Work Text:
The incessant beeping of Masha’s alarm clock that sat atop their bedside table echoed throughout the room, a consistent disturbance to Masha’s more than comfortable rest. The alarm slowly but surely achieved its objective, as Masha began to stir from their sleep. Their eyes felt as though they were glued shut. Masha let out a short groan as they turned away from the wall, tangling themselves in their blankets as their eyes began adjusting to the light of the alarm clock. Masha slammed the top of their alarm clock, silencing the perpetual annoyance emanating from the device. Enveloped in the newfound silence, Masha closed their eyes and succumbed to the comfort of not having to wake up so early in the morning.
However, it seems the universe disagreed with this notion. The door to Masha’s room swung open with such intensity that it knocked the non-binary flag previously hung onto the door, straight to the ground. The commotion startled Masha, so much so that they tried to get out of bed and onto their feet. Unfortunately, the blankets that had decided to tangle themselves around Masha’s legs and waist made this task much more difficult than it would have usually been. Masha lurched to the side of their bed and promptly fell flat on their face, earning a pained and muffled groan from the disgruntled enby. Masha became ever so slightly less irritated when they considered the fact that their face could have landed on the hard wooden floorboards rather than the much gentler small black carpet they had bought a few weeks ago.
Just as Masha’s eyes had adapted to the darkness blanketing their room, they could just barely distinguish a figure standing in the doorway. Suddenly, the room was filled with a bright light, simultaneously blinding Masha and displaying their embarrassing state to the onlooker before her. Masha blinked rapidly in an effort to nullify the extreme influx of light into their retinas. As the world around them became clearer they could now see the person standing in the doorway, much to Masha’s dismay.
In the open doorway stood Masha’s poor excuse for a mother, Olivia White. Olivia was currently the single person Masha wanted to see the least out of anybody, the same woman who had decided to send Masha to some camp simply because they came out as non-binary. Olivia was sporting a white and black striped full-body dress, her blonde hair tied up in a bun. She was looking far too awake and ready than she had any right to be at the prime time of six in the morning.
“Maria dear I am off to work, the bus will arrive at seven, make sure you are on it so I’m not forced to drive you there myself.” She spoke with a voice eloquent and kind yet Masha could hear a clear undertone of malice behind her words.
“Yes mom.” The enby responded bitterly, with barely hidden contempt. Masha had known better than to argue outright with Olivia, after all that’s why they were being sent off to camp in the first place. They still didn’t appreciate the blatant refusal to acknowledge their new name though.
“Lock the door behind you, Maria.” Olivia responded coldly, undoubtedly picking up the tone of Masha’s voice and what it meant.
Without another word, Olivia slammed the door shut, leaving Masha to prepare for the coming bus trip. They first had to untangle themself from the blankets keeping them restrained. Masha tore the blanket off and stood up, looking around the room.
The walls were adorned in the appurtenances of being a goth enby in a small Connecticut town. Various posters lined the walls, in terms of furniture the room was rather lacking. All Masha had was their bed in the corner of the room with the foot of the bed facing the door, their bedside table, a set of drawers for pieces of clothing that couldn’t be hung in the closet and the aforementioned closet. It was a small room so Masha never really minded how little furniture they had. Above the head of their bed was a hand-made dream catcher that they had made to stop the nightmares they used to have about coming out, a nightmare they were now living through with how Olivia had reacted.
Masha let out a long sigh at the task laid out before them, miscellaneous items of clothing were scattered all over the floor. Masha interlocked their fingers and stretched them outwards, they had an hour to get their things packed for the camp.
This is gonna be rough.
After the painstaking effort of packing all of their clothes, Masha wiped the sweat off of their forehead as they double checked they had everything they needed for the trip. Masha decided to wear their favourite outing clothes, a noodle-strap black dress with a dusty-mauve sweater under it. Before leaving, they made sure to fold the non-binary flag that had fallen from their door and packed it into their suitcase. Masha checked the time on the alarm clock as they closed their luggage.
It’s seven already!?
Masha grabbed their suitcase and dragged it as fast as they could out of their room and down the stairs, rushing for the front door. Masha walked out of their house and into Gravesfield, the town was small and they hadn’t grown up here, but it had a certain charm to it. Locking the door as they left, Masha dragged their single suitcase behind them as they walked down their driveway and towards the sidewalk just as the bus pulled to a stop in front of the White family’s residence. Masha glanced at the side of the bus, written in plain black writing was, “Reality Check Summer Camp”. At least the bus didn't look rundown.
