Chapter Text
“Why did I agree to this again?”
Steve’s maroon BMW sputtered as they drove down the highway, the gas gauge hovering dangerously close to zero. He’d started to drive several miles under the speed limit, and luckily, since all they could see for miles were cornfields, there wasn’t anyone around who might get frustrated and pass them. Unfortunately, if they were to stall or run out of gas on the side of this road, they’d end up having to walk several miles to the nearest farm and hope whoever lived there had gas, a telephone, and no torture rack in their basement for unsuspecting travellers.
“Because you needed a summer job,” Steve replied. “And what better job is there for making extra cash than one with 12 hour work days?”
Robin groaned. “Making sure a bunch of loser children don’t fall off of cliffs and drown was not what I was picturing when I thought of this summer.”
“It’s a junior high camp, actually,” Steve pointed out.
“Even worse.”
“Come on, cheer up,” said Steve, taking his hand off the wheel and punching her shoulder. “Maybe you’ll meet some hot babes and have a summer romance you’ll remember for the rest of your life.”
This did cheer Robin up. In fact, it prompted an outburst of hysterical laughter. “Me?” she questioned in disbelief when the laughing ceased enough for her to talk. “In Middle of Nowhere, USA? Yeah, dingus, I can’t wait.”
Steve rolled his eyes and looked back toward the road. With her annoyance at being woken up at 5:30 that morning sufficiently washed away, she dug through her bag and pulled out one of the books she had brought. It was an anthology of Italian folk stories, which she’d first purchased at a secondhand store to help her learn the language, but she’d soon gotten lost in the riveting tales of good battling evil.
She had just finished the second story when Steve spoke again. “I’m bummed that I couldn’t drive Dustin,” he sighed. “He seemed so excited to go on a road trip with me, but of course we had to be there a week early for ‘training.’”
“All jobs require training,” Robin pointed out, not entirely paying attention. “We spent a week at Scoops learning how to scoop ice cream into perfect spheres. I seriously didn’t know it could be that complicated.” She paused as something he had said registered. “Wait… Dustin? Are all of your children coming to this camp?”
Steve smiled sheepishly. “I may have told Dustin I was working here, and he may have told the rest of his friends about it.”
“So Lucas, Will, El…”
He nodded.
“Max, Mike, Erica.”
“I actually don’t know about that last one,” he admitted.
“They’re going to be following you around like ducklings all summer, aren’t they?” Robin teased. “They’re going to steal you away from me!” She was grinning, though. She’d gotten to know Steve’s pack of middle schoolers (now incoming freshmen, as they often bragged) last summer when the two of them worked at Scoops Ahoy in Starcourt Mall. The mall had since been closed due to protests about it “ruining small town America,” but it hadn’t been torn down just yet, so it had been a common dare during the school year to venture into the abandoned place, which some theorized was haunted.
Robin didn’t believe in that kind of supernatural bullshit, so all the closing of the mall had meant was that she and Steve were out of a job. They worked at the local video store during the school year, but their manager refused to up their hours enough to make sufficient money over the summer. And now, well, here she was, on her way to a summer camp despite knowing next to nothing about nature.
It was three hours later when it happened. The engine sputtered, the gas tank at zero, and Steve’s car rolled to an anticlimactic stop. Steve cursed loudly and banged on the horn.
“Great job, dingus,” said Robin. “I told you to stop for gas in the last town we passed.”
“It was creepy as hell!”
“And we don’t believe in ghosts.”
With a sigh, Steve got out of the car and looked around, his eyes focusing on the nearest farm. He glanced over at Robin, who groaned, knowing that their road trip had just been extended by an indeterminable amount of time.
She sure hoped they’d manage to make it to camp by nightfall.
***
Miraculously, they saw the camp’s welcome sign while the sun still shone in the sky. Of course, they were two hours later than they were supposed to be, though Steve had called ahead from the ancient rotary phone of a nearby farmer to explain the situation. They didn’t have to worry about the consequences of their lateness, as the camp director understood that car troubles happen, but it was an exhausting journey nonetheless. Luckily, they hadn’t gotten murdered or kidnapped, but the old farmer who lived in the closest house didn’t have any gasoline, so they drove 30 minutes to the nearest town in his rusty pickup to get some. After a 30 minute drive back, the old man insisted they stay for lunch, and by the time they got back on the road, they had already lost over two hours.
