chapter seven
newbie night

Dylan walked with EJ down the path Maddox was leading them on, one hand holding the strap on her shoulder, the other holding her sleeping bag. Dylan was catching EJ up on everything that had happened in the Honeycomb cabin that morning. It was something the two also did, gossip with each other, EJ mainly only did it because Dylan loved to know everyone's drama and Dylan told EJ because he would never tell anyone else.

Finally, they all stopped at a clearing in the woods with some logs sitting around a stone pit for a campfire. Dylan dropped her bags down on the floor, laughing slightly at how Carlos had placed his hands on his knees to breathe heavily.

"Now, everybody, sometimes there are snakes." Maddox told them. "Most of them are not poisonous."

"Most of them?" Kourtney repeated.

Maddox pointed at her. "Yes."

Kourtney shook her head and walked off in the direction of the trail that they had just walked on. "I can't. I can't. I can't."

"You really can't do that, you have to come back."

"Seriously though, most of them?" Dylan leaned closer to EJ.

"You afraid of snakes?" EJ teased.

"No, I dealt with worse." Dylan shrugged.

"Like your mum." EJ stated without realising. The couple's eyes widened in shock before they doubled over in laughter.

"Wow EJ, out of pocket jokes. I'm rubbing off on you." Dylan laughed, wrapping an arm around the boy's waist and pulling him towards her.

Maddox then instructed them all to find a place to set up their tent. Dylan and Gina had found a space, but they hadn't done anything. They were simply staring at the disassembled pieces of their tent on the ground.

"You got any idea what to do?" Dylan asked.

"A bit." Gina responded. "You?"

"Absolutely none." Dylan deadpanned.

"I thought you went on like yearly camping trips?" Gina questioned.

"Yeah but I never put the tents up." Dylan told her. "I'm all for women being strong and independent, but all the feminism leaves my body when it comes to physical labour."

"Right, okay. We got this." She nodded.

It took some time, and with some advice from Maddox — who had clearly done this many times before — and the two using their joint knowledge, Dylan and Gina finally managed to put their tent together. They stood in front of it, admiring their work.

"Women in STEM."

"We did that!"

Gina held her hand up for a high-five, and Dylan obliged. Dylan then looked around for where Ashlyn was, bearing in mind the red head was also supposed to be in their tent but had wandered off earlier.

When the sun dipped below the horizon and stars appeared in the sky, the campfire got light. Dylan stepped out of her tent, a blanket over her shoulders as well as having one of EJ's extra large hoodies on. Ashlyn, Gina and herself had been setting up their little space for the night, and to be honest, it was pretty cute, decorated with some of the string lights the camp had.

She started to walk over to the logs, looking for one specific person in mind. Dylan found him, sitting on a table and chairs outside his tent. She squeezed Gina's arm telling her she would be back in a minute. Dylan then approached the boy.

"Hey, you okay?" She greeted EJ, resting her chin on his head, looking at the script on the table in front of him.

"I'm okay." He smiled at her.

The two then stopped talking when they heard Ashlyn begin to yell about rising signs, looking over to see her shouting at Maddox. When the red head walked off, Maddox leaned over to the couple.

"She's not too fond of me." Maddox observed.

"Who, Ash?" EJ asked. "Don't worry about it, she's just going through something. Ash likes everybody, she's a feminist."

"Ash has been a bit off her game lately, give her time." Dylan advised the girl. "You're a cool girl Maddox, she'll warm up to you."

"I see why EJ talks about you so much." Maddox commented before running off.

"You talk about me?" Dylan turned back to face EJ.

"It's starting, go sit down." EJ ignored her raised eyebrows, pushing her towards when Gina was sat. Dylan laughed slightly, turning around to see EJ was already gone. She shook her head, sitting next to Gina with a smile on her face.

"Welcome, folks, to your very first Newbie Initiation Campout Night!" Maddox exclaimed, jumping over a log. "Now, to kick off the night, let's give it up for out very own Rocket Man!"

