Chapter Text
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It was a sweet summer’s day and the breeze was gentle with warmth, it carried earthly scents and the occasional waft of pollens. The evergreen trees and oak branches stretched beyond into the bright, burning sky and below their quiet height, the sunlight fell in patches of uneven golden lighting onto a dirt road. The peace of the pathway was disturbed by a loud, bustling bright yellow school bus that rushed by with impatience that was much too out of place in this natural forest. Inside the bus, there was a crowd of high schoolers chatting and rough playing. Excited and filled with anticipation for the month they would be spending here.
The bus came to a halt in front of a long log cabin. Everyone on the bus hopped down hurriedly in a mess of sweat, noises, and adrenaline. The last person on the bus hopped down, they looked up at the scenery of trees that swayed with the winds. The uneven mix of gentle grey shadows and bright gold sunlight hit their face in odd patterns extenuating their deep black eyes and raven hair. They stepped onto the rough ground with polished black loafers and wore khaki shorts, a loose but pressed white button-up and a black denim jacket that barely wrapped around his thin frame. He had a black cloth backpack on that was littered with tons of pins with references from a comic book. They were quiet, with a gaze that pierced the sight of the cabins that surrounded them. The buildings were long and old with deep brown exposed wood and spiderwebs littering the crevasses of the logs. They were laid out in a pattern that surrounded the main stone bonfire. It was meant to be welcoming and opening but the quiet observer's lips were still pressed emotionlessly together in a stern manner.
“Come on silly! We’ve got to get into our groups to see who we get to sleep in our cabins with!” a bright girl with matching midnight coloured hair adorned with purple hair clips said with gentle enthusiasm and a smile. She grabbed the boy’s wrist and pulled him towards the group of people who were all sloppily arranging themselves into lines pulling along with her a suitcase for the stay. The girl, still pulling her brother’s hand, guided them both to a person holding a clipboard. They were wearing khaki shorts, a red polo shirt with the campsites logo embroidered on the chest, and a green cargo vest with large pockets filled with whatever a campsite manager might need. Their hair was brown and pulled back into a scattered ponytail.
“Hello! Welcome to Glidwoods, I am Jane, the person in charge here, so if either of you has any questions or the like you’d come to me. Right now we are grouping people into cabins. Everyone will be assigned a colour and be given a bracelet to help everyone know who’s in what group. After I give you your bracelet, go stand in the line that has a flag that matches your colours. When we go on hikes it will be with your group and you will be sharing your cabin with the people in your group. And no you cannot change groups until a week has gone by and you have a proper reason to. So what are your names?” The campsite person said with an unbothered tone of voice, you can tell that they’ve already said this same thing to everyone who was on that bus already.
“Oh, hi! I’m Mari and this is Sunny. I guess we’re the last two people on the list,” she said with a smile and she gestured towards the boy who was shyly standing behind her. “Yup, that checks out. So Mari here’s your band. You will be a part of the purple group and on the girl’s side of the camp. The girl cabins are to the left but just wait in line for now. And you, Sunny, you’ll be in the dark green cabin. The boys' cabins are on the right, and just wait in your group's lines until we can dismiss you to unpack everything.”
She extended her hand with an open palm to give them their bracelets. Mari grabbed both her and her brothers, giving him his. “Funny, it matches my hair clips,” she said, lightly rolling her eyes. Sunny gingerly grabbed his bracelet and slipped it on his wrist. Nodding as he did as though to say ‘thank you.’
“It’s such a shame we won’t be sharing a cabin! But you’ll probably love the peace without me,” she giggled lightly and lightly nudged her brother. “Hey, is something wrong? Are you already homesick or something?” Her face shifted from open and bubbly to concerned. Her eyebrows lifted slightly up.
Sunny only looked at the dirt ground, upsetting the flat dirt by nudging it gently with the tip of his polished shoe. He sighed and looked at his sister. “I’m okay, just tired,” he said in almost a whisper.
“I know you didn’t want to come. I could just tell that you weren’t excited that Hero invited us along. You usually get excited about road trips so it was very obvious. I just figured you would be more open to the idea of staying here once you got here and saw how cool it all is,” she said, leaning towards her brother in an empathetic way. All he could manage was a shrug.
Before Mari could respond a figure came rushing toward them. “Mari!” a girl said as she hugged Mari tightly. She was wearing a denim skirt, baby pink sneakers, matching hair clips to Mari’s but pink in her dark hair that was dyed bright pink on the ends, a white tank top with thin sleeves and a loose bow on the front that was two drawstrings tied with one another, and a ton of bracelets. She had on her a light pink and white backpack that was thrown across one of her shoulders carelessly and it too closed with a drawstring. On her face was a huge grin and a bandage on her chin.