Masha stepped onto the bus and greeted the bus driver. Masha cringed as the bus driver deadnamed them to confirm who they were, they awkwardly nodded and looked down the aisle, there were a few vaguely familiar faces here and there. Masha had only moved to Gravesfield a couple of months ago, there was no way they’d know everybody. Masha sat down at an empty pair of seats and put their suitcase on the seat next to them, they didn’t want anyone to sit next to them. Masha rested their head against the window, closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep.
——————————————————
Masha awoke to the bus screeching to a halt. Startled, their eyes shot open and they looked around frantically. Masha soon realized that nothing was amiss, and that they were simply at their last stop.
This bus must have some really bad brakes, that was loud as all hell.
All of the students were filtered off the bus. Considering how many kids there were on the relatively small bus, it wasn’t nearly as chaotic as it could have been. As Masha stepped off the bus, luggage in hand, they noticed that someone was being dropped off by car in the parking lot nearby.
“Lucky them.” Masha muttered to themself, they couldn’t help but feel jealous that somebodies parents had cared enough about them to personally drive them here.
Maybe it was out of boredom, curiosity, or even pure jealousy, but Masha found themself staring at the girl that came out of the car. She looked really nervous, Masha thought that much made sense at least. Masha couldn’t help but think to themself…
There’s… something about her… (OMG TITLE DROP!!)
Masha’s train of thought was quickly interrupted by one of the camp counselors calling all of the kids’ attention. Masha turned to face the camp, there was a large overhead wooden sign that read “Reality Check”. The camp itself didn’t look too bad, the cabins looked decent enough, though they would have to see them up close to be certain. There was also a larger building near the centre of the camp, Masha assumed that was the cafeteria.
The tour was pretty short and boring, only showing the students the cafeteria, the classroom, and the nearby lake. Masha hadn’t realised it before but the sun was already starting to set. They took the kids to the cafeteria to eat dinner and to sort everyone into cabins afterwards. Dinner was small slices of pizza, it wasn’t too bad. The seven counselors then began to list off names accompanied by cabin numbers, and of course Masha was in the last cabin.
“And finally for cabin seven, Jordan Smith, Maria White, Luz Noceda, and Alex Collins. Right this way.” The last remaining counselor in the cafeteria spoke gently and calmly, it would have been nice had it not reminded Masha of the way Olivia would speak.
“Miss, there are only three of us.” One of the other kids in the room piped up, he had a much darker skin tone than Masha with black hair that covered his eyes. Looking around, Masha confirmed that what he was saying was true.
“That’s because Luz is already at the cabin. Come on, I'll show you where you’ll be staying for the next couple weeks.” With that, she turned on her heels and began to walk towards the exit, Masha and the other two children close behind.
“Hey, I’m Jordan, it’s nice to meet you two.” The same boy from earlier spoke, “Me and Alex already know each other from school, and Luz is at the cabin, so you must be Maria am i right?” He was wearing a dark purple shirt with equally dark green shorts, the look suited him.
Masha, noting that the two had not yet known their new name, took a glance towards Alex before responding. They had reddish-brownish hair and rectangular framed glasses. They donned a white and blue striped shirt, reminding Masha of what Olivia had been wearing that morning. Masha was already upset enough at being sent away to camp by their own mother, let alone being reminded of her.
“Masha’s fine, thanks.” They responded a little ruder than they had meant to. Masha really didn’t want to be here, this place was like a prison to them. They knew they were wrong, but Masha felt as though making friends with anyone here would mean letting Olivia win. Alex and Jordan clearly picked up on the tone of Masha’s response, Masha knew they didn’t deserve it. The rest of the walk was silent and awkward, the only sounds that could be heard was the occasional crunch of dirt against shoes in spots the grass wasn't watered well.
I should apologize later.
As they approached the cabin their cabin’s counselor turned and began to speak, “This here is your cabin, you will all be receiving keys in the morning, I also have a key to your cabin in case of emergencies. Every cabin has a main room and a bathroom.” She pointed to a much larger and nicer looking cabin that was far enough away for some privacy, “That is the counselor’s cabin, if you ever need anything urgently that’s where you’ll find me. Are there any questions?” The three of them stood in silence, prompting the counselor to continue her speech, “Lights out at seven on the dot, there’s a clock in your cabin.” With that, the lady left the three children standing in front of a relatively small wooden cabin.
Masha was the first to approach the door. They opened it slowly, blocking the view of the inside from the two cabinmates behind them. Masha couldn’t place why, but they were feeling a sense of anticipation and they were even a little bit anxious. When the door was open enough to see inside, there they saw her. Luz was laying in a bed furthest from the door curled up into a ball, hugging her legs to her chest tightly and facing the wall. The cabin was illuminated only by the faint light of other cabins nearby, the sun had set by now. Masha could recognise Luz almost instantly as the cute girl that got driven to the camp by her mother.