EJ came running out of his tent, a guitar slung over his shoulder. "All right, everyone, pay attention, 'cause I don't have much time to waste tonight." EJ placed his guitar on his leg. "I'm gonna need a little help singing parts of this, 'kay?"

"Shake your money maker, Caswell!" Carlos shouted, shimmying his shoulders a bit.

"Not helpful, Carlos. All right, here we go. This one is called the Ballad of Shallow Lake, and every word is true."

Gina turned to Dylan with wide eyes at how EJ's voice turned spooky. Dylan shrugged, letting out a small laugh as EJ started to play the guitar.

"Gonna tell a story about Susan Fine, she lived two hundred years ago." EJ sang. "One night, she heard a whistle, the spooky kind, the sound can make your blood run cold. They say she got swallowed by Shallow Lake never to be seen again, til her ghost says, 'Come on in'"

Dylan smiled as she watched EJ sing. She knew how well the boy could sing but for some reason he rarely sang actual serious songs, she didn't care though, his voice was beautiful no matter the song he was singing.

"Na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na." EJ and Maddox voiced together. "She lost her soul and she lost her mind. Na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na, don't get caught by Susie Fine."

"So pray you find your way back home," EJ recited. "Oh, oh!"

"Na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na, she'll drink your blood like it's werewolf wine. Na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na, you better run from Susie Fine."

With one final strum on the guitar from EJ, the song ended. Dylan clapped for him and Maddox before pulling the sleeves of her hoodie over her hands once again.

Kourtney raised her hand. "Um, um, is that really a true story?"

"Oh, that song is basically a documentary." Maddox answered.

Kourtney chuckled but it was clearly fake. "Quick follow-up—"

"I actually have a lot of homework, but the amazing Maddox will explain it all." EJ cut in.

Dylan frowned slightly, but forced a weak smile on her face as EJ pressed a kiss to the top of her head before trailing back to his tent, Dylan's eyes following him as his left with his guitar.

"Let's see," Maddox began. "Who here likes ghost stories?"

Dylan looked around the group, laughing slightly at Ricky, who held a large smile on his face and raised both his hands in the air. Dylan placed her elbow on her knee and put her chin in her hand, turning back to face Maddox. Dylan loved many things, ghost stories being one of them. Weirdly enough she hated horrors, opting to watch more crime shows and thrillers instead but ghost stories were the love of her life.

"Then it's time for you all to hear the story of..." Maddox shined a flashlight underneath her chin. "The woman in the woods."

"See, that's a no from me." Kourtney said.

"Camp Shallow Lake was founded a long, long, time ago by a married couple, Mr John Fine and Mrs Susan Fine. Everybody loved Mrs Fine. She was kind, had a voice like an angel. And she had a sweet tooth, unmatched. She always had a bag of twizzlers in her hand."

Maddox stood up, "But tragedy struck on a night a lot like tonight. It was the very first Newbie Initiation Campout night. Legend says Mrs Fine heard a faint whistling sound deep in the woods." Dylan's eyebrows furrowed when a faint noise sounded from somewhere in the woods. "So, she wandered out there. All by herself."

Kourtney yelped as Maddox suddenly shined the flashlight on her. She gasped, gripping onto Gina's arm.

Ricky raised his hand. "Wait. What did she find?"

"Was it Corbin Bleu's helicopter?" Jet suggested and everyone, except Maddox and Dylan, laughed.

"No." Maddox stated. "She was out in the woods for so long, she never came home."

"I know the feeling."

Dylan looked at Maddox expectantly. She wanted her to continue the story, even though all the others were starting to giggle and chat amongst themselves. It was evident Maddox really enjoyed this story, and she deserved to have someone listen to it.

"Uh... well, wait." Maddox continued. "No, Um, okay, so this all happened twenty— I mean fifty years ago. And, uh, and every since that night, uh, Mrs Fine has been wandering the woods, hungry, lost, and angry."