“Hey! Aubrey, I thought you weren’t coming! I didn’t see you on the bus!” Mari said her smile returned even wider than before. “That’s because I fell asleep at the back of the bus,” Aubrey said. She now had let go of Mari and was standing casually with one of her hands on her hip. “How? With all that noise!?” Mari said in disbelief. “Um…with a household like mine and loud neighbours I guess I learned to sleep through anything,” she said clearly, standing more awkwardly than she was before. “Oh…” Mari said sheepishly, “I’m sorry I mentioned it.” “Nay, it’s okay. If anything at least Kel can’t bother me in my sleep when we have sleepovers. It’s a good thing really and I take advantage of it,” she said casually and shrugged almost sarcastically. Sunny was just awkwardly staring at this unfolding in front of him shifting his feet uncomfortably. “So, what cabin did ya get?” she said with a childish gleam in her eyes. “Purple!” Mari said lifting her wrist up and showing off her braided bracelet. “Cool! I did too! And Kim! Well, she switched with some random girl after we did a little persuading,” Aubrey said piped up and hot. Mari side-eyed her with a look that was a mix of disappointment and annoyance- or at least to what Sunny could tell from observing his sister.
“Not in that way! Well… not entirely in that way. I didn’t actually punch her, I just hinted that I might. Anyways, that’s not important, what was done has been done and now we all get to share the cabin so yay!” Aubrey said with a weak, flimsy smile. “Ugh, Aubrey you know I don’t like it when you get like that. Come on, let's go find her and apologize,” Mari said with an assertive glare. “Sorry, Sunny, is it okay if I go?” Mari said as she looked over her shoulder to her brother who hasn’t moved an inch since they arrived.
He nodded slightly and encouraged her to leave with a weak wave of his hand. It was clear he felt like he shouldn’t be there and Mari was unsure whether she should go but she decided she could always check up on her brother later. She then walked off with Aubrey leaving him there standing in a patch of shade looking even more out of place being alone there. He stared at the lines ahead of him and walked towards the dark green flag that marked where he should be. He decided he wasn’t going to dwell on being alone in his cabin, yet, surrounded by random strangers for the entirety of the month. He just pressed on.
He got in line standing behind a person he didn’t recognize. The person had short fluffy blonde hair and in the sunlight Sunny thought, it looked like golden silk. Sunny observed this person like he did most and saw that he was wearing short overalls that had patches all over them and embroidery flowers on the straps. He could hear the boy giggling in front of him and it amused Sunny that his giggle was just like his hair silky. It reminded him of honey. Looking up Sunny saw a familiar face that was laughing with the stranger. “Sunny! You’re in our group! Yes!” Kel said, beaming brightly. Kel was Sunny’s best friend. He was very tall and was wearing what he always wore a bright orange basketball jersey. Sunny thought it complimented his deep, warm skin tone and wild nature. Sunny also took notice that Kel was drinking an Orange Joe as he was waving sporadically for Sunny to join them.
Sunny walked over to Kel trying not to stare at the new guy in hopes that whoever he was wasn’t in their cabin so he could easily ignore them. But no, as he stood by Kel he gave a quick glance to the boy’s wrist and saw that there was a dark green band there along with a band of small white flowers that were woven together. “Oh, yeah Sunny this is Basil. I just met him and he’s great! Shy like you but really kind. He gave me this necklace. Oh, and he’s staying with us in our cabin!” He said as he grabbed his new necklace proudly showing Sunny the brown leather band around his neck that had pale blue and green beads tied onto it. Sunny nodded at Kel in acknowledgement of the necklace. “Yeah, Sunny doesn’t talk all that much. Sometimes I forget he can and it surprises me when he does. But we’re cool,” Kel said before taking a swig out of his can of Orange Joe. Basil waved at Sunny; it was a small and quick gesture but nice nevertheless. Sunny saw that Basil also had white flowers in his hair; they were different from the ones on his wrist. These were floppy and had long petals while his bracelet had small clusters of tiny, white, pearl-like flowers.
“I like your flowers,” Sunny said with a blank expression; Basil’s face grew a little pink and confused at how inexpressive Sunny is. Sunny was used to that look; he was a huge contrast to Kel’s overly excited nature. “T-Thanks,” Basil said gingerly. “Yeah, dude they’re really cool! Did you make the bracelet yourself?” Kel chipped in, now refreshed from his Orange Joe.