“It’s you.” Masha couldn’t stop themself from speaking their mind. Luz jumped to a sitting position, very clearly startled by the sudden voice. Luz stood up from her bed and cautiously looked towards the door.
“H-Hello.” Luz looked almost scared by the interaction, fidgeting with her hands as she spoke. Luz cast a faint shadow onto the back wall, Masha eyed it curiously. It was dark and hard to see but Masha thought she could see something… interesting.
Masha stared intently at Luz’s silhouette before Alex and Jordan pushed the door open the rest of the way. Masha remained fixated on the girl’s shadow, it was too dark to make out what was casting the anomaly in her darkened reflection.
It looks like… a tail?
“Oh hey it’s the snake girl!” Alex pointed as they spoke in a whispered shout. The moment Alex finished their sentence Masha watched as the inexplicable extra appendage retracted from Luz’s shadow. In an effort to figure out what was happening, Masha flicked the lightswitch on and scanned over Luz’s figure. Masha couldn’t find the supposed “tail” they saw in Luz’s outline, and then they met eyes with her. Luz looked absolutely horrified. Her eyes were wider than Masha thought possible, locked in a cold stare, her mouth slightly agape. Was it what Alex said? She turned around without a word, laid back in her bed and faced the wall. She pulled the blanket over her head and Masha got the idea she didn’t want to talk tonight. Masha turned to see two far less confused faces and one far more regretful expression at their fourth member’s reaction. They both seemed to know more than Masha.
“What just happened? And what do you mean snake girl?” Masha whispered their question, careful not to let Luz hear them.
Alex glanced at the clock before giving a sympathetic reply, “We’ll tell you tomorrow, it’s getting late. Let’s head to bed.”
Masha wasn’t ready to sleep yet, glancing over towards the bathroom door next to the foot of Luz’s bed gave them an idea. “I think i’m gonna have a shower first, you guys go ahead.” They said as they flicked the lights off.
Everyone’s luggage had already been put in their cabins, they had been told during the tour that sorting it all out was a job for the morning. Masha couldn’t be bothered grabbing out new clothes from their suitcase and had decided to just get in the same clothes after having a shower. Masha watched as Alex and Jordan took the two beds furthest from Luz, they would have to find out why in the morning. Masha wished everyone goodnight before stepping into the bathroom.
The bathroom was surprisingly nice, there was a well-polished sink opposite the door, in the corner to the right of the sink was the shower and there was a door on the far side of the room, presumably leading to the toilet. Masha locked the door and gently folded her clothes and placed them on the towel rack next to four towels that were already there. Masha stepped into the shower and turned it on, the cold water running down their back and through their hair. Today was a long day, and the shower was another level of refreshing. However, that wasn’t the reason Masha was having one. They were trying, and failing, to get their mind off of Luz.
What was that tail looking thing in her shadow? Was I just seeing things? Maybe she just likes wearing fake tails a little too much or something, that would explain why her parents sent her here. No that doesn’t add up, her mom looked so sad to see her go, and she even drove her here. Maybe it was a branch or something from outside the window that just happened to line up with her. Yeah that has to be it. What’s up with the snake girl thing? Why did Luz look so horrified? Why was she even sent here?
That girl is a mystery…
Masha couldn’t stop her curiosity about Luz, there was just something so enthralling and intriguing about her. Masha had to know more. I mean, Masha does love mysteries.
Masha had ended up spending far more time in the shower thinking and theorizing about Luz than they had meant to. Feeling pretty tired, Masha turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. They dried themself off and began to put on the clothes they were wearing previously. Masha decided that they would simply sleep with wet hair rather than try to dry it anymore than they already had.
Masha flicked off the bathroom light, smothering the room in darkness before gently pushing the door open. It was hard to see but they didn’t want to risk waking up any of the others by turning a light on. Masha took a step into the main room when they noticed a dim glow coming from under the blanket Luz had wrapped herself in. It was almost reminiscent of a soft moonlight glow intruding through a window.
How did she manage to sneak a phone in? I thought they were contraband, I’ll have to ask her about it some other time.
Masha decided to simply add it to the list of Luz’s mysteries and made use of the faint blue glow seeping through the room to guide themself to their bed. Masha gently sat on the bed, wincing as it creaked ever so slightly under their weight. Masha flopped onto the bed silently, it had been a long and exhausting day. The beds were surprisingly comfortable, aiding in Masha’s efforts to leave the day behind them. Masha closed their eyes and let the pent up exhaustion take them.