The inside of the office didn’t look all that fancy either but you could tell someone was able to get some work done to it recently. It still smelled like the new pain covering the walls and the tiles under us hadn’t had a chance to stain yet. I tried not to care as I walked down the hall Andrew led me to. 

Mary was already inside, looking over paperwork and typing it into a computer before noticing we were there. She smiled and motioned for us to take a seat in the chairs in front of the desk. I did so only because I was tired of not knowing what the fuck was going on. 

“Welcome, Knox,” she said warmly and I searched her eyes for pity. There wasn’t any and that alone made me feel a bit better. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got run over by a semi,” I scoffed but that smile didn’t fade. 

“If you don’t feel better in a few days, make sure to let us know. Now, I’m sure you have questions so let's try and clear some of those up. This is Camp New Life. Me and my husband at the time made this place to help kids who may have simply fallen into the wrong crowd. We present it as an alternative to jail as long as the kid is a first-time offender. Since it’s still summer it acts like a usual summer camp. We’ll have activities all season long you can join in if you want or if you want some time alone you can do things that you prefer. After some generous donations, we have plenty of things to do so you shouldn’t get bored but if you do, tell us and we’ll try to get something to help with that.”

“How long do I have to stay here?”

“Until you turn 18 or graduate,” she said with a warm smile. “We prefer for everyone to graduate with us so we can help find you a job and a place to live but we can’t keep you here past that point.” I would turn 18 in December so only 6 months until I could get the fuck out of here.

“Where does everyone think I’m at right now,” I asked because I hadn’t had the chance to talk to anyone after Andrew walked into my room. Tony had left the second Andrew walked in and my parents didn’t bother sending me off. The only explanation I had gotten was ‘don’t worry about it’.

“That’s not a concern of mine,” Mary said simply but that warm smile was still there. “While you are here, you are my only concern. I don’t care about what your fans think, what your parents or manager want you to do, or anything like that. Your time here is about you.” I could only stare at her. 

I honestly couldn’t remember a time when I wasn’t working. There were labor laws of course, I could only work so many hours a day but with the amount of things I had to do, I was working at least a little bit every day to account for it. Vacations were out of the question since I turned 12 and a creepy guy had cornered me at Disneyland so without a security team, we barely left the house until I had started touring with Tony and those could hardly be counted as vacations. 

“So you only want me to stay here,” I asked after a while. “No brand deals or shoutouts or autographs?”

“We prefer for people to forget that we’re here,” she said with a wide smile that I was getting tired of. No one ever smiled this much. “Some kids might recognize you and we can’t stop them from coming up to or asking for certain things like an autograph but if you wish to be left alone then tell them that. I cannot stress enough how we simply want you to take time for yourself while you’re here.” I nod but I know there will be a catch someday. 

“There is a condition with your medication though,” Andrew said and Mary’s smile seemed to dim for the first time since I walked in. 

“You will not be in charge of your own meds,” she said. “You will come to my office every day after breakfast to get them and after that, you can enjoy the day as you wish. As for the rehab part,” she paused for a second, looking at Andrew, who sighed. “We’ve never done that side of recovery before. We normally take kids who have nowhere to go after their program is over so this will be new to all of us. An agreement I made with your parents was if I don’t think you’re getting the proper treatment, we have the right to send you to a place that does. This would not be a punishment and would only happen if we think we are making the situation worse rather than better. We are only looking out for you.”

“I’m not an addict,” I scoffed. “I don’t need rehab.”

“Then we won’t need to worry about that,” Mary said easily. “But the option is still there if it’s needed. You will have sessions with Andrew every other day to help you through whatever you’re feeling, whether that’s withdrawal symptoms, anxiety, depression, or past trauma. You will never get in trouble for anything you admit in one of your sessions unless you are actively hurting someone else.” 

“Not even if I hurt myself,” I challenged but she didn’t seem phased. 

“If you tell Andrew about that there will be a conversation where he asks how, when, and why, and we’ll do a cabin check to obtain whatever it is that you’re hurting yourself with and your sessions with him will be focused on that for a while but no, you will not be in trouble for it.” I wasn’t sure I believed her but said nothing as I leaned farther back into the chair. 

Mary looked at her watch before frowning. 

“Your roommate should be here by now,” she said, looking past me to the door in case she could see them standing back there. 

“I can walk with him,” Andrew said as he stood up. 

“Are you comfortable with that, Knox,” Mary asked and I only shrugged before standing up as well. 

“I guess.”

“In that case, welcome to Camp New Life! Come find me if you need to talk about anything and I hope you have a great time here.” She watched us leave with shadows in her eyes but said nothing else as I shut the door behind me. 

Andrew gave me the run down as we walked, the therapist hall, the dining room, the art room, the lake, sports field. It did honestly look like a summer camp. Kids ran around us like it was nothing new to be led around at random. Several people played sports or watched, some were in the lake swimming or paddling canoes, and a few were just sitting under trees watching everyone else. 

I had never been to a real camp before but there was a special episode where a character I played had gone to one before missing home too much and leaving. The set had looked nothing like this and I could see now why people had said it wasn’t very realistic. 

Before long Andrew stopped at a small cabin near the tree line and stopped. 

“This will be your cabin,” he said, walking up the stairs and placing a hand on the hardwood to knock. There was shouting coming from inside and it was clear they hadn’t heard the request to enter so Andrew tried again. The yelling picked up and Andrew only sighed as he turned the knob and let himself in. 

“I was supposed to be at the office 10 minutes ago,” a boy shouted. He was red in the face as he leaned over another boy, who was lounging on his bed like he couldn’t care less. “Where did you put my fucking shoe?”

“I didn’t take your shoe,” the other one said with an easy shrug. 


“Both of them were beside my bed last night where I always leave them and now one isn't there! No one but you has access to this cabin so where the fuck did you put it?”

“Just go barefoot,” the other boy said, and that only made the first boy get more red. 

“I should shove my foot so far up your ass and wear you like a shoe,” he seethed but I couldn’t help thinking their fighting felt more like flirting. 

“Gentlemen,” Andrew said calmly before the other boy could respond. They both looked at him. The angry boy oddly seemed to relax while the other slouched farther into the bed in guilt. “Kayson, please give Maddox back his shoe.” The boy on the bed, Kayson, sighed before making a dramatic show of reaching behind his pillow and pulling out a shoe that matched the one already on Maddox’s foot. 

“I was going to give it back,” Kaysone said with a sigh. 

“You shouldn’t take things that don’t belong to you,” Andrew said before turning back to me. “This is Knox. He’s the one who will be staying with you for a while. Knox, this is Maddox and Kayson. Maddox has been here longer but only by a few months so any question you have they should be able to answer if you don’t want to ask me or Mary.”  

I could only stare at them. Maddox gave a small wave while Kayson looked content to believe I wasn’t there. Andrew turned back to me and smiled. 

“Make yourself comfortable. Your clothes will be here tomorrow so if you don’t mind wearing dirty clothes, feel free to take a shower and relax for the day. If you ask nicely, Maddox might be willing to let you borrow something after a shower.” I looked back at Maddox, the one who had been yelling. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would give you things after asking for it but the second he registered Andrew’s words he was across the room, rummaging through a set of drawers before pulling out clothes and handing them to me. 

They would be big on me but I had to admit a shower sounded nice right about now. 

“Thanks,” I mumbled and he said nothing. 

“I’ll leave you three to it then,” Andrew said before walking out of the door. 

The three of us stood in silence for a while before I aimed for the only other door in the cabin and prayed it would be a bathroom.