"You guys, am I Susan Fine?" Jet questioned.

They all started to laugh again. Dylan, however, sat up straight again. Her eyes were on Maddox. The girl was clearly upset from not being able to tell the story how she wanted to.

"Um..." Maddox trailed off. "Sorry, this isn't how I— it's scary. It's supposed to be scary. Never mind. Sorry."

Maddox then turned around and walked off into the woods. Dylan watched after her in concern.

"Maddie, wait." Jet called after her, standing up.

The statement made Dylan's eyebrow furrow in confusion. Maddie? And why did Jet sound so upset?

Dylan let out a sigh, her eyes closing momentarily as she leant her head on Gina's shoulder. She had a feeling this night was going to be interesting.

Dylan thought that sharing a tent with Ashlyn and Gina would be fun, but considering Ashlyn was having some identity crisis and her and Gina were currently sat in silence it didn't like so much fun.

The two of them were in their sleeping bags, staring at the roof of the tent, not a word being said between them. That wasn't them. Dylan and Gina always had something to say, even it had no relevance to anything that was happening to them.

"What's wrong, G?" Dylan suddenly asked.

"Nothing." She mumbled.

"So why are we currently sitting in silence? We hate silence." Dylan stated, looking over at the girl.

"I'm worried about EJ." Gina told her.

"What?" Dylan sat up, confused.

"I'm scared he may be forgetting about you and focusing on his director job."

"I'm sorry." Dylan blinked a few times. "Give me a second to process that information."

"Look," Gina sat up suddenly. "Nini isn't here anymore to give you advice, and neither is your dad or Eve so as your best friend, I'm the one who has to look out for you, just like you've always done for me. And I know how hard it is for you to open up to people, and I just... I don't want you getting hurt by EJ, okay?"

Dylan's eyebrows furrowed. Did she have to be worried?

"I just, I think EJ's stressed. We've all been there. I mean he's been thrown into this new job, one that's being overseen by Corbin Bleu. He doesn't want to make any mistakes, and I get that." Dylan explained.

"I just don't want him to push you away so much." Gina added.

"I know. It's okay, G. I can handle it, and he's not pushing me away. I'm like unforgettable." Dylan smiled weakly. "Thanks for caring though."

"No problem." Gina nodded. "When I get the chance I'll have the stern best friend chat with him."

Dylan let out a laugh before she got out of her sleeping bag, slipping on her converse. "Come on, let's go see what the others are up to."

"Okay." Gina put on her sneakers and the two of them left the tent with their flashlights. They heard voices coming from EJ's tent and as they got closer they heard it was EJ and Ricky. "Wait! What thing in the woods?"

Gina and Dylan opened the flap so her and Dylan could go inside.

"It's the spookiest thing I've ever seen." Ricky said. "And I've seen Hereditary."

Gina and Dylan then actually went inside, Gina shaking EJ's shoulder, "Come on, let's go Eej."

The flap of the tent then opened again. Dylan turned to see that it was Ashlyn, her face illuminated by her flashlight.

"Don't mind me." Ashlyn voiced. "Just having a teeny, tiny identity crisis. EJ, do you remember when I was born? I just need to know if it was eleven thirty-seven AM or eleven thirty-seven PM."

"Everyone stop." EJ ordered. He looked at Ashlyn. "It was eleven thirty-seven AM. I know that because my mum always tells me how you forever ruined the eggs benedict. Remember? Eggs benedict is a strictly morning dish." He looked at Ricky. "No, I can't come see the shrine tonight. I have to finish marking up the script before Corbin comes tomorrow. I have a lot on my plate, okay?" He then looked at Gina, "And Gina, I really—"

"Gotta focus, we get it." Gina cut in. "Come on, guys."

