mean really? It's me who wants others to be happy." Or at least she thought she was being her anyway. It was very confusing.
Brynn shook her head. "No, it is not that we have a history or anything. I don't even really know him all that well, but you've heard what everyone says about him." She looked at her a little askew. "You do know right? About the different girl all the time, and he only uses them for... pleasure." She shuddered at the thought. What a jerk. She would hate to ever be around a guy like that. She really hoped Nate was not the camper who came back.
Brynn jutted her shoulders upward. "I guess I forgot that counts. I just never think of something that constantly changes like that as something to say changed. Does that make sense?" It made sense to her but she was not sure if that was because it actually made sense or because she just knew what she was thinking. She was told that that seemed to happen quite a lot even with other people.
"Daddy is a funny man. I think he was meaning to be facetious really. Like how daddies are. They don't want to lost their little girls. I'm sure that is how your husband feels about little Leila."