They pulled into the dirt parking lot of the camp around 3:00, and since everyone was at an orientation presentation already, the parking lot was deserted. The director had given Steve instructions over the phone as to where to go, and he’d written them down on the back of a receipt in his signature chicken scratch handwriting.
They parked next to a station wagon. Steve did a double take when he saw the other car, then stared at it for a moment with narrowed eyes before shaking his head.
“What?” asked Robin as she got out of the car, stretching her cramped legs.
“Nothing,” he replied, looking back at her as he pulled his duffel bag out of the trunk. “I just thought… nevermind.”
Robin shrugged, dropping the subject as she moved to get her own things from the back.
They eventually made their way down a series of winding paths to a large wooden building that they assumed to be the dining hall. The door creaked as they stepped inside, where the other 28 counselors were already seated and watching the director’s presentation. But being the nosy teenagers that they were, of course they all turned to look when Steve and Robin wandered in late, though most of their gazes flicked back to the director right away.
“Hide me, Robin,” Steve groaned from beside her as they found seats at the back of the room.
“What?” She followed his horrified gaze to the opposite side of the hall. One of the other counselors had turned in their direction, her brow furrowed as her blue eyes bored into the two of them. She quickly looked away when she saw they’d noticed.
“It’s Nancy Wheeler,” he hissed in her ear. Robin’s eyes widened in understanding. She was sure she’d seen the girl before at school, though not enough to remember her, but other than that, she’d never come in contact with Steve’s infamous ex-girlfriend. It was probably because Robin was always with Steve. Nancy avoided him, despite the fact that he drove her little brother and his friends around even after they’d broken up.
Robin knew from Steve’s account that the breakup was just as much his fault as hers, if not more. But despite it being mutual, they still weren’t on good terms. Besides, Robin didn’t even understand how someone like Steve could date someone like Nancy. Steve and Mike had both described her as uptight and a self-proclaimed intellectual, while Steve was rebellious and, well, not the sharpest tool in the shed.
“What are you going to do?” Robin hissed in Steve’s ear, leaning close so no one could hear.
“Nothing!” Steve said immediately, risking another alarmed glance toward Nancy. “I think I’ll just ignore her.”
“And if you get paired up with her?”
“If for some unholy reason that happens, we're switching partners.”
“You’re forcing me to hang out with your ex? Not cool, man.”
“It’s better than me being the one to hang out with her,” Steve shot back.
“Buckley, Harrington!” Both of their heads snapped up to find the camp director staring at them with her eyebrows raised. “I was gracious enough to forgive your lack of punctuality, and now you think your conversation is more important than my instruction?”
“Of course not!” said Robin with a nervous laugh.
“Then tell me what I just said.”
Robin wracked her brain, trying to see if she’d somehow subconsciously absorbed any of the director’s words.
“Um….” She laughed again.
“We’re camp counselors,” Steve jumped in. “So you were explaining how to… counsel?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Robin watched Nancy roll her eyes.
“I said that this camp will involve dangerous situations, and our counselors need to learn to trust each other to keep the children as safe as possible.”
“Of course!” Steve exclaimed.
“It was right on the tip of my tongue,” added Robin.
The director fixed them with one last harsh glare before she marched outside, the rest of the counselors at her heels. Robin and Steve followed her out to a small but rather deep creek that was flowing lazily through the woods. The director began to explain the activity, but before she even got a few sentences in she realized she’d forgotten her megaphone and had to go back to her cabin. While they waited for her to return, Robin and Steve skipped flat stones across the creek. It was much more difficult than usual with moving water, but Robin managed two skips while Steve managed a whopping six. Robin’s mouth fell open.
“How did you do that?”
Steve winked. “A magician never reveals his secrets.”
She smirked and shoved his shoulder. “Tell me.”
He shoved her back. “No!”
This went on for a few minutes, up until Steve nearly toppled into the creek and only saved himself by skidding on a bed of rocks.
“Are you okay?” Robin asked, but she was laughing.
“Hey!” a shrill voice suddenly materialized behind them. They turned to find Nancy Wheeler standing there, an entirely unpleasant scowl on her too-perfect face. “Miss Moore told us to wait on the trail. If you can’t follow simple instructions without putting one of your coworkers in danger, what will you do when the children are here?” She turned around and stalked back toward the front of the line.
Robin looked over at Steve, then back at Nancy. So she was that kind of priss.
“Seriously, Harrington,” Robin teased. “How could you possibly fall for a girl like her?”