Chapter Text
Robin stepped out of the car and was immediately hit by a wave of warm air. She turned to Steve. "If it's going to be like this all the time, I’m not sure how am I gonna survive two weeks here."
Steve rubbed his forehead and pointed to the campsite. "It looks even worse than last year. At least those caddies were farther away from the cabins."
Robin looked around the place. She certainly couldn't say she was thrilled to be back here. She'd taken a few ticks, bruises from the little brats, and a pile of stinky clothes from last summer. But she needed at least some money to contribute to her mom's rent, and they paid more than well for that kind of terrible work here.
She pulled her carry-on bag and sleeping bag out of the trunk and locked the car.
"Shall we?" She nodded to Steve and they made their way to their cabin. Along the way, she tried not to lose what little optimism she had left and find a little bit of joy in this sweaty, dirty, rushed place.
One of the few great factors of the job was definitely the surroundings. The cabins may have been fairly close together, but the woods around them were some of the most beautiful Robin had ever been in, and she downright enjoyed when the camp play took place there, because walking under those leafy trees always gave her at least a little energy and the will to carry on as a camp counselor. Of course, all of this was later spoiled every time she got back into the presence of the most annoying kids in the camp (of which there were certainly not a few) or one unnamed person.
Steve took the handle to their cabin. They had been in it last year and it was by far the best in the whole camp. The furthest away from the others, with unbroken beds and closest to the mess hall. The door opened, but instead of empty beds and stale air, they found Nancy Wheeler in the room, sitting on the floor with her suitcase open and putting a pillowcase on.
Nancy Wheeler. Oh, God - that girl was driving her crazy. Last year, when she and Steve managed to have a minute of fun and actually enjoy their time with the kids, Nancy immediately blasted them for setting an example for the kids. This usually escalated from a small argument into a big conflict and both Robin and Nancy were pissed at each other more than before that.
"Nancy? What are you doing here?" Robin frowned without any greeting and dropped her bags on the floor. "This is our cabin. We've had it set up with Mr. Clarke since last summer."
"Hi, Steve," Nancy smiled sweetly instead, and Robin felt her blood boil.
Steve's face twisted into a puzzled grimace. "Hey? But Robin's right. This is our cabin."
Nancy shook out the pillow and gently placed it on the mattress in perfect symmetry with the duvet. "To answer your question, I was given all the keys and thus the privilege of choosing the cabin," she shrugged. "And I liked this one best."
Robin sucked in air. "Just because you're in charge of a rattling baby tag doesn't mean-," she clenched her fists, and Steve cut her off. "What Robin means is that we already have this cabin taken. We purposely asked for it last year ahead of time to make sure we got it."
Nancy closed her eyes. "I'm not going anywhere else. I'm almost unpacked and this is the best cabin in the whole camp."
Robin folded her arms. "The only reason you picked it is because it's the furthest away from the others and you and Jonathan could do whatever you wanted without being disturbed."
"For your information, Jonathan isn't coming this year," Nancy blushed and quickly busied her hands with tucking the sheets under the mattress. "We broke up."
Robin blinked in surprise. Not that she'd had much fun with Jonathan last year, but he was definitely a nice person and a great silent companion for preparing games and activities for kids. "Um-. I'm sorry?" she said cautiously, and Nancy immediately met her gaze.
"I don't want any of your fake pity," she snapped at her. "I broke up with him, not the other way around."
Robin exchanged a puzzled sideways glance with Steve, and she immediately remembered what had annoyed her about the other girl so much.
Steve cleared his throat and tried to lighten the atmosphere. "And do you know who’s taking his place?"
Nancy ran a hand through her hair. "My cousin. Eddie Munson? I don't know if you know him."
"Eddie Munson? Who runs a nerd club and listens to metal? That Eddie Munson? He's your cousin?" Robin said surprised.
"I don't know what's so strange about it. Everyone has relatives in different industries," the girl frowned again and Robin shuddered.
