Chapter Text
Caleb's phone went off for a second time in the last ten minutes, but he just gripped the steering wheel at ten and two until his knuckles went white and stared straight ahead at the road as it crested another hill. He knew that Nott had heard the tell tale sign of the message, but she was preoccupied with her own problems. She had a green apple and cheery swirled slushie that was melting untouched in the cup holder. She was nervous, and Caleb knew that she wouldn't eat whenever she was worried about something. Even in normal circumstances she ate slowly, carefully, the habits of someone used to getting little and needing to make it last. Caleb understood that feeling well enough, even if it had been quite some time that either of them had had to go hungry. Echoes of their pasts manifested in different ways.
“About ten more minutes,” Nott told him, holding up her phone, “We just need to stay on County Road W and it'll be on our left. There will probably be signs, it is a state park after all.” Nott's headphones were pooled in her lap, still connected to her phone and playing loudly enough that Caleb could just almost pick out the lyrics.
“Wildemount State Park,” Caleb answered, half to Nott and half to himself to try out the name of his home for the next three months, careful to keep his accent neutral. It still hardly felt real, even if he had talked to the camp director on the phone for nearly an hour interviewing for the position of camp counselor.
“Yes, that's the name,” Nott agreed, fiddling with her hoodie sleeve. Caleb had the ac up to accommodate, but he knew that she would need to take the sweatshirt off when they stepped out into the June heat. He was pretty sure that she knew as well, but she liked the layers.
When the Wildemount sign came into view they both audibly took a breath and Caleb let out a soft laugh, Having someone to share your nervousness with was a comfort, if only a small one.
“Well, there's no turning back now,” Caleb muttered, turning into the entrance of the park.
“The no turn back place was back at Hupperdook! Where we got my slushie,”Nott insisted.
“I know how to make a u-turn,” Caleb said with a shrug and Nott replied with a squawk of disapproval that loosened the stress that had settled into Caleb's hands and he laughed louder this time.
The Camp Pine Willow grounds sat about three miles into the park. The parking lot sat at the southern base of the clearing and the clearing itself was met with the forest on three sides and a lake on the western side. Supposedly there were other lakes scattered around the park and a decent sized river that cut the park in half.
A few larger buildings sat in the southern half of the grassy clearing, all made of wood and painted a deep green that had seen its fair share of summers. Smaller cabins were dotted along the outside of the clearing and Caleb could only guess they were where the bunks were. He had never been to a summer camp as a child, but he had spent the last month reading any information that he could on them. That had to be enough, right?
“So, do we just go down and pick a building?”Nott asked. She was running her hands through her thick, dark hair, and pushing it behind her ears. First impressions were important. Caleb sighed, looking in the mirror. The bags under his eyes were nearly purple and he should have shaved this morning, but there wasn't anything that he could do about either of those thing.
“The email only said that We needed to be here on Thursday at ten for the training before the kids get here on Monday,” Caleb said. He stretched and got out of the car before his nerves could get the better of him. Nott quickly followed and tied her hoodie around her waist. Her shirt was a little too large for her small stature featuring some charity run that she had never been on. The sleeves ended barely above her elbows and her wrists were covered with her collection of bracelets. Sher checked her face once more in the side mirror and turned to give Caleb a nervous smile.
“Let's not bring our suitcases, I don't want to lug it around and put them in the wrong spots,” Nott offered.
Calen shook his head a little too quickly, “I want my backpack.”
“Sure,”Nott said, “I'll take mine too then.”
Caleb had some important things in his backpack. His folder where he was keeping important documentation and some books he was currently reading or rereading and the letter to his parents he hadn't ever sent and a picture of Trent that Nott didn't know he had printed out before deleting the pictures off his phone. He knew it was silly, but the idea of someone going through his belongings put him on edge, even if the person who would do it wasn't anywhere near them. It was better to be safe.
Nott's bag was smaller, and clearly less filled but she slung it over her shoulder anyway. She held the empty cup of her slushie in her hand and a pile of green and red slush sat in a melting pile next to the passenger door. Caleb sighed.
“We are going to attract bees,”He said with more defeat than concern in his voice.
“It's the woods. This is the bees home. I'm just bringing them a housewarming gift!” Nott said. She pushed her way ahead and started to make her way towards the large building. Caleb shook his head and followed. There were three larger buildings in total on the south side of the grounds with another building closer to the lake. The largest had a second story that jutted up almost in the shape of a barn and the other two were single story with one being wider and longer than the other.
Nott headed for the two storied building, and Caleb followed, pulling out his phone to check the time and was met with another chime and tell tale vibration of a message. Nott didn't turn around and Caleb was thankful for that.
“Is he still messaging you this frequently?”She asked softly, still without turning.
“He... knows that today was the first day of the job. I didn't tell him, but it would not have been hard to figure out,” Caleb said shoving his phone back into his pocket without even checking the time.
“You could still block him,”Nott offered.
Caleb shook his head, “It's ok this way. I can handle it. IF I block him he will just make a new Facebook or use someone else's and I wouldn't be able to just ignore him.”
“Ok,”Nott shrugged. Caleb could tell she wanted to say more, but he was grateful she didn't. He didn't like to talk about Trent. It hadn't been barely any time at all. A month and a half, or 47 days if anyone was counting. Still too soon, still enough time that Caleb could ask to avoid the subject.
“I think I hear people inside,” Nott told him, pointing towards the screen door into the main entrance of the building. The green paint up close was chipping away, revealing deep colored wood.
“Well it's now or never then,” Caleb gestured towards the door. Nott nodded and headed inside, but Caleb hung back. He pulled out his phone and looked at the notification for the message that Trent had just sent him.
[Trent: Ok?]
Caleb cringed. He knew he couldn't look at the other messages without Trent being able to see that he had read them. He knew it was a trap. The “ok?” hid the other messages. But, Caleb worried that the other two messages could be an apology, or they could have been threats to share some of Caleb's worst secrets. There was no way to know without giving into Trent's games.
When Nott had suggested they both go work at Camp Pine Willow nearly two hours from Soltryce University Caleb had known that she thought it a good opportunity to get away from the city and more importantly Trent, who hadn't backed off since the break up and had nearly caused Caleb to fail his finals. Caleb agreed that the separation would probably be beneficial, but he had finally accepted because he knew that none of the people here would know his history and know the terrible things he has done. A chance to spend three months being a different person, a better person. He didn't want to give up that chance, so he had said yes.
So now here he was, desperate for a fresh start and terrified that if he let Nott know how much he wanted this to go well that she would laugh at him and tell him how stupid he was being. She knew that he was a fuck-up but she didn't know all of it, she didn't know that he was beyond real redemption, and perhaps he could keep that to himself for at least the summer.
“Alright,” Caleb breathed to himself and he walked through the doorway.