Gina then grabbed Ashlyn's arm, pulling her out of the tent, Ricky following after them. Dylan watched them all leave before turning to look at EJ, who had turned around and sighed, running a hand through his hair, clearly stressed. The others didn't seem to notice she wasn't with them as none of them had come back yet.

"You're still here." EJ suddenly stated, making Dylan jump slightly. She didn't know how he knew that considering he hadn't turned around once.

"Can't get rid of me that easily." She shrugged, standing behind him. She placed her chin on top of his head. She pressed a kiss to the top of his head, looking down at the script in front of him. "You are going to do great in front of Corbin Bleu tomorrow."

"I don't think I will." EJ sighed. He turned his chair around, pulling Dylan to sit on his lap. She turned to face him, her arm over his shoulder. "I'm pushing everyone away, I'm stressing and I haven't gotten this finished. I'm going to crash and burn in front of Corbin Bleu."

"You'll be fine, okay? And anyway, none of us are going to judge you for it if you do fail, we've got you EJ, you just have to ask for help." Dylan told him, playing with his hair. EJ nodded letting out another sigh as Dylan stayed quiet for a moment, her eyebrows furrowing in thought.

"What's wrong?" EJ tapped her hip, gaining her attention.

"Oh, um— It's just something that Gina said, um, she's worried about... us." Dylan stated. "She said that because Nini isn't here she, um, she has to take the role of my best friend, which I don't mind her doing, it's just... she said that she thinks that you're gonna hurt me because of how focused you are on this project."

"Are you scared I'm going to hurt you?" EJ asked her.

"I wasn't." Dylan's gaze switched between each of his eyes, trying to figure out what he was thinking. "Should I be?"

"No." EJ answered quickly. "Dyl, I'm not going to hurt you. To see you hurt would like kill me, I—"

EJ cut himself off, confusing Dylan. She shrugged it off, smiling at her boyfriend. "I'll go see if Carlos can help you with this before I catch up to Ricky and G."

"Okay." EJ leant forward to kiss the girl, who happily reciprocated the action before she reluctantly left the tent. She bumped into Ashlyn outside, the red head seeming very happy to see her friend.

"Hey Ash."

"Dyl, I'm having an identity crisis— I don't know who I am." The words fell out of Ashlyn's mouth before Dylan had even taken two steps away from EJ's tent, the brunette blinking a few times to try and figure out how to respond to her.

"One second." Dylan held up her finger going over to Carlos and Kourtney's tent, popping her head inside and greeting the boy, "Hey Carlos, could you go and help EJ with the script he really needs it?"

"Sure." Carlos smiled.

"Awesome, I'm heading to find the others so like scream if you need me." She told him with a smile, only receiving wide eyes in response and a small nod.

Dylan then made her way back over to Ashlyn, taking her hand as they walked through the woods. Dylan was hoping she was heading in the way that Gina and Ricky went but she wasn't too sure where they went.

"Ash, the stars do not define you, okay? No matter how much you think they do. Change is stranger believe me I get it, but you shouldn't be scared of it. You were a Capricorn rising and now you're a leo rising, either way you're still Ashlyn, no matter what." Dylan began to comfort the girl who nodded slightly.

A sudden scream echoed throughout the woods, scaring the two girls. They whipped around, shining their flashlights around to see if anyone was there. Ashlyn whimpered before she grabbed Dylan's hand and dragged her towards the barn that they had arrived at without realising. They stopped when once they were inside, looking around to see just a piano in the middle of the room, the moon shining on it as if it was a spotlight.

"Wow." Ashlyn breathed out.

"That's a sign if I've ever seen one." Dylan commented making Ashlyn let out a soft laugh. The two made their way over to the piano. Ashlyn sat on the bench, while Dylan sat on top of the actual piano. "You play, I'll be here ready to talk when it's over."