“Yes, actually. I made it on the bus; they’re baby’s breath. The ones in my hair are gerbera daisies,” he smiled warmly as he mentioned the flowers by name. “Nice. You garden?” Kel asked, admiring the flowers. Kel’s energy seemed to have been starting to rub off on Basil because Basil’s calm eyes bloomed at the mention of gardening. “Y-Yeah! It’s one of my favourite hobbies. I have so many plants back at my place. That’s the only reason I came here, to you know, to see the flowers and birds. I-I thought I would be too nervous to come here but…” Basil trailed off his sentence as he had just realized how much he was talking. Now he was looking at the ground blushing slightly. “Huh, and here I thought that only Aunt's garden. Probably because I don’t have much of a green thumb. I mean, I also thought only grandma’s cooked until my brother started picking it up. He’s like, really good at it. You should try his food sometime. He’s also sharing our cabin with us but he went to go get his things. I don’t know where he is now. Oh, yeah and his name is Hero. Don’t worry though he doesn’t talk as much as me. My other friend, Aubrey, says no one can talk as much as me. She’s right though, I have yet to be outspoken-ed. And Sunny’s has yet to have been out quiet-ed,” Kel said, beaming as brightly as the mid-day sun. Basil looked up. He found comfort in knowing that he wasn’t the only one who rambled on, even if he was way quieter about it than Kel.
“Hey, Sunny, where's your stuff?” Kel asked. Sunny just pointed over his shoulder to his backpack. “What? That’s all you brought- for the entire month?” Kel said a little too loudly. “Dang and I thought I didn’t bring enough,” he said as he gestured towards a large bright orange duffle bag strapped over his shoulder. Sunny just shrugged, he figured if he needed anything he’d just ask his overly prepared sister for it. He already asked for sunscreen, a snack, and a piece of gum so if he needed something she’d probably have it. Although, now that he found out they weren’t going to be sharing a cabin he might struggle with getting through the month.
“Okay! Everyone, time to get going into your cabins. Unpack and get sorted out, leave your luggage under your beds. It’s going to be fine no one’s going to steal anything and if they do; then it’s on you for bringing something that you care about being stolen. Sorry, but you should’ve thought ahead. We are not here to settle every mishap you get, we are here to guide you and teach you about nature and the importance of the natural environment. If you are wondering about the schedule it’s on that billboard over to the left. Please don’t crowd around it, just take a picture with your phone and send it to your friends. Lunch is at 12 so in about 45 minutes. When it’s 12 a bell will sound and you will all head out in your groups to the lunch hall which is right there. Now you may go,” The lady from earlier said to them all.
Soon enough everyone started heading towards their assigned cabins which had a door that was the colour of their bracelets. The group of them started heading out and Hero soon caught up with them. “What took you so long?” Kel asked. “I was chatting with Mari and I just wanted to leave at the last minute,” Hero said, chuckling nervously and rubbing the back of his neck. “Why are you always so weird when you just come back from chatting with her. Hero, you can just spill the beans. We all know you have a thing for Mari. Even Sunny agrees and that’s his sister so he should know. And I have to deal with you every day so I definitely know,” Kel said as he lightly punched Hero playfully. “Hey! I do not! I just really enjoy spending time with her, that's all,” Hero said, nudging his brother back. “Yeah, no one’s falling for it, dude. You’re transparent and really bad at hiding your feelings. Mari knows you like her; she's just playing hard to get. Just saying. Anyways, do you think we get bunk beds! I call top bunk!” Kel said. “Ugh, I just realized I’m going to have to deal with your loud snoring,” Hero said, which earned him a punch from Kel.
Sunny walked behind them watching their fiasco. “H-Hey, you're Sunny right?” Basil asked as he walked next to Sunny’s side. Sunny only nodded in response.
“Um… so like if, like, what Kel is saying is true… you a bottom or a top?”
“What?” Sunny asked sharply.
“Oh! No, n-not like that! For bunk beds! Bottom or a top for a bunk bed… like, if we actually have bunk beds…” Basil said going pink in his cheeks.
“I don’t have a preference,” Sunny said briskly.
“Oh, ok,” Basil said shortly.
He was clearing dripping anxiety and awkwardness and Sunny was a bit put off by it. He hoped he wasn’t as much of a wreck when trying to be social as Basil is, but then again he probably was. How would he know he didn’t participate enough or have enough experience to really measure how weird he was. Which in turn, makes him seem awkward.
They all made it to their cabin’s door. “So? Are you guys ready to see the cabin?” Hero said, leading them all; for he had his hand on the doorknob and turned slowly for suspense.
Sunny wasn’t sure he even wanted to be here. He wasn’t even sure this would help him become more open or make him happy, now that he’s out of his room; that’s how his sister and mother had offered the idea to him, as though they were trying to get him to pitch into the idea. Maybe they have a point if he’s going to try and enjoy his summer he might as well pitch into their idealization of the experience. He had to… for Mari’s sake. And perhaps even his own. He just had to try.