"I'm not saying there's anything weird about it, it's just that I've never seen the two of you together, and from the little I've talked to either of you, neither of you have mentioned knowing each other at all, let alone being related. It's also perfectly normal by the way- I mean to be ashamed of a relative - , I'm also sometimes ashamed of my cousin when we're out together sometimes and-"
"Robin," Steve hissed warily in her direction, noticing the expression on Nancy's face.
"Yeah, I'm quiet now," she stammered quickly, shutting up to prevent further arguments. She wasn't sure why she'd gone from fighting mode to nervous mode (maybe she really felt sorry for Nancy because of Jonathan), but miraculously all her previous tense mood had passed. There was probably no point in getting into a girl after a breakup, and honestly Robin was just tired of all this hostility anyway.
"I'm not ashamed of Eddie. I have a normal relationship with him and I don't need to pretend like I don’t know him because he doesn't embarrass me in any way," Nancy gave her a judgmental look and Robin just rubbed her face.
"You know what? Whatever. You can keep the cabin. Just give us the keys and we'll leave," she held out her hand and Nancy tossed her the keys.
"You don't have to be so impolite, you know?" Steve turned to her still in the doorway and Robin quickly slammed the door before he could say anything else.
"I wouldn't have expected that from you. You’re not gonna argue with her?," he asked, looking at his friend.
Robin sighed. "Honestly? I don't have the strength for this kind of bullshit. Let the priss be a priss to someone else, I want a break," she shook her head. "Come on, I want to take a nap before all the kids get here," she handed him the keys and they headed to the cabin next door.
-
Only the sound of an approaching vehicle jerked her from sleep. She cracked her eyelids and sat up. Steve wasn't in the room, probably to greet the other camp counselors. She stepped out of the cabin and her eyes immediately turned to the bus, where children were jumping out of it and just the way they were arguing amongst themselves almost gave her a headache.
Her eyes slowly scanned the entire campsite, looking around for Steve. He was sitting on a log of wood by the fire, obviously engrossed in conversation with Eddie Munson. Robin stretched and started toward them.
"How did you sleep?" Steve asked her as he saw her almost coming towards them.
She curled up in the grass in front of them and rubbed her face. "Definitely better than at home."
Steve gave her an understanding look and turned to Eddie. "The rest of the counselors have arrived. Jason Carver's here -."
"Noo," Robin groaned.
"- and his girlfriend. Chrissy, the ex-cheerleader," Steve finished. "Eddie was a little lost and we ended up talking a little," he looked at him. "You know Robin?"
Robin chuckled ironically. "I don't suppose he remem-"
"Yes, I do," Eddie interrupted her. "Buckley, right? You play in the school band."
Robin nodded. "Yeah. This dingus here has to drive me to most of the games," she kicked Steve gently in the calf, pointing at him.
"Plus, Sinclair's little sister mentioned you once when she was representing someone in a d&d. Said you had her on your team last year at this fucking camp."
Robin laughed. "I never let it show, but she was the only child I was ever afraid of. By the way - why are you here if you don't like it so much? I’m asking purely out of curiosity."
Eddie screwed up his face. "Nancy talked me into it. She was stressed about not being able to find anyone when she broke up with Byers and promised me a quarter of her paycheck to boot," he winced. "And money always comes in handy. Am I right?" He spoke as if perhaps to someone behind her, and Robin turned around.
"You wouldn't have gone otherwise if I hadn't forced you," Nancy grinned, standing directly behind Robin. The taller girl swallowed and carefully moved away from her way.
Eddie shrugged. "We'll never know what the truth really is," he said cryptically, standing up. "Shall we go?" He nodded to Nancy and grabbed his bags.
"It was nice to meet you both," he tossed towards Robin and Steve, while Nancy shot him a disbelieving look. "Especially you, Harrington," he smiled, and they both started toward the cabin.
Steve stared at the receding silhouette for a moment and finally turned to Robin.
"I have a problem."
"What?" She grinned.
Paranoid, he turned behind him and checked to make sure no one was listening. "I think I like Eddie Munson," he whispered and Robin laughed.
"I certainly got a much better impression of him than his cousin," she looked at the figure in the distance, wondering how she was going to make it through the next two weeks with the self-proclaimed queen of perfectionism.