Ashlyn smiled at her before letting her hands glide across the keys. "Who am I when who I am is changing? And who am I when I'm not in my head? I'm followin' the signs, where will they take me? Will my future self and I be friends? I'm searchin' for stars, the horizon is black but I know what I know, and there's no goin' back. I've been livin' under one small piece of sky. Suddenly, the whole world is open wide. It's time I'm rising, rising. There's a part of me reachin' for the light so strong, impossible to hide this fire that's rising, rising."

Dylan smiled at the girl's strong voice. Ashlyn's voice and lyrics never failed to amaze the Valdez girl, for she was in awe every time Ashlyn sung.

Ashlyn let a small smile spread across her face, "And what am I when what I am is wild? And louder than I ever dared beliеve? I'm so done with hiding in the shadows and I'm so ovеr bein' scared of me. The stars are all new. I'm charting a path, 'cause I know what I know and there's no goin' back. I've been livin' under one small piece of sky suddenly, the whole world is open wide. It's time I'm rising, rising. There's a part of me reachin' for the light so strong, impossible to hide this fire that's rising, rising."

The girl held out her note, vocalising before ending the song with a small yet happy sigh. Suddenly, the door swung open, lights shining into the room and screams erupting. Ashlyn screamed at the noise turning and shining her light to see Gina and Ricky. Dylan had jumped but was now just staring between the three with her mouth dropped in slight shock and confusion.

"Gina?" Ashlyn cried.

"Ricky." Dylan sighed tiredly.

Ricky looked over at Ashlyn and Dylan, "You're the woman in the Woods?"

"What? No. I was just singing about my identity crisis."

"Okay what identity crisis are we talking about?"

"Ashlyn's birth chart is wrong." Dylan explained. "She thought she was a Capricorn rising but now she's a leo rising like Maddox guessed earlier this morning."

Ricky stared at her. "D, I have no idea what that means."

Ashlyn stood up from the piano, "I'll explain it to you."

Dylan moved from the piano to the stage, sitting in between Gina and Ashlyn, her legs crossed. Ashlyn was explaining everything about astrology to Ricky, who was pacing in front of the stage and trying to remember as much of the information as possible.

"Okay, I think I get it." Ricky revealed. "Because of an optical illusion, right, it seems like Mercury's going backwards?"

"Right." Ashlyn confirmed.

"And when this is happening, bad things happen."

"It's science."

"Right." Ricky said. "And Mercury's in retrograde? Right now?"

"Honestly?" Ashlyn replied. "Honestly, no. I just... I— I wanted to blame the whole Val ensemble casting thing on something out of my control."

Gina scooted forward and hugged Ashlyn, joining Dylan who had already begun hugging her. "It's okay, Ash. You were bummed. You wanted an explanation."

"Last semester, I didn't think I could be a leading lady. And tonight, I found out I was born at brunch time. Guess there's always something new to learn."

"You sure that's it, Ash?" Dylan looked over at Ashlyn.

"This, um, Corbin Bleu TV show thing, I thought it was gonna be like, my big break." Ashlyn admitted.

"Hey, it still could be." Gina hit her on the shoulder.

"Nah." Ashlyn looked over at Gina and Dylan. "But it think it could be yours, Anna and Elsa. And you two deserve it."

"Thanks, Ash. Love you." Dylan smiled at her, while Gina hugged her again.

"Love you too." Ashlyn stood up and gave a fist-bump to Ricky. "Goodnight, cool kids. Leo Rising out."

"Don't let the Woman in the Woods get ya." Ricky told her.

"She won't." Dylan insisted, standing up as well. "I'll be there. She can't get both of us."

Dylan walked over towards Ashlyn, however Ricky stopped her before she could, "I am proud of you, Dyl. You deserve your big break."

"Thanks Rickster."

And with that Ashlyn and Dylan left the barn, the two slowly making their way back into the woods and towards their tents. Dylan thought about going back past EJ's tent, but decided against it, knowing he had work to do.

( 💌 ) isobel's notes
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