A Tangled Web We Weave

Words used in describing a person that some may find triggering.

"Everyone, get your stuff in the van!" I heard my youth pastor call. Grabbing my bags, I made my way to the van, pushing against the other excited teens.

"Come on, man! Get out of the way!" I grumbled, shoving up against Josh, one of the new junior counselors. He spun around and glared down at me. I just rolled my eyes. There was no way this guy should be a counselor this summer. Counselors were supposed to be older teens or adults that were of exemplary character and loved Jesus. I'm not sure how much Josh loves Jesus, but he definitely didn't have exempary character. Just a month earlier, he was dishonorably discharged from basic training and had lied about it. I shoved my way past him, threw my stuff in the van, then walked away.

Pretty soon, everyone's luggage was in the van and we all piled in to begin the trip to camp. Once there, we all gathered in the main area with everyone from all the other churches that came and camp began. It was a lot of fun! We played games, went swimming, had Bible trivia, gained points for our teams, and I made several friends outside of my own youth group (something I desperately needed). One of these friends was Ryker. He was a little socially awkward, had a face full of acne, and didn't have many other friends, but he was a lot of fun. We hung out with several other people, being careful to obey the camp's rules, which included: no boy-girl touching and no boy-girl couples being alone.

Everything was great until the third day of camp. Ryker and I, along with a few other kids were playing tetherball (great game, that) and it was getting dark. There was a light close enough to the area that we could still see what we were doing, so we continued playing. We were having a blast when we heard, "Check over there, I think there's some PDA!"

Our entire group looked around confused then scattered as water came shooting out of nowhere! After running out of reach of the water, I turned and saw the culprit: Josh. He and a couple other douche-bag junior counselors had water guns and were the ones who had broken up our game. I sneered in disgust then walked away.

The next day, when I went to breakfast, I was given a few weird looks. Confused, I sat with my team and asked one of the girls from my church what was going on. She leaned in and whispered, "I can't believe you were holding hands with Ryker!"

"Are you crazy?" I asked, "Who told you that?"

She glanced around, then answered, "Everyone's saying it."

I looked around the room, trying to see Ryker. He was nowhere to be found. Looking back, I shrugged and said, "It's not true, but... whatever I guess."

By lunch, the looks were getting worse, with some people even walking away from me when I went to talk to them, and Ryker was still nowhere to be seen. "Okay, what's going on?" I asked, grabbing one of the girls I had gotten to know the first couple days.

"Ew, don't touch me. I can't believe you and Ryker were alone in the woods! He's disgusting!"

"What?!" I yelled. She winced and I lowered my voice, "What?"

She shrugged my hand off her arm, said, "Everyone's saying it," and ran off, leaving me more clueless than before. A bit later, I saw Ryker coming towards me. Although I felt bad, I turned and walked away. I had no idea what was going on and given the little bit I heard, it was not a good idea for us to be seen together.

At dinner that night, I saw him in the line and got in behind him. "Dude, do you know what's going on? I've been hearing things all day!"

"I don't even know," he answered, "Some of the guys have congratulated me, the girls have given me nasty looks, and I still don't know what's going on."

I got out of line and sat back down. Some of the guys had congratulated him? What did that even mean? Lost in thought, I almost missed the two girls walking by, whispering and pointing.

"Hey, I like secrets. What are you two talking about?"

Their eyes grew wide and they scurried away. "I'll tell you what they were talking about," someone said, as I turned my attention back to my table.

"What?"

"They're whispering about how you and Ryker got caught being alone behind the boys cabin."

I stared at them and said incredulously, "I cannot believe this. What even is going on? I've gotten weird looks and heard stuff all day, but none of it is true! Where are you hearing this?"

And again, the only answer I got was, "Everyone's saying it."

When I got back to my cabin later that night, the girls from my youth group crowded around me, "You like Ryker?" "You and Ryker held hands?" "Were you and Ryker actually alone together?" "You guys had a secret date?!" "How could you even like someone like him?"

Some of it I had heard, others were new, but fit what I had been hearing, but before I could plead my case, I heard something even more outlandish, "Is it true that you and Ryker were making out!?"

I turned, "What?"

They asked the question again. I looked at them quizzically, "What even is making out?"

"You know, like, kissing. On the lips."

I leapt up, "Oh my gosh! No, no, no! I would nev--Ew! Why would anyo-- Oh my gosh, where did you even hear that?"

I got the same answer I'd gotten all day, "Everyone's saying it."

"All right, who is everyone? Where did this even start?"

No one could tell me, but after having a conversation in the staff cabin with the youth leaders, who were debating on sending me home early for improper conduct, I came out to see Josh, standing on the porch, smirking.

"So, how's your day been? You and Ryker have a nice time making out?" he sneered.

"You started that rumor?" I asked, balling my fists in rage.

"All I said was I saw you together at tetherball, but... things grow, and you know, everyone's saying it."